Tag: Kevin Brennan

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which provisions of the Regulatory Reform Act 2013 need to be removed in order to achieve balance sheet reclassification for the purposes of privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry

The Government’s proposals to amend and repeal provisions in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 relating to UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) are contained in clause 30 of the Enterprise Bill. The Government has explained the background to these proposals in paragraphs 62 – 73 of our November 2015 policy statement on the future of GIB which can be found on the GIB pages of the GOV.UK website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to implement automatic indexing of the proposed public sector exit payment cap.

Greg Hands

The Government made a manifesto commitment to end six-figure payouts in the public sector and wants to do so as soon as possible. These payments cost around £2 billion a year and it is important that they are fair, proportionate and provide value for money to the taxpayer that funds them. As such, the Government does not see any case for transitional arrangements to delay ending six-figure exit payments. However, the power for Ministers to relax the restrictions imposed by the cap provides the flexibility to do so in appropriate circumstances.

Automatic indexing would fail to offer the flexibility that the clause currently provides for. As it stands, the Government can amend the level of the cap to take into account all prevailing circumstances, and with the additional scrutiny of the affirmative resolution procedure in Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) domestically produced and (b) imported steel that was procured by each government department in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock

This information is not held centrally.

All departments are now required to implement the new guidelines, published on 30 October last year, which set out how government buyers should source steel for major projects so that the true value of UK steel is taken into account in major procurement decisions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment has he made of the potential impact on innovation in the UK of his Department’s change to government research and development funding from a grant-based to a loan-based system.

Joseph Johnson

Like many of our competitor economies, we are looking to provide a wider range of financial products to support, innovation in UK industry. In the coming months, we will, be conducting market research to better understand the needs of innovative businesses in the UK.

This will be followed by a pilot to test specific financial support mechanisms, with an evaluation in late 2016, leading to a roll-out of a range of new products in 2017. We will continue to provide grant funding to support research and development where appropriate – including, for example, aerospace research supported by the Aerospace Technology Institute and automotive research supported by the Advanced Propulsion Centre.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value was of (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance sanctions imposed by his Department in each of the last five years.

Priti Patel

The Department does not make an estimate of the value of benefit withdrawn as a result of benefit sanctions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding his Department provided to each of its partner organisations in each year from 2010; and what the (a) type and (b) sector of those organisations is.

Joseph Johnson

Table 1 sets out the total funding provided to the Department’s partner organisations for each financial year since 2009-10. Funding includes grant-in-aid funding or an increased equity investment.

Table 2 sets out these partner organisations according to type and sector.

Since 2010 the Department has significantly reduced its number of partner organisations down to 44. We committed to further reductions as part of the BIS2020 programme of departmental transformation to make the Department cheaper and simpler, and to deliver better services to users.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for how long the proposed apprenticeship levy vouchers will be valid.

Nick Boles

Levy funds will expire 18 months after they enter an employers’ digital apprenticeship service account unless they are spent on apprenticeship training. This will also apply to any top-ups in the account. Expiration will take place automatically, but an employer’s digital apprenticeship service account will let them know in good time when any funds are due to expire so that the funds can be spent if the employer wishes to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what meetings he has had with the European Commissioner for Competition on EU state aid rules and support for energy-intensive industries.

Anna Soubry

Over the past year, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has met and called several times with Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, to discuss EU state aid rules and energy-intensive industries. I as Minister of State for Business, Industry and Enterprise attended the energy intensive industries high level stakeholder conference in Brussels in February. Senior officials from the Department have also had regular meetings with Commission Competition officials to discuss these issues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment she has made of the potential effect on the economy in Northern Ireland of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Ben Wallace

The Government is clear that we are safer, stronger and better off in the EU.

Reports by HM Treasury are clear that leaving the EU would bring serious economic costs that would affect businesses, jobs, living standards and public finances for decades to come.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on the Northern powerhouse of the closure of the Business Growth Service.

Anna Soubry

We do not expect closure of the Business Growth Service to have an impact on the growth of Small and Medium sized Enterprises or the Northern Powerhouse.