Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2023 to Question 126730 on the UK Tradeshow Programme, how much and what proportion of the funding allocated to the Exhibit element of the UK Tradeshow Programme pilot was spent in 2022-23; and how many exhibitors received support through the scheme that same year.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Tradeshow Programme 2022-2023 had a total allocated budget of £904,512.00 with actual spend totalling £347,755.67.
From 2022-2023, the Department spent a proportion of this on identifiable exhibitor and attendee elements. £191,057.54 on the exhibitor element and £41,020 on attendees’ elements. In the same period, the Department provided 56 exhibitors and 35 attendees with support.
The Tradeshow Programme offered an insight into how the Government can support business. We will continue to analyse the ways in which we can develop business support programmes to meet business needs, such as the Help to Grow scheme, and Business Academy programmes.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2023 to Question 126731 on the UK Tradeshow Programme, how much and what proportion of funding allocated to the Attendee element of the UK Tradeshow Programme pilot scheme was spent in 2022-23; and how many attendees received support through the scheme.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Tradeshow Programme 2022-2023 had a total allocated budget of £904,512.00 with actual spend totalling £347,755.67.
From 2022-2023, the Department spent a proportion of this on identifiable exhibitor and attendee elements. £191,057.54 on the exhibitor element and £41,020 on attendees’ elements. In the same period, the Department provided 56 exhibitors and 35 attendees with support.
The Tradeshow Programme offered an insight into how the Government can support business. We will continue to analyse the ways in which we can develop business support programmes to meet business needs, such as the Help to Grow scheme, and Business Academy programmes.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Answer of 8 February 2022 to Question 114620, how much and what proportion of the £1.5 million allocated to the Exhibit element of the UK Tradeshow Programme was spent; and how many exhibitors received support through the scheme in the financial year 2021-22.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Tradeshow Programme 2021-2022 had a total allocated budget of £1,522,768. The actual spend for that period was £739,161.74 or 48.5%.
The exhibitor element of the scheme launched on 30 November 2021 with a budget of £251,427.36 and supported eight shows. The exhibitor spend was £13,600. Four exhibitor applications were received, two were successful.
The attendee element was launched on 20 January 2022 and the total attendee spend for 2021-22 was £0. Three complete applications were received, two not reaching the required criteria and one offer made but declined.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Answer of 8 February 2022 to Question 114620, what the cost to the public purse of the attendee element of the UK Tradeshow Programme was; and how many attendees received support through the scheme in financial year 2021-22.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Tradeshow Programme 2021-2022 had a total allocated budget of £1,522,768. The actual spend for that period was £739,161.74 or 48.5%.
The exhibitor element of the scheme launched on 30 November 2021 with a budget of £251,427.36 and supported eight shows. The exhibitor spend was £13,600. Four exhibitor applications were received, two were successful.
The attendee element was launched on 20 January 2022 and the total attendee spend for 2021-22 was £0. Three complete applications were received, two not reaching the required criteria and one offer made but declined.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has plans to make further funding available to schools in Harrow to improve their safety, capacity and effectiveness; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware a building may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.
The 2021 Spending Review announced a budget of over £19 billion of capital funding to support the education sector between 2022/23 and 2024/25. This funding is in addition to targeted work on RAAC. The Department has continued to fund improving the condition of schools, with over £15 billion allocated since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for 2023/24, informed by consistent data on the condition of the estate.
On top of this, 500 schools will be transformed through the School Rebuilding Programme, prioritising buildings in the poorest condition and those with evidence of potential safety issues. The Sacred Heart Language College in Harrow has been announced as one of the schools included in the School Rebuilding Programme.
Harrow Local Authority has received £2,695,355 in School Condition Allocations (SCA) for the 2023/24 financial year. Harrow Local Authority is responsible for allocating this funding across its schools based on local knowledge of condition need, prioritising keeping schools safe and operational. Academy trusts and voluntary aided school bodies also have access to capital funding each year, but allocations typically cut across constituency and Local Authority boundaries. Local Authority schools in Harrow have also been allocated a total of £334,502 in Devolved Formula Capital in 2023/24 to spend on their own priorities. Allocations can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding#funding-allocations-for-the-2023-to-2024-financial-year.
The Department’s immediate focus is supporting schools and colleges with remedial work to deal with RAAC. The Department will fund mitigation works that are capital funded, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, this should be discussed with the Department in the first instance to agree any further support needed. All reasonable requests are expected to be approved. Longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.
With regard to school capacity, the Department is funding nearly £750 million in 2023/24 for new mainstream school places needed for September 2024, a further £195 million for 2024/25 for places needed for September 2025, and nearly £530 million for 2025/26 for places needed for September 2026. £2.6 billion is also being funded between 2022 and 2025 in high needs capital which represents a significant, transformational investment in new high needs provision.
The Department is also improving the capability and effectiveness of the sector through guidance such as Good Estate Management for Schools (GEMS), and Capital Advisers Programme to help schools and responsible bodies achieve value for money and make the most of their resources.
The Department will always put the safety and wellbeing of children and staff in education settings at the heart of its policy decisions.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of (a) the scale of the work and (b) the time needed to bring Harrow Crown Court back into full use; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 18 August 2023, following routine maintenance, reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was identified at Harrow Crown Court, a court built in the 1990s. HMCTS took the decision to close the site and work is underway at Harrow Crown Court for the removal of RAAC from the building. We are now carrying out surveys at all courts built during 1990s.
The current estimate is that this work will take between six and nine months to complete. HMCTS have taken steps to minimise disruption to operational services. Cases have been moved to other courts within London.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department was first informed of potential safety concerns at Harrow Crown Court; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 18 August 2023, following routine maintenance, reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was identified at Harrow Crown Court, a court built in the 1990s. HMCTS took the decision to close the site on the same day and work is underway at Harrow Crown Court for the removal of RAAC from the building. We are now carrying out surveys at all courts built during 1990s.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting Hong Kong MTR Corporation’s Rail plus Property (R+P) model for incentivising housing development near or over railway lines; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We are committed to the role of private sector in UK rail, increasing private investment, and learning lessons from international models. Our railways can be a catalyst for regeneration and development. Currently for station upgrades, we consider a range of possible models and how these might be combined with development opportunities around the station. In future, Great British Railways will work proactively with partners to support better development near stations and share best practice, using the essential understanding of how to develop sites alongside operational railways that it will take on from Network Rail.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2023 to Question 190246 on India: Aviation, what the remaining restrictions are on air services between UK regional airports and points in India; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
There are no restrictions on the frequency of air services, using any type of aircraft, that might be operated between UK regional airports and New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. For air services between points in the UK and any other points in India, there is a limit of 7 services per week, using any type of aircraft.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement entitled Law Commission reviews of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and Friendly Societies Act 1992, published on 19 June 2023, whether Commissioners have been appointed to conduct the reviews; what estimate he has made of when the review will be concluded; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement, the Government has invited the Law Commission to conduct reviews of the Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and Friendly Societies Act 1992. The Treasury is now working with the Law Commission to formally agree a terms of reference and a timetable for each review once the projects are formally agreed.
The Law Commission’s statement on the reviews can be found here: https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/law-commission-invited-to-review-legislation-on-cooperatives-and-friendly-societies/
The Government expects that the reviews will start in the autumn.