Ben Bradley

This answer relates to spend from the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office only.

Between 12 July 2018 and 15 November 2018, the Cabinet Office and Prime Minister’s Office spent £32,512.98 on social media posts related to the UK’s exit from the EU. Spend for November will be published in due course as part of our normal data release.

Furthermore, the Cabinet Office and Prime Minister’s Office did not spend any money with Google or other media on promoting adverts related to the UK’s exit from the EU. Spend for November will be published in due course as part of our normal data release.

This answer relates to spend from the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office only.

Between 12 July 2018 and 15 November 2018, the Cabinet Office and Prime Minister’s Office spent £32,512.98 on social media posts related to the UK’s exit from the EU. Spend for November will be published in due course as part of our normal data release.

Furthermore, the Cabinet Office and Prime Minister’s Office did not spend any money with Google or other media on promoting adverts related to the UK’s exit from the EU. Spend for November will be published in due course as part of our normal data release.

Small and medium sized enterprises in the East Midlands can access business advice through their local Growth Hubs. Led and governed by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP), Growth Hubs provide 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 LEPs which cover the East Midlands have self-reported that in FY2017-2018 their Growth Hubs supported over 12,000 businesses and helped over 300 individuals start a business

Since its creation in 2012, the Government-backed Start Up Loans company has made 3,573 loans worth over £25.5m to the East Midlands region. In the Mansfield constituency, 66 loans have been made worth £503,200[1].

April 2019’s increase in the National Living Wage (NLW) means that 157,000 workers in the East Midlands have received an inflation-beating pay rise of 4.9%. The latest estimates suggest that 5,000 workers in Mansfield are receiving the NLW and National Minimum Wage.

The Industrial Strategy is creating an economy that works for everyone; setting out a long-term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create good jobs and increase the earning power of people throughout the United Kingdom. Nationally, the Government is providing up to £18.6 million to Be the Business to increase firm level productivity by supporting SMEs to make simple changes and learn from each other.

And the £9 million Business Basics Programme is testing innovative ways of encouraging SMEs to take-up proven technology and business practices that can boost productivity. A total of £2 million has been allocated to projects from the first round of the Business Basics Fund and we are expecting to allocate a further £2 million of funding in Autumn 2019.

[1] At May 2019

The Industrial Strategy is our long-term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create high-quality, well paid jobs throughout the United Kingdom, with investment in skills, industries and infrastructure. The Government is supporting businesses in the East Midlands through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, which brings together world-class UK research with business investment to develop the technologies that will transform existing industries and create entirely new ones. We have to date allocated £6m of ISCF grant funding to projects in the East Midlands and already support a wider range of projects in the East Midlands. For example, we support a robotics project based with the University of Nottingham, in partnership with businesses based at the National Space Centre in Leicester, which is dedicated to investigating the potential of manufacturing in space; which could enable the in-orbit manufacture of replacement parts and tools.

Also, since its launch in 2012, the Start-Up Loans programme, part of the British Business Bank, has delivered more than 59,000 loans, totalling over £450m. 65 Start-Up Loans have been provided to the Mansfield constituency with a total value of £488,200.

Another example of our help to local businesses to create more highly skilled jobs in East Midlands, is through the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). They are developing Local Industrial Strategies setting out how they will support the growth in their local economies.Through the Midlands Engine Strategy, we are investing in skills, industries, and infrastructure to boost productivity and create highly skilled jobs. One such instrument is the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, which provides over £250 million to support small businesses to grow. Examples of investments made by LEPs across the East Midlands that are designed to support businesses to create more highly skilled jobs include:

• D2N2 LEP’s £5 million Local Growth Fund investment in the recently opened University of Nottingham’s Advanced Manufacturing Building shows the Industrial Strategy in action. The state-of-the-art facility will benefit the East Midlands and the whole UK economy by driving innovation, supporting manufacturing businesses of all sizes to thrive and crucially equipping people to secure highly skilled jobs.
• A collaboration between the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), Derby City Council and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership has seen the recent opening of a research and innovation centre for cutting-edge nuclear technology on the Infinity Park Enterprise Zone; helping to boost local jobs, growth and expertise.
• The Boole Technology Centre on the Lincoln Science and Technology Park has been supported by £3.4m Local Growth Fund; providing laboratory, workshop and office space targeting high-growth SMEs in advanced engineering and manufacturing.
• The Mira Technical Institute based in Hinckley, Leicestershire, has been supported by £9.5m of Local Growth Fund. Based on MIRA Technology park, MTI will enable delivery of specialist skills and qualifications to industry leaders, engineers, technicians and other professionals across the automotive sector, that are key to fuelling their career ambitions and their employer’s business success.

