Tag: Lord Kinnock

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kinnock on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the average (1) in-work, and (2) out-of-work, benefits paid to all recent EU migrants supported by the benefits system as at March 2013.

Lord Freud

I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister for Employment (Ms. Esther McVey) in the House of Commons on 20 November 2014 to Question number 211618 as below:

While the Government checks the immigration status of benefit claimants to ensure the benefit is paid properly and to prevent fraud, traditionally that information has not been collected as part of the payment administrative systems.

However, the Government is looking at ways to reform the current administrative system under Universal Credit so that it will systematically record nationality and immigration status of migrants who make a claim.

The Government has made a radical series of changes over the last year to restrict the access by non-UK citizens from the European Economic Area to UK benefits and tax credits. This is in order to protect the UK’s benefit system and discourage people who have no established connection with the UK from moving here, unless they have a job or a genuine prospect of work, or have savings to support themselves until they do.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kinnock on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions the Chancellor of the Exchequer has had, during and since his recent official visit to China, with the government of China and Chinese industrialists about steel production and trade; whether, in those discussions, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has raised the issue of steel products dumping; and if so, what response he has received.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

There has been very substantial ministerial engagement with the Chinese government in recent months, both here and in China.

During the course of those meetings, developments in the steel market were discussed on numerous occasions,including in discussions between the Prime Minister, Chancellor and President Xi during the State Visit. It was also raised by the Business Secretary.

Our relationship with China includes regular discussions of the market reforms needed to underpin growth in both our countries. This Chinese State Visit is delivering over £30bn of trade and investment deals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kinnock on 2014-06-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what figures for household debt in the United Kingdom were provided by the Office for Budget Responsibility in each year from 2010–11 to 2013–14 and estimated for 2014–15; and what is the percentage represented by such debt of (1) national income, and (2) disposable income, in each year.

Lord Deighton

The OBR publish figures for household debt, GDP and disposable income on their website alongside their Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

In 2010-11 total lending to households in the United Kingdom or debt liabilities was estimated to be £1.53 trillion in the National Accounts produced by the Office for National Statistics, this is equivalent to 102% of annual Gross Domestic Product and 152% of household disposable income in that year. In 2011-12 the figure was 1.53 trillion (99% and147% respectively), and in 2012-13 the figure was 1.54 trillion (98% and 143%). These data are not yet available for 2013-14. In their March 2014 Economic and fiscal outlook the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast these figures to be 1.66 trillion in 2014-15 (97% and 144% respectively).