Tag: Bill Esterson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) private sector companies, (b) public sector bodies went beyond the maximum 60-day period to repay debt covered by the Late Payment Directive in the last 12 months.

Anna Soubry

The Department does not hold the information required. However, BACS data shows that small and medium businesses are owed a total of £26.8 billion, and the average small business is waiting for £31,900 in overdue payments.[1]

The Government recognises that late payment remains an important issue for small businesses in the UK and is taking significant steps to assist small businesses to recover late payment debts. This is part of a package of measures to tackle late payment. We have also legislated for new transparency measures in the public and private sectors.

The Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 legislated for new reporting requirement on the UK’s largest companies and Regulations will be introduced this year which will compel larger companies to report on payment practices and performance. This information will be published on a six-monthly basis and will be made publicly available.

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 introduced a requirement for all public-sector buyers to publish annually, from 2017, their liability to debt interest payments. In central government we have gone further and faster. We will be publishing against these requirements quarterly from April this year. This will allow full public scrutiny of payment performance.

Through the Enterprise Bill, currently before Parliament, we will legislate to establish a Small Business Commissioner to give general advice and to help small businesses resolve disputes relating to payment matters with larger businesses.

Tackling late payment is about creating a responsible payment culture where larger companies recognise the benefit of having a sustainable and robust supply chain, and smaller businesses feel able to challenge poor behaviour. Once implemented, the Government is confident that these measures will lead to significant changes in the UK’s payment culture.

[1] BACS Data June 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent progress he has made on publishing a statutory code for pub companies; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

The Government published the first part of a two-part consultation on the statutory Pubs Code on 29 October 2015 at the GOV.UK website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an estimate of the collective cost to small and medium-sized enterprises to recover overdue payments in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry

We know that the collective cost of late payment has been, and remains, a significant burden for small and medium sized businesses. Small businesses spend too much valuable time and resource chasing late payments, which impacts on their ability to invest in growth.

The Department does not hold the information required to make an estimate of the collective cost to small and medium-sized businesses to recover overdue payments in each of the last five years. As late payment affects so many different types of business in different ways, no single survey gives a full picture of the impact of late payment on small and medium-sized businesses. The three sources that we look to as an indicator of late payment are the SME finance monitor, the regular BACs survey and Experian’s late payment index.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent representations she has received on the potential effect on jobs and investment in the solar industry of reductions in feed-in tariff subsidies.

Andrea Leadsom

We ran a consultation on the feed-in tariff review from 27 August to 23 October. We strongly welcomed evidence from the sector during this review consultation, and we will set out our response in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-01-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to improve the monitoring of late payments by insurance companies to claims made by small and medium-sized enterprises.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government recognises the importance of prompt payment by insurers and has taken steps in the Enterprise Bill to introduce a requirement for insurers to pay all claims within a reasonable time and entitle policyholders, including small and medium sized enterprises, to damages where claims are paid late.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 14066, what accountability mechanisms are in place for the Criminal Cases Review Commission; and if he will meet the hon. Member for Sefton Central to discuss the case of James Thompson.

Mike Penning

As I stated in response to Question 14066, although the Criminal Cases Review Commission is funded by my Department, it is entirely independent of Government, and Ministers cannot, and should not, intervene in its reviews or decisions. Since there is no action I can take, I do not believe a meeting with the Hon. Member would be helpful.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Pubs Code Adjudicator on (a) the length of leases given to pub tenants by owners of pubs, (b) implementation of the market rent only option for pub tenants and (c) the independence of the adjudicator from pub companies.

Anna Soubry

There have been no discussions of the types described with the Adjudicator.

BIS officials met the Adjudicator after his appointment to provide him with a high level briefing on Part 4 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act and some areas of the draft Pubs Code in order to familiarise him with key aspects ahead of him taking up this important role. During the course of this briefing there was a discussion of some technical aspects of the market rent option arbitration process – for example, the length of time it takes to appoint an independent expert – where the Adjudicator shared his professional insights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his strategy is for maximising the economic contribution of (a) the steel industry and (b) other industries vital to the UK’s economic success.

Anna Soubry

The best way the Government can support our industries is to continue to deliver a strong and growing economy.

In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced an exemption for Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs), including the steel industry, from the policy costs of the Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariffs, a hugely significant step to provide industry with long-term certainty and helping them remain competitive. This is on top of the millions that has already been paid in compensation to EIIs for energy costs.

The Government engages with various industrial sectors through our Sector Councils, where we discuss the opportunities and challenges facing certain sectors.

The Government recognises the current difficulties that are unique to the steel sector. While we cannot fix the price of steel, halt global overproduction or fix currency rates, the Government has taken a number of measures to help our steel industry.

We have taken action on unfair trade, recently voting in support of anti-dumping measures on wire rod and steel tubing imports, as well as lobbying successfully for an investigation into cheap imports of Reinforcing Steel Bar.

The steel industry’s request for flexibility over Industrial Emissions Directive exemptions has been secured. This will save the industry millions of pounds of unnecessary expenditure at a time of crisis by offering steel companies more time to comply with this European legislation.

Finally, we are taking action to drive up the number of public contracts won by UK steel manufacturers and their partners through fair and open competition. The Government published on 30 October new guidelines for departments to apply on major projects when sourcing and buying steel. The new instructions will help steel suppliers compete on a level playing field with international suppliers for major Government projects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he took to take into account the rules on conflicts of interest set out in (a) Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies, (b) Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Rules of Conduct and (c) Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct in the recruitment process for the recently-appointed Pubs Code Adjudicator; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

• Paul Newby was appointed in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ (OCPA) Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies.
• His prior experience of the pubs sector as a surveyor and arbitrator and his ability to forge trusted relationships with both tenants and PubCos is an asset, not a conflict of interest.
• The appointment panel discussed conflicts of interest with him at interview. The Panel was satisfied there were no conflicts of interest, and put this advice to ministers.
• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators membership were not requirements for this post, so the documents referred to are not directly relevant to the appointment process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the reliance of the UK economy on imports of steel from countries outside the EU.

Anna Soubry

The Government supports an open market for steel and UK consumers are free to source their requirements from anywhere in the world as long as imported material is traded fairly and meets quality and standards criteria where applicable.

Data on UK imports of steel as a share of domestic demand are published by the EEF on behalf of UK Steel in their Key Statistics 2015 report, which can be found at the EEF website under the ‘Publications’ page. Please note that these figures exclude imports made by steel producers.