Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label previous answer version answering member constituency answering member printed answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

77831

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Exports: Government Assistance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many bids to the Export Refinancing Facility have been (a) received and (b) approved since its launch; and how many firms have received funds under the scheme to date.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	206027
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/10/2014 answer text <p>The Export Refinancing Facility (ERF) was launched on 30 April 2014 in order to support UK bids for projects that require finance above £50m.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The ERF does not provide funds directly to firms but a commitment to banks funding loans to overseas buyers of UK exports to take-out that loan if it has not been possible for the bank to refinance it commercially.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>UK Export Finance officials have held several discussions with exporters, overseas buyers and banks in relation to ERF, with one case currently under discussion.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>It is likely that ERF will be most relevant during periods of constrained liquidity in the banking market. Given current market conditions, export credit transactions are less likely to require ERF in order to take place but the facility remains an important product in UKEF’s portfolio giving it the ability to respond quickly to changes in those market conditions.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 10/10/2014 12:28:30 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock previous answer version 11695 answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

77832

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Royal Mail
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his letter of 2 May 2014 which was placed in the Library, on what date agreement was reached with each of the pilot fishing investors in Royal Mail on share allocations.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	206021
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>The allocations to pilot fishing investors was finalised for all these investors on 8 October 2013.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 22/07/2014 14:26:56 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

77833

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Sunday Trading
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff (a) in his Department and (b) its executive agencies are currently working wholly or in part on the issue of Sunday trading.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	206023
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>a) No staff in BIS are currently working full time on the issue of Sunday Trading. There are two policy staff and one lawyer that have Sunday Trading as part of their wider portfolio e.g. providing briefing on policy and employment aspects, answering PQs, drafting responses to Bill amendments and information requests, providing correspondence advice. In addition there are 2 staff that deal with standard correspondence some small proportion of which will include responding to letters referring to Sunday Trading legislation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>b) We are not aware of any staff in Executive Agencies of BIS that are specifically assigned to work on the issue of Sunday Trading.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 22/07/2014 13:41:30 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

77834

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Business: Loans
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many firms have received assistance under the Direct Lending Scheme to date.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	206025
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There has been significant interest in UK Export Finance’s (UKEF) Direct Lending Facility (DLF) since its enhancements were announced in the Budget. Since it was relaunched on 30 June 2014, the pipeline of potential export contracts has developed and now involves 28 UK-based exporters of varying size and export experience. As it stands, the pipeline has 35 potential export contracts that range from £3m to over £350m. Most importantly, the DLF pipeline is growing.</p><p> </p><p><br> <br></p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 10/09/2014 15:33:12 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock previous answer version 11686 answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

77835

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Royal Mail
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on the current ownership of shares in Royal Mail.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	206024
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/10/2014 answer text <p>Maintaining and updating the Royal Mail shareholder register is the responsibility of the company.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>A number of financial market Information providers publish information about company shareholders including Royal Mail.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government does not hold any information that cannot be obtained from these sources.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 10/10/2014 12:26:46 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

77836

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Royal Mail
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assurances were sought from priority investors ahead of the privatisation of Royal Mail on long-term holding of shares by (a) Ministers in his Department (b) Officials in his Department (c) the Financial Adviser to the Government and (d) the banking syndicate working on the privatisation.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	206026
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/10/2014 answer text <p>No assurances were sought from the priority investors ahead of the sale of shares in Royal Mail.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Any mechanism which requires a buyer to give up the rights normally associated with shares, such as a restriction on the right to sell those shares for a period of time, would be reflected in the price investors would be prepared to pay for those shares.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>These investors gave the Government confidence to take forward the IPO which raised nearly £2bn for the tax payer and reduced the risk that the tax payer to support the universal postal service.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 15/10/2014 13:24:04 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock previous answer version 11677 answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

77837

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Business: Email
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the financial advantages enjoyed by larger companies in preventing their marketing and promotional emails from being blocked by servers.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Andrew Bingham
uin	205876
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/08/2014 answer text <p>The Department has not made an assessment regarding this issue.</p><p>If there is evidence that treating emails in this manner is driving anti-competitive behaviour by companies, this should be referred to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s independent competition authority, for consideration.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 28/08/2014 15:43:56 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	3994 label Biography information for Andrew Bingham

77838

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Tickets: Internet
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he received from representatives of secondary ticketing websites on the guidance to or implementation of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	205818
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not received any direct representations from representatives of the secondary ticketing websites on amendments tabled to the Consumer Rights Bill or about the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Neither my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State nor other Ministers in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have had meetings with the secondary ticketing websites about the implementation of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 or the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The draft Regulations and the contents of the Bill were widely consulted on and the Department received a range of comments in response. Officials from the Department have also had discussions with a wide range of stakeholders (including with secondary ticketing websites) on the implementation of those Regulations and the guidance on them.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Following a consultation on the draft regulations, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills has produced guidance on the requirements of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. This guidance is easily accessible on the gov.uk website. Officials have also worked with the Business Support Helpline, which offers free advice to business on a wide range of issues, including regulation, and with the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), as the primary body responsible for educating businesses on consumer law. TSI has also produced guidance which is available on their website. Consumers themselves are important in driving compliance and officials have worked with Citizens Advice to raise consumer awareness so that they can see when businesses are not abiding by the requirements of the regulations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has also actively promoted the changes in the Regulations across all sectors through seminars, presentations and communications to businesses.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ministers in the Home Office, Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have discussions and correspond together on a wide range of issues, and this has included agreeing the content of the Consumer Rights Bill. Officials from those Departments are in regular contact, including regarding the issue of resale of tickets.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 205806 205807 205808 205864 question first answered 21/07/2014 14:17:11 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

77839

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Billing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Mr Tom Watson
uin	205964
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>The Department does not maintain a central register but an analysis of the Departmental financial system and records identified that since 2010, the following duplicate payments were made and recoveries undertaken:</p><p>10/11 nil</p><p>11/12 nil</p><p>12/13 £726 of which all was recovered</p><p>13/14 £1835.40 of which all was recovered</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 22/07/2014 14:52:08 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

77840

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Research: Middle East
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assistance the UK has given to the developments of the SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) project; and what collaborative scientific research projects the UK supports between Israel, Iran and the Palestinian Authority.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Paul Flynn
uin	205936
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>The UK became an observer member of the SESAME Interim Council in 2001. Professor Samar Hasnain of Liverpool University has represented the UK Government at the SESAME Council, following his appointment in 2004. The Government has provided funding since 2008/9 to Professor Samar Hasnain to support his role as the UK’s representative on the SESAME council as follows:</p><p>- 2008/9 – 2013/14: £15k per annum</p><p>- Additional funding of £22k per annum was recently approved following a review of the project for the financial years 2014/15 – 2015/16</p><p>Professor Samar Hasnain in his role as an observer undertakes various activities on behalf of the Government for the progress of SESAME including:</p><p>- Representing the Government at the Interim Council meetings</p><p>- Producing an annual report on SESAME and its benefits to the UK; and</p><p>- Spreading awareness of the existence and desirability of SESAME to existing and potential SESAME member countries.</p><p>He is also an active member of the Science Advisory Committee which meets twice a year.</p><p>This Department does not currently fund any other collaborative scientific research projects between Israel, Iran and the Palestinian Authority.</p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 22/07/2014 14:44:15 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	545 label Biography information for Paul Flynn