Tag: Kevin Brennan

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to his oral contribution of 18 April 2016, Official Report, column 712, on the national minimum wage, what correspondence his Department has received from employers asking not to be named and shamed for breach of the legislation in each year since that approach was implemented.

Nick Boles

Since the naming scheme began we have received 107 representations from employers asking not to be named: 1 in 2013, 35 in 2014 and 71 in 2015.

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 powers are available to his Department to restrict dumping of steel imports in the UK; and which of those powers he has used.

Anna Soubry

Trade defence is an EU competence. The EU’s anti-dumping procedures are set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 (the EU’s basic anti-dumping Regulation). The process is mainly initiated following requests from EU producers to the Commission. The Commission is responsible for considering requests for and, if appropriate, opening anti-dumping investigations. The UK, or any other EU member state, cannot unilaterally impose tariffs.

It is for industry to demonstrate prima facie evidence of dumping to the European Commission. We encourage industry to present this evidence to the Commission where they have evidence of dumping. Where evidence is sufficient to justify an investigation the Commission will do so and present any proposals for imposing duties to Member States.

The Government stands ready to assist all parts of UK industry in making its case to the Commission and has actively lobbied the Commission in support of UK steel producers in a number of recent cases, including reinforcing bar and cold-rolled flat products.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department made of the applicability of the requirements of school food standards as part of the development of the Government’s Eatwell guide.

Jane Ellison

The Eatwell Guide is suitable for everyone over the age of five years to follow and intends to assist the population in choosing a varied and balanced diet to meet Government dietary recommendations.

The School Food Standards aim to assist school aged children in achieving Government dietary recommendations, tying in with the aims of the Eatwell Guide. Common themes include the encouragement of fruits, vegetables and wholegrain starchy carbohydrates, as well as promoting the contribution of water and lower fat milks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much the Government intends to raise from privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry

Proceeds will depend on the size of stake sold and the outcome of negotiations with investors about the value of the company. We will need to be satisfied any transaction represents value for money for the taxpayer.

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 steps he is taking to encourage manufacturers to introduce resource and energy efficiency measures.

Anna Soubry

The Government’s top priority is to continue creating a highly competitive business environment that makes the UK an attractive location for new manufacturing investment in sustainable processes. We are protecting spending on innovation and the cutting-edge smart manufacturing technologies that will encourage digital, virtual, resource-efficient factories in the future. The High Value Manufacturing Catapult has skills, expertise and equipment available to help partner companies improve the efficiency and sustainability of their processes. As part of Autumn Statement 2015, my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that funding to the nine existing Catapults would increase in real terms over the Spending Review period ensuring the UK remains a world leader in high-value manufacturing.

In addition, we are taking into account UK business opportunities during negotiations on the EU Circular Economy proposals which include aims to improve business sustainability, resource and energy efficiency.

At the Summer Budget 2015, the Chancellor announced a review of the business energy efficiency tax landscape and Government launched a consultation in September. The consultation set out proposals for delivering a simpler and more stable environment for business that will reduce administrative costs and improve incentives to invest in energy efficiency. This will help increase the productivity of UK businesses, save carbon emissions and ensure secure energy supplies. The Government is currently considering all consultation responses and is likely to publish its formal response at Budget 2016.

I would be delighted to receive further representations from the Manufacturing Commission on their recent Industrial Evolution report.

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 assessment he has made of the potential effect of the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank on the level of investment it will make in the UK green economy.

Anna Soubry

The privatisation of the Green Investment Bank will allow the company to increase its investments in the UK green economy. It will be able to raise more capital free from being on the Government balance sheet. It will also be free from State Aid restrictions on the green investments it can make.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of whether there have been market failures in green and low carbon investment over the last five years; and if she will make an assessment of the most important potential threats to such investment.

Andrea Leadsom

Electricity Market Reform was introduced to overcome barriers to investment and deployment of large scale low carbon UK power generation. The UK has enjoyed record levels of deployment of renewables in recent years and the Government has also agreed a deal to bring forward the first new nuclear power station in a generation. Increasingly, as we benefit from the lower technology costs arising from this deployment, we can expect competitive forces increasingly to stimulate further investment in the low carbon power generation that the country needs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the number of workers who would be affected if the exit payments cap for public sector workers was set at any other amount than £95,000.

Greg Hands

At the 2015 Spending Review the Government announced it will consult on further cross public sector action on exit payment terms. This consultation will provide a good opportunity to collect further information on the trends in the level of exit payments between the private and public sector.

Exit payment terms vary significantly across the private sector, and there will be examples of terms that match or even exceed those in the public sector. However, the Government has seen no evidence that redundancy terms such as employer-funded early retirement, which are widely available across the public sector and often cost employers tens, or even hundreds of thousands of pounds per person, are replicated to anything like the same extent in the private sector.

The precise number of those affected by the public sector exit payment cap will depend on the number and type of exits in coming years.

However, as the average cost of an exit in the public sector in recent years has been around £25,000 the vast majority of exits are below the level of the cap. For example, less than 2% of recent exits in local government were above the level of the cap.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library a timescale for the introduction of the proposed exit payment cap for the public sector.

Greg Hands

The public sector exit payment cap will come into effect at a date after the Enterprise Bill has received Royal Assent. The Enterprise Bill is currently expected to receive Royal Assent by May 2016. A set of secondary regulations which will give effect to the public sector exit payment cap are currently expected to come into force during autumn 2016.

In the response to the consultation the Government stated that ‘the government would request Legislative Consent Motions from the Devolved Administrations where appropriate, however it would be for the Devolved Administrations to decide the approach they wish to take to this measure.’

On 7 December 2015 the Northern Ireland Assembly declined to agree a Legislative Consent Motion. Subsequently, no provisions relating to Northern Ireland are included in the clauses relating to exit payments.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many successful prosecutions there have been against employers who have taken action against workers who have refused to work on Sundays under Section 45 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

Anna Soubry

Section 45 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 gives certain shop workers and betting workers the right not to be subjected to detriment by their employers on the ground that the employee refused (or proposed to refuse) to do shop work, or betting work, on Sundays. This right can be enforced by bringing a complaint to the employment tribunal. There is no relevant criminal offence, so there have been no prosecutions.