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the day, at 11 o'clock tonight. First we have questions from the | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
business, energy and industrial strategy secretary Greg Clark and | :00:00. | :00:14. | |
his team of ministers. Questions on energy strategy. Question one Mr | :00:15. | :00:21. | |
Speaker. Mr Nick Hurd. I will ask this question with Foran 14. Between | :00:22. | :00:27. | |
1990 and 2015 hour missions have fallen over a third while our | :00:28. | :00:33. | |
economy has grown over 60%, since 2010 policy has contributed to the | :00:34. | :00:39. | |
state-run bling of renewable electricity capacity. I thank the | :00:40. | :00:47. | |
Minister for his answer, businesses and Scottish renewables sector | :00:48. | :00:50. | |
predict that one in six jobs are at risk in the next six months due to | :00:51. | :00:55. | |
changes in government support. Will the government take action now to | :00:56. | :00:59. | |
make sure that we grasp the opportunities that our fantastic | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
energy resources provide. Few countries certainly in Europe done | :01:05. | :01:09. | |
more to expand renewable energy and electricity capacity since 2010, and | :01:10. | :01:16. | |
the economy sector now employs over 220,000 people. She's questioning | :01:17. | :01:21. | |
our continuing commitment to renewable energy, I refer her to the | :01:22. | :01:26. | |
public commitment to the forthcoming thing to secure less renewable -- | :01:27. | :01:31. | |
assessment your renewable technologies. This report, and | :01:32. | :01:39. | |
another one on North American biomass both concluded that the use | :01:40. | :01:45. | |
of these pellets, are high carbon. Given that, there was a review | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
promised in 2012, will the government conduct an urgent review, | :01:51. | :01:54. | |
a moratorium on new subsidies for biomass. As the honourable gentleman | :01:55. | :02:03. | |
knows, we have reviewed and adjusted this in relation to biomass and we | :02:04. | :02:06. | |
will keep that under regular reviews. Thank you Mr Speaker given | :02:07. | :02:12. | |
that Scotland's renewable energy will be cheaper than that produced | :02:13. | :02:16. | |
at Hinkley Point by the time it is complete and Brexit is already | :02:17. | :02:20. | |
pushing out build cost in an environment where the UK Government | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
has unilaterally decided to abandon the protection of Europe Tom. Will | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
we scrap the costly nuclear accession instead replace it with | :02:31. | :02:38. | |
nuclear. You bless me with powers I'd date possess. Previous | :02:39. | :02:46. | |
governments, neglected the power infrastructure, this is a challenge | :02:47. | :02:51. | |
that the government is gripping. As I said before, few countries have | :02:52. | :02:55. | |
done more to make the transition to cleaner energy, a trebling of | :02:56. | :02:59. | |
capacity in terms of renewable electricity and the commitment to | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
Hinkley Point offers are so potential, 7% of the electricity, | :03:04. | :03:09. | |
low carbon -based power. Colleagues in both houses have signed an | :03:10. | :03:16. | |
offshore blade, on the Isle of Wight. While also arranging a | :03:17. | :03:21. | |
schools outreach programme. With my right honourable friend agree that | :03:22. | :03:26. | |
this sort of initiative raises awareness of how low-carbon | :03:27. | :03:29. | |
renewable energy technology can insure, that the UK reaches its | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
potential of exporting its first-class engineering and advanced | :03:35. | :03:42. | |
manufacturing worldwide? I thank my honourable friend and I wholly | :03:43. | :03:47. | |
endorse what he is saying, and the Secretary of State and myself saw | :03:48. | :03:50. | |
first visiting this new Siemens offshore wind blade turbine factory | :03:51. | :03:56. | |
in Hull, just what this technology and engineering can do to inspire | :03:57. | :04:00. | |
particularly young people in the area about opportunities for | :04:01. | :04:06. | |
employment in this exciting sector. Layla nuclear power is an important | :04:07. | :04:10. | |
part of the transition to a low carbon economy, can the minister | :04:11. | :04:19. | |
update us on the small reactor competition. Can I welcome the | :04:20. | :04:25. | |
ladies election to the select committee. She is right, any | :04:26. | :04:31. | |
innovation is critical to our future ability to reducing the cost of geek | :04:32. | :04:38. | |
organisation. To unlocking, the opportunity, so we are reviewing our | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
plans, I feel I can say that the nuclear industry is a very important | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
part of those plans and I hope we will have something to say shortly. | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
In the south-west we don't share the SNP's negative view on the Hinkley | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
Point power station project. Will he reassure me about what work the | :04:57. | :04:59. | |
government is doing to ensure that the young people have the skills to | :05:00. | :05:07. | |
take the jobs in these industries? I thank my honourable friend for | :05:08. | :05:09. | |
correcting the impression that investment in new jobs in the | :05:10. | :05:13. | |
nuclear industry is somehow bad news given the commitment that 75% of the | :05:14. | :05:19. | |
content of Hinkley Point should be supplied from this country. But just | :05:20. | :05:24. | |
as important is the contribution it makes to upgrading the power | :05:25. | :05:27. | |
infrastructure to make sure that the country has the ability to access | :05:28. | :05:32. | |
reliable low-carbon stuff in the future. Last week the budget failed | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
to stop the 800% rise in business rates for companies that installed | :05:38. | :05:41. | |
solar panels, this week research published in the journal nature | :05:42. | :05:44. | |
energy says that to achieve our targets in the Paris agreement, we | :05:45. | :05:49. | |
need to set out longer-term plans beyond 2050, the government has now | :05:50. | :05:54. | |
dithered for five years and still refuses to publish its own | :05:55. | :05:57. | |
