The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress is being made on the Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal.
James Wharton
The Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal is progressing well. Local partners are committed to a programme of 20 infrastructure projects over twenty years. The Glasgow and Clyde Valley Cabinet are agreeing business cases, with construction work to begin in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will adjust the points-based visa criteria to reflect differences in regional average income levels.
James Brokenshire
Salary requirements form part of the criteria for Tier 2 of the Points Based System for immigration – the skilled work route. For the future, the Government intends that employers should only bring in workers from outside Europe where they have genuine skills shortages or require highly-specialised experts. In June last year, we commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on how to achieve this, but with sufficient flexibility to include high value roles and key public service workers.
Among other things, the MAC was asked to advise on minimum salary levels, and to consider the regional impact of all its recommendations. The MAC has now submitted its advice to the Home Secretary and is expected to publish the report shortly. We will consider the findings carefully.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-02-05.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any proposed special advisers have failed security vetting since May 2010.
Matthew Hancock
It has been the policy of successive governments not to comment about the individuals subject to security vetting.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-04-18.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the rising default rate of companies in the oil and gas sector on their high-yield loans on wider stability of the financial sector.
Harriett Baldwin
The Chancellor has set out the government’s view on the challenges facing the UK economy at budget on 16 March 2016. The transcript of the speech is available from:
www.gov.uk/government/speeches/budget-2016-george-osbornes-speech
In addition, the Bank of England’s December 2015 Financial Stability Report sets out analysis on the exposures of UK banks to commodity sectors. The full report can be found here:
www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/fsr/2015/dec.aspx
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what qualifications are required of people who work as personal independence payment assessors.
Penny Mordaunt
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to his previous questions numbered 47755 and 47757 (PQs asked on Tuesday 11th October 2016).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2015-12-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding criteria are set for small and medium-sized enterprises applying for a loan under the Funding for Lending Scheme.
Harriett Baldwin
The Bank of England does not lend directly to small and medium sized enterprises as part of the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS). Under the FLS, the Bank of England provides funding to UK banks and building societies participating in the scheme. The amount of funding participant banks and building societies are eligible to borrow from the Bank of England is determined by their net lending to certain sectors of the economy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his polices of the conclusion of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, entitled Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2015, that the number of people in low-income working households has risen from 5.2 million to 6.7 million in the last 10 years.
Priti Patel
The Department carefully considers all relevant publications.
The number of people in in-work relative low income is 200,000 lower than at its peak in 2008/09. Moreover, Universal Credit, our investment in childcare, the National Living Wage, and our increase in the personal tax allowance will support individuals and working households by enabling them to earn more and keep more of what they earn.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-02-05.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his Department’s policy is on when to inform Parliament about changes to pay grades of special advisers in any ministerial department.
Matthew Hancock
Annually.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-04-18.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made on the potential selling price of the Government’s remaining stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland of the implications for the leveraged loans made by that bank to the oil and gas sector of the default rate of companies in that sector on high-yield loans.
Harriett Baldwin
The Government’s shareholding in RBS is managed at arm’s length from HM Treasury by UK Financial Investments (UKFI). However, UKFI’s role is to manage the investment, not the bank. RBS retains its own independent Board of Directors. Commercial decisions such as lending remain the responsibility of the bank’s independent management team and not the Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria determine whether personal independence payment assessors receive financial bonuses in addition to their salary.
Penny Mordaunt
The Department does not prescribe providers with criteria on how they should pay salary or bonuses to their staff. That is purely a commercial decision for the assessment provider.