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Order, order. Questions to the Secretary of State for business, | :00:07. | :00:15. | |
energy and industrial strategy. Number one, please. Mr Speaker, my | :00:16. | :00:24. | |
Department is working closely with the button for exiting the U to | :00:25. | :00:28. | |
recognise the impact is that it will have on businesses and other | :00:29. | :00:32. | |
economic actors across the UK, including in the east like a share. | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
We will work hard to get the best deal for Britain. I thank my | :00:37. | :00:41. | |
honourable friend for that answer. Although not quite as I hatching as | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
the motor industry, the construction products industry, the furniture | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
making industry, the chemical industry representative I crown | :00:51. | :00:58. | |
pates, and others in my visitors see, employ more people. Will my | :00:59. | :01:00. | |
bright and warm friend insure that the strategic industries to East | :01:01. | :01:04. | |
baggage are able to trade on no less favourable terms than any other | :01:05. | :01:11. | |
industry following Brexit? I thank him for that question. The | :01:12. | :01:16. | |
construction products sector, and the construction industry overall, | :01:17. | :01:21. | |
I'm closely involved with. It would be premature to comment on any deal | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
to be struck but he can take it from me that it has got my closest | :01:26. | :01:28. | |
attention, as far as the future of that industry goes. I echo those | :01:29. | :01:36. | |
comments and concerns about leaving the you and what the tariff | :01:37. | :01:44. | |
framework would be. I've visited Simon Jersey, who did the formal | :01:45. | :01:48. | |
wear for our Olympic team. They told me that that Harris are between 910% | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
and textiles. That is a real concern. What reassurance can be | :01:55. | :01:59. | |
given to make sure they cannot beat taxed out of business by the EU? | :02:00. | :02:06. | |
What is striking is that the innovative new investment that has | :02:07. | :02:11. | |
been taking place in this country. One can see investments from BAE | :02:12. | :02:16. | |
Systems, Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover, and many other industrial players. | :02:17. | :02:21. | |
Will my honourable friend explore how 3DO complied tariff claw-back | :02:22. | :02:38. | |
mechanisms... -- WTO. That question probably lies between ourselves and | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
the Department for International trade. We will considerate | :02:43. | :02:50. | |
carefully. Food production and processing is an important part of | :02:51. | :02:55. | |
the Northwest economy. It is not necessarily susceptible to explore | :02:56. | :03:01. | |
beyond the European Union because of different consumer tastes and | :03:02. | :03:03. | |
preferences in the rest of the world. Can the Minister say what | :03:04. | :03:07. | |
negotiations the Government has a ready undertaken or considered to | :03:08. | :03:13. | |
protect this industry? Can he confirm that specialist negotiators | :03:14. | :03:16. | |
who understand the industry are placed to carry out those | :03:17. | :03:22. | |
negotiations? That is a question for the Department for roll of theirs as | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
well is true that Terry Sturridge banding, and British producers can I | :03:28. | :03:34. | |
spend their markets in the days to come. Considering that we have a | :03:35. | :03:39. | |
massive trade deficit with the European Union, surely it would be | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
suicide for the European Union not to agree a trade deal with us. If | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
they did go down that line, did business would have to pay about ?5 | :03:49. | :03:57. | |
billion a year and Harris on -- in tariffs under the rules. Given that, | :03:58. | :04:04. | |
could we not cover all tariffs from British businesses exporting to the | :04:05. | :04:07. | |
EU so they do not have to pay anything and still be quids in? | :04:08. | :04:15. | |
Alas, long a period -- long experience has caused me to distrust | :04:16. | :04:20. | |
these things, so I will not comment on that. We are all aware that the | :04:21. | :04:26. | |
cross-border trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland is absolutely | :04:27. | :04:30. | |
vital. If we get Harris put in place, it could be a disaster. Would | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
we make sure that the Northern Ireland voice is heard and embedded | :04:36. | :04:41. | |
in any negotiations? I can assure the gentleman that that question has | :04:42. | :04:44. | |
been taken seriously in my Department. Northern Ireland is an | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
area for which I have responsibility, I have met on | :04:49. | :04:53. | |
several occasions with Northern Irish economy ministers and senior | :04:54. | :04:55. | |
figures in industry there. We will continue to look at that question | :04:56. | :05:03. | |
carefully. This government is truly committed | :05:04. | :05:06. | |
to science and innovation. We protected the size Budget at the | :05:07. | :05:10. | |
Autumn Statement in 2015, the spending review. At the last Autumn | :05:11. | :05:14. | |
Statement, we committed to spending a further ?2 billion a year by the | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
end of this Parliament. The creation of UK research and innovation | :05:20. | :05:21. | |
through the passage of the higher education and research Bill will | :05:22. | :05:27. | |
increase the value and impact of our significant investments in science | :05:28. | :05:30. | |
and innovation in years ahead. I thank him for that. It is certainly | :05:31. | :05:36. | |
a good time for science innovation in the UK. It is also a good year | :05:37. | :05:40. | |
for the space sector, with Major Tim Peake's historic visit to the | :05:41. | :05:43. | |
International Space Station and a new spaceport here in the UK. The | :05:44. | :05:50. | |
next challenge is the XO Mars programme, but Italy with the | :05:51. | :05:53. | |
rumours going around, and the successful delivery of that | :05:54. | :05:57. | |
programme. Could the Minister update the House on any progress made at | :05:58. | :06:05. | |
the European Space Agency recently? I am happy to abide a brief update. | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
As a former chair of the Parliamentary space committee, the | :06:11. | :06:13. | |
honourable member will be delighted to hear we had an excellent outcome | :06:14. | :06:18. | |
at the Council of ministers of the European Space Agency. We committed | :06:19. | :06:22. | |
a further ?1.44 billion, which has secured the future of the Mars | :06:23. | :06:30. | |
programme. Well done. I don't want to ruin the minister's Christmas | :06:31. | :06:36. | |
celebrations, which are imminent, but the fact is if he looks at the | :06:37. | :06:39. | |
deplorable investment in R, the figures that came out this week, he | :06:40. | :06:44. | |
needs to wake up and smell the coffee. -- R They will be deeply | :06:45. | :06:53. | |
damaged by leaving the European Union. Ask the university is what | :06:54. | :06:59. | |
they think. The right honourable member will welcome the Governor's | :07:00. | :07:03. | |
commitment to research and development, which is underscored in | :07:04. | :07:05. | |
the Autumn Statement. A further ?2 billion by the end of this | :07:06. | :07:12. | |
Parliament, perhaps the biggest single X10 check in anyone's memory | :07:13. | :07:22. | |
in this Parliament. Will the Minister continue to support them as | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
new Forth Industrial Revolution businesses come forward to seek to | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
put forward the future of science and technology businesses? I'm happy | :07:32. | :07:36. | |
to provide that assurance. They will be at the heart of our industrial | :07:37. | :07:40. | |
strategy, and the Autumn Statement will provide it with the resources | :07:41. | :07:45. | |
it needs to do the job it does in supporting small businesses in | :07:46. | :07:53. | |
innovation. Tidal lagoon power's report that it could bring money to | :07:54. | :08:03. | |
the UK. Swansea Bay is key to this. I appreciate the Minister will have | :08:04. | :08:06. | |
concerns about costs to customers. Will he commit to weighing up all | :08:07. | :08:17. | |
aspects of it for the report? We are looking very carefully at the report | :08:18. | :08:19. | |
