Tag: 2015

  • Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps (a) he and (b) his Department made to secure a buyer for Redcar coke ovens and blast furnace before the Official Receiver called for a hard closure.

    Anna Soubry

    Commercial decisions on the purchase of assets are the prerogative of the companies involved and government has no powers to oblige companies to purchase assets.

    On liquidation of a company, it is the responsibility of the liquidator to sell the free assets of the company. In the case of SSI UK, this was the Official Receiver.

    I am informed that the Official Receiver did maintain operations at SSI, including the coke ovens, for a period while he tried to find purchasers for the assets of SSI UK but as of the 12 October, no purchaser had been found and the Official Receiver ceased operations of the coke ovens and blast furnace.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 2.64 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, how she plans to make £600 million savings from the Education Services Grant; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Savings of £600 million will be made by reducing the Education Services Grant (ESG), including phasing out the additional funding that goes to schools and local authorities. We will be making a small efficiency saving (around £80 million) from the ESG in 2016-17, and will be setting out our proposals for savings from 2017-18 in the New Year. This will include consulting on the details of the statutory duties that will be removed.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which regulations his Office introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date; which regulations his Office expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

    Matthew Hancock

    No regulations were introduced by the Cabinet Office as a result of EU legislation in 2013 and 2014.

    So far in 2015 the Cabinet Office has introduced the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 which have estimated net annual savings of £3.6 Billion. No further regulations arising from EU legislation are planned for introduction in 2015.

    Looking ahead to 2016 two regulations are expected to be implemented by the Cabinet Office as a result of EU legislation. These are the Utilities Contract Regulations and Concessions Contract Regulations.

    Details of all the estimated costs to the Public Purse and Private Sector are provided in the table below:

    Year

    Title of Regulation

    Cost to Business

    Cost to Public Purse

    2013

    None

    2014

    None

    2015

    Public Contracts Regulations 2015

    £3.6Billion saving

    2016

    Utilities Contract Regulations

    £0.14M

    £0.09M

    Concessions Contract Regulations

    £0.3M

    £0.85

    2017

    None

    “

  • Mike Weir – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mike Weir – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will assess the expected cost to UK consumers who elect to cancel booked package holidays to Sharm el Sheikh and other destinations in the Middle East scheduled to depart during the months of December 2015 and January 2016 where such cancellation is not penalty-free; and if he will make it his Department’s policy to issue travel advice which will allow penalty-free cancellation for travel booked to depart during those months.

    James Duddridge

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice provides information and advice so that British nationals can make their own better informed decisions about foreign travel. The Department for Business Innovation and Skills is responsible for regulation of the travel industry and it is not the role of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to intervene in the regulation of this market. British nationals who have booked package holidays should contact their travel company if they wish to cancel their booking. These holidays will be subject to the terms and conditions of the booking and the provisions of the Package Travel Regulations, which cover among other things changes between the time of booking and the time of travel. Where the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against travel since a holiday has been booked, such as Sharm el Sheikh, it is unlikely that a penalty will be incurred.

  • Mark Durkan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Durkan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress made by the Cayman Islands since June 2013 in meeting the Prime Minister’s ambition for a public register of beneficial ownership.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the answer given by my Rt Hon Friend, the Member for South West Hertfordshire (David Gauke MP), the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, to questions 10437, 10438 and 10448, which sets out the criteria we expect the Overseas Territories to meet in relation to their central register of company beneficial ownership, or similarly effective system.

    We are continuing our dialogue with the Anguilla authorities on this and have offered any technical support that might be required as they develop their proposals.

  • Mark Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Field on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average unit cost of caring for a victim of human trafficking in a government-funded shelter is; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government funds a range of support services through a contract with The Salvation Army. It is not possible to provide an average unit cost because the needs of potential victims of trafficking are varied, as is the length of stay in accommodation, where provided.

  • Nigel Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nigel Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the reasons were for the Ministry of Defence Police failing to disclose army doctors’, chaplains’, commanding officers’ and Lt. Col. Jolleys’ own statement of his circumstances.

    Mark Lancaster

    A Special Investigation Branch Report was served as evidence at Lt Col Jolleys’ trial and was provided to his Defence team pre-trial.

    It will take time to gather the further information and I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employers applied to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to have their employees’ statutory maternity pay paid in advance in each of the last five financial years; what proportion of those applications were (a) accepted and (b) rejected; and what average time was taken by HMRC to make decisions on those applications.

    Priti Patel

    DWP data on the amount of National Insurance Contributions claimed by employers to pay for Statutory Maternity Pay comes from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

    The information is not available as requested. HMRC do not keep records of the number of claims to advanced funding which are rejected and therefore it is not possible to provide proportions of those (a) accepted and (b) rejected.

  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the likely annual cost to electricity customers of the proposed Hinkley Point C power station (a) in total and (b) per customer.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Under the CfD consumers will not pay anything for electricity until the plant is powering their homes and businesses. Payments under the CfD are expected to make up around £10 (real 2012 prices) of the average household energy bill in 2030. This should be seen in the context of Hinkley Point C meeting 7% of the UK’s energy needs, and set against our estimate that a new nuclear programme could reduce average household bills by up to around £30 in 2030. This is calculated by comparing the costs for consumers in a modelled scenario for the future electricity mix with Hinkley Point C and a further role out of the new nuclear programme with the cost for consumers in a scenario where there are no new nuclear power stations by 2030. Savings could be higher or lower depending on changes in the cost of alternative generation technologies and what mix of technologies would ultimately be used.

  • Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average response time to dwelling fires was for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.

    Mike Penning

    I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.

    Information on average response times to dwelling fires for each fire and rescue service and for each year is available in Table 3b of the Department’s Fire incidents response times: England publication at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-incidents-response-times-england-2014-to-2015

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