The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding the Green Investment Bank has invested in fracking projects in the UK.
Anna Soubry
The Green Investment Bank has not invested in any fracking projects.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the differences in the ability of the Green Investment Bank to invest in higher risk emerging green technologies as a (a) public and (b) private sector bank.
Anna Soubry
The Government’s position on this matter was set out in paragraphs 31 – 36 of our November 2015 policy statement on the future of the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) which can be found on the GIB pages of the GOV.UK website.
This makes clear that GIB’s remit has always been to invest in green projects on fully commercial terms to help demonstrate green investment can be profitable and attract additional private sector investment into green sectors from mainstream finance providers. GIB will continue to perform that role in private ownership.
There are other Government policy mechanisms in place aimed at promoting investment in more high risk projects and early stage technologies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy that the right of local authorities to have a waiver option on public sector exit payments should be included on the face of the Enterprise Bill.
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 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment she has made of the availability of bank loans for oil exploration companies which operate in the North Sea.
Andrea Leadsom
Banks must make commercial decisions with regard to lending. The Government’s clear view is that the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry has a bright future and will remain a significant and important industry and energy supplier for the UK. The Government’s confidence in the sector was underlined in the tax reform package outlined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget , worth £1 billion. In the Budget, the Chancellor also announced that the government is willing to consider proposals for using the UK Guarantees scheme for infrastructure where it could help secure new investment in assets of strategic importance to maximising economic recovery of oil and gas. Any proposals would also need to meet the existing criteria of the scheme, including in relation to commerciality and financial credibility
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-17.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many non-domestic rate arrears appeals were (a) lodged and (b) heard in each of the last 10 years.
Mr David Gauke
The information requested is accessible via Tables LRW1and LRW2 of our 2005 and 2010 NDR Challenges and changes publications. Links below:
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-21.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2016 to Question 24869, whether the (a) Royal Bank of Scotland, (b) Bradford and Bingley and c) Northern Rock banks have received any public funding since they were taken into public ownership.
Harriett Baldwin
In 2008 and 2009 HM Treasury made a number of interventions to support institutions including Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock.
Full details of the funds used and outstanding balances can be found at the Office of Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) website and at UK Financial Investments’ (UKFI) website:-
http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of differences in mortality rates for (a) permanent and (b) temporary workers.
Nick Boles
My Department has not made an assessment of the differences in mortality rates for permanent and temporary workers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what meetings he has initiated on steel in the last two years.
Anna Soubry
It is an established convention that Ministers of one Administration cannot see the documents of a previous Administration. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested by the hon Member for the entire period given in his Question.
I first met with Gareth Stace on 01 June 2015 and discussions with steel industry stakeholders continued thereafter to identify the policy priorities for dealing with the considerable challenges facing the sector. We convened a Steel Summit on 16 October 2015 which brought together all the major stakeholders, including key Government and industry participants as well as constituency MPs, recognising the significant part steel companies play in local communities. This led to the formation of three Ministerial Working Groups which took the lead on our efforts to deliver on the five key ‘Asks’ put to us by our partners in the steel industry.
To ensure a sustainable future we set up the Steel Council, co-chaired by my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to build on the achievements of the three previous Ministerial working groups, by looking at the longer term future of the sector and how we can strengthen the capability and competiveness of the UK steel industry both at home and globally. The Council met for the first time on 2 March.
Since this Government took office, BIS Ministers have undertaken a number of visits to steel-producing sites across the UK, including: SSI Redcar; Tata Steel facilities at Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Rotherham; Celsa in Cardiff and the former-Tata Steel site at Motherwell recently re-opened by Liberty Steel.
To date we have made significant progress in addressing the challenges faced by the industry, including:
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the role of the PrescQIPP Programme is within his Department.
Alistair Burt
The PrescQIPP NHS Programme currently has no direct role within the Department as it is an independent social enterprise.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) use its materials to improve the prescribing of medicines. These are mainly publicly available for CCGs and Health Boards, with some additional subscription-only content. Their governance and annual work programme is overseen by a strategic oversight group representing the users.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make a comparative assessment of the effect of tariffs on steel imports in the EU and the US.
Anna Soubry
Each anti-dumping case is different. Moreover the levels of dumping and injury occurring in EU and US markets may be very different. The Government examines the evidence in all EU anti-dumping cases closely before taking a view.
The Government believes that effective trade defence measures should be proportionate, not protectionist, and strike a balance between removing the injury to producers caused by dumping, and avoiding imposing unnecessary costs on user industries, retailers, consumers and the rest of the economy. The evidence we have to date is that duties that have been imposed on imports of Chinese steel into the EU have been effective in delivering rapid, substantial and sustained reductions in imports. For example, imports of wire rod, organic coated steel and stainless steel flat products are down by more than 90%.
Where the European Commission has set duties that we believe to be too low to remove the injury caused to EU industry by dumped imports, we will push for them to be increased, as we have done in the reinforcing bar and cold rolled flat products cases.