and will be coming forward without response in June course. Chemical | :08:20. | :08:26. | |
and pharmaceutical businesses are important feature of the Northern | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
powerhouse, and emerging enterprises are rooted in university research | :08:32. | :08:35. | |
labs. What support and funding has the UK government committed to | :08:36. | :08:37. | |
encourage continued research collaboration across Europe and | :08:38. | :08:41. | |
indeed the rest of the world to increase our innovative business | :08:42. | :08:49. | |
base, post-Brexit. We support international collaboration in | :08:50. | :08:51. | |
science and research in Europe and indeed around the world, and will | :08:52. | :08:57. | |
continue to do so. The Government talks about promoting science and | :08:58. | :09:06. | |
innovation, but this government has pulled the plug on carbon storage. | :09:07. | :09:12. | |
How much of the money is going towards that carbon storage? We will | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
be consulting carefully with the sector, with the science community, | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
as part of our development of the industrial strategy, in a discussion | :09:22. | :09:25. | |
paper we'll be launching in weeks to come. There is an excellent job in | :09:26. | :09:35. | |
promoting careers in science and engineering, I wonder whether he | :09:36. | :09:38. | |
will come and visit the business that does that. It does a good job. | :09:39. | :09:45. | |
I commend the good work that is going on in the constituency and | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
look forward to an opportunity to visit as and when the opportunity | :09:50. | :10:04. | |
arises. Question three, Mr Speaker. With your permission, I will answer | :10:05. | :10:07. | |
this question together with question six. Our strategy will build an | :10:08. | :10:10. | |
economy that works for everyone. To do that, we will drive productivity | :10:11. | :10:15. | |
and growth in all parts of the country. We have set out steps to | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
deliver this, including significant funding announcements for science, | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
research and development and infrastructure in the Autumn | :10:23. | :10:27. | |
Statement. I thank you for that answer and note the part where he | :10:28. | :10:30. | |
said that the industrial strategy should work for everybody. You will | :10:31. | :10:36. | |
be an additional 500,000 new jobs by 2020, but even if all of these jobs | :10:37. | :10:39. | |
were taken up by disabled people, the disability employment gap would | :10:40. | :10:45. | |
not be half. The Secretary of State explain how the industrial strategy | :10:46. | :10:50. | |
will support the commitment to help the point gap by 2020? | :10:51. | :10:53. | |
The honourable gentleman makes a good point. It's important that we | :10:54. | :10:59. | |
close that gap. The government has made a very firm commitment to this | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
and he will see, when we make our proposals and I hope you will | :11:05. | :11:07. | |
contribute to it, that part of our purpose is to make sure that people | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
who may have been excluded from the labour market are able to have the | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
skills to be able to prosper in the future. Ayrshire is a beautiful | :11:16. | :11:24. | |
coastal county but with areas of both rural and urban deprivation. | :11:25. | :11:30. | |
And yet it has you huge potential in aerospace and pharmaceutical | :11:31. | :11:34. | |
industries. The Scottish Government are supportive of a growth deal to | :11:35. | :11:38. | |
invest in infrastructure. Will the Minister meet with me to hear the | :11:39. | :11:43. | |
proposal to unlock airship's industrial potential? I would be | :11:44. | :11:46. | |
delighted to meet with the honourable member. I'm very proud of | :11:47. | :11:51. | |
the deals that we have negotiated, including in Glasgow, not far away | :11:52. | :11:57. | |
in the West of Scotland. Their shed does have a huge amount to offer. | :11:58. | :12:02. | |
Prestwick is a very important asset. I welcome the initiative of the | :12:03. | :12:05. | |
councils in Ayrshire and I would be delighted to meet the honourable | :12:06. | :12:10. | |
member. Can I urge my right honourable friend to consider | :12:11. | :12:13. | |
creating free ports across an agent -- nation? These zones can | :12:14. | :12:20. | |
simultaneously boost manufacturing, boost regional growth and grow | :12:21. | :12:27. | |
exports. I am grateful for my honourable friend's industry in | :12:28. | :12:33. | |
this. He has published an excellent report, for the Centre policy | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
studies. It's very good reading and I am considering it with my | :12:40. | :12:49. | |
colleagues. As my right honourable friend develops is industrial | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
strategy, may I give him some friendly advice to drop the word | :12:53. | :12:59. | |
industrial and drop the word strategy? And replace them with the | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
words competition innovation and skills policies. What I would say to | :13:05. | :13:10. | |
my honourable friend, and I'm grateful for his question, he will | :13:11. | :13:16. | |
see that one of the differences between the approach that we will | :13:17. | :13:22. | |
take to industrial strategy and policy and industry for this purpose | :13:23. | :13:27. | |
means the services sector as well as manufacturing. This is very | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
important. One of the differences from the past as this will not be | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
about simply addressing the needs of incumbents. We want to make Britain | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
the best place, the most competitive, the most contestable | :13:41. | :13:43. | |
place for business to locate. I would be grateful if he would | :13:44. | :13:46. | |
contribute to it but I think you'll find it's going to be music to his | :13:47. | :13:53. | |
ears. Surely one of the Secretary of State's priorities should be the | :13:54. | :13:58. | |
steel industry. So, is he aware that Noel Village foundry in Doncaster is | :13:59. | :14:04. | |
being badly affected by reductions in the supply chain. When we ask his | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
department to give urgent advice to the company to see if anything can | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
be done to prevent it going into administration, even at this late | :14:14. | :14:18. | |
stage? I would be very happy to meet with the right honourable member | :14:19. | :14:22. | |
about this but I can give her some news that I think she will welcome | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
on steel. I can announce today that we are, the government is going to | :14:27. | :14:31. | |
publish the demands that it will have through public spectre bodies | :14:32. | :14:37. | |
for steel to 2020. We're updating the procurement guidelines for steel | :14:38. | :14:43. | |
to include the health service and local authorities, and to drop the | :14:44. | :14:48. | |
previous threshold of ?10 million for which these guidelines apply. | :14:49. | :14:52. | |
That will be good for the steel industry generally and for all firms | :14:53. | :15:00. | |
within it. Small-scale manufacturing in firms often with fewer than half | :15:01. | :15:03. | |
a dozen people are keyed to the local economy in Kettering and are | :15:04. | :15:08. | |
responsible for a lot of the employment opportunities. I will | :15:09. | :15:19. | |
indeed. Two things that I would commend it to him. In the extra | :15:20. | :15:25. | |
funding for research and innovation that my honourable friend, the | :15:26. | :15:28. | |
science minister, has described, we want to make sure that small | :15:29. | :15:32. | |
manufacturers are able to access that. The second thing we want to | :15:33. | :15:37. | |
address is the ability for small and growing firms to be able to obtain | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
the finance to allow them to grow to the next stage. It's very important | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
in having the vigorous competitive market that the honourable member | :15:48. | :15:54. | |
suggested. Scotland's universities play a key role in boosting the | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
economy across all sectors of our economy. With that in mind, will the | :16:00. | :16:03. | |
