Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of his Department's 2015-16 budget is allocated to (a) creating and (b) accessing new markets for trade and growth.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Increasing trade and growth through exports, to all overseas markets, is a key factor in the Government’s long-term economic plan. Government departments are working together to support UK businesses looking to take advantage of overseas opportunities and to create a strong business environment that allows them to flourish both at home and overseas. A key part of this work is to identify export opportunities, many of which are based around the needs of new high-growth and emerging markets.
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is at the heart of this work and the budget allocation for this activity will be set out in the UKTI Annual Report and Accounts 2015/16.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to ensure that people who lost money to Ecohouse Development Ltd will receive compensation.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The activities of the company are subject to an ongoing investigation by the Insolvency Service. The outcome of that investigation may influence the likelihood of a civil recovery using existing provisions in insolvency legislation.
Where, on the application of the liquidator, the court is satisfied that the business of a company has been carried on fraudulently or recklessly, the court can declare that persons such as directors of the company are liable to contribute to the company’s assets.
In addition, for future cases a new measure in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 enables the Secretary of State to seek a compensation order from a disqualified director (this measure does not apply in this case as the legislation only came into force after the company went into liquidation).