Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Thursday 16th October 2014 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport was asked—

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

1. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of competition in the mobile network operators’ market.

[The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

Mr Speaker, may I begin by apologising for the fact that the Secretary of State cannot be here for questions? I trust that you were appropriately informed: he is on a trip representing the Government in India.

It is for Ofcom to assess competition in the mobile communications market, and I am pleased to tell my hon. Friend that it has found the UK mobile market to be one of the most open and competitive in the world.

[Nigel Mills]

I thank the Minister for his answer, but he will know of the recent decisions by the big networks to bring their retailing in-house so that they can keep more of the profits, resulting in the closure of Phones 4u. These decisions risk reducing customer choice and raising prices. Is it not time to ask Ofcom to look at this again before we lose all our retail competitors and end up with a mobile phone market as rigged as the energy market?

[Mr Vaizey]

It is not appropriate for me to comment on the commercial issues surrounding the decision of the owners of Phones 4u to put the company into receivership, but it is possible to purchase mobile phones not just through the operators’ shops but on the high street and from online outlets; and mobile virtual network operators are also providing a great deal of competition.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Thursday 5th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jo Swinson]

The hon. Gentleman is right that many workers are employed on zero-hours contracts. In some cases those can work well, but in other cases there are concerns about abuse. That is why the Department has undertaken a fact-finding exercise, and we will shortly launch a consultation on what action can be taken to ensure that such contracts are not abused.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

8. What steps he is taking to encourage more people to become engineers.

[The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)]

In September the Government announced a £400 million boost for science, technology, engineering and maths teaching. Last month we launched the first annual Tomorrow’s Engineers week, during which the Government worked with more than 70 partners. Our recently published Perkins review of engineering skills calls for action from employers, educators and the profession to work with us to inspire young people to become engineers.

[Nigel Mills]

Does the Minister agree with the importance of getting local engineering employers to work closely with skills providers to inspire young people to go into engineering, and will he join me in welcoming the soon-to-open Heanor studio college, which will do exactly that?

[Mr Willetts]

We strongly support such initiatives, which are absolutely what is required to ensure that employers get the skilled engineers they need.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Monday 29th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am never surprised when I hear a kind word from the Chair. It is no more than I have come to expect.

Implicit in the hon. Gentleman’s question was the idea that we should reduce funding to extend early education to two-year-olds. I do not believe that is right. I believe it is right that we increase the amount we spend on early intervention from £2.2 billion to £2.3 billion, to £2.4 billion and then to £2.5 billion. That is an increase in anyone’s money.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

6. How many places he expects to be available in studio schools by 2015.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Edward Timpson)]

There are currently 16 studio schools open. By September 2013, we expect there will be 30 studio schools open, representing nearly 10,000 new school places. More studio schools will be announced following the current application round, providing an employer-backed academic and vocational offer for 14 to 19-year-olds of all abilities.

[Nigel Mills]

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer and welcome him to his position. Does he agree that studio schools offer young people not only a great academic education, but real-world life experience, and will he therefore join me in welcoming Derby college’s bid to open a school in Heanor?

[Mr Timpson]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of what studio schools bring to the offer for young people. I understand that this is the first time that Derby college has applied to open a new studio school. We are very much looking forward to receiving its proposal, which will no doubt be supported vigorously by my hon. Friend. Each application will be considered on its own merits and in comparison with others submitted.

Exam Reform

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I looked at everything that had been written by the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors and the Federation of Small Businesses, and in so doing, I could see the widespread view among business that we needed to reform GCSEs. I look forward to hearing from individual businesses about their views of specific aspects of the reform. However, among businesses, there was a universal view that examinations had been discredited and dumbed down under the previous Government and that, at last, the nettle was being grasped.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

I welcome the statement. What can my right hon. Friend do to ensure that students in the next five years also obtain qualifications that are well regarded by prospective employers?

[Michael Gove]

One thing that the coalition Government have done is allow schools that are concerned about the quality of GCSEs, particularly the modular nature of some GCSEs, to teach the IGCSE. I visited a state school in Hertfordshire on Friday, where a mathematics teacher told me that she hoped that we would adopt a system that was more similar to the IGCSE, because that would help inject greater rigour into the process. I was able to reassure her that we were learning from best international practice and that I would encourage all schools to consider how the IGCSE might be an appropriate preparation for the changes that we hope to introduce.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Monday 27th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)]

7. What steps he has taken to reduce the amount of paperwork undertaken by teachers.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

10. What steps he has taken to reduce the amount of paperwork undertaken by teachers.

[The Minister of State, Department for Education (Mr Nick Gibb)]

The Government are committed to reducing the amount of paperwork undertaken by teachers, heads and governors. We have removed the lengthy self-evaluation form and the financial management standard in schools; introduced a streamlined inspection framework; removed unnecessary duties and regulations in the Education Act 2011; cut the volume of guidance issued to schools by more than half; and made it clear that neither the Department nor Ofsted expects teachers to produce written lesson plans for every lesson. We are reviewing all requirements on schools so that they can focus on raising standards, rather than on unnecessary administrative tasks.

[Mr Gibb]

And significantly less interesting. My hon. Friend is right that we have swept away pages of guidance. We have reduced the admissions code from 160 pages to 50, the assessment guidance from 220 pages to 30, the attendance guidance from 220 pages to 30, and so on. We have reduced the health and safety guidance from 150 pages to eight, and have taken out important guidance on how to do a headcount, why a headcount is important and why schools should ensure that the school minibus is properly maintained.

