Tag: Lord Taylor of Warwick

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of increasing business rates on retailers’ capacity to tackle low pay.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government recognises that business rates represent a fixed cost which can be more burdensome during times of economic difficulty. It is currently considering the impact of business rates on the retail sector as part of the ongoing business rates review. The review will complete by the end of the year.

Further, the Chancellor recently set out major plans to devolve new powers from Whitehall to local areas to promote growth and prosperity. This includes giving councils the power to reduce business rates to support businesses in their area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the Prince of Wales’ visit to the startup academy Wayra UK, they have plans to promote the #iwill campaign.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Cabinet Office has pledged to support the #iwill campaign by ensuring that all young people have the opportunity to engage in meaningful youth social action opportunities. The Cabinet Office has renewed its commitment to the campaign and will invest £1million to support the development of youth social action opportunities in 2015/16. Any future investment will be announced after the autumn statement 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-12-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to introduce measures to set quotas for women on boards.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Government is committed to seeing more women on the boards of British companies. We believe that a business led, voluntary approach is the best way to get more women on boards, as set out in Lord Davies of Abersoch’s review 2010 into the subject.This approach is working, with 26.2% representation in the FTSE 100, up from 12.5% in 2011. We will build on this with a new programme of work set out by Lord Davies in his recent 5 year report on progress. Government will therefore not be introducing measures to set quotas for women on boards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-01-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the global economy of gender equality in the technology sector.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The technology industry contributes over £91 billion to the UK economy and forecasts show the number of tech specialists in the UK will increase from 1.2m in 2014 to 1.6m in 2024. However, women only make up 17% of the current tech specialist workforce.

That is why the Government is supporting independent campaigns such as Your Life and #notjustforboys which inspire girls to consider STEM careers. Top graduates are being recruited into teaching through bursaries and scholarships in mathematics and the sciences and over the next 5 years up to 2,500 additional teachers will be trained in maths and physics. Since 2010, the Government’s plan for education has resulted in 12,000 more STEM A level entries for women.

Increasing the number of women in the tech sector will not only be good for women, who will benefit from rewarding and interesting careers, but it will also benefit the businesses they work for, improving both profits and the quality of decision making.

This government is committed to encouraging women and girls to consider STEM careers and on International Women’s Day, we will be convening a Round Table with key stakeholders from industry, academia and government to agree what more we can take collectively to increase the number of women in digital roles.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of criticism from the British Retail Consortium that proposed changes in business rates are inadequate.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government announced at Budget 2016 the biggest ever cut in business rates in England – worth £6.7 billion over the next five years. All ratepayers will benefit from the package and 600,000 of the smallest businesses, including many retailers, will not have to pay business rates again.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the Australian model for payment disputes could help small UK suppliers.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

In establishing the UK Small Business Commissioner through the Enterprise Act 2016, the Government has taken inspiration from the Australian Small Business Commissioner (now the Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman) and Small Business Commissioners at state level in Australia. These bodies provide advice and access to alternative dispute resolution to small businesses involved in a variety of disputes, which may include some payment disputes.

The UK Small Business Commissioner will focus on payment disputes between small and larger businesses and encourage a change in how businesses deal with each other – a long lasting cultural change to promote fair treatment for all. He or she will act as a disincentive to unfavourable payment practices, and build the confidence and capabilities of small businesses to help them to assert themselves in contractual disputes and negotiate more effectively. The Commissioner will provide general information and advice, direct small businesses to existing dispute resolution services (eg, mediation services and ombudsmen) and handle complaints from small businesses about payment issues

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-09-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possible impact of Brexit on workers’ pensions.

Lord Freud

The period since the referendum has seen movements in market conditions that could have a material impact on pension schemes funding positions. However, the precise effect will depend on a number of factors including how assets are allocated and the approach to hedging. It is important to remember that pensions are invested in the long-term. We continue to monitor the impact.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to help London’s small technology companies and to protect technology talent.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

We are committed to ensuring that Britain is the best place in Europe to innovate, patent new ideas and start a business, including small tech businesses. Innovate UK provides support to businesses across the UK with around 60% of its grant funding going to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to help them to develop new ideas and recruit and retain tech talent. We are supporting more companies to do research and development through the UK’s R&D Tax Credits scheme. The total of R&D support claimed rose to £2.45bn in 2014-15, an increase of £675m (38%) on the previous year.

An example of a specific activity in London is Tech City UK (TCUK), funded by Government, who focus their efforts to accelerate the growth of digital businesses at all stages of their development across the UK. TCUK creates a positive culture in relation to digital technology and technological entrepreneurship, and fosters the right policy and business environment for start-up and high-growth entrepreneurial businesses. It does this by connecting entrepreneurs to other businesses and investors, whilst also providing a vital feedback loop to government to ensure that policy development is fit for purpose.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support women and ethnic minorities to reach senior positions in the legal sector.

Lord Faulks

The Government is keen to see a diverse legal profession. Regulation of the legal profession is independent of Government. The Legal Services Board (LSB) and Approved Regulators are responsible for setting the requirements for entry to the profession as well as for continued professional development. These bodies have a duty to promote competition in the provision of regulated legal services, and encourage an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession.

There are a number of initiatives being taken forward on education and training by the three largest frontline regulators for the legal profession, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Bar Standards Board and CILEx Regulation, to widen opportunities for a more diverse pool of people to enter the profession through more flexible routes to qualification. These are published on each of the frontline regulators’ website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps are being taken to increase racial diversity in the workplace in the light of the Business in the Community report Race at Work 2015, which found that ethnic minority Britons are struggling against bias at work.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Equality Act 2010 protects all individuals against racial and other forms of discrimination in the workplace. The Prime Minister has underlined the Government’s commitments to increasing racial diversity in the workplace in his 2020 Vision in which he made a commitment to increase BAME employment by 20% by 2020. Her Majesty’s Government welcomes the publication of the Race at Work report and will study its recommendations carefully,.