implementation plan, even up to 2030. How does the minister proposed | :05:58. | :06:01. | |
to increase the low-carbon exports when he can't even set out how we | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
will achieve the medium-term targets. The honourable gentleman | :06:07. | :06:12. | |
accuses us of dithering, if you see is the performance on emissions, one | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
of the most successful, since 1990. He talks about delaying the | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
emissions, and also, the fifth carbon budget was only set last | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
July. This country and this government has a very proud record | :06:26. | :06:29. | |
in terms of proving that we can reduce emissions while growing the | :06:30. | :06:35. | |
economy. The 30 large wind turbines in Kettering Borough, is becoming | :06:36. | :06:39. | |
very close to generating more green electricity than it consumes. But | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
what incentives are there in the business rate system, the planning | :06:44. | :06:48. | |
system, to award housing developments and business start-ups | :06:49. | :06:55. | |
that are low-carbon? I thank my honourable friend for pointing out | :06:56. | :06:58. | |
how much progress we are making at the local level as well as the | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
national level in terms of the transition. That has been | :07:04. | :07:06. | |
facilitated by a series of substantial investment, through | :07:07. | :07:11. | |
public subsidies, and we review now, as we look to encourage the | :07:12. | :07:14. | |
deployment of renewable energy through competitive markets, what | :07:15. | :07:20. | |
else we can do through the tools of government to facilitate that. Our | :07:21. | :07:26. | |
concern on Hinkley Point is that the government appears to be stacking | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
the deck in favour of nuclear power over much cheaper renewable energy. | :07:30. | :07:35. | |
The strike price for Hinckley was 92.5 in 2012 compare to a much lower | :07:36. | :07:44. | |
82.54 offshore wind in 2015. Yet when looking in the value for money | :07:45. | :07:50. | |
assessment, the government assumes a 90 strike price for renewables, they | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
inflating the pricing pass on to Hinckley? I hope the honourable | :07:56. | :07:58. | |
gentleman doesn't want to give the wrong impression, he knows with his | :07:59. | :08:03. | |
expense that one of the keys to successful energy policies died | :08:04. | :08:08. | |
averse to supply. That is the key of energy security. And ensuring that | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
diversity of supply is what we are trying to do as a government. The | :08:13. | :08:17. | |
Minister has completely missed the point about the comparison and they | :08:18. | :08:22. | |
commission frontier economic to look at the whole impact of electricity | :08:23. | :08:28. | |
generation models. Despite repeated Parliamentary questions, that report | :08:29. | :08:31. | |
has not been published. Mr Speaker if the government has nothing to | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
hide, why are they hiding things? I'm not aware of hiding anything, | :08:37. | :08:40. | |
I'm making a point of the diverse energy supply. One of the most | :08:41. | :08:45. | |
encouraging things is the progress that we have made in terms of policy | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
structure to drive greater competition, to get better prices | :08:51. | :08:54. | |
for consumers and the taxpayer from the public subsidies available, and | :08:55. | :08:57. | |
I hope that will be evident very soon in the results of the | :08:58. | :09:04. | |
forthcoming auctions. We are committed to making the UK the | :09:05. | :09:07. | |
global go to nation for scientists, in orators and tech investors, and | :09:08. | :09:12. | |
that is why as part of the industrial strategy, we will | :09:13. | :09:15. | |
announce the increase of ?4.7 billion in public are indeed funds, | :09:16. | :09:18. | |
the biggest increase in site support for 40 years. I welcome the | :09:19. | :09:25. | |
government 's recent 40 million investment, and development in space | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
technology including the university led National space Park. Could the | :09:30. | :09:32. | |
minister tell a house what further steps you can take to encourage the | :09:33. | :09:35. | |
space industrial cluster in the Midlands? The space industry has an | :09:36. | :09:42. | |
important role to play in driving growth across the UK and the | :09:43. | :09:44. | |
government is working closely with the centre to make this a reality. | :09:45. | :09:48. | |
I'm pleased that Leicestershire is grasping this. The satellite | :09:49. | :09:54. | |
applications catapult has funded a centre of excellence, focused on | :09:55. | :09:58. | |
linking industry to local and national expertise, in addition, the | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
UK space agency is supporting business incubators in Leicester, | :10:03. | :10:04. | |
Nottingham and Loughborough to develop innovative start-ups. The | :10:05. | :10:13. | |
page 98 of the government industrial strategy talks about the importance | :10:14. | :10:17. | |
of long-term institutions and many of those who work in science and | :10:18. | :10:20. | |
industry in Wirral and elsewhere feel that the single market is a | :10:21. | :10:23. | |
long-term is that you should that has served them well. Can I ask the | :10:24. | :10:27. | |
Minister whether he has asked the Prime Minister to change course and | :10:28. | :10:30. | |
keep our country in the single market. The UK is indeed a | :10:31. | :10:37. | |
powerhouse for academic research and collaborations with institutions in | :10:38. | :10:40. | |
Europe and around the world are an important part of that success. We | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
want through the industrial strategy to continue to play to a great | :10:45. | :10:47. | |
strengths as a science and research powerhouse and we will continue to | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
welcome agreement to collaborate with our European partners on major | :10:52. | :10:54. | |
science and technology programmes in years to come. Agri- science is | :10:55. | :11:01. | |
playing a vital part in this industrial strategy but more can be | :11:02. | :11:06. | |
