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167019

registered interest
date	01/12/2014
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Floods: Thames Valley
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to improve flood defences in the Thames Valley in 2014.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	216492
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p>Since the 2013/14 winter flooding, over £3 million has been spent on work to restore flood defence assets in the Thames Valley and Surrey areas to help reduce the risk of flooding to communities. This has included completing eight flood defence repair projects and capital works on two weirs (Molesey and Godstow). The Environment Agency has also carried out repairs to damage on three Thames weirs, including removal of trees and blockages, and shoal clearance works across twenty sites through the Lower Thames.</p><p>During this year, the Environment Agency has also made progress in developing two large-scale flood alleviation schemes:</p><p>- The Oxford to Abingdon scheme, reducing flood risk to over 1,000 properties; and</p><p>- The River Thames scheme, reducing flood risk to over 15,000 homes and businesses and significant local infrastructure around Teddington to Datchet.</p><p>An indicative allocation of £297m of Grant in Aid has been allocated to projects within the Thames RFCC are over the next 6 years. These projects will better protect at least 25,000 households by 2021. It is planned to start the construction of 36 projects by April 2016 with a further 126 projects in development and the pipeline for construction in future years.</p> answering member constituency North Cornwall answering member printed Dan Rogerson question first answered 08/12/2014 17:51:29 answering member 1504 label Biography information for Dan Rogerson
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

167142

registered interest
date	01/12/2014
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Transport: Thames Valley
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to improve transport links in the Thames Valley.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	216493
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government launched the Roads Investment Strategy on 1 December. The M4 Junction 3-12 smart motorway project to upgrade the M4 between Reading and Heathrow continues to be progressed. This month the Highways Agency is conducting a public consultation on the proposals, including exhibitions at 11 locations in the Thames Valley.</p><p> </p><p>Construction of Crossrail is now more than half completed and electrification of the Great Western Main Line is also under way. Electrification of the Thames Valley branch lines, including the Slough to Windsor line, is approved and will improve local connectivity.</p><p> </p><p>The transformation of Reading station was completed on time and under budget as part of the £850 million Reading Station Area Redevelopment programme and formally opened by Her Majesty The Queen on 17 July.</p><p> </p><p>The programme to increase passenger capacity on the Reading and Windsor to Waterloo railway by 25% is now under way and will be completed in early 2015. 60 additional carriages are being incorporated into an extended and refurbished fleet of trains to operate as a maximum 10 carriage train length.</p><p> </p><p>In July the Government announced £94.6m to support local transport projects across Berkshire as part of the Growth Deal with the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, in addition to the £36.9m integrated transport block funding announced in March for the six Berkshire local authorities, covering the period 2015/16 to 2020/21.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 08/12/2014 16:21:09 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

164329

registered interest
date	24/11/2014
answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	BBC
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the current BBC funding model; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	215689
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2014 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p>No such assessment has been made. The Government has said that the right time to consider these questions is as part of the Charter Review which will not be starting in advance of the Election in 2015.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 01/12/2014 15:08:49 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

164342

registered interest
date	24/11/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	ICT: Curriculum
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to encourage schools to provide students with hands-on programming experience.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	215688
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2014 answer text <p>The new computing programmes of study, which were introduced in September 2014, have a greater focus on how computers work and the basics of programming. They also cover digital literacy and the application of information technology. Primary school pupils should be taught how to design and write programs to accomplish specific goals, using sequencing, selection and repetition; and secondary school pupils should be taught to use at least two programming languages to solve a variety of computational problems.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Mr Sam Gyimah question first answered 27/11/2014 12:56:01 answering member 3980 label Biography information for Mr Sam Gyimah
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

