Tag: Stephen Timms

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to increase the number of gifted overseas students studying in the UK.

Joseph Johnson

The UK welcomes the brightest and best international students and there is no cap on the number that can study here. The Government promotes study in the UK through the Britain is GREAT marketing campaign which has an education pillar and through the Education UK brand and website, which is managed by the British Council. Together these measures promote UK education in over 100 countries, connecting millions of people with the United Kingdom.

The Government also has major education agreements with overseas partners. Key programmes include the UK-China Partners in Education Programme, the UK-India Education Research Initiative and engagement in Brazil’s ‘Science without Borders’ scholarship scheme.

The Government also supports student exchange, such as through the Erasmus Scheme, which enables international students to take short placements in the UK and British students to gain valuable overseas experience.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the likely change to levels of child poverty resulting from reductions in tax credits in 2015-16.

Damian Hinds

The Government is making changes to Tax Credits which will help put welfare spending on a more sustainable path. The Government wants to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society.

We know that work is the best route out of poverty. The intended impact of these reforms is to incentivise work, ensure work always pays, and then allow people to keep more of what they earn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase voter registration among students.

John Penrose

The move to Individual Electoral Registration has made registration more convenient for students, who can now register online in as little as three minutes on a tablet, smart-phone or PC. Ahead of the elections on 7 May, £530,000 was allocated to organisations that work to encourage student electoral registration, including £380,000 to the National Union of Students. In 2013, the Cabinet Office established the Student Forum, bringing together key organisations representing students and universities, as well as Electoral Registration Officers with significant student populations to foster closer working relationships. We have also worked with Sheffield University and the local Electoral Registration Officer to pilot digital integration of student enrolment with electoral registration and I am keen that we learn from this work.

I am engaged in detailed discussions with a range of Electoral Registration Officers on how to increase registration rates for hard-to-reach groups, including students, and look forward to announcing further details on this soon.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the effect of reductions in tax credits on levels of housing benefit paid out in 2016-17.

Damian Hinds

The impact of all the government’s policies on housing benefit is accounted for in the housing benefit forecast, which has been certified by the OBR.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential benefits of re-introducing compulsory work experience for under 16 year olds.

Mr Sam Gyimah

We are making the whole education system much more closely linked to the world of work. We have put more emphasis on mastering vital skills, more respected qualifications, and given employers greater influence over the content of courses, so young people have the skills that universities and employers value.

We want more young people to have the opportunity to take part in high quality work experience that helps to prepare them for the workplace and develop the employability skills that employers require. Work experience is an important element of post-16 provision – new personalised study programmes include some form of work experience or work-related learning that is relevant to the career aspirations of students.

We recognise that younger children benefit from contact with employers but we trust head teachers to decide what is best for their pupils, including when and how to take part in work experience. We are providing valuable support through a new employer-led Careers & Enterprise Company has been tasked with increasing the level of employer input into schools and colleges.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to his Answer of 13 October 2015 to Question 11722, which companies provide fixed broadband services in the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Any company that complies with Ofcom’s General Conditions Entitlement has authorisation to provide telecommunications services in the UK. This Department does not hold a comprehensive list of companies that provide fixed broadband services in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made in negotiations with the EU on addressing the level of duties imposed on cane sugar imported into Europe; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

During negotiations of the reforms the UK Government argued for a fair and balanced outcome for all parts of the sugar industry. Disappointingly, there was insufficient support from other Member States to secure the necessary changes on imports to allow the cane sector to compete on a level playing field with the beet sector. However, we remain committed to working with the European Commission to address this issue through forthcoming EU trade agreements and other measures as required.

As part of this strategy, Defra Ministers pressed the EU Agriculture Commissioner to prioritise sugar imports as part of the recent EU negotiations with South Africa. Those negotiations have now completed and include enhanced market access for sugar imports which we expect to be available when the trade deal is signed and ratified next year. The UK also supports duty free and quota free (DFQF) imports of sugar from Least Developed Countries (LDC) through the EU’s Everything But Arms scheme and from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries which have signed Economic Partnership Agreements. Continued access to DFQF sugar from Fiji was secured last year through application of their trade deal with the EU. The UK will continue to support ACP and LDC countries to maintain their preferences into the EU market until the sector is fully liberalised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what comparative estimate he has made of the costs, other than initial offers, of a typical package of landline and broadband services in (a) the UK, (b) France, (c) Germany, (d) Spain and (e) Ireland.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The followingOfcom publications provide price comparisondata for the UK, France, Germany and Spain. Ofcom’s International Communications Market Report (December 2014)

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/market-data/communications-market-reports/cmr14/international/; and Ofcom’s European Broadband Scorecard (February 2015)

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/broadband-research/scorecard/2015/European_Broadband_Scorecard_Q1_2015.pdf

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