Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to examine measures other European countries have taken to protect their steel industries against dumping to inform his policies.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Anti-dumping policy is agreed at EU level so all EU member states adopt identical trade measures to protect EU industry from dumping. These measures are only imposed following an investigation by the European Commission, which in turn must be prompted by a complaint from European industry. The EU currently has 37 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures in place on steel and steel products.
As part of the International Comparisons Working Group, established following the Steel Summit on 16 October 2015, the Government has, in conjunction with representatives of the UK steel industry, examined the anti-dumping policies of some non-EU countries. The work was informed, in part, by European Commission’s own evaluation of its trade defence instruments published in 2012[1], which included a detailed comparison of the trade defence policies of other countries.
[1] Evaluation of the European Union’s Trade Defence Instruments. BKP Development and Research 2012. Vol 1 and 2.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reasons are for the reduction in the proportion of his Department's budget spent with small and medium-sized enterprises between 2013 and 2015.
Answered by Anna Soubry
It is an established convention that Ministers of one Administration cannot see the documents of a previous Administration. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested by the hon Member.
However, the Department continues to improve its data collection so that the full extent of indirect spending with SMEs is captured, working closely with the Crown Commercial Service and prime contractors. The Department actively explores the possibility of contracting directly with SMEs throughout its procurement processes whilst adhering to the relevant public procurement regulations.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of which sectors of the British economy are most at risk from foreign export dumping; and what steps he is taking to protect those sectors from that activity.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Any industry or business can potentially be affected by dumping. Companies in all goods sectors can therefore seek protection from dumping or subsidy through the EU’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy Regulations by providing evidence direct, or through a trade association, to the European Commission.
Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy actions by the European Commission have been taken against a wide range of imported products. The attached table shows the sectoral pattern of investigations conducted by the European Commission during the period 2011-2016.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to encourage the National Infrastructure Commission to investigate ways in which the UK supply chain can be used to help the UK steel industry.
Answered by Anna Soubry
My officials continue to work with HM Treasury on the establishment of an independent National Infrastructure Commission, including the basis upon which it will consider economic growth and the impact of UK infrastructure on the wider economy.
On 30 October, we published guidance – Procurement Policy Note 16/15: Procuring steel in major projects, to ensure that Central Government takes into account relevant social and economic issues when procuring steel. This was followed, on 3 November, by more detailed instructions on how to apply social issues in steel procurement. These principles are being extended to the wider public sector, including Local Authorities and the NHS.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department has spent on its industrial strategy in each year in which that strategy has been in force.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The industrial strategy was launched under the coalition Government in September 2012. The strategy was characterised by support for a number of sectors, in several areas where government action (via investment or otherwise) was identified to have an impact in promoting jobs and growth.
These areas were access to finance, support for emerging technologies, creating a pipeline of skilled workers, government procurement and the development of supply chains.
The figures below show how much money has been spent in the spend areas of Aerospace, Automotive and Agri-tech, in each year that it has been in force:
| 13/14 (£) | 14/15 (£) | 15/16 (£) (Forecast) |
Euro-Transonic Wind-tunnel (part of the Agri-tech Catalyst) | 1,111,747 | 683,000 | 1,195,000 |
Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) | 72,697,664 | 132,544,663 | 128,877,536 |
Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) | - | 16,009,948 | 32,358,783 |
Agri-Tech Catalyst | 1,648,790 | 1,959,154 | 24,837,890 |
Total | 75,458,201 | 151,196,766 | 187,269,209 |
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for how long the proposed apprenticeship levy vouchers will be valid.
Answered by Nick Boles
Levy funds will expire 18 months after they enter an employers’ digital apprenticeship service account unless they are spent on apprenticeship training. This will also apply to any top-ups in the account. Expiration will take place automatically, but an employer’s digital apprenticeship service account will let them know in good time when any funds are due to expire so that the funds can be spent if the employer wishes to do so.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether employers who pay the proposed apprenticeship levy and provide training will be able to use levy vouchers in their own organisations.
Answered by Nick Boles
Employers will be free to spend levy money on apprenticeships training which they judge best meets their needs. If the employer is a registered training provider, they could use the levy money on in-house training which meets the required quality standards for an apprenticeship.
Where an employer wishes to provide their own in-house training, they must be registered on the Skills Funding Agency’s Register of Training Organisations. All providers are subject to inspection and reports by Ofsted on apprenticeship training provision.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding his Department provided to each of its partner organisations in each year from 2010; and what the (a) type and (b) sector of those organisations is.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Table 1 sets out the total funding provided to the Department’s partner organisations for each financial year since 2009-10. Funding includes grant-in-aid funding or an increased equity investment.
Table 2 sets out these partner organisations according to type and sector.
Since 2010 the Department has significantly reduced its number of partner organisations down to 44. We committed to further reductions as part of the BIS2020 programme of departmental transformation to make the Department cheaper and simpler, and to deliver better services to users.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what process he is following to develop the Apprenticeship Levy Digital Voucher.
Answered by Nick Boles
The digital apprenticeship service is being built by the Skills Funding Agency in accordance with Cabinet Office best practice.
To ensure that the service is focused on employer and training provider needs we are performing extensive user research. The service will build on insights gathered from over 2000 employers and around 400 training providers. To make sure that the service is ready for the levy in April 2017, we plan to launch a substantial pilot with employers and providers later this year.
Further details on the apprenticeship levy and the digital apprenticeship service will be available in the guide for employers which will be published shortly on gov.uk.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to increase productivity to levels recorded in 2008.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Output per worker was approximately 2.2% higher in 2015 compared to 2008, according to the Office for National Statistics. On an output per hour basis, productivity was 1.7% higher in 2015 compared to 2008.
Increasing productivity growth remains one of the key economic challenges for this Parliament. The government’s ‘Fixing the Foundations’ productivity plan sets out the ambitious vision and pro-productivity agenda that the government is working on to meet the productivity challenge that most advanced economies face.
The productivity plan can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fixing-the-foundations-creating-a-more-prosperous-nation
As the plan notes, every part of government is contributing to this ambition; and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is working across Whitehall to ensure that the reforms set out in the plan are delivered with urgency and pace.