Tag: Lord Taylor of Warwick

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support growth in UK exports in the light of recent reports from the British Chambers of Commerce that growth in orders for export has slowed.

Lord Maude of Horsham

Last week, we launched the new Exporting is GREAT marketing campaign which aims to inspire and support 100,000 additional exporters by 2020. This will run for five years as part of the world-renowned GREAT campaign and presents real-time export opportunities across various media and digital channels to UK businesses. We will ensure that in future the whole of Government isengagedin providing support forexports.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to use the forthcoming spending review to act on the findings of the Institute for Government report Managing with Less, in particularly the finding that some government targets….look unachievable”.”

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government receives a wide range of representations which inform the Spending Review process. The Spending Review has now been published and is available in the Library of the House and on gov.uk .

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-12-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for financial services executives being paid according to the number of women in senior roles.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government has asked Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money, to lead a review into the representation of women in senior managerial roles in the financial services industry. One of Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s potential recommendations is to link variable pay for the Executive Team to reaching internal targets set by the organisation on the representation of women at a senior level.

The government welcomes Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s work to date and will consider the final recommendations when the review reports next year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-01-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have refused to disclose legal advice regarding the impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on the NHS.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government considered the information referred to be exempt from release on the basis that it is subject to legal professional privilege.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-03-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of why the UK retail sector is predicted by the British Retail Consortium to lose up to 900,000 jobs in the next decade.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

• The Government recognises the great contribution the retail industry makes to the economy, to employment and to communities. We are in regular touch with the British Retail Consortium and major retailers on a wide range of policy issues, including those raised in the report.

• The report shows that the retail sector is going through a period of major adjustment as it is responds to developments such as changing demography and consumer preferences, and automation and digital technology.

• Government has supported business, including retailers by taking action to help employers and workers to improve productivity, including raising the Annual Investment Allowance to £200,000 to its highest ever permanent level, reducing national insurance contributions for small firms, going further by cutting corporation tax to 18% in 2020 for all companies, and significantly increasing investment in apprenticeships.

• At the same time, the government is making sure workers in Britain get a pay rise by introducing the National Living Wage from April this year. Now is the right time to do this as we are seeing record employment rates and more than 2 million jobs created since 2010. And taking into account the National Living Wage the independent Office of Budget Responsibility expects employment to rise by a further 1.1 million by 2020.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-04-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to promote Bristol as a location for small businesses with an eco-agenda.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Supporting our cities to grow is a key part of the Government’s long-term economic plan. As such Government departments are working together to support UK businesses by creating an effective business environment that allows them to flourish.

An example of this work can be seen in the Bristol City Deal. As part of this deal the Government agreed to provide over £2m towards creating Invest in Bristol and Bath, a dedicated service established to attract investment to the region. In its first year of operation, Invest in Bristol and Bath helped 30 new companies locate or expand in the West of England area. This has the potential to deliver more than 530 new jobs by 2017.

Building on the Bristol City Deal, the recently announced West of England Devolution Agreement sets out further ways in which Government will work with the planned West of England Combined Authority to support business growth across the city-region.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-09-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that has identified an 18 per cent gap between men’s and women’s earnings.

Lord Nash

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) research notes that the differential in average earnings between women and men remains substantial. The Office for National Statistics figures show that the gender pay gap has been virtually eliminated for women under 40 years of age working full-time, and has decreased for all women over 40 years of age working full-time, but we know that there is more to do. New regulations requiring large employers to be more transparent will take us one step closer to eliminating the gender pay gap within a generation.

The IFS research also highlighted that the gender pay gap widens once women start a family. We have extended the right to request flexible working to all employees; introduced a new system of shared parental leave; and committed to providing 30 hours of free childcare a week for working families.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of comments by Kristin Forbes, a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, on possible over-counting of the economic effects of Brexit, what assessment they have made of the Bank of England’s growth forecasts.

Lord Young of Cookham

The government has produced no such assessment of the independent Monetary Policy Committee’s forecasts for the UK economy.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has the responsibility to produce detailed forecasts for the economy and public finances twice a year. The OBR will produce forecasts to accompany the Autumn Statement on 23 November.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of increasing business rates on retailers’ capacity to tackle low pay.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government recognises that business rates represent a fixed cost which can be more burdensome during times of economic difficulty. It is currently considering the impact of business rates on the retail sector as part of the ongoing business rates review. The review will complete by the end of the year.

Further, the Chancellor recently set out major plans to devolve new powers from Whitehall to local areas to promote growth and prosperity. This includes giving councils the power to reduce business rates to support businesses in their area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the Prince of Wales’ visit to the startup academy Wayra UK, they have plans to promote the #iwill campaign.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Cabinet Office has pledged to support the #iwill campaign by ensuring that all young people have the opportunity to engage in meaningful youth social action opportunities. The Cabinet Office has renewed its commitment to the campaign and will invest £1million to support the development of youth social action opportunities in 2015/16. Any future investment will be announced after the autumn statement 2015.