done. Is the minister whereof the excellent work, of a constituency | :11:07. | :11:09. | |
which is exporting it all over the world? | :11:10. | :11:15. | |
I am indeed aware of the excellent work that is undertaken by that | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
institution and the honourable members in my honourable friend's | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
constituency. Considerable source port is being received through our | :11:24. | :11:31. | |
investment in R The European medicines agency, a European | :11:32. | :11:34. | |
institution based in the UK, is one of the reasons why our farming | :11:35. | :11:39. | |
industry is so successful -- pharmaceutical industry is so | :11:40. | :11:44. | |
successful. When we crash out of the EU, what will happen to that | :11:45. | :11:46. | |
organisation and what is the science Mr doing to make sure we have | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
effective regulations which support our pharmacology and history? She | :11:51. | :11:57. | |
should wait until we have embarked upon the negotiations our future | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
relationship with European funding streams and we will anticipate | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
continuing to collaborate closely with our European partners so that | :12:06. | :12:09. | |
our scientists can develop institutions such as the one she | :12:10. | :12:22. | |
mentions. Bill yesterday I talked about science technology business | :12:23. | :12:25. | |
which is on the British Chamber of Commerce business of the year and | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
export business of the year. Can my right honourable friend join me in | :12:30. | :12:36. | |
congratulating that business for championing and promoting the best | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
of British science and research? I'm delighted to be able to congratulate | :12:41. | :12:44. | |
them and it is companies like those that are really doing well at | :12:45. | :12:48. | |
exploiting the research undertaken to the benefit of this country, | :12:49. | :12:53. | |
maximising commercial opportunities from the significant public | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
investment we are putting into R and D. Looking beyond the two-year | :12:58. | :13:00. | |
period when we exit the EU, wilderness to ensure that liaison | :13:01. | :13:07. | |
with the devolved institutions will be restored before then, so that | :13:08. | :13:10. | |
excellent facilities like the science centres in Belfast and | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
Londonderry can be availed of an replicated right across the UK to | :13:15. | :13:20. | |
ensure we get the maximum advantage? Through the creation of UK research | :13:21. | :13:26. | |
and innovation, which is a UK wide global funding and research agency, | :13:27. | :13:30. | |
we will continue to ensure that excellent science and research is | :13:31. | :13:33. | |
supported throughout the UK in years to come. Thank you, Mr Speaker. The | :13:34. | :13:44. | |
oil and gas sector is very important for the UK economy, energy security | :13:45. | :13:49. | |
and jobs. That's why over the past two years the Government has | :13:50. | :13:51. | |
established the oil and gas authority as a strong independent | :13:52. | :13:55. | |
regulator and provided a ?2.3 billion package of support to | :13:56. | :13:59. | |
encourage investment and exploration in the UK. In the spring budget last | :14:00. | :14:03. | |
week, the Chancellor and as the government will consider how tax can | :14:04. | :14:08. | |
be used to assist sales of oil and gas assets in the North Sea, helping | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
to keep unproductive the longer. Does this government stand by | :14:14. | :14:20. | |
comments made by the Scottish Conservatives energy spokesman | :14:21. | :14:23. | |
Alexander Burnett and must be that the oil and gas industry does not | :14:24. | :14:27. | |
need any help, saying people in Aberdeen are not asking for any more | :14:28. | :14:32. | |
at the moment? I'm not sure I entirely caught the remarks he | :14:33. | :14:35. | |
mentions but the Government has been very clear in its support not just | :14:36. | :14:42. | |
for the UK continental shelf and the companies on it but in support for | :14:43. | :14:47. | |
Aberdeen through the ?250 million city deal we have announced. Is my | :14:48. | :14:53. | |
honourable friend aware that at this very moment crude oil is trading at | :14:54. | :15:00. | |
$48.31 per barrel? As he read the report by the OECD which says that | :15:01. | :15:05. | |
because of this and many other structural factors, an independent | :15:06. | :15:11. | |
Scotland would have a worse debt per population ratio than even Greece? | :15:12. | :15:19. | |
I'm sure my colleague will understand that I'm not going to | :15:20. | :15:23. | |
comment on the specific economic issues he raises. What I would say, | :15:24. | :15:28. | |
however, and I admire him for his spot awareness of the oil spot | :15:29. | :15:32. | |
price, is that we as a government have managed to engineer a | :15:33. | :15:38. | |
significant fall in oil and gas supply costs on the continental | :15:39. | :15:44. | |
shelf. Order! Mr Boswell, a cerebral minister is at the box responding to | :15:45. | :15:50. | |
a pertinent inquiry and the honourable gentleman is very and | :15:51. | :15:52. | |
characteristically behaving in a mildly boorish fashion. But I'm sure | :15:53. | :15:58. | |
it is an exceptional case. -- uncharacteristically. I'm not sure | :15:59. | :16:02. | |
anyone can recover from the accusation of being cerebral! Let me | :16:03. | :16:06. | |
just say that the way the oil and gas authority has lowered costs is | :16:07. | :16:11. | |
itself a testimony to how competitive our economy can be in | :16:12. | :16:15. | |
oil and gas, even where oil and gas prices are falling. Thank you very | :16:16. | :16:26. | |
much indeed. The UK space sector is world leading. A quarter of the | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
world's telecommunication satellites are either built here all with key | :16:31. | :16:34. | |
UK components. Our recently announced space flight bill will now | :16:35. | :16:38. | |
UK businesses tend a global market with an expected ?25 billion over | :16:39. | :16:43. | |
the next 20 years and our industrial strategy will ensure we build on | :16:44. | :16:46. | |
