Tag: Kevin Brennan

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government’s proposals to cap public sector exit payments will explicitly exclude those workers who are retiring due to ill-health.

Greg Hands

The Government consulted on implementing a public sector exit payment cap in July 2015. The Government response to this consultation was published on 16 September 2015. This response provides detail on which organisations and types of payments the Government intends to capture within the scope of the public sector exit payment cap. This accords with the Government’s manifesto commitment to end tax payer funded six figure payoffs for public sector workers.

The response document can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464367/Public_sector_exit_payments_response.pdf

The exit payment cap will apply to payments made as a result of an employee leaving their employment. It will not affect any pension a person has earned through their years of service or have any impact on accrued pension rights or pension lump sum entitlements on retirement. It will capture contributions, made by the employer, to fund early access to an unreduced or partially reduced pension. This is because such costs are ultimately funded by the tax payer.

The Government has been clear that early retirements relating to ill health are outside the scope of the cap and will not be affected. Additionally, any payments directed by a Court or Tribunal will not be included in the scope of the cap.

Exits on compassionate grounds are not such a clearly defined concept as exits related to ill health or redundancy. There will generally be a large degree of employer discretion on the terms of such exits, and on any payments. In these cases there will be discretion available to relax the cap in individual cases, subject to relevant Ministerial or local council approval, as will be set out in further detail in forthcoming Treasury guidance and directions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his proposals for the extension of Sunday trading hours has passed the family test.

Anna Soubry

The Government’s Family Test is not a pass or fail measure.

The Government has conscientiously considered the impact on families and the evidence on this presented during the consultation. The Government will publish the Impact Assessment, including the Family Test, shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the running costs were for the 56 capital based science projects which his Department has funded for each year since 2007, referred to in the NAO Report entitled BIS’s capital investment in science projects, HC 885, published on 10 March 2016; and what the projected running costs for those projects are for each year to 2020-21.

Joseph Johnson

Running costs for 2014-15 for the 56 projects are given in Appendix 3 of the NAO Science Capital report where facilities are operational. These figures come from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and its Partner Organisations and provide an indication of annual running costs of these projects.

Project level management and allocation of funding for the majority of ongoing science projects is done at Partner Organisation level, in accordance with the delivery responsibilities of the Partner Organisations BIS funds. BIS does not hold this level of information centrally and it would not be possible to collect this information for each of the years since 2007, and estimates for future years, without disproportionate cost. However, the Government has protected the science and research budget in real terms in the 2015 spending review to ensure science spending remains on a sustainable footing and continues to deliver world-class research.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much central government infrastructure investment was in each region of the UK since 2010.

Greg Hands

Historic data for regional infrastructure investment by government is not currently available. However historical capital expenditure figures including government’s infrastructure investment can be obtained from the following link :

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2015

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/509735/NIDP_2016-2021_final_web.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value was of (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance sanctions imposed by his Department in each of the last five years.

Priti Patel

The Department does not make an estimate of the value of benefit withdrawn as a result of benefit sanctions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to encourage the National Infrastructure Commission to investigate ways in which the UK supply chain can be used to help the UK steel industry.

Anna Soubry

My officials continue to work with HM Treasury on the establishment of an independent National Infrastructure Commission, including the basis upon which it will consider economic growth and the impact of UK infrastructure on the wider economy.

On 30 October, we published guidance – Procurement Policy Note 16/15: Procuring steel in major projects, to ensure that Central Government takes into account relevant social and economic issues when procuring steel. This was followed, on 3 November, by more detailed instructions on how to apply social issues in steel procurement. These principles are being extended to the wider public sector, including Local Authorities and the NHS.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hon. Members of each party she has met as a result of a request for such a meeting since her appointment.

Nick Gibb

My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Education frequently meets Hon Members from across the political spectrum in the performance of her duties.

Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which steel plants in the UK have (a) closed and (b) been bought by a new owner in each of the last 10 years.

Anna Soubry

The information requested is set out below and covers the closures and sales of primary steel making plants in the UK.

Steel Plant Closed (A)	Steel Plant Bought by New Owner (B)
Alphasteel, Newport (2007)	Libala, Newport (2008)
Teeside Cast Products, Redcar (2010)	SSI, Redcar (2011)
Thamesteel, Sheerness (2012)	Liberty Group, Newport (2013)
Libala, Newport (2013)
SSI, Redcar (2015)

For A) owner at time of closing, plant (year of closure)

For B) new owner, plant (year of sale)

There is no centrally collected information for downstream steel sites closures and sales.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Government’s bilateral investment treaties on its policies on human rights, development and the environment in each of the countries with which it has signed a treaty.

Anna Soubry

The UK is signatory to over 90 bilateral investment treaties (BITs). The objective of BITs is to provide investors with fair and equitable treatment, protection against discriminatory action and a commitment not to expropriate investments without compensation. The contents of BITs do not provide specific obligations to either investors or states regarding human rights, development or the environment, however fair, non-discriminatory and proportionate action taken by a host state to protect human rights, development and the environment would not breach an investment protection. The Government is not aware of any Investor-State Dispute Settlement claims made by UK investors under existing BITs that have led directly to or contributed towards a negative impact on these areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Chinese government on the reported disappearance of Gui Haiming and other employees of Sage Communications in Hong Kong.

Mr Hugo Swire

We are following this issue closely along with EU partners. The UK takes seriously any threats to press freedom. We monitor this constantly including through the Foreign Secretary’s Six-Monthly Reports to Parliament. We have welcomed previous statements that the Hong Kong SAR Government remains committed to protecting the freedom of the press. We hope they and the Chinese authorities will also continue to make every effort to ensure that the environment in which the media, and publishers operate in the Hong Kong SAR is conducive to full and frank reporting.