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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what commitments the UK has made to supporting refugees from Syria who are in Europe.

    James Brokenshire

    Each EU Member State is responsible for the welfare of asylum applicants and refugees on its territory. The UK government bears no responsibility for supporting asylum seekers or refugees who are on the territory of another Member State. However, the Government has played a leading role in building capacity in Member States under particular migration pressure, both bi-laterally and through EU agencies such as the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). The UK has contributed over 1,000 expert days to EASO led support missions to countries such as Greece and Italy, more than any other Member State.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to improve access to finance for SMEs.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government is taking steps to improve financing opportunities for smaller businesses through the British Business Bank. The Bank is making business finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively and dynamically and is already supporting £2.4 billion of finance to over 40,000 smaller businesses, and participating in a further £3.3 billion of finance to mid-cap businesses. It aims to facilitate up to £10 billion of finance by 2019. In addition, measures in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 will require banks to refer customers who have been declined for a loan to alternative finance providers via designated platforms. This is expected to provide a significant boost to diversity and competition in business lending and is due to be implemented later this year.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many Post Office Crown branches have closed or merged since the end of the last formal Crown Transformation Programme.

    George Freeman

    Provision of its Crown branches is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.

    I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, Uneven Growth: Tackling City Decline, published in February 2016, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of that report in Dundee.

    David Mundell

    I refer the hon Gentleman to my answer of 4 March 2016.

  • Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reasons are for the government policy not to support the progress of the European Commission’s proposed reforms to (a) trade and defence instruments and (b) the lesser duty rule.

    Anna Soubry

    The UK fully supports modernisation of the European Union’s/Commission’s trade defence instruments but believes that effective trade defence measures should be proportionate, not protectionist, and set tariffs only as high as necessary to remove the injury inflicted on EU industry without being punitive, which would hurt users of products, including downstream manufacturers, and consumers.

    The Government’s response to the Commission’s public consultation on the modernisation of trade defence instruments (TDI), in June 2012, stated:

    “The strongly held UK view is that the EU’s use of the lesser duty rule is one of the elements of the TDI regime which contributes to its being recognised as one of the most progressive global trade defence systems. Furthermore, it enhances the economic coherence of European TD actions as imposing tariffs no higher than that level needed to offset the injury caused by dumping / subsidy is entirely consistent with restoring fair competition. We have fully supported the Commission’s efforts to encourage FTA partners to adopt the lesser duty rule in their regimes. It would be a retrograde step to remove its position as a central part of the EU regime (2.3.3).”

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they track the performance of the fund management industry; and if so, whether they have identified any examples where managers have been able to reduce costs and passed those reductions on to investors.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government is committed to the principle that people who have worked hard and saved should have access to appropriate and accessible investment options and understand the charges that they face. We appreciate the efforts that industry have made to fulfil this aim.

    Since last April, the Government has ensured that trustees of defined contribution pension schemes report charges levied on members in schemes used for auto enrolment.

    We are also engaging with international work on transparency, such as the legislation agreed at European Union level through the Packaged Retail and Insurance Based Investment Products (PRIIPs) and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). MiFID II will introduce new measures to increase transparency of research costs for clients of portfolio managers. Under these new measures, portfolio managers may only pay for research through their own funds or from a specific research payment account funded by its clients and subject to specific controls, including a research budget.

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also currently conducting a market study into asset management, which covers the issue of whether the level of fund management fees charged to consumers reflects a competitive market. We await the FCA’s assessment of competition in this sector. The FCA expect to publish an interim report in summer 2016 and a final report in early 2017.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39847, what assessment he has made of the effect of the cycling and walking investment strategy on his Department’s estimates of future trips by mode.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy contains a target to double cycling by 2025 and an objective to increase walking activity. We are currently consulting on a programme of activity to work towards these increases.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish details of the Islamist de-radicalisation treatment and of the organisations that deliver it.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The new Desistance and Disengagement Programme will be launched as a pilot in October 2016. The pilot will focus on those convicted of terrorist, or terrorist-related offences, who have served their custodial sentences and are due to be released on licence.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that people who violate the law on protected birds of prey are prosecuted.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    Defra Ministers have received a number of representations, including from Members of this House on behalf of their constituents, highlighting their concerns about illegal persecution of birds of prey such as the hen harrier and wildlife crime more generally.

    The Government takes wildlife crime very seriously. All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, with strong penalties for committing offences against birds of prey and other wildlife. All incidents of wildlife crime should be reported to the police.

    Raptor persecution is a UK wildlife crime priority and has a taskforce led by a senior police officer to develop a plan to prevent crime, gather intelligence on offences and enforce against it. It focuses on the golden eagle, goshawk, hen harrier, peregrine, red kite and white tailed eagle.

    The National Wildlife Crime Unit, which Defra funds jointly with the Home Office, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities affecting birds of prey and provides assistance to police forces when required.

    It is a matter for the prosecuting authorities to ensure those who commit such offences receive the appropriate penalties as set out in law.

  • Nick Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nick Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will place in the Library the report on the suspension of the digital service for the Basic Payment Scheme for farmers which was commissioned by her Department and the Rural Payments Agency in March 2015.

    George Eustice

    The digital service for the Basic Payment Scheme has not been suspended. Over 80,000 farmers and agents have registered on the Rural Payments system, and farmers cannot be paid without registering on the new system.

    Defra and the Rural Payments Agency have received a number of reports from the Major Projects Authority about progress with the Rural Payments IT System. Such reports are not made public in order to protect the effectiveness of the reviews which the Major Project Authority undertakes.