this and continue to be a global leader in this important sector. | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
Many people think my constituency, North Swindon, is out of this world | :16:52. | :16:54. | |
and they are not wrong as we are home to the UK space agency. Will | :16:55. | :17:00. | |
they tell me how the upcoming space bill will enable the UK to build on | :17:01. | :17:03. | |
our strengths in science, research and innovation? It has a stellar | :17:04. | :17:12. | |
member of Parliament, as well! It is one of our most important industries | :17:13. | :17:17. | |
and the space flight bill in particular will move us forward and | :17:18. | :17:20. | |
enable us to be in the business not only of manufacturing satellites but | :17:21. | :17:26. | |
launching them, which gives us further industrial opportunities | :17:27. | :17:28. | |
that I know not just Swindon but the whole of the UK can benefit from. | :17:29. | :17:37. | |
A collaborative approach of the UK aerospace sector is one of the | :17:38. | :17:39. | |
lessons that this Government needs to remember in the difficult years | :17:40. | :17:46. | |
that are moving ahead. Will the Secretary of State please come to | :17:47. | :17:50. | |
one of the most important aerospace sectors in the country, North East | :17:51. | :17:55. | |
Wales, see the excellent work that is being carried forward and the | :17:56. | :17:59. | |
potential threats that now exist to one of the most successful | :18:00. | :18:02. | |
industries in our country? I'm grateful to him for his point | :18:03. | :18:07. | |
and he is right that one of the reasons that the space and satellite | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
sector has been so successful is the collaboration between firms there | :18:13. | :18:16. | |
and government and research institutions. That is very much the | :18:17. | :18:21. | |
way forward and my honourable friend the Parliamentary undersecretary is | :18:22. | :18:25. | |
going to visit North Wales and the facilities he mentions and I look | :18:26. | :18:27. | |
forward to hearing from him all about it. Somebody who has | :18:28. | :18:34. | |
calculated inertia matrices, I'm very pleased that the government has | :18:35. | :18:37. | |
a focus on this area. Can he tell me what assessment he has made for the | :18:38. | :18:42. | |
capacity for the UK commercial space flight sector and what steps he is | :18:43. | :18:46. | |
going to take to supported? I'm glad he is not questioning me on inertia | :18:47. | :18:51. | |
ratios and matrices! The capacity is there but it requires planning | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
ahead, which is why the industrial strategy mentions the need to invest | :18:56. | :18:59. | |
in science and research and development - very important that we | :19:00. | :19:04. | |
should do that and that we should look forward to make sure we have | :19:05. | :19:09. | |
the skills that can fulfil the order books. That is the purpose of having | :19:10. | :19:13. | |
a long-term industrial strategy, so we are prepared to reach those | :19:14. | :19:24. | |
opportunities. -- reap. With a mission, I'll answer this | :19:25. | :19:28. | |
together with number nine. Small businesses are vital to the economy | :19:29. | :19:31. | |
and we are providing additional access to finance and support to | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
help scale businesses to enable them to reap the benefits from future | :19:36. | :19:39. | |
trade with the EU and the rest of the world. Can I start by wishing | :19:40. | :19:50. | |
everybody a happy parade day -- Pi day. The UK government failed to | :19:51. | :19:58. | |
consult the business community on the changes to national insurance | :19:59. | :20:03. | |
for the self-employed. Will the government now tackle the ongoing | :20:04. | :20:05. | |
uncertainty that these changes could bring to work as' rights, such as | :20:06. | :20:11. | |
maternity, paternity pay, sick pay, annual leave and pensions? The | :20:12. | :20:17. | |
Government is absolutely committed, as the Prime Minister has said on | :20:18. | :20:21. | |
several occasions, to protect workers' rights as we leave the | :20:22. | :20:24. | |
European Union and not just to protect them but also to enhance | :20:25. | :20:29. | |
them if necessary, and she has set up a review to examine the details. | :20:30. | :20:39. | |
I'm sad to note the absence, rather uncharacteristic, the honourable | :20:40. | :20:41. | |
gentleman but we will do our best to bear up with such fortitude as we | :20:42. | :20:48. | |
can muster. In the oil and gas sector, there are a number of small | :20:49. | :20:51. | |
businesses in the supply chain that have been hit disproportionately by | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
the oil price reduction. Myself and the honourable member for Aberdeen | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
South held a meeting last week to encourage members to access | :21:00. | :21:03. | |
different methods of capital finance to grow. What is the UK government | :21:04. | :21:07. | |
doing to encourage these businesses to access capital finance? Although | :21:08. | :21:13. | |
support for business in Scotland is largely devolved, the British | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
business bank does fund a vast number of companies in Scotland. | :21:19. | :21:25. | |
?415 million of finance for Scottish companies, including the start-up | :21:26. | :21:30. | |
loan, and over 1600 companies in Scotland benefit from the enterprise | :21:31. | :21:40. | |
Finance guarantee scheme. SMEs are the backbone of the south-west and | :21:41. | :21:44. | |
much effort is being put into upping productivity in the region and in | :21:45. | :21:49. | |
Taunton Deane, we recognise the recent government investment in | :21:50. | :21:51. | |
infrastructure and the work being done on skills but to give us a real | :21:52. | :21:56. | |
Filipe, would my right horrible friend agreed to come, or perhaps | :21:57. | :22:00. | |
someone from the department, to the Taunton annual business partners | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
conference on the 16th of June to boost the idea is that this | :22:06. | :22:10. | |
government can help us with? I thank my honourable friend for such a | :22:11. | :22:13. | |
wonderful invitation and although I have already been to the south-west, | :22:14. | :22:18. | |
I'm sure I can find an occasion on June six to do so again. | :22:19. | :22:25. | |
