Tag: Kevin Brennan

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has received on the potential merits of establishing a materials catapult for manufacturing.

Joseph Johnson

The Department refers proposals for new Catapults to Innovate UK, who have an established process for considering the case for new Catapult Centres. This includes proposals for Materials Centres. Innovate UK currently consider the broad materials needs of the manufacturing sector are well served by existing Catapults and Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of legislative proposals in the Trade Union Bill on the finances of the Labour Party.

Nick Boles

The proposals in the Bill are not about party funding. The Trade Union Bill is about employment and industrial relations. We are introducing a greater level of transparency into union activities by requiring union members to make an active decision to contribute to a union’s political fund.

If union members want a political fund, this will not necessarily lead to a reduction in the funds available. Therefore no assessment has been made in relation to the impact on the finances of any political party.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the devolved administrations, (b) civic society and (c) industry on the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry

The Government first announced it was exploring options for bringing private capital into UK Green investment Bank plc (GIB) in the Autumn Statement 2013. It was subsequently confirmed in both the 2014 Autumn Statement and 2015 Budget debate that work was progressing on this matter.

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills set out firm proposals to move GIB into private ownership in a written ministerial statement of 25 June.

On 15 October 2015, My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills made a further written ministerial statement in order to provide an update on work to implement the proposals and the need to repeal legislation relating to GIB.

On 18 November, the Government published a detailed policy document on the future of GIB setting out the case for moving the company into private ownership and seeking to address a number of concerns that had been expressed about this.

In support of these various publications and announcements, there has been substantial engagement and correspondence on the matter with environmental groups, stakeholders, members of Parliament and the Devolved Administrations, particularly the Scottish Government which raised a number of specific concerns. Much of the stakeholder engagement activity has been undertaken by GIB itself in view of its strong existing relationships with relevant stakeholders.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Government’s proposal to sell the Green Investment Bank (GIB) will include provision for the (a) sale of all GIB assets and (b) future of the GIB team.

Anna Soubry

It is the Department’s intention to sell GIB as a going concern. The assets and staff are an inherent part of that company.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the proportion of (a) public and (b) private investment was in each project in which the Green Investment Bank has invested.

Anna Soubry

The information requested can be found in the Transaction Table on the Green Investment Bank website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23263, if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of his Department’s meetings with the National Audit Office on the issue of value for money from the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry

The Government has held a number of discussions with the National Audit Office at a working level about the future sale of the Green Investment Bank. The Government does not intend to place any minutes of those discussions in the Library of the House.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any of the devolved administrations have refused to consent to the provisions dealing with public sector exit payments contained within the Enterprise Bill.

Greg Hands

The public sector exit payment cap will come into effect at a date after the Enterprise Bill has received Royal Assent. The Enterprise Bill is currently expected to receive Royal Assent by May 2016. A set of secondary regulations which will give effect to the public sector exit payment cap are currently expected to come into force during autumn 2016.

In the response to the consultation the Government stated that ‘the government would request Legislative Consent Motions from the Devolved Administrations where appropriate, however it would be for the Devolved Administrations to decide the approach they wish to take to this measure.’

On 7 December 2015 the Northern Ireland Assembly declined to agree a Legislative Consent Motion. Subsequently, no provisions relating to Northern Ireland are included in the clauses relating to exit payments.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to Best in Class, published by the CBI in December 2015, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of Swedish four box grid approach to analysing the attractiveness of international markets.

Anna Soubry

In CBI’s Best in Class report, the reference to the Swedish four box grid approach was part of a wider recommendation on allocating overseas resources for business support.

The UK Government recognises that it has a crucial role to play in supporting businesses that export and invest in international markets.

The Government is committed to focusing UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) overseas resources for business support in those markets that can deliver greatest benefit for the UK. UKTI uses similar publicly-available market data to Sweden (including GDP growth, political risk and the ease of doing business) in its assessment of export markets, but importantly this is just one input into the opportunity-focused, five-year rolling business planning process being developed to guide resource 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, how many UK Trade and Industry (UKTI) staff have direct experience of working in private sector exporting companies before taking up their employment at UKTI.

Anna Soubry

UK Trade & Investment does not hold information on staff with direct experience of working in private sector exporting companies. I can however confirm that a large number of its staff have been recruited from the private sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost of retail crime was to businesses in each year for which data is available.

Karen Bradley

The Home Office does not hold the information requested.

The Home Office runs an annual Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) which asks business premises in different sectors about their experience of various crime types, including fraud, in the latest year.

In order to keep the length of the survey, and hence the burden on respondents, to a minimum, businesses are only asked about the cost of the latest incident of each crime type experienced in the year. Therefore, it is not possible to provide an aggregate cost of fraud or overall crime to businesses in the retail sector.