Tag: Martyn Day

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to identify businesses that engage in labour exploitation.

Margot James

The Immigration Act 2016 creates a new Director of Labour Market Enforcement. They will be responsible for overseeing and setting priorities for the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, National Minimum Wage enforcement and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority. This will strengthen efforts to identify businesses that engage in labour exploitation.

To enable more effective enforcement, we are creating:

• A new intelligence hub so that enforcement is targeted at areas of risk; and
• A new regime of Labour Market Enforcement undertakings and orders, backed up by a criminal offence and custodial sentence, to allow us to tackle repeat labour market offenders and rogue businesses.

We have already reformed the Gangmasters Licensing Authority into the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority with the ability to tackle labour exploitation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what timetable the Government plans to follow for the proposed sale of its share in NATS.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government is currently committed to exploring the sale of its 49% shareholding in NATS and maximise returns to the taxpayer.

We have not yet set a timetable for the sale.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will make it his policy never to permit the transit of nuclear weapons in urban areas in hazardous weather conditions.

Penny Mordaunt

The safety and security of Defence Nuclear Materials and the public is given the highest priority at all times. The relevant local agencies, including Police and the National Traffic Information Services, are consulted as necessary and factors such as road and weather conditions are always taken into account for all convoy movements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if the Prime Minister will make it his policy to devolve responsibilities for the North Sea oil industry to the Scottish Government.

David Mundell

The UK Government does not intend to devolve responsibility for the North Sea oil industry.

The Smith Commission Agreement, agreed by all of Scotland’s main parties, was clear on the powers that would be devolved to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Ministers, and the Scotland Bill, currently before Parliament, delivers these powers in full.

The Smith Commission agreed that all aspects of the taxation of oil and gas receipts and the licensing of offshore oil and gas extraction would remain reserved.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he will make representations to the government of Pakistan on its blasphemy laws and the potential for the death penalty to be imposed for breach of those laws.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

UK Ministers regularly raise the blasphemy laws, which have been misused against both Muslims and others, with the authorities in Pakistan. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) and the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) have discussed human rights concerns, including blasphemy laws, with Prime Minister Sharif.

I raised our concerns directly with the Pakistani High Commissioner in London. As a priority, I encourage the Government of Pakistan to reduce the number of offences attracting the death penalty, which currently includes blasphemy, and to abide by its international obligations. The Foreign Secretary reiterated UK opposition to the death penalty during his visit to Pakistan this week.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to increase war pensions for veterans to correspond with the state pension triple lock.

Mark Lancaster

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 November 2015 to Question 16781 to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central (Mr Jarvis).

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-11-18/16781/

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-09-15.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to the economy of reducing both fuel duty and VAT on all fuels.

Jane Ellison

Fuel duty was frozen for its sixth successive year at Budget 2016, saving the average driver £75 every year compared to the pre-2010 fuel duty escalator plans. Like all taxes, the government keeps fuel duty under review, with all options considered and announcements made at fiscal events. Under the current legal framework there is no scope to apply a reduced rate of VAT to all fuels.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Parliament will be asked to vote on a decision to replace the warheads used for the successor nuclear weapon programme.

Michael Fallon

As stated in paragraph 4.72 of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review: "Work continues to determine the optimum life of the UK’s existing nuclear warhead stockpile and the range of replacement options. A replacement warhead is not required until at least the late 2030s, possibly later. Given lead times, however, a decision on replacing the warhead may be required in this Parliament or early in the next." The Government will inform Parliament of its intended approach in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she has taken to protect recipients of Green Deal funding from companies whose work is not of an acceptable standard.

Andrea Leadsom

All authorised Green Deal participants must adhere to the Green Deal Code of Practice which clearly stipulates their roles and responsibilities in relation to carrying out energy efficiency measures and dealing with consumers. A Green Deal provider offering Green Deal finance must also hold the appropriate FCA permissions to do so and comply with the relevant elements of that regime. Any measures installed under a Green Deal, the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, or Green Deal Communities must be installed to the standards required in the Publicly Available Standard 2030 (PAS 2030). Green Deal Certification Bodies exist to certify and audit Green Deal Installers against PAS 2030 and the Green Deal Code of Practice.

Consumers with Green Deal finance plans who have a complaint can contact the Green Deal Ombudsman if their Green Deal provider is unable or unwilling to help when something goes wrong with a Green Deal Plan.

My rt. hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for DECC and DCLG, have also commissioned Dr Peter Bonfield to chair an Independent Review of Consumer Advice, Protection, Standards and Enforcement for UK home energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. The Bonfield review will be submitting its recommendation in April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the comparative effect of changes to civil service pensions on prison officers who joined that scheme under Classic but have been switched to the Alpha scheme and colleagues with the same length of service who have not been switched.

Andrew Selous

Alpha is the new Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme, which now applies to the vast majority of Civil Servants (including prison officers). Only those who are close to retirement have been able to remain in previous schemes or to defer entry to the Alpha scheme. This has always been made transparent and is considered fair as this group of staff are likely to have already started to make plans for their retirements which would be unduly impacted by a change in arrangements at this stage. There are therefore no plans to make such an assessment.