The honourable lady looks as though her cup has run of over. What a | :22:26. | :22:31. | |
happy day for the honourable lady and, indeed, for Taunton Deane, not | :22:32. | :22:39. | |
to mention the Minister. Thank you, Mr Speaker. One advantage for small | :22:40. | :22:46. | |
businesses of the United Kingdom leaving the EU is that this House | :22:47. | :22:55. | |
will be free to be able to repeal unwanted EU regulations. Can the | :22:56. | :23:02. | |
ministers say what steps she is taking to consult with small | :23:03. | :23:05. | |
businesses to be able to identify those regulations quite well | :23:06. | :23:13. | |
I can assure him we consult small businesses all the time and the | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
department for exiting the EU engages regularly with the | :23:18. | :23:19. | |
Federation of Small Businesses and we will be asking that department to | :23:20. | :23:22. | |
hold a round table for small businesses to discuss the very | :23:23. | :23:24. | |
issues he raises in due course. And the honourable member is so keen | :23:25. | :23:44. | |
to hear my to this question. -- I'm glad. We support small businesses by | :23:45. | :23:50. | |
ensuring they can access wider support. The British business bank | :23:51. | :23:55. | |
are already supporting with 3.4 billion finance over 54,000 small | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
businesses and I am leading a task force to enable SMEs to accelerate | :24:00. | :24:04. | |
their growth potential and realise their growth prospects. From my own | :24:05. | :24:10. | |
experience I know that rugby is a great place to run a business, | :24:11. | :24:15. | |
however many small businesses continued to tell me that an | :24:16. | :24:18. | |
obstacle to their expanding remains a shortage of suitable industrial | :24:19. | :24:22. | |
premises so at a time when our local authority is preparing its local | :24:23. | :24:25. | |
plan, I wonder what discussions my honourable friend has had with | :24:26. | :24:30. | |
counterparts at DCLG to ensure adequate land is allocated for the | :24:31. | :24:36. | |
development of businesses. In answer to my honourable friend, we work | :24:37. | :24:40. | |
closely with the department for Communities and Local Government and | :24:41. | :24:42. | |
I weaselly co-chaired a successful round table with the Minister of | :24:43. | :24:48. | |
state for Mr and planning. -- recently co-chaired. We will be | :24:49. | :24:51. | |
having a further meeting and I will take into consideration the needs of | :24:52. | :24:59. | |
businesses in rugby for more space. Small businesses in Doncaster have | :25:00. | :25:03. | |
expressed concern to me about how to access apprenticeships. Will | :25:04. | :25:09. | |
minister work with the DfEE and draw a regional analysis, especially in | :25:10. | :25:15. | |
Yorkshire and the Humber, of how small businesses can find effective | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
ways to access those schemes, especially in the light of the | :25:20. | :25:24. | |
apprenticeship Levy? We will certainly talk to businesses in the | :25:25. | :25:27. | |
Doncaster region, as elsewhere in the Yorkshire area, but I'm | :25:28. | :25:34. | |
delighted to say that only 1.3% businesses will actually pay the | :25:35. | :25:37. | |
apprenticeship Levy and for all other businesses, particularly small | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
businesses, the Government will fund 90 % of their training costs | :25:42. | :25:45. | |
following the introduction of the Levy proper next month. Last week's | :25:46. | :25:51. | |
business rates announcement by my right honourable friend the | :25:52. | :25:54. | |
Chancellor will be welcome relief to hundreds of independent small | :25:55. | :25:56. | |
businesses in my constituency. Wilderness to join me in | :25:57. | :26:02. | |
congratulating Visit Bass as they focus more attention to marketing | :26:03. | :26:05. | |
the domestic and international markets out of our independent small | :26:06. | :26:08. | |
businesses, which will bring jobs and growth in our constituency? I | :26:09. | :26:12. | |
absolutely join with my honourable friend in congratulating Visit Bath | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
in all the trade and ideas that that organisation brings to local SMEs. | :26:18. | :26:23. | |
Many thanks Mr Speaker as chair of the disability all Parliamentary | :26:24. | :26:31. | |
group, I have been hearing from people, saying that there are stark | :26:32. | :26:37. | |
far too many barriers. This includes information even that on government | :26:38. | :26:41. | |
Gateway that is accessible. So what specific measures are the government | :26:42. | :26:45. | |
taking to support disabled entrepreneurs and what more can be | :26:46. | :26:48. | |
done to address these very important issues. I thank durable lady for her | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
excellent question, I do work closely for the Minister of people | :26:55. | :27:00. | |
with disabilities and she is leading huge initiatives, to improve | :27:01. | :27:04. | |
opportunities for people with disabilities and I will raise the | :27:05. | :27:08. | |
specific question of entrepreneurs with disabilities with her. The | :27:09. | :27:14. | |
truth is that the government has got to show a lot more love for small | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
businesses. To reinforce the truth that the concerned parties the party | :27:20. | :27:23. | |
from the printer is. Can my honourable friend the Minister start | :27:24. | :27:29. | |
that, by eliminating the time limits on DIS investment on small | :27:30. | :27:33. | |
businesses and finding a way, after we leave the EU that compliance with | :27:34. | :27:38. | |
regulations for small businesses can be produced to a single checkmark -- | :27:39. | :27:44. | |
IES investment. I thank the honourable friend, as he knows I'm a | :27:45. | :27:48. | |
great lover of small businesses, and entrepreneurs. I think that I can | :27:49. | :27:53. | |
speak for the rest of the government in that, he knows that the EU | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
governs those time limits and caps on DIS schemes at the moment and | :27:59. | :28:02. | |
what happens post-Brexit negotiations will be a matter for | :28:03. | :28:09. | |
the Treasury. Thank you, to speed don't think small businesses are | :28:10. | :28:11. | |
really feeling the love after the budget week. The Federation of small | :28:12. | :28:16. | |
