Tag: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many licensed firearms there are in the UK broken down by police force area.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The table provided contains statistics on the number of licensed firearms and shotguns, by police force area, in England and Wales as at 31 March 2015.

At this time there was a total of 1.34 million licensed shotguns and 0.53 million licensed firearms.The Home Office does not centrally hold any estimates for unlicensed firearms.

Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current account deficit in trade.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The current account deficit was 5.1 per cent of GDP in 2014. The trade balance has been broadly stable, while the UK’s net investment income has fallen, as weakness in the euro area has depressed the returns on the UK’s holding of foreign direct investment. Figures for Q2 2015 show that the deficit has narrowed, driven by an improvement in the trade and investment income balances. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts a narrowing of the current account deficit over the forecast period.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of unlicensed firearms in circulation in the UK.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The table provided contains statistics on the number of licensed firearms and shotguns, by police force area, in England and Wales as at 31 March 2015.

At this time there was a total of 1.34 million licensed shotguns and 0.53 million licensed firearms.

The Home Office does not centrally hold any estimates for unlicensed firearms.

Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the recommendations of the Cole Commission on UK exports they have implemented.

Lord Maude of Horsham

As ministers take forward plans to reform and improve the UK’s export and investment effort, they will take into consideration recommendations in the Cole report, as well as advice and suggestions from a broad range of stakeholders.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2016-09-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the International Aid budget is spent by departments other than the Department for International Development, and which are those departments and how much they are spending.

Lord Young of Cookham

The estimated proportion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to be spent by Departments other than the Department for International Development based on the Spending Review 2015 settlement is 18% in 2016/17. The other departments spending ODA (including allocations from cross-Government funds) are: the Department of Health; the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy; the Foreign & Commonwealth Office; the Department for Energy, Food & Rural Affairs; HM Revenue & Customs; HM Treasury; the Office of National Statistics; the Department for Education; the Department for Work and Pensions; Department for Culture, Media & Sport; the Ministry of Defence; the Department for Transport; and the Home Office.

Outturn figures are not yet available, but a detailed breakdown of the 2016 ODA spend by department will be published in April 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that migrant workers are not exploited or paid less than the minimum wage.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The appointment of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, due shortly, will strengthen our ability to find and stop exploitative employers. We are currently consulting on proposals to create a new offence of an aggravated breach of labour market legislation and to widen the remit and strengthen the powers of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority to enable it to tackle serious exploitation.

Migrant workers who are entitled to other employment rights in UK law are also entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate relevant to their age. Anyone concerned about underpayment of the NMW should call Acas’s confidential helpline on 0300 123 1100 or visit http://www.acas.org.uk/nmw. HMRC will investigate every complaint it receives.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2016-09-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role the Department for International Development plays in monitoring how international aid is spent by other government departments.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Departments are responsible for ensuring their Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget offers high value for money.

DFID is committed to supporting other government departments to help them ensure that all their ODA spend is value for money for the UK tax payer. We provide advice and training to other departments on the international definition of ODA, we co-chair a cross-government senior officials’ group with HM Treasury, whose role is to ensure value for money of all UK ODA, and we work with other government departments to support them in setting up their systems of programme management.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the obstacles people will encounter when searching for company statements on supply chains, which are required to be produced by all companies that have a turnover of £36 million or more.

Lord Bates

The Government wants to ensure that ‘slavery and human trafficking statements’ are accessible and easy to find. That is why the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires organisations to place a link to their statement in a prominent place on their website. This should ensure that people do not encounter undue obstacles when searching for company statements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more are ready to comply with the obligations of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (Transparency in Supply Chains) Regulations 2015.

Lord Bates

Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 is now in force. Many businesses called for this provision, we consulted on the turnover threshold, and then involved businesses in drafting associated guidance. Therefore, the Government is confident businesses will be ready.

We have also included a transition provision so that organisations will have time to consider the guidance before the first statements are due on or after 31 March 2016.