Tag: Lord Mendelsohn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which ministers have reviewed sections or drafts of the impact assessment for the Trade Union Bill, and when.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government has published detailed Impact Assessments for the Bill – on the Trade Union Bill, on the Reporting of Facility Time in the Public Sector, and on the Prohibition on Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector. At a meeting with Peers in December, Ministers committed to publishing prior to the Lords Committee stage of the Bill, and they were published in good time on 21 January.

The Trade Union Bill’s impact assessment has been subject to scrutiny by the independent Regulatory Policy Committee, and its opinion has been published alongside the impact assessment.

They were reviewed and approved by the relevant Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office. The Permanent Secretary has been kept informed of progress on all stages of the Bill.

Policy officials and analysts in both Departments have worked together to produce the impact assessments as quickly as possible while ensuring that the analysis was thorough.

We have not asked civil servants working on the Bill in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office to fill out time sheets.

We do not record which particular documents each special adviser reads. Special advisers have access to departmental papers in line with the Special Advisers’ Code of Conduct and provide advice to Ministers.

I am placing copies of the relevant documentation in the Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their policy that FTSE 100 executive pay is a matter solely for shareholders or also for a wider group of affected stakeholders such as pension holders, customers, and the customers of similar companies.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the noble Lord.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the Insurance Fraud Taskforce that detected insurance fraud and undetected insurance fraud costs consumers up to £50 per year; and whether they plan to establish a unit (1) to track the return of those costs to the consumer, and (2) to monitor the performance of the insurance industry in tackling fraud and addressing the practices of claims management companies.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

A Written Ministerial Statement was published on 26 May 2016 to announce that the Government accepts each of the recommendations addressed to it. We expect that all organisations tasked with taking forward recommendations do so with urgency. The Government will do what it can to assist and, in order to make sure that all of the recommendations are actively pursued, we will seek an update on progress later in the year.

The report highlighted the particular problem of fraud in relation to low value personal injury claims and the Government has established a programme of reforms in this area, particularly in respect of whiplash claims and regulation of claims management companies. We are pleased that the report’s recommendations reflect and support that reform programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many officials have worked on the impact assessment for the Trade Union Bill (1) in total, and (2) by job title; and how many hours, and over what period, each official has worked on it.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government has published detailed Impact Assessments for the Bill – on the Trade Union Bill, on the Reporting of Facility Time in the Public Sector, and on the Prohibition on Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector. At a meeting with Peers in December, Ministers committed to publishing prior to the Lords Committee stage of the Bill, and they were published in good time on 21 January.

The Trade Union Bill’s impact assessment has been subject to scrutiny by the independent Regulatory Policy Committee, and its opinion has been published alongside the impact assessment.

They were reviewed and approved by the relevant Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office. The Permanent Secretary has been kept informed of progress on all stages of the Bill.

Policy officials and analysts in both Departments have worked together to produce the impact assessments as quickly as possible while ensuring that the analysis was thorough.

We have not asked civil servants working on the Bill in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office to fill out time sheets.

We do not record which particular documents each special adviser reads. Special advisers have access to departmental papers in line with the Special Advisers’ Code of Conduct and provide advice to Ministers.

I am placing copies of the relevant documentation in the Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their policy, in circumstances where more than 50 per cent of shareholder votes oppose executive pay awards, that the companies’ boards should take note.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the noble Lord.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their target date for the operation of a regulatory regime for claims management companies.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

At Budget 2016 the Chancellor announced that the government accepts the recommendations of the independent review into the regulation of Claims Management Companies (CMCs). The new regime will be tougher and will ensure CMC managers can be held personally accountable for the actions of their businesses. In order to ensure that the new regulatory regime is implemented effectively, the government intends to transfer responsibility for regulating CMCs from the Ministry of Justice to the Financial Conduct Authority. The government intends to take forward the necessary primary legislation in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps have been taken to speed up completion of the impact assessment for the Trade Union Bill.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government has published detailed Impact Assessments for the Bill – on the Trade Union Bill, on the Reporting of Facility Time in the Public Sector, and on the Prohibition on Deduction of Union Subscriptions from Wages in the Public Sector. At a meeting with Peers in December, Ministers committed to publishing prior to the Lords Committee stage of the Bill, and they were published in good time on 21 January.

The Trade Union Bill’s impact assessment has been subject to scrutiny by the independent Regulatory Policy Committee, and its opinion has been published alongside the impact assessment.

They were reviewed and approved by the relevant Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office. The Permanent Secretary has been kept informed of progress on all stages of the Bill.

Policy officials and analysts in both Departments have worked together to produce the impact assessments as quickly as possible while ensuring that the analysis was thorough.

We have not asked civil servants working on the Bill in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office to fill out time sheets.

We do not record which particular documents each special adviser reads. Special advisers have access to departmental papers in line with the Special Advisers’ Code of Conduct and provide advice to Ministers.

I am placing copies of the relevant documentation in the Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to legislate to change non-binding shareholder votes in relation to executive pay in public companies to binding votes if they pass the 50 per cent threshold.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the noble Lord.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce an enforceable regulatory regime of any type to tackle nuisance calls, texts and other forms of marketing for claims management companies.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government is taking forward a range of measures to tackle nuisance calls, which will increase consumer protection and choice by strengthening the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) ability to take enforcement action against organisations that break the law.

Specific actions include requiring direct marketing callers to display calling line identification; strengthening the ICO’s direct marketing guidance; and exploring the extension of the ICO’s powers of compulsory audit to more of the organisations that generate nuisance calls.

The Government also intends to establish a tougher regulatory regime for Claims Management Companies (CMCs) by transferring responsibility for claims management regulation to the Financial Conduct Authority; re-authorising all CMCs under a more robust process; and holding managers of CMCs personally accountable for the actions of their businesses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-01-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many regulation-making powers are contained in the Trade Union Bill.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Trade Union Bill contains 12 regulation making powers. Details are set out in the Delegated Powers memorandum, updated ahead of introductions in to this House in November 2015. A summary is attached.