Author: admin

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations have been received from students and student groups by the taskforce on reducing violence against women and girls on university campuses.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government asked Universities UK to establish a taskforce to explore what more can be done by the higher education sector to prevent, and respond effectively, to incidents of violence and sexual harassment against women, hate crimes and other forms of harassment. The taskforce is expected to report its findings in the autumn.

    To date Universities UK have received 59 written representations from universities, plus additional evidence from a wide range of agencies and organisations.

    Universities UK has published an update of the recent taskforce meeting, which addressed the Zellick guidelines. The Government looks forward to receiving the taskforce’s final report in due course.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with Universities UK on reviewing the Zellick guidelines.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government asked Universities UK to establish a taskforce to explore what more can be done by the higher education sector to prevent, and respond effectively, to incidents of violence and sexual harassment against women, hate crimes and other forms of harassment. The taskforce is expected to report its findings in the autumn.

    To date Universities UK have received 59 written representations from universities, plus additional evidence from a wide range of agencies and organisations.

    Universities UK has published an update of the recent taskforce meeting, which addressed the Zellick guidelines. The Government looks forward to receiving the taskforce’s final report in due course.

  • Rebecca Pow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rebecca Pow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) horticultural skills and (b) the development of the workforce in horticulture.

    Nick Boles

    Apprenticeships are our priority for equipping people with the skills this country needs. Apprenticeship starts on the horticulture framework increased by almost 50% between 2009/10 and 2014/15 and there are 2 new trailblazer standards approved and 2 in development.

    We are also reforming post-16 provision to ensure that it meets the needs of local labour markets and learners. We have asked Landex, the organisation which represents 36 FE colleges and universities offering land-based programmes and supports agri-food, land and animal science education and training, to undertake a review of post-16 land based provision in England.

    This will draw on data and analysis of all land based provision through specialist and general further education colleges, and other providers, and will feed into local steering group discussions and deliberations and into the wider review process.

    Their review will highlight national as well as local provision which serves particular sectors across the land based industries. It will take account of for example, the Agri-food industry and Agri-Tech strategy to identify skills needs, and potential gaps in provision, including for higher level skills.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of which sectors of the British economy are most at risk from foreign export dumping; and what steps he is taking to protect those sectors from that activity.

    Anna Soubry

    Any industry or business can potentially be affected by dumping. Companies in all goods sectors can therefore seek protection from dumping or subsidy through the EU’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy Regulations by providing evidence direct, or through a trade association, to the European Commission.

    Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy actions by the European Commission have been taken against a wide range of imported products. The attached table shows the sectoral pattern of investigations conducted by the European Commission during the period 2011-2016.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to encourage the National Infrastructure Commission to investigate ways in which the UK supply chain can be used to help the UK steel industry.

    Anna Soubry

    My officials continue to work with HM Treasury on the establishment of an independent National Infrastructure Commission, including the basis upon which it will consider economic growth and the impact of UK infrastructure on the wider economy.

    On 30 October, we published guidance – Procurement Policy Note 16/15: Procuring steel in major projects, to ensure that Central Government takes into account relevant social and economic issues when procuring steel. This was followed, on 3 November, by more detailed instructions on how to apply social issues in steel procurement. These principles are being extended to the wider public sector, including Local Authorities and the NHS.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what meetings he has initiated on steel in the last two years.

    Anna Soubry

    It is an established convention that Ministers of one Administration cannot see the documents of a previous Administration. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested by the hon Member for the entire period given in his Question.

    I first met with Gareth Stace on 01 June 2015 and discussions with steel industry stakeholders continued thereafter to identify the policy priorities for dealing with the considerable challenges facing the sector. We convened a Steel Summit on 16 October 2015 which brought together all the major stakeholders, including key Government and industry participants as well as constituency MPs, recognising the significant part steel companies play in local communities. This led to the formation of three Ministerial Working Groups which took the lead on our efforts to deliver on the five key ‘Asks’ put to us by our partners in the steel industry.

    To ensure a sustainable future we set up the Steel Council, co-chaired by my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, to build on the achievements of the three previous Ministerial working groups, by looking at the longer term future of the sector and how we can strengthen the capability and competiveness of the UK steel industry both at home and globally. The Council met for the first time on 2 March.

    Since this Government took office, BIS Ministers have undertaken a number of visits to steel-producing sites across the UK, including: SSI Redcar; Tata Steel facilities at Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Rotherham; Celsa in Cardiff and the former-Tata Steel site at Motherwell recently re-opened by Liberty Steel.

    To date we have made significant progress in addressing the challenges faced by the industry, including:

    • Paying compensation towards their energy costs: the Steel industry has received £80m in compensation since 2013;
    • Exempting the steel industry from renewable energy policy costs passed through in energy bills: this will save the steel industry hundreds of £millions over the course of this parliament.
    • Securing flexibility over EU emissions regulations.
    • Making sure that social and economic factors can be taken into account when Government procures steel;
    • Continuing to tackle unfair trading practices at an EU and an International level.
  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how the final decision on proposals to centralise all policy functions to one headquarters in London and close the Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place will be made once the consultation on those proposals has finished.

    Joseph Johnson

    The final decisions on whether to centralise all policy functions a single headquarters, and to close the Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place, will be made by the department’s Executive Board following the end of consultation with staff and Trade Unions in May.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff at (a) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield and (b) 1 Victoria Street, London work on steel policy.

    Anna Soubry

    There are currently over 80 BIS members of staff working on steel policy. Around 75 are based in 1 Victoria Street, London and 3 at St Paul’s Place, Sheffield. A number of other staff are involved to a greater or lesser extent dependent on need.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed in each location at the UK Space Agency in the last year for which figures are available.

    Joseph Johnson

    The number of civil servants employed by the UK Space Agency is shown in the attached table and represents the position as at 31 December 2015. The Department does not hold centrally any location data for its agencies prior to this date.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed at each location by the Research Council in the last year for which figures are available.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Research Councils do not employ any civil servants at any of their locations.

    All people working in Research Councils are public servants and the numbers by location are shown on the attached table and represents the position as at 31 December 2015.