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me for a round-up of the dax in both Houses of Parliament at 11pl | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
tonight. Questions now to the Business Secretary and his | :00:00. | :00:12. | |
ministerial team. Order, order. Questions to the Secretary of State | :00:13. | :00:20. | |
for Business, Innovation and Skills. Over 2.4 million apprenticeship | :00:21. | :00:22. | |
starts have been delivered hn England since May 2010 but now we | :00:23. | :00:27. | |
are going further. We are committed to 3 million more of this p`rliament | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
and will ensure they developed - develop the skills to continue | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
growth. Here's wishing to group these questions. We need to fill a | :00:38. | :00:49. | |
million more digital jobs and in this context, I am sure the | :00:50. | :00:52. | |
secretary of state will agrde with the science and technology | :00:53. | :00:58. | |
committee's report published that cuts spending. It is an invdstment | :00:59. | :01:04. | |
and not a state subsidy that creates jobs and attracts inward investment | :01:05. | :01:09. | |
and is essential for stem apprentices seeking British | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
employers. Can I commend my honourable friend on her le`dership | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
of the science and technology committee. She is right to talk | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
about science and information and digital skills. Yesterday I made it | :01:23. | :01:29. | |
speeds where I set out and revealed plans to boost science and | :01:30. | :01:36. | |
innovation capabilities. Thdre were seven and 40 new apprentices in my | :01:37. | :01:41. | |
constituency last year. On the Secretary of State congratulate the | :01:42. | :01:43. | |
hundreds of new apprentices and confirm he will continue to work to | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
improve not just the quantity, but the quality of apprenticeshhps going | :01:49. | :01:53. | |
forward? I am delighted to congratulate those that havd started | :01:54. | :01:57. | |
apprenticeships in my honourable friend's constituency. Therd has | :01:58. | :02:02. | |
been an increase of 45% since 2 10 and these are high-quality paid jobs | :02:03. | :02:07. | |
that last at 12 months. The whole house should acknowledge thd work | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
that has been done on apprenticeships and it is focused on | :02:13. | :02:21. | |
not just quantity, but qualhty. My constituency takes on 12 and 18 new | :02:22. | :02:27. | |
apprentices each year. Just under 700 apprenticeship starts in the | :02:28. | :02:29. | |
last 12 months in my constituency and business are responding. Can I | :02:30. | :02:38. | |
urge him to make sure these apprentices are worthwhile `nd high | :02:39. | :02:41. | |
skilled so that those undertaking them really benefit from thdir | :02:42. | :02:46. | |
apprenticeships? I am delighted my honourable friend's constittency has | :02:47. | :02:52. | |
seen a 37% increase since 2010. He is very passionate about thhs and | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
has done much to promote apprenticeships. He is right to talk | :02:57. | :03:02. | |
about the quality. They are widening access to professions giving people | :03:03. | :03:09. | |
routes to professional educ`tion at some of our best universitids. The | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
Secretary of State talks a good game but the facts are that a prhnt ship | :03:14. | :03:18. | |
starts have dropped in everx single year since 2011/12. Will thd | :03:19. | :03:27. | |
Minister say that given current uncertainty around key policy act | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
specs such as the apprenticdship levy, he will struggle to mdet that | :03:31. | :03:38. | |
target? I point out that apprenticeship starts for the year | :03:39. | :03:45. | |
2014/ 15/400 92000 and that was up 50,000 on the previous year. He | :03:46. | :03:49. | |
raises the apprenticeship ldvy but I hope you will agree with me that | :03:50. | :03:56. | |
this will be a way to make sure we get proper funding for | :03:57. | :04:04. | |
apprenticeships and there is more quantity rather than qualitx. We | :04:05. | :04:13. | |
have secured a site for the high-speed railway. We want to get | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
on with developing and expanding apprenticeships in the rail | :04:19. | :04:23. | |
industry. Does he still back the site in Doncaster for the college | :04:24. | :04:30. | |
for High Speed Rail? We are committed to this college and it is | :04:31. | :04:33. | |
not only right it is in Doncaster but it will make a big diffdrence to | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
skills and what is a very ilportant area for future infrastructtre. What | :04:39. | :04:57. | |
impact does he think hitting further colleges on apprenticeships? My | :04:58. | :05:04. | |
priority is to make them stronger and one way we are going to do that | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
is through the local area vhews that will look at local needs. The video | :05:10. | :05:18. | |
gaming industry contributes over ?3 billion to our economy, supporting | :05:19. | :05:22. | |
skilled jobs across the country including my own constituency. The | :05:23. | :05:27. | |
biggest barrier to growth for them, they tell me is skills. Yet there | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
are no employee led level for higher apprenticeships in video galing and | :05:34. | :05:39. | |
the next generation skills @cademy which is working to develop one has | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
lost its funding. We can't `llow the Government's lack of a digital | :05:45. | :05:49. | |
skills strategy to make it game over for Britain. So will the Secretary | :05:50. | :05:52. | |
of State guaranteed to me now, that the video gaming industry whll have | :05:53. | :05:59. | |
the apprentice standard it needs? Yes, or no? The honourable lady | :06:00. | :06:06. | |
should be reassured. I have met with the video gaming industry to discuss | :06:07. | :06:10. | |
a number of issues including skills and she will know that when it comes | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
to apprenticeships, it is hhghly important they are employer led and | :06:16. | :06:19. | |
it is up to any industry to come forward with proposals and we are | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
working with over 1000 employers on 140 apprenticeship programmds that | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
they are helping to set up `nd we will work with the video galing | :06:29. | :06:36. | |
industry also. I would like to group this with number 16. The Government | :06:37. | :06:40. | |
is working with industry through the aerospace growth partnership to | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
remove the barriers to growth and grow high-value jobs. We support the | :06:46. | :06:51. | |
industry's investment in productivity and skills. I `m | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
grateful to my right honour`ble friend for that answer. Will he join | :06:57. | :07:01. | |
with me in congratulating Boeing who have the base in my constittency for | :07:02. | :07:06. | |
more than doubling its workforce since 2010 and increasing investment | :07:07. | :07:10. | |
in UK suppliers from 1 billhon to 1.4 billion over that period? | :07:11. | :07:17. | |
Certainly. It is an important area for aerospace. They have a great | :07:18. | :07:23. | |
service facility which has ` large number of Boeing dream line are | :07:24. | :07:26. | |
similarities in the world. Ht also is home to London Gatwick Ahrport. | :07:27. | :07:36. | |
Can I commend my honourable friend on the work he has done to promote | :07:37. | :07:41. | |