Secretary of State outline what the role of universities would be in the | :16:04. | :16:07. | |
forthcoming strategy? Will the recently announced new money | :16:08. | :16:10. | |
available for our MDB available to Scottish universities? Universities | :16:11. | :16:14. | |
are very important. We've had a number of constructive sessions with | :16:15. | :16:19. | |
university leaders and researchers. Is absolutely right that science | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
doesn't recognise boundaries. Universities and researchers in | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
Scotland have a fantastic record of success. In fact, I think is the | :16:29. | :16:36. | |
case that for 8.5% of the UK graduation, Scotland attracts 10% of | :16:37. | :16:39. | |
funding which shows it can prosper and thrive with the new changes | :16:40. | :16:48. | |
we're making funding. Universities Scotland is to 10% free Church | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
funding comes from the EU and 16% to 20% of staff come from EU nations. | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
With that in mind, will the Secretary of State ensure that as we | :16:59. | :17:04. | |
exited EU, Scotland's universities are not hit punitively by withdrawal | :17:05. | :17:08. | |
of EU funding? It follows from what I just said that science doesn't | :17:09. | :17:13. | |
respect boundaries and the science community is very global and | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
international. Of course, as you would expect, as part of the | :17:18. | :17:22. | |
negotiations, we will affect the importance of that the whole of the | :17:23. | :17:30. | |
United Kingdom. The Secretary of State talks of industrial strategy | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
but so far has only shared land generalities. Despite the high | :17:36. | :17:45. | |
profile examples cited, Institute of chartered accountants predicts | :17:46. | :17:48. | |
business investment will fall in 2017. There are great opportunities | :17:49. | :17:53. | |
for British business Post Brexit but they need the leadership and this | :17:54. | :17:58. | |
climate of uncertainty is toxic to investment. So will the Secretary of | :17:59. | :18:04. | |
State stop playing Scrooge with his assurances and give British business | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
the Christmas present it once? I industrial strategy. A bit of | :18:10. | :18:14. | |
optimism on the part of the honourable lady would not go amiss, | :18:15. | :18:19. | |
especially in this Christmas season. In fact, there is huge enthusiasm | :18:20. | :18:24. | |
and engagement with us across business, right across the country, | :18:25. | :18:30. | |
to develop the long-term policies. Because you have been distracted by | :18:31. | :18:36. | |
some of the events in her party of recent months let me summarise some | :18:37. | :18:39. | |
of the things we've done since July. We've given the go-ahead for some | :18:40. | :18:45. | |
important strategic infrastructure projects. Hinkley Point, the third | :18:46. | :18:49. | |
runway at Heathrow, the next phase of HS two. We've secured investment | :18:50. | :18:57. | |
in the sand. That's something we announced a month ago. We've | :18:58. | :19:01. | |
ratified the Paris agreement. Secured the extra investment my | :19:02. | :19:03. | |
honourable friend talked about. We've done more in five months and | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
putting our industrial future onto the right footing than the previous | :19:08. | :19:18. | |
government did in 13 years. If I may turn from Mali's ghost... The number | :19:19. | :19:26. | |
of businesses in the UK continues to grow. The start of 2016, there were | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
a record 5.5 million private-sector businesses. This is an increase and | :19:32. | :19:38. | |
2015, one million more than in 2010. I thank my honourable friend for | :19:39. | :19:43. | |
that answer. Small businesses in my constituency held a Christmas market | :19:44. | :19:48. | |
this weekend to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the opticians who are | :19:49. | :19:52. | |
doing a brilliant job locally. What more can I honourable friend do to | :19:53. | :19:57. | |
ensure that small businesses and medium-size businesses prosper and | :19:58. | :20:03. | |
grow in this country? My friend is absolutely right to recognise the | :20:04. | :20:06. | |
central importance of small and medium-size businesses to our | :20:07. | :20:08. | |
economy and they are businesses which this government has been | :20:09. | :20:12. | |
supporting them through the extension of rate relief. To the new | :20:13. | :20:23. | |
productivity Council and the new patient capital review. All of those | :20:24. | :20:26. | |
things will go towards supporting that vital sector of our economy. In | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
terms of the number of businesses, would he ensure there is a level | :20:31. | :20:34. | |
playing field, so the level of subsidy for tariffs applied to the | :20:35. | :20:39. | |
motor industry is applied equally across all exporters and when he | :20:40. | :20:42. | |
published the total amount of subsidy before the 31st of March? | :20:43. | :20:47. | |
There has been no special deal for Nissan or any other part of the | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
motor industry. Whatever arrangements are made fully | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
transparent to support different sectors of the UK economy. The | :20:57. | :21:02. | |
general picture is the preceding vigorously and with some care | :21:03. | :21:09. | |
towards an attractive destination. Superfast broadband is absolutely | :21:10. | :21:12. | |
essential to many small businesses and does he agree with me that the | :21:13. | :21:17. | |
fact many of my villages in South East Cambridgeshire still do not | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
have collectivity and there is delay in connectivity is very | :21:22. | :21:25. | |
disappointing? Will he join with me in encouraging and supporting | :21:26. | :21:27. | |
further connectivity across the region? The honourable lady is | :21:28. | :21:32. | |
absolutely right and she will know I've been a tireless campaigner for | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
superfast broadband myself, especially in relation to BT and | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
Openreach. So I agree with her. The Autumn Statement announced a ?1 | :21:43. | :21:49. | |
billion package for fibre and five G connectivity, prioritising business | :21:50. | :21:52. | |
connections across the UK. That follows a superfast broadband | :21:53. | :21:56. | |
programme which is due to deliver 91% coverage in South East | :21:57. | :22:00. | |
Cambridgeshire by mid-2017 and the new obligation. 50,000 businesses | :22:01. | :22:09. | |
die unnecessarily every year because of late payment. ?31 billion is owed | :22:10. | :22:18. | |
and small businesses alone spend ?10 billion chasing outstanding | :22:19. | :22:22. | |
invoices. Reports have been delayed with just 378 of the largest 55,000 | :22:23. | :22:29. | |
businesses having signed up to the prompt payment code. So when is this | :22:30. | :22:32. | |
Conservative government going to start doing something to help with | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
the scourge of late payment? But some teeth into it so small | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
businesses can act! I think the honourable gentleman is absolutely | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
right to point the finger squarely at issues of late payment. It's a | :22:47. | :22:50. | |
serious matter, a matter for us to continue to press forward on. I | :22:51. | :22:54. | |
certainly would say though that when I see this in need context of the... | :22:55. | :23:06. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. The proportion of women on FTSE 100 | :23:07. | :23:12. | |
boards have increased from 20% to 27%. Since 2011, the number of women | :23:13. | :23:19. | |
on FTSE 350 boards has more than doubled to 23.5%. We support the | :23:20. | :23:24. | |
business led target of 32% on FTSE 350 boards by 2020. I welcome the | :23:25. | :23:31. | |
minister's response but to get more women onto boards we need to get | :23:32. | :23:34. | |
more women into business in the first place. I spoke at the women's | :23:35. | :23:40. | |
conference in Parkfield, a Sussex -based organisation whose mission is | :23:41. | :23:43. | |
to get more women into business. What work is the government doing | :23:44. | :23:47. | |
with organisations such as this to help get women into enterprise, so | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
