Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
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 has plans to support the expansion of the offshore wind industry to the south-east coast.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government set out in the British Energy Security Strategy its ambition to deliver up to 50GW of offshore wind by 2030. The South-East stands to benefit from the growth of this sector with, for example, RWE developing the 1.2GW Rampion 2 project off the Sussex coast.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department's definition of a SME is; whether micro-businesses, defined as a business that contracts ten or fewer employees, are included in his Department’s SME programmes; and whether those programmes are adjusted to meet micro-businesses specific requirements.
Answered by Paul Scully
There is no single formal definition of an SME used by the UK government in designing government schemes. Schemes have different eligibility criteria depending on their aims. All businesses, including micro-businesses can apply to government schemes if they believe they meet the eligibility criteria.
The Government provides a range of support that all businesses, including micro businesses can access. These include information on starting up and running a business on GOV.UK, one to one advice via our free Business Support Helpline and through 38 Growth Hubs across England, government backed Start-Up Loans, and businesses with 5 or more employees can access our Help to Grow schemes.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the possibility of using funding under UK SHORE to support the electrification of cross-Solent ferries.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) has been allocated £206m research and development funding to address the technological barriers to domestic maritime decarbonisation. As such, DfT has not made a specific assessment of using funding from UK SHORE to support the electrification of cross-Solent ferries. However, UK SHORE interventions will have a direct reduction of emissions impact on our domestic ferries and lifeline services.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy on Isle of Wight-based shipbuilders.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh includes a package of measures to encourage UK exports, commercialise green technology, and improve skills shortages. It also includes support to increase UK shipyards productivity and competitiveness. The National Shipbuilding Office, which is closely engaged with the shipbuilding enterprise on the Isle of Wight, has a clear focus on supporting UK shipyards and related businesses.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to help increase the survival rate of micro-businesses in rural and isolated communities.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is providing a range of support to help small and medium-sized businesses across the UK with rising costs, including those in rural communities. The Government has cut fuel duty for 12 months, raised the Employment Allowance to £5,000, and is zero-rating VAT on energy-saving materials. This builds on existing support, including business rates relief worth £7 billion over five years.
Additionally, Help to Grow programmes will enable eligible SMEs to mitigate the effects of rising costs by providing financial discounts on approved digital technologies up to a value of £5000 and improving SME leadership and management skills though subsidised courses.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken to (a) conduct health assessments and (b) implement the results in the Employment and Support Allowance scheme.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper explored how the benefits system can better meet the needs of claimants now and in the future by improving claimant experience of our services, enabling independent living and improving employment outcomes.
We recognise that improvements could be made to the assessment process and we plan to publish a Health and Disability White Paper later this year.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will introduce skilled, sustainable and vocationally appropriate courses to replace the low-quality courses he plans to remove.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department is revitalising the technical education system by introducing T Levels that are backed and designed by employers to get people into skilled work and further training. T Levels are at the centre of our long-term reforms to technical education, building on the recommendations in the Sainsbury Report, published in 2016. Alongside the introduction of T Levels, the department is reviewing post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below. We have withdrawn funding approval for more than 5,000 qualifications that had no or low enrolments. The next phase of our reforms is to remove qualifications that overlap with T Levels for 16 to 19 year olds, which will reduce complexity for young people and employers.
The department is also reviewing the qualifications that sit alongside A levels and T Levels at level 3 and below. Our reforms will ensure that all students have confidence that every qualification is a high-quality option, and that it supports their progression to employment or further study, including higher education.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on decisions on the future of the Camp Hill prison site.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
There are no plans to reopen the Camp Hill prison site.
The prison estate is kept under careful review to ensure there is sufficient capacity. Decisions on the future size of the prison estate will reflect the current and projected prison population, including an assessment of the necessary margin to manage population fluctuations.
We are investing £3.8bn to deliver 20,000 additional, modern prison places, including up to 2,000 temporary prison places across England and Wales by the mid-2020s.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress he has made on establishing an Islands Forum; when that forum will become the responsibility of specific Ministers; which Ministers will be responsible for that forum; and when he expects that forum will start playing a role in levelling up UK islands.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is responsible for the Islands Forum. Since the Forum was announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, UK Government officials have been working with local councils to identify the appropriate leaders from island communities to be involved in the Forum. The Secretary of State will be setting out further details about the Forum soon.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the Government's policy is on individuals subject to sanctions pursuing legal action in the UK courts.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA) provides sanctioned individuals with a right to review of their designation, and designated persons are able to challenge that decision in UK courts.