Tag: Chuka Umunna

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what correspondence there was between (a) the bank acting as financial adviser to the Government and (b) banks acting as bookrunners, co-ordinators and lead managers (i) with and (ii) on priority investors; and if he will publish any relevant correspondence.

Michael Fallon

The Department has not seen and does not hold copies of any correspondence between Lazard or the Syndicate of banks selling Royal Mail shares and the priority investors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer to Lord Adonis of 3 June 2013, Official Report, House of Lords, column 122WA, on government departments: secondments, of those secondments to his Department listed on that date, how many of these secondments related (a) wholly, (b) partly and (c) incidentally to the privatisation of Royal Mail; and how many of those secondments took place primarily for the purpose of helping with the privatisation of Royal Mail.

Michael Fallon

Of the secondees listed in the answer given to the noble Lord, Lord Adonis on 3 June 2013, two worked on the Royal Mail privatisation in the Shareholder Executive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-03-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance is issued to Jobcentre Plus on recommending jobs on zero-hours contracts.

Esther McVey

Jobcentre Plus guidance stipulates that claimants should not be mandated to apply for a job offering a zero hours contract. It also states that no sanction action will be taken if claimants refuse or fail to apply. A person leaving a zero hours contract job will not be sanctioned if they leave that job voluntarily or lose it through their misconduct.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what involvement (a) the bank acting as financial adviser to the Government and (b) banks acting as bookrunners, co-ordinators and lead managers had in discussions with priority investors on the privatisation of Royal Mail.

Michael Fallon

Together with Royal Mail’s management team, the Government’s independent financial adviser (Lazard) and members of the banking syndicate met with the priority investors throughout the investor engagement process. The banking advisers also met with over 500 institutional investors. The purpose of this engagement was to educate investors about the business and secure indications of potential demand and valuation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many secondments from the private sector to his Department and its agencies the secondee’s work-related (a) wholly, (b) partly or (c) incidentally to the privatisation of Royal Mail; from which firms those secondments were made; and on what dates they began and ended.

Michael Fallon

In the Shareholder Executive teams are put together to work on specific projects bringing together appropriate skills and experience; such teams regularly include secondee appointments. Three secondees from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Lazard and KPMG spent varying degrees of time working at the Shareholder Executive on the Royal Mail IPO. The Freshfields secondee worked on various projects, and worked wholly on the Royal Mail privatisation for the second half of the secondment. The Lazard and KPMG secondees were engaged to work principally on Royal Mail. No secondee held a senior position in the team.

The KPMG secondment started in June 2013 and is continuing. The Freshfields secondment started in December 2012 and ended in November 2013. The Lazard secondment ran from January 2013 to January 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-03-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion and number of job outcomes from the work programme were in zero-hours contracts roles in each month since the programme began.

Esther McVey

The information requested is not held by the Department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding allocated under the Regional Growth Fund in each (a) holding and (b) region has not yet been drawn down by winning bidders.

Michael Fallon

Regional breakdown of RGF allocations for each bidding round (Rounds 1-4) including the amount drawn down and remaining to be drawn down are provided in the attached tables. This data is as at 2 April. The RGF not drawn down for Rounds 1 to 4 totals £1,238 million. Of this, currently, £1,152 million is budgeted to be drawn down in 2014/15 and later years. Payments schedules are agreed with companies and payments are made when they need them.

Round 1

Region	RGF Allocation (£m)	RGF Drawdown (£m)	RGF not drawn down (£m)
North West	21	19	2
Yorkshire & Humber	47	39	8
North East	34	34	0
West Midlands	89	22	67
East Midlands	2	2	0
East of England	16	10	6
South East & London	0	0	0
South West	4	4	0
National	175	175	0
TOTAL	388	305	83

Round 2

Region	RGF Allocation (£m)	RGF Drawdown (£m)	RGF not drawn down (£m)
North West	189	123	66
Yorkshire & Humber	68	45	23
North East	64	56	8
West Midlands	91	87	4
East Midlands	80	49	31
East of England	35	20	15
South East & London	60	45	15
South West	71	69	2
National	90	80	10
TOTAL	748	574	174

Round 3

Region	RGF Allocation (£m)	RGF Drawdown (£m)	RGF not drawn down (£m)
North West	113	43	70
Yorkshire & Humber	63	28	35
North East	113	44	69
West Midlands	158	24	134
East Midlands	57	14	43
East of England	25	8	17
South East & London	48	18	30
South West	82	8	74
National	177	75	102
TOTAL	836	262	574

Round 4

Region	RGF Allocation (£m)	RGF Drawdown (£m)	RGF not drawn down (£m)
North West	96	5	91
Yorkshire & Humber	30	2	28
North East	33	1	32
West Midlands	65	1	64
East Midlands	41	1	40
East of England	15	3	12
South East & London	25	2	23
South West	14	0	14
National	115	12	103
TOTAL	434	27	407

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what (a) bonuses, (b) additional salary increments and (c) premiums are offered to UK Trade & Investment staff for proficiency in foreign languages; for which foreign languages these are available; what level of financial support is available for each language; and how many staff receive support for each foreign language for which support is offered.

Michael Fallon

UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) draws mainly on civil service staff employed by one or other of its two parent departments – the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO).

BIS does not give bonuses, additional salary increments or premiums to the staff of UKTI for proficiency in any foreign languages. BIS does however actively encourage individuals to learn languages and they have access to the FCO’s language school.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-03-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion and number of jobs currently advertised through Jobcentre Plus are on zero-hour contracts.

Esther McVey

We do not advertise in jobcentres, all vacancies are now advertised on Universal Jobmatch. JSA claimants are not required to apply for zero-hour contract jobs and are not penalised if they leave such a job

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much in Regional Growth Fund money is currently held by intermediaries; and how much such money has been allocated (a) in each bidding round, (b) to each intermediary and (c) in each region.

Michael Fallon

From the four Regional Growth Fund (RGF) bidding rounds, £1.5 billion has been allocated to RGF programmes from which grants are made to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs.)

Of this, £452 million was allocated to 13 endowment programmes in Rounds 1 and 2 that received the full payment of their RGF grant upfront. These programmes have since invested £144 million to date in individual projects, and of the remaining £308 million held by such endowment programmes, a further £154 million is already committed to specific SME projects.

Non–endowment programmes are funded a quarter in advance on evidence of credible pipeline projects. These programmes have spent £172 million with a further £151 million of RGF paid to them in the last financial quarter under the expectation it would be spent this quarter. The money held by these programmes is not causing any delay to individual projects as businesses claim the money according to their business needs. A table of RGF funding allocated to intermediaries by each bidding round and region will be placed in the libraries of the House.