Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham Yardley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether any Ministers from his Department attended the Presidents Club Charity Dinner run by the Meller Educatonal Trust in an official capacity.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
There were no Ministers from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy present at this event.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham Yardley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to promote and enable partners to share parental leave.
Answered by Margot James
Shared Parental Leave and Pay came into effect in December 2014 for the parents of children due or placed for adoption from 5 April 2015. The Coalition Government ran a multi-channel campaign comprising of PR, digital and advertising activity aimed at parents and their employers leading up to the scheme coming into effect. The scheme received national press coverage at the time of introduction and subsequently, and was also promoted through a number of stakeholder focussed events, targeted at parents, employers and HR professionals.
Information and advice on shared parental leave is available on GOV.UK and through Acas.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham Yardley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what research his Department has recently undertaken into the potential benefits of increasing paternity leave for men.
Answered by Margot James
In 2011, the Coalition Government consulted on a number of options to modernise employment entitlements relating to families. This led to the introduction of Shared Parental Leave and Pay for working parents; and the provisions in the Children and Families Act 2014 which enable Ministers to make Regulations to extend paternity leave and increase the rate of pay.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham Yardley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what grants and schemes his Department offers to small and medium-sized businesses to encourage innovation.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
My Department and its partner organisations are working to make the UK the best place in Europe to innovate, patent new ideas, start and grow a business. Innovate UK delivers a range of programmes to support business-led innovation, including tools specifically designed for early-stage small and medium sized businesses.
The Spending Review protects, in cash terms, total spending on innovation through Innovate UK. We are also expanding the network of Catapult Centres, which provide valuable innovation support to businesses, and helps turn their ideas into world-beating commercial applications. There are currently nine Catapults with a further two due to open later this year.
The UK Intellectual Property Office provides a wide range of support to businesses of all sizes through its on-line tools and direct engagement, including an IP audit scheme targeted at high growth SMEs.
Support is also provided by the Government through R&D tax credits, which now support between 70% and 80% of all business investment in R&D. In 2013/14 there were 18,000 companies using the R&D tax credit schemes, claiming a total of £1.75 billion. In addition, in the area of capital allowances, the permanent level of the Annual Investment Allowance has increased from £25,000 to £200,000 for all qualifying investment in plant and machinery made by business on or after 1 January 2016. 100% relief for capital expenditure incurred in the course of R&D activities is available under the Research & Development Allowance.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham Yardley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to promote opportunities for study and work in the UK to highly-skilled migrants with qualifications in STEM subjects.
Answered by Sajid Javid
We extend a warm welcome to international students in all subjects, and there is no cap on the number that can come here. The UK remains the second most popular destination for international students.
Through the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) Visa we are also providing opportunities for highly talented scientists to work in the UK and contribute to our economy. In the year to September 2015, there were 108 Tier 1 (exceptional talent) visas granted.
Government scholarships play an important role in promoting study in the UK. In 2015-16 we tripled the number of awards for Chevening scholars, and we will bring over 5,500 scholars to the UK over the next four years.