Faisal Rashid

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Public sector procurers are required to assess value for money using criteria linked to the subject matter of the contract, including compliance with the published specification.

Regulations covering selection and award criteria are included in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/102/contents/made

Our arrangements contain commercially sensitive information it would not be appropriate to publish them.

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill, announced as part of the Queen’s Speech, is a key part of the Government’s commitment to building fairer workplaces for all.

The Government plans to introduce this legislation in the current Parliamentary session, requiring employers to pass on 100 per cent of tips and service charges to their workers. Where employers distribute tips, they will be required to do so fairly and transparently.

We expect over 1 million workers to benefit from this legislation, many of whom earn the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage.

The existing legal framework provides full transparency about directors’ remuneration arrangements, including on salaries and bonuses, and gives shareholders a strong say on pay.

Since 2013, the law has required quoted companies to prepare a directors’ remuneration policy. This must set out how the company proposes to pay directors, including every element of remuneration that a director is entitled to and how it supports the company’s long-term strategy and performance. Companies are required to put the remuneration policy to a binding shareholder vote at least once every three years.

Companies must also publish an annual remuneration report showing how the approved pay policy has been implemented, including a single figure for the total pay directors received that year. This report is subject to an annual advisory vote. If the company loses this vote, it is required to put a new remuneration policy to shareholders the following year.

Alongside the legislative requirements, the UK Corporate Governance Code includes principles and provisions setting out how companies should approach executive remuneration, including a principle that executive remuneration should be “aligned to company purpose and values and be clearly linked to the successful delivery of the company’s long-term strategy”. The Financial Conduct Authority’s Listing Rules require companies to make a report in their corporate governance statement to enable shareholders to evaluate how the principles have been applied.

Nationalisation would change the ownership of the plant, but not how it operates. It would require the Government to take on the company’s outstanding financial obligations and may not provide the necessary legal security and protection for taxpayers’ investment.

Once nationalised, in line with strict state aid rules for steel, the Government would have to act in the same was as any private owner, thinking principally of making a profit.

The Feed-in Tariffs scheme will close to new applicants, subject to certain time limited grace periods and extensions, on 31 March 2019.

On 8 January, the Government published a consultation on the future for small-scale low-carbon generation, providing visibility of the proposals for a Smart Export Guarantee. This consultation will close on 5 March; responses will be analysed to inform future policy development, and government will respond in due course.

As my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State said in his statement to the House on 17 January, this Government continues to believe that nuclear has a vital role to play in the UK’s energy future as we transition to the low carbon economy, but it must represent good value for taxpayers and consumers. We understand that developers are actively engaged in planning of nuclear power stations at Sizewell C and Bradwell. Discussions with Hitachi in respect of the future of the Wylfa and Oldbury sites are ongoing.

The government agreed with the BBC at the 2015 funding settlement that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in 2020. It is entirely the BBC’s decision on the future of the concession. However, we have been clear that we would want and expect the concession to continue.

I have regular discussions with national governing bodies of sport, including the Rugby Football League (RFL), on a range of issues including women's rugby league. I recently wrote to the Chief Executive of RFL to outline the progress made in women’s sport and make clear that I am keen that they continue to improve investment in women's rugby league.

Local authorities have a duty under the Childcare Act 2006 to ensure there are sufficient Sure Start children’s centres to meet the needs of local families. Funding for children’s services (including children’s centres) is made available through the local government finance settlement. In addition, other government funding, including that for public health, adult skills training and troubled families may also be used locally to support services delivered wholly, or in part, through children’s centres. Children’s services funding for 2020-21 and beyond will be determined in the Spending Review.

The independent panel’s report to government forms an important step in the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding. The government will consider the panel’s recommendations carefully and will conclude the review at the Spending Review. The government has not yet taken decisions with regards to the recommendations put forward.

The Department for Education recognises the benefits that activities such as yoga and meditation can have on promoting the mental health and wellbeing of pupils and in helping the building of character. The department has no plans to review the national curriculum. It will remain up to schools to decide what specific activities to offer to their pupils.

Schools are free to organise and deliver a diverse and challenging curriculum that suits the needs of all of their pupils. Pupils can participate in yoga as part of the PE curriculum, which is designed to ensure that all pupils develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, are physically active for sustained periods of time and lead healthy and active lives.

The Government set out its commitment to working towards zero food waste to landfill by 2030 in the Resources and Waste Strategy which we published in 2018.

Our recent ‘consultation on consistency in household and business recycling collections in England’ sought views on the collection of food waste from households. The majority of respondents were in favour of this measure. Government has therefore said that it will bring in legislation so that all English local authorities have a duty to collect food waste separately from other waste every week so that this food waste can be recycled or composted.

The Government has committed to funding any new additional burdens arising from this new statutory duty to local authorities including provision of equipment such as food waste bins.

Access is a devolved matter and this answer relates only to England. Landowners may permit people to camp outside of designated campsites. There are no current plans for the Government to designate any areas for wild camping in England. Dartmoor National Park Authority has a map of wild camping areas.

The consultation on proposals to introduce a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland closed on 13 May. Policy officials are currently analysing the responses, and the analysis of responses and the Government’s response will be published in due course.

In line with its manifesto promise, the Government will continue to commit the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of this parliament. Future funding decisions will reflect the Government’s aim of securing a better future for UK agriculture, for rural communities and for the environment.

DFID is investing more than £1.2 billion in bilateral agriculture programmes, many of which support smallholders in global value chains, including cocoa. DFID does not categorise its programme spend according to the nature of different value chains given the significant additional burden this would place on projects if the data was to be robust.

DFID is a founding member of the Living Income Community of Practice and is partnering with the UN Foundation, CARE, and the Fourth Sector Group, to explore how we can encourage the growth of more “for benefit” businesses in the cocoa supply chain. It also supports the Ethical Trade Initiative to improve worker’s rights in global supply chains. This includes working with companies to improve the application of human rights and providing direct remediation of labour rights violations for vulnerable workers.

DFID tracks progress on living incomes for the poor through global progress against the targets under Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) – to deliver sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. DFID measures the contribution its projects make by reporting on the “Number of people supported to have raised incomes and better jobs or livelihoods”. This includes beneficiaries who we have supported to raise their income, which alone amounted to 2.2 million people between 2015/16 and 2018/19.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

I share the hon Gentleman’s concerns about the reports of poor conditions and overcrowding in US detention facilities on the border with Mexico.

I very much welcome the steps already taken by the Administration and Congress to address these issues, including the emergency funding signed off by the President on 1 July.

These are difficult issues, and the UK has also struggled sometimes to get this right.

But we very much encourage our US friends to continue to work to improve the conditions in these facilities.

I have seen the excellent work the US has done around the world to promote human rights, and so it is important that they uphold these standards as they continue to tackle the situation at the US-Mexico border.