Tag: Parliamentary Question

Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations her Department has received on alleged conflicts of interest in the appointment of Sir John Chadwick to head an inquiry into the mistreatment of live foxes by the South Herefordshire Hunt.

Brandon Lewis

The Home Office has not received any representations regarding the appointment of Sir John Chadwick to head the independent inquiry into the mistreatment of live foxes by the South Herefordshire Hunt.

01/01/2023
Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the number of companies owned by UK nationals or headquartered in the UK which conduct business with the government of North Korea or any of its state-owned companies.

Lord Price

The Government does not have data on the number of companies owned by UK nationals or headquartered in the UK which conduct business with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Data on the value of trade between the UK and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is published by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). In 2015 the total bilateral trade in goods between the UK and the DPRK was $814,700.

01/01/2023
Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of (a) licensed and (b) unlicensed dog breeders operating in the UK.

George Eustice

No recent estimate has been made by Defra, but Battersea Dogs and Cats Home recently estimated that there are 895 licensed dog breeders in Great Britain.

01/01/2023
Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons it is proposed to retire HMS Ocean in 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

When HMS OCEAN entered service in 1998 she had a specified service life, based on her build specification, of 20 years.

The decision to retire HMS Ocean is consistent with the intent expressed in paragraph 2.A.5 in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010. As part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 the Royal Navy will retain two landing Platform Dock vessels in the fleet.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to broker negotiated ceasefires to allow the creation of aid corridors across Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK plays a key role in ensuring humanitarian access to Syria. The UK co-sponsored and lobbied hard for UN Security Council Resolutions 2165, 2191 and 2258 which enable the UN to deliver aid across borders, without the consent of the regime, to assist those in the hardest to reach areas.

The UK will consider options compliant with international law that might save lives in Syria. However, experience suggests that so-called ‘safe’ areas or corridors can prove difficult to demilitarise and protect against all threats. In fact, there is a risk that they can become targets. For an aid corridor to work, all parties to the conflict would need to agree to its establishment. In the absence of such consent, foreign military intervention may be necessary, under the authority of a UN Security Council resolution.

An estimated £275 million of humanitarian assistance funded by the UK for inside Syria has been allocated to the UN and NGOs for cross-border operations. We are now encouraging the UN to consider alternative means of assistance such as cash, to support vulnerable populations that are increasingly hard to reach. We continue to call on all sides to the conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and ensure free, unimpeded access for humanitarian agencies.

01/01/2023
Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the Government’s timetable is for introducing measures to place a duty on larger employers to publish information about bonuses paid to men and women as part of their gender pay gap reporting.

Caroline Dinenage

Eliminating the gender pay gap is a key priority for this government. We will shortly seek views on the draft regulations requiring large private and voluntary sector employers in Great Britain to publish information about differences in the pay and bonuses paid to male and female employees. The government wants to commence these regulations at the earliest opportunity. We have also pledged to extend these requirements to the public sector. Public bodies will be covered by different regulations, following a further consultation that we will issue soon.

01/01/2023

Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects each of the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates to be withdrawn from service.

Mr Philip Dunne

Current planning assumptions are:

Ship	Out of Service Date
HMS Argyll	2023
HMS Lancaster	2024
HMS Iron Duke	2025
HMS Monmouth	2026
HMS Montrose	2027
HMS Westminster	2028
HMS Northumberland	2029
HMS Richmond	2030
HMS Somerset	2031
HMS Sutherland	2032
HMS Kent	2033
HMS Portland	2034
HMS St Albans	2035

01/01/2023

Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether Equivalent or Lower Level Qualifications are exempted under (a) degree and (b) Masters level apprenticeships.

Nick Boles

There are no centrally set entry requirements for apprenticeships; recruitment decisions lie with employers. As with any other job, they may set their own entry requirements for a specific apprenticeship vacancy at any level.

Apprenticeship funding supports individuals to progress to higher levels of learning. A graduate who has completed a degree is not usually eligible for funding to complete an apprenticeship at Level 6 (degree), but would be eligible for funding to progress to an apprenticeship at Level 7 (Masters). A graduate with a Master’s degree would not normally be eligible for funding for an apprenticeship.

The only exception to this is where the apprentice starts a new job role which is in a different occupation requiring a significant amount of new learning to take place, delivered over the minimum duration for the standard. In this case the apprentice would be eligible for funding for an apprenticeship at the same level, but no lower than, their current highest qualification.

01/01/2023
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-04-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have chosen not to implement provisions relating to joint audit and increased tendering as set out in EU Directive 2014/56/EU and Regulation 537/2014 on statutory auditing.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government does intend to implement provisions relating to increased tendering as part of the implementation of the EU Audit Regulation and Directive. This is in line with the recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The provision on joint audit in the EU Regulation would act as an exemption from having to retender with the frequency envisaged by the CMA. The government consulted on the implementation of the audit directive including this option, and concluded the option should not be taken up.

Joint audit is not a practice followed in the UK, though it is expressly permitted by the Companies and legislation on some other entities. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has consulted on whether to take up this derogation. In response to our discussion document in December 2014 on auditor regulation, only 4 of 25 respondents supported its implementation.

It is unclear that increased joint audit would encourage competition. The option in the EU Regulation could result in prolonged audit engagements (up to 24 years) and fewer changes in auditor. This would be contrary to the objective of the CMA and the Regulation, which is to increase retendering and rotation of auditors not less.

The CMA considered the impact of joint audits on competition and concluded that promoting joint audits would have little effect on barriers to entry, expansion and selection. The CMA’s conclusions were based on views provided by a range of stakeholders. The CMA was not able to quantify the potential cost of imposing joint audits, but did state that they believed that across the market the costs would be potentially significant. They state that a lot of weight was placed on the views of investors, who were almost universally opposed to joint audits on the grounds of additional costs and risks to audit quality.

01/01/2023
Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servants in his Department are paid through limited companies.

Mark Lancaster

No civil servants employed by the Ministry of Defence are paid through limited companies.

01/01/2023