they get the skills they need to rise to the top? I congratulate my | :23:52. | :23:55. | |
honourable friend on all the work she does two men tall women. Over | :23:56. | :24:01. | |
16,500 start-up loans have been issued to female entrepreneurs and | :24:02. | :24:04. | |
almost half the users of the business support helpline are women. | :24:05. | :24:09. | |
The Hampton Alexander review is looking beyond boards now to | :24:10. | :24:14. | |
building female pipelines among senior managements. We also support | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
the women's business Council. Can the Minister indicate whether there | :24:21. | :24:24. | |
is a regional pattern in low numbers of women on boards and outline what | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
discussions have taken place with ministerial colleagues in devolved | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
administrations of doubt increasing the number of women on boards? I | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
welcome the honourable lady's commitment to increasing the number | :24:40. | :24:44. | |
of women on boards in Scotland. I will have discussions with my right | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland to ensure this | :24:49. | :24:51. | |
national target applies equally to Scotland as it does elsewhere in the | :24:52. | :24:53. | |
United Kingdom. I do apologise to the honourable | :24:54. | :25:10. | |
lady. I did mean Northern Ireland, of course, in my earlier response. | :25:11. | :25:18. | |
The government website and business support helpline provides | :25:19. | :25:21. | |
information on starting and running a business, growth hubs also provide | :25:22. | :25:25. | |
access to local and national support. There are 4.8 million | :25:26. | :25:27. | |
people who are now self-employed. In South East Cornwall we have some | :25:28. | :25:38. | |
fantastic self-employed people who make a host of excellent food | :25:39. | :25:42. | |
products. Does my right honourable friends agree with me that there | :25:43. | :25:47. | |
will be opportunities for them to grow these businesses and be | :25:48. | :25:52. | |
released from excessive red tape once we leave the European Union? | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
And what advice did she have for them? | :25:58. | :26:00. | |
The Government committed in its manifesto to reduce the burden of | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
regulation on business by ?10 million during this Parliament. The | :26:06. | :26:08. | |
Government will also carefully consider the implications of leaving | :26:09. | :26:12. | |
the European Union for the business impact targets and the opportunities | :26:13. | :26:16. | |
to further reduce burdens on businesses like the excellent | :26:17. | :26:20. | |
self-employed food producers in South East Cornwall. | :26:21. | :26:27. | |
The issue of false self-employment is an issue in retail, care and | :26:28. | :26:32. | |
construction. The gang masters licensing agency is expected to | :26:33. | :26:36. | |
regulate those industries. Over half a million new businesses with only | :26:37. | :26:40. | |
79 members of staff across the entire UK. The director of labour | :26:41. | :26:43. | |
market and force that has not been appointed despite these new powers, | :26:44. | :26:49. | |
will Government ensure it acts speedily? | :26:50. | :26:51. | |
I can ensure the honourable lady that we are acting swiftly to | :26:52. | :26:57. | |
appoint the office of labour market and force, I agree that it is | :26:58. | :27:00. | |
crucial. Question number eight. The Prime | :27:01. | :27:06. | |
Minister has made it clear that the Government will not, as a | :27:07. | :27:10. | |
consequence of withdrawal, allow any erosion of rights in the workplace. | :27:11. | :27:15. | |
Whether those derived from the EU or UK law. She has further made it | :27:16. | :27:19. | |
clear that Government are determined to deliver an economy that works for | :27:20. | :27:25. | |
everyone and fundamental to that is the preservation of existing | :27:26. | :27:29. | |
workers' rights. Isn't the reality that our EU | :27:30. | :27:34. | |
derived and Clement writes are not held by legislation but Aaron place | :27:35. | :27:42. | |
because of enforcement by the enforcement of the relevant European | :27:43. | :27:46. | |
courts? Given the progress in the British Bill of Rights has been | :27:47. | :27:53. | |
patchy at best, how will we ensure them? | :27:54. | :27:55. | |
Such rights will be upheld by British courts after we leave the | :27:56. | :27:59. | |
European Union. The UK enjoys record on climate at the same time as | :28:00. | :28:03. | |
having employment rights that exceed what is required by EU law in the | :28:04. | :28:08. | |
important areas of maternity leave, parental leave and statutory annual | :28:09. | :28:12. | |
leave. Mr Speaker, given the sorry history | :28:13. | :28:20. | |
of Brexit broken promises, does the Minister understand the widespread | :28:21. | :28:26. | |
cynicism being expressed that rates will be protected post Brexit, | :28:27. | :28:35. | |
including on a continuing basis? -- that's rights will be protected. Did | :28:36. | :28:41. | |
she agree with the rep said broken promise breaker par excellence the | :28:42. | :28:46. | |
Foreign Secretary that these rights are backbreaking? I think he is | :28:47. | :28:52. | |
prejudging the situation to say that we have added chance to break Brexit | :28:53. | :28:57. | |
promises before we have started negotiations. The Prime Minister | :28:58. | :29:00. | |
could not have been clearer and has been supported at this dispatch box | :29:01. | :29:04. | |
by the Secretary of State for exiting the European Union that | :29:05. | :29:08. | |
workers' rights will be protected and even enhanced as a possibility | :29:09. | :29:13. | |
as well. The honourable gentleman bears a striking resemblance to an | :29:14. | :29:17. | |
exploding volcano. Let's hear the fellow. Really, the | :29:18. | :29:24. | |
Shadow Minister talked absolute rubbish just then. It is not | :29:25. | :29:31. | |
unusual. Would the Minister agree with me that the democratic | :29:32. | :29:34. | |
principle of the Government of the day deciding employment rights, | :29:35. | :29:38. | |
isn't that what we want, employment rights decided in this House, not | :29:39. | :29:45. | |
Europe? This house will decide on employment | :29:46. | :29:49. | |
rights but it is important to remind my honourable friend that during the | :29:50. | :29:51. | |
lifetime of this Government the Prime Minister could not have been | :29:52. | :29:56. | |
clearer, workers' rights will be protected after Britain leads the | :29:57. | :29:59. | |
European Union. Number nine. | :30:00. | :30:05. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. We have held a wide range of discussions with | :30:06. | :30:10. | |
businesses, representatives, investors, workers and local leaders | :30:11. | :30:13. | |
in all four home nations and expect that to continue in the coming | :30:14. | :30:19. | |
months to secure UK interests in any except negotiations. | :30:20. | :30:22. | |
There is real concern among business about a potential cliff edge in | :30:23. | :30:27. | |
March 2019 if we leave the EU and fall back on WTO rules and | :30:28. | :30:33. | |
terrorists. Does he agree with what the Chancellor said yesterday to the | :30:34. | :30:37. | |
Treasury Select Committee that there is, I quote, and emerging view among | :30:38. | :30:40. | |
businesses that having a longer period to manage the adjustment | :30:41. | :30:44. | |
period where we are now full members of the EU and where we get to in the | :30:45. | :30:48. | |
future as the result of negotiations would generally be helpful and help | :30:49. | :30:51. | |
to smooth the transition and reduce disruption? | :30:52. | :30:56. | |
That is attempting invitation to our a running commentary on exit | :30:57. | :30:59. | |
arrangements, as we will not do that the Government I will not do now. | :31:00. | :31:05. | |
Last week's news out of Port Talbot is hugely welcome in steel towns | :31:06. | :31:10. | |
such as Corby and came about because the constructive working we have | :31:11. | :31:14. | |
seen not just across this House but involving ministers, the unions, the | :31:15. | :31:19. | |
workforce in the industry. As we move towards final agreement being | :31:20. | :31:23. | |
reached, going forwards, what role does my honourable friend CB | :31:24. | :31:27. | |
industry playing in the industrial strategy, what discussions has he | :31:28. | :31:32. | |
had about that in any EU context? This is more for my colleague the | :31:33. | :31:39. | |
right honourable member for... Uxbridge. Let me just, if I may... | :31:40. | :31:47. | |
