Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people will be affected by the proposed changes to IR35 in (a) Medway, (b) Kent and (c) the South East.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published in July 2019 sets out HMRC’s assessment that the reform to the off-payroll working rules is expected to affect 170,000 individuals. The TIIN can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020.
HMRC are undertaking an extensive programme of education and support to help organisations and contractors prepare for the reform. This includes:
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to eliminate unfair practices by logbook loan companies.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In 2014, HM Treasury asked the Law Commission to review the legislation underpinning logbook loans. During consultation stakeholders raised concerns that any reform could increase consumer detriment, particularly amongst vulnerable consumers. Furthermore, the number of logbook loans also fell substantially from 52,000 loans registered in 2014 to 10,194 in June 2019. For these reasons, the government decided not to take forward reform of this legislation.
In 2014, the government also transferred regulatory responsibility for the consumer credit market to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Logbook lending is part of the FCA’s new supervisory strategy for high-cost credit lenders, which will run until 2021.
Treasury ministers and officials meet regularly with the FCA and continue to work closely to ensure consumers of financial services are treated fairly.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what progress the Church of England has made on tackling the persecution of Christians throughout the world.
Answered by Caroline Spelman
The Church of England welcomed the decision by the Foreign Secretary to launch an Independent Review into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s support for persecuted Christians.
On behalf of their two Churches, Archbishop of Canterbury and the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster made a joint submission to the Review. They set out a range of practical recommendations about how the Government could take meaningful action not only in protecting Christians facing persecution but also in promoting freedom of religion and belief more widely.
Their joint submission can be found here: https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/latest-news/anglicans-and-catholics-make-joint-submission-foreign-office-review-persecuted
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps he is taking to secure the long-term future of the NHS.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We are increasing the National Health Service budget by £33.9 billion in cash terms over the next five years. This major investment will support the NHS to continue to deliver world class care. The NHS Long Term Plan has set out a vision for the NHS, ensuring that every penny is well spent.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many start-up businesses have been created in (a) Medway, (b) Kent and (c) England since 2010.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
When looking at business start-ups we look at business births, this is because there is no direct measure of the number of business start-ups in the UK.
The Business Demography Publication by the Office for National Statistics details the number of business births in the UK with data available from 2012.
Business births are defined as businesses newly registered for at least one of VAT and PAYE.
The following table gives the number of business births in Medway, Kent and England from 2012 to 2017:
Birth count of new businesses | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | Total period: |
a) Medway | 940 | 1,215 | 1,230 | 1,370 | 1,470 | 1,305 | 7,530 |
b) Kent County | 6,325 | 7,745 | 7,680 | 8,335 | 8,730 | 7,895 | 46,710 |
c) England | 239,660 | 308,565 | 312,920 | 344,065 | 373,580 | 339,345 | 1,918,135 |
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to help businesses create more highly skilled jobs in (a) Gillingham and Rainham, (b) Medway and (c) Kent.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government has invited all Mayoral Combined Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in England to develop Local Industrial Strategies. We aim to agree these with all places by early 2020. For Kent, the South East LEP will set out an ambitious long-term vision for the area to increase its productivity, build on its established strengths, and create new opportunities for people and businesses in emerging sectors and industries.
The government know that regions across the UK have different skills needs, so will build on local strengths to deliver opportunities for people wherever they live. One way we will achieve this is through Skills Advisory Panels which bring together local employers and skills providers to pool knowledge on skills and labour market needs and work together to understand and address key local challenges. These Panels will be led by the Local Enterprise Partnership, and will influence Local Industrial Strategy development.
In Kent, and the wider South East LEP area, the government is working in partnership with local business and civic leaders to grow skills and opportunities for workers across the area by:
- Delivering an increase of 198,900 jobs since 2010 and 31,080 apprenticeship starts last year.
- Investing £590 million of Growth Deal funding to the South East LEP since 2014. delivering 78,000 jobs, 29,000 homes and attracting a further £960 million extra investment into the South East, including £22 million spent on 29 skills projects.
- Investing £6.5 million for the Kent and Medway EDGE Hub. .
- Backing the Innovation Park Medway, within the Kent Enterprise Zone with £4.4 million funding to help attract high quality technology, engineering and manufacturing companies to the area.
Supporting the Local Enterprise Partnership’s Kent and Medway Growth Hub to help small and medium sized enterprises in the areas access the support they need to grow and thrive.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to support convenience retailers in Gillingham and Rainham from shop theft; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All forms of retail crime are unacceptable, and everyone has the right to feel safe at work.
I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies – including the Association of Convenience Stores - and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime. This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to improve the management and response to shop theft using a partnership approach according to local circumstances.
On 5 April Government launched a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers to strengthen our understanding of this issue, including how existing legislation is being applied.
In addition, the Sentencing Council is reviewing its guidelines on assault and a consultation on a revised guideline is anticipated to commence this Summer.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to increase the number of train carriages from the Medway towns to London in (a) morning rush hour and (b) overall.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Since the introduction of Thameslink services in Kent in May 2018, Rainham has seen an increase in services and capacity to London during the morning peak and throughout the day. Gillingham has seen a small reduction in Southeastern services to Victoria and Cannon Street, however has gained Thameslink services.
The Class 700 trains used by Thameslink have more capacity compared to the previous Southeastern trains. They are modern, state of the art trains, with real time passenger information and air conditioning.
Both stations now have direct services to London Bridge and through the Thameslink core, to Blackfriars, City Thameslink and Farringdon. For many passengers, this removes the need to interchange onto the London Underground to complete their journey.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase tourism in (a) Kent and (b) Medway.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Discover England Fund is a £40m fund aimed at increasing the tourism offer in England, creating innovate, bookable experiences for targeted international markets. The “Culture Coasting, Garden and Gourmet” and the “US Connections” projects are examples of projects in the Kent and Medway area.
Kent is also used in VisitBritain’s marketing campaigns, including their #MyMicroGap domestic campaign. In addition to this, suppliers in the Medway area are provided on the VisitBritain trade website for bookings.
The Government has entered into formal negotiations on the proposed Tourism Sector Deal. The proposed Sector Deal aims to improve productivity in the tourism sector. Any businesses with an interest is invited to contact Steve Ridgway of VisitBritain who is representing the Tourism Industry in our discussions.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
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 his Department has taken to support the food and beverage sector in Kent.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government works closely with the full spectrum of food and drink businesses across the country to promote growth, jobs, productivity and exports. As elsewhere, we engage with businesses in Kent, both directly and through trade associations and other businesses groups, to support them in their efforts to address economic challenges, understand and mitigate regulatory and compliance issues and prepare successfully for leaving the EU.