Tag: Caroline Flint

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the effect on the wholesale price of electricity of an increase in low carbon generation.

Andrea Leadsom

DECC estimates that wholesale electricity prices were around £1/MWh lower (equivalent to £5 lower for an average household energy bill) in 2014 than they would have been in the absence of policies to incentivise investment in low-carbon generation, and reduce electricity demand. In 2020, wholesale electricity prices are estimated to be around £4/MWh lower (or £12 lower for an average household energy bill) than they would be in the absence of the same policies.1

[1] All figures are real 2014 prices. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-impacts-of-energy-and-climate-change-policies-on-energy-prices-and-bills-2014.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department has taken to reduce the incidence of self-harm in prisons.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Government is committed to reducing the incidence of self-harm in prisons. All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves. These include the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process, which is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for prisoners identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm.

An additional £10m of new funding, supplemented by £2.9m from existing budgets, was recently allocated to the 69 prisons with the most concerning levels of violence and self-harm. The Justice Secretary is clear that safety in prisons is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-02-05.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the contribution of the Financial Secretary to the Treasury of 3 February 2016, Official Report, column 975, what level of information has been disclosed to him in respect of Google’s tax return and the HM Revenue and Customs agreement with that company.

Mr David Gauke

The information to which Ministers have access is the same as that in the public domain.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the conduct of tax inquiries. Ministers are not privy to information about the individual tax arrangements of any company.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-09-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the contribution of the hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire on 28 June 2016, HC Deb, column 161, what his policy is on whether there is a minimum number of countries that need to be signed up to public country-by-country reporting before the UK will introduce such reporting.

Jane Ellison

For public country-by-country reporting to be effective, there needs to be sufficient international agreement. There needs to be a breadth of information from UK and foreign headquartered multinationals so that the full picture of multinationals’ activities, profits and tax paid is shown to the public.

A multilateral agreement is key to the success of the OECD country-by-country reporting model, the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, and the automatic exchange of company information.

These actions show that a multilateral approach to greater tax transparency is achievable and the Government will continue to discuss this with international partners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-02-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there are any circumstances in which Ministers are entitled to access corporate tax returns submitted to HM Revenue and Customs.

Mr David Gauke

No.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of his Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are completed on time; and what proportion of the (i) number and (ii) value of contracts between his Department and private companies are held by SMEs.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) aims to pay 80% of its invoices within five working days and payment performance is published on gov.uk at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence/about/procurement#ministry-of-defence-payment-performance. This shows that during the first three quarters of 2015-16, the MOD paid around 97% of its invoices within five days and 99.9% within 30 days. A comprehensive breakdown of the proportion of invoice payments made to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to private companies is not held.

Information on MOD contracting with SMEs is also published online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-industry-trade-and-contracts-2015. This shows that in 2014-15, the MOD placed around 440 new contracts directly with SMEs, with a collective value of around £320 million.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of her Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are completed on time; and what proportion of the (i) number and (ii) value of contracts between her Department and private companies are held by SMEs.

Karen Bradley

a) The Home Office is not required to compile prompt payment data in respect of private companies. To calculate such a figure would incur disproportionate costs.

b) In the financial year 2014-15, 88% of the total numbers of all invoices to every type of supplier were paid within five working days of receipt. The total number of invoices paid within 30 working days of receipt of invoice was 97%.

For small and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Home Office paid 80% of invoices within five working days of receipt of invoice. And 96% of invoices from SMEs were paid within 30 working days of receipt of invoice.

i) The proportion of the number of contracts between the Home Office and SMEs is not readily available, except at disproportionate costs.

ii) In 2014-15, the Home Office have reported 19.6% spend with SMEs. This figure is made up of 7.7% (£200 million) direct spend with SMEs and 11.9% (£310 miliion) indirect spend.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of his Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are completed on time; and what proportion of the (i) number and (ii) value of contracts between his Department and private companies are held by SMEs.

Justin Tomlinson

DWP does not hold the information to answer ‘what proportion of his Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are completed on time.’

However, the figures below are published monthly and quarterly on Gov.UK and confirm DWP’s commitment to paying invoices within 30 days (contractual) and 5 days. We cannot disaggregate the invoices into SMEs and other private companies.

2015-16 (Financial Year)	Percentage of invoices paid within 5 days	Percentage of invoices paid within 30 days
Quarter 1	97.3%	99.8%
Quarter 2	95.5%	99.7%
Quarter 3	97.5%	99.8%

At December 2015, 2534 (9.3%) of the Department’s suppliers were SMEs.

At December 2015, SMEs accounted for 2.5% of the Department’s direct commercial spend. However, there is a substantially greater proportion of commercial spend with SMEs via prime contractors. The Department relies upon Cabinet Office survey information in order to estimate the combined total spend with SMEs. The most recent combined total estimate we have (2014/15), is 16.2% of the total or some £483 million.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of his Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are completed on time; and what proportion of the (i) number and (ii) value of contracts between his Department and private companies are held by SMEs.

Brandon Lewis

The proportion of the Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by private companies and small and medium-sized enterprises cannot be reliably extrapolated from our current payment system as it doesn’t link or split payment performance in this way.

As of the last quarter, the Department paid 89% of invoices within 5 days. The Department’s prompt payment data can be accessed via this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dclg-and-pins-prompt-payment-data-2015

Of the Department’s current contracts, 33% are held by small and medium-sized enterprises. The Department’s annual spend on these as a proportion of our overall spend with suppliers is 25.4%.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of her Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been completed on time in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of the (i) number and (ii) value of contracts between her Department and private companies are held by SMEs.

George Eustice

Core Defra’s prompt payment reports do not distinguish between invoices from private companies and invoices from small and medium-sized enterprises.

Information on Defra’s prompt payment performance in respect of all supplier payments in 2015-16 is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defra-prompt-payment-performance-report.

The latest information on the expenditure Defra bodies have with SMEs is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482524/Central_Government_Direct_and_Indirect_Spend_with_SMEs.csv/preview.

The information on the number of contracts core Defra has with SMEs could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

“