this industry. The last fin`ncial quarter saw the highest aircraft | :07:42. | :07:51. | |
deliveries. Many aerospace companies commend the growth partnership as | :07:52. | :07:54. | |
playing a key role in that success. Can the secretary of state confirm | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
he will continue to support this valuable partnership? I can. I see | :07:59. | :08:06. | |
regular dialogue with the sdctor councils as a vital part of our | :08:07. | :08:09. | |
industry approach. It is important that the UK continues to be more | :08:10. | :08:13. | |
productive and more competitive and this has been central to thd work of | :08:14. | :08:17. | |
the aerospace growth partnership. I will be meeting with many of the | :08:18. | :08:24. | |
representatives on December three in Filton. Will be Secretary of State | :08:25. | :08:33. | |
confirmed today that he will continue and the UK Governmdnt will | :08:34. | :08:37. | |
continue to fund the aerosp`ce growth partnership through hts 1 | :08:38. | :08:41. | |
billion contribution over sdven years from 2013 and that he is not | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
considering in anyway day looting the funding that is available for | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
the growth partnership and hn particular converting it to loans? | :08:51. | :08:57. | |
The Government is absolutelx committed to seeing a strong | :08:58. | :09:01. | |
aerospace sector and that strength is represented by our commitment to | :09:02. | :09:05. | |
the aerospace technology Institute which is what the honourabld | :09:06. | :09:09. | |
gentleman was referring to. Discussions move ahead with the | :09:10. | :09:14. | |
UK's first spaceport. Safetx and the safety of the general public as a | :09:15. | :09:18. | |
primary importance in considering the location of such a spacdport. | :09:19. | :09:25. | |
Extensive as they should be hampered by commercial flying and it will | :09:26. | :09:31. | |
make a critical condition to any safety assessment. The honotrable | :09:32. | :09:37. | |
lady is right and stop the safety is paramount in that sector. Wd have | :09:38. | :09:41. | |
consulted on the location and we will be talking to our colldagues on | :09:42. | :09:49. | |
the outcome. As the Secretary of State is aware, I have world leading | :09:50. | :09:53. | |
aerospace companies in my constituency and they are | :09:54. | :09:56. | |
appreciative of the help thd Government is given to the sector. | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
The August problem may have is the inability to recruit suffichent | :10:02. | :10:04. | |
numbers of young people who are considering engineering as ` | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
career. What discussions is in heaven with his right honourable | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
friend the Education Secret`ry about persuading teachers to enlighten | :10:13. | :10:14. | |
people who are considering engineering as a career. Wh`t | :10:15. | :10:16. | |
discussions is in heaven with his right honourable friend the | :10:17. | :10:18. | |
Education Secretary about pdrsuading teachers to enlighten peoplds as -- | :10:19. | :10:21. | |
exist in the sector? He raises a very important point. Skills in | :10:22. | :10:25. | |
engineering, not just for this sector but many others, are hugely | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
important. With the Education Secretary, we are working to get | :10:31. | :10:34. | |
more employers into schools to talk to schoolchildren about thehr | :10:35. | :10:37. | |
prospects and opportunities that exist amassed area. There is more we | :10:38. | :10:42. | |
can do and we are right to raise this issue. Last week, Paul Everitt, | :10:43. | :10:53. | |
the head of the of the aerospace... Said loans are not appropri`te and | :10:54. | :10:59. | |
that approach would put the UK at a disadvantage. Can I press the | :11:00. | :11:01. | |
Secretary of State to answer my honourable friend's question and | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
rule out replacing research grants and loans which would damagd | :11:06. | :11:09. | |
Britain's ability to innovate and complete? | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
I made this speech yesterdax, I talked about how there are lany ways | :11:15. | :11:22. | |
to help the sector, grants hs one way, there are other ways to help, | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
export, skilled. We will not shy away from supporting that sdctor, | :11:27. | :11:29. | |
innovation. Number three. The best way the government can | :11:30. | :11:41. | |
support manufacturers is by sticking to its long-term economic plan, | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
including cutting red tape by ? 0 billion, creating 3 million | :11:47. | :11:49. | |
apprenticeships, lowering corporation tax and devolving | :11:50. | :11:57. | |
budgets and Palace to local leaders. Myler -- by constituency has a | :11:58. | :12:02. | |
strong Manufacturing sector, I help promote the industry by org`nising a | :12:03. | :12:05. | |
skills though, which I hope he will attend next year. What a system scan | :12:06. | :12:11. | |
the Government gift to Cumbria to attract skilled workers, not just | :12:12. | :12:16. | |
from Cumbria but from other areas, to help complete large projdcts | :12:17. | :12:25. | |
such as the nuclear new-build? I commend him on his skills though, | :12:26. | :12:28. | |
which is making a big difference to his constituents. He will bd pleased | :12:29. | :12:33. | |
to learn that the advanced Manufacturing Centre at Carlisle | :12:34. | :12:37. | |
College will begin construction in 2016/17, and there is no dotbt it | :12:38. | :12:46. | |
will help to boost local skhlls Does he not accept that, although it | :12:47. | :12:50. | |
is important that employers have a leading role in the developlent of | :12:51. | :12:56. | |
skills, it is also necessarx that skills are transferable, and unless | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
the further education sector is involved in the process of training | :13:02. | :13:05. | |
people and giving them thosd skills, they will not necessarily bd | :13:06. | :13:11. | |
transferable? I agree about the importance of transferability, Alan | :13:12. | :13:23. | |
further education sector will look at local needs at that issud of | :13:24. | :13:26. | |
making sure the skills are transferable. What steps is he | :13:27. | :13:33. | |
taking to protect British Manufacturing from dumping on our | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
market, maximising the effect of existing international rules? He | :13:38. | :13:44. | |
will know that when it comes to trade measures, that is acthon that | :13:45. | :13:53. | |
has to be taken by the EU. He has an interest in steel, it is an | :13:54. | :13:57. | |
important issue, about dealhng with unfair trade. We discussed ht at the | :13:58. | :14:01. | |
emergency council that I attended yesterday in Brussels. One thing | :14:02. | :14:05. | |
that was agreed is that the commission said -- should prioritise | :14:06. | :14:11. | |
certain cases, including thd steel industry. Last week my constituents | :14:12. | :14:19. | |
and at job losses of up to 200 highly skilled jobs in the | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
manufacturing sector. The Scottish Government and devolved agencies are | :14:24. | :14:29. | |
involved, but this is a classic move off where a European companx is | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
going to be shipping the process and jobs to another prank -- another | :14:34. | :14:40. | |
plant in the EU, so what can the UK Government do to stop such loves in | :14:41. | :14:43. | |
the future and encourage long-term investment here? We can continue to | :14:44. | :14:51. | |
make the UK as attractive as possible for manufacturers. What we | :14:52. | :14:56. | |
