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  • Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what value of contracts has been awarded through the Small Business Research Initiative in each year for which records are available.

    Joseph Johnson

    The value of contracts awarded through the Small Business Research Initiative in each year for which records are available is as follows:

    Financial Year

    2009/10

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    Total contract value (£’000)

    £29,672

    £13,029

    £23,490

    £44,413

    £77,495

    £83,097

    £62,031

  • Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which directorate of his Department oversaw the development of the Pubs Code.

    Anna Soubry

    The development of the Pubs Code and the appointment of the Pubs Code Adjudicator were overseen by the Pubs Code and Adjudicator Team.

    Due to departmental restructuring this team has sat within two different directorates in BIS: the Consumer and Competition Directorate (prior to July 2015 and currently) and Enterprise Directorate (from July 2015 to March 2016).

  • Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which directorate of his Department oversaw the appointment of the Pubs Code Adjudicator.

    Anna Soubry

    The development of the Pubs Code and the appointment of the Pubs Code Adjudicator were overseen by the Pubs Code and Adjudicator Team.

    Due to departmental restructuring this team has sat within two different directorates in BIS: the Consumer and Competition Directorate (prior to July 2015 and currently) and Enterprise Directorate (from July 2015 to March 2016).

  • Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department plans to provide to the Pubs Code Adjudicator; and which directorate of his Department will oversee that support.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department is providing support to Mr. Newby to set up the Pubs Code Adjudicator office and prepare for the service it will deliver. The support includes finalising the office location and helping with logistical matters such as staff recruitment, IT provision, communication and stakeholder planning, financial modelling and service design. As the Pubs Code Adjudicator office becomes staffed, the Department will reduce its support.

    Following commencement of the Pubs Code, the Department will perform a sponsorship role to ensure that the Pubs Code Adjudicator is accountable and delivering value for money services whilst maintaining its independence.

    The Consumer and Competition Directorate in Economics and Markets Group will provide the ongoing support and the sponsorship function.

  • Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the role of the Enterprise Directorate of his Department was in the (a) appointment of the Pubs Code Adjudicator and (b) development of the Pubs Code.

    Anna Soubry

    The development of the Pubs Code and the appointment of the Pubs Code Adjudicator were overseen by the Pubs Code and Adjudicator Team.

    Due to departmental restructuring this team has sat within two different directorates in BIS: the Consumer and Competition Directorate (prior to July 2015 and currently) and Enterprise Directorate (from July 2015 to March 2016).

  • Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, who will act on behalf of the Pubs Code Adjudicator in situations where one of the parties to that adjudication objects to the Adjudicator’s involvement.

    Anna Soubry

    The Pubs Code Adjudicator has been appointed by the Secretary of State to arbitrate alleged breaches of the statutory obligations set out in the Pubs Code. The Adjudicator will therefore be operating within the statutory framework provided in the SBEE Act and Pubs Code regulations. The parties to an alleged breach of the Pubs Code are not afforded an automatic right to object to the Adjudicator discharging what is a statutory duty. This is in contrast to the position of arbitrators appointed to deal with a private arbitration of contractual disputes.

    The Adjudicator will make and publish arrangements for dealing with any conflict of interest as he is required to do by the SBEE Act [Schedule 1 para 10]. These will be the relevant arrangements for any parties wishing to raise any questions about conflicts of interest. Where the parties raise any objection to the Adjudicator arbitrating a dispute, it is for the Adjudicator to decide whether it is appropriate for him to appoint another arbitrator (as the Act allows).

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress his Department has made on reaching its target of £1 trillion a year in exports by 2020.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government has a clear strategy for increasing both the value of UK exports, as well as the number of British exporters. This is set out in the Government’s evidence to the BIS Select Committee inquiry into Exports in January 2016. Progress in delivering against the target is reported by the ONS.

    “

  • 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 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32406, if he will make it his policy that the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service collect the number of national minimum wage inquiries relating to the domiciliary care and residential care sectors.

    Nick Boles

    The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) only record trade sector information when a caller chooses to provide it. There are no plans to request Acas collect more detailed sector information other than the sector categories that are currently available for National Minimum Wage (NMW) calls.

    NMW callers that identify as working in the domiciliary care or residential care sectors are categorised in the ‘Health, social work and child care’ sector.

    More detailed sector information may be available where a call is referred to HMRC and results in a full investigation taking place.

  • 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 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the annual cost is of policy staff from his Department’s office at St Paul’s Place, Sheffield travelling to London.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Permanent Secretary has recently written to the Chairs of the Public Accounts Committee and the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee. His letter contains details of the potential maximum savings from a closure of the Department’s Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place, and can be seen at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/518244/letter-martin-donnelly-sheffield-office.pdf.

    “

  • 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 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reasons are for the reduction in the proportion of his Department’s budget spent with small and medium-sized enterprises between 2013 and 2015.

    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.

    However, the Department continues to improve its data collection so that the full extent of indirect spending with SMEs is captured, working closely with the Crown Commercial Service and prime contractors. The Department actively explores the possibility of contracting directly with SMEs throughout its procurement processes whilst adhering to the relevant public procurement regulations.