Tag: Alison Thewliss

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many full driving licences have been issued to people in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) the city of Glasgow in the last 10 years.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) only issues licences to drivers in Great Britain. Since July 2007, 68,096,270 full driving licences have been issued to people in GB. This is the number of driving licences produced and despatched by the DVLA and includes new licences, renewals, exchanges and replacements. The DVLA does not hold statistics on the number of licences issued before July 2007 as this is when the current method of producing licences began.

The DVLA only retains information about the number of full and provisional driving licences issued and does not record how many of these licences were issued by country or region.

However, it is possible to extract figures from the DVLA’s drivers’ database to show the number of people who hold full driving licences for countries and regions of GB. There are 38,571,679 full driving licence holders in Great Britain, 3,205,868 in Scotland and 651,045 in Glasgow.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-05-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent payday loan companies from advertising financial services from third party companies to customers during the loan application process.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, transferring regulatory responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014. This more robust regulatory system is helping to deliver the Government’s vision for a well-functioning and sustainable consumer credit market which is able to meet consumers’ needs.

The FCA has introduced detailed rules regarding firms’ promotions and advertisements. It has consulted on possible new rules, including forbidding financial promotions appearing in or among the rankings of price comparison websites comparing high-cost short-term credit.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward proposals to ban the promotion of high-risk credit products through unsolicited direct marketing mail and telephone calls.

Simon Kirby

The Government has, as part of its action plan to address nuisance calls, made it easier for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to take action against nuisance callers. The Government has removed the legal threshold requiring the ICO to prove a firm has caused ‘substantial damage or substantial distress’, and increased the level of fine available to punish rogue companies.

The Financial Conduct Authority is also committed to ensuring that cold calling by phone, text or email makes clear the identity of the firm, and the purpose of the communication, so the consumer can decide whether to proceed. Such promotions are also required to include a representative example or APR. Regulated firms must comply with data protection and Telephone and Mail Preference Service requirements.

In addition, the FCA has committed to review its rules on unsolicited marketing calls, emails and text messages from consumer credit firms, including payday lenders. The review will include specifically looking at whether these unsolicited communications should be banned, given the potential for causing significant distress to consumers. The FCA will publish the outcome of that review by the end of the year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the Government donated to the UN Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan in 2015-16; and how much the Government plans to donate to that Plan in 2016-17.

Rory Stewart

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided on 15 September to Question number 45832.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK aged 18 to 20 earning £5.30 per hour.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many initially rejected visa applications have been reconsidered as a result of changes in circumstances during the assessment process.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office does not hold the information requested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the financial requirements for tier 1 Entrepreneur visas.

James Brokenshire

In March 2015, the Government commissioned the Independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to assess the economic benefit of the UK’s provisions for non-EEA entrepreneurs. The MAC made a number of recommendations for reform of the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route. On financial requirements they recommended that:

• the Government consider setting the lower investment threshold in the range of £40,000 to £50,000; and

• the higher investment threshold of £200,000 should apply to each applicant (currently, two applicants can share the funding i.e. £100,000 each), and that there may be a case for an inflationary uplift.

The Government is currently considering the MAC’s advice, and will announce its response in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Financial Conduct Authority is taking to enforce rules which prevent misleading advertisement by credit brokers.

Mr Edward Vaizey

This Government supports the system of co-regulation and self-regulation, overseen by the independent Advertising Standards Authority and underpinned by consumer protection legislation. This regulatory system is independent of the Government and is ultimately responsible for setting the standards in advertising, ensuring that all adverts, wherever they appear, are legal, decent, honest and truthful. The Government believes the system has worked well, suitably serving consumers and is sufficiently flexible to deal with both technological advances and new evidence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made by the Financial Conduct Authority in its review of nuisance calls relating to consumer credit.

Simon Kirby

The FCA has committed to review its rules on unsolicited marketing calls, emails and text messages from consumer credit firms, including payday lenders. The review includes specifically looking at whether these unsolicited communications should be banned.

The FCA will publish the results of this review before the end of this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that consumers are adequately informed about the option to switch to gas and electricity tariffs with zero standing charge.

Jesse Norman

Tariffs with zero standing charge generally have a higher unit charge than tariffs with a standing charge, as the cost to supply is only recovered when energy is used. This tariff may benefit low energy using households but not others. Under the terms in the supply licence, suppliers must provide individual customers with details of their cheapest tariff and an estimate of annual savings. Customers can shop around for the best energy deal that suits their needs by using a price comparison company that operates in accordance with the Confidence Code, a code of practice managed by Ofgem for accredited price comparison companies.