have seen is that output is up, exports are up, jobs are up, because | :14:57. | :15:03. | |
of our long-term economic plan, that is bringing in tax cuts, investing | :15:04. | :15:06. | |
in skills, cutting red tape and boosting exports. Will he bring | :15:07. | :15:13. | |
forward details of packages of support to be put in place to help | :15:14. | :15:18. | |
those workers in the Black Country affected by the collapse of the | :15:19. | :15:23. | |
company, including 54 in my constituency, so that these skills | :15:24. | :15:26. | |
can be retained in the local engineering sector? He is rhght to | :15:27. | :15:35. | |
raise this issue, it is important that workers are affected -, who are | :15:36. | :15:42. | |
affected can get whatever hdlp that can be provided, we have rolled out | :15:43. | :15:46. | |
plans for support and we ard talking to local leaders to see what more we | :15:47. | :15:53. | |
can do. The official opposition has had to drag the government kicking | :15:54. | :15:56. | |
and screaming here time aftdr time to get them to stand up for British | :15:57. | :16:02. | |
steel-making, it has been almost two weeks since the Business Secretary | :16:03. | :16:05. | |
went to Brussels to hurry along the European Commission on statd aid | :16:06. | :16:10. | |
approval, and yesterday he `ttended the EU competitive council, but | :16:11. | :16:14. | |
whilst there were pledges for the future, no action was agreed that | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
will make a material differdnce to our steel industry now. How long | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
must the industry continue to wait for the compensation packagd | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
promised by the Prime Minister in 2011 to be paid in full? Whdn is the | :16:27. | :16:32. | |
Business Secretary going to get a grip, stop hiding behind thd EU and | :16:33. | :16:36. | |
do more to tackle the root causes of this crisis? It is a shame that she | :16:37. | :16:44. | |
has to take this kind of attitude. She would be more constructhve. . | :16:45. | :16:54. | |
Under 13 years of the Labour Party we saw 45% collapse in steel | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
production in this country, jobs halved, cut by more than 10,000 | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
because of her Government's policies. We are taking this | :17:04. | :17:09. | |
seriously. When we had a medting at the emergency council, which we | :17:10. | :17:13. | |
called for, and was granted, we agreed on actions, they havd been | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
published, and there will bd further information. Number five. | :17:18. | :17:25. | |
I am sorry. Could I assure the honourable lady that the government | :17:26. | :17:35. | |
published its consultation on the introduction of market rent only | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
option on the 29th of Octobdr, the proposals have been drafted to | :17:40. | :17:41. | |
strike a fair balance betwedn the pub companies and tenants, `nd we | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
look forward to hearing views from across the industry during the | :17:46. | :17:50. | |
consultation period. The dr`ft code released by the Minister was | :17:51. | :17:55. | |
supposed to signal the end of the unfair practice of forcing tenants | :17:56. | :18:01. | |
to purchase their beer only from pub cos. They can only purchase from the | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
open market in exceptional circumstances. I do not agrde with | :18:07. | :18:16. | |
her assessment of the consultation. I re-emphasise, the clue is in the | :18:17. | :18:25. | |
name, consultation. We are puite rightly publishing our proposals, | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
but it is a consultation, and I look forward to representations from | :18:31. | :18:32. | |
everybody, including the honourable lady. I wish to join the honourable | :18:33. | :18:39. | |
lady for Sheffield and say that a number of pubs have closed hn my | :18:40. | :18:43. | |
constituency and those of mx colleagues because property prices | :18:44. | :18:46. | |
and rents are too high. I rdcognise we need to keep the pub companies in | :18:47. | :18:53. | |
business as well, so does she agree with me that exceptional | :18:54. | :19:00. | |
circumstances would include any situation where a pub would have to | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
close because the rent is too high? It is useful and helpful and I thank | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
him for making that contribttion. I look forward to him putting that | :19:11. | :19:16. | |
into the consultation, becatse this -- these mixed views are crhtical to | :19:17. | :19:27. | |
what is a consultation. Ten`nts groups and the fair Deal calpaign | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
have contacted me to say th`t they believe they have acted in bad faith | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
and that the draft code of practice for pubs does not even a bite with | :19:36. | :19:41. | |
the legislation, and negates the market rent only option, so they | :19:42. | :19:45. | |
will be asking her tomorrow to withdraw the code, which is | :19:46. | :19:49. | |
unacceptable, and engage with them and come up with something that does | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
what this has said in November. I am disappointed to hear that, let me | :19:55. | :20:02. | |
make it clear, I have stood up in my constituency against planned | :20:03. | :20:09. | |
closures of public houses, `gainst companies like Greene King, you can | :20:10. | :20:15. | |
look on my website. But most importantly, it is important that we | :20:16. | :20:19. | |
strike the right balance. It is important, PRA, he was not `lways in | :20:20. | :20:27. | |
favour of it, he changed his mind at the last moment, is not in the code, | :20:28. | :20:32. | |
and I am grateful to the noble Lords in the other house... Shouthng from | :20:33. | :20:38. | |
a sedentary position does not assist at all. The new style of politics | :20:39. | :20:47. | |
has not quite reached the Lhberal Democrat benches yet. Noble Lords | :20:48. | :20:52. | |
have made their concerns very clear to the lady baroness. As a result of | :20:53. | :21:00. | |
that, that proposal will now go into the second part of the constltation | :21:01. | :21:03. | |
and everybody can be assured of that. Thank you very much. The | :21:04. | :21:14. | |
so-called consultation scrapped the promised parallel and assessments, | :21:15. | :21:18. | |
so I am pleased to hear she has put it back in, but will she do the same | :21:19. | :21:21. | |
with all of the provisions offered by the baroness in the other house | :21:22. | :21:27. | |
on the 20th of January and lake sure that the vast majority of ptb | :21:28. | :21:31. | |
tenants are offered a fair deal when it comes to the market rent only | :21:32. | :21:36. | |
option? If she does not, shd will be acting in bad faith, and shd will | :21:37. | :21:40. | |
have betrayed the trust of thousands of pub tenants up and down the | :21:41. | :21:47. | |
country. As I keep saying, ht is a consultation, so we will listen to | :21:48. | :21:50. | |
everybody. It is important that we strike the balance fairly for both | :21:51. | :21:56. | |
sides of the argument. It is also important that we understand and | :21:57. | :21:59. | |
accept that there has been ` great deal of movement to the betterment | :22:00. | :22:03. | |
for the tenants over the last few years. We must understand and | :22:04. | :22:09. | |
recognise that. I know from my constituency work that pub companies | :22:10. | :22:16. | |
have hugely changed their vhews to the benefit of tenants, and that | :22:17. | :22:26. | |
must be welcomed. Number six. We must empower businesses to compete | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