[Nigel Mills]

Many teachers complain about the amount of time they have to spend completing lesson plans. Will the Minister confirm that neither he nor Ofsted require plans for every lesson?

[Mr Gibb]

I am happy to give my hon. Friend that assurance. Ofsted does not require written lesson plans for every lesson. Michael Wilshaw, Her Majesty’s chief inspector, has made that absolutely clear.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Thursday 27th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

2. What steps he is taking to support manufacturing.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

14. What steps he is taking to support manufacturing.

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

15. What steps he is taking to support manufacturing.

--- Later in debate ---

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Gentleman is right to say that there is a supply chain issue. We are hearing good news from the automobile and aerospace sectors, with the large primes, such as Tata, Rolls-Royce and Airbus, making large investments. However, we also need to attract back the supply chains, which is already happening, particularly in the car industry. We have bodies that co-operate with industry in both those sectors: the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr Prisk) chairs one of them and I chair the other. We are therefore working actively with industry to attract the supply chains back to the UK.

[Nigel Mills]

Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating the work of the high-value manufacturing technology and innovation centre, which has had a display in Parliament for the past two days, and especially a business in my constituency, Advanced Composites, on the work that it does as part of that? Does he agree with the strategy and aims that it has set out, especially on having a strategy for how we can get manufacturing back to being 20% of gross domestic product by 2020?

[Vince Cable]

Yes, we are fighting a historical trend, because, under the previous Government, and certainly over the past decade, manufacturing contracted as a share of the economy more rapidly than in any other western country and we lost a third of the work force. We have to retrieve that, and one of the main ways of doing so is through promoting innovation. The first innovation centre, as my colleague rightly points out, is the manufacturing technology innovation centre, which has seven campuses. Composites is one of those core technologies being developed, which I very much welcome.

School Funding Reform

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

Parents, pupils and teachers alike at the four schools in Swanwick and Alfreton in my constituency that lost their BSF funding will head into the summer in a much more optimistic mood following the announcement that there might be some funding coming their way. Will my right hon. Friend advise them on whether they should think about dusting off the radical BSF plans that were scrapped—or should they perhaps be looking for a simpler and more cost-effective approach to replace buildings that are in desperate need of rebuilding?

[Michael Gove]

Emphatically the latter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Thursday 9th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

I refer the hon. Lady to the consultation that we published just last month on modern workplaces. We wish to reform maternity and paternity law, which we believe will be a win-win for employees and employers. It will produce better rights for families than the previous Government provided, and provide more flexibility for employees and employers so that they can have adult conversations about how such leave should be taken.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

5. What recent assessment he has made of the level of lending by banks to small businesses.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)]

Figures published in May by the Bank of England show that the UK’s five largest banks lent £16.8 billion to UK small and medium-sized enterprises in the first quarter. That fails to meet the targets in the Merlin agreement and is obviously disappointing. We will continue to monitor lending closely over the year. We reserve the right to revisit the agreement if banks continue to miss the targets.

[Nigel Mills]

Many small businesses in my constituency complain that when they ask banks about funding, they are told not to bother applying because it would only attract interest in their existing facilities and that those may well be withdrawn instead. What can the Government do to stop banks doing that and then claiming that they cannot meet the targets they have agreed to because of a lack of applications?

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Thursday 18th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

The Home Secretary will announce the results of the consultation very soon, and I am sure that it will give the hon. Gentleman the assurances that he wants on inter-company transfers.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

T7. Will the Minister agree to meet a social enterprise in my constituency whose future is threatened by the draconian attitude of RBS, which seeks nearly £400,000 in penalties for a minor breach, even though a non-nationalised bank is willing to refinance its loan fully?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Edward Davey)]

The Government are keen that banks should behave responsibly towards businesses, charities and social enterprises, and we continue to work with the banks to achieve that. For example, we are working with them to revise the lending code for micro-enterprises and we are publishing lending principles for medium-sized and larger businesses. We will continue to hold banks to account when they act unreasonably, and my officials will raise this matter with RBS.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Thursday 14th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

This Government will be the greenest Government ever, and when my hon. Friend reads the consultation document he will see that we have some very interesting ideas about how to improve the way in which companies report on social and environmental matters. I hope that we will be able to drive up the quality of reporting and disclosures by companies in that area.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

17. What steps he is taking to encourage universities to focus on the employability of graduates.

[The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)]

Students rightly expect better information about their chances of a job after studying different courses at different universities, and universities need to do more to improve the employability of their graduates. That is why I have asked universities to publish statements on what they do for students’ employment prospects. The vast majority have now done so.

[Nigel Mills]

I thank the Minister for that answer. Does he agree that a key method of achieving increased employability are schemes such as those set up by David Nieper, a full service clothing manufacturer in Alfreton in my constituency? It has agreed a scheme with Nottingham Trent university that will ensure that students get a full range of experience and skills in the textiles sector to increase their chances of employment after they finish their course.

[Mr Willetts]

I agree with my hon. Friend. Indeed, one of the proposals in Lord Browne’s report that we are looking at very carefully is to do more to encourage the accreditation of skills developed in businesses and the workplace as part of a degree qualification.