Tag: Chi Onwurah

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2016 to Question 26044, which three of the five funds Northstar Ventures manages are closed to new investments; and when the decision was taken that Northstar Ventures should exit from remaining deals.

James Wharton

The three Northstar Venture Funds that are closed to new investments are the Proof of Concept Fund, Co Investment Fund and North East Creative Content Fund.

Each Fund was designed with an investment phase and closure/end date, specified in the fund management agreements signed at the outset.

No decision has been made to exit Northstar Ventures from teh remaining deals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on the proportion of British Film Institute funding that was allocated to Hollywood studio films in the latest period for which figures are available; and what definition of Hollywood studio films is used in this context.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Hollywood studio films refer to films produced and distributed by a major studio based in the United States. No British Film Institute (BFI) funding has been awarded to any Hollywood studio film since the BFI became a Lottery distributor in 2011.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of (a) the Cyber Streetwise campaign and (b) her Department’s policies on reducing the level of cyber crime.

Mr John Hayes

Cyber Streetwise is a cross Government campaign, developed by private and public stakeholder partners and coordinated by the Home Office’s Research, Information and Communications Unit. It is designed to measurably make the UK a safer place to interact and do business online by increasing individual and SME adoption of safe online behaviours. Since its launch in January 2014, it is estimated that 2 million adults have adopted safer online behaviours that will better protect them.

The quarterly crime statistics bulletin published on 21 April , set out a 6% decrease in computer misuse crime (from 15,322 offences to 14,347 offences), during the year ending December 2014 to December 2015.

Cyber Security, including cyber crime, is a top priority threat to national security. The Government are continuing to invest in law enforcement capabilities at the national, regional and local levels to ensure delivery agencies have the capacity to deal with the increasing volume and sophistication of cyber crime.

Through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP), we invested over £90 million under the last Parliament to bolster the law enforcement response. My Rt.Hon. Friend, the Chancellor announced in November that this Government has committed to spending £1.9 billion on cyber security over the next five years, including for tackling cyber crime. We will also publish a second five-year National Cyber Security Strategy this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take to address installation issues arising from the satellite broadband subsidy scheme.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Customers can report any installation issues to the supplier, BT or BDUK. BT and BDUK work with suppliers to ensure that any customer issues are addressed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-05-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of corporation tax receipts from the digital economy sector in 2015-16.

Mr David Gauke

We cannot make an estimate of the corporation tax receipts from the digital economy.

During the international work on corporate tax avoidance in the digital economy, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development agreed that the digital economy cannot be ringfenced for tax purposes. This is because it is becoming impossible to say what is and is not part of the digital economy, due to digital aspects permeating the economy as a whole.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many full-time equivalent staff of his Department (a) have moved and (b) are planned to move into the EU Unit.

Joseph Johnson

The new Department for Exiting the European Union will be made up of staff from various departments across Government. The overall size and scope of the new department, including staffing and budget, are under consideration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of moving from the current system of rooftop valuation for mobile network base stations to a no scheme valuation model on (a) the supply of sites, (b) the revenues received by Newcastle City Council and other public sector organisations from rooftop rentals and (c) mobile phone operator profits.

Matt Hancock

Effective working relationships between network operators and landowners, including avoiding costly and time-consuming litigation, will remain in the interests of both parties. The reforms will not be retrospective and the new valuation basis will have no impact on existing agreements.

The Government’s impact assessment on the reformed Code can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/407579/Annex_4_Electronic_Communications_Code_Reform_IA_-_DCMS075.pdf.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the Government’s strategy is for nursery schools.

Caroline Dinenage

Maintained nursery schools make a very important contribution to social mobility as a result of their being primarily based in deprived areas. That is why, as we introduce new funding arrangements in the early years, we are providing local authorities with supplementary funding of £55 milion a year for maintained nursery schools for at least two years to maintain their stability. This maintains their current funding, and is part of our record investment in childcare – £6 billion per year by 2020. We will work in partnership with providers and consult the sector, including on what happens after this period, in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2015 to Question 11315, whether local authorities (a) retain intellectual property rights over the postal addresses they have helped to create and (b) benefit financially from those rights from Royal Mail.

Nick Boles

Local Authorities have the responsibility for creating the official street naming and numbering under the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847 and Public Health Act 1925. Royal Mail has the responsibility under its Universal Service obligations to create the postal address for each home and business in the UK. In creating the postal address Royal Mail utilises the official street name and number where appropriate and adds a number of additional address elements, including the postcode, which forms the basis of the Royal Mail distribution network. Royal Mail also pays Local Authorities £1 per new address that it receives from local authorities. Royal Mail compiles the list of postal addresses in to the Postcode Address File (PAF).

The intellectual property rights over the data contained in the PAF, which occurs once the data is in the PAF format, belongs to Royal Mail as owners and maintainers of the PAF.

In 2015, the public sector licence agreement was introduced which gives Local Authorities, Central Government, Emergency Services and Health, free access to the PAF.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 7 November 2015 on broadband access, whether the Government will consult on the Universal Service Obligation for broadband.

Mr Edward Vaizey

As announced by the Prime Minister on 7th November, the Government plans to launch the consultation in early 2016.