Tag: 2016

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress the Government has made in negotiating with its EU partners about developing anti-dumping measures covering steel imports.

    Anna Soubry

    The EU’s anti-dumping procedures are driven by requests from EU producers to the European Commission. The Commission is responsible for considering requests for and, if appropriate, opening anti-dumping investigations. My International Comparisons working group agreed to work closely with the steel industry on supporting cases where they provide evidence of dumping, as we did with Celsa Steel and rebar last year.

    The Government is strongly in favour of effective trade defences to tackle unfair trade practices. The Government voted in favour of anti-dumping measures on steel products in July and November and it was the UK that lobbied successfully for an investigation into rebar. The Government secured agreement on the need for fast and effective action at an EU level and a robust dialogue with China and other producer countries at the Extraordinary Competitiveness Council in November. We have pressed the Commission to consider ways of speeding up investigations and recently wrote to the Commission with specific proposals. We will be attending a summit meeting on 15 February to push for further progress. Recent announcements by the EU on registration measures for cold rolled strip and rebar show they have listened and are taking swifter action.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to assist middle-income families with their pension planning.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The government is committed to making sure that people can access high quality, affordable, tailored advice and guidance to help them make informed financial decisions.

    The government set up Pension Wise to offer free and impartial guidance to those eligible to access the pension freedoms, to allow them to make confident, informed choices about how to use their retirement savings. The government has also extended access to the service, allowing those aged 50 and above to use guidance sessions to help them plan for their retirement. In addition, the Money Advice Service provides guides to help people improve their finances; tools and calculators to help them track and plan ahead; and offers support in person, over the phone and online.

    The government recognises that there is a potential “advice gap” for people who do not have significant wealth. The government launched the Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR), which is being led jointly by HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority, to look at how best to increase the accessibility and affordability of financial advice. The government also launched the Public Financial Guidance consultation to look at how the provision of public financial guidance could be made more effective for consumers. Both FAMR and the Public Financial Guidance consultation will publish their recommendations in time for Budget 2016.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the cost of building the Liverpool Women’s Hospital, and whether it was built under a private finance initiative scheme.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    This information is not available centrally. This information may be obtained from the Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust. We have written to Robert Clarke, Chair of the Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust informing him of the noble Lord’s enquiry. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the pension entitlement is of officers of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Under the Energy Act 2004, it is the responsibility of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority to provide and maintain the pensions of the officers of the civil nuclear constabulary. These pensions are currently provided by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2016 to Question 34525, if he will publish the (a) outcomes of his Department’s regular discussions with local enterprise partnerships on their progress with local growth programmes and (b) annual performance review with the Local Enterprise Partnership.

    James Wharton

    We are clear in the Local Enterprise Partnership Assurance Framework that Local Enterprise Partnerships should operate transparently, giving people confidence that decisions made are proper, based on evidence, and capable of being independently scrutinised. How each Local Enterprise Partnership will achieve this is set out in their local assurance framework. In accordance with this approach, Government does not publish outcomes of regular discussions with Local Enterprise Partnerships or of annual reviews.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academies applied for an exemption from providing a broadly Christian daily act of collective worship in each year since 2010; and how many of those schools were defined as non-faith.

    Edward Timpson

    13 open academies have applied for an exemption from providing a broadly Christian act of collective worship since April 2012 when the Education Funding Agency was established. All of the applicants were non-faith schools as only non-faith schools can apply for an exemption.

    Financial Year

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    Open academies who have applied for an exemption from providing a broadly Christian act of collective worship

    0

    1

    10

    2
  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many illegal schools have been closed down, and how many people have been prosecuted for running an illegal school, in each of the last five years.

    Lord Nash

    We are determined to keep children safe in and out of school and have made it very clear that it is an offence to operate an unregistered independent school. We announced in January funding for Ofsted to establish a dedicated team of specialist inspectors to investigate such settings. Since that time, there’s been a significant escalation in Ofsted investigations of settings, which has resulted in the closure of many.

    However, the numbers of unregistered schools, including closures fluctuates all the time as new ones come to our attention, existing ones are closed down, or are confirmed as not operating as schools. Such settings also proceed to go through the registration process and may be operating in some capacity, but on a part-time basis which is not an offence.

    No prosecutions have yet been taken but we are working closely with Ofsted and the Crown Prosecution Service on taking forward prosecutions of individuals running them, where appropriate.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received from the Welsh Government in the last week on the announcement of job losses in South Wales by Tata Steel.

    Anna Soubry

    In the light of this announcement, we have been discussing with the Welsh Government how we can work together to ensure a sustainable and successful future for the steel industry in Wales. Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills attended the first meeting of the Port Talbot Taskforce on 20th January, which was convened by the Welsh Government to develop plans to limit the impact of the job losses and support the industry further. The Welsh Government also wrote to my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 19th January.

  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many Syrian nationals have resettled in each region under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme since March 2014.

    Richard Harrington

    My rt. hon. Friend, the Prime Minister confirmed on 7 September 2015 that the UK would resettle an additional 20,000 Syrian refugees using the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees process for identifying and resettling refugees. On 16 December he announced that the Government had met its target of resettling 1,000 Syrian refugees by Christmas.

    The Home Office is committed to publishing data on the number of people resettled under the programme as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 25 May 2016 and will cover the period January – March 2016. These numbers will be updated each quarter.

    Participation in the Resettlement Scheme is voluntary by local authorities, and some do not wish to have their participation published. As such, the statistics do not include the local authority or region to which people are resettled.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding his Department allocated in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2015-16 to reduce the number of people who were classified as not in education, employment or training.

    Nick Boles

    Further education funding is demand led. We do not allocate funding to specific groups but our entitlements are aimed at supporting disadvantaged groups, including the unemployed.

    168,900 benefit claimants aged 19-24 started further education training in 2013/14, compared to 132,000 in 2011/12.