Tag: Gareth Thomas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what loans have been issued for what purposes to Business Improvement Districts in each (a) region of the UK and (b) local authority area in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Percy

The Government is committed to Business Improvement Districts and the impact they have on their local areas.

We are keen to see the setting up of more Business Improvement Districts and we recognise that their development requires up front expenditure. In October 2013 we launched a £500,000 recyclable loan fund and have supported 20 areas with loans totalling £658,555. In the last two years the following loans have been issued to areas requesting support in setting up a Business Improvement District:

Area	Amount	Region	Local Authority
Cheltenham	£35,000	South West	Cheltenham Borough Council
Eastbourne	£41,000	South East	Eastbourne Borough Council
Hastings	£31,400	South East	Hastings Borough Council
Hexham	£40,000	North East	Northumberland County Council
Leicester	£50,000	East Midlands	Leicester City Cuncil
Lichfield	£20,000	West Midlands	Lichfield District Council
Milton Keynes	£35,000	South East	Milton Keynes Council
Oxted	£30,000	South East	Tandridge District Council
Poole	£42,000	South West	Poole Borough Council
Purley	£10,000	Greater London	London Borough of Croydon
Runcorn	£27,000	North West	Halton Borough Council
Watford	£49,822	East of England	Hertfordshire Borough Council
York	£30,000	Yorkshire and Humber	York City Council

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what further steps he plans to take to give councils greater flexibility and control over budgets; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

We have already given councils greater control by offering a 4-year settlement, and by the end of the Parliament, local government will retain 100% of business rates raised locally. Devolution Deals have awarded Mayoral Combined Authorities with greater flexibilities over investment funding through the Single Pot; this local control will only increase with devolution of the Adult Education Budget from 2018/19, subject to readiness conditions in Deal agreements. The Government believes that these policies fundamentally change the way local government operates, to give councils greater flexibility and control over budgets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, which agreed EU directives have not yet been transposed directly into UK law; and if he will make a statement.

Alun Cairns

Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union 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.

There are no EU directives within the Wales Office’s responsibilities.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many times and on what dates the Business Rates Review Steering Group has met; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Local Government Association and Department for Communities and Local Government jointly chair the Business Rates Retention Steering Group which was established to consider the mechanisms needed to set up and run the new business rates system, as well as the timetable and implementation of the reforms. It oversees the work of a set of technical working groups, each looking at particular aspects of the reforms. The Group usually meets on a monthly basis and has done so on 6 occasions since April 2016. All papers for meetings are published here: http://www.local.gov.uk/business-rates

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who has been appointed to the Community Engagement Forum; what criteria were used to make those appointments; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley

Individuals are not appointed to the Community Engagement Forum. Attendance at the meetings will rotate to allow ministers to hear directly from a wide range of individuals and groups taking a leading role in challenging extremism as well as sharing thier expertise and initiatives on building stronger community relationships.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Harrow West, sent on 25 November 2015, about the immigration applications of Ms Raize Khan, Miss Radia Khan and Miss Aneela Khan; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office replied to the hon. Member on 18 December 2015.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is providing to those Burundians who have fled the country due to recent violence; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK Government is extremely concerned by the ongoing political unrest in Burundi, and its humanitarian consequences, including the flow of Burundian refugees to neighbouring countries.

The UK is the second largest bilateral donor to the regional appeal, after the US. DFID is providing £14.25 million to support the relief efforts for refugees fleeing to Tanzania, the majority of which will be channelled through UN agencies (UNHCR and WFP). DFID is providing a further £3.9 million for the refugee response in Rwanda through both the UN and NGOs. This funding will be used by UN agencies and international NGOs to provide life-saving basic services to vulnerable populations, including full food rations.

Additionally, DFID’s preparedness programme (started in 2014) has enabled UNICEF and WFP to prepare to assist up to 10,000 people in Burundi and to stockpile high energy biscuits for 45,000 people in Rwanda. The programme also helped UNOCHA strengthen humanitarian coordination in Burundi. DFID has provided technical support, in the form of secondment of experts, to support UN agencies working in Burundi.

The START network (a consortium of international NGOs), which is supported by DFID, has released £442,327 in Burundi, £275,281 in Rwanda, £430,203 in Tanzania, and £330,000 in the DRC in support of the humanitarian response.

The UK Government supports the process of opening consultations with the Government of Burundi, as provided for by Article 96 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, to encourage the Burundian Government to make the right choices for the citizens of Burundi and bring stability to Burundi.

DFID will continue to monitor the situation closely with the FCO, and may consider additional funding, including within Burundi.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the RAF has spent on the design and management of www.londonvipairport.com; how many hits the site generates each month; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

The total cost of www.londonvipairport.com since the domain name was purchased in 2011 is £428.76 (including VAT). The website is maintained by RAF Northolt’s military IT hub using irreducible spare capacity from that section’s other military roles. The number of hits to this site is not recorded.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on the nationality of employers found to have failed to pay the national minimum wage in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles

We do not collect information on the nationality of employers who have been found to have underpaid the national minimum wage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will instruct exam boards to offer GCSE and A-Level examinations in Persian after 2018; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

Examination boards are independent organisations and the Secretary of State cannot instruct them to offer any particular qualifications. On 22 April we announced the successful preservation of community language qualifications following negotiation with the examination boards. This fulfilled the commitment made by the Government in 2015. The announcement can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/future-of-community-language-qualifications-secured.

It remains open to the exam boards to decide to offer qualifications in Persian in future.

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