more effectively by acceler`ting the integration of the single m`rket, | :22:31. | :22:35. | |
especially in services, dightal and the energy sectors, by cutthng red | :22:36. | :22:38. | |
tape for business and pushing for more ambitious free-trade agreements | :22:39. | :22:41. | |
between the EU and the rest of the world. Does he agree that in the | :22:42. | :22:47. | |
best interests of business, they will be served by being a mdmber of | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
a reforming EU, and that dods extend to remaining in the single larket? | :22:54. | :23:03. | |
It is also extraordinarily tseful that the EU can negotiate stch good | :23:04. | :23:10. | |
strong deals for us globallx. He is absolutely right to raise the | :23:11. | :23:15. | |
importance of the need for DU reform. But many businesses do | :23:16. | :23:21. | |
believe that as things currdntly stand, the cost of membershhp today | :23:22. | :23:30. | |
outweighs the benefits. As the PM said, for us to get the best deal, | :23:31. | :23:35. | |
we must have this referendul and let the British people decide. Last week | :23:36. | :23:42. | |
a group of senior business figures in the Northwest said it was vital | :23:43. | :23:48. | |
for jobs in our region that Britain stays in the EU. We'll be Government | :23:49. | :23:52. | |
heed that and make a priority to continue the ?800 million of EU | :23:53. | :23:56. | |
structural funds given to the Northwest? | :23:57. | :24:02. | |
The one thing that businessds agree on is the need for reform, they are | :24:03. | :24:09. | |
all united on that, whichevdr business group you speak to. If we | :24:10. | :24:13. | |
can get those reforms, which I am confident about, and the Prhme | :24:14. | :24:17. | |
Minister has talked about them, we will see an even bigger boost for | :24:18. | :24:23. | |
Britain. Would he remind thd house of the trade deficit we havd with | :24:24. | :24:31. | |
the EU? Clearly, at the momdnt, the unreformed EU is not working for | :24:32. | :24:38. | |
British business. He is quite right to remind us of that deficit that | :24:39. | :24:42. | |
currently exists, that is why one of the reforms we want to see hs a | :24:43. | :24:45. | |
deeper and poured a single larket that includes things like dhgital | :24:46. | :24:51. | |
services, professional servhces thinks that Britain is very good at, | :24:52. | :24:54. | |
alongside manufacturing, so we can do more trade. In the Telegraph the | :24:55. | :25:01. | |
Prime Minister's potential successor, Boris Johnson, s`id the | :25:02. | :25:05. | |
Prime Minister was right to achieve a section of the blade that might | :25:06. | :25:12. | |
said Britain free from the DU. Has said Britain free from the DU. Has | :25:13. | :25:15. | |
he made an assessment of thd likely impact on Scottish business of | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
Britain turning its back on its European trading partners, `nd if | :25:20. | :25:20. | |
that appropriate language? What I agree on is that we need | :25:21. | :25:33. | |
reform. All members on this side of the house agree on the need to fight | :25:34. | :25:37. | |
for that reform, which means cutting red tape, having a deeper shngle | :25:38. | :25:43. | |
market, more ambitious free,trade agreements, and I hope she will join | :25:44. | :25:49. | |
us in fighting for that reform. A poll of Scottish business l`st month | :25:50. | :25:53. | |
found that 82% support Scottish small and medium businesses want to | :25:54. | :26:04. | |
stay in the EU. It create wdalth and jobs at home. This government has | :26:05. | :26:09. | |
lost all control of the exit agenda that was only started to appease the | :26:10. | :26:13. | |
right-wing Eurosceptic backbenchers and may result in Scotland being | :26:14. | :26:16. | |
dragged into delusional impdrial isolation against its well. | :26:17. | :26:24. | |
Can I welcome the honourabld lady into her new role. She will no one | :26:25. | :26:31. | |
of the most important sectors in Scotland as the financial sdrvices | :26:32. | :26:35. | |
industry with its asset man`gement, banking and that is one are` where | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
we could have a deeper markdt and do more trade with the rest of the EU. | :26:41. | :26:45. | |
If she supports that scores, she will support our efforts to reform | :26:46. | :26:53. | |
the EU. While overall international student numbers are up year on year, | :26:54. | :27:02. | |
there were 16,000 Indian sttdents in 2015, decline of the past three | :27:03. | :27:08. | |
years. India remains our second-largest search market. I | :27:09. | :27:14. | |
thank my honourable friend for his answer. The numbers of studdnts | :27:15. | :27:18. | |
choosing to come here have declined by 53% over the last four ydars and | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
there is a concern that we need to do something about it so th`t | :27:24. | :27:27. | |
Britain becomes the choice for Indians to study, rather th`n the | :27:28. | :27:31. | |
United States or elsewhere. What measures can he take in terls of | :27:32. | :27:35. | |
users, changing best times for study and the ability of students here to | :27:36. | :27:45. | |
work? It is in -- important and with clear this up. We are open to | :27:46. | :27:49. | |
international students and there is no cap on the number of students | :27:50. | :27:54. | |
that can come and study herd. There's no cap on those that stay | :27:55. | :28:00. | |
here after they finish, providing they get a job. We want to welcome | :28:01. | :28:07. | |
more Indian students here. The honourable Deadman says we want to | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
make more Indian students fdel welcome here but it is clear from | :28:12. | :28:15. | |
the figures that they feel luch more welcome in America, Canada, | :28:16. | :28:21. | |
Australia. Isn't this going to have a substantial impact on Britain s | :28:22. | :28:25. | |
trade relations with India `nd other countries like Pakistan, whdre the | :28:26. | :28:29. | |
figures have fallen? What is the minister going to do about ht? | :28:30. | :28:35. | |
Overall, international studdnt numbers are up year-on-year. We have | :28:36. | :28:40. | |
a competitive offer of international students and have a world-class | :28:41. | :28:43. | |
higher education sector with 38 out of the world's top 100 univdrsities. | :28:44. | :28:48. | |
It is not surprising nation`l students want to study here. Can I | :28:49. | :28:57. | |
ask the Minister, when his department is going to show some | :28:58. | :29:01. | |
leadership and get the Home Office to take students out of the | :29:02. | :29:05. | |
migration figures? This Govdrnment is undermining the global rdach of | :29:06. | :29:10. | |
our universities and it is @merica, Canada and Australia that is | :29:11. | :29:15. | |
benefiting. We have a competitive offer is underlined by the fact that | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
year-on-year student numbers are up three to 4%. We work closelx to | :29:20. | :29:25. | |
ensure our international offer is competitive and it remains | :29:26. | :29:27. | |
competitive and will remain to do so. There is no cap on international | :29:28. | :29:32. | |
students come to this country and no limit to those that want to go on | :29:33. | :29:44. | |
and work. I am delighted to report that the UK Trade Investmdnt has | :29:45. | :29:54. | |
increased. It is working and we have secured an extra 60 billion in sales | :29:55. | :30:02. | |
and the rise in exports is 46%. The life sciences also doing thdir bit. | :30:03. | :30:06. | |
I recently signed a 2 billion trade deal with China and there whll be | :30:07. | :30:12. | |
more announcements with the Indian state visit. Britain brews the best | :30:13. | :30:16. | |
beer in the world and I know the minister wants to get our brewers | :30:17. | :30:20. | |
exporting. Sadly, the Brewers tell us that would be performancd here, | :30:21. | :30:27. | |
they couldn't brewery. Will he do all he can to | :30:28. | :30:35. | |
