Tag: 2016

  • 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.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 20 January 2016 to Questions 22933, 22934 and 22935, how many of the 15 Commonwealth realms recognise UK honours as a substantive rather than honorary award; when the policy or convention in the UK of not recognising all Commonwealth realm knighthoods substantively was established; and if he will make a statement.

    James Duddridge

    Whether a Commonwealth realm recognises UK honours as substantive is a matter for that realm. The protocol of not recognising the titles associated with Commonwealth realm knighthoods awarded to British nationals follows the convention established in 1813, whereby no permission is given for the use of any title associated with a foreign award given to a British national.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Government’s priorities are for the negotiations on the revised EU Directive on Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provisions.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government’s priority for the draft Directive is ensuring sound and proportionate regulation of occupational pension schemes, which respects differences in the national arrangements between Member States.

    As is usual practice, an overall impact assessment for the draft Directive has been prepared by the EU institutions, and a national-level impact assessment will be prepared as and when the Directive is transposed into UK law.

    The Government has approached negotiations on the Directive in line with the usual co-ordination process across departments.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans his Department has to publicly support LGBT rights and progress towards the recognition of same-sex unions in the Cayman Islands.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Work to combat discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people forms an important part of our international human rights work. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office works through our Embassies and High Commissions, and through international organisations, including the Commonwealth, the EU and the UN, to promote tolerance and non-discrimination against LGBT people and to address discriminatory laws, in particular those that criminalise homosexuality. We expect all Overseas Territory governments to comply with their evolving international obligations in the field of human rights and hosted a conference in March this year for Territory representatives to discuss these issues. While we continue to encourage all OT governments to make progress on this agenda, ultimately legislation on recognition of same sex unions is a matter for OT governments.

  • Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the International Aid budget is spent by departments other than the Department for International Development, and which are those departments and how much they are spending.

    Lord Young of Cookham

    The estimated proportion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to be spent by Departments other than the Department for International Development based on the Spending Review 2015 settlement is 18% in 2016/17. The other departments spending ODA (including allocations from cross-Government funds) are: the Department of Health; the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy; the Foreign & Commonwealth Office; the Department for Energy, Food & Rural Affairs; HM Revenue & Customs; HM Treasury; the Office of National Statistics; the Department for Education; the Department for Work and Pensions; Department for Culture, Media & Sport; the Ministry of Defence; the Department for Transport; and the Home Office.

    Outturn figures are not yet available, but a detailed breakdown of the 2016 ODA spend by department will be published in April 2017.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people who work in the City of London have been prosecuted for a crime relating to financial misconduct since 2008.

    Harriett Baldwin

    We are unable to specifically identify whether alleged offenders prosecuted for committing a crime relating to financial misconduct worked in the City of London or any other geographical area. There are many criminal offences that could be construed as ‘relating to financial misconduct’ which are prosecuted by a number of differing authorities and a detailed answer could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

    Since 2009 the Financial Services Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority have prosecuted 59 individuals for offences including insider dealing, breaching the general prohibition and creating false or misleading impressions or statements, seven of whom were acquitted.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many new community cricket grounds have been opened in the last five years.

    David Evennett

    According to Sport England’s Active Places Power database which maps community sports facilities in England, 105 new community cricket pitches have been opened in England in the last five years. This data can be found at: www.activeplacespower.com

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of small business rate relief in each of the last three years.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The net cost to the public purse of Small Business Rate Relief is given in the table below. It is the total relief provided, less the yield from the large business supplement.

    £ million

    2014-15

    2015-16

    2016-17

    Relief Provided

    1,060

    1,070

    1,130

    Yield from Supplement

    540

    630

    650

    Net Cost

    520

    440

    480

    Source: National Non-Domestic Rates. 2015-16 and 2016-17 are forecasts.