Tag: Diana Johnson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 14136, what work the Government has undertaken to implement the commitments made in paragraphs (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3, (d) 8 and (e) 10 of the 2013 Lough Erne G8 Leaders’ Communiqué since January 2014; and what assessment he has made of the level of progress against those commitments.

Mr David Gauke

Since January 2014 the Prime Minister has updated the house on 11 June 2014 and 10 June 2015 following the G7 Summits. The UK presidency focused on 3 Ts: tax, transparency and trade.

On tax there has been significant progress on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) the major international agreement to realign taxation with economic activities and value creation. In October 2015 the OECD issued the final BEPS outputs, which were endorsed by G20 Finance Ministers. The UK has made significant progress including: consulting on implementing rules to address hybrid mismatches arrangements and issuing draft secondary legislation to implement Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting, a template for multinational companies to report profit and tax information to tax authorities, in the UK in line with the internationally agreed timetable. In addition, in February 2014 G20 Finance Ministers endorsed the OECD’s new global standard for Automatic Exchange of Information of tax. All G20 Finance Ministers committed to first exchange by end-2018 in September, with 10 G20 countries including the UK committing to begin exchange in 2017.

With regards to transparency, in March 2015 the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act received Royal Assent, establishing a public registry of company beneficial ownership that will show who ultimately owns and controls in-scope UK companies. The register will be operational from June 2016 and the UK is undertaking a wider review of corporate transparency.

On trade, the Government has furthered international free trade agreements (FTA), with negotiations on an EU-Canada FTA finalised in August 2014. The EU and Japan held a constructive round of Free Trade Agreements negotiations in October 2015. The EU-US FTA 11th Round of negotiations took place in Miami 19-23 October 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much (a) capital funding and (b) funding in total has been allocated by (i) his Department and (ii) bodies funded by his Department to support Hull City of Culture 2017.

Mr Edward Vaizey

DCMS is investing £1.5 million in the Ferens Gallery to help them host the Turner Prize; plus £0.5 million to help create a lasting cultural legacy for Hull. The Gallery will receive a further £0.5m from ACE for refurbishment. My department is also providing £3.1 million to three ACE-funded organisations -Artlink, Freedom Festival and Hull Truck Theatre – who will play a key role in the 2017 events. Hull Museums, now among ACE’s Major Partner Museums, have been awarded £2.5m between now and 2018; and an additional £3 million from ACE will help raise the profile of culture in the city and promote new partnerships throughout 2017. This amounts to over £11 million and does not include additional investment that might come from other bodies such as the BBC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities have agreed to take refugees under the Syrian Refugee resettlement scheme.

Richard Harrington

Over 50 local authorities from across the UK have offered places to resettle refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) scheme. It is at the discretion of local authorities to disclose whether or not they are involved with the VPR scheme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) the office of Rail and Road, (b) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, (c) the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, (d) the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, (e) the Vehicle Certification Agency, (f) the British Transport Police Authority, (g) Directly Operated Railways limited, (h) High Speed 2 Ltd; (i) Highways England, (j) Northern Lighthouse Board, (k) Transport Focus, (l) Trinity House, (m) Civil Aviation Authority and (n) the Airports Commission; how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Some of the information requested for the 14 organisations listed is not held by the Department and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

However, the number of press and public relations staff currently employed by the Department’s executive agencies is provided in the table below. None of the press and PR staff have a full-time equivalent salary exceeding £50,000.

Press and public relations staff (full-time equivalent )	1 December 2015
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency	4
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency	4
Maritime and Coastguard Agency	3.2
Vehicle Certification Agency	Nil
Total	11.2

The total of 11.2 full-time equivalent staff compares to an equivalent figure for these four executive agencies in 2009/10 (with DVSA previously being DSA and VOSA) of 15.5 full-time equivalent staff.

Information on non-pay expenditure on press and public relations services held by the Department for the most recent financial year available is provided in the table below.

Non-pay expenditure on press and public relations services	2014-15 £000s
Office of Rail and Road	108
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency	9
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency	42
Highways Agency	383
Maritime and Coastguard Agency	169
Vehicle Certification Agency	0
British Transport Police Authority	48
High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd	167
Transport Focus	47
Airport Commission	54

Overall communications expenditure by the Department’s executive agencies in 2014-15 (including salaries) was £19 million lower than in 2009-10. Across Government the government communications profession reduced communications spending by a total of £1 billion during the last Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether a communique will be produced following the Syria donors conference in February 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Germany, Kuwait, Norway, the UK and the UN, as co-hosts of the Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region (London 2016), plan to issue a statement at the end of the Conference summarising the outcomes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-03-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many press officers are employed by his Department.

Harriett Baldwin

As stated in the most recent HM Treasury annual report and accounts (2014-15), the department’s communications during 2014-15 focused on ensuring the public and stakeholders understood changes to government economic and fiscal policy. The department continues to pursue a low cost communications approach, making full use of media relationships and social media.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobcentre plus offices have been able to issue National Insurance numbers to new arrivals into the UK in each of the last six years.

Priti Patel

From 2010 to 2013 DWP had 2 specialist National Insurance number (NINo) Centres (Glasgow and Isle of Wight) able to issue NINos .

In 2014, DWP issued NINos from 3 sites (Glasgow, Isle of Wight and Tooting).

In 2015, DWP issued NINos from 5 sites (Glasgow, Isle of Wight, Tooting, Slough and Cambridge)

In 2016, to date, DWP is issuing NINos from 4 sites (Glasgow, Isle of Wight, Tooting and Slough)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on future collaboration with the EU on air pollution and the transposition into UK law of Directive 2008/50/EC.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union (EU) and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation. The outcome of these negotiations will determine what arrangements apply in relation to EU legislation and funding in future once the UK has left the EU.

The subject matter of the Ambient Air Quality Directive (Directive 2008/50/EC) is devolved. As regards England, the Directive was transposed by the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the practical consequences of re-introducing a visa system for EU citizens entering the UK and the ability of UK embassies and consulates to fulfil this requirement.

Mr Robin Walker

The process for leaving the EU and determining our future relationship, including freedom of movement, will be a complex one, so we need to take time to think through our objectives and approach. We want to ensure the best possible outcome for Britain and the future UK-EU relationship.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the potential costs to the (a) financial sector, (b) legal services sector and (c) professional services sector of not having access to the EU Single Market.

Mr David Jones

The government is keenly aware of the importance of these sectors to the economy. The new department is undertaking a great deal of factual and detailed work to establish how best to deliver the government’s objectives, to ensure that we achieve the best possible outcome for the British people.