Tag: Gareth Thomas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will release some revenue support grant funding for local authorities to help councils affected by sudden increases in need once 100 per cent of business rates income is devolved to local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

We recently conducted a consultation on our approach to the implementation of 100% Business Rates Retention. This consultation included questions on how to take account of changes in need over time, how to manage volatility in business rates income and how to distribute funding between different tiers of government. My officials are currently considering the 454 responses we have received to this consultation and we will publish a summary of the responses and our proposed way forward in due course. In the meantime, we will continue close collaboration with the Local Government Association, other groups representative of local government, and individual local authorities, in taking this work forward.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-10-29.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking encourage the Prudential Regulation Authority to assist credit unions in expanding the services they offer to their members; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is responsible for the prudential regulation and supervision of credit unions. It has a general objective to promote the safety and soundness of the firms it regulates and a secondary objective to facilitate effective competition.

The PRA is an independent non-governmental body and, although the Treasury sets the legal framework for all regulation, it has strictly limited powers in relation to the regulators. However, last year the Government asked the PRA to use the evidence gathered from the Government’s Call for Evidence on Credit Unions to inform their 2015 review of the Credit Union Sourcebook (CREDS).

The PRA have confirmed that they have taken into account the feedback received by HM Treasury in response to the Call for Evidence when formulating suggested reforms to CREDS.

The PRA’s reforms seek to establish a more risk-based and flexible framework for credit union regulation, which imposes higher expectations for more sophisticated activity. The PRA recognises the unique structure and important role credit unions play in their local communities and is proposing to reform the rules to better reflect their evolving but distinctive business model.

The PRA are looking to adjust the regulation so that rules around investments, capital levels and reporting requirements will be determined by looking at the risk profile and business model of the credit union. Existing rigid restrictions will be removed, giving credit union boards more freedom to decide how their businesses are to be run.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Ross Fund will include funding to tackle HIV/AIDS; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd

Whilst the Ross Fund is not directly focused on HIV and AIDS, the UK continues to invest in research on HIV and AIDS. This includes research into understanding the structural drivers that can increase HIV (including gender inequality, stigma and limited livelihood opportunities), HIV prevention technologies (such as microbicides and vaccines) and studies to identify cost-effective ways to deliver HIV services.

The Ross Fund will target infectious diseases including malaria, diseases with epidemic potential, neglected tropical diseases which affect over a billion people globally, and antimicrobial resistance which poses a substantial and growing threat to global health. The goal of the Ross fund is to develop, test and deliver a range of new products (including vaccines, drugs and diagnostics) to help combat these diseases in developing countries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 22034, whether he plans that any further investment will take place at RAF Northolt (a) on the proposed Engineered Material Arresting System and (b) otherwise until after the Government has responded to the Davies Commission on Aviation Capacity in the South East; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) is being scoped as a military infrastructure requirement commensurate with safety cases for military aircraft operating at RAF Northolt and the associated military aerodrome design standards utilised at the Station. I am withholding estimated costs for the EMAS project as it is at the pre-tender stage and disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice commercial interests.

The Mott McDonald report has no opinion or relevance against the military aerodrome design criteria and safety cases in place at the Station or the current operation of RAF Northolt. Any infrastructure investment for military operational requirements will continue to be undertaken as necessary to support military and Government outputs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether RAF personnel have attended any civilian aviation trade conferences or exhibitions to promote civilian flights at RAF Northolt over the last five years; which events were so attended; how many RAF personnel attended each such event; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

The following personnel have attended the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition:

	Military	Civilian
May 2012	3	0
May 2013	3	0
May 2014	3	2
May 2015	3	1

The information for 2011 is not available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will require the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA, AQA and Edexcel examinations boards to offer GCSE and A-level Bengali examinations beyond September 2018; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

Exam boards are independent organisations and the department continues to work closely with them to secure the future of all the existing GCSEs and A levels in less-taught languages, including Bengali.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the effect of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We consider a range of information from government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations regarding reports of potential breaches of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). We regularly raise the importance of compliance with IHL with the Saudi Arabian Government and other members of the military Coalition. We also praise the importance of compliance with IHL with the Houthis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the general aviation risk assessment tool form has been amended in response to the recommendations made in the report by the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, An Inspection of General Aviation and General Maritime, published in January 2016; whether additional training has been provided to Border Force officers responsible for completing those forms; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

Border Force fully accepted the recommendations of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration regarding General Aviation and General Maritime and is implementing changes as quickly as practicable. Border Force is working with other government departments and partners to deliver improvement during 2016-2017 and is closely monitoring progress.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the level of accuracy of the credit records held by credit reporting agencies; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin

When consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014, the Government decided that, given their central role in helping to inform responsible lending decisions, CRAs should be directly regulated by the FCA. As such, every credit reference agency’s fitness to trade is being assessed as part of the FCA’s robust authorisation process

Information on a credit report should be purely factual; for example, if arrears were incurred, those lenders who share data through the credit reference agencies will have recorded them.

A credit reference agency is able to correct factually inaccurate information. However, it is the original lender or organisation that supplies credit to a consumer that provides the agencies with the information held on a credit report. Where inaccurate information has been reported to a credit reference agency, a consumer must contact the lender in the first instance.

If a problem with inaccurate data is not resolved satisfactorily with a lender, consumers are able to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is able to investigate and take action where necessary. The ICO is the UK’s independent body set up to uphold information rights, and it enforces the Data Protection Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage people with ability to seek election to local councils; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

Strong and effective democratic local governance requires the best possible candidates to stand for election.

Whilst encouraging and fostering suitable candidates is largely a matter for political parties and the local government sector itself, rather than government, we have, through the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government, provided support for such programmes as ‘Be a Councillor’ designed to encourage ambitious and talented councillors.