Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support economic growth in the construction industry.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The wider construction sector, including products manufacturing and associated professional services, had a turnover of £370 billion, generating 9% of UK Gross Value Added. It also accounts for around 9% of all employment in the UK. To improve productivity and support growth in the sector, the Government will invest £170m from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund in the Transforming Construction programme, which will be matched by significant industry funding. Two competitions were launched in March, to create an integrated innovation hub to develop and commercialise digital and manufacturing technologies for the construction sector, and to create an active building centre that will develop new energy generation and storage technologies for use in buildings. These competitions will conclude in June. The Transforming Construction programme will also support a range of other R&D and demonstration projects.
In addition, Government has published the National Infrastructure & Construction Pipeline, setting out planned investments in infrastructure and construction over the next ten years, to provide the industry with certainty about levels of investment, and to encourage it to invest in skills and new technologies to meet this. Further support for the modernisation of the industry will be provided by the presumption of offsite from 2019 adopted by 5 Government Departments. The Government and the construction sector are also working to develop a Sector Deal for construction, which will also support this objective. We aim to publish the Sector Deal this year.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect on the car industry in the (a) North East and (b) UK of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 26th February 2018 to Question 128893.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on industry in the (a) North East and (b) UK of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 26th February 2018 to Question 128893.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on manufacturing in (a) the North East and (b) the UK of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government’s Industrial Strategy has set out a long term approach to boost the UK’s productivity growth and ensure that we’re building an economy fit for the future. The White Paper has set out a range of measures aimed at increasing investment from the private and public sector, which will both be vital in meeting the objective of increasing our productivity and earning power for people across the UK. This includes a commitment to increase total R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.
The EU will remain a major trading partner for us. Throughout our negotiations, we are constantly attentive to the voice of business. They have asked for an implementation period and we are close to securing it.
We remain committed to making the UK the best place in Europe to own and grow a manufacturing business by cutting business taxes, slashing red tape and investing in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale. Through our Industrial Strategy, we will make sure that we are using all the tools we have to stimulate growth in places such as the North East. That means using our record investments in infrastructure to unlock growth in every part of the country; using the major new investment in research to support innovative manufacturing businesses across the country; and encouraging inward investment into the parts of the country where we need to get growth going faster.
The North East LEP Growth Deal supported by £379.6 million of funding is will with an estimated will provide 8,000 new jobs. The Growth Deal includes funding for the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) providing a world-class environment for high-tech industries and advanced manufacturing businesses. Sunderland Council estimates that it will bring £300 million of private sector investment into the region, helping support and grow the manufacturing sector in the North East.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of retrospective changes to the guidance on the application of the national minimum wage to sleep-in shifts on care workers in the learning disability sector; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Margot James
The legislation and policy regarding sleep-in shifts remains unchanged. However, employment tribunal judgments have, over time, clarified the position on what constitutes “work” in connection with sleeping time and therefore when the National Minimum Wage is payable for sleep-in shifts. Government guidance issued in February 2015 included clarification from those judgments. We are clear that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum or National Living Wage should receive it.
The Government is exploring further options to minimise any impact on the sector as a consequence of arrears arising from sleep-in shifts. Any intervention must be proportionate and necessary, and it must satisfy EU state aid rules on government support for private organisations. We are therefore engaging more widely with the social care sector, including the learning disability sector, to strengthen the evidence base.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to ask the Secretary of State what assessment he has made of the UK's ability to meet its carbon reduction targets.
Answered by Claire Perry
We should be proud of how we lead the world in tackling climate change – cutting emissions by over a third while growing the economy by two thirds since 1990.
We over-achieved the first carbon budget and are making good progress to meet the second and third.
We are looking to say more in The Clean Growth Strategy which will set out our future plans, building on the impressive progress to date.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to consider the potential merits of introducing bereavement leave for parents and carers after the death of a child.
Answered by Margot James
We are exploring options for supporting bereaved parents in employment. We would expect employers to be compassionate and flexible at such a difficult time, however we understand this is not always the case. So we are looking at ways to enable parents to take time away from work to grieve.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department takes to monitor and assess allegations of human rights abuses by UK-listed companies.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Where allegations are made against companies (listed or otherwise) about breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, including the guidelines on human rights, these breaches are assessed by the UK’s National Contact Point in accordance with the framework set out in the Guidelines.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses were compensated for the indirect costs of the (a) EU Emissions Trading System and (b) carbon price floor; what the average award per eligible business was; and what the total monetary value of such compensation was in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16 to date.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Since the compensation schemes for indirect costs of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and the Carbon Price Support (CPS) mechanism began, the total number of businesses compensated is 60 and 58 respectively. The table below sets out the amounts of compensation paid from 2013 to 2015 in calendar years. CPS compensation payments began in 2014. The average award per business over that period can be calculated from the table.
2013 | 2014 | 2015 (to 21 January 2016)* | TOTAL | |
(£) | (£) | (£) | ||
EU ETS | 31,707,192.00 | 19,632,228.00 | 18,130,331.00 | 69,469,751.00 |
CPS | 33,247,349.00 | 44,811,626.00 | 78,058,975.00 | |
TOTAL | 31,707,192.00 | 52,879,577.00 | 62,941,957.00 | 147,528,726.00 |
(* Claimants have until 31 March 2016 to submit Quarter 4 2015 applications).