155723

registered interest
date	17/11/2014
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	New Businesses: Windsor
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government has taken to support disabled people in Windsor constituency who want to start their own business.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	214744
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2014 answer text <p>We are continuing to work hard to provide the right support to make life easier for everyone who wants to start their own business, including disabled people.</p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.greatbusiness.gov.uk/" target="_blank">www.greatbusiness.gov.uk</a> provides support and advice for anyone trying to grow a business as well as for entrepreneurs starting out. This includes a 'Business Finance and Support Finder' that can provide a customised source of government backed support and finance for business. In addition to on-line support, the Business Support Helpline (0300 456 3565) is available to provide a quick response on queries about starting a business, or a personalised and in-depth advice service for more complex needs. For those looking for start-up finance and advice there are Start-Up Loans: 10 loans worth a total of £47,500 have been drawn down in Windsor to date.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, the New Enterprise Allowance helps people claiming certain out of work benefits to start up their own business. As of June 2014, 10,040 disabled people (from a total of 53,350) had started a new business with the help of the NEA.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 24/11/2014 15:08:21 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
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

156126

registered interest
date	17/11/2014
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	ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to encourage growth of the big data industry in the UK; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	214448
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government has identified big data as one of the ‘eight great technologies’ that will propel the UK’s future economic growth. Since 2010, the Government has made a series of strategic investments to support the growth of the big data industry in the UK. These include:</p><p> </p><p>- a £159 million investment programme in the UK’s high performance computing and networks infrastructure announced in 2011.</p><p> </p><p>- £189 million investment announced in 2012 to support a programme of big data and energy-efficient computing projects across the UK co-ordinated by the Economic and Social Research Council.</p><p> </p><p>- £10.7 million announced in December 2013 to create a new Higgs Centre for Innovation at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh that will focus on big data and space technologies.</p><p> </p><p>- £42 million announced in March 2014 to establish a world-leading Alan Turing Institute, which will be established in 2015 to research the analysis and application of big data.</p><p> </p><p>- Investment of over £50 million to establish the Digital Catapult, based in London, which will bring researchers and business together to accelerate new innovative products to market.</p><p> </p><p>On 31 October 2013, the Government also published ‘Seizing the Data Opportunity: a strategy for UK data capability’, which examines the UK’s capability to make best use of all data including big data, public sector held data, research data, and data collected by companies. The strategy was developed in partnership with industry to place the UK at the forefront of extracting knowledge and value from data.</p><p> </p><p>Since the publication of the strategy, the Government has introduced new legislation on copyright exceptions in June 2014 to enable text and data-mining for non-commercial purpose, and has developed new UK Trade &amp; Industry marketing material to attract increased overseas investment and custom to the UK data centre market.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 24/11/2014 10:42:59 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

156127

registered interest
date	17/11/2014
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	Financial Services: ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the value of the financial technology sector to the economy.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	214449
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/11/2014 answer text <p>Financial technology is not separately identified within Official Statistics and there is at present no workable definition to identify business activity in this area from other financial or computer and information services. Therefore the employment and financial contribution of these specific activities cannot easily be assessed.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 25/11/2014 10:55:54 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

114846

registered interest
date	05/11/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	European Arrest Warrants
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK citizens were subject to a European arrest warrant in 2013-14.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	213665
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2014 answer text <p>In 2013-14, the National Crime Agency received 7,881 arrest warrants from other EU Member States, of which 132 (or 1.67%) were issued in respect of UK nationals.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Staffordshire Moorlands answering member printed Karen Bradley question first answered 10/11/2014 15:52:58 answering member 4110 label Biography information for Dame Karen Bradley
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

106214

registered interest
date	04/11/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Income Tax
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in work did not pay any income tax as a result of changes to the personal allowance threshold in each of the last three financial years.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	213291
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2014 answer text <p>By April 2013, the cumulative effect of the Government's increases in the personal allowance for those aged under 65 years (born after 5 April 1948 from 2013-14 tax year) since 2010-11 had taken 2.8 million people out of income tax liability.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The year on year growth over the three years requested is shown in the table attached.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Tax Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Taken out of tax since 2010-11 by PA increases<br> (millions - cumulative)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p></td><td><p>1.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p></td><td><p>1.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td><td><p>2.8</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 11/11/2014 17:04:51 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie