The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will introduce a duty on shareholders of a significant size to address executive pay and company performance and increase those shareholders’ reporting requirements to pension trustees.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the noble Lord.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bird on 2016-06-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Office for National Statistics report on the levels of (1) persistent, and (2) overall, poverty rates in the United Kingdom, what new actions they intend to take to eradicate poverty and the causes of poverty in this Parliament.
Lord Freud
This Government’s welfare reforms are focused on supporting people to find and keep work whilst ensuring that we are protecting the most vulnerable. At the end of the Parliament we will be spending over £60bn – 3% of GDP – supporting people on low incomes.
We know that work is the best route out of poverty. Evidence shows that almost three-quarters of poor workless families who found full employment escaped poverty; and that the highest poverty exit rate of 75% was for families that moved from part to full employment. The number of children living in workless households is down by 449,000 since 2010
Our new life chances approach to poverty and disadvantage will include a set of indicators to measure progress in tackling the root causes of poverty such as worklessness, educational attainment and family stability.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-09-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to support all businesses in the UK to best take advantage of the opportunities presented by the EU referendum result.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
We remain committed to making Britain the best place in Europe to start and grow a business and build an economy that works for all. The best way of supporting business is to ensure that the economic fundamentals are strong. Employment is at a record high, there are almost a million new businesses in our country since 2010, and the budget deficit has been reduced by almost two thirds.
The BEIS ministerial team have during the summer met businesses, investors, workers and local leaders in all four home nations, as well as travelling to India, China and Japan.
Furthermore, and for the first time, each local enterprise partnership area and each of the devolved Administrations will have a specific Minister in my Department assigned to them. Personal relationships matter in business, and that should start with the Business Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the date that the first phase of High Speed 2 will be completed and open to the public.
Andrew Jones
The hybrid Bill for HS2 Phase One is proceeding through Parliament and we are aiming to achieve Royal Assent by the end of 2016, with construction starting in 2017 and the first trains running by the end of 2026.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of treating endometriosis in the last year.
Jane Ellison
This information is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the running costs of the Isle of Wight Island Line were in each category of expenditure in each of the last three years.
Claire Perry
We do not have the running costs of the Isle of Wight Island Line in each category of expenditure in each of the last three years. What we do have are the figures for 2014/15 as supplied by SSWT:
|
Costs |
£m |
|
Staff costs |
2.093 |
|
Station Lease costs |
1.298 |
|
Depot Track Renewals, Maintenance, Materials |
0.66 |
|
Track access and Electric Traction |
0.123 |
|
Other |
0.443 |
|
Total Costs |
4.617 |
SSWT have informed us that the Island Line generated the following income in each of the last five years:
2010/11 = £0.9m
2011/12 = £1.0m
2012/13 = £1.0m
2013/14 = £0.9m
2014/15 = £0.9m
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-01-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel concerning the whereabouts and medical condition of the two Birzeit students who were arrested on 7 October and are being detained in an undisclosed location.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have not had any discussions with the Israeli authorities on this issue. Officials in our Embassy in Tel Aviv have, however, raised our concerns over the treatment of Palestinian detainees on many occasions, including with the Israeli Ministry of Justice, Attorney General’s Office and National Security Council.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress the Government has made on the establishment of a memorial to UK citizens killed in terrorist attacks overseas; and what consultation the Government is undertaking with families of victims about that proposal.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
On 22 January I launched an online consultation seeking views on what form the national memorial to British victims of overseas terrorism should take (Official Report, 22 January 2016, col 47WS). The consultation is open until 4 March 2016. I have written to families of victims for whom the Government hold contact details. I have also issued an open letter available on gov.uk to invite all those with an interest to respond to the consultation should they wish to. Decisions on the memorial will be taken after we have fully considered responses to the consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether local authorities that engage in foreign boycotts risk acting in breach of the common law as well as the UK’s regime of procurement rules.
Lord Bridges of Headley
On 17 February, the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) published procurement guidance for public authorities that makes clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the UK Government.
This new guidance gives no consideration to matters of common law, which is a matter for the courts. However, the guidance makes it clear that local level boycotts can be unlawful and lead to severe penalties against the contracting authority and the Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gary Streeter on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that public bodies under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 comply with their duty to pick up roadside litter.
Rory Stewart
The Government is committed to localism and the transfer of power to local communities. This is particularly relevant in dealing with litter, which requires a local approach, tailored to the characteristics of the area and the community in which the problems occur.
It is up to councils to decide how best to meet their statutory duty to keep their relevant land clear of litter and refuse and how to prioritise this against other local services.
Councils are responsible for keeping their “relevant land” clear of litter and refuse, including local roads. Highways England (formerly the Highways Agency) is responsible for clearing litter from motorways and some trunk roads. Standards of cleanliness for litter and refuse are set out in the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse, which provides a practical guide to the discharge of councils’ cleansing duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA).
If a litter authority which is responsible for publicly-accessible land fails to keep land clear of litter and refuse, it can be taken to court. If the court agrees that the complaint is justified, it can issue a Litter Abatement Order (LAO) requiring the litter authority to clear land of litter within a certain time. The litter authority can also be ordered to pay the complainant’s costs.
It is a criminal offence not to comply with an LAO – anyone not complying can be fined up to £2,500. They can also get further fines of up to £125 a day for each day the offence continues after conviction. Court action can be avoided if litter authorities clear the land within five days of being notified of the complainant’s intention to seek a Litter Abatement Order.