Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has for public consultation during the development of local industrial strategies.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Local Industrial Strategies are developed locally and agreed with government. In the policy prospectus published in October 2018, we set out that Local Industrial Strategies should be the product of consultation with businesses, a broad range of public partners and civil society. In addition to this, the ‘Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships’ Review published in July 2018 made clear that Local Enterprise Partnerships should operate to the highest standards of accountability and transparency and ensure the communities they represent can influence the economic plans for the area.
To be successful, Local Industrial Strategies must be developed from the bottom up and led by those who best know the needs of local economies. This locally led approach means Local Enterprise Partnerships and Mayoral Combined Authorities should choose how they work in partnership with both public and private stakeholders and determine the best way to consult the public. Places have taken different approaches to public consultation; the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Oxford-Cambridge Arc and West of England Local Industrial Strategies, published recently, demonstrate this.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department will give to Local Enterprise Partnerships on the development of local industrial strategies.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Local Industrial Strategies are developed locally and agreed with government. In the policy prospectus published in October 2018, we set out that Local Industrial Strategies should be the product of consultation with businesses, a broad range of public partners and civil society. In addition to this, the ‘Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships’ Review published in July 2018 made clear that Local Enterprise Partnerships should operate to the highest standards of accountability and transparency and ensure the communities they represent can influence the economic plans for the area.
To be successful, Local Industrial Strategies must be developed from the bottom up and led by those who best know the needs of local economies. This locally led approach means Local Enterprise Partnerships and Mayoral Combined Authorities should choose how they work in partnership with both public and private stakeholders and determine the best way to consult the public. Places have taken different approaches to public consultation; the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Oxford-Cambridge Arc and West of England Local Industrial Strategies, published recently, demonstrate this.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what level of public consultation his Department expects to conduct as part of the development of local industrial strategies.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Local Industrial Strategies are developed locally and agreed with government. In the policy prospectus published in October 2018, we set out that Local Industrial Strategies should be the product of consultation with businesses, a broad range of public partners and civil society. In addition to this, the ‘Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships’ Review published in July 2018 made clear that Local Enterprise Partnerships should operate to the highest standards of accountability and transparency and ensure the communities they represent can influence the economic plans for the area.
To be successful, Local Industrial Strategies must be developed from the bottom up and led by those who best know the needs of local economies. This locally led approach means Local Enterprise Partnerships and Mayoral Combined Authorities should choose how they work in partnership with both public and private stakeholders and determine the best way to consult the public. Places have taken different approaches to public consultation; the West Midlands and Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategies, published recently, demonstrate this.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance is issued by his Department to local enterprise partnerships on the inclusion of public consultations in the development of local industrial strategies.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Local Industrial Strategies are developed locally and agreed with government. In the policy prospectus published in October 2018, we set out that Local Industrial Strategies should be the product of consultation with businesses, a broad range of public partners and civil society. In addition to this, the ‘Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships’ Review published in July 2018 made clear that Local Enterprise Partnerships should operate to the highest standards of accountability and transparency and ensure the communities they represent can influence the economic plans for the area.
To be successful, Local Industrial Strategies must be developed from the bottom up and led by those who best know the needs of local economies. This locally led approach means Local Enterprise Partnerships and Mayoral Combined Authorities should choose how they work in partnership with both public and private stakeholders and determine the best way to consult the public. Places have taken different approaches to public consultation; the West Midlands and Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategies, published recently, demonstrate this.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2019 to Question 211305 on Pubs Code, if he will conduct a public consultation on the review of the Pubs Code.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government is currently considering the format of the statutory review of the Pubs Code but will ensure all those with an interest, including tenants and pub companies, will be able to contribute to the review.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 31 November 2019 to Question 213457 on BMW: Oxford, when he next plans to meet Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW Board Member with responsibility for the UK, to discuss preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
There are no immediate plans for my rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State to meet with Mr Peter Schwarzenbauer.
We are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world for automotive and other advanced manufacturing. Ministers and officials regularly meet senior automotive executives, both through the Automotive Council and individually, to discuss a wide range of matters.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 potential merits of extending statutory (a) leave and (b) pay for parents whose baby is admitted to neonatal care by one week for every week that their baby stays in hospital.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department is conducting a short, focussed internal review of the provisions for parents of premature babies and sick babies and those that experience multiple births.
The purpose of this work is to obtain a high-level understanding of the barriers to participating in the labour market that these parents can face. It would not be appropriate to announce future policy without first establishing an appropriate evidence base.
BEIS officials are working with organisations who represent the interests of these parents (The Smallest Things, Bliss, and TAMBA) to better understand the issues that parents can face and have also held focus groups with a small number of parents themselves. This will inform our policy consideration.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 the number of (a) procurement processes his Department has run for contracts for after the UK leaves the EU since 23 June 2016 and (b) bids his Department has received from suppliers for services for after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
BEIS keeps a central record of procurements over a value of £100,000. There are currently 20 procurement processes above this threshold that have been let since 23rd June 2016 where the contract is expected to be awarded after 30th March 2019. There are more procurement processes that have run since 23rd June 2016, which have been awarded (or will be awarded before 29th March 2019) and will continue to run beyond 29th March 2019. However, we do not hold the contract end dates for these procurements until they are signed contracts therefore we cannot provide an exact figure for these. BEIS also currently holds 147 contracts that were awarded after 23rd June 2016 which will still be live contracts after 29th March 2019.
We do not hold centrally the number of bidders for each procurement process therefore we cannot provide an estimate.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has held with BMW on the future of production at its Oxford plant in the event that the UK leaves the EU; and whether those discussions included the possibility of moving production away from the UK.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
BMW is a hugely important company for the UK, and Government recognises that with 4,000 staff in their Oxford plant alone it is vital to both the national and local economy. BEIS Ministers and officials regularly meet with the company. My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW Board Member with responsibility for the UK, last met on 28 November.
The Government is determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world for automotive and other advanced manufacturing.
We are in close and continuous dialogue with BMW to understand and support them in their planning.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to take steps to support geological research into new sources of helium in the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), which is now part of UKRI, continues to welcome high quality applications for support into any aspect of geological research and these are judged in open competition with other demands on funding, with awards being made according to their scientific quality and importance.