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  • Chi Onwurah – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chi Onwurah – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what evidence his Department has collected on public perception of health and safety regulation.

    Mike Penning

    I have been asked to respond as Minister with responsibilty for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

    Reviews of health and safety regulation carried out for the Government by Lord Young and by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt, and endorsed in HSE’s recent triennial review, found a near universal agreement that the UK legal framework is fit for purpose. However, there does exist some misunderstanding about what H&S legislation actually requires.

    Partly in response to this, the Health and Safety Executive’s Myth Busters Challenge Panel allows the public to challenge decisions and policies ascribed to health and safety if they believe them to be incorrect.

    To date the Panel has considered over 270 cases. Details can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/index.htm

  • David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to increase the availability of credit for small businesses in (a) Bolton North East constituency and (b) England in the last year.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government is committed to ensuring businesses can access the finance they need for investment and growth.

    The Bank of England and HM Treasury announced in November that the Funding for Lending scheme would be focused on lending to businesses to reflect the success that the scheme has had with households. Lending under the Funding for Lending Scheme has totalled over £16bn according to the latest figures.

    The British Business Bank is being established to ensure that business finance markets work efficiently and effectively for smaller businesses, and its loan guarantee and investment programmes supported £660 million of lending and investment in 2013 across the UK.

    A breakdown of the value of debt finance facilitated to businesses in Bolton North East constituency and England through British Business Bank programmes in the last year is detailed in the table below.

    Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme (drawn down)

    Start Up Loans Scheme

    (drawn down)

    Lending facilitated by the Business Finance Partnership

    Bolton North East Constituency

    7 Loans with a value of £1.14m

    24 loans with a value of £117 330

    North West Region: 462 loans with a value of nearly £ 27m

    England

    2857 loans with a value of £307.6 million

    13432 with a value over £75m

    3721 loans provided with a value of nearly £226m
  • Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the quality and performance of UK Trade and Investment support for UK-Nigeria partnerships in (a) financial services, (b) the creative industries and (c) educational services.

    Michael Fallon

    UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) carries out an in-depth assessment of its overall impact each quarter via the Performance Impact Monitoring Survey (PIMS). Generic assessments of specific sectors are carried out externally on behalf of UKTI. The business impact of individual services and activities is also monitored by the teams delivering them.

    UKTI delivers a range of services in relation to Nigeria in the sectors specified, both bespoke services for individual companies and broader activities. These are in line with sector strategies for the market. Some recent examples include a financial services mission to Nigeria in March organised by UKTI, in partnership with Nigerian Diaspora individuals working in the City of London. Also in March, UKTI Nigeria worked with UK and Nigerian stakeholders to deliver an SME event in Lagos focused on creative industries. This was followed in early April by a videoconference between UK and Nigerian companies engaged in fashion retail. UKTI was also involved in a local education event in Lagos in early April during which Nigerian requirements were successfully matched to UK companies offering relevant expertise.

    All participants who commented on these events reported that they found their participation useful. All have identified follow up actions and UKTI will be monitoring successes which ensue.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Zac Goldsmith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many representations he has received relating to concerns over Grant Thornton’s handling of insolvency or bankruptcy cases since 2010.

    Jenny Willott

    Prior to the introduction of the Insolvency Service’s Complaints Gateway in June 2013 no central record was maintained of numbers of complaints made against individual firms.

    Since June 2013 there have been 794 complaints received via the Complaints Gateway, of which 70 related to recorded complaints about insolvency practitioners from Grant Thornton in respect to formal insolvency procedures.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will break down the £31,400,000 for Royal Mail sale transaction costs in his Department’s Supplementary Estimates 2013-14.

    Michael Fallon

    The Supplementary Estimate included a Reserve Claim to cover the cost of managing and realising the Royal Mail pension assets in 2013-14 of c£31.4m. This is in line with the funding arrangement agreed with HM Treasury in May 2011, whereby costs over and above £50m funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) would be met by HM Treasury. These assets transferred to Government from the Royal Mail Pension Plan in April 2012.

    The Supplementary Estimate also included a Reserve Claim to cover the total cost of the transaction estimated to be around £32.6m of which £9.2m is stamp duty, £13.1m underwriters and intermediaries commission fees, £4.2m underwriters’ discretionary fee which has not been paid, and the balance the direct retail cost.

  • Aidan Burley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Aidan Burley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Aidan Burley on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what timetable he has adopted for the introduction of a Statutory Code and Adjudicator in the public house sector.

    Jenny Willott

    Between April and June 2013 the Government consulted on proposals to establish a statutory Code of Practice and an independent Adjudicator, which are aimed at supporting pub tenants. The Government received over one thousand one hundred written responses to the consultation on pub companies and their tenants and over seven thousand responses to the online survey conducted in parallel. We are considering the evidence carefully, to ensure that intervention is both proportionate and targeted, and we intend to publish a Government Response to the consultation as soon as we can.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on raising the cap on the amount of student loan accessible by students studying at alternative learning providers.

    Mr David Willetts

    There currently are no plans to raise the cap on the amount of student loan accessible by students studying at alternative providers. Alternative providers are not subject to the same regulatory conditions as those providers whose students can access fee loans of up to £9000. In particular, the fees that they may charge students are not subject to a cap, nor are these providers required to put in place an Access Agreement.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful bids from Local Enterprise Partnerships for the Local Growth Fund to date.

    Michael Fallon

    All 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) submitted their Strategic Economic Plans to Government by 31 March 2014. Given the highly competitive nature of the Local Growth Fund (LGF), it will be over-subscribed and therefore there will be successful and unsuccessful bids to the fund. The assessment process is underway, but it is too early to say how many bids will and will not be successful.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the total value is of all bids received from Local Enterprise Partnerships for the Local Growth Fund to date.

    Michael Fallon

    All 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships submitted their Strategic Economic Plans to Government on 31st March. All proposals are currently being reviewed and assessed against the published criteria and it is too early to know the total call on the fund. However from an initial review it is clear that the Local Growth Fund is significantly over-subscribed, with bids totalling approximately three or four times the amount available.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what criteria is used to assess bids from local enterprise partnerships for the Local Growth Fund.

    Michael Fallon

    The criteria the Government will be using to assess Strategic Economic Plans and bids for the Local Growth Fund were published in July 2013. There are 3 key criteria: ambition and rationale, value for money and delivery and risk. The most successful LEPs will have strong, deliverable Strategic Economic Plans, evidenced by strong partnership working; robust arrangements for accountability; and effective collaboration across Local Enterprise Partnership geography. These LEPs will earn a greater share of the Local Growth Fund.