Excuse me. I stand corrected, Ruislip. We will leave the Foreign | :31:48. | :31:55. | |
Secretary out of this. Let me just say that he and the Secretary of | :31:56. | :31:58. | |
State and other colleagues have had a series of meetings with steel | :31:59. | :32:03. | |
companies across the production and supply chain and have been able to | :32:04. | :32:08. | |
give them the support and structure they needed in the context we | :32:09. | :32:12. | |
described. Question ten. My honourable friend, | :32:13. | :32:20. | |
the retail energy market works well for those who are able and have the | :32:21. | :32:25. | |
time to switch, with customers able to make savings of up to ?300 by | :32:26. | :32:30. | |
moving onto the cheapest tariffs. We want a market that works for all | :32:31. | :32:35. | |
consumers, not just those that switch supplier. That is why we have | :32:36. | :32:38. | |
been clear that we want energy companies to come forward with | :32:39. | :32:42. | |
proposals on how they will treat their loyal customers fairly. | :32:43. | :32:47. | |
The Competition and Markets Authority found that two thirds of | :32:48. | :32:51. | |
households are on expensive standard variable tariffs, does the Minister | :32:52. | :32:54. | |
agree that suppliers should do more to make sure loyal customers are | :32:55. | :32:58. | |
better body tariffs? I agree with my honourable friend | :32:59. | :33:01. | |
that it is not right that customers are penalised for their loyalty. We | :33:02. | :33:06. | |
want to see energy companies treating all by customers fairly, | :33:07. | :33:08. | |
not just those switching between suppliers, which is why we have | :33:09. | :33:13. | |
challenged them to come forward with proposals to ensure that all | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
customers get a deal. What I have been saying for about | :33:18. | :33:20. | |
five years that they have been overcharging customers on the | :33:21. | :33:24. | |
standard variable tariffs, that has been confirmed by the Competition | :33:25. | :33:28. | |
and Markets Authority and Ofgem and is being confirmed by the | :33:29. | :33:31. | |
Government. The only way we will make a shift in these companies in | :33:32. | :33:35. | |
the way they have operated is if we extend to those people with standard | :33:36. | :33:39. | |
variable tariffs the protection offered to those on prepayment | :33:40. | :33:43. | |
meters. Would the Minister have a meeting with me to discuss what more | :33:44. | :33:47. | |
we can do to make sure that we give these big six energy is a kick up | :33:48. | :33:52. | |
the backside? We will certainly... I am certainly | :33:53. | :33:56. | |
happy to meet the honourable member, the honourable lady has extensive | :33:57. | :34:01. | |
experience in this area, we are considering CMA remedies at the | :34:02. | :34:05. | |
moment. A large number of rural properties | :34:06. | :34:09. | |
are heated by oil fired central heating. Can the Minister confirm | :34:10. | :34:14. | |
that home efficiency measures are recycled way of cutting bills for | :34:15. | :34:20. | |
those rural properties? I agree, efficiency measures are | :34:21. | :34:24. | |
fundamental to reducing the energy bill is not just for people in rural | :34:25. | :34:30. | |
areas but the population as a whole. This week a senior executive in | :34:31. | :34:35. | |
Ofgem warns that as a result of her high-rise on renewable energy, | :34:36. | :34:40. | |
consumers may face the possibility of having to pay a premium to ensure | :34:41. | :34:47. | |
that they have a reliable source of electricity to their homes without | :34:48. | :34:50. | |
having lights turned off. What discussions has the Minister had | :34:51. | :34:55. | |
with Ofgem on this issue, is the Government looking up the policy of | :34:56. | :35:02. | |
relying on costly... Renewable energy rather than cheaper fossil | :35:03. | :35:05. | |
fuels? We have an ongoing dialogue with | :35:06. | :35:09. | |
Ofgem on a number of issues, apropos the costs of supporting investment | :35:10. | :35:16. | |
in low carbon technologies, this is expected to increase, but so are | :35:17. | :35:20. | |
savings from energy efficiency policies so that by 2020, household | :35:21. | :35:25. | |
energy bills are estimated to still be lower on average than they would | :35:26. | :35:30. | |
have been in the absence of those green policies. | :35:31. | :35:37. | |
11. We are working to make the UK even more competitive in advanced | :35:38. | :35:40. | |
Manufacturing by cutting corporate tax, cutting red tape and increasing | :35:41. | :35:43. | |
support for the research innovation that will be crucial to success. Not | :35:44. | :35:50. | |
least through the ?300 million investment in the high-value | :35:51. | :35:53. | |
manufacturing category. Given the potential increase in | :35:54. | :35:57. | |
tariffs due to Brexit, how does the Minister plan to ensure that this | :35:58. | :36:01. | |
high-value form of manufacturing does not interior? | :36:02. | :36:07. | |
This added manufacturing is extremely important to our future, | :36:08. | :36:10. | |
both presenting many opportunities but also some risks to manage, it is | :36:11. | :36:16. | |
going to be a very poor to part of the industrial strategy. In | :36:17. | :36:19. | |
relations to the broader concerns about Arabs, the Government is | :36:20. | :36:24. | |
listening very carefully, as I witnessed yesterday, to | :36:25. | :36:26. | |
manufacturers and other sectors about priorities and concerns. | :36:27. | :36:32. | |
Will the Minister or one of his colleagues meet with me and | :36:33. | :36:37. | |
representatives from M and W group and BDE from my constituency who are | :36:38. | :36:42. | |
part of eight consort Thiem bidding for vitrification project in the | :36:43. | :36:47. | |
Chinese nuclear sector? ... Part of a consortium building... Bidding | :36:48. | :36:57. | |
for. It would help if the Minister would meet with them and help them | :36:58. | :37:01. | |
to win this contract. We are committed to supporting | :37:02. | :37:07. | |
British business, the answer is yes. The low carbon energy sector would | :37:08. | :37:10. | |
drive the manufacturing industry in this country. And be very helpful in | :37:11. | :37:15. | |
developing an international strategy, which I fully support. One | :37:16. | :37:20. | |
practical example is small nuclear reactors. Can the Minister tell | :37:21. | :37:25. | |
House when we can get an announcement on the funding and help | :37:26. | :37:30. | |
for this important sector? We are reviewing priorities in | :37:31. | :37:33. | |
relation to the energy innovation portfolio that sits inside the | :37:34. | :37:36. | |
department and the honourable gentleman will have noticed the | :37:37. | :37:41. | |
comments made by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement. We are | :37:42. | :37:43. | |
reviewing priorities and will announce them shortly. | :37:44. | :37:49. | |
Number 12. On the electricity side, the | :37:50. | :37:55. | |
National Grid electricity capacity report was published in July for | :37:56. | :37:59. | |
this year and involves a forward look on energy security through | :38:00. | :38:03. | |
competitive capacity auctions. We have already secured capacity from | :38:04. | :38:08. | |
2018/19 to 2021, in January we will try to secure capacity for another | :38:09. | :38:15. | |
year. I doubt there's an flexible gas | :38:16. | :38:21. | |
supply can meet demand even and the severe weather conditions. -- even | :38:22. | :38:26. | |
under severe weather conditions. The importance of gas storage in | :38:27. | :38:31. | |
energy generation and avoiding damaging price hikes has been | :38:32. | :38:35. | |
highlighted by the partial closure of the wrath storage facility. What | :38:36. | :38:40. | |
is the Government doing to tackle the question of increasing gas | :38:41. | :38:43. | |
storage for the future? It is an important question. The gas | :38:44. | :38:47. | |
supply arrangements are quite diverse. We have more than 30% | :38:48. | :38:56. | |
capacity even on a cold winter's day. There has been higher than | :38:57. | :38:59. | |
expected demand for power and restrictions to supply input | :39:00. | :39:02. | |
structure. It is something we keep under constant review. | :39:03. | :39:08. | |
The success of carbon capture and storage is important to energy | :39:09. | :39:11. | |
security, which is why it is a disappointing that the Chancellor | :39:12. | :39:14. | |
slashed ?1 billion from the ring fenced budget in the Autumn | :39:15. | :39:18. | |
Statement. What is the Government doing to promote carbon capture and | :39:19. | :39:21. | |
storage? I refer him to my honourable friend | :39:22. | :39:24. | |
