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  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on improving (a) business and (b) personal access to broadband.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government recognises the importance of broadband access throughout the UK for both businesses and individuals. I have regular discussions with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on how the UK can become a world leader in broadband, and on 24 February my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) announced a joint BIS/DCMS Review into Business Broadband to ensure that businesses are able to access the affordable, high-speed broadband they need.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote trade opportunities for UK business in high-growth markets.

    Anna Soubry

    I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Solihull (Julian Knight) on 25 February 2016 to Question 26214.

    “

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to reduce the burden of EU regulation on businesses.

    Anna Soubry

    The February 2016 EU Reform settlement, secured by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, sets out concrete steps to reduce the burden of EU regulation on business. These include regulatory simplification (including the withdrawal or repeal of legislation); a specific focus on reducing the burden on SMEs and micro-enterprises; and establishing burden reduction targets in the most onerous areas for business.

    We will now work with Member States to hold the EU institutions to account, overseeing the agreement and implementation of these measures.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps he has taken to promote regional growth in (a) East Yorkshire and (b) North Lincolnshire.

    Anna Soubry

    We are promoting growth in East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire by investing £240m through the Humber and Greater Lincolnshire Growth Deals. This includes up to £19m available to support growth projects in my hon. Friend’s constituency. We also announced at Spending Review 2015 an expansion to the Humber Enterprise Zone programme, including accelerating the development of employment land around the Port of Goole.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on encouraging public procurement for British Steel.

    Anna Soubry

    BIS Ministers and officials have worked closely with my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Crown Commercial Service officials in developing the set of measures delivered through the Steel Procurement Working Group, including the issuing of steel-specific procurement guidance, the mapping of indicative quantities of steel for key projects and the updating of British standards for steel. This close working continues in the implementation of these measures, reporting to the Steel Council. On 3 April we announced we would extend the guidance to the wider public sector and we are setting up an approved list of steel suppliers.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2016 to Question 28328, what estimate his Department has made of the number of officials who will work in the unit dedicated to assisting negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement in each of the next two years; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    No such estimate has been made. The number of officials working in the Transatlantic and International Unit will vary according to the state of the negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. There is no predetermined staffing level.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the number of new apprenticeships in Calder Valley constituency in each of the next four years.

    Nick Boles

    The Department does not produce estimates of future Apprenticeship starts by Parliamentary constituency.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what licences were granted for exports to Israel of (a) military use and (b) dual use equipment in 2015.

    Anna Soubry

    Information on military and dual use export licences (including Iicences for Israel) is published as Official Statistics in the quarterly and annual reports on Strategic Export Controls. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences.

    Data for the period 1 January to 30 September 2015 is available to view at GOV.UK. Information covering the period 1 October to 31 December 2015 will be published on 19 April 2016.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of plans under the Immigration Bill to introduce a charge on UK employers for employing skilled foreign workers on the number of people applying to study STEM subjects at university.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government is considering carefully the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations on migration including the likely impact on different sectors. It is essential that the UK remains open for business, while migration levels are controlled.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding his Department allocated in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2015-16 to reduce the number of people who were classified as not in education, employment or training.

    Nick Boles

    Further education funding is demand led. We do not allocate funding to specific groups but our entitlements are aimed at supporting disadvantaged groups, including the unemployed.

    168,900 benefit claimants aged 19-24 started further education training in 2013/14, compared to 132,000 in 2011/12.