business produced a report entitled 37 problems and tax is one. They | :28:17. | :28:23. | |
said that the proposed national insurance tax grab is an absolute | :28:24. | :28:26. | |
kick in the teeth for small business, just at a time that we | :28:27. | :28:29. | |
need to create more entrepreneurs, not fewer. When the Minster said the | :28:30. | :28:36. | |
government consults the Federation of small business, perhaps in the | :28:37. | :28:40. | |
future they might listen to them and do what they suggest. Well I think | :28:41. | :28:44. | |
that the small business world feels more love from this side of a house | :28:45. | :28:48. | |
than they would from the opposition, were they to take our place in | :28:49. | :28:53. | |
government. But on the specific question that he raises, the FSB I | :28:54. | :28:57. | |
know lobbied hard on a number of points on national insurance, on | :28:58. | :29:01. | |
also on business rates. And on quarterly reporting of tax accounts. | :29:02. | :29:09. | |
On the latter two, they were very pleased with the outcome that the | :29:10. | :29:14. | |
Chancellor provided and with regard to national insurance, he knows that | :29:15. | :29:19. | |
over 60% of people, who are self-employed, will actually benefit | :29:20. | :29:22. | |
from the changes that were mooted by the Chancellor last week. Chris | :29:23. | :29:33. | |
Green. Thank you, as a matter of fact Mr Speaker just yesterday I was | :29:34. | :29:36. | |
a few miles away from the gentleman 's constituency in Carrington, | :29:37. | :29:41. | |
opening a new combined cycle gas turbine plant. And if you weeks | :29:42. | :29:46. | |
before that I was in Folkestone for the new interconnect is being built | :29:47. | :29:49. | |
through the Channel Tunnel. What these remind us of is the government | :29:50. | :29:53. | |
's commitment to the UK energy infrastructure underscored by a | :29:54. | :29:59. | |
capacity market and contracts for difference. We are also investing | :30:00. | :30:05. | |
?320 million in new seat in the structure, and I think that | :30:06. | :30:07. | |
undergirds the size of the whole thing. The bases and G supplier is | :30:08. | :30:14. | |
fundamental to live ring the energy needs, since some do not provide | :30:15. | :30:18. | |
baseload and there is pressure not to increase the consumption of | :30:19. | :30:21. | |
hydrocarbons, does my right honourable friend agree with me that | :30:22. | :30:26. | |
in the absence of energy storage capacity, future investment must go | :30:27. | :30:29. | |
to the nuclear industry, perhaps small modular reactors. As he will | :30:30. | :30:37. | |
know, we are spending a great deal of time working on developers with | :30:38. | :30:42. | |
new investment alongside the plans already being executed at Hinkley | :30:43. | :30:45. | |
Point. Small modular reactors are potentially part of that | :30:46. | :30:49. | |
conversation. It is worth saying that the likelihood, there are many | :30:50. | :30:53. | |
outcomes of possible technologies of which storage will come on stream | :30:54. | :30:57. | |
over the next decade or two, that will also undoubtedly be part of the | :30:58. | :31:03. | |
picture. The country needs 21st-century systems like smart | :31:04. | :31:06. | |
metering, can the minister update the house on the progress of the | :31:07. | :31:09. | |
roll-out and Cani have a word with the energy companies to stop them | :31:10. | :31:14. | |
blaming this government for being part of a height in energy prices | :31:15. | :31:19. | |
that is ripping off the consumer. We are in no doubt at all about the | :31:20. | :31:22. | |
need for the energy companies to bear down on prices and as they will | :31:23. | :31:28. | |
be aware, the cost of those policies are a relatively small part of it. | :31:29. | :31:34. | |
Tidal energy gives the UK an opportunity to find clean | :31:35. | :31:36. | |
predictable sources of renewable energy. It is a sector where we have | :31:37. | :31:40. | |
world leading businesses. Will my right honourable friend consider | :31:41. | :31:46. | |
giving tidal a higher priorities so that we can maintain our competitive | :31:47. | :31:51. | |
edge? The honourable lady will know that we are looking at tidal energy | :31:52. | :31:54. | |
and related issues closely in the context of our consideration of the | :31:55. | :32:03. | |
review. Doctor John Pugh? When a final decision will be made on the | :32:04. | :32:09. | |
Swansea tidal thing? I think it is fair to say that we will be coming | :32:10. | :32:14. | |
to the house as soon as we can for the matter is presently under | :32:15. | :32:20. | |
consideration. The minister mentioned is the capacity market and | :32:21. | :32:23. | |
I'm sure he will agree with me that the prime purpose of that market has | :32:24. | :32:28. | |
been to procure new infrastructure capacity. Can the Minister tell me | :32:29. | :32:32. | |
how many new gas-fired power stations had been procured by ?3.4 | :32:33. | :32:37. | |
billion that has been spent so far on the capacity market and what | :32:38. | :32:41. | |
plans does he have to improve that number, and to be helpful the answer | :32:42. | :32:45. | |
is one new power plant in King's Lynn. I'm all in favour of the self | :32:46. | :32:56. | |
answering question, Mr Speaker. Might I just remind you that the | :32:57. | :33:01. | |
last capacity market, procured energy at a cost of ?7 per kilowatt | :33:02. | :33:07. | |
hour which I think is cheaper than any possible conceivable | :33:08. | :33:16. | |
alternative. With no common definition of the gig economy, | :33:17. | :33:19. | |
numbers vary in terms of how many workers are involved in it so we | :33:20. | :33:22. | |
have commissioned new research that will be published this summer and it | :33:23. | :33:26. | |
will look at the number of individuals working through digital | :33:27. | :33:29. | |
platforms in the UK and their experiences. The number of | :33:30. | :33:35. | |
freelancing mums has increased by 79% since 2008, whilst I remember, | :33:36. | :33:41. | |
the government 's announcement, on fairer maternity pay, this was | :33:42. | :33:46. | |
recommended 13 months ago, why is it taking the government so long to act | :33:47. | :33:49. | |
on this crucial issue for these women when it took a stroke of a pen | :33:50. | :33:57. | |
to increase their taxes? Well as I said in my previous answers, the | :33:58. | :34:01. | |
increase in taxes under review, will be ruling out in terms of the | :34:02. | :34:09. | |
maternity and paternity issues that she raises I should hasten to add. | :34:10. | :34:17. | |
