Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what criteria his Department used to determine the preferred bidder in the sale of the Green Investment Bank; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Hurd
In its “Green Investment Bank: sale of shares” report laid before Parliament on 3 March 2016, the Government set out its objectives for the sale and the process by which the sale would be conducted. Bids have been evaluated at each stage of the process against the Government’s sale objectives.
Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
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 fully to utilise the electricity interconnection between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK before the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
We are pleased that the Moyle interconnector is back up to full strength after a period of reduced capacity. This will help with security of supply, and the stability and flexibility of the grid in Northern Ireland.
One of the issues for the Moyle interconnector is that imports into Scotland are constrained by wider constraints on the Scottish grid and on the border between Scotland and England. A number of measures are being taken to strengthen the Scottish grid and grid connections to England. These include the Western HVDC link, which is due for completion in mid-2017 and will provide an additional 2.2GW of capacity.
Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the merits of increasing the capacity of the Moyle electricity interconnector between Northern Ireland and Scotland to improve electricity interconnection within the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government supports the development of new interconnection where it delivers benefits to the consumer, and our approach is designed to deliver those benefits in the most efficient way. We have a developer-led approach to interconnection where the market identifies the best projects and applies to Ofgem to assess their merits. In the 2016 Budget the Government said that it supports the increase of interconnection capacity to at least 9GW; if a developer was to propose additional capacity between Northern Ireland and the GB market, Ofgem would assess it on its merits.
Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25652, whether EU nationals are able to apply for apprenticeships in England.
Answered by Nick Boles
An EU national can be employed in an apprenticeship in England, and will be eligible for funding for their apprenticeship provided they meet set eligibility criteria.
These criteria are set out in the Skills Funding Agency: common funding rules for the 2016 to 2017 funding year.
Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25652, whether people resident in Northern Ireland are able to apply for apprenticeships in England.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) funds apprenticeships training in England. The devolved administrations of Northern Ireland (NI), Wales, and Scotland have their own funding arrangements for apprenticeships. Employers and training providers must not actively recruit learners who live or work outside of England.
Residents in NI can apply for English Apprenticeships provided they want to live in, or travel to, England to work and study. The SFA will only apply funding under these circumstances.
The SFA will not fund individuals whose main employment or normal place of work is not in England.
Skills is a devolved matter to NI and are funded by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) in NI.
Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25652, what media outlets will be used to carry advertising as part of the national campaign for apprenticeships.
Answered by Nick Boles
The national campaign for apprenticeships will target a range of audiences including young people, employers and parents.
Advertising will be through a number of different media channels including television, out of home advertising (e.g. posters), radio, digital and social media.
Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the contribution by the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise, of 2 February 2016, Official Report, column 884, what steps he is taking to ensure the national advertising campaign for apprenticeships extends to Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Boles
Education and skills policy (including Apprenticeships) is a devolved matter. It is for the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to determine how they manage their own programmes. This includes any advertising campaigns.