The Government\u2019s December 2018 Good Work Plan sets out the vision for the future of the labour market and the ambitious plans for implementing the recommendations arising from the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Government has committed to legislate to improve the clarity of the employment status tests, reflecting the reality of modern working relationships. This will help to ensure that both businesses and individuals understand their rights and obligations.<\/p>
<\/p>
Employment status is a complex issue and so it is only right that we take time to consider how best to achieve change that works for all. We will bring forward detailed proposals on status in due course.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4487", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Rochester and Strood"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kelly Tolhurst"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-04-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-04-08T16:07:41.447Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "201"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-04-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Self-employed"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support freelancers.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1436", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Farrelly"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newcastle-under-Lyme"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Farrelly"} ], "uin" : "240521"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1109037", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1109037/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Government is clear that unfavourable payment practices is a serious issue. That is why we have a range of measures in place\u202fwith the\u202faim to address the imbalance in market power between parties, increase transparency and encourage better payment practices through culture change.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Payment Practices and Performance Reporting Requirement requires large businesses to report biannually on their payment practices and performance. Businesses must publish this information on gov.uk, providing transparency in payment practices and making payment behaviour a reputational, board room issue. To date over 13,000 reports have been submitted.<\/p>
<\/p>
Government continues to support the Prompt Payment Code as a best practice in payment standards. Last year the Secretary of State announced a new, tough and transparent compliance regime to ensure the Code is rigorously enforced. The Secretary of State also announced that he had appointed the Small Business Commissioner to the Prompt Payment Code Compliance Board.<\/p>
<\/p>
Last year Government launched a Call for Evidence to assess what further steps and intervention may be needed to create a responsible payment culture. A full response will be published shortly and will contain a full package of policy measures.<\/p>
<\/p>
At Spring\u202fStatement\u202fGovernment announced that it will require large company\u2019s Audit Committees to review payments practices and report them in their annual accounts.\u202fThis will elevate payment practices to Board level and increase transparency.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4487", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Rochester and Strood"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kelly Tolhurst"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-04-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1109037/answer/previousversion/112703", "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4487", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Rochester and Strood"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kelly Tolhurst"} } , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-04-11T15:00:12.463Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "201"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-04-02", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Self-employed: Billing"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to tackle late payments to freelancers.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1436", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Farrelly"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newcastle-under-Lyme"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Farrelly"} ], "uin" : "239900"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1109175", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for International Trade"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1109175/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
We have received representations from a number of UK-based companies about this matter and HM Ambassador in Riyadh has raised this on a number of occasions with Ministers in the Saudi Arabian Government.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1482", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Graham Stuart"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Beverley and Holderness"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Graham Stuart"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-04-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "239903"} , {"_value" : "239904"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-04-08T12:20:38.627Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "202"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "International Trade"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "International Trade"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-04-02", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "BeoutQ"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what representations he has received on alleged infringement of broadcast rights by Saudi Arabian-based media company beoutQ; and what steps he has taken in response to those representations.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1436", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Farrelly"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newcastle-under-Lyme"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Farrelly"} ], "uin" : "239902"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1109177", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for International Trade"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1109177/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
We have received representations from a number of UK-based companies about this matter and HM Ambassador in Riyadh has raised this on a number of occasions with Ministers in the Saudi Arabian Government.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1482", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Graham Stuart"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Beverley and Holderness"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Graham Stuart"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-04-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "239902"} , {"_value" : "239904"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-04-08T12:20:38.677Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "202"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "International Trade"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "International Trade"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-04-02", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "BeoutQ"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what representations he has made to the Government of Saudi Arabia on the potential implications of the activities of (a) Saudi Arabian media company beoutQ, (b) the founder of that company Dr Raed Khusheim and (c) that company's satellite broadcaster Arabsat.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1436", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Farrelly"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newcastle-under-Lyme"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Farrelly"} ], "uin" : "239903"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1109181", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for International Trade"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1109181/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
We have received representations from a number of UK-based companies about this matter and HM Ambassador in Riyadh has raised this on a number of occasions with Ministers in the Saudi Arabian Government.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1482", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Graham Stuart"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Beverley and Holderness"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Graham Stuart"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-04-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "239902"} , {"_value" : "239903"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-04-08T12:20:38.567Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "202"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "International Trade"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "International Trade"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-04-02", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "BeoutQ"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what representations he has made to the Government of Saudi Arabia about the alleged international broadcast rights infringement activities of (a) Saudi Arabian-based media company beoutQ, (b) that company's co-founder Dr Raed Khusheim and (c) that company's satellite broadcaster Arabsat.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1436", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Farrelly"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newcastle-under-Lyme"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Farrelly"} ], "uin" : "239904"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1108654", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1108654/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The UK continues to meet all current international air quality limits except for NO2. In July 2017 we published the NO2 Plan, backed by £3.5 billion funding, which sets out the steps we are taking to comply with NO2 limits as soon as possible. Also, we published our ambitious Clean Air Strategy in January which the Director-General of the World Health Organization described as \u201can example for the rest of the world to follow\u201d.<\/p>
<\/p>
Recognising that there are still local authorities which are in breach of statutory limits on roadside NO2 concentrations, the UK government allocated £495 million of funding to support local authorities in its 2017 plan. Local authorities already have many powers to monitor and reduce air pollution and we continue to work intensively with them, to identify measures to bring forward compliance as soon as possible.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4098", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Suffolk Coastal"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Dr Thérèse Coffey"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-04-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-04-04T15:42:02.747Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-04-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Air Pollution"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to ClientEarth's correspondence with local authorities in England and Wales on the the legal risk of inaction on air pollution, whether local authorities are sufficiently equipped to address illegal air pollution levels.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1436", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Farrelly"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newcastle-under-Lyme"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Farrelly"} ], "uin" : "239189"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1108752", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Women and Equalities"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1108752/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
We introduced ground-breaking regulations in 2017 requiring large employers, including over 1,600 public bodies, to publish their gender pay gaps annually. The rate at which the gender pay gap will narrow is dependent on a large number of complex factors, but this Government is working hard to close the gap as soon as possible.<\/p>
<\/p>
In order to support employers to address their gender pay differences, we have published evidence-based guidance on practical actions they can take to close the gap, alongside help to diagnose the causes of their gaps and develop effective action plans.<\/p>
<\/p>
We have been working with Government departments and representative bodies to understand the underlying causes of the gender pay gap in different public sector workforces, and to consider what measures will have a positive impact. We have also engaged directly with employers in the public sector, through events and interactive webinars. We will continue to build the evidence base in order to support employers to continue to take the right action.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4399", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Victoria Atkins"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Louth and Horncastle"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Victoria Atkins"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-04-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-04-08T16:19:29.307Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "31"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Women and Equalities"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Women and Equalities"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-04-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Equal Pay: Public Sector"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps he is taking to tackle gender pay disparity in the public sector.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1436", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Farrelly"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newcastle-under-Lyme"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Farrelly"} ], "uin" : "239194"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1107809", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department of Health and Social Care"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1107809/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Department and NHS England are aware of the pressures on the provision of mental health beds. In February 2016, the Commission on Acute Adult Psychiatric Care published a final report, \u2018Old Problems, New Solutions: Improving acute inpatient psychiatric care for adults in England\u2019, which highlighted that the challenges of finding beds is not simply due to a reduction of beds, but rather relates to hospital discharge issues and the lack of community care and alternatives to admission. The report is available via the following link:<\/p>
<\/p>