Tag: Adam Afriyie

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed merger of O2 and Three on the competitive functioning of the mobile telecommunications industry.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The assessment of the impact of mergers on competition is a matter for the independent competition regulators. In the case of the takeover ofTelefónica UK (O2)byCKHutchison Holdings Ltd. (CKHH), which owns Three, the competent authority is the European Commission, due to the international scope of the deal, although the UK Competition and Markets Authority has applied for jurisdiction.

Any authority ruling on this merger will take advice from Ofcom, the UK’s independent communications regulator, on competition in the mobile communications sector in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the triple lock pension policy of the number of pensioners living in poverty in (a) Windsor, (b) the South East and (c) the UK.

Justin Tomlinson

While we can’t draw a direct link between the triple lock and pensioner poverty, pensioner poverty is at one of the lowest rates since records began. Pensioners are less likely to be in relative and absolute low income after housing costs than the population as a whole. The Government continues to support the poorest pensioners and from April 2016, Pension Credit will top up income to a guaranteed minimum level of £155.60 for a single person and £237.55 for couples.

The Government wants all pensioners to have a decent and secure income in retirement. We are committed to the triple lock, the guarantee that the basic State Pension will increase by the highest of the growth in average earnings, price increase or 2.5%. From April 2016, the basic State Pension will be over £1,100 a year higher than at the start of the last Parliament. This will benefit many of the 18,000 recipients of State Pension in Windsor, the 1.7 million recipients in the South East and the 13 million recipients in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-05-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the role of financial technology in encouraging consumers to switch their current account.

Harriett Baldwin

The government is committed to increasing competition in banking to improve outcomes for consumers. This includes delivering the Current Account Switch Service (CASS) which allows customers to switch their personal or business current account where they see a better deal – simply, quickly and reliably. Consumers have switched over 2.8 million times since the service was launched in 2013.

Making it easier for people to understand and compare banking products and services can help drive consumer engagement and could lead to an increase in switching. Financial technology is an important part of this.

In its recent provisional decision on remedies, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) proposed requiring the largest retail banks in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to develop and adopt an open API banking standard by early 2018.

This will make it easier for financial technology firms to make use of customer bank data in a variety of innovative ways, including providing services that make it easier for consumers to compare products and shop around for a better deal.

The government welcomes the CMA’s ongoing work as a crucial step towards the goal of a highly competitive banking sector, and stands ready to take action as necessary once the CMA publishes its final report in the summer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) time and (b) cost of clearing all contaminated material on the grounds where Heathrow plans to build a third runway.

Mr John Hayes

The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Airports Commission considered site enabling works as a part of their cost and commercial analysis and the Government is considering all of the evidence before reaching a view on its preferred scheme.

The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and outlined that it will take forward a draft Airports National Policy Statement (NPS) to deliver new airport capacity. The NPS will be supported by an Appraisal of Sustainability which will examine the economic, social and environmental impacts of the new runway proposals. This will include an assessment of the impacts on soil.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to deliver a faster payments infrastructure.

Harriett Baldwin

The Faster Payment Scheme (FPS) launched in 2008 and provides near-instant settlement for over one billion payments that consumers and businesses make every year.

FPS is one of the eight payment systems regulated by the new Payment Systems Regulator – which the Government launched in 2015, equipped with powers to ensure that UK payment systems are competitive and innovative. A key part of the PSR’s work is to ensure that UK payment systems work efficiently to deliver benefits for the individuals and firms that use them.

The Government is also working with the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Project Innovate – which looks to foster and support innovative financial technology (“FinTech”) firms, including firms that offer customers new and efficient ways to make payments in the UK.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will raise the ceiling at which aircraft may be vectored from 4,000 to 7,000 feet.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government is considering vectoring practices by air traffic controllers as part of a wider review of its policies on airspace and noise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government is taking to promote action to remove space debris.

Joseph Johnson

The United Kingdom, through the UK Space Agency (UKSA), is one of the thirteen members of the Inter-Agency Debris Coordination (IADC) Committee, which considers the risks posed by space debris. Our national experts, along with more than a hundred experts from other agencies including NASA, met at Harwell in March 2016 for the annual IADC meeting to discuss many issues, including the need for the removal of space debris from orbit, and how that could best be accomplished.

The UK is leading studies in partnership with other national agencies to model the future space environment and identify the most effective ways of mitigating the future hazard of space debris.

UKSA is working with its international partners in technical forums such as the IADC to develop scientific consensus on the best way to manage the hazard posed by debris, such as how many objects might need to be removed, and from where. UKSA is also working to build political consensus within UN forums such as the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space to enable such missions to go ahead with appropriate supervision and support from the international community. This includes developing appropriate regulatory/oversight frameworks within the UK’s Outer Space Act which allow such technologies to be tested and demonstrated safely in the increasingly congested and contested space environment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to put in place the Government’s commitment to parity of esteem between mental health treatment and physical health treatment.

Nicola Blackwood

The Government welcomed the publication of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health and Future in Mind to transform mental health services by 2020. The recommendations in these reports represent a significant step forward in achieving parity of esteem between mental and physical health. We continue to work with NHS England and other arm’s length bodies to embed the recommendations set out in these reports into our national policies and we are committed to reporting regularly and transparently on our progress.

These reports are supported by additional investment for mental health of over £2 billion up to 2020. We will be holding NHS England to account through the NHS Mandate to ensure that we deliver the commitments set out in these reports.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the availability of bank accounts for (a) crowd funding and (b) digital currency businesses.

Harriett Baldwin

As the Chancellor announced at the Budget in March, the Government intends to bring digital currency exchanges into the scope of anti-money laundering regulation. The digital currency industry has highlighted the current lack of regulation as one of the obstacles firms face when trying to get bank accounts in the UK. The new regulatory regime will be designed to support firms’ access to these vital banking services, and to foster an environment in which legitimate digital currency businesses can flourish in the UK. The Treasury will consult on the detail of regulation shortly.

The Government has supported the crowdfunding industry by consulting on whether to extend ISA eligibility to debt and equity crowdfunding and helping equity crowdfunding through the tax efficient Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) – without which 24% of investors say they would not have invested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of autonomous emergency braking systems in reducing the number of road traffic accidents.

Andrew Jones

The Department has not made any detailed assessment of the effectiveness of autonomous emergency braking systems, but we are aware that a number of studies have highlighted the potential for a reduction in collisions. Most trucks exceeding 8 tonnes and coaches registered after 1 November 2015 are fitted with it, and we support measures by EuroNCAP to encourage its fitment in new cars.