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  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the level of awareness among (a) micro, (b) small and (c) medium-sized enterprises of the Cyber Essentials programme.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have carried out an extensive range of activity to promote Cyber Essentials since the scheme launched in June 2014. This includeswork with trade organisations (such as the Federation of Small Businesses and the British Chambers of Commerce); inclusion of Cyber Essentials in Government cyber security guidance; the requirement for suppliers to hold a Cyber Essentials certificate for certain Government contracts; marketing and communications activity, including Cyber Essentials embedded in the Cyber Streetwise campaign for small businesses; plus an ongoing programme of events, conferences, industry engagement and Ministerial activity.

  • Yasmin Qureshi – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Yasmin Qureshi – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of his Department’s science budget was spent on neurological research in the period from 2010 to 2014.

    Joseph Johnson

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Torfaen (Mr Nick Thomas-Symonds) on 7 December in response to question 18131.

    “

  • Chris White – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris White – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris White on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to increase participation in part-time higher education courses in STEM subjects.

    Joseph Johnson

    This year we relaxed the Equivalent and Lower Qualification (ELQ) rule for part time students taking engineering, technology and computer science courses. This means that students who already hold a degree will be able to access student support. At the Autumn Statement we announced a further relaxation to the eligibility rules so that students who already hold a degree can from 2017/18 access student support for part time study of other STEM subjects. These changes do not affect those undertaking full time study.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made on pilot schemes of driverless cars.

    Anna Soubry

    Following the Innovate UK competition, ‘Introducing Driverless Cars to UK roads’ in July last year three exciting world leading projects, UKAutodrive, Venturer and GATEway, are now underway and making good progress.

    The Government-backed Milton Keynes driverless Pathfinder pods have been incorporated into the UKAutodrive project. They were demonstrated recently at the ITS World Congress in Bordeaux and attracted a great deal of international attention. Venturer, based in Bristol is delivering important insights around situational awareness, a key area for autonomous systems. The GATEway project will evaluate the integration and acceptance of automated vehicles in the real world.

  • Nia Griffith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nia Griffith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of employers in Wales that will be affected by the apprenticeship levy.

    Nick Boles

    The apprenticeship levy will apply to employers across the UK. An allowance of £15,000 means only those with a paybill exceeding £3million will have to pay it. The Government is already working with the Welsh Government and the other devolved administrations to ensure they can get their fair share of the revenue and, as far as possible, to develop a system for administering the levy which complements the skills and apprenticeship policies of each of the devolved administrations, and which works for employers wherever they are in the UK.

  • Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what comparative assessment he has made of labour productivity in (a) the North West and (b) England.

    Mr Rob Wilson

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

  • Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 1.57 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on research and development by industry of converting innovation grants into interest-paying loans.

    Joseph Johnson

    Access to finance remains an important challenge for innovative enterprises. We want to broaden the type of financial support available for innovation. Other European countries like France, Finland and The Netherlands offer financial products in their policy mix for business innovation. We are seeking to learn from these approaches. In doing this, we will engage with businesses to better understand their needs and support access to sufficient financing throughout the lifecycle of innovative projects.

  • Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to section 11.9 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what steps he plans to take to achieve £360 million in efficiencies and savings in adult skills.

    Nick Boles

    The Chancellor published the results of the Spending Review on 25th November 2015. This is a good settlement for further education. Between 2010-11 and 2019-20 the Government will have doubled spending on apprenticeships in cash terms to £2.5 billion, and protected funding for the core adult skills participation budgets in cash terms, at £1.5 billion

    The Government will make £362 million of savings and efficiencies from adult skills funding by 2019-20. We are prioritising funding for participation, with savings being made from supporting budgets. We are also restructuring the sector through locally-led Area Reviews to provide sustainable and high quality provision in the future.

  • Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprenticeships the Government has supported in Dundee in each year since 2010; and what the per capita average financial value of that support was.

    Nick Boles

    Apprenticeship policy is a devolved matter. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not collect apprenticeships information relating to the devolved administrations. It is for the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to determine how they manage their own apprenticeship programmes and they will continue to have complete flexibility over how to support businesses through training and apprenticeships.

  • Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the proportion of small businesses which do not have an online presence.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 2014 Small Business Survey shows that 36% of all small businesses do not have a website. Further research on small businesses’ digital capabilities was published on 9th September 2015. The Office for National Statistics also publishes information on businesses’ e-commerce and ICT activity. It should be noted that 46% of small businesses use social media.