Tag: Adam Afriyie

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.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ending the national curriculum at the age of 14.

Nick Gibb

The Government believes that the majority of pupils should study a core academic curriculum up to the age of 16. The core academic curriculum refers to the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). The Government’s ambition is for 90% of pupils to enter the EBacc subjects at GCSE. The national curriculum serves an important role in setting out the sort of knowledge-based, ambitious, academically rigorous education which every child should experience. It enables pupils to develop the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes necessary for their self-fulfilment and development as active and responsible citizens.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Government will make it its policy that should a third runway be agreed at Heathrow Airport, that runway will not be permitted to operate if the airport breaches air quality limits.

Mr John Hayes

The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. We are carefully considering the evidence in relation to all three schemes. The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015, and has since been undertaking a programme of further work, including on air quality, to support a decision on a preferred scheme. The Government’s decision on a preferred scheme will take into account the Government’s overall plan to improve air quality and its commitments to comply with legal obligations.

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.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to encourage applications to university technical colleges.

Nick Boles

Like all academies, each university technical college (UTC) is responsible for publicising their school and encouraging applications. Officials from the Department for Education and the Baker Dearing Educational Trust provide UTCs with advice to support pupil recruitment, drawing on the best practice from UTCs and other new schools. Statutory guidance to schools on careers guidance is clear that they should allow UTCs to engage with their pupils on their premises. This guidance can be found at GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-provision-for-young-people-in-schools. This careers guidance should ensure pupils have information about their full range of education and training options.

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