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750414

	registered interest
	date	05/07/2017
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Commonwealth: Foreign Relations
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the Government has to strengthen relations with Commonwealth partners.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	900355
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2017 answer text <p>Strengthening our relationship with the Commonwealth and all its members is a priority for the Government, as part of our vision for a Global Britain. We look forward to hosting an ambitious and dynamic Commonwealth Summit in 2018 and are working with Commonwealth partners to deliver it.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 11/07/2017 13:47:13 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

155745

	registered interest
	date	17/11/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Foreign Investment in UK
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to encourage more foreign direct investment in UK companies.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	214745
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2014 answer text <p><strong>In 2013-14 the UK attracted 1,773 foreign direct investment projects, giving a total stock of £1.6 trillion of such investments - more than any other country apart from the USA. During this Parliament the Government has taken action to make the UK a more attractive location to run a business including reducing corporation tax so that it will reach 20% next year – the lowest in the G20 - and investing in skills, science and infrastructure. The Government has also increased resources at UK Trade and Investment including for example establishing private sector-led teams in the Gulf, Central Europe, and South America dedicated to attracting inward investment into the UK. </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 24/11/2014 17:43:50 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

177084

	registered interest
	date	02/02/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Financial Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to encourage banks to offer their services to money service businesses.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	222940
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2015 answer text <p>The UK Government is committed to supporting a healthy and legitimate remittance sector, and ensuring that UK citizens are able to continue to remit funds safely to family abroad. That is why, in response to the withdrawal of banking services from the Money Service Business sector we set up an Action Group on Cross Border Remittances to address this issue. The group is monitoring changes to the market, has developed guidance for MSBs and banks and is promoting a shared understanding of risk. The group is also overseeing the development of a Safer Corridor to ensure the continued, secure flow of remittances to Somalia.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Treasury Ministers have been engaging closely with the banking industry both through the British Bankers Association and directly with those banks involved in this issue, including personally writing to and phoning a number of banks.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 04/02/2015 12:29:59 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

224414

	registered interest
	date	02/03/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Financial Services: Technology
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to boost the growth of the financial technology industry.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	225806
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2015 answer text <p>As part of our long term economic plan, the Government is committed to supporting the continued growth of the Financial Technology (FinTech) sector. The Government has taken a number of steps to achieve this, including:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li><p>Creating a new Payments Systems Regulator (PSR), which will ensure that smaller banks and alternative providers of finance – including FinTechs – can access payment systems in a fair and transparent way, and thereby contributing to a fairer and more competitive payments industry. The PSR will open its doors on 1 April this year.</p><p> </p></li><li><p>Committing to additional funding of £100m to the British Business Bank’s Investment Programme – including funding for FinTech.</p><p> </p></li><li><p>Launching the GO-Science’s Blackett Review on FinTech Futures, which looks ahead 10 years to the future and identify what the technologies, enablers and barriers are that will shape the future of the UK FinTech sector.</p><p> </p></li></ul><p> </p><ul><li><p>Naming the big banks that will have to share credit data, and refer on SMEs they reject for finance – helping alternative finance providers, including FinTech firms, to lend more effectively;</p></li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li><p>Supporting the development of the peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding market: consulting on ISA eligibility for crowdfunded debt securities; announcing we will review EU regulations standing in the way of P2P institutional lending; and creating a bespoke regulatory framework for P2P.</p><p> </p></li></ul><p> </p><p>Most recently at budget 2015, we announced a further package of measures to build on the government’s wide-reaching programme of reform to drive competition in banking and FinTech, including announcing that:</p><p> </p><ul><li><p>The Government intends to apply anti-money laundering regulation to digital currency exchanges in the UK, launch a new research initiative into digital currency technology, with £10 million additional funding, and work with the British Standards Institution and the digital currency industry to develop voluntary standards for consumer protection.</p><p> </p></li><li><p>Gocompare will launch the first personal current account comparison tool making use of customers’ bank midata releases on 26 March 2015.</p><p> </p></li><li><p>The Government will work with the banks and FinTech firms to develop an open API (Application Programming Interface) standard for banks, by the end of the year.</p></li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li><p>the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) ‘Project Innovate’ will work with HMT and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to investigate the feasibility of developing a regulatory ‘sandbox’ for financial services innovators</p><p> </p></li><li><p>Innovate Finance has agreed to deliver its FinTech regional strategy through a series of local partnerships; the first partnership has already been established in Leeds, and further partnerships will be established in Manchester and Edinburgh by April, and in Newcastle, Bristol and other centres before the end of the year.</p></li></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 25/03/2015 11:07:37 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

