Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julia Lopez and Andrew Jones

Thursday 11th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Julia Lopez]

I simply wish to pay tribute to every journalist who puts their life on the line to bring truth to the public’s attention. They play an incredibly important role. We are proud of what the BBC journalists do in particular. They have also done some awesome things in Ukraine. As a Government, we just want to say that we support their work and pay tribute to them.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

12. What progress she has made on increasing women and girls’ access to sport.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julia Lopez and Andrew Jones

Thursday 9th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

T3. The Theakston crime writing festival launches its 20th anniversary programme later this month, and the festival itself will take place in July. It brings people to Harrogate from across the country and across the world. Has my right hon. and learned Friend made an assessment of the role of arts festivals in driving the visitor economy, including international visitors?

[The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Julia Lopez)]

I thank my hon. Friend for championing a fantastic festival in his constituency and congratulate the organisers on their 20th anniversary. VisitBritain has found that 3% of trips in the UK are made to attend a festival, which equates to more than £1.4 billion a year in spend. That is making a tremendous difference to communities such as the one he represents.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julia Lopez and Andrew Jones

Thursday 24th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Julia Lopez]

As I said, I will be meeting UK Music and I am happy to discuss this matter with it. We have provided a huge amount of support to the live music industry throughout the pandemic, including a really successful reinsurance scheme, but I am happy to take the hon. Gentleman’s points away.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

People are turning to the internet for advice on the cost of living, and we are also seeing how fake ads claiming to be from people such as Martin Lewis are used by fraudsters. So will the Secretary of State look at compelling online platforms to verify advertisements that exploit the trust and expertise that high-profile people have built?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Julia Lopez and Andrew Jones

Thursday 25th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

What steps the Government is taking to increase the opportunities for small businesses to bid for Government contracts.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Julia Lopez)]

Each year, the Government spend some £290 billion on public procurement. Now that the EU transition period has ended, we aim to make it simpler, quicker and cheaper for small and medium-sized enterprises to bid for Government contracts, as set out in our ambitious procurement Green Paper. We received over 600 responses to that consultation and the submission from the Federation of Small Businesses welcomed our drive to simplify and diversify public procurement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Julia Lopez]

I completely agree. We want to see a much greater variety of companies deliver contracts from every corner of our country, not just because it benefits local economies and communities, but because we think it helps to diversify our risk, creates a more resilient supplier base and delivers some of our critical priorities.

[Andrew Jones]

Small businesses are often the source of innovation, particularly in the digital economy. It is often through digital investment that productivity is boosted, so how is my hon. Friend ensuring that those responsible for Government procurement and implementation have the skills that they need to take advantage of the opportunities that small businesses are creating?

[Julia Lopez]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. Along with our procurement reforms, the Cabinet Office has also created a new Central, Digital And Data Office under expert leadership, and through that, we want to improve digital capability and expertise across Government. We also want to create many more opportunities for tech start-ups and other dynamic digital SMEs to bid for Government work, and the CDDO team is closely engaged in how we can do that through the forthcoming procurement Bill.