Tag: Ivan Lewis

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when she last met the (a) CEO and (b) Chair of the British Business Bank to discuss how that organisation can more effectively support Northern Ireland businesses; and if she will make statement.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    I regularly hold discussions with representatives of the British Business Bank in my role as Chair of the Joint Ministerial Task Force on banking and access to finance.

    The Task Force has discussed how Northern Ireland business benefits from the British Business Bank schemes and will continue to explore how these measures can be delivered in the most effective way in Northern Ireland.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what work the British Business Bank is doing in Northern Ireland to promote its services to small businesses located there.

    Matthew Hancock

    British Business Bank programmes facilitated £7.5m of new lending and investment to smaller businesses in Northern Ireland in 2013/14.

    The Business Bank’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee programme supported £5.1 million of additional lending to Northern Irish businesses during 2013/14, bringing the total amount of lending through the programme in Northern Ireland to £36.1 million.

    The Bank’s Start Up Loans programme was extended to Northern Ireland in June 2013 and since then, it has provided 120 loans to Northern Irish start-ups, lending a total of over £560,000.

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Northern Ireland Executive recently hosted a roadshow in Northern Ireland to promote the delivery of Business Bank programmes through Northern Irish finance providers and the Business Bank is actively discussing with the Executive how it can continue to support Northern Irish businesses in the future.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional support she is providing to the passport office in Belfast.

    James Brokenshire

    The Belfast Office Full Time Equivalent (FTE) workforce in June 2014 was 216.29
    compared with 147.76 FTE in June 2012. The increase in staff has been to deal
    with the introduction of processing of work from overseas in 2013-14 and the
    introduction of an evening shift in January 2014 to assist in dealing with UK applications.
    Currently there are 20 additional staff redeployed to Belfast to assist in the
    examination function.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what support her Department has given to secure the establishment of US immigration, customs and agricultural pre-clearance at Belfast International Airport.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    My Department has been working with the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to understand the issues surrounding US immigration, customs, and agricultural pre-clearance at Belfast International Airport.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the variation in average unit retail price of petrol and diesel in Northern Ireland and in the rest of the UK; and if he will make a statement.

    Michael Fallon

    No formal assessment has been made of the reasons for the variation in average unit retail prices of petrol and diesel in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

    Retail fuel prices are determined by the demand and supply fundamentals in local areas. Prices will reflect the underlying cost of crude oil, the process to refine it and transport it so that it is available for consumption at the pump.

    Variations in prices are determined by changes in supply and demand factors both for crude oil and for individual products.

    On 5 September 2012, the OFT launched a call for information (CFI) to investigate claims that the UK petrol and diesel sectors are not working well. In their January 2013 report they concluded that:

    “Overall, on the basis of the evidence collected, it appears that competition in the UK road fuels sector is working relatively effectively”.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2015-01-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he last met the Chief Executive of Invest NI.

    Mr David Gauke

    Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

    Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

    “

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when she last held a meeting with the Northern Ireland Minister for Social Development.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    I was due to meet the Northern Ireland Social Development Minister in March but unfortunately the meeting had to be postponed. My private office has suggested further dates to his and is waiting to hear back.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-05-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Answer of 30 April 2014, Official Report, column 723W, on Northern Ireland government, when she last had a meeting with the Northern Ireland Minister for Social Development.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    I refer the hon Gentleman to the answer I gave on 13 May 2014, Official Report, Column 521W.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent meetings she has had on First World War centenary commemorations in Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The Northern Ireland Office plays a co-ordination role with the aim of ensuring that First World War commemorations are implemented in Northern Ireland in a manner which promotes reconciliation and enhances prospects for a peaceful, shared future.

    Officials from my Department sit on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Programme Board for First World War Centenary Commemorations. They also have regular contact with officials in the British Embassy Dublin, the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, and sit on the Northern Ireland First World War Centenary Committee chaired by Jeffrey Donaldson MP.

    I receive regular updates on this work and will attend a number of events being planned to mark this important centenary over the course of the coming months. These events will take place in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and France.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on devolved NHS services of changes to the way temporary migrants and visitors access the NHS in England.

    Jane Ellison

    The intention of the relevant powers in the Immigration Act 2014 is to ensure that temporary migrants and visitors make a fair contribution towards the cost of any National Health Service healthcare they receive in the United Kingdom. Under the Act, temporary migrants will be required to pay a health surcharge when applying for a visa to reside in the UK for more than six months. The Devolved Administrations will receive a proportion of funds received from the surcharge. It will be for the Devolved Administrations to decide whether they spend this on health services and whether they amend their health service charging regulations for other visitors to the UK.

    If charges for some primary care services in England are introduced to visitors to the UK, those services will continue to be free of charge to people who are ordinarily resident in the UK. Therefore, residents of the Devolved Administrations will continue to be treated on the same basis as an English resident if they access primary care services in England.

    However, introducing charging for visitors may influence behaviour near the borders if visitors from overseas in England choose to travel to the other countries to access primary care services that they would have to pay for in England.

    The proposed new process for registering with the NHS in England is unlikely to affect the healthcare systems in the devolved administrations but it may mean that residents from the Devolved Administrations who access NHS care in England are asked more often to demonstrate that they are ordinarily resident in the UK, or otherwise entitled to free NHS care in England.

    We will continue our discussions with colleagues in the Devolved Administrations on all of these issues.