Tag: Liam Byrne

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress his Department has made on increasing the number of women in engineering roles.

Mr David Willetts

BIS funds or supports a range of activities aimed at increasing the number of women in science and engineering roles. 55% of National Science and Engineering Competition prize winners were girls, as was the UK Young Engineer of the Year 2014.

BIS also funds STEMNET to run the STEM Ambassadors programme: a nationwide network of over 28,000 volunteers who visit schools to inspire young people, act as role models and bring STEM career opportunities to life. 40% of STEM Ambassadors are women. 91% of UK state secondary schools accessed STEM Ambassadors between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014.

BIS is also part of the ‘Your Life’ campaign that is designed to boost participation in science, technology, engineering and maths at school and beyond. Over 180 leading businesses and institutions have pledged to do more to highlight the career opportunities open to those studying STEM subjects, committing to create over 2000 new entry level positions including apprenticeships, graduate jobs or paid work experience posts.

As one of our pledges under the Your Life campaign, on 12 June 2014, my Hon. Friend the Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise (Matthew Hancock) announced £30 million funding to increase the supply of engineers, to encourage more women into the sector and to address engineering skills shortages in smaller companies. The fund will enable engineering companies to establish training programmes to develop future engineers and boost the number of women in the profession. £10 million of the fund will be directed to a call to ‘Developing Women Engineers’ and £10 million to a call to ‘Improving Engineering Careers’.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when (a) he and (b) officials in his Department first heard about allegations of misconduct at the Park View Educational Trust.

Mr Edward Timpson

The allegations made in relation to Park View Educational Trust in Birmingham are very serious and are being investigated. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, made a statement to the House on 9 June 2014 on the allegations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of public expenditure on science on UK economic productivity figures.

Mr David Willetts

A number of academic studies find a positive link between research and development (R&D) investment and economic growth. Much of the relevant evidence was set out in a recent report for BIS "Insights from international benchmarking of the UK science and innovation system[1]" and the 2014 BIS Innovation Report[2].

A further recent UK report estimated that public investment in science yields a social rate of return of around 20%, through its impact on private sector productivity[3]. This means that for every £1 spent by Government on R&D, private sector output rises by 20 pence per year in perpetuity. This effect could be larger where additional public spending on R&D attracts additional private R&D spending. The same report and other studies have shown that there is a "crowding-in" effect of public investment on R&D. The effect is greater in industries that conduct significant R&D or collaborate with universities.

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/science-and-innovation-system-international-benchmarking

[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/innovation-report-2014-innovation-research-and-growth

[3]http://sciencecampaign.org.uk/UKScienceBase.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average annual cost of training an apprentice aged 16 to 18 is; and what proportion of such costs is borne by (a) the public purse, (b) individuals and (c) employers.

Matthew Hancock

The cost of providing an Apprenticeship is highly variable.

In 2012, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) commissioned a report from The Institute for Employment Research entitled: “Employer Investment in Apprenticeships and Workplace Learning”

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32306/12-814-employer-investment-in-apprenticeships-fifth-net-benefits-study.pdf

The report gives details of the costs of Apprenticeships to employers in several sectors for 16-18 year olds and for 19-24 year olds. It also compares the contribution of employers to that of the state.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings he has had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.

Andrea Leadsom

As was the case under previous administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average unit cost per year to train an apprentice aged 19 to 24 is; and what proportion of such costs is borne by (a) the public purse, (b) apprentices and (c) employers.

Matthew Hancock

The cost of providing an Apprenticeship is highly variable.

In 2012, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) commissioned a report from The Institute for Employment Research entitled: “Employer Investment in Apprenticeships and Workplace Learning”

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32306/12-814-employer-investment-in-apprenticeships-fifth-net-benefits-study.pdf

The report gives details of the costs of Apprenticeships to employers in several sectors for 16-18 year olds and for 19-24 year olds. It also compares the contribution of employers to that of the state.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many meetings he has had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.

Mr Philip Dunne

As was the case under previous administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.