Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans are being processed quickly and efficiently; and how long, on average, they estimate it will take for a business to receive such a loan.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) opened for applications on 23 March. Since that date, we have made changes to widen the scheme’s eligibility so that more small businesses across the UK can benefit from the scheme, by extending loans to all viable small businesses affected by the Coronavirus, not just those unable to secure regular commercial financing. We have worked with the lenders to implement some technical changes to the British Business Bank’s processes that ensure that applications will be processed faster. As of 21 April, over £2.8bn worth of loans have been issued under CBILS, to over 16,000 businesses.
Lenders, such as banks, are responsible for providing loans supported by the guarantee. The exact terms of each loan and length of application will vary from lender to lender. Lenders are fully aware of the current urgency, so we would expect them to respond appropriately to their customers’ needs.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what the interest rates will be for businesses who have been supported via a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan, following the end of the 12-month zero-interest rate period of that scheme; and what plans they have to ensure that such rates stay below 6 per cent.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Interest rates charged under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) are set at the discretion of each lender. The UK Government expects that the benefit of the guarantee under the CBILS Scheme is reflected in the interest that is charged on the CBILS Facility. This expectation is re-enforced by the State Aid rules that also require this.
The Government held discussions with the banking industry prior to the launch of CBILS and the Business Secretary continues to hold regular calls with each of the biggest CBILS lenders to address feedback on how the scheme has been working and closely monitor its implementation to ensure that companies feel the full benefits of this support.
CBILS lenders have agreed that no early repayment charges will be levied should a borrower choose to repay their CBILS facility earlier than planned.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the average interest rate that will be charged to businesses who have been supported via a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan following the end of the 12-month zero-interest rate period of that scheme.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Interest rates charged under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) are set at the discretion of each lender. The UK Government expects that the benefit of the guarantee under the CBILS is reflected in the interest that is charged on the CBILS Facility. This expectation is re-enforced by the State aid rules that also require this.
The Government held discussions with the banking industry prior to the launch of the CBILS and the Business Secretary continues to hold regular calls with each of the biggest CBILS lenders to address feedback on how the scheme has been working and closely monitor its implementation to ensure that companies feel the full benefits of this support.
CBILS lenders have agreed that no early repayment charges will be levied should a borrower choose to repay their CBILS facility earlier than planned.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the readership of Government-funded social science research, outside of universities, in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Answered by Lord Henley
Available information on the readership of social science research does not distinguish between different categories of reader. However, there are many different ways for research to be disseminated and to have impact wider than academic readership.
Over 2000 case studies of the impact from social science research outside academia were submitted to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 Panel C on Social Sciences (around 30% of total impact case studies submitted to the REF). Analysis from the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement shows that 52% of those submitted to Panel C included public engagement. Additional analysis by Kings College London and Digital Science (attached) looked at the impact of research on public policy and parliamentary debate, showing that case studies submitted to Panel C were the most likely to evidence political engagement.
Between 2012-16, at least 25% of Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded research included collaboration or partnership with at least one partner organisation. ESRC funded research is also highly connected to the public sector with up to 27% of funded research showing policy or practice impacts in 2016.
Specific examples of the impact from ESRC’s funded social science research can be found on their website, many of these involve working closely with industry, government, or not-for-profits.
We are working with UK Research and Innovation and other key partners to develop a roadmap that sets out how government and industry will work together to reach our target of increasing R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027, which would be the highest recorded level, and 3% in the longer-term.
The £236m Strength in Places Fund supports areas across the UK to build on their science and innovation strengths and develop stronger local networks. It funds proposals developed by local consortia which demonstrate a strong impact on local growth and productivity. Successful wave 1 bids were announced by UKRI in March 2019, and wave two was launched on 8 May 2019. It is expected that successful bids to this initial stage will be announced during summer 2020.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding they provided to universities in England for social science research in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy funds research primarily through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Within UKRI the main funders of social science research are the Economics and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and Research England.
