Tag: Andrew Rosindell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the rollout of the new submarines for the replacement Trident programme does not disrupt the Government’s commitment to having a constant at-sea deterrent.

Harriett Baldwin

As set out in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, we are taking steps to manage the defence nuclear enterprise and ensure the Successor submarines are delivered to time and budget. As part of this, we have established a new Director-General Nuclear to act as single and accountable focal point within the Ministry of Defence for all aspects of the defence nuclear enterprise. We are also establishing a new submarine delivery body for the procurement and in-service support of all nuclear submarines, including the Successor submarines. We have deliberately moved away from a traditional single ‘Main Gate’ approach, to a staged investment approach with multiple control points. This will enable us to better regulate and control programme funding and delivery.

The rollout of the Successor submarines supports the programme to maintain a Continuous at Sea Deterrent.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that UK-based science research teams can employ foreign researchers without restriction.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Immigration reforms since 2010 have explicitly taken account of the needs of scientists and researchers. The Government has consistently enhanced the treatment of scientists and science in the immigration system.

In Tier 2, the skilled work route for non-EEA nationals, PhD-level occupations have higher priority when allocating places within the annual limit. These occupations are also exempted from the £35,000 earnings threshold for settlement applications, and we have relaxed the Resident Labour Market Test to allow the best candidate to be appointed, regardless of nationality.

We have introduced the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route for world leaders in science, engineering, humanities, the arts and digital technology.

The Tier 5 (Temporary Work) route contains further provisions which enable sponsored researchers to participate in international research collaborations

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2016 to Question 906599, for what reason that Answer does not refer to unemployment levels.

Damian Hinds

The Department has made no assessment of the effect of the National Living Wage on employment levels. However, in 2015 the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that the National Living Wage would have a +0.2 percentage point impact on the unemployment rate by April 2020 – equivalent to around 60,000 people.

The Government is committed to reducing long-term unemployment and youth unemployment, and the overall unemployment rate is currently at the historically low level of 4.9%. The Government will also continue to consider advice on increases of the National Living Wage from the Low Pay Commission, whose remit it is to make sure that wages rise to reward workers while considering the impact on the economy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Government’s policy is on the provision of incremental annual pay rises for personnel of the armed forces; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt

As part of its New Employment Model programme, Defence is developing a new pay model which will be simpler, more transparent and provide Service personnel with greater pay predictability, removing some of the unpopular and divisive features of the current pay model. However, the details of this new pay model, including incremental progression arrangements, cannot be finalised until the outcome of the Spending Review is known.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress has been made on the application by Romford Football Club to build a stadium on Westlands playing field; and when she expects a decision on that application will be reached.

Edward Timpson

School playing fields are protected by Section 77 of the SchoolStandards and Framework Act 1998. Schoolsand local authorities must obtain the Secretary of State’s approval beforethey can dispose of their land. Applications to dispose of schoolplaying fields are considered by the independent school playing fields advisory panel, and are approved only when it is demonstrated that the application meets published criteria.

We are aware of an application by Havering Local Authority to seek approval to dispose of part of Westlands Playing Field to Romford Football Club. The application is currently being processed by officials at the Education Funding Agency, who are seeking further detail from the local authority about the proposal. The application will only be considered when sufficient information is available to assess the overall benefit of the scheme against the needs of pupils and existing community users. The Secretary of State will consider the panel’s recommendation before making her final decision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will assess the extent to which grants made by his Department to third parties are used for activities designed to influence his Department, other departments or Parliament.

Joseph Johnson

Grants made by my Department and its partner organisations can only be used for lawful activities and for purposes which have been approved by Parliament – for example to promote business, research and innovation. Any unauthorised activities should not attract grant support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations he has received from his French, American and German counterparts on Britain’s decision to extend airstrikes to Syria.

Penny Mordaunt

My French, American and German counterparts have all welcomed the role we are now playing in Syria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to reduce net migration from Europe, other than seeking reform of provision of welfare for non-British EU citizens.

James Brokenshire

Free movement is an important principle of the EU but it is not an unqualified right and it must be grounded in the freedom to take up work in another Member State, to contribute to the economy and to integrate into society.

We have taken firm steps to restrict access to out of work benefits by EU jobseekers and we can remove them if they are not in a job within six months. We have removed access to Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for jobseekers and introduced a new test to check whether EU nationals who claim in-work benefits really have meaningful and effective employment here.

We have toughened the Habitual Residence Test, the gateway test which all migrants have to satisfy to access benefits, and we have introduced tougher checks for the payment of child benefit and child tax credit to EU nationals. To tackle abuse, we have introduced new powers so that EU nationals who don’t meet the requirements for residence are removed and banned from coming back for 12 months, unless they have a valid reason to be here (for example an immediate job start).

The Prime Minister set out in his speech on 10 November and in his letter to the President of the European Council the issues we are seeking to tackle through the EU reform negotiations to restore a sense of fairness to our immigration system and to reduce the current very high level of population flows from within the EU into the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will press rail companies to use increases in revenue to invest and upgrade rail infrastructure.

Claire Perry

The railway is funded by both taxpayers and passengers. Network Rail own the infrastructure, not the train operators. The government is using the increased revenue, which is paid in franchise premiums to the Department for Transport, to help fund Network Rail’s investment programme. This will see them spend over £38 billion in the period 2014-19 on maintaining and improving rail infrastructure, in the biggest and most comprehensive programme of railway modernisation since the Victorians.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-11.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that any extra workload due to plans to require the filing of quarterly tax returns by small businesses does not reduce profits and productivity for such small businesses.

Mr David Gauke

I refer the honourable Members to my response of 11 January 2016 (with references 20876 and 21032).

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