First elected: 6th May 2010
Left House: 3rd May 2017 (Defeated)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Chris White, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Chris White has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Chris White has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Chris White has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
We are committed to reaching 3 million apprenticeship starts in 2020. In the 2014/15 Academic Year, there were 499,900 apprenticeship starts.
Our 2020 Vision for English Apprenticeships sets out how we will increase the number of apprentices and put employers in the driving seat. We are introducing new targets for public sector bodies and extending the successful Apprenticeship Grant for Employers.
This year we relaxed the Equivalent and Lower Qualification (ELQ) rule for part time students taking engineering, technology and computer science courses. This means that students who already hold a degree will be able to access student support. At the Autumn Statement we announced a further relaxation to the eligibility rules so that students who already hold a degree can from 2017/18 access student support for part time study of other STEM subjects. These changes do not affect those undertaking full time study.
The Department does not produce forecasts for participation in further education.
The funding available for adult skills up to 2015/16 is outlined in the Skills Funding Letter. The letter sets out the Government’s priorities for the budget and it is for providers to decide how they use their adult skills funding to reflect those priorities and meet the needs of learners and employers in their local area.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-funding-letter-april-2015-to-march-2016
Information on historic participation in government funded further education by geography is published online at the FE Data Library:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-further-education-and-skills
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students enrolled at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The numbers of full-person equivalent enrolments studying Computer Science and ‘Games’ subjects at UK HEIs in the academic year 2013/14 are provided in the table.
Information on enrolments at UK HEIs for the academic year 2014/15 will become available from HESA in January 2016.
Full-person equivalent (1) Computer Science enrolments (2) by level of study
UK Higher Education Institutions
Academic year 2013/14
Subject of study | First Degree | Masters | All levels of study (3) |
Computer Science | 69,815 | 11,610 | 91,565 |
...of which 'Games' (4) | 3,260 | 80 | 3,515 |
Source: HESA Student Record 2013/14
Notes:
(1) Subject level counts are shown in terms of Full Person Equivalents (FPEs). FPEs are derived by apportioning each student between the different subjects that made up their course.
(2) Enrolments refer to students in all years of study
(3) All levels of study include Higher Education qualifications at both sub-degree and postgraduate research level.
(4) Courses categorised as ‘Games’ include the studies of computer game programming, design, graphics, generated visual & audio effects, and imagery.
Detailed information regarding the number of enrolments on further education courses is provided online in the National Aims report:
The report contains information for all courses that have at least 100 enrolments in a year.
There are many difficulties in calculating the contribution that the video games industry makes to UK exports but the latest available DCMS Economic Estimates published in January 2014 show that exports of services from the group ‘IT, Software and Computer Services’ contributed less than 1% to UK GDP in 2010 and 2011 (approximately 0.42% in 2010 and 0.45% in 2011). It is not possible to disaggregate exports of computer services from the wider group. Estimates for exports of services from the Creative Industries in 2013 will not be available for some time but 2012 data are expected to be published early in the New Year.
The Government recognises the need to encourage more women into the manufacturing sector and we support a number of initiatives in this area.
We have run two engineering skills funds for employers – “Improving Engineering Careers" and “Developing Women Engineers”. Applications are currently being assessed, with successful employers due to be informed in January.
Our ‘Your Life Call to Action’ campaign has been joined by over 200 companies, pledging to improve women’s recruitment, retention and progression in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) professions.
STEMNET runs the STEM Ambassador programme, a network of 28,000 volunteers from industry and academia who visit schools, illustrating STEM careers and advising teachers. Over 40% (over 11,200) of STEM Ambassadors are women.
We fund STEMNET to run a number of programmes, including the STEM Ambassador’s programme to the sum of £6.3m per year.
See Inside Manufacturing (SIM) allows young people to experience modern advanced manufacturing and engineering, the programme actively encourages businesses to open their doors to the next generation of engineers and in particular young women.
Cities and Local Enterprise Partnerships are making excellent progress in implementing their City Deals.
The Coventry and Warwickshire City Deal was signed on 12 December 2013 and the Skills for Growth pilot has already registered 37 graduates, exceeding its targets.