And, that consultation will run its course this summer, and she will | :34:18. | :34:25. | |
have an answer the end of the year. Mr Speaker does the Minister begin | :34:26. | :34:28. | |
to understand the sense of grievance on the part of the growing army of | :34:29. | :34:34. | |
the self-employed, who are reluctant conscripts to self-employment in the | :34:35. | :34:39. | |
gig economy, that they work in a twilight world of insecurity without | :34:40. | :34:43. | |
basic rights, are now having to pay more in tax, when there was not one | :34:44. | :34:48. | |
measure in the budget that put the burden on the shoulders of those | :34:49. | :34:51. | |
truly responsible, the goobers of this world. The right honourable | :34:52. | :35:00. | |
gentleman knows that we have in place the Taylor review that is | :35:01. | :35:02. | |
currently examining all of the issues that he raises, I'm very | :35:03. | :35:11. | |
concerned about the plight of some low paid workers who may be workers | :35:12. | :35:15. | |
rather than self-employed and valleys up to the courts and the | :35:16. | :35:18. | |
government to conclude later this year but I can assure him that we to | :35:19. | :35:21. | |
take the issues that he raises very seriously. Thank you Mr Speaker | :35:22. | :35:28. | |
thank you very much indeed, with your permission Mr Speaker, I'd like | :35:29. | :35:32. | |
to answer this question together with question 14. Last week we | :35:33. | :35:35. | |
published the Midlands engine strategy. It is further | :35:36. | :35:43. | |
demonstration that this government is committed to investing in the | :35:44. | :35:49. | |
Midlands, a region that has seen over 180,000 more people in | :35:50. | :35:56. | |
employment since 2010. I thank the Minister for his reply. Increasing | :35:57. | :36:00. | |
investment, inward investment from businesses in the automotive supply | :36:01. | :36:03. | |
chain, such as Polytech and Magna Carta bringing Weald jobs and growth | :36:04. | :36:09. | |
to it. Does the Minister agree that Telford is set to play a key role in | :36:10. | :36:14. | |
the engine strategy with its reputation for innovation and | :36:15. | :36:16. | |
advanced manufacturing and will he congratulate these businesses on | :36:17. | :36:19. | |
helping to build a successful business future for Telford? My | :36:20. | :36:23. | |
honourable friend's constituency of Telford which includes Coalbrookdale | :36:24. | :36:29. | |
has a good claim to be the cradle of the first Industrial Revolution. It | :36:30. | :36:41. | |
has a good claim, it is disputed. I think Derby is fairly early. Now it | :36:42. | :36:44. | |
is at the heart of the fourth Industrial Revolution. Absolutely | :36:45. | :36:50. | |
the T54 site is proving to be a very important location for the supply | :36:51. | :36:55. | |
chain for the automotive sector. With the secretary of state agree | :36:56. | :36:58. | |
with me that one of the pivotal things that is needed to be in an | :36:59. | :37:02. | |
industrial strategy for the West Midlands is to close the skill gap | :37:03. | :37:05. | |
which is held back in the West Midlands for too long so that areas | :37:06. | :37:09. | |
like the Black Country can continue to work to become leading | :37:10. | :37:14. | |
specialists in areas like aerospace, automotive, advanced manufacturing | :37:15. | :37:17. | |
which I know are critical on the agenda of the Conservative candidate | :37:18. | :37:23. | |
for the West Midlands now. I agree with my honourable friend, he is | :37:24. | :37:28. | |
absolutely right, the reputation of the Black Country, is very strong. | :37:29. | :37:34. | |
There is a phrase, made in the Black Country, sold around the world. But | :37:35. | :37:37. | |
in order to do that you need good skills. Andy Street, being a person | :37:38. | :37:43. | |
of great expense in business, is the best person available to bring that | :37:44. | :37:46. | |
business acumen to bring in more businesses to the whole of the West | :37:47. | :37:52. | |
Midlands. Hearing about an industrial strategy rather than an | :37:53. | :37:57. | |
electoral strategy, but here you go. The Black Country is the birthplace | :37:58. | :38:02. | |
of Industrial Revolution. Can I ask the Secretary of State in terms of | :38:03. | :38:06. | |
transport spending, which is a key for the industrial strategy, when he | :38:07. | :38:11. | |
expects to persuade his colleagues Secretary of State for Transport to | :38:12. | :38:14. | |
spend as much per capita Ron the West Midlands as he does in London. | :38:15. | :38:19. | |
The honourable gentleman who is an assiduous reader of these things, | :38:20. | :38:24. | |
will see that in his industrial strategy, we propose a commitment, | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
to in the structure right across the country. I hope he will respond to | :38:30. | :38:33. | |
that, so that when we have the budget later in the year, we will be | :38:34. | :38:37. | |
in a position to make further such announcements. Thank you Mr Speaker, | :38:38. | :38:47. | |
can my right honourable friend of, talk about particular those in Mike | :38:48. | :38:52. | |
assiduous of North Warwickshire. The board have a very important role to | :38:53. | :38:56. | |
play, one of the trends that colleagues across all sides of the | :38:57. | :39:00. | |
house will know, is that the development of supply chains, one of | :39:01. | :39:03. | |
the key sources of innovation in many industries, and within that, | :39:04. | :39:08. | |
start-up businesses including those by the self-employed can make a big | :39:09. | :39:12. | |
contribution to making us attractive for jobs and new businesses. Mr | :39:13. | :39:20. | |
Speaker, with your permission I will answer this with question 16, I | :39:21. | :39:26. | |
think I'm right in saying. We have had great success over the years, in | :39:27. | :39:30. | |
developing key sectors including aerospace and the automotive sector. | :39:31. | :39:35. | |
To build on this we have set up proposals for a new business led | :39:36. | :39:38. | |
sector deals in the dust shall strategy. The first set of deals are | :39:39. | :39:42. | |
already under development, and we are taking steps to drive growth in | :39:43. | :39:45. | |
sectors across the economy including with funding four sides, and | :39:46. | :39:54. | |
education. Does the Secretary of State share my concern for the | :39:55. | :39:57. | |
fermentation of industrial strategy will focus solely on the big | :39:58. | :40:00. | |
