Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 he has taken to support small businesses in (a) Crawley constituency and (b) West Sussex.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government is committed to supporting all entrepreneurs to start and grow a business, it is a key aspect of our ambitious Industrial Strategy. We want to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business, to create jobs and spread prosperity.
In addition to accessing national support available, such as the Business Support Helpline (0300 456 3565) and advice on www.gov.uk, small businesses in the Crawley constituency and West Sussex County Council area can access business advice through the Coast to Capital Growth Hub. Led and governed by the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), 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. The Coast to Capital LEP has self-reported that in FY2017-2018 their Growth Hub supported over 2,400 businesses and helped over 600 individuals start a business.
The Start-Up Loans programme, now part of the British Business Bank, has delivered 63,564 loans worth £496m, and is currently supporting 96 loans totaling £659,191 of finance in Crawley.
Funding under the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund indicates that Crawley has £546,203 for organisations registered within this constituency. There is no data for West Sussex.
And finally, as you are aware in the 2019 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, Inspiration Healthcare Ltd in Crawley won an award in the International Trade category.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Oil and Gas Authority’s proposed supplemental guidance for the Disclosure of certain Geophysical Survey Data (created or acquired under an Exploration Licence pre-2018) published in March 2019, whether the impact assessment included a full assessment of the effect of that guidance on geophysical companies based in the UK.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The treatment of legacy geophysical survey data is a matter for the independent oil and gas regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority, which ran a consultation exercise on the issue to which it will respond later this year.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Oil and Gas Authority’s proposed supplemental guidance on the disclosure of certain Geophysical Survey Data (created or acquired under an Exploration Licence pre-2018) published in March 2019, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility with the rule of law of the retrospective application of that guidance.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The treatment of legacy geophysical survey data is a matter for the independent oil and gas regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority, which ran a consultation exercise on the issue to which it will respond later this year.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the UK’s contribution to tackling climate change; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Leaving the European Union will not affect our ambitious domestic emissions reduction commitments, as they are enshrined in UK law in the Climate Change Act (2008). The UK is a global leader in this area; between 1990 and 2017, the UK reduced its emissions by over 40% while growing the economy by more than two thirds, and we remain committed to delivering the outcomes of the Paris Agreement.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy what comparative assessment he has made of trends in the level of spending on research and development in the (a) UK and (b) EU member states.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Government is increasing public R&D spending by £7 billion by 2022, this is the largest increase on record.
The department regularly assesses comparative levels of R&D expenditure in the UK and EU member states.
The latest ONS data estimates that overall gross R&D expenditure in the UK was £33.1bn in 2016, which was 1.7% of GDP in that year. The latest OECD international comparison of R&D expenditure ranked the UK 10th among EU member states, with overall gross R&D expenditure in the EU28 estimated at 1.9% of GDP in 2016. More details can be found here http://oe.cd/msti
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the level of research and development expenditure in the UK and EU member states.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Department regularly assesses comparative levels of R&D expenditure in the UK and EU member states.
The latest ONS data estimates that overall gross R&D expenditure in the UK was £33.1bn in 2016, which was 1.7% of GDP in that year. 2017 data is due to be released in March 2019. The latest OECD international comparison of R&D expenditure ranked the UK 10th among EU nations in 2016. More details can be found here http://oe.cd/msti.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the (a) number and (b) percentage of main Post Office branch closure consultations that resulted in branches remaining open.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.
While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The distribution of branches is an operational matter of commercial judgement for Post Office management team. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to you on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to tackle low pay.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
From 1 April 2018, the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage increased above inflation to give more than two million of the lowest paid workers a pay rise of over 2 per cent in real terms. Over the next 12 months, full time workers aged 25 and over on the National Living Wage will see their earnings grow by more than £600.
In the longer term, the Government’s ambitious, modern Industrial Strategy sets out a long-term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. It sets out how we will help businesses create better, higher-paying jobs with investment in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 effectiveness of EU regulations on the labelling of animal fur on consumer protection; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Margot James
The EU legislation Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 – on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of the fibre composition of textile products, ensures consumers are properly protected when purchasing textile products containing ‘non-textile parts of animal origin’, including fur.
This requires these products to have the phrase ‘contains non-textile parts of animal origin’ on the labelling or marking of the product. The regulation stipulates that the presence of non-textile parts of animal origin must be clearly labelled or marked in such a way that is not misleading and that the consumer can easily understand. This enables consumers to make an informed choice between textile products that contain non-textile parts of animal origin and those that don’t.
The Regulation does not require a detailed description of particular materials or parts, but businesses are free to disclose more details about the materials used (e.g. cowhide, lambskin etc.) as long as this information is not false and misleading and consumers can make enquiries with the retailer as to what the non-textile parts of animal origin are.
This year, the UK Government is undertaking a review of the Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulation 2012/1102, which sets out the enforcement provisions that apply to Regulation 1007/2011. The UK is obliged to review the enforcement provisions by May 2017. A report will be laid before Parliament. The legislation is also regularly reviewed by the EU, most recently in 2013 when the Commission filed its report on Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011.
The report is available on the EUR-Lex website:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52013DC0656
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of local businesses in Crawley.
Answered by Margot James
The ONS publish numbers of “active enterprises” for Crawley, based on their business register, and the following numbers include businesses registered for VAT and/or PAYE only. An active enterprise is one which has reported employment or turnover during the year.
2010 - 2,960
2011 - 3,015
2012 - 3,100
2013 - 3,215
2014 - 3,380
2015 - 3,605
Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) were created in 2011 as partnerships between local authorities and business. All LEPs, including Coast to Capital, which covers Crawley, have Strategic Economic Plans based on their analysis of local economic conditions.