The following table shows the value of research grants from AHRC and ESRC related to social science awarded to universities in England in each of the last five years. It also shows the notional allocation of Quality-related Research (QR) funding from Research England to the social sciences in universities in England over the past five years. QR funding is unhypothecated and individual institutions decide how it should be spent on research activities according to their own priorities.
Year | Value of awarded grants (by Financial Year) £ | QR allocation (by academic year) £ |
2014/2015 | 153,738,462 | 270,300,000 |
2015/2016 | 106,861,835 | 276,500,000 |
2016/2017 | 181,616,983 | 279,000,000 |
2017/2018 | 199,971,534 | 281,200,000 |
2018/2019 | 247,678,306 | 291,300,000 |
While these are the primary funders of social science research, other research councils within UKRI provide funding for projects that involve a significant contribution from the social sciences. UKRI encourages interdisciplinary research, including the integration of social science components into other research programmes, when this adds value to the proposals.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of evidence that new technology saves time and money for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Industrial Strategy highlighted a wide range of proven productivity boosting technologies that SMEs can adopt. As part of the evidence gathering phase of our Business Productivity Review, BEIS worked with the Enterprise Research Centre to develop a more robust analysis of the existing evidence that the adoption of new technology by a business will save it time and money.
The resulting Enterprise Research Centre State of Small Business Britain 2018 report focusses on micro-businesses. It concludes that the adoption of digital technologies is strongly linked to sales per employee, a measure of productivity. The report also sets out that adopting cloud computing leads to a 13.5% productivity rise, with CRM (Customer-relationship management) contributing up to 18.4%. The report also shows that E-Commerce adding 7.5%, web-based accounting software adds 11.8% and computer aided design (CAD) leading to a 7.1% increase in productivity.
The industry-led Made Smarter Review highlighted how UK manufacturing can be transformed through the adoption of industrial digital technology – including Robotics and Artificial Intelligence – boosting UK manufacturing by £455bn, reducing CO2 emissions by 4.5%, and creating a net gain of 175,000 jobs. Government has pledged to make the UK a global leader in industrial digitalisation, and has committed up to £141m to the Made Smarter programme.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many new government schemes affecting small and medium-sized enterprises have been brought in in the last five years; and what were the costs for small and medium-sized enterprises in terms of time and money.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government is committed to evaluating the disproportionate impact of regulatory changes on small and micro businesses and, where possible, either exempting such businesses or mitigating the impacts without compromising the policy objectives. All regulatory impact assessments, which are published by individual government departments, must include this analysis as part of the small and micro business assessment.
In recent years, the Government has taken several steps to reduce the cost of doing business in the UK, including the commitment to cut corporation tax to 19% and the reductions to business rates announced since Budget 2016, which are worth more than £12 billion over the next five years.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government who within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has responsibility for overseeing and monitoring (1) the overall impact of Government legislation, and (2) the burden of regulation, on small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Better Regulation Executive within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy works across Whitehall departments and with regulators to deliver the Government’s commitment to regulate more effectively over the course of this Parliament. This includes monitoring and reporting to Parliament on the overall impact of legislation and regulatory burdens on businesses of all sizes.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
Her Majesty's Government what research and analysis they intend to undertake to assess the impact of, including the unintended consequences of, the implementation of Good work: the Taylor review of modern working practices, published in July, on (1) the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, and (2), the enterprise culture in the UK.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
I made an oral statement to the House on 11 July 2017 to announce the publication of the Matthew Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices. The report is comprehensive and detailed and, as Matthew Taylor himself recognises, is just the start of a long term programme. It will require detailed, careful thought and further consultation. It is important that we take action where we need to.
This Government will give the report the careful consideration it deserves and will respond in full later this year.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the cumulative effect of changes to laws and regulations relating to employment on (1) small and medium-sized enterprises, (2) charities, and (3) churches.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
All such legislation and its associated impacts can be found on the Legislation.gov.uk website. Individual impact assessments will detail the expected impacts including, where relevant, those accruing to charities and churches. A Small and Micro Business Assessment is also mandatory within an impact assessment for most domestic measures that regulate business and come into force after 31 March 2014.