Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2022 to Question 55036 on Fuel Oil: Prices, what recent progress he has made on determining how to deliver the £100 one-off support payment in winter 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Households eligible for the Alternative Fuel Payments in Great Britain will receive £100 as a credit on their electricity bill this winter.
For Northern Ireland, the Government is working with electricity suppliers to explore how the payment could be delivered via electricity bills under a similar delivery model.
This is complicated because there is no central register, either in Great Britain or Northern Ireland, of people who do not use the gas grid for their heating
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institute in Germany linking export support services to R&D applications to inform the work of her Department and its links with Innovate UK.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The important link between trade and innovation is reflected throughout the UK Innovation Strategy and, under the Export Strategy, the Department for International Trade (DIT) provides business support across sectors and all stages from research to commercialisation, aligning with Innovate UK and other organisations to promote UK solutions and expertise globally. This includes showcasing UK innovations at international fora - including the ‘Innovation in Medical Technologies’ brochure and MedTech company directory launched at the Medica trade fair this month. DIT already works with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institute on shared objectives, including collaborating on an Innovate UK Artificial Intelligence mission to Germany.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether it is her policy for the UK's professional and financial services industries to gain full market access in trade deals with (a) India, (b) Israel and (c) Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is the second-largest exporter of other business services, which includes professional, and financial services, in the world. To improve the access these important and diverse sectors have to foreign markets HMG seeks ambitious commitments in its free trade agreements to support all elements of the services ecosystem. This includes provisions on market access, regulatory transparency, investment, business travel, recognition of qualifications, regulatory dialogue and data.
HMG has published its objectives for negotiations with India, Israel and CPTPP, which can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to enable the UK's financial and professional services industries gain full access to international markets through international trade agreements being negotiated by her Department.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is the second-largest exporter of other business services, which includes professional, and financial services, in the world. To improve the access these important and diverse sectors have to foreign markets HMG seeks ambitious commitments in its free trade agreements to support all elements of the services ecosystem. This includes provisions on market access, regulatory transparency, investment, business travel, recognition of qualifications, regulatory dialogue and data.
HMG has published its objectives for negotiations with India, Israel and CPTPP, which can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2022 to Question 60996, whether a letter from the Chief Social Work Officer confirming the identity of an unaccompanied asylum seeking child (UASC), that they are travelling to a receiving local authority and that they need to travel by air would enable them to travel without an application reference card if they are accompanied by a member of staff from the receiving authority.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
A decision on the documentation that an airline would accept on a domestic flight would need to be made by the airline themselves, not the Home Office. It is open to receiving local authorities themselves to arrange the transport and to accompany the child on their journey from/to their care placement.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will have discussions with the Metropolitan Police on the steps being taken to help ensure political parties do not exchange financial contributions for honours.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is against the law to 'sell' honours or peerages - offering cash for awards - under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925.
Honours are earned, not bought, and there are clear procedures in place to protect the honours system and to ensure the integrity of the selection process.
Donations to any political party should not be regarded as a reason for disqualification from receiving an honour.
More broadly, fundraising by political parties is a legitimate part of the democratic process. The alternative is taxpayer-funding of political campaigning, which would mean less money for frontline services like schools, police and hospitals.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken recent steps to help ensure that application registration cards are issued quickly to unaccompanied asylum seeking children who are travelling to Scottish island authorities to allow them to travel by air rather than by road and sea.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Work is ongoing to improve the speed at which ARC are issued for children transferring to local authority care placements, where it is considered necessary to facilitate air travel. We work closely with local authorities on the most suitable method of travel for an individual child.
Where an unaccompanied asylum seeking child (UASC) is temporarily accommodated in a hotel and not in the care of a local authority, the Home Office is able to arrange transport for the UASC to the local authority care placement. It is open to receiving local authorities themselves to arrange the transport and to accompany the child on their journey from the hotel to the care placement.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
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 will take to ensure that off-grid energy users are able to receive equal support as people people on-grid beyond the one-off £100 payment.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The support provided to off-grid households is intended to ensure that they do not face a higher rate of growth in their heating costs since last autumn, compared to those on gas supported by the Energy Price Guarantee. The Government will continue closely to monitor the situation to support all energy users.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how oil customers will be able to access the £100 one-off support payment towards their energy bills in winter 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government continues to work at speed to determine the most practical and tested routes to deliver this support and will provide more details in due course.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Colombian government’s implementation of the 2016 peace agreement’s first chapter on comprehensive rural reform.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Comprehensive rural reform is an important commitment in the 2016 Peace Agreement, and considerable progress has been made on this during the first five years of implementation. As emphasised by our Permanent Representative to the UN at the UN Security Council on 14 July, we look to the Colombian Government to accelerate this progress and further advance rural development to support the transformation of conflict-affected regions and their communities.
To date, we have spent over £69 million through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) to support the implementation of the Peace Agreement in Colombia and improve stability and security. Our funding is supporting the Colombian Government's rural development and reintegration programmes, transitional justice mechanisms, and strengthening the security and participation of communities in conflict-affected areas.