Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help new businesses access high street premises; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of reforming business rates to help facilitate this access.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Government has introduced High Street Rental Auctions through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. When the powers come into force, they will allow local authorities to require landlords to let their empty high street properties making town centre tenancies more accessible to businesses and community groups.
At Autumn Statement 2023, the Government announced it would extend the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief scheme at 75 per cent, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2024-25. Around 230,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties, including many on the high street will be eligible for this relief, a tax cut worth nearly £2.4 billion. In addition, the small business multiplier was frozen for the fourth consecutive year for 2024/25, protecting over a million ratepayers from a multiplier increase.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which prisons are prisoners eligible to undertake apprenticeships in England and Wales.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Apprenticeships are one of our initiatives to drive up skills, qualifications and employment across the estate, filling key gaps in the economy, and ultimately reducing reoffending.
In September 2022, the Government changed legislation to allow serving prisoners to undertake apprenticeships. Since then, my officials have been working closely with their counterparts in the Department for Education to engage employers in key skills sectors such as hospitality and construction to sponsor and support apprentice placements.
In England, all appropriately risk-assessed prisoners in the open estate and certain women’s prisons can undertake apprenticeships in the community, as long as they are eligible for ROTL and within a year of release. Apprenticeships are now being tested in the closed Category C estate, offering the chance for high quality training leading to sustainable employment outcomes.
As skills and education are devolved in Wales, the Welsh Government is responsible for provision of education and training in Welsh prisons.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the resilience of businesses in (a) the hospitality sector and (b) retail; and whether her Department provides guidance to businesses on best practice.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We understand the many challenges businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors are facing, which is why Government is supporting businesses with business rates relief and help with energy costs. We are also working across Government to identify opportunities to ease regulatory burdens.
We continue to work with members of the Hospitality Sector Council, to deliver our 2021 Hospitality Strategy, which aims to support the sector’s recovery from COVID-19 and improve its longer-term resilience.
The industry led Retail Sector Council is developing a strategic approach for retail and continues to invite views on the opportunities and challenges for business set out in the recently published discussion paper Retail: The Great Enabler.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) hospitality and (b) retail stakeholders on business rates.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The subject of business rates, along with wider financial challenges, are regularly raised during individual stakeholder and roundtable calls. Industry concerns are shared across Government including Treasury.
Both the Hospitality Sector Council and Retail Sector Council have established working groups that are exploring issues to address key concerns, including costs to business. The Retail Sector Council submitted evidence to HM Treasury as part of a call for evidence into Treasury’s previous review of the business rates system.
At Autumn Statement 2023, the Chancellor announced a package of business rates support worth £4.3 billion over the next 5 years, for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what (a) hospitality and (b) gifts in kind Ministers in his Department received in the last 12 months.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
In line with the practice of successive administrations, such details are published online.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with businesses on preparing for the deadline for the implementation of the deposit return scheme.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra engages stakeholders across industry (including large and small drinks producers, retailers, wholesalers, and the hospitality sector) to ensure we are learning lessons from other schemes (including the Scottish experience and the recently launched scheme in Ireland). This is to support industry as they move towards delivery. We are committed to continuing engagement and working collaboratively with industry to deliver a cost effective, well-functioning scheme.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when Ministers last met (a) representatives of the government of and (b) business leaders from Russia to discuss UK exports to that country.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Details of all Ministerial meetings undertaken on behalf of the Department are published on a quarterly basis on the gov.uk website as part of the Government’s wider transparency agenda. The information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what fiscal steps she is taking to support (a) training programmes, (b) apprenticeships and (c) other efforts to promote (i) job creation and (ii) skills development in Bury South constituency.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government is committed to creating a world leading skills system which is employer-focused, high quality and fit for the future. The government’s reforms are strengthening higher education (HE) and further education (FE) to help more people get good jobs and upskill and retrain throughout their lives, as well as to improve national productivity and economic growth. The government’s reforms are backed with an additional investment of £3.8 billion over the course of this Parliament to strengthen HE and FE.
This additional funding will help providers such as those in Bury to deliver high quality education and training.
Bury College serves the Bury South constituency and received £25.3 million to deliver learning and skills training programmes in 2022/23 for 16 to18 year olds and apprentices for local employers. Bury College has also received capital investment of over £12 million since 2019.
Bury College offers a wide range of post-16 education and training from pre-entry level qualifications, A levels, T Levels, vocational courses at Levels 1 to 3, and apprenticeships in health and public services, business administration, engineering, retail and commercial enterprise, and education and training. It also has a University Centre and works in partnership with several local universities to deliver a range of HE courses at Higher National Diploma, Foundation Degree and Degree level to the local community. Bury College also receives funding for adult education programmes via Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Bury College is a partner of the Greater Manchester Institute of Technology, led by The University of Salford, and has received £1.353 million of funding for refurbishments and specialist equipment in Heath Innovation, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Enterprise and Sports provision. Bury College will account for 25% of all learners at the Institute of Technology. This equates to approximately 200 learners in 2023/24.
The area is also served by Holy Cross College, a Catholic sixth form college, which received £12.89 million to deliver learning programmes for 16 to18 year olds in 2022/23. It delivers a largely academic Level 3 programme and a small Level 2 cohort. Holy Cross College has a University Centre delivering HE both through a direct contract with Office for Students and in partnership with Liverpool Hope University.
The department is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to £2.7 billion by 2024/25 to support employers of all sizes and in all areas of the country, including Bury South, to grow their businesses with the skilled apprentices they need. Since 2010, there have been 11,380 apprenticeship starts in Bury South.
The department has introduced the Free Courses for Jobs scheme which enables eligible adults to gain a qualification for free. Residents in Bury can access provision in a range of sector subject areas delivered through colleges and training providers in the area.
In addition, the department has also introduced Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast track to an interview with an employer. In each of the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, the department has allocated £7.5 million to Greater Manchester Combined Authority to deliver Skills Bootcamps in the Greater Manchester area, including in Bury South via grant funding.
T Levels will equip more young people with the skills, knowledge and experience to access skilled employment or further study. From September 2023, 18 T Levels will be available and will be delivered through nearly 300 providers across all regions of the country. Bury college is delivering T Levels in business administration, legal, financial, and accounting, education and childcare, and health and engineering in 2023/24. The college intends to introduce further T Levels in catering and hospitality, construction and the built environment, creative and digital, and hair and beauty in 2024/25.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which industries experience the highest (a) loss and (b) retention of female staff after maternity leave.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The 2019 Parental Rights Survey shows that over a fifth (22%) of mothers reported not returning to work or starting another job following birth. Mothers working in ‘Hospitality’ (38%) and ‘Wholesale and Retail’ (27%) sectors were more likely to report they did not return or start another job than mothers in ‘Public Administration, Health and Education’ (15%).[1]
Over half (54%) of all mothers returned to the same job following birth. Mothers working in ‘Public Administration, Health and Education’ were more likely (63%) to report returning to the same job than those in ‘Business, Professional Services, Leisure and Other Services’ (50%) and ‘Hospitality’ industries (35%)[2].
1, [2] The sectors reported represent those where there are statistically significant differences from the total.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to reinstating VAT-free shopping for international visitors; and what assessment they have made of the impact that this would have on (1) tourism, (2) retail, (3) the hospitality sector, and (4) the overall economy.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Government analysis conducted in 2022 found that introducing a worldwide scheme could come at a fiscal cost of around £2 billion each year.
The government’s costings calculate the direct cost of the policy to the exchequer, taking into account behavioural effects. The wider economic impacts of the policy are considered by the OBR through the indirect effects process.