Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that secondary ticketing websites abide by the requirements of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

    Jo Swinson

    My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not received any direct representations from representatives of the secondary ticketing websites on amendments tabled to the Consumer Rights Bill or about the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.

    Neither my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State nor other Ministers in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have had meetings with the secondary ticketing websites about the implementation of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 or the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.

    The draft Regulations and the contents of the Bill were widely consulted on and the Department received a range of comments in response. Officials from the Department have also had discussions with a wide range of stakeholders (including with secondary ticketing websites) on the implementation of those Regulations and the guidance on them.

    Following a consultation on the draft regulations, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills has produced guidance on the requirements of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. This guidance is easily accessible on the gov.uk website. Officials have also worked with the Business Support Helpline, which offers free advice to business on a wide range of issues, including regulation, and with the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), as the primary body responsible for educating businesses on consumer law. TSI has also produced guidance which is available on their website. Consumers themselves are important in driving compliance and officials have worked with Citizens Advice to raise consumer awareness so that they can see when businesses are not abiding by the requirements of the regulations.

    The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has also actively promoted the changes in the Regulations across all sectors through seminars, presentations and communications to businesses.

    Ministers in the Home Office, Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have discussions and correspond together on a wide range of issues, and this has included agreeing the content of the Consumer Rights Bill. Officials from those Departments are in regular contact, including regarding the issue of resale of tickets.

  • Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value of pay outs under the War Pensions Scheme to forces personnel and veterans on the grounds of mental ill health has been in each year since 2010.

    Anna Soubry

    It is not possible to provide the total value of payouts under the War Pensions Scheme to forces personnel and veterans on the grounds of mental ill health as the information is not held in a format that would enable us to easily answer the question and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    However, between 2011-12 and 2013-14 there were a total of 1,655 awards made under the War Pension Scheme for a mental health condition related to Service.

  • Christian Matheson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Christian Matheson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will amend the road traffic construction and use regulations to require dashboard warning lights for faulty brake lights to be mandatory.

    Andrew Jones

    Dash board warning lights are the subject of the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989. There are no specific requirements for brake light failure warning and there are no plans to amend them. The optional fitment of such a warning light is permitted.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) Glasgow Central, (b) the city of Glasgow and (c) Scotland have been unsuccessful in claiming jobseeker’s allowance because they did not meet the criteria for the habitual residence test since October 2014.

    Priti Patel

    Statistical information regarding the habitual residence test is intended for publication at a future date.

  • Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to respond to correspondence on case reference ZA12785.

    Priti Patel

    A response to the hon. Member was sent on 9 June 2015.

  • Lord Avebury – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Avebury – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Avebury on 2015-10-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to publish the short-term holding facility rules.

    Lord Bates

    In light of commitments made during the passage of the Immigration Act 2014 to make Rules in respect of short term holding facilities (STHFs), the Government intends to consult on the short term holding facility rules once Stephen Shaw CBE’s report into detainee welfare in detention is published. Mr Shaw has completed this review and has submitted his report to the Home Office. His findings are being carefully considered before the report is published by laying it before Parliament, alongside the Government’s response to its recommendations.

  • The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Coventry on 2015-10-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review their commercial relationship with Saudi Arabia in the light of the sentencing of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr to death by crucifixion.

    Lord Faulks

    I refer the Right Reverend to the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor’s statement of 13 October 2015. The bid to provide a training needs analysis to the Saudi Arabian prison service under the Just Solutions international (JSi) brand has now been withdrawn. As has previously been announced, Just Solutions international, the commercial arm of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), has ceased to operate. This is in line with our ambition to ensure the department’s resources are firmly focused on domestic priorities.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-10-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Saudi Arabia about their air attacks on towns and cities in Yemen and the consequent civilian casualties.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government is in regular contact with the Saudi authorities about the situation in Yemen through our Embassy in Riyadh and our Yemen Office based in Jeddah. The UK has been consistently clear with all sides to the conflict over the importance of compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law during this conflict. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), spoke to Saudi Foreign Minister Al Jubeir on 29 September in the margins of the UN General Assembly, and underlined the importance the UK attaches to finding a political solution to the current crisis as soon as possible. He also reinforced the necessity of full compliance with international humanitarian law.

  • Lord Pendry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Pendry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2015-10-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 3 February (HL4351), what advice was provided to the incoming government about reforms of the death certification system, and whether they will publish that advice in full.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Consideration of reforms to death certification is on-going in the context of the Spending Review. The Government has no plans to publish the advice given by officials to Ministers.

  • Baroness Worthington – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Baroness Worthington – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Worthington on 2015-10-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the share of the total cost of decommissioning gas and oil infrastructure in the North Sea that will be met by the public purse under the current fiscal regime.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The Government believes in making the most of the UK’s oil and gas resources – to date the oil and gas industry has contributed £330bn to the Exchequer and is the UK’s largest industrial investor, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, supplying a large portion of the UK’s primary energy needs and making a significant contribution to GDP. With between 11 and 21 billion barrels of oil equivalent still to be exploited, the UK Continental Shelf can continue to provide considerable economic benefits for many years to come.

    Decommissioning is an inherent cost of doing business in the UK Continental Shelf. As a result, capital allowances are available on decommissioning expenditure (for the purposes of Ring Fence Corporation Tax and Supplementary Charge) and the expenditure is tax deductible for the purposes of Petroleum Revenue Tax. The provision of relief requires a company to have current or previously taxed upstream profits against which to offset losses. Relief is not available where a company has not paid tax or where a company’s decommissioning costs exceed the amount of profits on which they have previously paid tax.

    We are committed to ensuring decommissioning programmes represent value for money, which is why the Government intends to bring forward amendments at Lords Report Stage of the Energy Bill to: require decommissioning programmes to be cost effective, ensure the Oil and Gas Authority has the powers it needs to scrutinise companies’ decommissioning plans to ensure they are cost effective, and enable the Secretary of State to require a company to take specific action to reduce the costs of decommissioning to address cost overruns.

    HMRC’s annual accounts include an estimate of, and provision for, the liabilities associated with the decommissioning of oil and gas infrastructure. Their annual accounts for 2014-15 are available below in the attached (page 115, Section 8).