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Written Question
Additional Restrictions Grant
Monday 18th October 2021

Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the funding allocated to local authorities under the Additional Restrictions Grant Scheme had been spent by 31 July.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

All data on Government allocations and Local Authority payments of the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) is available at GOV.UK. As at the last date of publishing, 29 August 2021, Local Authorities had received £2,023,461,804 in ARG funding, and overall had reported to us as having spent £1,710,673,774.


Written Question
Travel: Additional Restrictions Grant
Monday 18th October 2021

Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to reallocate unspent money from the Additional Restrictions Grant Scheme to support travel agents, tour operators and other travel businesses.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has introduced an unprecedented package of support for businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, including grants, business interruption loans and the Coronavirus Job Support Scheme.

Allocation of Additional Restrictions Grant funds is solely within the remit of Local Authorities, as they are best placed to provide support that suits the needs of their local area. We continue to work closely with Local Authorities, encouraging them to distribute funding to those businesses most impacted by the restrictions. Reconciliation of the scheme will be undertaken after the closure of the fund on 31 March 2022.


Written Question
Business: Females
Wednesday 22nd July 2020

Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they have worked with businesses to increase female representation in senior leadership positions, including executive roles on boards, since February.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

We are working with businesses and business representative bodies to achieve diverse boardrooms and senior leadership teams for FTSE 350 companies by supporting the independent, business-led diversity reviews that have set targets for these companies: the Hampton-Alexander Review on FTSE Women Leaders and the Parker Review on ethnic diversity in business leadership.

Women hold a higher percentage of senior leadership positions in FTSE 350 companies than ever before. The FTSE100 as a whole has met the Hampton-Alexander Review 33% target for female representation on boards well ahead of the end of the Review period – end of 2020, and the FTSE 250 is currently also on course to reach the target by the end of the year.


Written Question
Employment: Females
Wednesday 20th May 2020

Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any disproportionate adverse effect on women in the labour market resulting from COVID-19.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Government is actively monitoring the impact of Covid-19 on the labour market, including the impact on women and on other groups.

However, it is too early to draw any firm conclusions. The next ONS labour market statistics will be released on 19th May, covering the 3 month period up to the end of March. Analysis of this and other data will provide an indication of early impacts of covid-19 on the labour market.


Written Question
Funerals
Thursday 11th October 2018

Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will conduct a review of the extent to which funeral directors enter into arrangements that restrict consumer choice and are anti-competitive, with a view to appropriate controls being introduced.

Answered by Lord Henley

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the independent non-Ministerial department responsible for investigating competition issues in the UK. It is currently conducting a market study to review the effectiveness of competition for consumers in the funerals market.


Written Question
FTSE Women Leaders Review
Wednesday 18th July 2018

Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how often the Hampton-Alexander Review has appeared on a (1) Cabinet Committee, and (2) Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy management meeting agendas in the last two years.

Answered by Lord Henley

Diversity and Inclusion in the boardroom and workplace is a hugely important element of building an economy that works for all. The Government is committed to a cohesive society, where everyone - no matter what their background – has the opportunity to enter into and progress at work and achieve on merit.

The Government commissioned and supports the independent, business-led Hampton-Alexander Review to meet its targets of women holding 33% of senior leadership positions and 33% of board positions in FTSE350 companies by 2020.

The Hampton-Alexander Review and other reviews promoting Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace, have featured on the agenda and in wider discussions at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s senior management meetings on at least a monthly basis in the last two years. It has also been discussed over the last eighteen months at the three Minister-led Business Diversity & Inclusion Group meetings chaired by Andrew Griffiths, and by Margot James previously, at Interministerial Group meetings and at a meeting between the Permanent Secretary of BEIS and the Chair of the BEIS Select Committee.


Written Question
Women on Boards Review and FTSE Women Leaders Review
Wednesday 18th July 2018

Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what budget was allocated to (1) the Davies Review in 2015, and (2) the Hampton-Alexander Review in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, and (c) 2018; and what budget they plan to allocate to the Hampton-Alexander Review in 2019.

Answered by Lord Henley

The noble Lord Davies chaired the government-commissioned, independent and business-led Women on Boards review from 2010 to 2015 to increase the representation of women on FTSE350 company boards to 25% by 2015. His initial report was published in February 2011 and the final report in October 2015. The former department (BIS) provided a small secretariat to support his work. A number of sponsors and stakeholders also contributed to events and the successful publishing of his reports.

The Government commissioned and supports the independent, business-led Hampton-Alexander Review to meet its targets of women holding 33% of senior leadership positions and 33% of board positions in FTSE350 companies by 2020. This succeeded the Davies Review into Women on Boards. It is led by Sir Philip Hampton, Chair of GSK. The late Dame Helen Alexander co-chaired the Review until her death in August 2017. The Review will be supported for the duration by a joint secretariat comprising of officials from BEIS and the Government Equalities Office. KPMG are the Review’s corporate sponsors. Like the Davies Review, there is no Government programme budget in addition to the support provided by officials.