Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress her Department has made on working with major energy suppliers on the smart meter roll-out to ensure that it provides maximum benefit to consumers.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working closely with all energy suppliers on the roll-out to ensure that the consumer benefits are delivered.
Good progress has been made to date, with over 3 million meters having been installed. There is evidence that consumers are already saving energy. Recent British Gas research shows that smart meter customers have reduced energy consumption by around 3%, on average, for both gas and electricity.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government is taking to promote trade between the UK and other Commonwealth countries.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Her Majesty’s Government is represented across the Commonwealth and, as one of its priorities, is committed to helping UK business succeed overseas. UK Trade & Investment itself is represented in around half of all Commonwealth countries. There is therefore a range of services that business can benefit from, dependent on the scale of the opportunities in each country.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has recently made further appointments of designated Trade Envoys to Commonwealth countries which now include; Bangladesh, Ghana, Mozambique, Brunei, Malaysia, Nigeria, Canada, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on encouraging public procurement for British Steel.
Answered by Anna Soubry
BIS Ministers and officials have worked closely with my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Crown Commercial Service officials in developing the set of measures delivered through the Steel Procurement Working Group, including the issuing of steel-specific procurement guidance, the mapping of indicative quantities of steel for key projects and the updating of British standards for steel. This close working continues in the implementation of these measures, reporting to the Steel Council. On 3 April we announced we would extend the guidance to the wider public sector and we are setting up an approved list of steel suppliers.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on improving (a) business and (b) personal access to broadband.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government recognises the importance of broadband access throughout the UK for both businesses and individuals. I have regular discussions with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on how the UK can become a world leader in broadband, and on 24 February my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) announced a joint BIS/DCMS Review into Business Broadband to ensure that businesses are able to access the affordable, high-speed broadband they need.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to improve apprenticeship standards among employers.
Answered by Nick Boles
We have taken significant steps to improve the quality of apprenticeships. Apprenticeships now must have substantial training; last at least 12 months; and lead to full competency in an occupation.
We are going further by giving employers the opportunity to design high quality apprenticeships across a range of occupations to meet their skills needs. More than 1300 employers are involved with 205 new apprenticeships standards already published and more than 150 are in development.
The new Institute for Apprenticeships will support improvements in the quality of apprenticeship standards in England. It will be responsible for setting quality criteria for the development of standards and assessment plans, reviewing, approving or rejecting them; and quality assuring some end point assessments.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of 16 to 24 year olds not in education, employment or training.
Answered by Nick Boles
The most recent NEET Statistics Quarterly Brief estimates 11.6 per cent of 16-24 year olds were not in education, employment or training (NEET) in October – December 2015. This is a decrease of 1.5 percentage points since October – December 2014.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of recent trends in apprenticeship start-ups.
Answered by Nick Boles
There were 2.4 million apprenticeship starts over the previous parliament, and 499,900 apprenticeship starts in the 2014/15 academic year - an increase of 13.5 per cent on 2013/14.
The number of under-19 apprenticeships starts in 2014/15 was 125,900, this was up 5.1 percent on 2013/14. There were 19,800 starts on Higher and Degree Apprenticeships in 2014/15, an increase of 115 per cent on 2013/14 (9,200 starts).
We are taking action to support and encourage the growth of apprenticeships to meet our commitment to reaching 3 million starts by 2020.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to reduce the burden of EU regulation on businesses.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The February 2016 EU Reform settlement, secured by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, sets out concrete steps to reduce the burden of EU regulation on business. These include regulatory simplification (including the withdrawal or repeal of legislation); a specific focus on reducing the burden on SMEs and micro-enterprises; and establishing burden reduction targets in the most onerous areas for business.
We will now work with Member States to hold the EU institutions to account, overseeing the agreement and implementation of these measures.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps he has taken to promote regional growth in (a) East Yorkshire and (b) North Lincolnshire.
Answered by Anna Soubry
We are promoting growth in East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire by investing £240m through the Humber and Greater Lincolnshire Growth Deals. This includes up to £19m available to support growth projects in my hon. Friend’s constituency. We also announced at Spending Review 2015 an expansion to the Humber Enterprise Zone programme, including accelerating the development of employment land around the Port of Goole.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote trade opportunities for UK business in high-growth markets.
Answered by Anna Soubry
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Solihull (Julian Knight) on 25 February 2016 to Question 26214.