Tag: Adam Afriyie

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Prompt Payment Code on (a) UK businesses in the FinTech sector and (b) other businesses.

Anna Soubry

The Prompt Payment Code is a voluntary code which organisations from the public, private and third sector can sign up to. The Government monitors a variety of sources to monitor the level of late payment debt. We are not able to assess the direct effect of the Prompt Payment Code on any individual sector.

New transparency measures will allow us to monitor the payment performance of signatories. Through powers in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 the Government will introduce a new reporting requirement on the UK’s largest companies – including many Code signatories – to report on their payment practices and performance. We plan to introduce this next year, and the Code will make full use of this new information. From next year small and medium-sized Code signatories will also report on their payment performance directly to the Code. Small and medium-sized companies will report, on an annual basis, on a comply or explain basis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-03-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the UK’s net financial contribution to the EU budget (a) was in 2006 and (b) is in 2015-16.

Mr David Gauke

The UK’s net contribution to the EU in 2006, including rebate and total receipts from the EU, can be found in the tables appended in the EU’s Financial Report 2014:

ec.europa.eu/budget/library/biblio/documents/2014/Internet%20tables%202000-2014.xls

No comparable figure can be provided for 2015-16 as outturn data will only become available later in the year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate the amount lost to cyber fraud in the public sector in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock

We are unable to provide an estimate of the loss to cyber fraud in the public sector each year since 2010. We have considered the information available to us and do not have any data available to help inform such an estimate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the bank referral scheme announced in the 2015 Budget in providing accessible finance to small and medium-seized enterprises.

Harriett Baldwin

The bank referral scheme is not yet up and running but the Government is committed to delivering this policy which will help small and medium sized enterprises access the finance they need to grow and expand.

Since the Government announced the Finance Platform policy at Budget 2014 significant progress on implementation has been made. The Government has consulted, passed primary legislation and is now close to making secondary legislation.

The British Business Bank is currently undertaking a due diligence process on Finance Platforms that have expressed an interest in becoming designated and will advise HM Treasury on designation in the Spring; with the policy expected to ‘go live’ later in 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-03-22.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of measures in Budget 2016 on social mobility.

Mr David Gauke

The Government has carefully considered the impact of the tax and benefit reforms introduced in Budget. It is committed to improving social mobility by moving towards a higher wage, lower tax and lower welfare society.

The Government published distributional analysis to accompany Budget 2016 which shows that the richest are paying a greater share of tax as a result of this government’s policies while the share of spending going to the poorest has been protected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing the recommendation of the Civil Aviation Authority that night flights at Heathrow Airport be banned between 11.00pm and 6.00am on the two runways at that airport.

Mr John Hayes

We are aware of no such recommendation from the Civil Aviation Authority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to publish a health impact assessment on proposals for new airport runways of (a) the health effects of noise and (b) other health effects before the construction of those runways is started.

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 below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-04-12.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the report by the Office for Tax Simplification’s, The closer alignment of income tax and national insurance, published in March 2016.

Mr David Gauke

Budget 2016 announced that the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) will review the impacts of moving employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) to an annual, cumulative and aggregated basis and moving employer NICs to a payroll basis. After this review, the Government will respond in full to the OTS’s review of the closer alignment of income tax and NICs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to impose conditions on the airport which is awarded an additional runway when making a decision on the expansion of airport capacity.

Mr John Hayes

The Government remains fully committed to delivering the important infrastructure projects it has set out, including delivering runway capacity on the timetable set out by Sir Howard Davies.

The Government believes it is essential that expansion via any of the shortlisted schemes is accompanied by a strong package of measures to mitigate the impacts on communities and the environment, and will set out any requirements in this area on a preferred scheme promoter in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made on pilot schemes of driverless cars.

Anna Soubry

Following the Innovate UK competition, ‘Introducing Driverless Cars to UK roads’ in July last year three exciting world leading projects, UKAutodrive, Venturer and GATEway, are now underway and making good progress.

The Government-backed Milton Keynes driverless Pathfinder pods have been incorporated into the UKAutodrive project. They were demonstrated recently at the ITS World Congress in Bordeaux and attracted a great deal of international attention. Venturer, based in Bristol is delivering important insights around situational awareness, a key area for autonomous systems. The GATEway project will evaluate the integration and acceptance of automated vehicles in the real world.