Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many active businesses were registered in Wales on the Companies House register in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 11th March is attached.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners (a) have served their original sentence and (b) maintain their innocence.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Data regarding how many and what proportions of prisoners have served their original sentence and maintain their innocence is not collated by the Ministry of Justice.
Innocence is a matter for the courts, so HM Prison and Probation Service and the Parole Board must treat the individual as being guilty of the crimes they have been convicted of but maintaining innocence does not prevent prisoners being released from custody. Most prisoners are released automatically and so their attitude to the index offence has no bearing on their release date. Where release is subject to review by the independent Parole Board, the Board take a range of factors into account, and they must direct an offender’s release where they are satisfied that the statutory release test has been met regardless of whether the prisoner maintains their innocence.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what funding is available from his Department to support (a) Welsh companies making redundancies, (b) Welsh employees at risk of redundancy and (c) Welsh companies in retaining employees.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government aims to respond to any job losses from company distress cases swiftly and coherently, to reduce the local impact and support people back to work.
Through the Redundancy Payments Service (RPS), part of the Insolvency Service, employers can access funding for redundancies, if required. For employers who are considering making 20 or more employees redundant at any one site, the RPS also notify the appropriate government departments and agencies, in confidence. This includes Jobcentre Plus and other service providers in their local area who will reach out with offers of assistance during the notification/consultation period.
The Department for Work and Pensions locally deploy the Rapid Response Service to provide support to people affected by redundancy, regardless of whether they are receiving benefits. The aim is to help people into new employment as quickly as possible. The service supports people during their notice period and up to 13 weeks after they leave work.
Additionally, the Welsh Government directly delivers services supporting redundant workers. ReAct Plus is a grant programme, offering tailored support to those trying to re-enter the labour market by removing barriers and providing grant support for vocational training, travel costs and care (including childcare) related to training.