Asked by: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with (a) disability charities and organisations and (b) universities and colleges on the effects of his Department's proposed changes to Disabled Students' Allowance.
Answered by Greg Clark
Over the summer Ministers and Officials held discussions with a wide range of stakeholders and interested parties, including HEIs, NUS, UUK, disability groups, on the proposed changes. We continue to have discussions with many of these groups about the implementation of the changes announced on 12 September.
Asked by: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with specialist subcontractors in the construction industry on tackling late payment to small and medium-sized businesses.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Government takes the issue of prompt payment seriously and respects some of the differences which prevail in the construction industry. We are taking a number of steps, including promoting project bank accounts, through Government procurement. More widely, the Industrial Strategy for Construction committed to developing a construction supply chain payment charter, which was published on 22 April. The Charter sets out 11 “Fair Payment Commitments” including a commitment to reduce payment terms to a supply chain to 30 days from January 2018. The Leadership Council will encourage construction businesses from across the whole supply chain to comply with it.
Asked by: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that government departments pay contractors on time and in full; and if he will take steps to ensure that all future payments to subcontractors who work on government projects are paid on time and in full.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
Central Government pays over 80% of undisputed invoices within 5 days. Public Sector authorities are required to pay within 30 days upon receipt of a correct invoice and we encourage suppliers to report issues of late payment to Cabinet Office's Mystery Shopper service.
We are currently implementing Lord Young’s recommendations to ensure that contracting authorities will have a clause in all new contracts mandating payment within 30 days of an undisputed invoice all the way down the supply chain.
The Cabinet Office will be issuing guidance to contracting authorities on this new legislation, including standard contract clauses that can be used in all new contracts.
Asked by: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has held with stakeholders on the nature of the warranties sold by Scottish Power to its customers in the 1980s and 1990s.
Answered by Jo Swinson
After this matter was raised by the Hon. Member for Bradford South (Gerry Sutcliffe) at Prime Minister’s Questions on 28 June 2014, I, along with officials from the Insolvency Service, held a meeting with the Hon. Member for Bradford South, Mr Sutcliffe, on 17 July 2014. Mr Sutcliffe is head of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for this issue, and therefore representative of stakeholders’ views. At that meeting he handed over further information from the liquidators of two companies which operated the extended warranty schemes sold by Scottish Power, and we agreed that the Insolvency Service would review this information to ascertain whether or not further investigation was appropriate. It was explained to Mr Sutcliffe that any decision whether or not to commence an investigation using s447 Companies Act would be confidential and the Insolvency Service would not be in a position to confirm that decision or comment further.
Asked by: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the authorities in South Sudan over the need for the NGO Bill in that country to ensure that citizens and civil society organisations can engage in humanitarian activity, enjoy freedom of association and use monitoring and accountability systems in accordance with the general assumptions of the New Deal.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I raised concerns about the proposed NGO bill with South Sudan Foreign Minister Dr Barnaba Benjamin during a meeting in New York on 25 September. I have since written to Dr Benjamin to reinforce those concerns and provide more detail. The British Embassy in Juba has also made a number of representations to the South Sudanese authorities on this issue over the past year. In September, I met a wide selection of British NGOs operating in South Sudan, to discuss, amongst other topics, their concern about the possible impact of the NGO bill.
Asked by: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value is of Government contracts awarded to shipyards based (a) on the Clyde and (b) in Rosyth in each year since 1997.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence does not hold comprehensive information centrally on contracts awarded to the shipyards on the Clyde and in Rosyth since 1997. While records of contracts awarded to BAE Systems and Babcock (the owners of Scotstoun, Govan and Rosyth) are available, these cover a wide range of equipment, services and locations and may not all be related to the shipyards. Any analysis would therefore only present a partial picture of the total value of contracts awarded to the shipyards.
Asked by: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he last reviewed the adequacy of prior investigations in connection with the nature of the warranties sold by Scottish Power to its customers between 1980 and 1999 and any potential losses suffered by such customers.
Answered by Jo Swinson
It is not the policy of the Secretary of State to announce or comment on confidential enquiries conducted using powers contained in the Companies Acts.
However, the Secretary of State has recently received further information regarding the Extended Warranty schemes sold by Scottish Power between 1997 and 2001 from the liquidators of two companies involved in administering the schemes. Officials are currently reviewing this information together with the conclusions of an earlier investigation to determine what further action, if any, is appropriate.
Asked by: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will reopen the enquiry into the nature of the warranties sold by Scottish Power to its customers between 1980 and 1999 and any potential losses suffered by such customers.
Answered by Jo Swinson
The Secretary of State has recently received further information regarding the Extended Warranty schemes sold by Scottish Power between 1997 and 2001 from the liquidators of two companies involved in administering the schemes. Officials are currently reviewing this information together with the conclusions of an earlier investigation to determine what further action, if any, is appropriate, within the limits of his powers of investigation under the Companies Acts.
The liquidators have also notified other regulators who may have an interest in this matter and who will be considering their own courses of action.
It should be noted that any decision whether or not to commence an investigation using s447 Companies Act 1986 is confidential and the existence or otherwise of such an investigation will not be announced or commented on.
Asked by: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, what recent discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues about Private Members' Bills.
Answered by Lord Lansley
I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues about legislation before the House, including Private Members' Bills.
Asked by: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that the proposed beneficial ownership registry will properly identify the real controlling parties of all companies listed.
Answered by Jenny Willott
The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill will make provision for the implementation of a central registry of company beneficial ownership information. The legislation will set out the obligations and sanctions that will apply to companies and others to ensure that the central registry contains information on the ultimate owners and controllers of UK companies.