Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of inward investment in (a) Liverpool, (b) Merseyside and (c) the North West.
Answered by Mark Garnier
The Department for International Trade (DIT) does not publish figures below the UK regional level. However, DIT has published regional figures for 2011/12 to 2015/16 which can be located via the link below to the relevant section on the Gov.UK website.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what levels of investment have been received into the Liverpool City Region in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mark Garnier
The Department for International Trade (DIT) does not publish figures below the UK regional level. However, DIT has published regional figures for 2011/12 to 2015/16 which can be located via the link below to the relevant section on the Gov.UK website.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department plans to respond formally to (a) the recommendations relating to corporate dishonesty and regulatory failure and (b) other recommendations in the report of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Scottish Power Cashback Mis-selling, published on 20 April 2016.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Government notes the APPG’s report on Scottish Power and the PowerPlan Cashback Promise.
Two investigations have already been undertaken into the ‘cashback companies’ and Scottish Power. The first in 2002 was by the Office of Fair Trading, which made recommendations concerning the rules for customers to claim cashback and which the companies implemented. The second, in 2004, was by the Department of Trade and Industry under s447 of the Companies Act 1985. This investigation is confidential, and the findings are prevented by law from publication.
However it was concluded that there were no grounds for taking further action either against the companies, Scottish Power or the directors involved. This was reviewed again in 2014 when reports were received from the liquidators of the companies, but the position did not change. I can confirm that no new s447 investigation will be taking place.
The Government has no power to determine liability in this case and has no legal standing to intervene in what is a commercial claim by the liquidator of a limited company against Scottish Power. The liquidation of the companies involved in the scheme is still under way, and the creditors of those companies will receive reports from the liquidators if they are to be paid further dividends.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that customers who were sold cashback warranties by PowerPlan and who did not receive their cash deposits having not claimed against those warranties receive compensation.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The liquidation of the companies involved in the cashback scheme is ongoing. The liquidators have the right to take action against the company if they consider the cashback scheme created an obligation to fund any liabilities.
My hon. Friend from Grantham and Stamford is meeting the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group to discuss their findings shortly.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to support research into mesothelioma.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government agrees that more mesothelioma research is needed and has taken measures to stimulate an increase in the level of research activity.
Patients, carers, clinicians and funders have worked in partnership to identify what the priorities in research are. Following a survey and a workshop, the top 10 mesothelioma research priorities were announced in December 2014. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) published a final report from the Priority Setting Partnership in July 2015. In advance of the identification of research questions by this partnership, the NIHR highlighted to the research community that it wanted to encourage research applications in mesothelioma.
The NIHR subsequently invited researchers to apply for mesothelioma research funding, in particular to address the research questions identified through the partnership. Eight NIHR programmes participated in this themed call. Fifteen individual applications were received, of which two have been approved for funding.
In addition, the NIHR Research Design Service continues to be able to help prospective applicants develop competitive research proposals. This service is well-established and has
10 regional bases across England. It supports researchers to develop and design high-quality proposals for submission to NIHR itself and also to other national, peer-reviewed funding competitions for applied health or social care research.
The National Cancer Research Institute is facilitating ongoing dialogue between relevant research funders on the topic of mesothelioma, to discuss what the barriers to research are and what is needed to stimulate research in the field.
The Chancellor’s Budget Report committed £5 million of LIBOR fines over the next four years for the National Mesothelioma Centre.
The Department has received recent representations relating to funding of mesothelioma research from the Asbestos Victims Support Groups’ Forum UK and from several hon. Members on behalf of constituents.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will receive a lower state pension under the single-tier pension system.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The information requested can be found in the Impact of the New State Pension (nSP) on an Individual’s Pension Entitlement – Longer Term Effects of nSP published in January 2016. The link can be found here:
Figure 1 of the assessment shows the proportion of all pensioners from 2016 until 2060 at each time point with changed notional State Pension outcomes under the new State Pension.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work capability assessments were carried out in each month of financial year 2015-16.
Answered by Priti Patel
The information requested can be found in the table below.
April 2015 | 57,022 |
May 2015 | 55,928 |
June 2015 | 64,054 |
July 2015 | 63,734 |
August 2015 | 51,898 |
September 2015 | 64,334 |
October 2015 | 69,929 |
November 2015 | 77,411 |
December 2015 | 73,108 |
January 2016 | 78,967 |
February 2016 | 83,406 |
March 2016 | 74,779 |
Source: Atos IT MSRS DWP0050 WCA Clearance Report. Atos IT MSRS DWP0240 APM Datadump, CHDA National Clerical Output File
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients in the (a) work-related activity group and (b) support group have claimed employment and support allowance or previously, incapacity benefit for (i) up to two, (ii) between two and five and (iii) for five years or more years.
Answered by Priti Patel
The information available on the number of Employment and Support Allowance recipients, by duration, phase of claim and whether an IB Reassessment, is published and can be found at:
http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html
Guidance for users can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many organisations have failed to register as data controllers with the Information Commissioner's Office under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller who is processing personal information to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) unless they are exempt. The ICO’s website sets out the criteria for notification and provides guidance on the level of fee organisations should be paying. The ICO have also made it easier for organisations to notify and pay the fee by introducing online payments.
At the end of 2015/2016 there were 441,000 data controllers registered with the ICO, which generated a total income of £18.3 million. Due to the very broad range of exemptions from the need to notify, and because these exemptions do not need to be actively claimed, there is no recognised figure for the number of notifiable data controllers in the UK. It is for data controllers to seek registration; the ICO periodically reminds organisations of the requirement to notify.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent representations (a) his Department and (b) the Information Commissioner's Office have received on the failure of organisations to register as data controllers with the Information Commissioner's Office under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998; and what steps (i) his Department and (ii) the Information Commissioner's Office have taken to ensure that organisations (A) are compliant with such terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 and (B) pay their notification fees.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller who is processing personal information to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) unless they are exempt. The ICO’s website sets out the criteria for notification and provides guidance on the level of fee organisations should be paying. The ICO have also made it easier for organisations to notify and pay the fee by introducing online payments.
At the end of 2015/2016 there were 441,000 data controllers registered with the ICO, which generated a total income of £18.3 million. Due to the very broad range of exemptions from the need to notify, and because these exemptions do not need to be actively claimed, there is no recognised figure for the number of notifiable data controllers in the UK. It is for data controllers to seek registration; the ICO periodically reminds organisations of the requirement to notify.