Tag: Lord Taylor of Warwick

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 why there has not been an improvement in the proportion of female high earners in the UK despite initiatives to reduce the gender pay gap.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

New figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that the gender pay gap in the UK remains the lowest on record.

I am proud of our achievements, but recognise there is still more we must do. To help eliminate the gender pay gap within a generation, we are requiring larger employers to publish information about their gender pay gaps and bonuses. We are also working with business to support and promote Lord Davies’ target of 33% of women on boards in the FTSE 350 by 2020.

The government is also introducing new regulations that will require larger employers to publish their gender pay gap information. This will encourage companies to take action and drive change on this important issue

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to support the UN Secretary-General’s first high-level panel on women’s economic empowerment.

Baroness Verma

The High Level Panel on women’s economic empowerment, convened by the UN Secretary General, will bring together leading politicians, expert economists, leaders from business and civil society to lead a step change in improving economic opportunities and choices for women and girls globally.

The Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening, is a founding member of the Panel. In addition to our policy and technical inputs, DFID will also provide support for the Panel’s independent Secretariat to conduct a global consultation process, produce a research synthesis, and build momentum around tangible actions to unleash the full global potential of women’s economic power.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the 0.4 per cent fall in February in the volume of goods sold in UK shops.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Individual month on month changes can be volatile. Although the latest ONS Retail Sales Index reports a fall of 0.4 per cent in the volume of goods sold on a seasonally adjusted basis in February, it follows on from a strong monthly rise in January (2.3 per cent). It is also a 3.8 per cent increase on February of last year.

This monthly decline in sales volumes was seen across all the headline categories of retail (with the exception of household goods stores). However, for almost all categories the decline was substantially smaller than the growth seen in the previous month.

The latest Retail Sales Index publication and supplementary data is attached and can be found here:-

https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/retailindustry/bulletins/retailsales/february2016

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of proposals by the European Commission to fine EU member states €250,000 for every refugee they decline to allow into their country.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

This is related to the European Commission’s proposal on a revised Dublin Regulation, which was published on 4 May 2016. Given the recent publication of this proposal and the significant amount of detail to consider, we are not in a position to give a clear view on this yet. An Explanatory Memorandum is due to be laid in Parliament in the week commencing 23 May which will include more detail of the government’s initial views. In any case the proposal is subject the UK’s opt-in protocol and we will only opt-in if it is in our national interest to do so.

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 the impact of higher stamp duty costs on activity in London’s housing market throughout 2016.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The housing market is affected by a wide variety of factors including exchange rates and the economic outlook. The Government continually monitors the housing market as part of the ordinary process of policy development.

At Autumn Statement 2014 the Government announced a radical reform of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on residential properties, cutting the tax for 98% of homebuyers who pay it.

The Government believes it is fair that those who can afford to buy the most expensive properties contribute the most. Whilst the reform does increase the SDLT paid on the top 2% of transactions, this increase is small relative to the price of the property.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to help SMEs expand overseas.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Small businesses can find out what support is available to them by contacting their local Growth Hub. There are now 30 Growth Hubs across England that are bringing together local and national business support so that people can find the help they need quickly and easily. This includes referring on to UK Trade & Investment those businesses who want help and advice on how to export

UK Trade and Investment provides a range of support to help companies develop their capacity to export; that includes elements such as helping companies devise an export strategy, guide them on researching and selecting markets, and addressing language and culture barriers. UKTI also helps companies access international markets by organising a wide range of events and missions, supporting companies at overseas exhibitions and highlighting export opportunities.

UKTI supported almost 55,000 businesses in 2014/15, around 90% of which were SMEs

UK Export Finance (UKEF) also continues to support those who wish to export, including small and medium sized businesses and mid-sized businesses (MSBs)

In 2014/15 UK Export Finance provided over £2.7bn of support to help 160 exporters (129 of which were smaller businesses) win overseas contracts in over 100 markets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to reconsider expanding Gatwick airport in the light of comments by the Chief Executive of that airport.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government continues to consider the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase diversity in police forces, in particular to close the gap between the percentage of applicants and percentage of appointments from black and minority ethnic groups.