391418

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2015
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Energy: Meters
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the reason is for the difference between the estimated cost of the Smart Metering Implementation Programme of £10.9 billion included in her Department's Third Annual Report on the roll-out of Smart Meters, December 2014 and the whole life costs of £19.25 billion included in the Major Project Authority's Portfolio data for her Department of June 2015.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	8015
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2015 answer text <p>The Annual Report on the roll-out of Smart Meters and the Major Project Authority’s report use the same underlying data, taken from the Programme’s Impact Assessment:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meter-roll-out-for-the-domestic-and-small-and-medium-non-domestic-sectors-gb-impact-assessment" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meter-roll-out-for-the-domestic-and-small-and-medium-non-domestic-sectors-gb-impact-assessment</a>.</p><p>The difference between the estimated costs is due to the two reports using different methodologies to present the same cost information of the Programme.</p><p>The Annual Report on the roll-out of Smart Meters expresses information in real prices and present values. This follows Treasury guidance for policy appraisal and is aimed at providing future cost and benefit information in a way that is most meaningful for decision making.</p><p>The cost figures in the Major Project Authority’s report are expressed in nominal terms and are not discounted to present value terms. This is aimed at achieving comparability across Government projects but can result in different figures between Impact Assessments and the data reported by the Major Project Authority.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 08/09/2015 15:55:21 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

391421

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2015
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Energy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress she has made on reducing the time taken for homeowners to switch energy and gas supplier; and what forecast she has made of the effect on switching times of the completion of the smart metering implementation programme.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	7974
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2015 answer text <p>The Department has worked with Energy UK, Ofgem, suppliers and other key industry partners to develop and implement proposals which have enabled domestic customers to switch supplier within 17 days, half the time it previously took.</p><p>The roll-out of smart metering will make switching energy supplier easier and faster and is a key enabler to 24-hour switching. The Government announced in the Summer Budget 2015 that it will work with Ofgem with the ambition of introducing 24-hour switching by the end of 2018.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 07/09/2015 08:37:52 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

391422

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2015
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Energy: Meters
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will review the effects to date of the use of smart meters; and if she will estimate how much consumers reduce gas and electricity usage once a smart meter has been installed.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	7975
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2015 answer text <p>Our central estimate of energy savings to domestic consumers as a result of smart metering is 2.8% for electricity every year in comparison to what consumption would have been in that year without smart meters (prepayment and credit) and 2% for gas (credit) and 0.5% for gas (prepayment). The energy savings assumptions are conservative in comparison to international evidence.</p><p>In March 2015 DECC published research on the effects of the early rollout of smart meters – The Early Learning Project:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-metering-early-learning-project-and-small-scale-behaviour-trials" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-metering-early-learning-project-and-small-scale-behaviour-trials</a>.</p><p>The Early Learning Projects findings around levels of energy consumption reduction are that DECC’s steady-state projections for the main roll-out fall within the confidence intervals of the energy consumption reductions observed in the research for both gas and electricity. However evidence suggests that larger energy savings are achievable; it is realistic to expect durable energy savings of 3 per cent provided engagement is effective, and larger savings are feasible in the future.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 08/09/2015 16:02:38 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

419093

	registered interest
	date	16/09/2015
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Smart Data Communications Company: Small Businesses
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she has taken to remove barriers to small energy providers using the services of the Data Communications Company.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	10487
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>DECC has undertaken a continuous programme of outreach with independent suppliers. This has allowed us to monitor their views on a range of issues, including costs and their ability to use the services of the Data Communications Company (DCC). One challenge we recognised independent suppliers may face was the cost effective procurement of adaptor software enabling them to access DCC services. Over the last twelve to eighteen months, this challenge has been taken up by a number of commercial providers bringing managed service IT solutions to the market which allow independent suppliers to access the DCC with minimal upfront cost. We will continue to monitor the situation to verify that smaller suppliers are able to access the DCC services satisfactorily.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 12/10/2015 14:00:45 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

419094

	registered interest
	date	16/09/2015
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Smart Data Communications Company: Small Businesses
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the fixed charge system outlined in the Smart Energy Code on the ability of small energy providers to access the services of the Data Communications Company.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	10488
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>The Data Communications Company (DCC) charges for access to the DCC’s services in proportion to suppliers’ market share, calculated on a meter point basis, rather than an equal amount per supplier. This is designed to strike a balance between ensuring a fair contribution from all parties who will have access to the DECC services, and not disadvantaging those parties that are likely to use these services less than others.</p><p>The amount small energy providers will pay in fixed charges is therefore directly reflective of their smaller customer base and likely more limited use of the system that results from their lower market share.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 12/10/2015 14:01:52 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

422219

	registered interest
	date	19/10/2015
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Energy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2015 to Question 7974, what research her Department has conducted into the ease of switching energy supplier.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	12450
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2015 answer text <p>The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has, as part of its investigation into the energy market, commissioned research into consumer experiences and views of the energy market including the ease of switching energy supplier.</p><br /><p>The CMA investigation is still ongoing but the report it commissioned has already been published can be found at:</p><br /><p><a href="https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/54e75c53ed915d0cf700000d/CMA_customer_survey_-_energy_investigation_-_GfK_Report.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/54e75c53ed915d0cf700000d/CMA_customer_survey_-_energy_investigation_-_GfK_Report.pdf</a></p><br /> <br /> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 27/10/2015 13:35:29 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie