Tag: Baroness Burt of Solihull

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people were employed in the retail sector in each of the last 10 years, and what estimate they have made of the number of people who will be employed in that sector over the next 10 years.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The number of jobs (both employees and self-employed) in the retail sector in each of the last ten years and the proportion of total UK Workforce Jobs is given in the table below:

Year	Workforce Jobs (‘000s)	% of UK Total
2006	3,189	10.0%
2007	3,194	10.0%
2008	3,218	9.9%
2009	3,127	9.8%
2010	3,076	9.7%
2011	3,065	9.7%
2012	3,098	9.6%
2013	3,084	9.4%
2014	3,126	9.4%
2015	3,159	10.0%

Source: UK Employees Jobs and Self Employed Jobs (ONS)

Her Majesty’s Government has not made forecasts of future job levels in the retail sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-01-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce local outcome agreements for the Adult Skills Budget in devolved areas.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The conditions under which we will devolve funding to combined authorities are set out in the relevant devolution agreements. When funding has been devolved the Combined Authority will be responsible for allocations to providers and the outcomes to be achieved, consistent with statutory entitlements. Government will not seek to second guess these decisions, but it will set proportionate requirements about outcome information to be collected in order to allow students to make informed choices.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of (1) the number of jobs, and (2) the total value of sales, within the retail sector attributable to (a) online retail, and (b) high-street retail premises.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

In 2015 the retail sector accounted for nearly 3.2m jobs. It is not possible to allocate these jobs to online or offline retail nor to “high-street” or “non-high street” premises.

Excluding sales of automotive fuel the total value of retail sales was £340bn in 2015, with around 12.4% of these sales (£42bn) attributable to online retail.

It is not possible to determine what proportion of sales were made by “high-street” premises. There is not an operational statistical definition of this term, so data is not collected on this basis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-01-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that regional schools commissioners are accountable for poor school sixth-form provision in their areas.

Lord Nash

Regional Schools Commissioners are accountable for monitoring the performance of school sixth-forms in their areas when they are part of an existing academy.

Decisions regarding intervention action are informed by the academy’s performance against minimum standards, including the 16-19 minimum standards, and Ofsted judgements, as well as local intelligence.

In the past few months, we have begun to review the post-16 education and training landscape through a programme of area reviews. Through these reviews, colleges, local authorities, local enterprise partnerships, and commissioners (RSCs, as well as FE and Sixth Form College Commissioners) scrutinise all local post-16 provision and are developing recommendations to secure high quality provision for students and employers which is delivered through a financially viable and resilient college sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many companies required to pay levies to the Pension Protection Fund had put in place a contingent asset that replaced the Pension Protection Fund’s Failure Score for the company with that of a different company in each of the three years to 2012–13; and what are the names of those companies.

Baroness Altmann

We are unable to supply the information requested as to do so would incur disproportionate cost. Furthermore, the names of the companies concerned are classed as ‘Restricted Information’ under the Pensions Act 2004.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether they will meet their target of doubling exports by 2020.

Lord Maude of Horsham

Ministers have acknowledged that the £1 trillion target is a stretch; however, the Government has a clear strategy for increasing both the value of UK exports and the number of British exporters.

Progress in delivering against the target will be reported through the ONS.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many companies list separate pension schemes for senior management in addition to their primary employee pension scheme.

Baroness Altmann

The information requested is not collated centrally either by DWP or TPR and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of exports that will be sold to other EU member states by 2020.

Lord Maude of Horsham

The government does not breakdown 2020 export forecasts geographically.

However, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility does publish UK total export forecasts up to 2020, with the most recent publication being in the November 2015 Economic and Fiscal Outlook:

	Exports	Imports
2016	533.6	556.8
2017	557.4	581.4
2018	585.4	609.5
2019	616.3	639.0
2020	648.0	669.7
Source: November 2015 Economic and fiscal outlook

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the amount paid in levies to the Pension Protection Fund in each of the three years to 2012–13 due to companies using a contingent asset to replace the Pension Protection Fund’s Failure Score for the company with that of a different company, compared to what these companies paid in (1) 2012–13, (2) 2013–14 and (3) 2014–15.

Baroness Altmann

The Pension Protection Fund has not made a comparison of the amounts paid by schemes with a contingent asset prior to 2012/13 with later years, as substantial changes in the way that levies are calculated from year to year do not allow for robust comparison.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect that the EU referendum will have on their target of doubling exports by 2020.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

At the February European Council meeting the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union (EU). The Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

As part of the new settlement it was confirmed that the EU will pursue, with renewed commitment, free trade agreements with the world’s most dynamic economies, so that the tariff and regulatory barriers faced by UK companies in large and growing non-EU markets are reduced or eliminated. As an example, after the EU-South Korea deal came into force in 2011, UK exports to South Korea doubled in three years.

These deals have the potential to boost UK exports significantly and can contribute to the Government’s 2020 target.