help medium and family sized brewers export across the world? He is a | :30:36. | :30:40. | |
doughty champion for British beer and he makes a very important point. | :30:41. | :30:47. | |
We need to roll out the barrel for British beer and I am delighted my | :30:48. | :30:53. | |
right honourable friend for DEFRA has set out a plan to make sure the | :30:54. | :31:01. | |
whole world gets to taste otr beer and food. In Northern Ireland, our | :31:02. | :31:08. | |
food industry depends on exports. Would -- what further steps will | :31:09. | :31:17. | |
business take in terms of accessing new market opportunities for British | :31:18. | :31:23. | |
and Northern Ireland exports? Northern Ireland is a cruci`l part | :31:24. | :31:26. | |
of the UK sector and other ,- and that is why we have set up the | :31:27. | :31:40. | |
export tasks -- task force. Small and medium-sized businesses are | :31:41. | :31:43. | |
still not getting the attraction that they need from UK TIA. We do | :31:44. | :31:49. | |
everything possible to help James of collars to engage with one `nother | :31:50. | :31:58. | |
week and hit our exports? There is an important review of the way UKTI | :31:59. | :32:05. | |
works and makes sure we are developing strategic market focused | :32:06. | :32:08. | |
around the world. We are mahntaining the momentum and improving on it to | :32:09. | :32:18. | |
hit that ambitious target. The deficit this department is | :32:19. | :32:21. | |
responsible for is the tradd deficit and on the current account which | :32:22. | :32:25. | |
manages our ability to pay our way in the world, it recently rdached a | :32:26. | :32:33. | |
height since the Second World War at 3.6% of GDP. How were refushng to | :32:34. | :32:39. | |
have an industrial strategy at all help British exporters to overcome | :32:40. | :32:43. | |
the failure of this Governmdnt's trade policy? He picked the wrong | :32:44. | :32:53. | |
Minister. I read -- lead ond of the most sex acts for one on life | :32:54. | :32:59. | |
sciences. -- successful ones on life sciences. We are leading in building | :33:00. | :33:05. | |
a long-term economic plan for the science and innovation of tomorrow. | :33:06. | :33:09. | |
He can quote trade balance figures all he likes. We are in the global | :33:10. | :33:14. | |
economy and we cannot control the way other economies are growing | :33:15. | :33:21. | |
around the world. We are crdating a direct of labour market enforcement | :33:22. | :33:24. | |
which will strengthen our ability to use find and stop exploitathve | :33:25. | :33:28. | |
employers like before to businesses in my honourable friend's | :33:29. | :33:33. | |
constituency that have had their gang masters licenses revokdd. | :33:34. | :33:41. | |
Lincolnshire provide some of the finest food in the country. Does he | :33:42. | :33:46. | |
agree it should be as much down to supermarkets and consumers to make | :33:47. | :33:49. | |
sure that everyone knows th`t the food we eat is produced inhtmane | :33:50. | :33:58. | |
conditions? It is a very important thing that supermarkets and other | :33:59. | :34:02. | |
traders are as transparent `s possible about the work thex have | :34:03. | :34:05. | |
done to ensure nowhere in their supply train, there is any slavery | :34:06. | :34:10. | |
or any labour exploitation. The Modern Slavery Bill act reqtires | :34:11. | :34:13. | |
them to make a statement of that kind. There is an area revidw taking | :34:14. | :34:27. | |
place. The Sussex coast revhew will recommend high-quality sust`inable | :34:28. | :34:42. | |
and financial viability. We have good and improving colleges | :34:43. | :34:47. | |
providing apprenticeships, training and education. Having taken large | :34:48. | :34:51. | |
cuts, can the Minister shall be that the area review is not just a cover | :34:52. | :34:56. | |
for an cuts that will threaten the viability altogether and whx schools | :34:57. | :35:06. | |
are not included in those rdviews? Regional school commissions are | :35:07. | :35:11. | |
required to be part of the `rea reviews and where, in some parts of | :35:12. | :35:13. | |
the country, they have been surprised by this requirement, I'm | :35:14. | :35:18. | |
happy to reassert it here. They are required to be part of thosd area | :35:19. | :35:22. | |
reviews. The point of area reviews is to have strong sustainable sixth | :35:23. | :35:29. | |
form colleges that can take advantage of growing revenud streams | :35:30. | :35:32. | |
like the funding for apprenticeships. I am sorry to | :35:33. | :35:43. | |
detain you yet further. Dat` from the 2014 UK commission employee | :35:44. | :35:46. | |
perspective survey showed in England 15% of establishments have offered | :35:47. | :35:52. | |
formal apprenticeships. When we introduced the apprenticeshhp levy, | :35:53. | :35:56. | |
we expected this percentage to increase significantly. I fhnd it | :35:57. | :36:02. | |
anything other than joyous to sample his mellifluous tones. I have not | :36:03. | :36:10. | |
been detained by anybody and I shall always be here. The apprenthceship | :36:11. | :36:19. | |
service has been formed by the Chamber of Commerce and county | :36:20. | :36:22. | |
council and is forming many apprenticeships. When he do all he | :36:23. | :36:26. | |
can to ensure businesses thdmselves played the major role in increasing | :36:27. | :36:33. | |
the number of apprenticeships? I really am delighted that thd Suffolk | :36:34. | :36:37. | |
authorities and Chamber of Commerce have created this service whll stop | :36:38. | :36:42. | |
a number of authorities havd created similar things, friendship pubs and | :36:43. | :36:46. | |
the like. It is a worthwhild intervention by local authorities, | :36:47. | :36:49. | |
but he is right that ultimately what we wanted employees to take control | :36:50. | :36:55. | |
of this, employees to develop standards and employers to control | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
the funding and employers to ensure more people get the opportunity of | :37:00. | :37:04. | |
an apprenticeship. Can you tell me three things which the Government is | :37:05. | :37:07. | |
doing to encourage friendshhps and construction where there is a huge | :37:08. | :37:12. | |
shortage? I am delighted to be able to tell him. Firstly, we ard | :37:13. | :37:20. | |
introducing and a pension ldvy which would have been welcomed because it | :37:21. | :37:24. | |
will require larger employers to make a substantial investment. We | :37:25. | :37:29. | |
have reformed the constructhon leadership Council and charge them | :37:30. | :37:33. | |
with taking a very active role in promoting apprenticeships. Third, I | :37:34. | :37:40. | |
meet regularly with the verx focused leadership team on the construction | :37:41. | :37:43. | |
industry training board and have charged them with focusing on | :37:44. | :37:47. | |
apprenticeships as the key lethod of delivering high quality trahning and | :37:48. | :37:58. | |
further skills. You can see why I was nervous about popping up again. | :37:59. | :38:03. | |
We are working closely with a group of leading sector employers to | :38:04. | :38:06. | |
support the development of ` new apprentice ship standard. The | :38:07. | :38:12. | |
standard will equip apprenthces with the could mend the road haulage | :38:13. | :38:18. | |
industry needs. QWERTY name five... No, I won't go there. Will xou work | :38:19. | :38:23. | |
with employees of the road haulage industry to incentivise driving as a | :38:24. | :38:28. | |
career choice for young people going forward? I absolutely well `nd there | :38:29. | :38:34. | |
is a desperate need for mord skilled drivers and it is a great | :38:35. | :38:39. | |
opportunity for people who `re in low skilled employment. We had an | :38:40. | :38:43. | |
interesting discussion with a Cabinet committee recently `bout | :38:44. | :38:46. | |
this being an opportunity for ex-offenders as a very good first | :38:47. | :38:53. | |
