The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-19.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the slowing of the growth of the Chinese economy on growth in the UK.
Harriett Baldwin
The Treasury continuously monitors global economic developments, including those in China, and their impact on the UK as part of the normal process of policy development.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what plans her Department has to close the gender pay gap.
Caroline Dinenage
The gender pay gap has fallen to its lowest ever level, and our ambition is to eliminate it within a generation. That is why we will require large employers to publish information on the differences between men and women’s’ pay and bonuses. Gender pay gap reporting will also be extended to the public sector. We will continue taking action to inspire girls and young women; modernise workplaces; and support older working women.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what forecast he has made of whether the total stock of local authority homes will increase or decrease in the next five years.
Brandon Lewis
Whilst we have made no forecast of what the stock of council homes will be over the next 5 years, I do note that more council houses have been built since 2010 than were built in the entire 13 years of a Labour Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what research his Department has commissioned or undertaken to assess the potential effect on small businesses of proposed changes to Sunday trading laws.
Anna Soubry
We have consulted on our proposals to devolve the power to extend Sunday trading hours to local areas, to which we received a large number of responses from a wide range of stakeholders. We will be publishing the Government’s response shortly. In the consultation, we said we considered that devolving this power would enable local areas to determine the Sunday trading hours that better reflect the need of local people, providing greater choice over when and where they shop. People may choose small retailers, as for example, they offer a diverse range of products and services from convenient locations. This is perhaps why the convenience sector last year saw the opening of two new stores a day and growth in turnover of 5%.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether it is her policy to increase the proportion of energy in the UK generated from renewable sources.
Andrea Leadsom
By 2020, the UK is legally committed to obtain 15% of its final energy consumption from renewable sources under the EU Renewable Energy Directive. We continue to make progress towards our target with provisional figures showing 7.0% of final energy consumption came from renewable sources in 2014. A strong start was made to 2015 with over a quarter of electricity generation coming from renewable sources in Q2 2015, up 8.6% from Q2 2014.
Electricity generation from renewable sources, in 2014, was at 19.1% compared to 14.9% in 2013; renewable heat sources accounted for 4.8% of total heat demand in 2014; and fuel suppliers are already required to meet a 4.75% renewable transport fuel obligation by ensuring that sustainable biofuel is supplied.
Since 2010, DECC estimates that over £42 billion of private capital has been secured in low-carbon electricity generation projects and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), spread geographically across the UK. 2014 was a record year for investment in renewable energy generation with over £8 billion being invested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to continue the Universal Jobmatch service after the contract expires in April 2016; and if he will make a statement.
Priti Patel
DWP intends to exercise its right under the current contract to extend the service for a further 12 months. Commercial discussions are currently underway with the supplier.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the progress of UK firms in reducing their contribution to climate change.
Andrea Leadsom
Since 2003, the UK has had the least energy intensive economy in the G7. In its recent progress report, the Committee on Climate Change set out provisional figures for 2014 [1] which indicate that industrial output grew while energy consumption and emissions fell. The Government response [2] to the CCC report provides further assessment of progress towards reducing emissions from all sectors, including business.
However, there is still significant untapped energy efficiency potential in the business sector, estimated at 45TWh in 2020, representing around 10% of current business energy use. On 28 September Government launched a consultation reviewing the business energy tax landscape that will seek to better exploit this potential, reducing energy costs and improving productivity, while minimising administrative burdens. For energy intensive industry, following publication of the 2050 Industrial Decarbonisation and Energy Efficiency Roadmaps in March, the Government is working with sectors to develop action plans to enable industry to contribute to our decarbonisation targets while remaining competitive in the international marketplace.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of lessons from the experience of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act in the US to inform his plans to replace the Work Programme when the current contracts come to an end.
Priti Patel
We continuously review our employment programmes and consider global good practice examples.
Many features of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act are consistent with the current Work Programme framework and with Universal Credit which ensures work always pays and enables earnings tracking.
We are considering how proposed improvements in the structure of US services could benefit UK employment support in the design of our future offers, for example our cross government look into supporting collaborations between services at a local level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to make an assessment of the case for an Eastern Branch of Crossrail 2 serving Hackney Central, Hackney Wick, Stratford, East Ham and Barking.
Claire Perry
No Government decision has yet been taken on Crossrail 2 and the alignment is principally a matter for the Mayor of London.
The recently established National Infrastructure Commission have been tasked with work to establish the best approach to large-scale investment in London’s transport infrastructure which may have implications for Crossrail 2 going forward. They will provide advice to Government by Budget 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to encourage employers in London to pay the London Living Wage.
Nick Boles
The Government encourages all employers to pay more than the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage where they can afford to. The Low Pay Commission’s remit is to set the National Minimum Wage as high as possible without harming employment prospects.
According to Office for Budget Responsibility estimates, the National Living Wage will benefit 2.7 million low wage workers by 2020. The increase in April 2016 to £7.20 from the current NMW of £6.70 will mean a 7.5% increase in hourly pay, and a full time worker will earn £910 more per annum compared to today.