Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kelly Tolhurst and Kevin Foster

Tuesday 12th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

19. Thank you, Mr Speaker. As the Minister will be aware, there are a number of small rural post offices in Devon and Cornwall—indeed, a new one is being opened in Torbay. Will she confirm what support the Government will be making available to ensure that there are trained and skilled job seekers to work in those post offices if they open in my patch?

[Kelly Tolhurst]

It is true: it has been too long since I have had the opportunity to visit my hon. Friend’s part of the country. I have met some of his colleagues to talk about post office opportunities in the south-west. As I have already reiterated, we are committed to delivering those rural post offices.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kelly Tolhurst and Kevin Foster

Tuesday 20th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Kelly Tolhurst)]

The right hon. Gentleman raises a great question, and this is one of the things we are working on. The British Business Bank is working on start-up loans, and there are initiatives that work on enterprise in the school setting. I left school and went into an unofficial apprenticeship, and I think that we should all get behind such schemes and apprenticeships, because getting into work really can deliver the entrepreneurial spirit that people need.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

Last week, the first new major hotel to be built on Paignton seafront in decades was approved, bringing with it £40 million of investment. What role does my right hon. Friend see the industrial strategy playing in supporting more high-value investment in Torbay’s tourism industry?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kelly Tolhurst and Kevin Foster

Thursday 13th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Kelly Tolhurst]

The hon. Lady is right to raise that question. The number of women now accepted on to full-time science, technology, engineering and maths courses has increased by 25% since 2010, but we are working hard to drive that figure up further. In my constituency, for example, BAE, from the private sector, is working with education providers and university technical colleges to drive women and young people into those areas, but the Government need to keep working to close the gap further.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

The victims strategy rightly focuses on domestic violence, a scourge of our society. How does the Minister propose to make sure that women are aware of what he is proposing?