Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Hospitality Sector Council on informing wider government policy towards Pubs and the Hospitality Sector.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Hospitality Sector Council is designed as a collaboration between government and the sector. The Council has several working groups led by business which work through specific issues and recommend policy initiatives as appropriate.
Through this collaboration, we are addressing strategic issues related to high street regeneration, skills, sustainability, and productivity. This includes expanding the Hospitality Sector-Based Work Academy Program - addressing high vacancy rates by providing jobseekers with bespoke training, work placements, and guaranteed interviews so that they are job ready. The program when piloted was highly successful with 80% of those who completed the course securing employment in the hospitality sector.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had discussions with the Royal Mail on service delivery in (a) rural areas and (b) Leicestershire.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Ministers and officials meet with Royal Mail regularly to discuss a range of issues in relation to its role as the universal postal service provider.
I recently met the CEO of Royal Mail’s parent company to raise concerns about Royal Mail’s performance. He recognised that the current level of service is not good enough and has said that improving quality of service is his top priority. I note that to improve performance Royal Mail has recruited an additional 3,000 postmen and is continuing to actively recruit new postal staff. I will continue to raise the issue if service levels do not improve.