the member for Ruislip's earlier remarks on this topic. | :39:25. | :39:32. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Will the Minister join me in congratulating | :39:33. | :39:37. | |
Are Blocked In The Jean on the completion of its solar panel | :39:38. | :39:48. | |
installation at a school in Street? I am very glad he has brought that | :39:49. | :39:55. | |
to the attention of the Haas. After the latest capacity auction | :39:56. | :39:59. | |
the overall scores for the procurement of new combined cycle | :40:00. | :40:01. | |
gas generation plants stand that one. One small buildable plant over | :40:02. | :40:08. | |
three auctions, at a total cost so far of ?3 billion, and 12p a year on | :40:09. | :40:15. | |
customer bills. Does the Secretary of State of any other good ideas up | :40:16. | :40:19. | |
his sleeve to secure the procurement and building of new capacity up to | :40:20. | :40:24. | |
2020? As the honourable gentleman will | :40:25. | :40:28. | |
know, the capacity market auction was an enormous success, it secured | :40:29. | :40:35. | |
a widespread diversity of supply at low cost, at higher amounts than | :40:36. | :40:42. | |
ever before. It is also including some innovative new technologies. | :40:43. | :40:46. | |
Actually I think the department is to be celebrated for managing it. | :40:47. | :40:53. | |
Number 13. Thank you, Mr Speaker. The next | :40:54. | :40:58. | |
meeting of the council will take place in the New Year, I will need | :40:59. | :41:02. | |
the steel industry chief executives next month and the trade union steel | :41:03. | :41:07. | |
committee next month -- I will meet. I thank him for his answer, I am | :41:08. | :41:10. | |
sure he will join me in congratulating all of those involved | :41:11. | :41:19. | |
in the Save Our Steel campaign, especially the unions, for the | :41:20. | :41:23. | |
announcement at Port Talbot. Trade union is out matters best, I am sure | :41:24. | :41:26. | |
he will agree. Thousands of trade union members and their families can | :41:27. | :41:30. | |
look forward to a more certain 2017, but that pensions are a dead. What | :41:31. | :41:34. | |
will he do to make sure that pensions are protected, as well as | :41:35. | :41:35. | |
their jobs? I join the honourable gentleman in | :41:36. | :41:41. | |
welcoming and congratulating both the workforce and trade unions, and | :41:42. | :41:46. | |
the employers, who had a very constructive set of discussions. It | :41:47. | :41:53. | |
obviously needs to go to the membership and consultation of the | :41:54. | :41:56. | |
membership needs to take place. But it's a positive step forward and he | :41:57. | :42:02. | |
is right that it will provide some greater comfort this winter to | :42:03. | :42:05. | |
employees. On the point of pensions, he will know and it's right and | :42:06. | :42:09. | |
proper, that the independent pensions regulator rather than the | :42:10. | :42:14. | |
government, must approve and must be content with arrangements and it | :42:15. | :42:17. | |
would be wrong for the government to intervene in that. One of the best | :42:18. | :42:22. | |
ways to support the British steel industry is for the government to | :42:23. | :42:25. | |
invest in infrastructure. Would my right honourable friend agree and | :42:26. | :42:32. | |
join me in praising the work of Sellafield steel based on my | :42:33. | :42:35. | |
constituency, who were building the world's first Squash tennis style | :42:36. | :42:42. | |
bridge is part of the looping ancestor? I will congratulate the | :42:43. | :42:53. | |
company. It is very successful, not only the product which won the | :42:54. | :42:56. | |
global award but they are responsible for construction at the | :42:57. | :43:01. | |
Olympic Stadium, Birmingham new Street station, a lot of the | :43:02. | :43:03. | |
buildings that we admire and having our minds are constructed with | :43:04. | :43:11. | |
British Steel by British companies. Thank you. Whilst we've recently had | :43:12. | :43:15. | |
somebody good news for the steel industry which gives and their | :43:16. | :43:19. | |
families the stability they need for now, the fact that the steel was not | :43:20. | :43:25. | |
mentioned in the Autumn Statement is cause for concern and furthermore, | :43:26. | :43:29. | |
the fact that this UK Government leads a group of countries blocking | :43:30. | :43:35. | |
the EU reform of anti-dumping trade defence instruments is a serious is | :43:36. | :43:39. | |
discrete issue. Will the minister commit to including the steel | :43:40. | :43:43. | |
industry in the future industrial strategy and detail the steps the | :43:44. | :43:46. | |
government will take to support this vital foundation industry? Of | :43:47. | :43:52. | |
course, steel is incredibly important and it's important that it | :43:53. | :43:56. | |
should have a bright future. We all want to see that. One of the things | :43:57. | :43:59. | |
that I've been doing with my honourable friend, working very | :44:00. | :44:03. | |
closely with the steel industry on both the employer 's side and the | :44:04. | :44:07. | |
trade union side, is to find and bring together a strategic review | :44:08. | :44:13. | |
that the whole industry is coming together to work on. That is | :44:14. | :44:18. | |
expressly designed to inform our industrial strategy, so we can look | :44:19. | :44:22. | |
forward with confidence to a very successful steel industry in the | :44:23. | :44:29. | |
future. With your permission, Mr Speaker, I answer this with question | :44:30. | :44:33. | |
21. Local enterprise partnerships do extremely important work bringing | :44:34. | :44:39. | |
together business inside, local authorities and universities to | :44:40. | :44:43. | |
shape and support local growth, not least through growth deals which are | :44:44. | :44:48. | |
finding it into projects. The grouping is with question number 18. | :44:49. | :44:52. | |
Ministers have to keep their eye on the order paper. The numbers change | :44:53. | :45:00. | |
over a period which will be obvious. There are 30,000 more businesses | :45:01. | :45:03. | |
with high speed broadband in the Black Country as a result of the | :45:04. | :45:07. | |
leadership of the Black Country local enterprise partnership. With | :45:08. | :45:10. | |
the Minister agree with me that the black Country lap has been an | :45:11. | :45:14. | |
excellent example bringing together the private and public sector to | :45:15. | :45:19. | |
drive growth, improve skills and build the infrastructure that the | :45:20. | :45:25. | |
Black Country economy needs. I thank my honourable friend for bringing | :45:26. | :45:27. | |
that to the attention of the house. It's a fantastic opportunity. I hear | :45:28. | :45:37. | |
great things about the chairmanship. I would like to pass on the | :45:38. | :45:41. | |
congratulations of the government. At a time when investors had been | :45:42. | :45:52. | |
having a hard time in the media,... What wider world does he envisage | :45:53. | :45:57. | |
for these organisations and will he consider expanding the growing | :45:58. | :46:01. | |
business fund? Can I thank my honourable friend for standing up | :46:02. | :46:09. | |
for them. Can I assure him that these are part of the process of | :46:10. | :46:12. | |
feeding into the industrial strategy. We are clear that that | :46:13. | :46:16. | |
strategy needs to reflect deep understanding of the different | :46:17. | :46:20. | |
challenges and opportunities each area faces and that's why the | :46:21. | :46:25. | |
Secretary of State has allocated a ministerial... I will be brief. Some | :46:26. | :46:33. | |
newspapers have exposed shocking examples of what I can only describe | :46:34. | :46:37. | |
as crony capitalism when it comes to some of our laps. The former elected | :46:38. | :46:42. | |
mayor of Bristol received more than ?50,000 for his own brewing firms | :46:43. | :46:47. | |
while on the board which kept no minutes. Perhaps the Minister is | :46:48. | :46:50. | |
impressed to find right wing politicians who can organise a booze | :46:51. | :46:56. | |
up in a brewery. Given they are putting nearly ?2 billion into the | :46:57. | :47:00. | |
Autumn Statement and going to laps, can he tell us what they are doing | :47:01. | :47:04. | |
to enforce basic standards of accountability? I promise not to buy | :47:05. | :47:11. | |
my dictionary where the honourable gentleman got his. Never trust | :47:12. | :47:16. | |
Labour when they say they are going to be brief. He raises an extremely | :47:17. | :47:22. | |
important point. This is taxpayers money. Any allegations about that | :47:23. | :47:26. | |
money being spent in an inappropriate way, particularly when | :47:27. | :47:30. | |
there are allegations around conflict of interest is something we | :47:31. | :47:34. | |
