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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will carry out an investigation into allegations of misselling to businesses by lenders relating to loans made under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has been pro-active in its engagement with Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) lenders, with regular audits of the use of the scheme since its launch. In February 2014 BIS wrote to all lenders participating in the EFG scheme reiterating their operational responsibilities, including the way in which it is presented to their front line staff and customers. Following evidence of concerns of lending by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in August 2014, BIS officials asked RBS to instigate an internal review into this issue.

    My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has met with RBS to discuss these findings, and I have asked the British Business Bank – which now administers the programme on behalf of the Department – to continue to closely monitor the action being taken by RBS to address these issues. I have been given assurance from RBS that they will put right any cases where they are at fault to ensure that no detriment is suffered by either the borrower or the taxpayer.

    The Enterprise Finance Guarantee remains a valuable programme which helps viable businesses gain access to finance where they have insufficient security or an inadequate track record to access finance.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to local authorities in instances when a local authority does not issue a final statement of special educational needs within the statutory time limit of 26 weeks.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Data is collected annually from all local authorities on the numbers of final statements issued for children with special educational needs (SEN).

    Guidance to local authorities on the process and timescales for carrying out statutory SEN assessments and issuing final statements of SEN is provided in the 2001 ‘Special Educational Needs Code of Practice’ and the statutory timescales are also set out in ‘The Education (Special Educational Needs) (England) (Consolidation) Regulations 2001’.

  • Miss Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Miss Anne McIntosh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Miss Anne McIntosh on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts about reforming the European Union.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and I regularly speak to our European counterparts on a range of issues, including EU reform. In addition, since July 2014, the Foreign Secretary has been undertaking a series of visits to EU Member States’ capitals to discuss EU reform. During the course of these visits, he has met with the Foreign Ministers of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden. He has raised, with these Foreign Ministers the Government’s position that EU reform is necessary for the EU to become more competitive, democratically accountable and fair for those inside and outside the Eurozone.

  • Richard Graham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Graham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Graham on 2015-01-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the reason is for the additional charge for payment of vehicle tax by direct debit over 12 or six monthly instalments; and for what purposes the funds from that additional charge are used.

    Priti Patel

    Motorists who buy a six month vehicle excise duty (VED) licence have historically paid a ten per cent surcharge.

    The Government has introduced a direct debit scheme for the payment of VED, to allow families and businesses to spread their tax payments. Under the scheme, the surcharge has been halved to five per cent when the tax is paid by six monthly and monthly instalments. The retention of a surcharge prevents a loss in VED revenue which would otherwise need to be made up elsewhere, by either increasing other taxes or reducing the Government’s investment in public services.

    All VED revenues are paid into the Consolidated Fund to support general expenditure on public services.

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer keeps all taxes under review as part of the annual Budget process.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Emma Reynolds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many pieces of land that have been disposed of under that Community Right to Reclaim Land were sold to the community groups that submitted the bid to his Department.

    Brandon Lewis

    I have attached a table which outlines the actions we have taken in response to each substantive request under the Right to Reclaim since its introduction in 2011. Each case is considered on its individual merits. Even where a direction to dispose is not issued, the whole process of challenging the local authority can help fast-track their own disposal plans. We do not hold information on the status of the applicant.

    The act of Whitehall forcing councils to dispose of land is controversial, there is a high threshold for deciding whether a disposal can be ordered..

    There is a strong commitment from the Government to making the best use of its land and disposing of land that is no longer needed. As such in addition to the Right to Reclaim Land powers which relate primarily to local government or other public bodies, a new Right to Contest was created in January 2014. This gives individuals, communities and businesses the ability to challenge Government on land and property owned by Whitehall departments and their agencies which is being used, but where, if sold, a better economic use could be made of it. Whilst theoretically people can still use the Community Right to Reclaim Land for Government land, in practice, most will now be dealt with under Right to Contest.

  • Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on improving access standards for new homes as part of the Housing Standard Review.

    Stephen Williams

    The Government believes it is vital that people have access to housing which supports them in being independent and living life to the full. We want to see the right housing provision for everyone including older and disabled people and this is already clearly set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Housing Standards Review technical consultation, which closed last November, explained how we are taking forward legislation to enable the introduction of higher optional levels of accessibility in Part M of the Building Regulations, including for the first time a fully wheelchair accessible standard, as well as an intermediate standard similar to the Lifetime Homes Standard. This is a significant step forward for accessible housing in England.

  • Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Icelandic counterpart on strengthening business relations between that country and the UK.

    Mr David Lidington

    My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, has not yet held discussions with his Icelandic counterpart on strengthening business relations. These issues were last discussed in detail by hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mark Prisk), Investment Envoy for the Nordic Baltic region, and Högni S. Kristjánsson, the Icelandic Director General of Trade and Economic Affairs, at the annual UK Iceland bilateral discussion on 27 November 2014. The British Embassy and UK Trade and Investment in Reykjavik have constant discussions with Icelandic companies on the possibilities of investing in the UK and assist UK companies to export to Iceland.

  • Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Egyptian government on freedom of religion in that country for (a) atheists and (b) Christians.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We deplore all discrimination against religious minorities and constraints on their freedom to practise what they believe. Most recently, I raised the importance of protecting the human rights enshrined in Egypt’s constitution, which include freedom of belief and worship, with a number of senior figures in the Egyptian Government during my visit to Cairo on January 12-16. UK officials also discussed the importance of religious freedom with the Egyptian Deputy Assistant Minister for Human Rights, Dr Mahy Abdel Latif on 14 January 2015.

  • Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what instructions or guidance officials of her Department have given to members of the Independent Inquiry Panel into child sexual abuse about speaking in public about the work of that Panel.

    Lynne Featherstone

    Before the panel began its substantive work, and the secretariat was fully established, limited guidance was offered to those panel members who needed it.

    Panel members are now supported by their own independent secretariat and Counsel. The secretariat will have its own procedures on speaking in publicabout the work of the Inquiry, although we would expect any procedures to respect the
    confidentiality of meetings held with survivors.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his oral evidence to the Liaison Committee of 16 December 2014, HC887, if he will publish the evidential basis for his statement that 10 per cent of UK electricity coming from onshore wind is enough as part of a balanced energy supply; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Cameron

    The UK needs 11-13GW of onshore wind to meet the UK’s renewable energy targets affordably (as set out in DECC’s December 2013 Renewable Energy Roadmap). 7.8GW of onshore wind capacity has already been built, 1.5GW was under construction, and 5.3GW of onshore wind already had planning consent in September 2014. There is therefore more than enough onshore wind already consented to meet the 2020 Renewable Energy Targets.