Tag: Martyn Day

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the standard of living of those military veterans who retired with fewer than 22 years’ service before 5 April 1975 of the provisions of the Social Security Acts 1973 and 1975.

Mark Lancaster

No estimate has been made of the cost of resolving legacy pension issues although it would likely cost the tax-payer billions of pounds; the issue of pre-1975 pensions does not just affect the Armed Forces, but is common to all other public service schemes in existence prior to the Social Security Act 1973.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to InsuResilience, the G7 Initiative on Climate Risk Insurance, if she will make it her policy to (a) allocate additional funding of £100 million to that programme, (b) scale up by at least £50 million weather-indexed microinsurance that provides direct coverage for smallholder farmers pastoralists and other vulnerable groups and (c) increase her Department’s grant funding for the African Risk Capacity to £20 million in order to improve the capacity of that programme to meet its targets.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK supports the G7 Climate Risk Insurance Initiative and is committed to contributing to meeting the collective target set out in the Elmau declaration of helping up to an additional 400 million people in the most vulnerable developing countries to gain access to climate risk insurance by 2020. UK support under the Initiative includes a commitment of up to £100m to African Risk Capacity (ARC) and £15m for the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative. Of this, the UK has contributed £32m so far to ARC.

On scaling up support to weather indexed microinsurance, the UK currently provides some support to livestock insurance in Kenya to improve the product offered to pastoralists and increase the role of the private sector. The UK also provides index-based insurance through the CGIAR climate change, agriculture and food security research programme (CGIAR-CCAFS). In September 2015, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would provide at least £5.8 billion of climate finance over the next five years. This is likely to include further support for climate risk insurance.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment the Prime Minister has made of the potential effect of the investor state dispute settlement clause of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on public services managed by the Scottish government.

Anna Soubry

The inclusion of investment protections and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) should not affect how public services are provided in Scotland or the rest of the UK. Investment protection seeks to protect businesses and individuals who have made investments overseas from unfair or discriminatory treatment and ISDS is about providing an independent legal means to resolve disputes which have arisen under the treaty. The proposals cannot force governments to open markets or privatise public services.

The UK has bilateral investment agreements with over 90 countries which contain ISDS provisions and there has never been a successful claim brought against the UK.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how the Government plans to use its position on the UN Security Council to help facilitate diplomatic negotiations on protecting civilians in Burundi; and if the Government will negotiate for a UN police peacekeeping mission with a Chapter VII mandate.

James Duddridge

The UK has been at the forefront of UN Security Council efforts to seek an end to violence in Burundi in order to protect civilians. Under the UK’s Presidency, the Security Council passed Resolution 2248 in November 2015, which among other things authorised the Secretary General to send a mission to Burundi to help create conditions for dialogue. Dialogue is crucial to securing a peaceful and stable outcome to the current crisis. During my visit to Burundi in December 2015 I used meetings with Burundian Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe, and Major General Prime Niyongabo, Army Chief of Staff, to press the Government of Burundi to engage in inclusive dialogue without preconditions. At the African Union (AU) Summit in January, I also discussed the situation in Burundi with AU Chairperson Madame Zuma, AU Peace and Security Commissioner Chergui and Burundian Foreign Minister Nyamitwe. The UK also made these points as part of a Security Council visit to Burundi in January this year. We have urged the Burundian government to accept an international peacekeeping deployment, which would render a Chapter VII mission unnecessary.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made on the effect of the CXL duty on (a) the number of jobs in and (b) exports from the UK’s cane refining sector in the years up to (i) 2017 and (ii) 2025.

George Eustice

No assessment has been made of the effect of the CXL duty on the number of jobs in and exports from the UK’s cane refining sector. An economic modelling paper assessing the effect of the ending of the EU sugar quota regime on the price of white sugar within the EU was published in November 2015. This paper is particularly focussed on the likely impact on the cane refining industry in the EU. However it does not model any changes to the structure of either the beet or cane refining industries. The paper can be found on the GOV.UK website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-09-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for small businesses of his Department’s plans to introduce quarterly digital tax returns by 2020.

Jane Ellison

The Government launched the Making Tax Digital consultations on 15 August. The consultations included an initial impact assessment alongside an overview of the potential costs and savings. This initial assessment shows a reduction in businesses’ on-going administrative costs in the medium term; these proposals do not mean four tax returns a year.

The Government will publish an updated assessment in the Tax Information and Impact Note to be published alongside draft legislation

These reforms will bring the tax system into the 21^st Century, contributing to HM Revenue and Customs’ overall target to reduce administrative burdens for business by £400m.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to provide financial assistance to local authorities which are increasing their insurance cover against the risk of terrorism.

Mr Marcus Jones

Local authorities are democratically elected organisations, and as such are responsible for managing their budgets and insurance arrangements in line with local priorities and risks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to assist financially those military veterans who retired with fewer than 22 years’ service before 5 April 1975.

Mark Lancaster

No estimate has been made of the cost of resolving legacy pension issues although it would likely cost the tax-payer billions of pounds; the issue of pre-1975 pensions does not just affect the Armed Forces, but is common to all other public service schemes in existence prior to the Social Security Act 1973.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans the Government has to seek legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for the proposed repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Dominic Raab

This Government was elected with a clear mandate to replace the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights. We will bring forward proposals for consultation in due course, and will fully engage with the Devolved Administrations.

It would be premature to comment on the application of the Sewell Convention until the package of legislation is settled.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is a mixed-competence agreement that will require ratification by the national parliaments of all EU member states.

Anna Soubry

We expect that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will be a “mixed” agreement, covering areas of both EU and Member State competence. In that case, it will be subject to agreement by each EU Member State, the EU Council and the European Parliament. As part of this process the agreement will be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny before it is ratified by the UK.