Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for the Insolvency Service to publish its report into Kids' Company; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Keeping Kids Company Limited was wound up by the court on 20 August 2015 and the Official Receiver was appointed liquidator. He has a statutory duty to report to the creditors of the company as to the assets, liabilities and cause of failure; and to my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State concerning the conduct of the directors.
The Official Receiver reported to the creditors on 30 September 2015 and 22 August 2017.
As a result of the report on the conduct of the directors the Insolvency Service has commenced proceedings to disqualify those individuals from acting as directors for a period of time. While those proceedings are underway they must be conducted without prejudice so no further statement can be made. Once these proceedings are concluded the Insolvency Service will announce such details as are appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons the Insolvency Service has not published its report into Kids' Company; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Keeping Kids Company Limited was wound up by the court on 20 August 2015 and the Official Receiver was appointed liquidator. He has a statutory duty to report to the creditors of the company as to the assets, liabilities and cause of failure; and to my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State concerning the conduct of the directors.
The Official Receiver reported to the creditors on 30 September 2015 and 22 August 2017.
As a result of the report on the conduct of the directors the Insolvency Service has commenced proceedings to disqualify those individuals from acting as directors for a period of time. While those proceedings are underway they must be conducted without prejudice so no further statement can be made. Once these proceedings are concluded the Insolvency Service will announce such details as are appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted for offences related to the non-disclosure of Person of Significant Control of UK companies; and what the aggregate total of fines imposed was for such offences for the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Margot James
To date there have been no prosecutions for offences relating to the non-disclosure of Persons of Significant Control of UK Companies. Accordingly there have been no convictions or fines as yet.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the net cost to the public purse was of the (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic consumer Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme in Great Britain in each year since 2012; and what the budget is for subsidy payments to existing and future participants in those schemes in each year between 2007 and 2012; what assessment he has made of the need for a cap on the RHI schemes' overall expenditure; and if he will undertake a review of the (i) efficacy of such schemes and (b) costs of importing wood pellets.
Answered by Jesse Norman
(1) The budget and net cost of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) schemes in Great Britain are set out below. The Non-domestic RHI started in November 2011 and the Domestic RHI was launched in April 2014.
| 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 |
Budget* | £56m | £70m | £251m | £424m | £430m | £640m |
Subsidy cost |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-domestic | £1m | £16m | £54m | £149m | £298m | £459m |
Domestic | - | - | - | £23m | £77m | £91m |
Programme cost** |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-domestic | £5m | £5m | £7m | £8m | £7m | £6m |
Domestic | - | - | £5m | £7m | £5m | £4m |
Total cost | £6m | £21m | £66m | £187m | £387m | £560m |
Data to end-Feb 2017. All figures rounded to nearest £1m.
* Budget is for subsidy payments only
**Programme costs include scheme development and administration costs
(2) A budget cap was introduced to the RHI in Spring 2016, so the schemes can be closed to new applicants if the annual budgets are at risk of being exceeded.
(3) The RHI schemes are evaluated regularly. The results of previous evaluations are available here:-
www.gov.uk/government/collections/renewable-heat-incentive-evaluation
(4) The government reviews the cost of wood pellets as part of periodic reviews of RHI tariffs. This was last done in 2016 as part of the RHI reforms which will be implemented this year. The share of imported wood pellets used by RHI participants is not known.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will assess the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to amend the Employment Rights Act 1996 to include paralegals in the statutory list of relevant advisers in respect of compromise agreements.
Answered by Margot James
Settlement agreements (previously known as compromise agreements) provide the ability for workers or employees to contract out of certain aspects of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Therefore it is important that individuals entering into these agreements have appropriate independent advice.
In 1998 Parliament amended the list of people who could give such advice, which was previously restricted to qualified lawyers. The list now includes trade union officials, employees or members and those who work or volunteer at advice centres provided that the trade union or advice centre, respectively, has authorised them as being able to do so. If a paralegal fell in to one of these categories they would be able to provide such advice.
The Government has no current plans to extend further the list of relevant independent advisors for the purposes of settlement agreements.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many and what proportion of trade union members in (a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland pay the political levy.
Answered by Nick Boles
The latest Annual Report of the Certification Officer shows that 4,954,606 union members in Great Britain paid the political levy in the period 2013-2014. This represents 70.67% of the total number of individuals who were union members in the same period.[1]
Employment law is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and I am not able to respond to the questions relating to Northern Ireland.
[1] Political Funds of Trade Unions, 2013-2014, Annual Report 2015/2016 of the Certification Officer, page 68-69, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449387/CO_Annual_Report__2014-2015_.pdf
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many and what proportion of members in Northern Ireland of each trade union opted to pay the political levy; and which of those trade unions' headquarters are in (a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Nick Boles
The latest Annual Report of the Certification Officer shows that 4,954,606 union members in Great Britain paid the political levy in the period 2013-2014. This represents 70.67% of the total number of individuals who were union members in the same period.[1]
Employment law is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and I am not able to respond to the questions relating to Northern Ireland.
[1] Political Funds of Trade Unions, 2013-2014, Annual Report 2015/2016 of the Certification Officer, page 68-69, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449387/CO_Annual_Report__2014-2015_.pdf