employment. The defence minhster has said it is a good opportunity for | :38:54. | :38:56. | |
people leaving the forces and we need to do it on all sides of the | :38:57. | :39:00. | |
Government. What can the Government do to help all this compares with | :39:01. | :39:08. | |
the fees of ?3500 being charged to train people for HGV licencds? There | :39:09. | :39:13. | |
is a convention we have stuck to wit is that we do not ask the t`sk - | :39:14. | :39:19. | |
taxpayer to pay for licences to practice a particular kind of | :39:20. | :39:21. | |
profession. We do believe that should be directly in interdst of | :39:22. | :39:25. | |
both the employer and emploxee who's going to benefit from having that | :39:26. | :39:30. | |
license. Are encouraging thdm and they are working on develophng an | :39:31. | :39:34. | |
apprenticeship standard, whhch will include the rest of the trahning and | :39:35. | :39:37. | |
that will receive substanti`l support from the taxpayer and the | :39:38. | :39:46. | |
pension levy. According to the latest finance monitor survdy, net | :39:47. | :39:53. | |
lending has increased subst`ntially and businesses are increasingly | :39:54. | :39:56. | |
finding the banks are more willing to lend. In relation to Govdrnment | :39:57. | :40:01. | |
assistance, we have provided finance help to small businesses through | :40:02. | :40:10. | |
38,800 start-up loans where ?17 million turned to the self-dmployed. | :40:11. | :40:15. | |
Julie Dean is carrying out `n independent review of | :40:16. | :40:18. | |
self-employment and I am sure we will welcome her recommendations and | :40:19. | :40:21. | |
we need to do more to make sure everyone knows about the brhlliance | :40:22. | :40:28. | |
of the financial Tech centrd. Picking up on small businesses, she | :40:29. | :40:33. | |
will be aware that the Secrdtary of State visited last Friday in the | :40:34. | :40:36. | |
West Midlands, accompanied by the business hub. It is indicathve of | :40:37. | :40:44. | |
the sort of thing that recolmends that the Government maintains its | :40:45. | :40:48. | |
positive level of support for businesses. Can she assure le that | :40:49. | :40:52. | |
that will be the case of thd business hubs are such a good link | :40:53. | :40:57. | |
with them? This is an excellent company but these things ard really | :40:58. | :41:01. | |
important. One of the other things is that we encourage small | :41:02. | :41:04. | |
businesses to look at those alternative sources of fundhng and | :41:05. | :41:07. | |
that is why the sector is doing so well. Crowdfunding, peer-to,peer, | :41:08. | :41:12. | |
angels and so on. This is the information we need to get out, | :41:13. | :41:14. | |
especially at a local level. She will be aware that therd are a | :41:15. | :41:23. | |
lot of people in my constittency who go into self-employment as one of | :41:24. | :41:27. | |
their first steps into employment, but they are likely to be unfamiliar | :41:28. | :41:32. | |
with the system. How can shd make sure that people will be aw`re of | :41:33. | :41:39. | |
the options open to them? Wd offer information to people, we h`ve the | :41:40. | :41:42. | |
British business bank who ptt together the various funds that are | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
available to small businessds. One reason that I am in favour of some | :41:48. | :41:51. | |
of these devolution deals is because it is beginning to put that sort of | :41:52. | :41:54. | |
activity right down to the local level, you have this coming together | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
of local authorities, busindsses, the local enterprise partnership, so | :42:00. | :42:02. | |
we can get this sort of information out. The Federation of Small | :42:03. | :42:07. | |
Businesses, the Chambers of commerce have a huge role to play, they do | :42:08. | :42:11. | |
excellent work, often at a local level. Number 15. I work closely | :42:12. | :42:19. | |
with the Foreign Secretary through the export task force, to ddliver | :42:20. | :42:24. | |
growth for British business. UK businesses send 45% of their exports | :42:25. | :42:29. | |
to the EU, the reforms we are pursuing are good for the ET, the UK | :42:30. | :42:35. | |
and British business. 160,000 jobs in the north-east rely on trade with | :42:36. | :42:42. | |
the EU, we are the only reghon in the country to consistently deliver | :42:43. | :42:45. | |
a trade surplus, what assur`nces can he give my constituents, many of | :42:46. | :42:50. | |
whom are concerned about wh`t an isolated Britain on the fringes of | :42:51. | :42:54. | |
Europe might mean for their jobs and livelihoods? Is he going to vote to | :42:55. | :42:58. | |
stay in the EU and stand up for British jobs? She has some dxcellent | :42:59. | :43:07. | |
manufacturers and other companies in her constituency, including Nissan, | :43:08. | :43:10. | |
which recently announced a huge investment. One thing that business | :43:11. | :43:17. | |
once is more certainty around the EU, and reform. They have wdlcomed | :43:18. | :43:23. | |
the reforms we are fighting for and the certainty that the referendum | :43:24. | :43:27. | |
will bring. One of the biggdst impact on UK business is thd EU | :43:28. | :43:34. | |
social chapter. As recently as the Conservatives' 2010 manifesto, it | :43:35. | :43:37. | |
said, we would negotiate thd return of power over employment | :43:38. | :43:44. | |
legislation. Is this still going to happen or have we gone backwards in | :43:45. | :43:51. | |
our ambition? We have set ott our priorities in terms of making the | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
whole of the EU more compethtive, including cutting red tape, more | :43:57. | :44:00. | |
free-trade agreements, we h`ve set out in detail what these prhorities | :44:01. | :44:05. | |
are, but I have listened to what he has had to say and will reflect on | :44:06. | :44:07. | |
it. Topical questions. Numbdr one. My first and foremost priorhty has | :44:08. | :44:20. | |
been doing what I can to help the steel industry, I was grantdd an | :44:21. | :44:25. | |
emergency European Council beating yesterday and which led to ` number | :44:26. | :44:29. | |
of actions being agreed. I wish to reiterate our support for the people | :44:30. | :44:35. | |
who have lost their jobs recently, this is a difficult time for all | :44:36. | :44:38. | |
those affected, we are resolutely on your side. Many businesses hn the | :44:39. | :44:44. | |
construction sector are still suffering from excessive levels of | :44:45. | :44:49. | |
retention taken by the primd contractors, what more can he do to | :44:50. | :44:53. | |
encourage the phasing out of this before the 2025 deadline? Hd raises | :44:54. | :45:00. | |
a very important point, a ntmber of others have made it to me rdcently, | :45:01. | :45:03. | |
cash retention is a common practice which can provide assurance for | :45:04. | :45:08. | |
customers against poor worklanship, but there is scope for misuse, that | :45:09. | :45:12. | |
is why the governor and has commissioned a review and wd will | :45:13. | :45:20. | |
see what action we can take. Further education has already weakened from | :45:21. | :45:23. | |
five years of Government funding cuts, so why are ministers having 50 | :45:24. | :45:28. | |
reviews which threaten and force college closures? With the Commons | :45:29. | :45:34. | |
library figures suggesting `t least ?1.6 billion further educathon cuts | :45:35. | :45:41. | |
and the new green paper, ard ministers doing anything to stop | :45:42. | :45:45. | |
further education being the whipping boy? | :45:46. | :45:53. | |
We have discussed this during this session. What we want to sed is an | :45:54. | :46:01. | |
even stronger further education sector, that provides even lore | :46:02. | :46:04. | |
opportunities across the cotntry. The local reviews are essential in | :46:05. | :46:10. | |
doing that, we need to understand local needs much more careftlly and | :46:11. | :46:13. | |
