Tag: Ruth Smeeth

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of whether China has met all of the technical Market Economy Status criteria as set by the EU.

Anna Soubry

According to the latest assessment by the European Commission China has not met all of the technical criteria for awarding Market Economy Status. However, these criteria were designed to inform decisions in the event that the EU decided to seek to award China MES before the end of the 15 year transition period specified by China’s protocol of accession to the WTO. As the transition period ends in December, the question facing the European Commission now is a legal one about the interpretation of article 15 of China’s protocol of accession to the WTO and whether it requires that China must now be granted MES.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 31677, what checks are undertaken to ensure that the terms of a Tier 2 (ICT) visa Certificate of Sponsorship are adhered to.

Mike Penning

A variety of checks are undertaken on sponsor licence holders and the migrants they assign certificates of sponsorship to. Compliance visits are undertaken during the licensing process and post-licensing audits are undertaken to verify the duties performed by the sponsored workers adhere to those set out by the sponsor in the certificate of sponsorship. Officers can request payslips, work contracts and evidence of duties performed by the sponsored worker during compliance visits. In some cases, other regulatory requirements are verified with other government departments or regulatory bodies during investigations of possible non-compliance. Officers can interview both sponsors and sponsored workers during compliance visits to seek assurances and gather information and evidence of compliance with the duties of sponsorship. Overseas we can undertake checks in to the credibility of the international presence of an ICT sponsor licence holder where there is concern to do so.

All roles are assessed to confirm the duties and salary meet the requirements set out in the standard occupation classification codes. The sponsored worker may also be called for interview during the visa consideration process to check their credibility and test the individual meets the requirements of sponsorship under Tier 2 (ICT).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the expenditure has been on the new National Living Wage advertising campaign to date.

Nick Boles

As of 26 January 2016, £378,826.28 had been spent on building awareness of the National Living Wage

The total budget allocated for the National Living Wage advertising campaign is £4.95 million. The campaign will end at the end of April and we expect to come in under budget.

It is important workers know their rights and that employers pay the new £7.20 from April 1 this year. The campaign will tell people about their entitlements and is targeted at those that need it most.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 31677, what the penalties are for an employer who has issued a Certificate of Sponsorship but does not adhere to the stated job description and salary.

Mike Penning

Guidance for sponsors specifies that UKVI will revoke the licence of a sponsor who has issued a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) but has not adhered to the specified job description and/or salary. However, prior to the consideration of revocation action, UKVI will suspend the licence and allow the sponsor the opportunity to make representations against the matter(s) identified. UKVI does have residual discretion to apply a lesser sanctions depending on the severity of the matter(s) and the mitigating circumstances presented by the sponsor; these sanctions include downgrading the licence rating and issuing a time limited action plan or reducing the sponsor’s CoS allocation or setting the allocation to zero.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of whether the UK has enough qualified IT specialists to meet the IT requirements of businesses in the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government is committed to addressing the rising demand for IT specialists and creating a strong digital skills talent pool. Action is being taken across education and training, from the introduction of the new school computing curriculum, to a range of new employer designed apprenticeship standards for digital roles, and the innovative digital degree apprenticeships that started in September.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which company has been given the contract for billboard advertisement distribution for the new National Living Wage campaign; and by what process that company was selected.

Nick Boles

48 sheet billboards, 6 sheet bus stop posters, and bus interior panels are being used in the National Living Wage campaign.

All poster sites were bought through Carat, the government’s appointed media buyers. The media owners of the poster sites are PML, Clearchannel Outdoor, Exterion Media and JCDecaux.

The poster sites are selected based on a combination of population data, poster site availability, and analysis of data showing regions where recipients of the NLW are expected to be highest.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32350, how many compliance visits have been carried out on Tier 2 ICT visa recipients employed by Tata Consulting Services in the UK over the last 12 months; and what aspects of employment were assessed on those compliance visits.

James Brokenshire

We routinely monitor all licensed sponsors to ensure they are meeting their duties and responsibilities. This includes undertaking visits to sponsors to inspect their compliance with the sponsor guidance. All visits to sponsors are undertaken according to published guidance which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-sponsor-management

We are, however, unable to comment on specific cases.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-EU workers hold visas to work on IT projects in the UK.

James Brokenshire

Acquiring this information would involve examining each individual case record held by UKVI for the category. To do so would incur a disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 24530, what methodology is used to calculate prices in connection with anti-dumping cases relating to the US and Russia.

Anna Soubry

The US and Russia are both treated as market economies in anti-dumping investigations by the European Commission. This means that, with some exceptions, dumping is calculated on the basis of prices prevailing in the US and Russian domestic market. The exceptions are set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 (the EU’s basic anti-dumping Regulation) and the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the “AD agreement”).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32350, how many compliance visits per employer that have taken place on Tier 2 ICT visa workers in the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire

In 2015 227 compliance visits were undertaken to Tier 2 sponsors who have the ability to sponsor individuals under the Tier 2 ICT route.