Tag: 2015

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Prompt Payment Code on (a) UK businesses in the FinTech sector and (b) other businesses.

    Anna Soubry

    The Prompt Payment Code is a voluntary code which organisations from the public, private and third sector can sign up to. The Government monitors a variety of sources to monitor the level of late payment debt. We are not able to assess the direct effect of the Prompt Payment Code on any individual sector.

    New transparency measures will allow us to monitor the payment performance of signatories. Through powers in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 the Government will introduce a new reporting requirement on the UK’s largest companies – including many Code signatories – to report on their payment practices and performance. We plan to introduce this next year, and the Code will make full use of this new information. From next year small and medium-sized Code signatories will also report on their payment performance directly to the Code. Small and medium-sized companies will report, on an annual basis, on a comply or explain basis.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to address rates of university students taking their own lives.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government takes these issues seriously. Higher Education Institutions, as autonomous and independent bodies, have clear legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to support their students, including those with mental health conditions.

    Ensuring the wellbeing of students is important to our universities. Institutions are best placed to determine what welfare and counselling services they need to provide to their students and to ensure mechanisms are in place to identify students in need.

    There is a great deal of guidance and support available to institutions from a range of sector and medical bodies. In February 2015, Universities UK published a Good Practice Guide on, student mental wellbeing in higher education. It aims to support institutions in building and improving their provision for students with mental health problems including to help prevent suicide.

    The Department of Health also published a cross-government suicide prevention strategy in September 2012, ‘Preventing Suicide in England.’ The objectives of the strategy are to reduce suicide and support people bereaved or affected by suicide.

  • Nia Griffith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Nia Griffith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department plans to publish its proposed reforms to the Electronic Communications Code.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government remains committed to delivering a reformed Electronic Communications Code that is clear, fit for purpose, and supports a UK network that provides consumers with a choice of high quality telecommunications services. We will update Parliament on plans in due course.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s press release, Infrastructure at heart of Spending Review as Chancellor launches National Infrastructure Commission, published on 30 October 2015, what transport projects are included in the £100 billion infrastructure spending; and what the projected spend on those projects is in each year to 2020-21.

    Greg Hands

    The £100 billion of infrastructure spending includes publically-funded infrastructure projects and programmes in the National Infrastructure Pipeline. The Pipeline is a strategic view of economic infrastructure investment.

    Transport projects and programmes include:

    • Network Rail’s Control Period 5 (2014-2019), currently being re-planned by the Chairman, Sir Peter Hendy
    • Highway England’s Road Investment Strategy (2015-2020)
    • High Speed 2
    • Transport for London’s centrally-funded investment programme
    • Centrally-funded Local Authority transport projects

      Details of the projected annual spend to 2020-21 can be found in the most recent refresh of the Pipeline, published in July 2015.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Funeral Payment provision for funeral expenses.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Social Fund Funeral Payment scheme continues to provide valuable help towards the cost of a funeral for people in receipt of a qualifying benefit. My department continually reviews the scheme to improve and streamline it.

    Funeral Expenses Payments are made to all applicants who satisfy the eligibility criteria. Awards cover the full necessary costs involved with either burial or cremation and up to £700 for other funeral expenses. In 2014/15 over 32,000 awards were made to people in Great Britain. These payments were worth £44 million, with an average award of £1,375. The average award has increased by 27% since 2006.

    Social Fund Budgeting Loans are also available to help with funeral expenses for people who have been in receipt of a qualifying benefit for at least 26 weeks.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel who took part in the Seedcorn Initiative from 2011 to 2015 and are still currently serving were based on 1 November 2015 in (a) the UK, (b) the US and (c) elsewhere.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Thirty Six Service personnel have taken part in the Seedcorn Initiative, and they are all still serving. The table below shows their locations on 1 November 2015.

    United Kingdom

    4

    United States

    22

    New Zealand

    4

    Australia

    2

    Canada

    3

    Iraq

    1

  • Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2015-11-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will instruct the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to provide 90 per cent confidence intervals for each of the figures in Table 7.1 of the Final Report of the Airports Commission, published in July 2015.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

    The Government will carefully consider all the evidence set out, including that on costs, when making a decision on additional runway capacity.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to her Written Statement of 21 October 2015, HCWS 257, on energy investments, how many waste transfer contract documents for Hinkley Point C have been agreed; where such contract documents are being published; and how many such documents will be withheld for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Two waste transfer contracts are proposed (but have not yet been entered into) for Hinkley Point C, one for intermediate level waste and one for spent fuel. In line with the published Waste Transfer Pricing Methodology, we would expect to publish as much of the waste transfer contracts as possible, except for material of a sensitive nature, if the Secretary of State decides to enter into the Contract for Difference and the waste transfer contracts are signed. We would expect to make these documents available on the www.gov.uk website.

    “

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-11-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2015 to Question 17136, what the cost to the public purse will be of each Watchkeeper ordered by his Department by the time it reaches full operating capacity.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Watchkeeper is expected to achieve full operating capability in the second quarter of 2017.

    The original cost estimate for the development and delivery of Watchkeeper to full operating capability, at the time of Main Gate approval in 2005, was £847 million.

    With regards to the cost of each Watchkeeper, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 October 2014 to question 211342 to the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson).

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether burbots are extinct within the UK.

    George Eustice

    Burbot were last reported in the UK in the early 1970s and the species has not been recorded since in the British Isles.

    Various factors are likely to have contributed to the demise of the species, including the impacts of climate and environmental change. However, a precise cause remains unclear.