Several measures have been introduced across Government to support pubs, including a freeze on beer duty announced at Budget 2018. This means that the price of a typical pint of beer in 2019 will be 2p lower than it would have been had duty increased with inflation and 14p lower than it otherwise would have been since ending the beer duty escalator in 2013.

Many small pubs will benefit from the business rates retail discount announced at Budget 2018, which cuts bills by one third from April 2019 for two years. It is available to pubs with a rateable value below £51,000 and is worth almost £900 million to businesses over two years. The Government estimates up to 75% of pubs in England could be eligible for the discount, subject to state aid limits and eligibility for other reliefs.

Our Industrial Strategy sets out a long-term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. To support this, we have a network of 38 Growth Hubs across the UK. The D2N2 Growth Hub, which serves the Nottinghamshire area is led and governed by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

D2N2 Growth Hub provides a local single point of contact for all businesses, no matter their size or sector, to access business advice from across the public and private sectors, at a local and national level. In October 2018, the D2N2 LEP self-reported that the D2N2 Growth Hub has supported 6,770 businesses and helped 1,231 individuals start a business since its launch in 2014, of those individuals 281 were from Nottinghamshire and 350 from Nottingham City.

The Government-owned British Business Bank offers start-up loans to entrepreneurs wishing to start a business. From launch of the programme in 2012 to 30 September 2018, a total of 361 start-up loans with a value of £2 million were advanced to businesses in

Nottingham City. The equivalent figures for Nottinghamshire are 457 loans with a value of £3.5 million.

Those discussions are ongoing. I would be happy to update my hon. Friend once a conclusion has been reached.

Through our modern Industrial Strategy, we are creating opportunities for the UK technology sector to build on its strengths and continue to grow. This includes the ambition to raise total R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027. The government is increasing spending on R&D by £7bn by 2021/22, the largest increase in 40 years.

Support in the East Midlands includes the recently announced funding to support the creation of a new, locally-led development body for Toton, with £70m for the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre. Innovate UK funding of £12m has been invested by the Energy Research Accelerator (ERA) in the Research and Acceleration Demonstration Building on Nottingham University’s Innovation Park. The D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership has contributed £5m of Local Growth Fund to the Advanced Manufacturing Building at Nottingham University’s Jubilee Campus. The facility will allow for diverse engineering and science disciplines to collaborate and contribute to pioneering developments for a range of sectors.

Through the Midlands Engine Strategy, we are investing in skills, industries, and infrastructure – building on the many strengths of the Midlands to boost productivity. It confirmed the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, which provides over £250 million to support small businesses across the Midlands to start and grow.

The network of 38 Growth Hubs across England provides free and impartial advice to anyone wishing to start and a grow a business. At March 2018, Local Enterprise Partnerships in the East Midlands reported that since launch their Growth Hubs have supported over 36,500 businesses; of which 3,835 received intensive support. Furthermore, East Midlands Growth Hubs have helped over 2,000 entrepreneurs start their own business since launch.

Across the UK, there are now 1.1 million women-led small and medium-sized businesses and I want to see that number grow. Access to finance is key area that can support that aim and I am pleased to report that the government-supported Start-Up Loans Company has provided loans worth nearly £436 million to those wishing to start a business, of which nearly 40% have been given to female entrepreneurs at March 2018.

We cannot estimate of the potential value of bilateral research between the UK and India in 2022 as this is outside the current spending review period.

However, in 2021 we estimate that the potential value of bilateral research between the UK and India will be £22.3m from the UK, with equivalent match from India.

In 2010 we estimate that the value of bilateral research between the UK and India was £4.76m from the UK, with equivalent match from India. This includes research conducted through the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) and research funding committed by RCUK in 2010.

