Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage the commercialisation of university research in the UK.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
University-business collaboration and the effective commercialisation of university research is critical to achieving the Government’s ambition to spend 2.4% of GDP on R&D by 2027. The Government has introduced a range of incentives and investments to support universities, charities and businesses to work together, such as:
As well as supporting universities in England through:
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps her Department has taken to help businesses create higher skilled jobs in (a) Surrey and (b) the UK
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership, which covers Surrey, received £219 million through the local growth fund to drive regional development. Since 2018, the LEP has invested over half a million pounds to support the enhancement and refurbishment of Further Education colleges in Surrey. This investment is increasing the number of available apprenticeships in the sectors important to Surrey, providing local businesses with a workforce equipped with the right skills, whatever the specialism.
The Government understands that regions across the UK have different skills needs, so we will build on local strengths to deliver opportunities for people wherever they live. One way we will achieve this in Surrey is through the Enterprise M3 Skills Advisory Panel which bring together local employers and skills providers to pool knowledge on skills and labour market needs and work together to understand and address key local challenges.
Furthermore, business support for Surrey's small enterprises is available through the LEP's Growth Hub. The Growth Hub provides a free, impartial, ‘single point of contact’ to help businesses in the area identify and access the right support for them at the right time no matter their size or sector.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many households were in fuel poverty in the UK in 2018.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Fuel poverty is a devolved issue, with each nation in the UK having its own fuel poverty definition. Due to both definitional and methodological differences, fuel poverty is not published for the UK level.
Latest data for each of the four nations is available at the following links:
England: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2019
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-house-condition-survey-2017-key-findings/
Wales: https://gov.wales/fuel-poverty-estimates-wales
Northern Ireland: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/estimates-of-fuel-poverty-in-northern-ireland-in-2017-and-2018
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps her Department has taken to support high street retailers.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Government wants all types of retail to thrive, and we are supporting the sector as it responds to change. This is why we established the industry led Retail Sector Council to bring Government and industry together to help the sector address key sector issues and define its future strategy.
The Council is prioritising its work to address the key challenges facing the sector and is focussing on; costs to business, skills and lifelong learning, employment protection, consumer protection, the circular economy and the Industrial Strategy. The priority areas were selected by the industry and each workstream is being led by a senior industry figure.
In July 2019, the Prime Minister set out this Government’s plan to unite and level up cities, towns, coastal and rural areas across our country. He announced a £3.6 billion Towns Fund to set out his vision to re-energise local economies so that everyone can share in a new era of prosperity. This included £1 billion for the Future High Streets Fund, which will support local areas in England to renew and reshape town centres and high streets in a way that improves experience, drives growth and ensures future sustainability.
Finally, we are supporting local leadership with a High Streets Task Force, giving high streets and town centres expert advice to adapt and thrive. This will provide hands-on support to local areas to develop data-driven innovative strategies and connect local areas to relevant experts.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps she has taken to support businesses in Woking constituency.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Through the Government’s ambitious Industrial Strategy, we want to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business, to create jobs and spread prosperity.
The Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership, which covers Woking, received £219 million through the local growth fund to drive regional development. Since 2017, the LEP has invested £12 million to support Woking’s businesses, and recently agreed to invest £3 million to improve transport access to businesses in Woking.
Business support for Woking's small enterprises is available through the LEP's Growth Hub. The Growth Hub provides a free, impartial, ‘single point of contact’ to help businesses in the area identify and access the right support for them at the right time no matter their size or sector. This support includes helping businesses prepare for Brexit.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps she has taken to support businesses in Woking.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what main policy areas will be covered by his Department's forthcoming Emissions Reduction Plan; and when his Department plans to publish that plan.
Answered by Nick Hurd
We are looking ahead to our emissions reduction plan which will set out how we will reduce emissions through the 2020s and so form an important signal to the markets, businesses and investors.
We are investing the time now to undertake critical preparatory work to ensure we get this right. This includes engaging across businesses, industry and other stakeholders on the shared challenge of moving to a low carbon economy.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of savings to businesses in (a) Woking constituency, (b) Surrey, (c) the South East and (d) the UK as a result of the Red Tape Challenge.
Answered by Margot James
The Red Tape Challenge programme ran until 2015. In the Statement of New Regulation published in December 2014, the previous Government identified over 3,000 regulations to scrap or improve, delivering estimated savings to UK businesses of over £850m per year as a result of the programme. Analysis of the impact of the deregulatory reforms on a geographical basis was not developed.