Tag: Paul Blomfield

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what process his Department will adopt for evaluating responses received to the consultation on proposals to move all policy roles to the 1 Victoria Street office in London and close the St Paul’s Place office in Sheffield.

Joseph Johnson

The BIS Executive Board will take account of all consultation responses from the Departmental Trades Unions and staff when they decide whether to proceed with proposals to move policy roles to London and to close the Sheffield office.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-05-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to ensure that private sector companies are responsible for their off-payroll workers who use personal service companies paying the correct amount of tax.

Greg Hands

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is continuing to tighten rules on personal service companies and off-payroll workers. For example, it has successfully used Managed Service Company legislation to tackle tax avoidance involving personal service companies and intends to pursue people behind the schemes for tax debts.

The 2016 Budget announced changes to improve the effectiveness of the intermediaries rules in the public sector. HMRC is also developing, with stakeholders, a new online tool for the public and private sectors to provide greater certainty about the tax rules.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many live vacancies his Department currently has for policy roles.

Joseph Johnson

The number of policy vacancies in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills HQ currently advertised on Civil Service Jobs is 30.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 May 2016, on BIS consultation, HCWS30, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of split-site working and recruiting on a flexible location basis for policy officials.

Joseph Johnson

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is implementing its BIS2020 strategy in order to become simpler, cheaper and better. This includes moving to a central policy headquarters based in London.

An assessment was made of the merits of split site working and of recruiting on a flexible basis through the consideration of alternative options (including maintaining the current model across split sites). This assessment took place throughout the consultation process and prior to the Executive Board’s decision.

BIS will continue to have many more people based outside London than inside.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many slavery and trafficking prevention orders on application have been (a) applied for and (b) made under section 15 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Karen Bradley

16 Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders (STPOs) have been made on sentencing in the Crown Court under section 14 of the Modern Slavery Act. Data on the number of STPOs applied for on sentencing is not collated centrally. No STPOs have been applied for or made in the Magistrates’ Court.

No slavery and trafficking prevention orders have been applied for or made on application under section 15 of the Modern Slavery Act in the Magistrates’ Court.

Nine Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders have been applied for on application to the Magistrates’ Court, of which three have been made. Of the remaining six, two were refused, one was withdrawn and three cases were adjourned.

This data has been run specifically to answer this question and is not verified to the same standard as Official Statistics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the effect of the Adults at Risk policy for vulnerable people detained under immigration powers will be measured.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Consideration is being given to arrangements for measuring the impact of the adults at risk policy and other initiatives aimed at improving the safeguarding of vulnerable people in immigration detention. The expectation is that these initiatives will result in a reduction in the number of the most vulnerable who are detained. The Government intends to ask Stephen Shaw to carry out a short review next year in order to assess progress against the key actions from his previous report.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether students from other EU member states who plan to start their studies in the UK in autumn 2017 will be considered eligible for student loans.

Joseph Johnson

The UK has a long-established higher education system that supports, and therefore attracts, the brightest minds, at all stages of their careers. Existing rules on EU and other EEA students remain in force and reassurances have been given for those starting their courses in 2016/17. Future arrangements for EU students wishing to study in the UK will need to be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to maintain the system whereby UK citizens who live and work in EU countries are able to build up their entitlement to a state pension in the UK, and EU citizens who live and work in the UK are able to build up their entitlement to a state pension in their native country, after the UK leaves the EU.

Damian Hinds

The EU social security regulations allow citizens to build entitlement to a state pension from the EEA country where they have worked and contributed toward their pension, rather than building up entitlement in their native country through work in another country.

The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the rights of British citizens currently living in European member states, in the same way that we want to protect the status of EU nationals already living here. The reciprocal rights and entitlements that will apply following the UK’s exit are subject to the wider negotiation on our future relationship with the EU. Those negotiations have not yet begun and so it is not possible to set out any positions in advance. However at every step of the negotiations we will seek to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people, at home and abroad.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Government’s consultation document on Tackling Exploitation in the Labour Market, published in October 2015, what plans she has to use data gathered by labour market enforcement agencies in immigration enforcement activities.

Karen Bradley

The labour market enforcement bodies already work closely with Home Office immigration enforcement and share information. Where they identify suspected immigration offences during the course of their own investigations information is passed on and Immigration Enforcement may use information to conduct enforcement operations against businesses employing illegal migrants. This sharing of information will continue to be the case in the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has for her Department’s Future Fit Programme in each year between 2015-16 and 2019-20.

Mr Nick Hurd

The Future Fit initiative (2013-15) was an internal process to shape DFID’s response to climate change and resource scarcity in its development investments. Building on the lessons learnt through Future Fit, as set out in the new ODA strategy for the 2015 Spending Review DFID will have a greater focus on climate-smart development – particularly through investments in infrastructure, agriculture, cities, water and sanitation and health.

Through the International Climate Fund to date, the UK has helped over 15 million people cope with the effects of climate change and given 2.6 million people access to clean energy. The Prime Minister recently announced that over the next five years the UK’s climate funding will increase by at least 50%.