Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to end the use of warrants to install pre-payment meters.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Neither the Government nor Ofgem, the independent regulator, collect this data at the constituency level.
Ofgem's latest data shows that the number of warrants exercised in Great Britain to install a pre-payment meter was 49,552 over 2021. Ofgem do not collect data on this in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how he evaluates the economic benefits of business (a) incubators and (b) accelerators.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In the case of programmes that are funded directly by the Department, economic evaluation is carried out according to guidance set out in the Green Book: appraisal and evaluation in central government.
A report on the impact of incubators and accelerators on start-up businesses and on the wider business ecosystem was commissioned by the Department in 2019 and is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-impact-of-business-accelerators-and-incubators-in-the-uk. This found that most participating businesses considered the contribution of the incubator or accelerator as significant or vital to their success. The report also notes that “accelerators have positive spillover effects on the wider business ecosystem.”
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what economic benefits he has identified from business (a) incubators and (b) accelerators.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The potential economic benefits of business incubators and accelerators include improved business survival rates, faster growth and higher employment from participating companies as compared to the business population overall.
A study of incubators and accelerators carried out for the Department in 2019 used the following indicators:
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help incentivise businesses to invest into local communities to help tackle poverty.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government works to secure business investment in sectors across the economy which brings jobs and prosperity to communities across the UK. For example, the £1.4bn Global Britain Investment Fund (GBIF) provides grants to encourage internationally mobile companies to invest in the automotive, life sciences and offshore wind sectors, where the UK has natural strengths and geographic spread.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 provide long term support to the hospitality sector.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Department is working with the Hospitality Sector Council to deliver on our 2021 Hospitality Strategy to improve the resilience of hospitality businesses.
The Government recognise that hospitality businesses are facing cost pressures driven by global factors, including high energy and cost of living pressures.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme ensures that businesses are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period.
My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer recently announced in his Autumn Statement that there will be an extended and increased relief for retail and hospitality businesses worth almost £13.6 billion. This is the most generous in year business rates relief in over 30 years, outside of Covid-19 support.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of levels of business investment on levels of (a) regional and (b) local equality.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces UK estimates of Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF), a measure of capital investment in the UK. In May 2022, a set of experimental statistics were published mapping the regional distribution of UK GFCF[1].
There is no recent assessment of the potential impact of levels of business investment on levels of regional or local equality.
[1] Experimental regional gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) estimates by asset type, ONS
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when investing in business, what time period the Exchequer seeks for an economic return on its investment.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government considers relative value for money for all uses of Exchequer funding, using HMT Green Book methodology so that every pound of taxpayers’ money is invested wisely to provide a return to the people and businesses of the UK.
As per the Green Book, the most appropriate time period of analysis for each type of investment is applied.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 challenges facing the hospitality sector in 2023.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Department is working with the Hospitality Sector Council to deliver on our 2021 Hospitality Strategy to improve the resilience of hospitality businesses.
The Government recognise that hospitality businesses are facing cost pressures driven by global factors, including high energy and cost of living pressures.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme ensures that all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period.
My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer recently announced in his Autumn Statement that there will be an extended and increased relief for retail and hospitality businesses worth almost £13.6 billion. This is the most generous in year business rates relief in over 30 years, outside of Covid-19 support.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 assist businesses to grow; and how much funding his Department has allocated to financing business accelerators.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government seeks to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, creating a supportive environment that gives businesses the stability and confidence they need to invest and grow.
The Hon. Member will be aware that York University recently joined the Northern Accelerator partnership, which supports academics to turn their world-leading research into investible businesses. This initiative is supported by Research England’s Connecting Capability Fund. Because funding for this and other business accelerators is provided through a range of programmes and partner organisations, an overall total is not available.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department is providing to help support local business clusters.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is supporting clusters across the country through targeted measures such as the Strength in Places Fund and is trialling new approaches of working more closely with high potential places through £100 million of investment for Innovation Accelerators.
Innovate UK also recently invited proposals for a series of Health and Life Science Accelerators that will support the development of early-stage health and life science businesses across the UK. These accelerators will recruit both existing spinouts and new start-ups to test their ideas and develop new concepts. The programmes are expected to start between January 2023 and March 2025.