Tag: Chi Onwurah

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department’s distributed ledger technology benefits payments trial, whether restrictions are placed on where benefit recipients can spend their benefits payments; whether benefit recipients’ spending will be tracked; what information is given to benefit recipients taking part in that trial about the potential risks to their privacy; what incentives are provided to benefit recipients to take part in that trial; what data analysis is being carried out as part of that trial and how that analysis complies with Government guidelines on conducting data science projects; and when his Department plans to publish the privacy impact assessment on that trial.

Damian Hinds

The DWP works continuously with industry partners to identify and test new innovations that could save taxpayer money, safeguard information and better protect payments to customers.

The DWP is undertaking some small scale research involving blockchain technology which is expected to last 3-6 months with the results available in the last quarter of 2016. It uses a private permissioned distributed ledger to allow participants to store their transactions, including payments from DWP. Those transactions can then be viewed securely on a mobile application so that they can, if they wish, monitor and allocate their spending into categories, check their available balance and plan future spending. There are currently about 12 people in the trial which we expect to increase to around 24 people by the close.

The participants in the trial have complete control over their data and how it is used; the government does not receive or see any of that data. The DWP takes privacy and security extremely seriously and this will form part of the learning from the trial.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Open Banking Standard report published in February 2016, how the Government plans to ensure that customers provide informed consent when using open banking services.

Simon Kirby

The Open Banking Working Group was created at the request of the government to explore options for allowing customers to use their bank data in a safe, secure and efficient manner. The Group published its report in February 2016. The conclusions reached represent the views of the Working Group and are not government policy.

Subsequently, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued the final report of its investigation into retail banking on 9 August 2016. As part of this, the CMA requires nine leading UK banks to create an open API (Application Programming Interface) to allow access to customer account information as set out in the revised Payment Services Directive (PSDII), which will come into force in January 2018. Informed consent, data protection and cyber security are key considerations in the PSDII, and the government will be consulting on the transposition of this directive shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the BBC Trust and Ofcom on the implications for users of the BBC requiring registration and identification to use iPlayer.

Matt Hancock

The case for requiring user verification for the iPlayer was discussed during the Charter Review process and the White Paper, published in May, made clear that the Government thinks there is a case for iPlayer to require verification both to improve enforcement and allow BBC content to be ‘portable’ for UK licence fee payers. However, it will ultimately be up to the BBC to decide if and how they wish to implement this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will ask Ofcom to review communications markets definitions to reflect the role of data as an effective proxy for payment, particularly in regard to the standard SSNIP test.

Matt Hancock

As the independent communications regulator it is for Ofcom to determine how it should approach the issue of defining communications markets and how it applies the standard SSNIP test. Ofcom does already take into account developments such as the role of advertising and the role of data as proxy for payments in the course of carrying out its duties and will continue to do so in its assessments of market power and its analysis of competition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current guidance is on how data required to be retained by communications companies for investigations undertaken or authorised by the Government is to be stored.

Mr John Hayes

The retention systems of communications service providers who retain data under existing legislation are accredited by independent security experts and the security of these systems is overseen by the Information Commissioner. Current guidance on the retention of communications data by communications service providers is contained in the Retention of Communications Data Code of Practice 2015. Equivalent standards for retained data are replicated in the draft Investigatory Powers Bill and will be included in subsequent codes of practice.

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, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on a Universal Service Obligation for broadband; and whether Ofcom were aware of the obligation before it was announced.

Mr Edward Vaizey

DCMS has been discussing the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) with Ofcom, who will have a key role to play in providing technical and regulatory advice as the process moves forward. The Government will launch a public consultation early next year in preparation for the implementation of a new broadband USO by 2020,with the ambition to give people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where in the country they live.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2015 to Question 16679, on railways: telecommunications systems, how much was spent from the public purse on the Quicksilver project before it was terminated.

Claire Perry

Project Quicksilver was a Network Rail programme that was initiated prior to the reclassification of Network Rail as a public body and was conducted from 2011 to 2015. Project Quicksilver covered two discrete programmes of work but was run by a single team – focused on mobile connectivity and commercial exploitation of the network. These two elements cannot be disaggregated.

The industry was not able to find a solution that satisfied the commercial requirements of all parties to deliver the mobile connectivity improvements. As a result, Network Rail terminated the procurement.

The total cost recorded by Network Rail was £6.86m.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment on the financial effect on the UK manufacturing sector of reductions to (a) capital allowances and (b) corporation tax since 2010.

Mr David Gauke

The Government recognises the importance of the manufacturing sector in the UK economy.

In order to support investment across the economy, including in the manufacturing sector, since 2010, the Government has reduced the corporation tax rate from 28% to 20%, and it is due to fall to 18% in 2020. Overall the corporation tax cuts delivered since 2010 will save businesses £10 billion a year from 2016. Further cuts in the corporation tax rate in this Parliament, to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020, will save small and large businesses a further £6.6 billion by 2021, and will benefit 1.1 million businesses. The manufacturing sector, alongside other sectors of the economy, have benefited from the corporation tax rate changes.

At Summer Budget 2015, the government announced that it would increase the permanent level of the Annual Investment Allowance to £200,000, its highest ever permanent level. The sectors with most companies benefitting include manufacturing as well as wholesale and retail, and agriculture.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-15.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 19258, if he will estimate the reduction in pounds in the amount of tax collected from the manufacturing sector as a consequence of reductions in the corporate tax rate.

Mr David Gauke

Over the course of the previous Parliament, the main rate of corporation tax was cut from 28% to 20%. The small profits rate was also cut to 20% and the two rates were merged to simplify the tax regime. Overall the cuts delivered since 2010 will save businesses £10bn a year from 2016-17. In this Parliament the Government is going to go further, and cut the rate to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020, further benefitting over one million companies across the economy.

Given that a number of factors impact on tax receipts from individual sectors it is difficult to estimate precisely how much tax the manufacturing sector has saved as a result of these cuts in corporation tax. But according to HM Revenue and Customs’ corporation tax statistics, published at the link below, over the past five years the UK manufacturing sector has paid an average of £5bn a year in corporation tax. So it is clear that the sector will have benefitted substantially from the tax cuts delivered since 2010, and will benefit further from the reductions to come in this parliament.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/456459/Corporation_Tax_Statistics_August_2015.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the consistency of sentencing for people convicted of online fraud.

Andrew Selous

Guidelines on sentencing are produced by the independent Sentencing Council, which was established to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing while maintaining the independence of the judiciary. The Council published a definitive guideline on fraud, bribery and money laundering offences in May 2014. The Council has a statutory duty to monitor the operation and effect of its guidelines.

The most recent statistics on sentencing for fraud offences is available through the attached link. The courts database does not separate online and offline fraud offences.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014

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