Asked by: Lord Lennie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of registered company insolvencies in England since March 2020, by the parliamentary constituency in which the company registered office was based.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Insolvency Service publishes National Statistics on insolvency cases for England and Wales combined. It is not possible to identify accurately companies that traded within specific parliamentary constituencies before entering insolvency. The data used for insolvency statistics is compiled from information at Companies House. The registered office address for a company may not be representative of its trading location, and often it is changed upon insolvency to the address of the appointed Insolvency Practitioner dealing with the case. This means that some cases may be counted as being in the constituency of the insolvency practitioner rather than the constituency of the registered office of the company before it went into insolvency.
Subject to these caveats, the table provided as Annex A sets out the data on all registered company insolvencies from March 2020 to January 2021 (inclusive).
Asked by: Lord Lennie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Office for Investment seeks investment from (1) companies, or (2) investors, who are operating in the (a) oil, (b) gas, and (c) coal, sectors.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The Office for Investment was launched in November 2020 as a small, agile team with the convening power to corral an all of government approach to unblocking barriers for the most high-impact, high-value investors and turning the UK’s investment aspirations into investable propositions.
The Office is working closely with the Department for International Trade’s Posts and Regions as well as other relevant government departments, to identify and secure major investment into the UK demonstrating the government’s ambition to be the best place in the world for investors.
The Office is pursuing investment opportunities that represent the greatest strategic value to the UK economy, and which align with the government’s priorities on levelling up and net zero. Inward investment is integral to the UK’s post-COVID response.
Asked by: Lord Lennie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much total investment has been secured by the Office for Investment since it was launched in 2020; and in which sectors this investment has been secured.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The Office for Investment was launched in November 2020 as a small, agile team with the convening power to corral an all of government approach to unblocking barriers for the most high-impact, high-value investors and turning the UK’s investment aspirations into investable propositions.
The Office is working closely with the Department for International Trade’s Posts and Regions as well as other relevant government departments, to identify and secure major investment into the UK demonstrating the government’s ambition to be the best place in the world for investors.
The Office is pursuing investment opportunities that represent the greatest strategic value to the UK economy, and which align with the government’s priorities on levelling up and net zero. Inward investment is integral to the UK’s post-COVID response.
Asked by: Lord Lennie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the (1) numbers, (2) names, and (3) countries of origin, of (a) businesses, and (b) investors, the Office for Investment has met with since it was launched in 2020.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The Office for Investment was launched in November 2020 as a small, agile team with the convening power to corral an all of government approach to unblocking barriers for the most high-impact, high-value investors and turning the UK’s investment aspirations into investable propositions.
The Office is working closely with the Department for International Trade’s Posts and Regions as well as other relevant government departments, to identify and secure major investment into the UK demonstrating the government’s ambition to be the best place in the world for investors.
The Office is pursuing investment opportunities that represent the greatest strategic value to the UK economy, and which align with the government’s priorities on levelling up and net zero. Inward investment is integral to the UK’s post-COVID response.
Asked by: Lord Lennie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) personal confidentiality agreements, and (2) non-disclosure agreements, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has signed with stakeholders advising the COVID-19 roadmap taskforce on pubs and restaurants.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has not required personal confidentiality agreements or non-disclosure agreements with stakeholders involved in the pubs and restaurants taskforce.
Asked by: Lord Lennie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) personal confidentiality agreements, and (2) non-disclosure agreements, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has signed with stakeholders advising the COVID-19 roadmap taskforce on non-essential retail.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No personal confidentiality agreements or non-disclosure agreement have been signed with stakeholders advising the COVID-19 roadmap taskforce on non-essential retail.
Asked by: Lord Lennie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) personal confidentiality agreements, and (2) non-disclosure agreements, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has signed with (a) businesses, (b) individuals, and (c) third parties, advising the Department on its response to COVID-19. [T]
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Lennie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to develop more resilient supply chains after the COVID-19 pandemic. [T]
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
Free trade and resilient supply chains through open markets will be crucial to the global economic recovery. That is why this Department is factoring-in critical supply chains into our COVID-19 strategy and response, working collaboratively with other government departments.
The Department will continue to work with business to build further resilience for the future. Alongside this, the United Kingdom will fight protectionism and unfair trade practices tirelessly, including through the G20 and in the WTO.
Asked by: Lord Lennie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to remove UK export bans on medicines introduced as a response to COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
There is no export ban on medicines. There are restrictions on exports by holders of a wholesale dealer licence of some medicines put on the United Kingdom market for UK patients. The restrictions have been in place since October 2019. They are aimed at stopping companies from diverting medicines, which have been put on the market for UK patients, to other markets. The restrictions do not apply to medicines manufactured and intended for other markets.
The restrictions are not a response to COVID-19. However, because of COVID-19 more medicines meet the criteria for listing. The restrictions currently apply to under 200 medicines which are in shortage or at risk of being in shortage in the UK. The list is under continual review and medicines will be removed when they no longer meet the criteria.
Asked by: Lord Lennie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children with working parents qualify for free school meals.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The information requested is not held centrally. Free school meals (FSM) are aimed at families who are out of work, and those in work with low earnings.
To be eligible to receive FSM, a pupil or their parent must be in receipt of one of the following listed benefits, and must make a claim to the school for FSM. The benefits include:
Income Support,
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance,
income-related Employment and Support Allowance,
support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999,
the guaranteed element of Pension Credit,
Child Tax Credit (provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190),
Working Tax Credit run-on, paid for 4 weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit,
Universal Credit - if they apply on or after 1 April 2018 their household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits they get).