Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with sectoral representatives on steps to increase levels of bank lending to small businesses.
Answered by Simon Kirby
Treasury ministers and officials have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to assist the farming industry to become more competitive.
Answered by George Eustice
This Government is supporting the farming industry’s efforts to improve efficiency and competitiveness. Through the Agri-Tech Strategy launched in 2013, we have made a £140 million investment to increase the pace and scale of uptake of agricultural innovation by farmers. We are working with industry to treble the number of apprenticeships in food and farming by 2020, helping young people into an increasingly high-tech, rewarding sector.
Excess regulations and red tape reduce the competitiveness of farmers. We have already cut 4,000 farm inspections this year and aim to remove 20,000 by 2020; by the end of this Parliament, we will have saved farm businesses £470 million worth of unnecessary costs. A total of £138 million is available in England between 2015 and 2020 under the LEADER scheme aimed at supporting farm productivity amongst other priorities.
Leaving the EU provides us with an opportunity to redesign our agricultural policy so that it works for the UK, making farming more profitable, competitive and environmentally sustainable.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers were convicted of a criminal offence in each of the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Home Office does not hold the information requested centrally.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the outcomes of criminal investigations involving police officers, following a public complaint or internal conduct allegation. These data were first collected for the 2015/16 financial period. The Home Office does not hold data on criminal investigations that took place prior to 01/04/2015.
Data on the outcomes of criminal investigations in 2015/16 can be found in the misconduct section of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help people who wish to move from part-time to full-time employment.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Department is continuing to modernise the way Jobcentre delivers its services and has given responsibility to Jobcentre Work Coaches - trusting them to assess the individual needs of people and offer the support they think is best. Jobcentre Work Coaches personalise the support they provide to claimants to help them find work and have the freedom and flexibility to support claimants based on their individual need. This includes helping claimants who wish to move from part-time to full-time employment.
UC gives us the opportunity, for the first time, to support people who are in work to progress, and we are building the evidence base about what works through a large scale In Work Progression Randomised Control Trial, in order to find the best way of helping claimants to increase their earnings and become financially independent. Evaluation of this trial will be published in 2018.’
Universal Credit contains structural incentives to encourage people work more and earn more. It is simple and, as people’s earnings increase, there are no cliff edges, their payments reduce at a steady rate, so it is clear that they will always be better off working and earning more.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase employment in the manufacturing sector; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Manufacturing accounted for around 2.6 million jobs in 2016 and has been stable around this level since 2010. Through the UK’s new industrial strategy, we are focussed on supporting UK business, including those in the manufacturing sector, to grow and increase productivity
We are working with UK industry to create the right conditions for competitive, world leading manufacturing businesses to flourish and grow across the UK. We are supporting all UK manufacturers by cutting business taxes, slashing red tape and investing in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale. Through our Industrial Strategy, we will make sure that we are using all the tools we have to stimulate growth. That means using our record investments in infrastructure to unlock growth in every part of the country; using the major new investment in research to support innovative manufacturing businesses across the country; and encouraging inward investment into all parts of the country.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding her Department has provided for research into the dairy farming sector in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
The table below shows the total value of dairy focused science projects for each of the last 5 financial years. This does not include proposed spend for this financial year.
2012/2013 | 2013/2014 | 2014/2015 | 2015/2016 | 2016/2017 |
£ 1,551,115 | £ 1,325,926 | £ 709,378 | £ 652,394 | £ 639,389 |
Savings from core Defra’s programme evidence budgets have contributed to reducing the fiscal deficit along with all areas within the department. Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser ensures investment in evidence is targeted at key priorities, offers value for money and maintains our critical capabilities required in emergencies. In addition, the primary responsibility for R&D funding for the dairy industry rests with AHDB Dairy which spends approximately £4.1 million a year on research and knowledge exchange.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of sentence handed down to a person convicted of rape was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The average length of custodial sentence for rape, in England and Wales, from 2011 to 2015, can be found in the ‘Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: December 2015’ which can be found on Gov.uk.
Rape carries a maximum penalty of a life sentence. Indeterminate sentences such as life sentences are specifically excluded from the average custodial sentence length calculation.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of staged car accidents in the latest period for which figures are available and (b) effects of such accidents on (i) car insurance premiums and (ii) other costs to motorists.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Information relating to suspected fraudulent car accident claims is held by the insurance industry. The Department has not made an assessment of the number of staged car accidents or their effects on the cost of motoring as we do not hold this data.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues on drug addiction services in prisons.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
My colleagues have recently met with Ministerial counterparts at the Department of Health to discuss healthcare in prisons, including drug treatment.
The Secretary of State for Justice has recently met with Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Health to discuss prison healthcare and collaborative working between the two departments. Phillip Lee, Minister for Offender Health at the MoJ has also recently met with his counterpart Nicola Blackwood, Minister for Prison Health Services. These have been productive and collaborative conversations.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to assist people in Pendle who are in receipt of jobseeker's allowance to enter employment.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Each claimant in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance has a named Work Coach who will work with the claimant to identify their individual needs, delivering a personalised service to best meet the needs of the claimant and the local labour market.