The Government Digital Service (GDS) continues to support departments as they digitally transform their business operations, making government services easier and more efficient to use. There is a ‘digital first’ strategy across Government to save on time as well as paper and postage costs, including the use of email to achieve this aim.
The Government Communication Service (GCS) saved nearly £330m for taxpayers in 2014/15 compared to 2009/10 by making its campaigns more cost effective. The communications profession is also more streamlined, with headcount across Government reduced by a third since 2009/10. These reforms helped the Government reduce communications spending by a total of £1bn over the last Parliament. GCS continues to investigate new ways of reducing costs in Government communications.
On 26 September, the Cabinet Office announced that Lord Young, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Enterprise, will lead a review of the Public Service (Social Value) Act 2012. The review will look at how the Act is working on the ground and consider whether it would be beneficial to extend it. The review will consider evidence from a range of sources and report on findings in early 2015.
At the Autumn Statement 2016, the British Business Bank was provided with £400m of additional funding to unlock up to £1 billion of new investment in innovative firms planning to scale up.
This will primarily be achieved by broadening the mandate of Bank’s Venture Capital Catalyst programme. The programme is able to invest across a wide range of sectors, including businesses which specialise in video, mobile game development, artificial intelligence, data analytics and virtual reality.
Higher education has a key role to play in industrial strategy. A high productivity, high wage economy that works for all depends on our workforce having access to the skills they need.
We will be seeking views on Industrial Strategy, including from Higher education stakeholders, through a discussion paper to be published shortly.
Higher education has a key role to play in industrial strategy. A high productivity, high wage economy that works for all depends on our workforce having access to the skills they need.
We will be seeking views on Industrial Strategy, including from Higher education stakeholders, through a discussion paper to be published shortly.
We are developing an Industrial Strategy that will embrace the opportunities of our new global role and upgrade our economy so it works for everyone. We intend to work with the breadth of British industry, local leaders, innovators, employees and consumers to deliver a successful strategy and create the conditions for future success. We will seek views on our plans in a discussion paper in the coming weeks.
Current estimates suggest that almost 90% of premises in the Warwick and Leamington constituency are subject to commercial rollout, and a further 5% of premises (2,369) now have coverage as a result of the Government's Superfast Broadband programme.
Based on DCMS modelled estimates and current delivery plans, 96% of premises in the Warwick and Leamington constituency will have access to superfast broadband by December 2017. Early gainshare funding that BT will return in response to the high levels of take-up being achieved, could help extend coverage further.
The creative industries continue to play a key role in our economic recovery, outperforming almost all other sectors of the economy. Figures published on 30th June showed the creative industries accounted for 1.8 million jobs in the UK in 2014, an increase of nearly 16% since 2011, with a further 900,000 creative jobs in the wider economy.
Whilst the DCMS has made no official estimate of the number of companies operating in the video games sector recent analysis undertaken by Nesta and the trade body UKIE showed that there could be up to 1,902 video games companies active in 2014.
Latest indicative estimates from the DCMS Creative Industries Economic Estimates release show that GVA for the computer games industry in the UK was £540 million in 2012 and £443 million in 2010 (data for 2013 will be published on 13th January 2015). Estimates are in current prices and do not account for the effects of inflation.
To note, these indicative estimates of the size of the computer games industry are based on the ONS Annual Business Survey. This is a sample survey and estimates at this level of detail for a single year should be treated with caution as they are volatile. ONS data covers businesses which are VAT or PAYE registered only and does not include the contribution of micro-businesses. For these reasons the computer games data in the release are presented in an annex alongside the headline Creative Industries estimates with these caveats stated.
To note these data are already available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-economic-estimates-january-2014
Recent research by Nesta that seeks to include the broader contribution of micro-businesses together will official suggests that the contribution of computer games could be substantially higher.
http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/map-uk-games-industry
Over the last 12 months, DCMS officials have met regularly with the video games industry for example to discuss topics such as the video games tax relief, video game sector statistics and export and inward investment opportunities.
In January 2014, the DCMS Creative Industries Economic Estimates showed that there were 15,000 jobs in the computer games industry in the UK in 2012. This is an increase from 2011, when there were 13,000 jobs in the computer games industry. An estimate for the number of jobs in the computer games industry in the UK in 2013 will be published as part of the next update to the Creative Industries Economic Estimates in January 2015. Estimates are based on the ONS Annual Population survey and analysis at lower levels of geography is not robust.
