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 7 December 2023 to Question 4799 on Small Businesses: Exports, how the £200 million of funding to support small and medium-sized enterprises (a) has been spent in each of the last three years and (b) will be spent on (i) the UK Export Academy, (ii) International Trade Advisors, (iii) Help to Grow, (iv) the Export Support Service and (v) the Business Support Helpline.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Between 2022-2025, DBT currently plan to spend, including expenditure incurred, a maximum of £86.1 million on the Help to Grow: Management scheme and Business Support Helpline, £19.4 million on the Export Support Service Digital enquiry service and International Markets service, and Export Support delivered by DBT teams in the English Regions (which includes International Trade Advisers in England and the UK wide Export Academy) expect to spend £84.2 million
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints her Department has received about the conduct of Ofsted inspectors during school inspections in each of the last three years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Matters concerning the pausing of school inspections and the consideration of complaints about the conduct of inspectors are for Ofsted, which is a separate non-ministerial department and independent inspectorate.
The department does not collect specific data on correspondence received that refers to the conduct of inspectors.
I have asked His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, to write to the hon. Member, the Member for Harrow West, directly on these matters and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Ofsted inspections have been paused due to headteacher distress in each of the last 3 years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Matters concerning the pausing of school inspections and the consideration of complaints about the conduct of inspectors are for Ofsted, which is a separate non-ministerial department and independent inspectorate.
The department does not collect specific data on correspondence received that refers to the conduct of inspectors.
I have asked His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, to write to the hon. Member, the Member for Harrow West, directly on these matters and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the average time taken by UK Visas and Immigration to respond to emails about applications for temporary work religious worker visas in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office does not publish data that would cover this request.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken to process an application for a temporary work religious worker visa (a) overall and (b) under the priority service scheme was in each of the last three years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office does not publish data that would cover this request.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the number of people with a temporary work religious worker visa who overstayed their visa in each of the last three years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office does not publish data that would cover this request.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in his Department are involved in processing applications for temporary work religious worker visas as of 14 December 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office does not publish data that would cover this request.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for a temporary work religious worker visa were not approved by his Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office does not publish data that would cover this request.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Harrow West of 1 December 2023 on the AlShaikh family.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO recognises the importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence, particularly on urgent matters. We are investigating the matters raised carefully and a response will be issued shortly.
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, what steps she is taking to ensure that the proposed three-year extension of the rules of origin for electric vehicles and batteries under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement will include electric (a) truck tractors and (b) truck tractor batteries.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Commission has proposed a 3-year delay to the rules of origin for certain electric accumulators and electrified vehicles. The scope of the proposal is limited to only those rules which were staged over several years and due to change in 2024 and in 2027. The rules which apply to battery electric truck tractors were not due to change in 2024 and have been in force since the end of the transition period.
We continue to listen closely to the concerns of the sector and work with industry to maximise the benefits provided by the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.