take extremely seriously. In fact, looking at the allegations, we are | :47:35. | :47:40. | |
reassured by the prompt and response -- robust response to these | :47:41. | :47:46. | |
allegations. We continued to press and make the point strongly that we | :47:47. | :47:53. | |
expect full compliance. Number one, Mr Speaker. Over the last month, | :47:54. | :48:00. | |
we've made substantial progress across the department's | :48:01. | :48:01. | |
responsibilities. Our recent review will make sure Britain is not only | :48:02. | :48:04. | |
an excellent place to do business but also web as this is done best. | :48:05. | :48:09. | |
We continue to tackle climate change, ratifying the Paris | :48:10. | :48:14. | |
agreement, my honourable friend played an important part in the | :48:15. | :48:18. | |
climate discussions in Marrakesh. I had a great pleasure of opening the | :48:19. | :48:22. | |
Siemens wind turbine factory in Hull, creating 1000 new jobs. By | :48:23. | :48:29. | |
providing an additional 2 billion a year by 2020 and living British | :48:30. | :48:32. | |
homes and businesses certainty that their electricity demands will be | :48:33. | :48:35. | |
met for the next five years, we are investing in our country's economic | :48:36. | :48:41. | |
future. That was a fabulous introduction to my question about | :48:42. | :48:46. | |
the Hendry review. I know the government has received it. I'm | :48:47. | :48:50. | |
confident it has made some clear and useful recommendations. What I would | :48:51. | :48:54. | |
like to know is does the government intend to make it public soon and | :48:55. | :48:59. | |
what are its thoughts about some of his comments and recommendations? I | :49:00. | :49:04. | |
am grateful to my honourable friend and I would like to put on record my | :49:05. | :49:08. | |
gratitude to Charles Hendry for having written his report. I think | :49:09. | :49:13. | |
it's important it is published soon. Charles Hendry is travelling at the | :49:14. | :49:16. | |
moment but as soon as he is back, I will agree with him a date that he | :49:17. | :49:20. | |
can publish it and then he can answer questions about it. It's a | :49:21. | :49:24. | |
substantial document and my honourable friend will understand we | :49:25. | :49:27. | |
will want to consider it and make a response in due course. New research | :49:28. | :49:33. | |
from Edinburgh University finds electricity generation from wind | :49:34. | :49:38. | |
farms cuts even more greenhouse gas emissions than previously known. | :49:39. | :49:43. | |
It's the same as taking 2.3 million cars off the road. Meanwhile, the | :49:44. | :49:47. | |
government's own figures predict their renewables cuts will see 63 | :49:48. | :49:51. | |
million tonnes more CO2 being released into the atmosphere. Will | :49:52. | :49:55. | |
the Minister clarify how they plan to continue cutting emissions, as | :49:56. | :50:03. | |
the leader of the house confirmed with me, while bringing in policies | :50:04. | :50:07. | |
that will bind them up? What members need to understand is that topical | :50:08. | :50:11. | |
questions were always intended to be brief. We cannot have these five | :50:12. | :50:17. | |
senses questions. One once a brief question. In the New Year, we would | :50:18. | :50:23. | |
be publishing our plan, which is a legal requirement for the government | :50:24. | :50:26. | |
to set out exactly how we expect to meet our commitments. I thank the | :50:27. | :50:32. | |
Minister, in relation to my private members Bill on the regulation of | :50:33. | :50:37. | |
this laser pen. Can the Minister clarify when that consultation will | :50:38. | :50:46. | |
start? I congratulate my honourable friend for all the wiki has done to | :50:47. | :50:50. | |
bring the misuse of laser pointers to the attention of the government. | :50:51. | :50:54. | |
The government is very concerned about the misuse of high-powered | :50:55. | :50:59. | |
laser pointers and will be seeking evidence on potential options for | :51:00. | :51:01. | |
tackling this misuse early next year. A review by academics at Leeds | :51:02. | :51:08. | |
University business School and the University of Exeter found that for | :51:09. | :51:14. | |
every pound invested in the union learning fund, there is a return of | :51:15. | :51:18. | |
?12 and 70. This leads to an estimated net contribution to the | :51:19. | :51:24. | |
economy of ?1.45 million and an estimated return to the Exchequer of | :51:25. | :51:28. | |
the pound 57 for each ?1 spent. With this in mind, what steps are being | :51:29. | :51:34. | |
made to ensure there is much, much better engagement? We look forward | :51:35. | :51:41. | |
to reading this research. It's clearly Gottesman testing findings | :51:42. | :51:47. | |
of which will take full note. A business in my constituency in the | :51:48. | :51:51. | |
construction industry has alerted me to corporate mandate for, worry | :51:52. | :51:55. | |
Forster pretends to be a company and asks its camps timbers to change | :51:56. | :52:01. | |
bank account details. What steps can the Minister take to alert | :52:02. | :52:04. | |
businesses and what discussions has he had with Home Secretary? I am | :52:05. | :52:10. | |
grateful to my honourable friend for drawing attention to this type of | :52:11. | :52:13. | |
fraud which affects businesses in all sectors. It is essential that | :52:14. | :52:17. | |
business owners and staff know what to do when they are notified of | :52:18. | :52:22. | |
changed bank account details and the best pointer in the first instance | :52:23. | :52:26. | |
is advice available on the action fraud website. Research published | :52:27. | :52:32. | |
this week by Scottish renewables shows that expertise is in demand | :52:33. | :52:40. | |
around the world, Scottish companies being involved in 43 countries. What | :52:41. | :52:45. | |
support world the UK Government give to the sector? The transition to | :52:46. | :52:50. | |
cleaner energies is fundamental to our energy strategy and significant | :52:51. | :52:55. | |
supply chain opportunities flow from that. In terms of the government's | :52:56. | :53:01. | |
commitment, this country is seeing one of the fastest deployments of | :53:02. | :53:07. | |
renewable energy across the country. We have renewed our commitment. With | :53:08. | :53:13. | |
engineering and textiles doing particularly well in Holland this | :53:14. | :53:15. | |
field at the moment, will the Department continued to commit to an | :53:16. | :53:21. | |
industrial strategy? -- Huddersfield. I certainly will. It's | :53:22. | :53:26. | |
very important that industrial strategy and business policy should | :53:27. | :53:29. | |
recognise the strengths of particular places and Yorkshire is a | :53:30. | :53:37. | |
particularly fine example. Two weeks ago, GB energy ceased trading | :53:38. | :53:42. | |
affecting 160,000 customers. Credit to Chen for ensuring those customers | :53:43. | :53:46. | |
were transferred to another supplier in a prompt. Does the Secretary of | :53:47. | :53:56. | |
State believed that things need to change, so that more rigorous | :53:57. | :54:00. | |
financial health checks undertaken to minimise the risk of failure, | :54:01. | :54:04. | |
disruption to customers and loss of confidence. The honourable gentleman | :54:05. | :54:13. | |
can now breathe! I am grateful and I would commend, as he has done, of | :54:14. | :54:16. | |
chairman for the arrangements they put in place. I think you raises a | :54:17. | :54:22. | |
very reasonable point. You will want to work with me to make sure we do | :54:23. | :54:25. | |
have the right arrangements in place. Can my right honourable | :54:26. | :54:32. | |
friend ensure that those who benefit from self-employment are aware that | :54:33. | :54:35. | |
there are different kinds of national insurance contribution and | :54:36. | :54:39. | |
ensure that they are able to pay the correct class, so that in the event | :54:40. | :54:43. | |
they we the jobs market, they are able to access the full range of | :54:44. | :54:48. | |
support available to other types of job-seeker? Earlier this year, the | :54:49. | :54:51. | |
Prime Minister commissioned Matthew Taylor to carry out an independent | :54:52. | :54:55. | |
review into modern employment practices, such as the example just | :54:56. | :55:00. | |
given. It was part of ensuring we have an economy that works for | :55:01. | :55:05. | |
everyone. I am sure my honourable friend will in addition consider the | :55:06. | :55:12. | |
honourable member's suggestion. The energy intensive industries | :55:13. | :55:17. | |
compensation scheme is due to end in April 20 17. The government has | :55:18. | :55:21. | |
promised to bring forward legislation to exempt energy | :55:22. | :55:24. | |
intensive industries from renewable obligations and tariffs. We are | :55:25. | :55:28. | |