Lord Bates

It is vital that the police reflect the communities they serve and I am determined to improve BME representation in all 43 forces in England and Wales.

Decisions on when and how to recruit individuals are for the chief officer of a police force. It is important that they use equalities legislation, including positive action provisions, to make better progress in terms of recruitment of under-represented groups.

The Government’s reforms have already made improvements, for example we set up the College of Policing which has embarked on a major programme of work, BME Progression 2018, looking at recruitment, retention and progression of black and minority ethnic officers, including the development of an evidence base of successful approaches used by forces.

As part of this programme the College recently published Positive Action Practical Advice, which advises forces on the use of lawful positive action to support the recruitment, retention and progression of officers from under-represented groups, and it has published case studies from forces showing what can be done.

The College of Policing is currently undertaking a review of initial police recruitment, including the SEARCH assessment centre for police recruits, to better understand disproportionality that can occur between white candidates and those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. The review is due to report by the 31 March 2016.

Under this Government, innovative schemes such as Direct Entry and Police Now are increasing the number of BME recruits to the police, showing that you can achieve better representation while attracting the best and the brightest into policing.

Of the nine direct entry superintendents who began their superintendent training on November 2014 four (44%) are women and two (22%) are from an ethnic minority background. This is significantly more representative than the current make up of the superintendent rank which comprises 17% women and 4% ethnic minority.

Police Now, introduced in the Metropolitan Police, has appointed 69 people to start their training, up from an anticipated 50 owing to the high calibre of applicants. Of these, 43% are women and 9% are from a BME background, compared to the national BME proportion of 5.5%.

With the joint leadership of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Commissioner, the Metropolitan Police also introduced its London residency criteria for recruits in August 2014. Recent Metropolitan police figures show that in the three months from June to August 2015, 26% of new Metropolitan police recruits came from a black or minority background, more than double the 12% recruited in the same quarter of 2014, and the 12% of Metropolitan police officers currently from a black and minority ethnic background.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are supporting and promoting the #itaffectsme campaign, which aims to raise awareness of mental health issues and their prevalence.

Lord Prior of Brampton

This Government is working to reduce stigma around mental health and supports all campaigns, including #itaffectsme, in this area. Any campaign, such as #itaffectsme, which raises awareness in mental health issues, is welcomed. In his speech announcing almost a billion pounds in investment into mental health services on 11 January, the Prime Minister recognised the need to reduce the stigma around mental illness. He said that, ‘as a country, we need to be far more mature about this. Less hushed tones, less whispering; more frank and open discussion. We need to take away that shame, that embarrassment, let people know that they’re not in this alone’.

We continue to provide financial support to the Time to Change programme which works to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and to encourage people to talk about mental health issues and seek help when needed. We are working with the programme and funders to develop the next stage of the programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to help revive the UK’s oil industry.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

At the Budget, my rt. hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a radical £1bn package to support the North Sea Oil and Gas industry, including reductions to the headline rates of tax and targeted measures to encourage investment in exploration, infrastructure and late-life assets.

This package will ensure the UK has one of the most competitive tax regimes for oil and gas in the world, safeguarding jobs and investment.

The Budget measures build on the action plan the Prime Minister set out in January to help build a bridge to the future for the industry, which included:

• A £20m package of new investment in exploration, innovation and skills;

• A new Inter-Ministerial Group on Oil and Gas to coordinate the UK’s response to the oil price crash and focus on vital issues such as exports, skills and investment, and;

• Funding for the £250m City Deal Package for Aberdeen, which includes a new energy innovation centre to support exploiting remaining reserves.

In addition, we have established the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) and it is already helping industry to drive down costs and improve efficiencies. Subject to the will of parliament, the OGA will transition to a fully empowered, strong, independent regulator in summer 2016.