Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to ensure that Land Registry service fees do not increase in the event of the privatisation of the Land Registry.
Answered by Anna Soubry
A Government consultation seeking views on options to move Land Registry operations to the private sector closed on 26 May. In that consultation, the Government set out its preference for a contract-based privatisation model, under which statutory fees would still be prescribed in fee orders made by the Secretary of State and set before Parliament. My department is analysing the responses to the consultation, including on the issue of fees, and the Government will issue a response in due course. No decision has been taken on the future of Land Registry.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to ensure that information held by the Land Registry that is subject to Freedom of Information requests will continue to be covered by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in the event of the privatisation of the Land Registry.
Answered by Anna Soubry
A Government consultation seeking views on options to move Land Registry operations to the private sector closed on 26 May. My department is analysing these responses and the Government will issue a response in due course. Transparency protections are amongst the factors being considered. No decision has been taken on the future of Land Registry.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what UK Trade and Investment's total (a) operating budget, (b) communications budget and (c) expenditure on third party communications consultancy and public relations agencies was in (i) 2014, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2016.
Answered by Anna Soubry
UK Trade and Investment's (UKTI) total (a1) operating budget, (b) communications budget and (c) expenditure on third party communications consultancy and public relations agencies in (i) 2014, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2016 was as follows in the table below. We have also provided additional figures (a2) to reflect UKTI total associated operating costs which were allocated by parliament to UKTI’s parent departments, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills prior to 2015/16. These costs have been increasingly consolidated into UKTI operating budget over the last two years:
| 2013/14(£m) | 2014/15(£m) | 2015/16 (£m) |
A1 | 166.4 | 271.9 | 343.0 |
A2 | 209.6 | 90.4 | - |
| 376.0 | 362.3 | 343.0 |
B | 12.6 | 4.1 | 4.1 |
C | 0.5 | 3.8 | 1.4 |
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the British Business Bank's (a) total operating budget, (b) budget for communications and (c) expenditure on third party communications consultancy and public relations agencies was in (i) 2014, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2016.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The British Business Bank is a government-owned economic development bank that makes finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively. It works with the market to increase awareness amongst smaller businesses about the available finance options.
British Business Bank became fully operational on 1 November 2014. Therefore we are able to provide the information requested for the 5 month period ended 31 March 2015 and the 12 month period ended 31 March 2016. This is shown in the table below.
| Total Operating Budget in £000(a) | Budget for Communications in £000 (b) | Expenditure on 3rd Party Communications, Consultancy & PR agencies in £000 (c) |
5 months ended 31 March 2015 | 9,606 | 280 | 280 |
12 months ended 31 March 2016 | 23,207 | 895 | 466 |
*Please note that the Budget for Communications (b) includes salary related costs and Expenditure on 3rd Party Communications Consultancy and PR Agencies (c) does not.