that is what those reviews will achieve. Then we will be able to | :46:14. | :46:22. | |
offer more opportunities. M`ny of us, English members, whilst not | :46:23. | :46:26. | |
being able to recall individual results in the Rugby World Cup, we | :46:27. | :46:30. | |
were proud that England hosted the Rugby World Cup. Can he indhcate | :46:31. | :46:35. | |
what he estimates the posithve economic impact of hosting the Rugby | :46:36. | :46:43. | |
World Cup to be? Independent consultants estimated pretotrnament | :46:44. | :46:48. | |
that it would attract over 460, 00 international visitors to England | :46:49. | :46:52. | |
and Wales, the highest ever for a World Cup, which would add tp to ?1 | :46:53. | :46:58. | |
billion to the UK GDP, which is excellent, and we will know whether | :46:59. | :47:02. | |
that was accurate when the hmpact statement and all of that work has | :47:03. | :47:06. | |
been done sometime in May. By way of an anecdote, the member for rugby, | :47:07. | :47:14. | |
the birthplace of this great game, reports one of his businessds | :47:15. | :47:20. | |
reporting an increase in turnover of 250% purely as a result of this | :47:21. | :47:26. | |
great tournament. A sixth form college in my constituency does an | :47:27. | :47:33. | |
important job. The FA sector colleges and other post-16 provision | :47:34. | :47:38. | |
in Hull are deemed to be good or outstanding, so can the Minhster | :47:39. | :47:42. | |
guarantee that this vital provision in developing the skills agdnda in | :47:43. | :47:47. | |
the city will be protected `nd not decimated by the cuts that his | :47:48. | :47:55. | |
Government is likely to propose The importance of sixth form colleges | :47:56. | :47:58. | |
and further education colleges in all communities is shared bx all of | :47:59. | :48:04. | |
us, we all recognise it and rely on them and value them, but we need | :48:05. | :48:08. | |
them to be stronger, and th`t is what the reviews are about, enabling | :48:09. | :48:13. | |
them to form arrangements whth each other that strengthen them for the | :48:14. | :48:18. | |
future. I would also point out that this will be of less relevance to | :48:19. | :48:22. | |
the sixth form college, but for further education, the fundhng going | :48:23. | :48:26. | |
into apprenticeship training is growing very fast, and thosd | :48:27. | :48:30. | |
colleges have a great opportunity to get funding for the future. Happy to | :48:31. | :48:38. | |
follow. With the visit of N`rendra Modi happening this week, c`n he | :48:39. | :48:44. | |
described the different trade, educational and bilateral | :48:45. | :48:48. | |
arrangements that will be announced during this visit? I commend the | :48:49. | :48:54. | |
work of my honourable friend that he has done to boost ties betwden India | :48:55. | :48:59. | |
and Great Britain. There will be commercial announcements th`t will | :49:00. | :49:05. | |
be made. It will demonstratd the breadth of relation between the UK | :49:06. | :49:10. | |
and India, covering health care energy, financial services, creative | :49:11. | :49:14. | |
industries, boosting both economies. Later next month I will be leading a | :49:15. | :49:19. | |
trade mission to boost educ`tion exports, alongside the science | :49:20. | :49:19. | |
minister. In the Green paper the minister says | :49:20. | :49:30. | |
he wants to improve access to higher education for the most disadvantaged | :49:31. | :49:34. | |
students. Will he match this with action, protecting the studdnt | :49:35. | :49:37. | |
opportunity fund that does so much to support young people frol across | :49:38. | :49:40. | |
the country to realise their potential? Indeed, we set ott | :49:41. | :49:47. | |
proposals on which we want to consult with the sector, I have also | :49:48. | :49:52. | |
announced the creation of a social mobility task force to report to me | :49:53. | :49:55. | |
by Christmas with proposals for how to meet the Prime Minister's target | :49:56. | :50:00. | |
of doubling the proportion of people from disadvantaged backgrounds | :50:01. | :50:07. | |
attending university by 2020. The Government is making large | :50:08. | :50:13. | |
investment in infrastructurd in my area, and I am trying to encourage | :50:14. | :50:17. | |
large-scale inward investment. What can he do to help us build on local | :50:18. | :50:23. | |
skills in research and develop and? Through our growth deal with the | :50:24. | :50:28. | |
heart of the South West loc`l enterprise partnership we h`ve | :50:29. | :50:33. | |
invested ?6.5 million in Hinkley point and Yeovil College and its | :50:34. | :50:36. | |
partners can bid to that to build capacity and deliver skills | :50:37. | :50:39. | |
training. The local enterprhse partnership is leading work with | :50:40. | :50:43. | |
partners to develop an action plan to deliver the instruction skills | :50:44. | :50:48. | |
that the area will need. Thd Minister appears shy about telling | :50:49. | :50:52. | |
us when the compensation scheme for energy intensive industries will be | :50:53. | :50:55. | |
introduced or whether it will be ahead of the original planndd date. | :50:56. | :51:01. | |
I give -- will he give thought to other industries, with a vidw to | :51:02. | :51:06. | |
providing sufficient compensation for them as they face greatdr | :51:07. | :51:09. | |
competition uniquely becausd of the high cost of additional UK | :51:10. | :51:13. | |
Government energy and climate electricity taxes? Yesterdax's | :51:14. | :51:20. | |
meeting that was held by thd Secretary of State in Brussdls, the | :51:21. | :51:26. | |
presidency agreed that this matter should be prioritised, we are | :51:27. | :51:29. | |
waiting for the EU to sign off on it, and we are told it will be in a | :51:30. | :51:33. | |
matter of weeks, but we are doing everything we can to advancd it I | :51:34. | :51:42. | |
welcome this Government's albition for 3 million apprenticeship is in | :51:43. | :51:46. | |
this Parliament, three times the number of the last Labour | :51:47. | :51:51. | |
administration. As these nulbers rise, will be Minister ensure that | :51:52. | :51:55. | |
these provide high-quality skills that our young people deserve and | :51:56. | :52:02. | |
that our employers demand? Absolutely, there is no point having | :52:03. | :52:06. | |
3 million apprenticeships unless they are high-quality and adding to | :52:07. | :52:09. | |
the skills of the people who them, that is why we are introduchng new | :52:10. | :52:14. | |
standards, developed by employers, they have to last at least ` year | :52:15. | :52:19. | |
and involve 20% of formal training, and we are introducing highdr | :52:20. | :52:27. | |
apprenticeships. I was at mx constituency, talking to | :52:28. | :52:30. | |
administrators last Friday, and the house will send their condolences to | :52:31. | :52:34. | |
the poor family. Could be Mhnister say what specific steps can be taken | :52:35. | :52:39. | |
to preserve these skilled jobs for the future, given there are | :52:40. | :52:42. | |
infrastructure projects comhng up in the West Midlands? We are lhstening | :52:43. | :52:50. | |
to what we are asked to do, but as she knows, in relation to | :52:51. | :52:51. | |
steelworkers who have been redundant, notably at Redcar, with | :52:52. | :52:57. | |
Morpheus for Scunthorpe and rather rum, we have put in substantial | :52:58. | :53:01. | |
amounts of the big money to make sure that these highly skilled | :53:02. | :53:04. | |
workers get the opportunitids they need to retrain. The amount of money | :53:05. | :53:10. | |
for Redcar is ?16.5 million, in Scunthorpe it is starting at 3 | :53:11. | :53:14. | |
million, and we have alreadx started the work with Rotherham, thdre will | :53:15. | :53:19. | |
be money for them if we get more bad news. The issue of switching | :53:20. | :53:25. | |
suppliers is acute in the mobile phone space, 6% of users ch`nge | :53:26. | :53:29. | |
contracts each year, many fhnd it difficult to find the best deals. | :53:30. | :53:33. | |
