The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-21.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of goods manufactured in the UK were exported in each of the last five years.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Materials Processing Institute to the development of a modern British steel industry.
Anna Soubry
The Government is exploring all options to support steel and the foundation industries. We are interested to consider how we can develop the best way forward for the UK industry alongside all parties with steel expertise, including the Materials Processing Institute.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-06-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received about plans to redevelop Cardiff Central railway station.
Claire Perry
I am aware of local stakeholder interest in the redevelopment of Cardiff Central Station which was identified by the rail industry in the Welsh Route Study as a choice for funders for the next five year Network Rail funding period (CP6, 2019-2024). I stand ready to discuss with the Welsh Government and the new Cardiff City Region Capital Transport Authority how a potentially viable and fundable scheme for Cardiff Central Station could be developed.
Later this year, the rail industry will present its initial advice on investment needs for the national network, for 2019 onwards. On the basis of this advice, Government intends to articulate its emerging priorities for improvements to the national network during 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what ability the Government plans to retain to ensure that the Green Investment Bank operates according to its original purposes after that body’s privatisation.
Anna Soubry
Green investment is what the Green Investment Bank (GIB) does and is where its value lies. It is clear from preliminary feedback that potential investors are interested in GIB precisely because of its unique green specialism and its existing forward business plan and pipeline of green projects. Investors will have sound commercial reasons to maintain GIB’s green focus and continue operating in accordance with its clearly stated green principles and highly transparent and robust green reporting practices.
As a key part of any sale discussions, potential investors will be asked to confirm their commitment to these values and to set out how they propose to protect them. We envisage this would involve new shareholders agreeing to:
It is important to understand Government could not impose binding conditions on future owners of GIB to act in a particular way while also securing our key objective of removing state control over GIB so it can be reclassified to the private sector.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals on increasing penalties for online copyright infringement.
Mr Edward Vaizey
A consultation was held during summer 2015 on proposals to increase the maximum custodial sentence for online copyright infringement from two to ten years, to harmonise it with the penalty available for physical infringement. The responses to that consultation have been analysed and officials at the IPO are now giving consideration to future direction and timing and will advise Ministers accordingly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has received on the proposed privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.
Anna Soubry
The Government has received a small number of representations from interested parties since the Government’s announcement to bring in private capital to the Green Investment Bank (GIB) in June 2015.
My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills met my hon Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) and representatives from E3G and Aldersgate Group in October, and I have met with the Member separately this month. The Government also meets GIB management regularly to discuss this and other issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department issues on conducting public consultations during the summer recess.
Mr Oliver Letwin
Cabinet Office publishes Consultation Principles, which it expects all government departments to follow. They were most recently updated on 14 January in response to feedback from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee.
Principle G includes the line:
‘When the consultation spans all or part of a holiday period, consider how this may affect consultation and take appropriate mitigating action, such as prior discussion with key interested parties or extension of the consultation deadline beyond the holiday period’.
The Principles also make clear that formal consultation should only form part of the engagement process and that departments should make use of new digital tools and consider whether an iterative approach is appropriate.
The Principles can be found online on gov.uk and a copy can be found in the House of Commons Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he has made an assessment of the projects with which the Green Investment Bank has been involved which would not have gone ahead without investment from that Bank.
Anna Soubry
One of the UK Green Investment Bank’s (GIB’s) objectives is to invest in green projects that would not go ahead, or would not go ahead as quickly, without investment from GIB. The majority of the projects GIB supports fall into this category.
Where GIB has invested in projects that are already operational, this has been for the purpose of building a secondary market for such assets which releases the funds of project developers to invest in new construction projects
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will consider allowing public bodies to continue to have the right, under the Local Government Pension scheme, to allow individuals to access an unreduced pension on compassionate grounds under the proposed public sector exit payments cap.
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 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support the Government plans to provide to local authorities for implementation of the extension of primary authority under the Enterprise Bill.
Anna Soubry
The Government has engaged extensively with local authorities to ensure that Primary Authority is modelled around how local authorities engage with businesses.
We will continue to work closely with local authorities, including providing free training and guidance materials to local authorities.