Exclusion from school is not the end of a pupil's education. Where a pupil has been permanently excluded, the Local Authority must arrange suitable full-time education for them to begin no later than the sixth school day following the exclusion.
In the White Paper ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’ we announced reforms to the system of alternative provision which will strengthen the accountability of schools when permanently excluding pupils. Under these changes schools will remain accountable for the education of pupils in alternative provision and will be responsible for commissioning high quality provision. In addition to this, the reforms include a number of measures to raise the standards of alternative provision providers so that every child is given the best possible opportunity to fulfil their potential. The full text of the Educational Excellence Everywhere White Paper can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/educational-excellence-everywhere.
A Contingency Plan for England and Wales and a Pest Risk Assessment (PRA) have been published for the small hive beetle. Elements of the Contingency Plan were tested during 2016 with the completion of two field exercises in England. Such exercises have been carried out annually since 2005 on a four year rolling regional cycle ensuring that all National Bee Unit field inspectors and support staff are trained in Contingency Planning and Operational Preparedness.
Since the first detection in Italy in September 2014 UK bee inspectors have enhanced our inspection services and surveillance by:
I visited Riyadh on 13 October and met with Saudi Foreign Minister Al Jubeir to discuss the airstrike on a funeral hall and efforts to revive the stalled political process in Yemen. I welcome the release of the report by the Coalition’s Joint Incidents Assessment Team into the incident. This will be used to contribute to our overall view on the approach and attitude of Saudi Arabia to international humanitarian law.
As announced in November 2016, the government is reviewing the tax environment for Research and Development (R&D) to look at how to make the UK an even more competitive place to do R&D. The review is due to conclude at the Spring Budget.
The government is committed to supporting innovative businesses and research across all sectors, and supporting technologies where the UK has a strong scientific and commercial advantage.
At the Autumn Statement, the government announced a significant increase in public R&D spending, rising to an extra £2 billion a year by 2020-21. This will include an Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, which will support collaborations between businesses and the UK’s world-leading science base.
The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) is forecast to cost the Exchequer £180m in 2014-15. Outturn figures for 2014-15 are not yet available. Updated figures on the cost of the relief will be published in December 2016.
The first official statistics on the number of companies raising funds, number of subscriptions, and amounts raised for Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes for 2014-15 will be published in April 2016.
No results have been published on the return on investment from the SEIS.
Video Games Tax Relief is forecast to cost the Exchequer £10m in 2014-15. The first Official Statistics on the number of claims and cost of Video Games Tax Relief will be published in Summer 2016, allowing sufficient time for claims to have been submitted for the 2014-15 tax year. No estimate of the benefit for the economy as a whole is available.
The forecast has been certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and is consistent with their latest forecast of Corporation Tax receipts.
R&D tax credit statistics are published by HMRC each September, so the final figures for 2014-15 won’t be available until September 2016.
HMRC’s latest statistics for 2013-14 show that there were 20,100 claims to R&D tax credits in that year, and that the scheme cost £1.75bn.
In March 2015, HMRC published an evaluation of R&D tax credits. This evaluation estimates that for every pound spent by the government onR&Dtax credits, between £1.53 and £2.35 is additionally spent onR&Dby UK companies.
Police reform is working and crime is falling. Both the independent Crime Survey and police recorded crime show crime has fallen by more than 10 per cent under this coalition government.
England and Wales are safer than they have been for decades with the Crime Survey showing crime at its lowest level since the survey began in 1981.
The Government is looking at the full costs and benefits of devolution proposals in line with Government guidance. This is supported by detailed conversations with areas to help them refine their work such as guidance about onward devolution to neighbourhoods.
The Government fully supports local authorities applying the concept of social value more widely than required by the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and this is reflected in the Revised Best Value Statutory Guidance which was published in March of this year and can be viewed at the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revised-best-value-statutory-guidance
Since 2010, we have helped create over 360 town teams, given over £18 million to towns - funding successful initiatives such as ‘Love your Local Market’. We have increased business rate discounts for 300,000 businesses, strengthened the role of Business Improvement Districts, introduced new permitted development rights and are tackling aggressive parking enforcement.