Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support the development of a greener economy in Worcestershire.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Within the decade, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister is determined for the UK to be at the forefront of the green industrial revolution as we accelerate our progress towards net zero emissions by 2050. We have set out billions in support for our low-carbon economy including over £3 billion to transform energy efficiency in homes and public buildings.
The Government is determined to ensure that the benefits of the net zero transition are shared fairly in every region. BEIS has also funded a local energy hub in the Midlands, covering Worcestershire, to help local authorities and communities design and develop renewable energy projects. In the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership area, the hub is currently supporting 7 projects valued at over £15m.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the number of loans provided through the Bounce Back Loan scheme to applicants in (a) Worcestershire and (b) Bromsgrove District.
Answered by Paul Scully
A breakdown on the number of loans provided through the Bounce Back Loan scheme as of 7 August is in the table below.
Region | Loans offered | Value of Loans offered (£) |
Bromsgrove | 1743 | 54,503,426 |
Worcestershire (which includes Mid Worcestershire, Redditch, West Worcestershire, Worcester, Wyre Forest) | 7208 | 204,972,174 |
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of apprenticeships in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Worcestershire.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The government’s Plan for Jobs will help to kickstart the nation’s economic recovery. We believe that apprenticeships will be more important than ever in helping businesses to recruit the right people and develop the skills they need to recover and grow - both now and in the long term.
To help businesses offer new apprenticeships, we are providing £1,500 for every apprentice they hire as a new employee from 1 August 2020 to 31 January 2020. This will rise to £2,000 if they hire a new apprentice under the age of 25 - in recognition of the particular impacts of COVID-19 on the employment prospects of this group.
The new payment will encourage employers to offer new apprenticeship opportunities and take advantage of existing flexibilities to train their apprentices in a way that suits their needs. We will ensure that there is sufficient funding this year to support small businesses wanting to take on an apprentice.
We also introduced a number of flexibilities to ensure that apprenticeships can continue where possible, helping employers to retain their existing apprentices. We are working with key partners such as the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, the West Midlands Combined Authority, local business to business organisations, sector and trade bodies to raise the awareness of the incentives and the benefits of apprenticeships.
We have increased the amount that levy payers can transfer from 10% to 25% and are seeing numbers of transfers rise steadily. We are also working closely with the West Midlands Combined Authority to promote levy transfers from large employers, to date these include HSBC and Lloyds, BT, BBC, RAC, University of Birmingham and University of Warwickshire. These levy funds are being used to support local small and medium-sized enterprises in the automotive, digital and construction sectors across the West Midlands Region. Hereford and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce are actively promoting levy transfers. They are also now producing marketing materials to promote levy transfers to employers across a broad range of sectors.
We have produced guidance to help employers looking to transfer levy funds. This is supported by online tutorials, but we know we need to make the process even more simple. The guidance is avaliable here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transferring-apprenticeship-service-funds.
We are committed to working with large employers to improve the transfer process, making it easier for them to find smaller employers to transfer surplus levy funds to, thus helping them maximise the amount of funding they will be able to transfer. In doing so we will build on successful regional pilot schemes, such as that in West Midlands Combined Authority.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students in (a) the Bromsgrove constituency and (b) Worcestershire enrolled on to a T-Level course in the academic year 2020-2021.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
There are now 44 schools, colleges and other training providers teaching the first 3 T levels. Five of these 44 are in the West Midlands region. The confirmed enrolment figures for T levels (at a national level) will be available once the September recruitment has been formally reported in summer 2021. We have been monitoring the situation closely and are confident that recruitment has progressed well and a viable cohort of young people will benefit from taking these new, high quality qualifications, leaving them in a great position to move into skilled employment or further training.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department is providing to 18 to 25 years olds who are unemployed in Worcestershire.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to getting people back into work and through our Plan for Jobs we will help young people across the country into work.
We recently opened applications for our ambitious £2 billion Kickstart Scheme. It puts young people at the heart of our economic recovery by supporting young people at risk of long term unemployment into six month placements across the private, public and voluntary sectors.
We have also introduced a new youth offer for 18-24 year olds in the Universal Credit Intensive Work Search group. This includes a structured 13-week programme, youth hubs and youth employability coaches.
