Tag: Jonathan Ashworth

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-11-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many projects, of what value, have received investment through the Pensions Infrastructure Platform in (a) 2015 and (b) since the platform’s launch.

Greg Hands

The Pensions Infrastructure Platform (PIP) is a vehicle for encouraging pension funds to invest in infrastructure. It does this by establishing special purpose infrastructure investment funds that are designed to meet the needs of pension funds. The PIP is owned by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) with investment from pension funds.

Two funds have been launched so far through the PIP. The first fund was launched in 2014 and is managed by Dalmore Capital with a remit to invest in UK PPP/PFI project equity. The fund has currently raised £508m commitments of a £600m target. The second PIP fund is a domestic solar PV fund managed by Aviva, it was launched in February 2015 and has commitments of £131mn and a target of £250mn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-12-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to publish an update of the National Infrastructure Plan and infrastructure pipeline before the end of 2015.

Greg Hands

The government will publish a National Infrastructure Delivery Plan next spring, setting out in detail how it will deliver key projects and programmes over the next 5 years. This will be underpinned by a refreshed National Infrastructure Pipeline.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many overseas visits have been carried out by UK Trade and Investment trade envoys in each year since September 2012.

Anna Soubry

The table below shows the number of overseas visits taken by Trade Envoys since September 2012.

Year	Number of Overseas visits
2012	1
2013	9
2014	37
2015	34
2016	12
Total	93

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Prime Minister, which Government Ministers have had use of Chevening House since May 2015.

Mr David Cameron

The Foreign Secretary has use of Chevening.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) publications, (b) consultation documents and (c) circulars his Department has issued since August 2012; and what the title was of each such publication, consultation document or circular.

Brandon Lewis

The answer can be found by using the publicly available filters on GOV.UK:

The Department has published 2,111 publications. Details, with full titles of each publication, can be viewed at:

a) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=all&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-for-communities-and-local-government&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=01%2F08%2F2012&to_date=

The Department has published 189 consultations. Details can be viewed at:

b) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=consultations&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-for-communities-and-local-government&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=01%2F08%2F2012&to_date=

The Department has published 44 circulars. Details can be viewed at:

c) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=circulars&publication_filter_option=all&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-for-communities-and-local-government&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=01%2F08%2F2012&to_date=

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many consultants’ contracts were terminated early in each of the last six years for which figures are available; and what the cost of each such termination was in each of those years.

Nick Gibb

This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many civil law suits have been brought against his Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

Jane Ellison

When the Human Rights Act came into force, no specific arrangements were put in place by the then government to record cases in the way requested. Furthermore, litigants in civil cases can rely on arguments based wholly or partly on the Human Rights Act 1998. In some cases, the Act is relied on in addition to other claims. Neither Government Legal Department records nor the County and High Courts case management systems distinguish between cases where the Act is invoked and cases where it is not. As a result, there are not currently data published which distinguish between cases where the Human Rights Act was or was not invoked. To obtain the information requested would involve a thorough review of all paper case files since 2010. To undergo this review would incur a disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent from the public purse on industrial tribunals in the last 12 months.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The cost of Employment Tribunals can be found within the HMCTS annual accounts published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/433948/hmcts-annual-report-accounts-2014-15.pdf.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2016 to Question 27903, which countries were visited in each of the overseas visits referred to in the Answer; and which trade envoy undertook each such visit.

Anna Soubry

The table below outlines which countries were visited, and by which Trade Envoy.

YEAR	TRADE ENVOY	COUNTRY
2012	Baroness Morris	Jordan
2013	Baroness Morris	Palestine, Kuwait
2013	Lord Risby	Algeria
2013	Baroness Scotland	South Africa
2013	Lord Putnam	Vietnam, Laos
2013	Baroness Bonham-Carter	Mexico x2
2013	Richard Graham	Indonesia
2014	Baroness Bonham-Carter	Mexico x2
2014	Richard Graham	Indonesia x2
2014	Mark Prisk	Iceland, Finland, Sweden
2014	Lord Risby	Algeria x3, Tunisia
2014	David Heath	Nigeria x2, Angola x2
2014	Lord Sharman	Morocco x2
2014	Baroness Scotland	South Africa x2
2014	Lord Hollick	Kenya, Tanzania,
2014	Lord Janvrin	Turkey x2
2014	Charles Hendry	Kazakhstan x2
2014	Baroness Morris	Palestine x2, Jordan
2014	Lord King	Saudi Arabia
2014	Charles Hendry	Azerbaijan x2
2015	Charles Hendry	Kazakhstan x2, Azerbaijan
2015	Baroness Morris	Kuwait x3, Palestine
2015	Lord Janvrin	Turkey x2
2015	Lord King	Saudi Arabia x3
2015	Baroness Nicholson	Iraq
2015	Baroness Bonham-Carter	Mexico x2
2015	Lord Putnam	Vietnam x2, Cambodia x2, Laos
2015	Lord Hollick	Tanzania, Kenya
2015	Lord Risby	Algeria
2015	David Heath	Angola, Nigeria
2015	Baroness Scotland	South Africa x2
2015	Richard Graham	Indonesia x3, Singapore, Malaysia
2015	Mark Prisk	Norway, Sweden
2016	Lord Risby	Algeria
2016	Lord Hollick	Tanzania, Kenya
2016	Baroness Northover	Angola
2016	Baroness Scotland	South Africa
2016	Jeffrey Donaldson MP	Egypt
2016	Baroness Morris	Kuwait
2016	Lord Putnam	Vietnam, Cambodia x2, Laos
2016	Richard Graham	Indonesia, Singapore

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.

Joseph Johnson

The number of employees in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills HQ who have resigned, in each of the last 6 years and the proportion of the headcount, are shown in the table below.

Year	Number who resigned	% of headcount
2010-11	0	0%
2011-12	49	1.6%
2012-13	70	2.2%
2013-14	67	2.2%
2014-15	89	2.9%
2015-16	82	2.6%

The number of officials who have resigned in any year is in the period April – March, whilst the % is of the headcount at 31 March in that year.