The Industrial Strategy aims to make the UK the best place in the world to start or grow a business. The Start Up Loans programme helps individuals access the necessary finance to start or grow a business in the UK. In addition to receiving a loan, applicants are offered free business support and access to a business mentor for 12 months after receiving funding, thereby enhancing their chances of success. Individuals can borrow between £500 and £25,000 and loan repayment periods are between one and five years.

The Start Up Loans programme is managed by the Start Up Loans Company, a subsidiary of the British Business Bank. At the end of July 2018 the Start Up Loans programme had lent £436m to over 57,000 entrepreneurs.

Since the inception of the programme in 2012, 808 loans have been distributed in Nottinghamshire at a value of £5.4m with repayments of £2.2m to date.

We want the UK to be the best place to start or grow a business and we are supporting SMEs to do so. As part of the Industrial Strategy we have an action plan to unlock over £20bn of investment in innovative and high potential businesses. As part of this, British Patient Capital – a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank – has been given resources of £2.5bn and will deliver a new programme designed to support UK businesses with high growth potential to access the long-term financing they need to scale up.

We have also created a network of 38 Growth Hubs across England, and we are tackling late payments by appointing a Small Business Commissioner.

Growth Hubs are a single point of contact providing SMEs with access to information and advice. The D2N2 Growth Hub - operating in the Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire area - has had 6,583 interactions with SMEs since its launch in December 2015.

SMEs across the UK benefit from programmes operated by the Government-owned British Business Bank (BBB). BBB programmes are currently supporting £575.2m of finance for SMEs in the East Midlands Region, across 3,669 businesses. Also, as of 31 March through the BBB-owned Start-Up Loans programme, 779 loans have been made to individuals in Nottinghamshire, totalling £5.2m.

The Business Support Helpline, Government’s free centralised business advice and support service, has received 432 contacts from the Nottinghamshire area since 2015.

Since 2015/16 nearly 70 SMEs in the Nottinghamshire area have received Innovate UK funding in total and this includes some companies who are in receipt of multiple awards. Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency, driving productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas.

UK businesses can access core services, information and guidance on starting up and running a business, as well as their statutory rights and obligations, on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/set-up-business).

The allocation of bonuses from the Trustees’ share of surpluses in the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme is a matter for the Trustees.

As I previously set out in my answer to Question 108898, the Certification Officer is not in a position to disclose documentation on current or past cases. This means that any documentation related to the case of the National Union of Mineworkers: Northumberland remains in the custody of the Certification Officer on a confidential basis.

The Certification Officer is not in a position to disclose documentation on current or past cases. Disclosure could prejudice further investigations or future cases.

The Certification is an independent statutory office holder. The Certification Officer’s enquiries into the financial affairs of the National Union of Mineworkers (Northumberland Area) were undertaken to enable him to consider whether it was appropriate to use his powers under section 37B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 to appoint an inspector to investigate those affairs in the light of allegations and information received.

The UK is committed to upholding freedom of expression online. Our new online safety laws will safeguard pluralism and ensure internet users can continue to engage in robust debate online.

Under the new regulatory framework, both Ofcom and in-scope companies will have duties relating to freedom of expression, for which they can be held to account.The largest social media platforms will be required to have clear and accessible terms and conditions, and to enforce their terms and conditions consistently and transparently. Furthermore, new obligations for transparency and user reporting will enable users to more effectively understand and appeal content removal. This will both empower adult users to keep themselves safe online, and protect freedom of expression by preventing companies from arbitrarily removing content.

Ofcom, as the UK’s independent television and radio regulator, is responsible for broadcasting regulation. Decisions on updates to Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code are a matter for Ofcom. On 31 December 2020, following consultation, Ofcom implemented changes to the Broadcasting Code to update its definition of hate speech to reflect requirements in the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive.

Ofcom remains bound by the Human Rights Act 1998 in carrying out its regulatory functions, including giving effect to freedom of expression (which includes political speech). Ofcom has said that the amended definition does not affect the weight Ofcom places on the importance of freedom of expression when considering cases, including issues concerning political opinions or in the public interest.

My Department has taken a number of steps to support the funfairs industry through Covid-19.

The industry has been able to access support such as the Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, the Bounce Back Loans scheme. We have also cut the rate of VAT applied on most tourism and hospitality-related activities, including admission to circuses and fairs, from 20% to 5% until March 2021. Travelling fairgrounds can also apply to the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.

