Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of job vacancies in (a) Birmingham and (b) the West Midlands in each month since January 2020 to date.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Official statistics on vacancies are not available for each region and nation of the UK. However, experimental statistics on online job adverts are available at a regional level. These statistics are provided by ONS in partnership with Adzuna (an online job search engine).
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has held with the Secretary of State for Transport on upgrading the A14 in Suffolk to enhance the route for transport between the port of Felixstowe and the areas incorporating the Midlands Engine and Northern Powerhouse schemes.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Secretary of State for International Trade has had no formal discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on this matter.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the strategic importance of upgrading the A14 in Suffolk to (a) enhance the route for transport between the port of Felixstowe and the areas incorporating the Midlands Engine and Northern Powerhouse schemes and (b) contribute to the delivery of the UK's (i) economic and (ii) trade strategies after the end of the transition period.
Answered by Graham Stuart
No assessment has been made by DIT of the strategic importance of upgrading the A14 in Suffolk.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what plans she has for the Government's Equality Hub to help tackle (a) geographical and (b) socio-economic inequality in (i) Stoke-on-Trent and (ii) Staffordshire.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Prime Minister has set out our vision to level up and spread opportunity and I want the Equality Hub to look at issues such as geography and social background to identify barriers to success.
The Government has introduced unprecedented support for business and workers across all regions of the UK, including Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, to protect them against the current economic crisis. We will support jobs in every region, and invest in our towns, cities, people and places.
The forthcoming Local Recovery and Devolution White Paper will set out the place-based regional economic strategy. This will build on regional partnerships like the Midlands Engine which promotes the global footprint of our regions and the economic opportunities within.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to upgrade the A14 in Suffolk to enhance the route for transport between the port of Felixstowe and the areas incorporating the midlands engine and northern powerhouse schemes.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government recognises the importance of the A14 as a key artery and has invested £1.5 billion in the recently-opened improvements between Cambridge and Huntingdon. The second Road Investment Strategy, published with the Budget in March, confirmed funding for the development of a scheme to enhance the Copdock Interchange in Suffolk to enable smoother journeys for goods vehicles to and from the Port of Felixstowe.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to support small businesses in (a) Dudley and (b) throughout the West Midlands.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government-backed British Business Bank (BBB) is working alongside LEPs in the Midlands to deliver the Investment Strategy for the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF). To date is has made over £80m of investments in firms located across the Midlands and includes £31 million of private sector leverage.
The Chancellor’s has announced temporary measures to support businesses during the coronavirus outbreak. This support is comprised of two packages that we are asking local authorities in England to administer to support small businesses. They are the Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grants Fund.
The first scheme is a £10,000 grant per eligible business. Eligible businesses will be those with a rateable value of £15,000 or less and thus eligible for relief under the Small Business Rates Relief scheme (full relief and tapered relief) or the Rural Rate Relief Scheme. We estimate that this will apply to some 730,000 businesses across England.
The second scheme is the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grants Fund. This fund is intended to support businesses in sectors that we know are being profoundly impacted and which are crucial to local economies across England. The businesses that are eligible will be those that eligible for a discount under the Expanded Retail Discount scheme. Grants will be provided in respect of each property (hereditament); so businesses with multiple outlets would receive more than one grant and may receive grants from separate local authorities.
There will be two levels to this grant: £10,000 for properties with a rateable value for £15,000 or less; £25,000 for properties with a rateable value of more than £15,000 but less than £51,000.
Asked by: Lord Triesman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to develop the M5 as a growth corridor; and whether they have asked the National Infrastructure Commission to consider such a proposal.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
Government has no plans at present to develop the M5 as a growth corridor. However, this strategic corridor is important for the economies of the Midlands Engine and the Western Gateway.
We have supported growth through a number of key projects which include: the recent announcement of £219million Housing Infrastructure Fund to improve Junction 10 in Gloucestershire; £12.19million Local Growth Funding to improve the junction 25 at Taunton; and also the creation of 2 Enterprise Zones, Gravity at junction 23 near Bridgwater and at the Exeter and East Devon Enterprise Zone at junction 29.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral statement on Transport Infrastructure and oral contribution of 11 February 2020, Official Report, column 723, whether High Speed Two will include the establishment of Sheffield rail links; and if Northern Powerhouse Rail improvements will include the establishment of rail links from Manchester to (a) Sheffield and (b) Leeds.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The government has made clear its commitment to delivering HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail. We will develop an integrated rail plan to ensure that HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and Midlands Engine Rail bring benefits to the North and Midlands as quickly and efficiently as possible. The Department for Transport will continue to work with Transport for the North and local leaders, to develop NPR plans for the Leeds to Manchester corridor alongside options for lines serving Sheffield, Liverpool, Tees Valley, Hull and Newcastle.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local growth in (a) Crawley and (b) the UK.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Government is committed to levelling up the entire country and giving towns, cities and communities across the UK real power and investment to drive the growth of the future and unleash their full potential.
We have taken action to encourage local growth in Crawley that includes:
Across the UK the Government is supporting local partners to deliver local economic growth and prosperity through:
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to grow the digital economy in the Midlands.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The government is committed to making the UK the best place to start and grow a digital business, and to ensuring the benefits of digital are felt across the country.
The Midlands is well-placed to make the most of the digital revolution, with its leading universities and strengths in advanced manufacturing and engineering. It is already home to more than 20,000 digital technology businesses.
We are driving further growth in the region’s digital economy through:
The region is also benefitting from: