Tag: Parliamentary Question

Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the UK to leave the EU since 23 June 2016; and what further such steps his Department plans to take in the remainder of 2016.

Kris Hopkins

The Department for Exiting the European Union has responsibility for overseeing preparations for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and conducting these withdrawal negotiations in support of the Prime Minister.

In doing this it is working very closely with other government departments, including the Northern Ireland Office, and a wide range of other interested parties.

01/01/2023
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what will be the status in the UK of EU legal instruments to which the UK agrees between the bill to repeal the European Communities Act 1972 receiving royal assent and the UK leaving the EU.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Government will bring forward legislation in the next session that, when enacted, will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 on the day we leave the EU. This ‘Great Repeal Bill’ will end the authority of EU law and return power to the UK.

The Government will set out the content of the Bill and its implications in due course.

01/01/2023
Graham Allen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on income tax assignment to Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben Wallace

Building a Prosperous and United Community, the ‘Economic Pact’ signed by the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive in 2013, recognised the need to examine the potential to devolve additional fiscal powers to Northern Ireland.

As a result, the Executive is examining the treatment of a range of taxes. The Government will consider any proposals put forward.

01/01/2023
Mary Creagh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many forced marriage prevention orders have been issued in West Yorkshire since the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 came into force.

Caroline Dinenage

Since November 2008 (when the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 came into force) there have been 118 Force Marriage Protection Orders issued in total in West Yorkshire.

01/01/2023
Jessica Morden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the cost and benefits of using (a) Green ISAs and Citizen Finance, (b) UK Pension Funds, (c) the European Investment Bank and (d) co-funding with devolved administrations as a means of increasing its capital base.

Anna Soubry

I assume that the Hon. Member’s question is referring to increasing the capital base of the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB), rather than increasing the capital base of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The Government’s policy is to move the Green Investment Bank (GIB) into private ownership, minimising the Bank’s use of public funds, and where it will have the freedom to borrow and raise capital without impacting on public sector net debt.

a) Green ISAs and Citizen Finance

At present, GIB has insufficient track record for the retail market. Most of its portfolio is in relatively high risk construction projects that will not provide steady returns in the short term. More importantly, GIB’s current focus is growth, for which it will need to make regular cash calls on investors, which would be hard to meet in the public markets. However there is no reason why a privatised GIB could not raise capital through Green ISAs or other forms of citizen finance in the longer term.

(b) UK Pension Funds

Large scale institutional investors such as UK pension funds are likely to be interested in acquiring a stake in GIB, as part of the Government’s plans to move GIB into the private sector. GIB has already successfully attracted such investors into its managed fund for investment in Offshore Wind and other investments (e.g. Strathclyde local authority pension fund), many of whom are investing in green projects for the first time.

(c) The European Investment Bank (EIB)

The EIB’s focus is on providing debt products, rather than equity investment which is where GIB expects to concentrate. It is unlikely that the EIB would make an investment in GIB itself. However, GIB is already partnering with EIB as a co-investor (such as on the recent Galloper offshore wind investment) and it may continue to do so in future.

(d) Co-funding with devolved administrations

The Government’s policy is to move GIB into the private sector. Co-funding GIB with the devolved administrations would simply be another form of public sector funding.

01/01/2023
Chris Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Davies on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to promote trade and diplomatic connections between the UK and other Commonwealth countries.

Mr Hugo Swire

The UK is committed to strengthening its engagement with the Commonwealth. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) led a strong delegation to the Commonwealth summit in November, where the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, my noble Friend, the right hon. Lord Maude and I promoted trade opportunities within the Commonwealth.

01/01/2023
Lord Polak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Polak on 2016-03-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are aware of the work of Save a Child’s Heart in Holon, Israel, and whether they have any plans to support Save a Child’s Heart in Israel in particular by providing it with financial assistance.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Our Embassy in Tel Aviv is aware of the work of Save a Child’s Heart. They do not currently have plans to provide financial assistance to this charity but have provided funding in the past, and hosted an event for the charity at the Ambassador’s Residence.

01/01/2023

Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many jobs there were in the manufacturing sector in each region and constituent part of the UK in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion of all jobs such jobs were in each such year.

Anna Soubry

Data on the number and proportion of manufacturing employees in each region and constituent country of the UK is available from the Office for National Statistics Employee Jobs data.

Please note that this covers employees only and excludes the self-employed.

The data requested is given below.

Employee Jobs in Manufacturing by Region and Country of the UK

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
North East	129	128	121	116	113
North West	364	361	334	329	305
Yorks/Humber	288	283	267	253	248
East Midlands	279	277	264	257	258
West Midlands	350	331	318	285	280
East of England	247	243	232	220	214
London	144	139	133	118	111
South East	302	297	287	267	265
South West	244	245	232	224	216
Wales	157	156	156	140	129
Scotland	214	212	201	189	176
Northern Ireland	84	84	82	75	73
UK	2,800	2,755	2,626	2,472	2,388

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
North East	107	110	109	110	116
North West	316	296	302	314	328
Yorks/Humber	247	249	246	258	262
East Midlands	249	261	253	251	256
West Midlands	277	275	280	294	299
East of England	221	226	213	216	212
London	106	107	106	112	115
South East	262	254	242	239	237
South West	213	218	217	214	214
Wales	133	133	138	147	145
Scotland	178	180	174	182	189
Northern Ireland	74	74	75	77	80
UK	2,384	2,383	2,356	2,414	2,453

01/01/2023

Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much was spent on non-payroll staff in his Department in 2015-16.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is unable to confirm the amount spent on non-payroll staff in 2015-16 until the 2015-16 Accounts have been signed off and the National Audit Office has completed its audit. This information should be available after 6 July 2016 at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications .

In 2014-15 the FCO spent £5.9m on non payroll staff – a 24% reduction from the previous year.

“

01/01/2023
Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans are in place for the proposed fare increase due on 1 January 2017 to directly fund improvements on the GTR network.

Paul Maynard

We have capped the rail fares we regulate at inflation (Retail Price Index) since 2014, and will continue to do so for the life of this parliament. This means those fares we regulate will not rise by more than1.9% in 2017. Limiting fares increases to inflation-only means that industry revenues keep track, but do not out-pace, the impact of inflation on their costs. Our current investment programme is the largest since the Victorian era and requires funding from both taxpayers and farepayers. As part of this, the GTR Franchise Agreement contains obligations requiring the franchisee to make significant improvements at stations and on trains through the life of the franchise. On the Thameslink network alone that means £1.6billion of new trains which started to be introduced earlier this summer and Gatwick Express has also benefited from new trains. During this time of major investment we are also clear that at the same time we must deliver a more joined up approach to running the trains and tracks and make things work better for the travelling public. That is why My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State has just announced a package of measure including a £20milion fund and the appointment of one of Britain’s most experienced rail industry figures to get the service running back as it should.

01/01/2023