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Tag: 2015

  • Chris Stephens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Stephens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what percentage pay award was made to employees of each Government department in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

    Matthew Hancock

    In line with Public Sector Pay Policy, Civil Service departments and agencies made average consolidated pay awards of 1 per cent in 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16. Departments and agencies are responsible for determining how to allocate the award to their staff, but the Government expects pay increases to be applied in a targeted‎ manner within workforces to support high performance and the delivery of public services.

  • The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Countess of Mar on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 8 July (HL831), how many of the recorded fume or smell events during the 100 flights referred to in that answer were reported to the Civil Aviation Authority under the mandatory reporting scheme.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    No fume event occurred during this study (Aircraft Cabin Air Sampling Study, Cranfield University, 2011) which triggered the airline’s formal reporting procedures to the Civil Aviation Authority.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Freshfields Brukhaus Deringer has received in legal fees from the public purse since 2010.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Legal fees paid to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in the last five financial years are as follows in the table below.

    Supplier

    Year

    Spend

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

    2010-11

    £0

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

    2011-12

    £0

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

    2012-13

    £0

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

    2013-14

    £23,603

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

    2014-15

    £1,920,914.24
  • 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 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the contribution of (a) crowdfunding businesses, (b) peer-to-peer lending businesses and (c) big data businesses to the UK economy.

    Anna Soubry

    The state of equity investment in small businesses was assessed by the British Business Bank in March this year. Their report shows an overall increase in equity investment to small firms in each of the past four years, with both the number of deals and the total amount invested showing a clear upward trend. The contribution from crowdfunding has grown strongly since 2012. By the third quarter of 2014, deal numbers exceeded those of private equity, accounting for almost one-third of seed funding deals in the first half of 2014.

    The Peer-to-Peer Finance Association publishes quarterly performance data, which show net new lending to small businesses of £91m in Q3 2015. According to NESTA, peer-to-peer lending in the UK grew at a rate of 250% annually between 2012 and 2014. The growth of the UK peer-to-peer lending sector has been facilitated by a responsive and flexible regulatory regime that recognises the importance of a competitive and diverse market for business finance.

    The Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that the big data market could benefit the UK economy by up to £216 billion between 2012 and 2017. Research by NESTA has also found that UK companies making greater use of online customer data are up to 13% more productive than their peers.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to improve the security of mobile devices that are used to access internet banking.

    Mike Penning

    Through the National Cyber Security Programme, the Government committed £860 million in the last Parliament to increase the cyber security of the UK. This has included a range of work with industry to increase their cyber resilience. For example, the Cyber Essentials scheme sets out the basic technical controls organisations should have in place to protect against common cyber attacks. As the Chancellor also announced on 17 November, spending on the UK’s cyber security programmes will be almost doubled over the next five years, with £1.9 billion funding. Although Government is making a significant investment, partnership between the public and private sector is crucial to making the UK one of the safest places to do business online. By identifying and closing down vulnerabilities in their systems and processes, the private sector can make it much more difficult for criminals to operate. That is why we are working closely with the private sector to drive up standards. In the coming months we will also publish, in collaboration with industry, information to help the public better understand key cyber security principles of devices to help them to make more informed decisions. This work will be a part of the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, which I intend to Publish next year.

    At the same time, through our Cyber Streetwise campaign, we are helping to inform the public of simple security measures, such as installing security software, which in themselves can protect them and their devices against fraud.

  • Toby Perkins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Toby Perkins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-11-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on the establishment of a UN body to lead the re-writing of tax rules to help prevent multinational companies from avoiding paying tax in developing countries.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is committed to supporting developing countries access sustainable sources of revenue and collect the taxes they are due. However, it has concerns that the establishment of a UN body with responsibility for agreeing international tax rules would lead to duplication with the ongoing work of the G20 and OECD, and would make it more difficult to achieve agreement on international tax reforms.

    The UK has been at the forefront of recent international efforts to ensure that taxing rights are closely aligned with economic activity through the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. Developing countries have been directly involved at working and decision-making levels in BEPS discussions and all countries will be able to benefit from the changes resulting from this work.

    The Government is also working through the G20 Development Working Group and with international organisations to produce practical toolkits that will assist developing countries in implementing the BEPS recommendations. In addition, the Government funds tax capacity building in the vast majority of our priority developing countries bilaterally and multilaterally, as well as through peer-to-peer technical assistance from HM Revenue and Customs.

  • Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council on Dupuytren’s contracture due to hand-transmitted vibration, Cm 8860, published in May 2014, when he plans to add that condition to the list of industrial injuries disablement benefit diseases.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The proposal to add Dupuytren’s Contracture is under consideration and a decision on this will be made in due course.

  • Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent to date on the new British naval base recently opened in Bahrain by the (a) Government and (b) Bahraini government; and what the value has been of services provided by the Bahraini government to that naval base.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    Currently the UK has a Maritime Component Command (MCC) HQ and collocated Fleet Support Unit (FSU), which is a warehouse,in Bahrain. These were constructed on our behalf by the United States, at a cost to the UK Government of $10million. The Government expects to pay the United States for the ongoing running costs of these facilities, the precise costs of which are yet to be determined. The Kingdom of Bahrain (KoB) has no involvement in these arrangements.

    The construction of the new UK Mina Salman Support Facility (MSSF) in Bahrain will consist of accommodation, life support facilities and further storage and will enhance the support to UK forces in the Gulf Region. Construction of the UK MSSF is being funded primarily by the KoB. To date in 2014 and 2015 the UK Government has expended £277,000 on engineering consultancy costs for the UK MSSF. We expect to contribute around £9 million towards the construction of the new UK MSSF. This will include costs of bespoke UK technical facilities and the additional cost of ensuring compliance with UK regulations.The balance of the costs, will fall to the KoB.

    There are no running costs forecast in the current year or 2016-17, from 2017-18 the running costs for the UK MSSF are forecast to be £12 million per annum.

  • 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 make an assessment of the probability that the net present value of each of the three shortlisted schemes examined by the Airports Commission is zero or negative.

    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.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2015 to Question 13491, if she will make it her policy to designate all the areas supplying aquifers used for drinking water as Source Protection Zones 1.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Source Protection Zones identify the area of an aquifer that provides the water abstracted at the drinking water supply borehole. Source Protection Zones 1 (SPZ1) are the area within which pollution would take less than 50 days to reach an abstraction point and where the consequences of groundwater pollution would therefore be greatest. They are used by the Environment Agency as a tool for regulation. The Environment Agency will not permit drilling for oil or gas in an SPZ1. Outside SPZ1s the Environment Agency will require a site specific risk assessment and will only permit drilling for oil or gas if it is satisfied that there is no significant risk to supplies of drinking water and no unacceptable impact on groundwater.