Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to amend the Pension Protection Fund rules to allow people with pre-April 1997 pensionable service to receive increases to their pension of up to 2.5 per cent.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Pension Protection Fund is a well-established compensation scheme with cross party support. Without the Pension Protection Fund, most company insolvencies would mean that members of Defined Benefit pension schemes could be facing significant financial insecurity in retirement. The Pension Protection Fund was never intended to replicate scheme benefits in their entirety.
There are ongoing court cases relating to the Pension Protection Fund compensation and so it would be inappropriate to comment further until the final judgments have been handed down. Once the litigation is concluded we will review the position.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that executive (a) salaries and (b) bonuses reflect the performance of the companies they run.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The existing legal framework provides full transparency about directors’ remuneration arrangements, including on salaries and bonuses, and gives shareholders a strong say on pay.
Since 2013, the law has required quoted companies to prepare a directors’ remuneration policy. This must set out how the company proposes to pay directors, including every element of remuneration that a director is entitled to and how it supports the company’s long-term strategy and performance. Companies are required to put the remuneration policy to a binding shareholder vote at least once every three years.
Companies must also publish an annual remuneration report showing how the approved pay policy has been implemented, including a single figure for the total pay directors received that year. This report is subject to an annual advisory vote. If the company loses this vote, it is required to put a new remuneration policy to shareholders the following year.
Alongside the legislative requirements, the UK Corporate Governance Code includes principles and provisions setting out how companies should approach executive remuneration, including a principle that executive remuneration should be “aligned to company purpose and values and be clearly linked to the successful delivery of the company’s long-term strategy”. The Financial Conduct Authority’s Listing Rules require companies to make a report in their corporate governance statement to enable shareholders to evaluate how the principles have been applied.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will (a) bring forward legislative proposals to require local authorities to provide food waste bins and (b) allocate funding to local authorities to provide those waste bins.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government set out its commitment to working towards zero food waste to landfill by 2030 in the Resources and Waste Strategy which we published in 2018.
Our recent ‘consultation on consistency in household and business recycling collections in England’ sought views on the collection of food waste from households. The majority of respondents were in favour of this measure. Government has therefore said that it will bring in legislation so that all English local authorities have a duty to collect food waste separately from other waste every week so that this food waste can be recycled or composted.
The Government has committed to funding any new additional burdens arising from this new statutory duty to local authorities including provision of equipment such as food waste bins.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will increase the minimum wage to £10.50 in the next Budget.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
Both the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage rates for younger workers and apprentices saw above inflation increases in April. The National Living Wage is currently on target to reach 60 per cent of median hourly earnings in 2020, subject to sustained economic growth. The independent Low Pay Commission will recommend next year’s rates to us later this month, and we will announce the rates at the next Budget.
The Chancellor has also announced his intention to increase the National Living Wage to two-thirds of median hourly earnings within five years. He will confirm this at the next Budget.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will guarantee continued market access to the UK on current terms for exports from (a) Ghana, (b) Cameroon, (c) Côte d’Ivoire, (d) Kenya and (e) South Africa in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Conor Burns
The Government is seeking continuity in our trading arrangements on leaving the EU.
Most recently, on 10 September 2019, the UK initialled an Economic Partnership Agreement with the Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique (including South Africa). We will work at pace with our Southern African partners to sign the agreement and subsequently bring it into effect as quickly as possible.
We are continuing to work with other partner countries, including Ghana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya, to maintain their market access and replicate the effects of EU arrangements for when we need them, whether that is in the event of a no deal, or after an implementation period.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans he has to develop fair and ethical trade.
Answered by Conor Burns
As outlined in the White Paper, Preparing for our future UK trade policy, the Government is committed to a fair and rules-based approach to international trade. The UK has long supported the promotion of our values globally and this will continue as we leave the European Union.
The Department for International Trade and the Department for International Development are working together to ensure development and global prosperity are at the heart of UK trade and investment policy. We do this in several ways, including:
enhancing market access for poor countries through our trading arrangements;
ensuring that they can take advantage of this access through trade-related assistance (Aid for Trade); and
using our voice in organisations like the World Trade Organisation to argue for better and fairer trading rules for developing countries.
The Government will pursue economic prosperity for the UK and lead by example through our pursuit of free and fair trade.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding his Department has allocated to programmes supporting the payment of living wages in global value chains; and whether that funding is supporting workers in the cocoa sector.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
DFID is investing more than £1.2 billion in bilateral agriculture programmes, many of which support smallholders in global value chains, including cocoa. DFID does not categorise its programme spend according to the nature of different value chains given the significant additional burden this would place on projects if the data was to be robust.
DFID is a founding member of the Living Income Community of Practice and is partnering with the UN Foundation, CARE, and the Fourth Sector Group, to explore how we can encourage the growth of more “for benefit” businesses in the cocoa supply chain. It also supports the Ethical Trade Initiative to improve worker’s rights in global supply chains. This includes working with companies to improve the application of human rights and providing direct remediation of labour rights violations for vulnerable workers.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to his Department's Economic Development Strategy, what steps he is taking to track progress towards the achievement of living incomes in developing countries.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
DFID tracks progress on living incomes for the poor through global progress against the targets under Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) – to deliver sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. DFID measures the contribution its projects make by reporting on the “Number of people supported to have raised incomes and better jobs or livelihoods”. This includes beneficiaries who we have supported to raise their income, which alone amounted to 2.2 million people between 2015/16 and 2018/19.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on exporters to the UK based in developing countries.
Answered by Conor Burns
Our first priority is to deliver continuity in our trading arrangements with developing countries on leaving the EU to minimise trade disruption.
The Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act enables the UK to put in place a UK trade preferences scheme for developing countries. This will provide the same level of access as the current EU trade preference scheme by granting duty-free, quota-free access to around 48 Least Developed Countries and tariff reductions to other developing countries.
It remains our priority to replicate the effects of seven EU Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. The UK has signed EPAs with Eastern and Southern Africa states, Pacific states and CARIFORUM states. This will provide continuity for businesses, exporters and consumers as the UK prepares to leave the EU. We are continuing to work with other partner countries to have agreements in place ready for when we need them, whether that is in the event of no deal, or after an implementation period.
Asked by: Faisal Rashid (Labour - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will guarantee continued market access to the UK on current terms to (a) Ghana, (b) Cameroon, (c) Côte d’Ivoire, (d) Kenya and (e) South Africa in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Conor Burns
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.