Tag: Paul Blomfield

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

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 proportion of his Department’s £350 million projected savings by 2020 he expects to be achieved as a result of the decision to centralise policy functions in London.

Joseph Johnson

Delivering the scale of change required to reduce our operating expenditure by £350m requires the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to fundamentally transform the way it delivers services, works with partners, and makes policy. To help deliver this substantial saving we will be reducing our locations from around 80 sites to 7 business centres, one of which will be the combined policy centre and headquarters in London. The decision to establish this policy centre forms part of this much larger reform programme. The Department estimates that establishing a policy centre will generate savings of at least £7.5m per year by 2019-20, and it will also better enable the Department to operate a more flexible, agile and easily re-deployable policy function which will continue to deliver BIS’ priorities as it reduces in size over the course of the Parliament.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to reduce his Department’s vacancy rate.

Joseph Johnson

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is developing a Resourcing Strategy that will include targeted recruitment over the next few years including apprenticeships, graduate recruitment, loans from other Government Departments and increasing the use of secondments from the private sector. These interventions, along with having clear workforce plans across the organisation, including undertaking more internal managed moves to deliver priority work, will help reduce the Department’s vacancy rate.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2016 to Question 39341, on his Department’s reorganisation, how much he estimates the reorganisation of his Department’s 1 Victoria Street building will cost.

Joseph Johnson

The Department’s 1 Victoria Street building is actively managed to allow for routine changes to its occupancy as the needs of the Department alter over time. Those needs include any organisational change, including changes to pan-Government arrangements, and any opportunities to accommodate other public bodies which lead to estate savings elsewhere. The costs of reorganisation, which will vary by year depending on requirements, are met from the Department’s estates budget through active financial planning. The budget also allows for planned and responsive buildings maintenance where this liability falls to the tenant.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will reverse the former Department of Business, Innovation and Skills plans to centralise that Department’s policy functions in London.

Joseph Johnson

Given the machinery of Government change we will be considering in the coming months how the reform plans of BEIS’ two predecessor departments should best be aligned.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has made to allow students from other EU member states to stay in the UK to live and work after graduation following the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living in the UK, and the only circumstances in which that wouldn’t be possible is if British citizens’ rights in other EU Member States were not protected in return.

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 Question 1 of the consultation, Tackling exploitation in the labour market, published by her Department and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in October 2015, what account of international law her Department took in defining labour market exploitation.

Karen Bradley

As explained in my answer to question 13916, my Department has not legally defined ‘labour market exploitation’, but set out what we mean by the phrase for the purposes of this consultation to provide context for stakeholders considering our proposals. Government has taken account of international law in preparing the consultation and will consider it further in considering the Government response to the consultation in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual police expenditure on joint operations with the Gangmasters Licensing Authority has been in each of the last five years.

Karen Bradley

This information is not held centrally. It is an operational decision for Chief Constables, working with the relevant Police and Crime Commissioner, to determine the level of resources used in such instances.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions she has visited an Immigration Removal Centre since becoming Home Secretary.

James Brokenshire

The Home Secretary and Home Office Ministers conduct visits, and host meetings, on the whole spectrum of Home Office business regularly. As with the previous administration, it is our policy not to provide details of such visits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department and the FCA have made on the Connaught Income Fund Series 1.

Harriett Baldwin

The FCA is an independent, non-governmental organisation, and so it would not be appropriate for the government to intervene in, or comment on, their ongoing investigation into the Connaught Income Fund Series 1.

On 29 January, the FCA published on their website an update to investors on the Connaught Income Fund. This update outlines that a settlement has been reached between the liquidators of the fund and Capita Financial Managers Ltd. The FCA have asked the liquidators to distribute the settlement sum to investors as soon as possible. The update also states that while the FCA’s investigation is ongoing, they will not provide any comments or details on progress because to do so may later turn out to be misleading.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the publication, entitled The Department for Education review, published in November 2012, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential benefits of departmental regional office bases to the delivery of his Department’s policies.

Joseph Johnson

There have been no conversations between the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Secretary of State for Education on the subjects above.