Tag: Simon Kirby

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that the benefits of Crossrail are shared with passengers using London Victoria, London Bridge and London Blackfriars railway stations; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond

Crossrail will transform rail transport in London, increasing rail capacityby 10%,reducing congestion and cutting journey times across the city. The Crossrail route will run over 100km from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. Crossrail will provide connections with more underground lines than any other service, which will enable more direct journeys and simpler interchanges.

Crossrail will decongest many London Underground lines, notably the Jubilee, Central, District and Circle lines, which many users of London Victoria, London Bridge and London Blackfriars stations use to connect with a range of destinations across London.

A new major rail interchange will be created at Farringdon connecting Crossrail and Thameslink services. This will benefit passengers using Thameslink services to London Bridge and London Blackfriars who will be able to interchange directly onto Crossrail services operating on a 24 train per hour basis from Farringdon connecting passengers directly to Canary Wharf in 9 minutes and Bond Street in 5 minutes. Passengers using London Victoria will have quick access to Crossrail services via the tube network at Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote digital industries in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Willetts

The Government published its Information Economy Strategy on 14 June 2013 which sets out how we will work with business and academic partners to promote digital industries across the UK. I am now working with the Information Economy Council to deliver the actions in the Strategy. The Technology Strategy Board is also investing in a range of programmes, including Collaborative Research and Development competitions and the Connected Digital Economy Catapult Centre, to support UK companies working in the digital industries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps he has taken to prevent benefit fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey

The level of fraud in the benefit system is relatively low at 0.7% of total benefit expenditure. However, any loss to the public purse due to fraud is unacceptable, which is why the Department is working across Government – and with the private sector – to further reduce the level of loss due to benefit fraud.

We have made considerable progress since the Fraud and Error Strategy was published in 2010. In terms of prevention, this includes using Real Time Information in the Universal Credit pathfinders to prevent fraud and error on new claims before payments are issued. In addition we recently announced a package of measures which, amongst other things include extending these checks to other benefits.

We are also testing the effectiveness of communications to help change attitudes to benefit fraud and to encourage people to routinely report changes of circumstances.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the Government’s progress in encouraging exports to emerging markets; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon

UK exports of goods and services to Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs) reached £34.9 billion in 2013, their highest level since records began in 1999. In the Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Chancellor highlighted rising exports, with combined goods exports to Brazil, India and China rising faster than those of the UK’s competitors (France, Germany, Italy) in 2013, but said there was more to do.

UK Trade & Investment’s Britain Open for Business: The Next Phase (January 2014) underlined that: ‘To deliver our ambitious trade and investment targets we are continuing vigorously to pursue opportunities in developed markets while strengthening our efforts in high growth markets’. The Chancellor has given UKTI additional funding to strengthen its support for high growth markets.

Additionally, UK Export Finance (UKEF) is devoting additional resources to supporting High Value Opportunities. UKEF also has cover available for over 200 overseas markets and is increasing its product range to provide more effective support to Mid-Size Businesses (MSBs) and smaller companies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to tackle pensioner poverty; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb

This Government wants all pensioners to have a decent and secure income in retirement. We have restored the link to earnings for the Basic State Pension and also introduced the ‘triple lock’, the guarantee that the Basic State Pension will increase by the highest of the growth in average earnings, price increases or 2.5 per cent. We have protected key benefits for older people including: free eye tests; free NHS prescriptions; free bus passes; free television licences for those aged 75 and over and Winter Fuel Payments.