Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) funding and (b) incentives are available to support businesses to recruit new members of staff.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has set out a plan for recovery that focusses on backing business, improving skills, and creating jobs. For example, the £30 billion Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people will get tailored support to help them find work. This includes launching the £2 billion Kickstart Scheme fund and investing £2.9 billion in the Restart programme over 3 years to support and encourage the UK’s labour market. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is also doubling the number of jobcentre Work Coaches to provide intensive support for both young people and the newly unemployed.
Additional measures include committing £8 million for digital skills boot camps, increasing apprenticeship opportunities, expanding sector-based work academies programme (SWAPs), launching the Job Finding Support Service, and increasing the funding for the Flexible Support Fund by £150 million in Great Britain.
Businesses can also access tailored advice through our Freephone Business Support Helpline, online via the Business Support website or through their local Growth Hubs in England. Furthermore, the Recovery Advice for Business scheme, supported by the Government and hosted on the Enterprise Nation website, offers small firms access to free, one-to-one advice with an expert adviser to help them through the coronavirus pandemic and to prepare for long-term recovery. Further information can be found at: https://www.enterprisenation.com/freesupport/.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether businesses that are registered at a domestic residential address are eligible for the Local Authority Discretionary Grant; and what guidance has been issued to local authorities on the distribution of the Local Authority Discretionary Grant to businesses registered at a domestic residential address.
Answered by Paul Scully
On?1 May,?the Government announced that up to £617 million has been made available to local authorities?in England to allow them to provide discretionary grants. The?Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund (LADGF) is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs that are not liable for business rates or rates reliefs.
We are asking local authorities to prioritise the following types of businesses for grants from within this funding pot:
Local authorities are responsible for defining the precise eligibility for this Fund?and?may choose to make payments to other businesses based on local economic need,?subject to those businesses meeting the specific eligibility criteria.?Guidance for Local Authorities was published 13 May: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding.
We appreciate that there?is substantial demand for the LADGF. Local Authorities will need to manage?their?scheme to stay within?their?funding?allocation?and?will have?to make choices about which businesses?to?prioritise.
Where businesses are registered at a domestic residential address, tax and insurance details should identify the separate costs of a home-based business. Local Authorities should take steps to understand the specific costs of the business.
Officials are keeping in close contact with Local Authorities?to understand how the scheme is rolling out and advising ministers on any additional support?which could?be offered to help businesses and support local economies.
Any enquiries or appeals?regarding?the provision of, or eligibility for, grant funding should be directed?in the first instance to the relevant?local authority.
The?grant?funding?schemes are?part of?the Government’s?wider?package of support for business.?For further information on what support you might be eligible for, please?visit: https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2020 to Question No 28671 on Housing: Energy, if he will publish those impact assessments in which the benefits to householders’ health from improving their homes thermal performance have been included.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does include the health benefits of energy improvements to the householders’ health in published Impact Assessments, although the methodology has not yet been incorporated into the net present value calculation. Two of the latest are the most recent impact assessments for ECO and Private Sector Regulations (see below):
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2020 to Question 28671 on Housing: Energy, who is undertaking the study to quantify the cost savings to the health service of improving the energy efficiency of homes; and when that study will be published.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is the lead organisation undertaking the study to quantify the cost savings to the health service of improving the energy efficiency of homes. BEIS is in the process of applying for access to NHS Digital hospital records and, if this application is approved and relevant data provided to BEIS, analysis will be undertaken, peer reviewed and published.