What plans does the Governmdnt have to improve switching and prhce | :53:34. | :53:39. | |
transparency? The Government is determined to encourage mord | :53:40. | :53:42. | |
consumers to vote with their feet in key markets like energy, banking and | :53:43. | :53:47. | |
mobile phones. We are conducting a call for evidence on a set of six | :53:48. | :53:51. | |
switching principles which will make the process quicker and easher for | :53:52. | :53:58. | |
consumers, and my honourabld friend will shortly be writing to the Chief | :53:59. | :54:02. | |
Executive 's of mobile telephone companies to encourage them to | :54:03. | :54:05. | |
cooperate fully with these new principles. The group which is | :54:06. | :54:14. | |
headquartered in my constittency and currently in administration provides | :54:15. | :54:21. | |
high-quality steel products for the supply chains for both the lotor | :54:22. | :54:26. | |
industry and these products are difficult to source from elsewhere. | :54:27. | :54:31. | |
What is the Minister going to do to ensure that these companies | :54:32. | :54:37. | |
survive? Could I first apologise, I should have added my condoldnces to | :54:38. | :54:41. | |
the family on their loss yesterday. One of the difficulties, it is not | :54:42. | :54:46. | |
as simple as saying it is a decline in the industry, we note th`t in | :54:47. | :54:52. | |
Hartlepool a difficulty was a decline in the oil and gas, but we | :54:53. | :54:56. | |
will work with anybody to m`ke sure that workers that need extr` skills | :54:57. | :54:59. | |
to transfer into new jobs are going to have that opportunity. What steps | :55:00. | :55:06. | |
is the minister taking to promote reform of the EU regulations | :55:07. | :55:10. | |
specifically of biotechnology and life science? She raises an | :55:11. | :55:17. | |
excellent point, I was yestdrday in Brussels, convening a summit with EU | :55:18. | :55:22. | |
leaders on bioscience, we are pushing for an enlightened | :55:23. | :55:26. | |
regulation to support EU and UK leadership in -- for global benefit. | :55:27. | :55:35. | |
Can I ask the Minister why further education and skills has bedn kept | :55:36. | :55:38. | |
out by his department from the Liverpool city region deal? It is | :55:39. | :55:44. | |
crucial for the region. I al not directly responsible, but there are | :55:45. | :55:49. | |
many such deals around the country which have specifically majored on | :55:50. | :55:54. | |
the inclusion of skills, Manchester and elsewhere. I am happy to look | :55:55. | :55:59. | |
into it, but I am sure it is not because we resisted, becausd we are | :56:00. | :56:01. | |
keen for local authorities to take a bigger role. | :56:02. | :56:07. | |
Could I refer the minister back to his earlier and so regarding HGV | :56:08. | :56:15. | |
shortage? Someone attend my surgery he wanted to establish themselves as | :56:16. | :56:20. | |
a trainer for HGV drivers. Gritty look again at the support which such | :56:21. | :56:29. | |
people get as there is a long way to go in resulting more drivers to be | :56:30. | :56:34. | |
available. When there is a `n apprenticeship standard for HGV | :56:35. | :56:38. | |
drivers, then he will be able to offer the training to emploxers for | :56:39. | :56:42. | |
that apprenticeship and sectre the funding that the Government will be | :56:43. | :56:46. | |
providing through the apprenticeship levy and through other publhc | :56:47. | :56:50. | |
resources. I welcome the decision that the Department has madd on | :56:51. | :56:56. | |
blind applications to university, but the Minister will note this does | :56:57. | :57:00. | |
little to deal with the prejudice of class and race. Postcode is just as | :57:01. | :57:11. | |
important and what progress is being made on contextual data? It is a | :57:12. | :57:19. | |
priority to increase the amount of disadvantaged people going to | :57:20. | :57:23. | |
university. We have to introduce for the 27 admission -- 2017 adlissions | :57:24. | :57:32. | |
cycle, people should be admhtted on the basis of merit. A dazzlhng array | :57:33. | :57:39. | |
of eager beavers on both sides of the House. For British businesses | :57:40. | :57:44. | |
operating highly regulated sectors like the legal sector, injure remit | :57:45. | :57:51. | |
-- India remains a hot markdt to get into, even more so than China. Will | :57:52. | :57:56. | |
the Secretary of State use this week's visit to move long-standing | :57:57. | :58:02. | |
discussions on the cervix -, service sector forward? He is right to raise | :58:03. | :58:08. | |
this issue. There is a lot of trait that India and Britain do together | :58:09. | :58:12. | |
and a lot more that we can do. It is the kind of issues that we look | :58:13. | :58:18. | |
forward to raising this week. As has been well documented, the Mhnister | :58:19. | :58:26. | |
's opposite promised ?80 million for Redcar for training and economic | :58:27. | :58:30. | |
development. 30 million of that will be saved for pension and thd | :58:31. | :58:36. | |
payments. Over 90% of peopld have received their payments. Wh`t is not | :58:37. | :58:40. | |
spent on redundancies, will it stay in the region and go to the people | :58:41. | :58:46. | |
of red car and not be sucked back into the Treasury? Early ag`in today | :58:47. | :58:54. | |
I met with officials and sahd that the remaining money, I wantdd to go | :58:55. | :58:59. | |
over to Redcar so people thdre can determine how it is going to be | :59:00. | :59:03. | |
spent for the benefit of her constituents. Will the Minister join | :59:04. | :59:14. | |
me in congratulating Jack H`mmond to inspiring apprentices who addressed | :59:15. | :59:17. | |
a joint educational and Seldct Committee seminar that last week? | :59:18. | :59:25. | |
Does she agree that apprenthces sharing the experiences in this way | :59:26. | :59:28. | |
can demonstrate a business hs the real value of employing apprentices? | :59:29. | :59:35. | |
I certainly would like to congratulate her constituent and as | :59:36. | :59:40. | |
she puts it, there are no bdtter advocates for apprenticeships than | :59:41. | :59:42. | |
apprentices themselves who have completed them. Not a bunch of | :59:43. | :59:46. | |
middle aged people like us but begin people themselves, going into their | :59:47. | :59:49. | |
schools and preaching the vhrtues of apprenticeships. The Scottish | :59:50. | :59:57. | |
Government programme on the First Minister announced three new | :59:58. | :00:01. | |
innovation centres for Scotland across Europe, one of which will be | :00:02. | :00:05. | |
based here in the great European capital City of London. How does his | :00:06. | :00:09. | |
Government plan to support that centre to make sure that Scottish | :00:10. | :00:13. | |
businesses can compete on the world stage? We continue to support | :00:14. | :00:20. | |
innovation across the UK and I was pleased to be up in Glasgow laying | :00:21. | :00:26. | |
the turf for a new innovation Centre in Glasgow can stop Scotland punches | :00:27. | :00:33. | |
above its weight with 11% share compared to 8% share of the | :00:34. | :00:37. | |
population and I hope it continues to do so. Statement, the Minister of | :00:38. | :00:45. | |
State for Europe. Minister David Liddington. I would like to make a | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
statement upon the Government's EU re-negotiation. As the Housd knows, | :00:51. | :00:55. | |
this Government was elected with a mandate to renegotiate the TK's | :00:56. | :00:59. | |
relationship with the Europdan Union had a van in-out referendum by the | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
end of 2017. Since July, technical talks have taken place in Brussels | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
to inform our analysis of the legal options for reform. Today, the prime | :01:09. | :01:12. | |
list has written to the President of the European Council to set out the | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
changes that we wanted to | :01:17. | :01:17. |