Tag: Kate Hollern

The parliamentary question asked by Kate Hollern, the Labour MP for Blackburn, in the House of Commons on 6 March 2023.

Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)

14. What estimate he has made of levels of unemployment in towns and cities. (903881)

The Minister for Employment (Guy Opperman)

The January Office for National Statistics labour market statistics publication shows that payroll employment reached a new record high of 30 million in January 2023. That is, of course, higher than at any stage under the last, or any, Labour Government.

Kate Hollern

We hear of a record number of vacancies, yet so many who are looking to get into work are out of work. In Blackburn, the claimant count among 18 to 24-year-olds is at 7.9%, against a national rate of 4.6%. What is the Minister doing to bring down barriers to work such as unaffordable childcare, transport, a failed apprenticeship scheme and a levelling-up agenda that is just not meeting the skills agenda?

Guy Opperman

The hon. Lady should be aware that last Tuesday there was a jobs fair in her constituency. There were 59 exhibitors, and 900 customers attended the event. They provided fantastic feedback on the support and interventions given. If she did not attend that particular jobs fair, she might want to go to “March into manufacturing” on 21 March, an upcoming jobs fair in her patch.

Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)

We started the sitting with a non-party political point, so may I continue in that mode? I absolutely agree that those on the Opposition Benches want to reduce the level of unemployment. Unfortunately, their policies do not follow. Does the Minister agree that every single Labour Government have left unemployment higher than when they came to office?

Guy Opperman

Yes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether it is his policy that the extension of right to buy to housing associations will apply to tenants whose properties were built exclusively with private finance.

Brandon Lewis

Under the agreement with the National Housing Federation, there will be a presumption that housing association tenants will have the right to purchase their home at Right to Buy level discounts.

The agreement states that housing associations may exercise discretion over sales of properties provided through charitable or public-benefit resources or bequeathed for charitable or public-benefit purposes, and in the possession of the housing association before it became registered under the Housing Act 1974 (or later equivalent legislation).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) details of contractor, (b) scope, (c) value and (d) cost overrun from the original estimate are of contracts awarded for the Successor Trident programme.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence manages a wide range of contracts to support the Successor submarine programme. The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of whether additional investment to that already announced will be required during the stage 2 design process for the Successor programme.

Mr Philip Dunne

As I announced on 3 March 2016 (Official Report, columns 45-46WS) we are investing a further £642 million in the design phase of the Successor submarine. This is part of the staged investment approach announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the defence budget was spent on foreign military sales in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15.

Mr Philip Dunne

The proportion of the defence procurement budget, and the defence budget spent on foreign military sales in each financial year cannot be provided. Under the Foreign Military Sales Agreement (FMS), Her Majesty’s Government commits to FMS cases with the US Government which then places contracts with industry to deliver our requirements. Additionally, FMS cases typically cover differing periods of performance, thereby making estimation of the commitment that would fall within each financial year unreliable.

The number of new cases, together with their values, committed to under FMS for each financial year is given in the table below. They do not equate to actual expenditure, accruals or contractual commitments and include contingency provisions.

Financial Year	No. of new cases	Value of new cases ($millions)
2009-10	22	995
2010-11	30	111
2011-12	33	284
2012-13	23	137
2013-14	25	301
2014-15	26	328
2015-16	32	245
2016-17 to date	6	13
Totals	197	2,414

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on working families of his proposed reductions to the work allowance of universal credit.

Priti Patel

The impact of the work allowance change on working families cannot be considered in isolation – it is part of a broader package of measures announced at the Summer Budget, such as the increase to the personal tax allowance and introduction of the national living wage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Question 23620, what steps his Department has taken to implement new Government guidelines to help UK steel suppliers compete effectively for future defence projects; and what processes or policies have been changed as a result of those guidelines.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has issued new policy outlining the steps that should be taken to meet the Government’s aim of levelling the playing field for UK steel producers. This policy emphasises the importance of pre-market engagement, including through industry days, and signalling future requirements for steel. The MOD has also written to its largest defence contractors to highlight the new guidelines.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of new contracts placed by his Department’s core departments during 2014-15 were with UK suppliers.

Mr Philip Dunne

In 2014-15, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) placed 2,128 new contracts; a breakdown of whether these were with UK or overseas suppliers is not held centrally.

The MOD does, however, routinely publish statistics on contracts it places on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-industry-trade-and-contracts-2015. This includes an overall estimate of MOD expenditure for work undertaken in the UK. For 2013-14, this figure is £19.5 billion. The estimate for 2014-15 will be available in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many foreign military sales contracts there have been since 2010; and what the value was of those contracts.

Mr Philip Dunne

The proportion of the defence procurement budget, and the defence budget spent on foreign military sales in each financial year cannot be provided. Under the Foreign Military Sales Agreement (FMS), Her Majesty’s Government commits to FMS cases with the US Government which then places contracts with industry to deliver our requirements. Additionally, FMS cases typically cover differing periods of performance, thereby making estimation of the commitment that would fall within each financial year unreliable.

The number of new cases, together with their values, committed to under FMS for each financial year is given in the table below. They do not equate to actual expenditure, accruals or contractual commitments and include contingency provisions.

Financial Year	No. of new cases	Value of new cases ($millions)
2009-10	22	995
2010-11	30	111
2011-12	33	284
2012-13	23	137
2013-14	25	301
2014-15	26	328
2015-16	32	245
2016-17 to date	6	13
Totals	197	2,414

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the contingency fund for the new generation of successor Trident submarines was based on a full quantitative risk assessment of the project.

Mr Philip Dunne

As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we have set a contingency of £10 billion, which represents around 35% of the cost to completion. This is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects, such as the 2012 Olympics.