still waiting for that to happen. As things stand, the steel industry is | :55:29. | :55:32. | |
looking down the barrel of having to go back to the crippling energy | :55:33. | :55:35. | |
costs that it faced until the compensation package was in place. | :55:36. | :55:39. | |
Can the Secretary of State assure us that measures will be put in place | :55:40. | :55:40. | |
to ensure we don't go back to that The discussions we have had with the | :55:41. | :55:52. | |
steel sector, they obviously emphasise the importance of energy | :55:53. | :55:56. | |
costs and our commitment is to work with the sector to bring them down. | :55:57. | :56:02. | |
Skills have been removed from his department portfolio, yet for many | :56:03. | :56:05. | |
businesses in the Bradford district, access to talent remains a key | :56:06. | :56:11. | |
challenge, so how will the Secretary of State ensure that education | :56:12. | :56:14. | |
policy dovetails with his department priorities to make sure businesses | :56:15. | :56:18. | |
have access to the skills that they leave? With higher and further | :56:19. | :56:22. | |
education policy, apprenticeship and skills in a single department, the | :56:23. | :56:27. | |
Government can take a comprehensive end to end you skills and education, | :56:28. | :56:32. | |
this will support people from the early years through to postgraduate | :56:33. | :56:39. | |
study and work. Is it not time for the Secretary of State to order an | :56:40. | :56:42. | |
investigation into the processes of the Royal Bank of Scotland? | :56:43. | :56:50. | |
The situation with the Royal Bank of Scotland is under review and | :56:51. | :56:54. | |
proposals, I am sure, will be made in the near future. Now that the | :56:55. | :57:00. | |
future of Hinkley Point is secure, what further plans does my right | :57:01. | :57:04. | |
honourable friend have for nuclear energy to form a key part of energy | :57:05. | :57:08. | |
supply? It is important that it should form | :57:09. | :57:12. | |
a key part, one of the pieces of neglect of the previously the macro | :57:13. | :57:16. | |
Government is that they presided over the forecast closure of nuclear | :57:17. | :57:20. | |
fleets without any plans to replace it. When I made the statement about | :57:21. | :57:24. | |
Hinkley Point see, I also said that this would be the beginning of a new | :57:25. | :57:29. | |
era of civil nuclear power in this country, which is absolutely right. | :57:30. | :57:40. | |
In the same week when we saw the merger with Tata Steel, we saw | :57:41. | :57:43. | |
another merger. What risk assessment has been made about China and its | :57:44. | :57:50. | |
facts on the British Steel industry? I join him in paying tribute to the | :57:51. | :58:00. | |
companies and the trade unions who have worked constructively together, | :58:01. | :58:05. | |
the progress is welcome. I have with my honourable friend a very regular | :58:06. | :58:10. | |
dialogue with both the employers and the trade unions, we have been | :58:11. | :58:14. | |
active, as he knows, in making sure that we have the right trait | :58:15. | :58:19. | |
defences against unfair practices from countries that don't steal | :58:20. | :58:25. | |
unfairly in the UK market. Though business rates are set by the | :58:26. | :58:29. | |
valuations office agency rather than Government, I think it is right back | :58:30. | :58:32. | |
Government tries to soften the blow for those most affected. Can the | :58:33. | :58:37. | |
Minister expand on what he was doing to protect businesses using solar | :58:38. | :58:40. | |
panels that have been adversely impacted by high business rates? | :58:41. | :58:46. | |
My honourable friend is right to point out that these rates are set | :58:47. | :58:49. | |
independently, she will know that the overall Met affected the reforms | :58:50. | :58:55. | |
are to reduce business rates, she'll also know there is transitional | :58:56. | :58:59. | |
relief in place. But she is right to highlight the challenge set by | :59:00. | :59:03. | |
business installations for their own use and we are working through that | :59:04. | :59:07. | |
as an issue. When will the Government publisher | :59:08. | :59:11. | |
's response to the Law Commission report on consumer reap -- | :59:12. | :59:15. | |
prepayments on retail insolvency, we need to do more to protect consumers | :59:16. | :59:19. | |
when businesses go into administration. I will noble lady's | :59:20. | :59:24. | |
comments and I will write to her, I am sorry that I did not hear all of | :59:25. | :59:30. | |
the question, I apologise. -- I will write the lady's comments. | :59:31. | :59:36. | |
I know the company which provides high-quality, high wage, high skill. | :59:37. | :59:41. | |
What consideration is being given to energy price competitiveness with | :59:42. | :59:46. | |
European neighbours as a more competitive energy price would | :59:47. | :59:48. | |
disproportionately benefit the Northern powerhouse. As I said to a | :59:49. | :59:53. | |
number of honourable members, the energy prices paid by businesses | :59:54. | :59:58. | |
generally, but energy intensive industries particularly, Oracle | :59:59. | :00:00. | |
shall point of competitiveness and we wish to work with them to reduce | :00:01. | :00:06. | |
cost. Nissan has benefited from the | :00:07. | :00:11. | |
pre-Brexit deal, what a reassuring scan we offer Brighton -based | :00:12. | :00:14. | |
businesses like American Express and EDF that they can still have an open | :00:15. | :00:19. | |
and free relationship with the EU. American Express are a very | :00:20. | :00:22. | |
important in Playa in Brighton and very welcome here. They came to | :00:23. | :00:27. | |
locate in Britain because it is a fantastic place to do business bomb. | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
Wherever I travel around the world, this is the message that I reported | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
-- a fantastic place to do business from. He will know of recent success | :00:38. | :00:42. | |
stories, I hope American Express will continue to invest more and | :00:43. | :00:46. | |
employ more in his constituency. Following the collapse of the | :00:47. | :00:53. | |
greater Lincolnshire devolution deal, events and Humber and | :00:54. | :00:56. | |
Lincolnshire take on greater significance. There is concern that | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
funding from central government might be lost as a result of the | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
collapse of the deal, will it be used to channel funds from his | :01:06. | :01:12. | |
department where suitable projects are identified? We regard local | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
growth is being very important as a component of the industrial | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
strategy, he knows I have been a big champion of local growth. I will | :01:23. | :01:25. | |
want to see more of that. Obviously there are certain offers part of the | :01:26. | :01:32. | |
proposed deal, but these are never compulsory and if the council some | :01:33. | :01:35. | |
businesses do not want to proceed then Matt is a matter for them. | :01:36. | :01:41. | |
With the Minister agree that as part of the industrial strategy that the | :01:42. | :01:45. | |
future development of enterprise zones would be of great economic | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
development, especially to the manufacturing sector? I agree that | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
enterprise zones have been successful, they have provided some | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
tax advantages but also provided in many cases a simplified regulatory | :02:01. | :02:03. | |
environment, which is very attractive to businesses. I think | :02:04. | :02:09. | |
there experience commends them. Order, statement the Secretary of | :02:10. | :02:15. | |
State for Health. Secretary Jeremy Hunt. | :02:16. | :02:28. | |
Mr Speaker, on the 12th of April this year I asked the sea QC to | :02:29. | :02:33. | |
conduct an investigation into lessons that needed to be learned | :02:34. | :02:40. | |
following the tragic death of Connor sparrowhawk in 2013 at seven health | :02:41. | :02:46. | |
NHS Trust. I want to start by paying tribute to his family, particularly | :02:47. | :02:51. | |
his mother, Sara Ryan, but her persistent and determined | :02:52. | :02:55. | |
campaigning for a proper investigation into what happened. | :02:56. | :02:59. | |
The lessons of mid-Staffs, Morecambe Bay and other injustices like | :03:00. | :03:02. | |
Hillsborough is that when families speak out, we must listen. In this | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
case, thanks | :03:07. | :03:07. |