The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of an increase in the universal credit taper rate on (a) work incentives and (b) progression incentives.
Priti Patel
The impact on work incentives of the 65% taper was set out in the 2012 Universal Credit (UC) Impact Assessment (see link below).
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of small businesses which have received financial assistance from (a) peer-to-peer lenders and (b) other alternative funding sources.
Anna Soubry
According to NESTA, peer-to-peer business lending in the UK grew at a rate of 250 per cent annually between 2012 and 2014. The Peer-to-Peer Finance Association publishes quarterly updates, which show net new lending of £251m in the third quarter of 2015 of which £91m was to small businesses. Although the number of businesses is not stated, Funding Circle (which accounts for £66m of the £91m net new lending) had 10,755 borrowers at the end of the quarter. The total is therefore likely to be close to 15,000.
Equity crowdfunded deal numbers and investment totals are less readily available. The British Business Bank cites market investment data recorded by Beauhurst which show that in the first half of 2014, £24m was raised across 101 crowdfunded equity investments. Using survey data, NESTA has produced a higher estimate of £31m for the same period and £84m for 2014 as a whole.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress his Department has made on introducing loans for postgraduate study.
Joseph Johnson
A consultation on support for postgraduate study was launched in March of this year. The consultation sought views on the Government’s intention to introduce a new loan scheme for taught Master’s study and a review of how to broaden and strengthen support for postgraduate research. Consultation responses have been analysed and the Department is preparing its response.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2015-12-07.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the revenue that is likely to accrue from Welsh employers as a result of the apprenticeship levy in each of the next five years.
Greg Hands
The apprenticeship levy will apply across the UK and will be collected from employers on a UK wide basis. An allowance of £15,000 means only those with a paybill exceeding £3million will have to pay it.
We are already working with the Welsh Government and the other devolved administrations to ensure they can get their fair share of the revenue and, as far as possible, to develop a system for administering the levy which complements the skills and apprenticeship policies of each of the devolved administrations.
We are committed to doing all we can to make the system work for employers wherever they are in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when developing his Department’s policy on local authority procurement policies and companies’ investment and divestment decisions announced on 3 October 2015.
Matthew Hancock
Cabinet Office will shortly issue guidance that reminds public authorities of their international obligations when letting public contracts. Foreign policy is not a matter for local authorities. The guidance will make clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate and may be illegal, outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions that have been put in place by the Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) social and (b) affordable housing tenants in receipt of housing benefit who have paid rents in excess of local housing allowance rates in each of the last six years.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on HMS Artful.
Mr Philip Dunne
The first three Astute class submarines were ordered as a single batch. Separate construction costs for Artful are, therefore, not held by the department. As such, it is not possible to determine how much the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has spent on HMS Artful individually; nor what the MOD expected the specific cost of HMS Artful to be, when commissioned.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has examined the funding of horseracing from remote gambling in France and Ireland to inform its policy on the funding of horseracing in Britain.
Tracey Crouch
To inform work to replace the current levy system, we have commissioned an independent economic analysis of the costs and funding of horseracing. This economic analysis work will also examine relevant comparable models
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to close the feed-in tariff scheme in January 2016; and if she will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
The FIT review consultation was published on 27 August and closed on 23 October. The review proposed changes to generation tariffs and tariff bands and included proposals on cost control measures, such as capping deployment, in order to put the scheme onto an affordable and sustainable footing. An option to close the scheme, should cost control measures not be sufficient to achieve this, was also set out in the consultation.
We have received nearly 55,000 responses to the consultation. We are currently analysing these responses and will do so as quickly as possible. We will publish a Government response in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations he has received from his French, American and German counterparts on Britain’s decision to extend airstrikes to Syria.
Penny Mordaunt
My French, American and German counterparts have all welcomed the role we are now playing in Syria.