Tag: Angela Rayner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26069, for what reason the Chair’s Statement must be requested by beneficiaries rather than provided automatically.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government remains committed to ensuring that members of pension schemes are able to obtain information about the costs and charges which they bear. Although it is not a legal requirement, the Government expects that many schemes will choose to publish their annual Chair’s Statement. In due course, the Government intends to make regulations requiring information about scheme costs and charges to be published.

Trade unions that are recognised to any extent for the purposes of collective bargaining in relation to members of the scheme are entitled to receive a copy of the Chair’s Statement. Trade unions which do not meet these criteria are not entitled to receive a copy of the Chair’s Statement. However, beneficiaries of pension schemes who are members of trade unions which are not recognised for collective bargaining purposes may still request the information and pass it on to their union or any other person.

We intend to publish a summary of the evidence received on transaction costs in pension schemes when we announce our next steps, which will follow in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what role he plans for Rail North in (a) assessing bids for the Northern and TransPennine Express rail franchises and (b) drafting the agreements for those franchises.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport (DfT) has been working with Rail North throughout the process to renew the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises. As well as their active involvement during the development of the franchise specifications and public consultation, Rail North staff have also been part of the DfT teams evaluating the bids and have commented on key parts of the draft Franchise Agreements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 1.57 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on research and development by industry of converting innovation grants into interest-paying loans.

Joseph Johnson

Access to finance remains an important challenge for innovative enterprises. We want to broaden the type of financial support available for innovation. Other European countries like France, Finland and The Netherlands offer financial products in their policy mix for business innovation. We are seeking to learn from these approaches. In doing this, we will engage with businesses to better understand their needs and support access to sufficient financing throughout the lifecycle of innovative projects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to review the governance arrangements of pension funds.

Justin Tomlinson

The draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Scheme Administration) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 laid before Parliament on 1 February, include a review provision as required by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 which will oblige the Secretary of State to carry out reviews at least every 5 years of all the governance requirements for occupational pension schemes covered in Part V of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Scheme Administration) Regulations 1996 as amended by this instrument. Subject to Parliamentary approval the draft 2016 Regulations will come into force on 6 April 2016. We will consider in due course how this review would work in practice.

On the governance of workplace personal pension schemes, the Financial Conduct Authority propose to carry out a review of the effectiveness of independent governance committees in 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers he proposes that Rail North will exercise in respect of the Northern and TransPennine Express rail franchises by May 2016.

Andrew Jones

In March of this year the Department for Transport (DfT) signed a formal partnership agreement with Rail North. This agreement sets out the arrangements by which a locally-based team in Leeds, reporting to a joint Rail North/ DfT strategic board will manage the new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises from April 2016. The agreement includes important mechanisms to enable the Rail North authorities to make decisions on changes to their local rail service and fares and to make investments in these franchises to make improvements.

It also sets out the steps by which further devolution will be agreed by the parties during the life of the franchises.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the implications for the financial position of students of offering loans to 19 to 23 year olds who are undertaking further education.

Nick Boles

Loans have been available to those aged 24 and over studying at levels 3 and 4 in further education since April 2013. We are now making them available to those aged 19-23 and extending them to levels 5 and 6. Advanced Learner Loans remove the barrier of paying up-front fees for courses.

Learners do not repay their loan until they can afford to. Repayments on the loan are taken when the individual is earning more than £21,000 per annum and is at the rate of 9% of their earnings above this level.

Loans enhance shared responsibility for skills funding, recognising that much of the benefit of advanced vocational study goes to the learner.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers he plans Rail North to assume in relation to rail franchises by 2020.

Andrew Jones

In March of this year the Department for Transport (DfT) signed a formal partnership agreement with Rail North. This agreement sets out the arrangements by which a locally-based team in Leeds, reporting to a joint Rail North/DfT strategic board will manage the new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises from April 2016. The agreement includes important mechanisms to enable the Rail North authorities to make decisions on changes to their local rail service and fares and to make investments in these franchises to make improvements. The partnership agreement with Rail North signed in March 2015 sets out the steps by which further devolution will be agreed by the parties during the life of the franchises.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on students of replacing maintenance grants with loans.

Joseph Johnson

The Government published an Equality Analysis on changes to student support on 3^rd December. This can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482110/bis-15-639-student-finance-equality-analysis.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking in response to the Oxleas Plus supplement option for pensions offered by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.

Alistair Burt

National Health Service organisations have the freedom to make changes to the reward offer they make to staff; having regard to the legal framework. The NHS Pension Board has referred Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust to the Pensions Regulator (TPR) even though TPR has already found the option for pensions offered by the Trust was not an inducement and therefore not a breach of law.

However, the NHS Pension Board concluded that there was additional information, which may not have been considered in relation to the earlier referral, and that given the potential wider implications of this issue, a further in-depth investigation by TPR was merited.

The NHS Pension Board is awaiting TPR’s decision. The Secretary of State for Health will consider any subsequent advice from the NHS Pension Board.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many open access contracts operate on the railway; and how many such contracts are currently under consideration.

Claire Perry

There are now three open access operators running passenger services on the national rail network, with a fourth planning to start in 2018. Applications from two further operators are currently under consideration by the Office of Rail and Road.