Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help ensure that petrol stations do not apply unreasonable mark-ups for consumers.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to conduct an urgent review of the fuel market, as well as a longer-term market study under the Enterprise Act 2002, to explore whether the retail fuel market has adversely affected consumer interests. As part of this, the Government has asked for the CMA’s advice on the extent to which competition has resulted in the fuel duty cut being passed on to consumers and the reasons for local variations in the price of road fuel.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what resources his Department is providing for mental health provision in (a) North West Durham and (b) County Durham; and what steps his Department is taking to improve mental health provision in those areas.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The information requested is not held at constituency level. In 2021/22, the planned expenditure on mental health services for County Durham Clinical Commissioning Group, including learning disabilities and dementia, was £162.1 million.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are reviewing mental health provision through the County Durham Community Mental Health Transformation Programme. The Programme is working with people with lived experience of mental illness and stakeholders to improve how mental health support and care is provided in local communities.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending free bus travel to those studying aged 16 to 18 in light of the proposed increase of the leaving school age to 18.
Answered by Robin Walker
Local authorities are responsible for transport to education and training for 16- to 19-year-olds, including where students travel to school or college. Many students already receive a discount or concession, but it is for local authorities, along with local transport providers and schools or colleges, to decide whether to provide support and which students are eligible. These decisions are best made locally considering local needs, the resources available, and other local circumstances.
The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund can be used for transport costs to support young people to access education and training. Schools and colleges are responsible for deciding how to distribute their bursary allocations to students, and for establishing what criteria to use.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the (a) average starting salary, (b) average salary (including bonuses and overtime), (c) highest salary (including bonuses and overtime) paid to a (i) train driver and (ii) tube driver in the UK in each of the last three years.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Information relating to salary is managed and set by the individual Train Operating Companies in line with their annual budgets. The Office for National Statistics publishes detailed statistics on pay by occupation at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14
Data from the above statistics states that for ‘train and tram drivers’, median annual gross pay was:
2021 = £59,189
2020 = £55,546
2019 = £56,102
The 80th percentile figures, where the top 20% of employees are paid above this figure, are
2021 = £70,352
2020 = £67,709
2019 = £67,037
Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL).
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average level of per pupil funding was in (a) actual and (b) real terms for sixth form funding in 2018-19; and what that the equivalent figures are for 2022-23.
Answered by Robin Walker
The average Total Programme Funding per 16 to 19-year-old student in the 2018/19 academic year was £4,504.
The equivalent figure for the 2022/23 academic year is not yet available.
In 2018/19, the base rate of funding per 16 and 17-year-old student was £4,000. This was the largest component in the Total Programme Funding per student. In the 2022/23 academic year, the base rate will be £4,542. This is an increase of 13.6% in cash terms, or 2% in real terms over the base rate in 2018/19.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a price cap for people in community heat networks; what his timeframe is for introducing that price cap; and what interim support for energy costs his Department is providing those people.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Queen’s Speech on 10th May, confirmed that the Government has now committed to legislating to regulate the heat networks market in this parliamentary session as part of the Energy Security Bill. The legislation will provide the BEIS Secretary of State with powers to introduce a price cap should it be necessary to protect consumers from anti-competitive behaviour. The Government has announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-living-support/cost-of-living-support-factsheet-26-may-2022.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an energy price cap for (a) oil, (b) liquefied petroleum gas and (c) solid fuel used by off-grid homes, similar to the energy price cap for on-grid homes; and whether his Department has taken steps to help support off-grid homes in the context of increases in energy costs resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises that, as a result of volatile international crude oil prices as well as the conflict in Ukraine, heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas prices have risen steeply over the past year.
The Government has carefully considered calls to introduce a price-cap for these fuels. The heating oil, liquefied petroleum gas and solid fuel markets are not natural monopolies with high fixed and start-up costs and are not difficult for customer switching. The Government does therefore not deem it appropriate to introduce a price cap at this point in time. Nevertheless, the Government recognises the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has set out a generous £22 billion package of support.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has had discussions with authorities in (a) Bermuda, (b) British Virgin Islands and (c) the Cayman Islands on the potential merits of increasing protections for British minority shareholders in companies incorporated in those jurisdictions.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Overseas Territories are self-governing jurisdictions with their own democratically elected governments, who are responsible for their own financial services policy. The regulation of the financial services industries in the Overseas Territories are a matter for their elected governments. The FCDO has not discussed the issue of British minority shareholders with Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands or the Cayman Islands. The Overseas Territories cooperate with the UK on taxation, fighting financial crime and countering terrorist finance. They are committed to meeting international standards on illicit finance, tax transparency and anti-money laundering; including those set by the OECD and the Financial Action Task Force.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential risk that listed companies, including those that are Chinese or Russian controlled, may use incorporation in the British Overseas Territories to pay less than market value to other shareholders when taking the business private.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Overseas Territories are self-governing jurisdictions with their own democratically elected governments, who are responsible for their own financial services policy. The Overseas Territories cooperate with the UK on taxation, fighting financial crime and are implementing sanctions targeted at Russia. They are committed to meeting international standards on illicit finance, tax transparency and anti-money laundering; including those set by the OECD, the Financial Action Task Force and regional standards set by the EU. The FCDO has not made an assessment of these risks; the regulation of the financial services industries in the Overseas Territories are a matter for their elected governments.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to prevent companies from using lower regulatory standards in (a) Bermuda, (b) British Virgin Islands and (c) Cayman Islands to (i) take advantage of loopholes and (ii) avoid scrutiny from shareholders.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Overseas Territories including Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands are self-governing jurisdictions with their own democratically elected governments, who are responsible for their own financial services policy. The Overseas Territories cooperate with the UK on taxation, fighting financial crime and sanctions enforcement. They are committed to meeting international standards on illicit finance, tax transparency and anti-money laundering including those set by the OECD, the Financial Action Task Force and regional standards set by the EU. In 2020, the Financial Action Task Force issued an excellent rating following an evaluation of Bermuda's regulatory regime for combatting money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation. The Overseas Territories also continue to share valuable company ownerships and tax information with UK law authorities, under the invaluable Exchange of Notes process. It was information shared by an Overseas Territory which enabled the UK's first Unexplained Wealth Order.