We recognise that Covid-19 has significantly impacted the culture sector and that these are extremely difficult times for organisations such as travelling funfairs. We have met with representatives of the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain to assess how we can most effectively support the sector through this period.

My Department has taken a number of steps to support fairgrounds, other outdoor events, as well as the broader events sector through Covid-19.

The events sector has been able to access support such as the Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme and the Bounce Back Loans scheme. We have also cut the rate of VAT applied on most tourism and hospitality-related activities, including admission to circuses and fairs, from 20% to 5% until March 2021.

On 22 October, the Chancellor increased the reach of the Government’s winter support schemes to further help businesses and workers impacted by COVID-19, including those in the events sector. Measures include doubling the size of the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme Extension Grant so that it covers 40% of previous earnings.

We continue to meet with stakeholders, including through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events and Entertainment Working Group, to monitor the ongoing impacts on the sector.

This government has provided local authorities with an unprecedented package of support, including over £4.8bn in funding for?spending?pressures. On Monday 12 October, the Prime Minister confirmed around £1bn of new funding will be made available to councils across England to support them during this unprecedented time.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to secure youth services to young people under the Education and Inspections Act 2006, and the government expects them to fulfil that duty.

Sports and physical activity providers and facilities are at the heart of our communities, and play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active.

Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund has provided £210 million directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic. We are continuing to work with organisations to understand what they need and how we may be able to support them.

This department recognises the unprecedented impacts the pandemic has had on young people, and on the vital support that youth services provide particularly for those most vulnerable.

Youth centres are being permitted to re-open on 4th July, to ensure our young people have access to not only the support they need, but opportunities to engage in safe activities over the summer period. We know that youth workers are already supporting young people through detached youth work, and we have supported the National Youth Agency to produce guidance for youth organisations on operating safely during Covid19.

DCMS is engaging regularly with young people and key youth organisations to understand how best to support the re-opening of youth centres over the coming weeks and months.

It is vital that the sport and physical activity sector is supported to come through this difficult period and it has a crucial role in supporting the nation back into activity once the pandemic has abated.

The Government has announced a comprehensive package of measures to support businesses and the self-employed. This includes the Self-employment Income Support Scheme which allows those that are self-employed to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of their trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.

The Government is having regular discussions with sector and industry bodies to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sport and physical activity and to discuss what additional support might be needed.

Government does not hold data on the number of youth services that have closed as a result of covid-19.

This department recognises the unprecedented impacts the pandemic has had on the youth sector, and on the vital services it provides for young people. DCMS is engaging regularly with key youth organisations and other government departments to understand options for addressing this and the path for reopening services as lockdown measures are eased and when the science allows.

This department recognises the unprecedented impacts the pandemic has had on the youth sector, and on the vital services it provides for young people.

DCMS is in ongoing discussions at both Ministerial and official level with colleagues from other government departments including the Home Office, MHCLG, and the Department for Education, as well a variety of youth organisations at local and national level.

This department recognises the unprecedented impacts the pandemic has had on the youth sector, and on the vital services it provides for young people. DCMS is engaging regularly with key youth organisations and other government departments to understand options for addressing this and the path for reopening services as lockdown measures are eased and when the science allows.

Organisations working with young people are also eligible for a number of Government and Arm Length Bodies funds, in addition to the wider HM Treasury support packages.

Responsibility for assessing the potential effect of the closure of the BBC Red Button service on people’s access to information on sport is for the BBC, which is editorially and operationally independent of the Government. The Government welcomes the BBC's decision to pause the closure of the Red Button service, ahead of its review of the impact of the closure on the most vulnerable including the elderly, and deaf and blind licence fee payers.

The Government has no plans to review the BBC Charter ahead of the next Charter Review, which is due to take place ahead of 2027.

The government has committed to maintain the licence fee funding model for the BBC until 2027 for the duration of this 11 year Charter period.

The Prime Minister has indicated that the Government will consider the licence fee funding model in the long term.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone is able to access sport and physical activity, including those with a disability.

Sport England have contributed £70,425 of National Lottery investment in Wheelchair football activities the last 5 years (from 2015/16). Further detail on Sport England funding breakdowns can be found here: https://www.sportengland.org/funding/what-have-we-funded/