Together with Worcester County Council, Worcester Jobcentre Plus will be creating a youth hub that will provide a holistic approach and tailored support for each customer. The hub will focus on 16-24 year olds to address long-term unemployment.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers in (a) Worcestershire and (b) the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra is taking steps to support farmers throughout the UK, including Worcestershire, by introducing schemes using powers in the Agriculture Bill. This Bill will allow us to introduce ambitious new schemes in England, based on the principle of "public money for public goods", so that we can reward farmers and land managers who protect our environment, improve animal welfare and produce high quality food in a more sustainable way.
The Bill helps farmers to stay competitive with measures to increase productivity and invest in new technology. We will also improve transparency in the supply chain to help food producers strengthen their position at the farm gate and seek a fairer return from the marketplace. The Bill also provides the legislative framework necessary to ensure a smooth transition to the new system. Farmers and land managers will be supported over a seven-year agricultural transition period, giving them time to plan and adapt to the new approach.
The Government appreciates that the food and farming sectors are currently facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and is grateful for the hard work farmers have done to maintain food supplies. In response to the pandemic, we introduced a range of measures to support the agriculture sector, including farmers and agricultural businesses in Worcestershire. These included: easements to competition law to help producers get food where it was needed; a dairy support scheme; support for various AHDB promotional campaigns and the opening of intervention and storage aid schemes for various products. Employees in the food sector were also designated as key workers and there has been a temporary relaxing of the normal rules on drivers' hours, enabling the sector to keep supply chains running, including deliveries from farm gate to processors. Farmers have also, where eligible, been able to apply for public support through the various Covid-19 related Government schemes including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, business rates relief, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. On 24 September, the Government announced an extension to its access to finance schemes to 30 November 2020 for new applicants and introduced ‘Pay as you Grow’ options for Bounce Back Loan borrowers, who will be offered more time and greater flexibility for their repayments.
In June we announced a package of trade support for food and drink exporters. This joint Defra and Department for International Trade package of short-term practical measures will support businesses to get their products back in front of international buyers and grow their exports. More information can be found on the GOV.UK website: www.gov.uk/government/news/bounce-back-plan-for-agriculture-food-and-drink-industry-launched.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of the wedding industry sector on responding to the challenge of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy publishes details of ministers’ meetings with external organisations on a quarterly basis, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
Data for April-June will be published in due course.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps businesses in Bromsgrove District can take to utilise support from her Department to help increase (a) international exports (b) international exports to Japan.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for International Trade (DIT) delivers a range of export services across the West Midlands. These include: providing support in accessing international opportunities; participation in trade missions; providing export credit and insurance through UK Export Finance (UKEF); access to DIT’s international network; and face-to-face support provided by experienced International Trade Advisers. There is a dedicated local DIT team of five International Trade Advisers based in Worcester who cover Hereford and Worcestershire including the Bromsgrove constituency. DIT Midlands are working closely with the Hereford & Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership team, providing additional International Trade Adviser support to help grow business exporting opportunities.
Goods exports from the West Midlands were £473M in 2019. The UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was agreed in principle on Friday 11 September. The deal secures additional benefits beyond the EU-Japan free trade agreement deal and will give UK companies exporting to Japan a competitive advantage in a number of areas.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of above Step 5 (a) football clubs and (b) governing bodies of English football on supporting a safe return to (i) playing and (ii) spectating as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The safety and security of players and spectators is of paramount importance.
On Tuesday 22 September it was announced that all sports pilot events currently ongoing would be paused with immediate effect. The Government has taken the decision to pause test events due to the sharp upward trajectory of Covid-19 cases. A?s set out in our Roadmap, sports events pilots, and the full return of fans to stadia would only ever take place when it was safe to do so.
The Government remains in regular dialogue with all the football authorities to understand their current circumstances and is keen to see the safe return of spectators to live sports events. The Government fully understands that fans want to be back watching live sports and we are continuing to work with the sector on solutions and innovations.
I was delighted that we were able to see the safe return of competitive grassroots football from 18 July.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support the provision of mental health services in Worcestershire for people aged 16-24.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Continuing to expand access to children’s mental health services nationally is a priority for this Government, and it is a core part of the NHS Long Term Plan. The National Health Service has set an ambitious goal of an extra 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 receiving support via NHS-funded mental health services and schools-based mental health support teams by 2023/24.
As a system, Herefordshire and Worcestershire have strengthened their transitions work through a new model for adult community mental health, with longer transitions and increased provision for young adults. The aim of this work is to reduce the ‘cliff edge’ experienced by some people when they turn 18.