Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received a forecast from Sheffield City Council of the amount it expects to distribute from the Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grant Fund; and if so, how much that forecast was.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Sheffield City Council has identified 9,334 businesses properties as in scope of the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF). As of 7 June, Sheffield City Council have issued grants to 7,329 businesses in scope of both schemes, totalling £87,270,000. Government is working closely with all local authorities to help them make remaining grant payments to businesses as quickly and effectively as possible, whilst safeguarding public funds.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government by which date local authorities will be expected to distribute the combined funding from the Small Business Grant Fund, the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund and the Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund; and if not all of the funds available have been spent by that date, what will happen to the amount not distributed.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is working closely with all local authorities to help them make payments to businesses in scope of the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF) as quickly and effectively as possible. As of 7 June £10.22 billion has been paid out to over 832,000 eligible business properties. On 1 May, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced a further up to £617 million available to Local Authorities in England to support businesses that are out of scope of the existing schemes.
Where a local authority has funding remaining after having paid grants to all eligible businesses, they will need to undertake a reconciliation exercise with government. We will be providing further details of this, and timing for the delivery of remaining funding to eligible businesses, in due course.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, where local authorities do not spend all of their allocation for the Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund, the recently announced top-up fund for Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund will have to come out of any such underspend.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has confirmed to Local Authorities that the additional costs of the Discretionary Grants Fund will firstly be met in whole, or in part, from unused monies allocated to them for the Small Business and Retail Hospitality and Leisure Grants Funds. Only where Local Authorities have disbursed more than 95% of their original funding allocation will their funding will be topped up to ensure that they can provide the full value of the Discretionary Grants Fund.
We recognise that some Local Authorities may still have residual initial funding available even accounting for the Discretionary Grants Fund expenditure. Officials continue to stay in close contact with Local Authorities?to understand how the schemes are performing and advising ministers on any additional support?which could be offered to help businesses and support local economies. No decisions have yet been taken, but the level of demand will continue to be monitored.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which minister was informed of the move of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills office from Sheffield to London, why they were informed, and whether they had any decision-making role in that move<i>.</i>
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Permanent Secretary and Executive Board have made the proposal to relocate policy roles to London. They are responsible for the day to day running of the Department. The proposal is part of the BIS 2020 programme agreed with Ministers to deliver £350m savings and be more effective in delivering Ministerial priorities.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they used in making the decision to move the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills office from Sheffield to London, and how those criteria were decided.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department has not yet made final decisions on its future estate or on the proposals for a combined BIS headquarters and policy centre in London. Our consultation on the proposals is still underway.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an equality assessment has been carried out regarding the move of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills office from Sheffield to London, and if so, what the findings were.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
An Equality Analysis on both the proposed move of all policy posts to London, and the proposed closure of the Sheffield office, has been carried out.
The Equality Analysis and findings have already been shared with the Departmental Trade Unions as part of the consultation.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what business case they have prepared regarding the move of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills office from Sheffield to London, and whether they will publish that document.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The proposal to move policy roles to London forms part of a wider strategic case to enable the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to deliver £350m of savings and be more effective in delivering Ministerial priorities. The proposals were not formed on the basis of any individual business case for a single location and the consultation on the proposal is continuing.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 26 April (HL7673), whether there exists an internal Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) report called <i>BIS2020 Finance and Headcount</i> that contains information about the move of the Sheffield BIS office to London.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government does not comment on internal or leaked documents.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the cost and headcount implications of moving the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills office from Sheffield to London by 2018, as indicated in <i>BIS2020 Finance and Headcount</i>.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government does not comment on leaked documents.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role they are playing in the EU to ensure that the dumping of cut-priced subsidised steel is brought to an end.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The government is strongly in favour of effective trade defences to tackle unfair trade practices. We voted in favour of anti-dumping measures on steel products in July and November. We also supported the imposition of provisional anti-dumping measures on reinforcing bar in January, an investigation for which we lobbied the European Commission successfully, and on cold-rolled flat steel products in February. We share the steel industry’s concerns about the level of duties imposed in both cases, and we are pressing the Commission to reconsider this. We also welcomed the opening of three new anti-dumping investigations in February.
The government is also pushing the Commission for faster, more effective action to deal with dumping of steel. This was one of the conclusions of the Extraordinary Competitiveness Council on Steel in November, a meeting which my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills was instrumental in convening. In advance of the European Commission’s energy-intensive industry stakeholder’s summit on 15 February – another key action from the Competitiveness Council - the government and several other EU Member States sent a joint letter to the Commission, pressing it to make full and timely use of all trade defence instruments to tackle unfair trade. My Rt Hon Friend the Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise played an active role at this summit. My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has also raised these issues in discussions with Trade Commissioner Malmström, most recently on 25 February. I reiterated the need for faster and more effective action on dumping at the Competitiveness Council held on 29th February and the Presidency conclusions of that Council reflected this message.
The government is also supporting a robust discussion of the issue of overcapacity through the EU’s ongoing dialogue with the Chinese and other governments.