Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the number of women that will meet the new (a) income and (b) net asset financial promotion exemption thresholds for defining high-net-worth (i) individuals and (ii) sophisticated investors.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The changes to the financial promotion exemptions that came into force on 31 January 2024 were subject to a public consultation which closed in March 2022. Respondents to the consultation were broadly supportive of the changes being made. Impacts of the proposals were considered, and a de minimis impact assessment was published alongside the final reforms.
However, the Government recognises the significant concerns that have been raised recently about these changes. I met last week with the angel investing sector and listened carefully to the representations made, and the Government is working closely with the sector to address the concerns raised.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations his Department received from industry stakeholders on its proposals to change the (a) income and (b) net asset financial promotion exemption thresholds for defining high-net-worth (i) individuals and (ii) sophisticated investors.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The changes to the financial promotion exemptions that came into force on 31 January 2024 were subject to a public consultation which closed in March 2022. Respondents to the consultation were broadly supportive of the changes being made. Impacts of the proposals were considered, and a de minimis impact assessment was published alongside the final reforms.
However, the Government recognises the significant concerns that have been raised recently about these changes. I met last week with the angel investing sector and listened carefully to the representations made, and the Government is working closely with the sector to address the concerns raised.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department completed an equality impact assessment on its proposals to change the (a) income and (b) net asset financial promotion exemption thresholds for defining high-net-worth (i) individuals and (ii) sophisticated investors.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The changes to the financial promotion exemptions that came into force on 31 January 2024 were subject to a public consultation which closed in March 2022. Respondents to the consultation were broadly supportive of the changes being made. Impacts of the proposals were considered, and a de minimis impact assessment was published alongside the final reforms.
However, the Government recognises the significant concerns that have been raised recently about these changes. I met last week with the angel investing sector and listened carefully to the representations made, and the Government is working closely with the sector to address the concerns raised.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with international counterparts on the content of education funded through multilateral organisations; and whether that funding includes provisions for teaching maths and science to girls.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to supporting foundational learning (literacy, numeracy, socio-emotional skills) for all. Foundational learning is critical for achieving higher order skills and effective understanding of STEM subjects from an early age. The UK is a leading donor to the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait and uses its influence on their governing boards to ensure foundational learning and education for marginalised girls are priorities. It is not possible to directly track the use of UK core funding to multilateral organisations, such as UNICEF and the World Bank.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to highlight (a) statutory and (b) Highway Code rules relating to idling vehicles.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Enforcement against idling is primarily the responsibility of Local Authorities, who have powers to issue Fixed Penalty Notices to drivers idling unnecessarily. Guidance for Local Authorities on idling enforcement makes clear that they should take steps to publicise the need to avoid idling to improve air quality and the penalties for failing to do so.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of idling stationary vehicles on levels of CO2 emissions.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The impact of idling stationary vehicles is not specifically assessed in transport emissions statistics.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the impediments are to the removal of non-consensual intimate images posted online.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti
Where non-consensual intimate images are posted online via user-to-user services, then the providers who operate these services should have the technical ability to remove these images.
The Online Safety Act received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. This legislation will give online service providers new duties to implement systems and processes to tackle illegal content on their services and take this content down, including illegal intimate image abuse content.
The Act also updates the law, to make sure that offences criminalising intimate image abuse are fit for the digital age. The intimate image abuse offences, along with the other offences in Part 10 of the Act, will come into force on 31 January.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to require website providers to remove intimate online images that have been published without consent.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti
Where non-consensual intimate images are posted online via user-to-user services, then the providers who operate these services should have the technical ability to remove these images.
The Online Safety Act received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. This legislation will give online service providers new duties to implement systems and processes to tackle illegal content on their services and take this content down, including illegal intimate image abuse content.
The Act also updates the law, to make sure that offences criminalising intimate image abuse are fit for the digital age. The intimate image abuse offences, along with the other offences in Part 10 of the Act, will come into force on 31 January.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason 15,000 non-consensual images reported as part of Operation Makedom remain online; and what steps he is taking to seek the removal of that content.
Answered by Laura Farris
The Online Safety Act gained Royal Assent in October 2023 and seeks to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. It will, for the first time, place clear legal duties on technology companies to take proactive steps to identify, remove and prevent users encountering illegal content, including child sexual abuse material and non-consensually shared intimate images from their platforms. The Act also updates and improves legislation relating to the taking and sharing of intimate images.
The Government has funded the Revenge Porn Helpline to support victims of non-consensual intimate image sharing, colloquially known as ‘revenge porn’. since it was established in 2015. The Home Office is providing £150k to the Helpline in 2023/24.
The Home Office has developed the world-leading Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) which brings together all the images that the Police and NCA encounter. We have provided the Internet Watch Foundation with a connection to CAID, enabling them to share the images’ unique identifiers – called hashes - to allow more child sexual abuse material online to be identified and removed. Home Office investment also supports the National Crime Agency to remove the most horrific child sexual abuse material from the internet, including on the dark web.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were (a) arrested on suspicion and (b) convicted of people smuggling in UK waters since the start of January 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.