players, what does he do to ensure that the SMEs in those sectors, get | :40:01. | :40:06. | |
their FSA and their fair share? The honourable gentleman, that is not | :40:07. | :40:10. | |
the case, I have regular discussions with the Federation of small | :40:11. | :40:14. | |
business, with the British Chambers of commerce, and the smaller | :40:15. | :40:18. | |
businesses right across the country. The supply chain, and making our | :40:19. | :40:22. | |
country more attractive to supply chain businesses, is absolutely | :40:23. | :40:29. | |
foundation to success. That is particularly in regard to the small | :40:30. | :40:33. | |
businesses. Side security is one of the most important sectors of this | :40:34. | :40:37. | |
growth but the UK has the highest skills gap in cyber security in the | :40:38. | :40:41. | |
world. Does the Secretary of State think that the government 's current | :40:42. | :40:45. | |
commitment to educate 1% of our students by 2021 in cyber security | :40:46. | :40:49. | |
is anywhere near enough? I think the honourable lady makes a very good | :40:50. | :40:53. | |
point, if we are to take advantage of the opportunities that are there, | :40:54. | :40:57. | |
we need to upgrade our technical education. That is why in the budget | :40:58. | :41:02. | |
last week the Chancellor made such a clear commitment, prominence in the | :41:03. | :41:07. | |
industrial strategy, to transform the level of technical education | :41:08. | :41:12. | |
including to increase by 50% the hours of tuition that are available. | :41:13. | :41:22. | |
Thank you. I welcome a ?90 million in the budget that the Chancellor | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
has given for PHP places. I would like to ask the Secretary of State | :41:29. | :41:32. | |
whether he has determined how they will be distributed and whether the | :41:33. | :41:36. | |
academically excellent area of Cambridgeshire will benefit from | :41:37. | :41:40. | |
this funding. Yes, Mr Speaker. I would expect all competitive places | :41:41. | :41:46. | |
to make a bid for these places and in Cambridgeshire, both the | :41:47. | :41:50. | |
University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin and other institutions more | :41:51. | :41:53. | |
broadly across the country will be in a good position to benefit from | :41:54. | :42:02. | |
these. The aerospace sector is vital importance to my constituency and I | :42:03. | :42:09. | |
was delighted to take place as a ground-breaking ceremony for | :42:10. | :42:11. | |
Rolls-Royce on a new site. How can the government help grow the | :42:12. | :42:18. | |
aerospace sector? It has been an important -- an important sector and | :42:19. | :42:23. | |
our discussions this morning reflect the track record of working together | :42:24. | :42:28. | |
and that will continue and be reinforced. I think all members | :42:29. | :42:30. | |
across the House will have been as delighted as I was that Boeing made | :42:31. | :42:36. | |
a commitment to their first ever UK plant in Sheffield, showing how | :42:37. | :42:40. | |
attractive we are too advanced manufacturing businesses like that. | :42:41. | :42:48. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. The select committee recent report stated that | :42:49. | :42:53. | |
the green paper provides little clarity on how things will work in | :42:54. | :42:59. | |
practice and that it appears to lack political will, falling short of | :43:00. | :43:03. | |
providing a clear framework for decision-making in the long term so | :43:04. | :43:06. | |
I ask the Secretary of State, is it lack of clarity or lack of political | :43:07. | :43:11. | |
will that has led to a bespoke Brexit deal for certain | :43:12. | :43:14. | |
manufacturers whilst leaving others and other industries in a state of | :43:15. | :43:21. | |
uncertainty. Can I wrote them her to her first oral questions on this and | :43:22. | :43:28. | |
I see her predecessor before her. She is my third opposite number in | :43:29. | :43:31. | |
the eight months since I've had this job. The first was appointed in the | :43:32. | :43:36. | |
summer, the second in the autumn and she was appointed in the winter. I | :43:37. | :43:40. | |
notice this week the birds were singing and the sun was out so I | :43:41. | :43:43. | |
hope this is not bad news for the honourable lady! In terms of apology | :43:44. | :43:48. | |
asked about the industrial strategy, the sector deals that we have | :43:49. | :43:53. | |
proposed have been widely welcomed. We have set out a number of initial | :43:54. | :44:00. | |
deals in life sciences, for example, in the creative industries. We are | :44:01. | :44:03. | |
already talking to other sectors such as the steel sector but I know | :44:04. | :44:06. | |
a lot of colleagues in the House would want to see taken forward. Oh, | :44:07. | :44:13. | |
the Secretary of State is cheeky! But he might want to refer to the | :44:14. | :44:17. | |
report because it also states that the White Paper on exiting the EU | :44:18. | :44:20. | |
failed to meaningfully referred to an industrial strategy and | :44:21. | :44:25. | |
reinforced a lack of coordination between the Government's major | :44:26. | :44:29. | |
challenge and its principal plank of business policy. Given that last | :44:30. | :44:34. | |
week's budget failed to mention Brexit or industrial strategy, does | :44:35. | :44:37. | |
the Secretary of State agree with the recent foreign affairs select | :44:38. | :44:41. | |
committee report that the Government has provided no evidence of | :44:42. | :44:45. | |
industrial contingency planning in the event of a no deal? If not, what | :44:46. | :44:52. | |
is his no deal plan? She will have to do a bit better than that because | :44:53. | :44:56. | |
I've got the budget here and she says it doesn't mention the | :44:57. | :44:59. | |
industrial strategy but I can tell her it is mentioned in the first | :45:00. | :45:04. | |
paragraph of the first page of the budget and throughout it. Given the | :45:05. | :45:11. | |
honourable lady's interest in this, she ought to read the budget! I'm | :45:12. | :45:18. | |
keen that the Northwest should play its part in the Government's | :45:19. | :45:25. | |
industrial strategy to drive up competitiveness in our area. I would | :45:26. | :45:28. | |
like to know how small businesses can play their part in my area. In | :45:29. | :45:35. | |
her area, as in every area in the country, the opportunities for the | :45:36. | :45:38. | |
supply chain to be attractive and locate in this country to supply the | :45:39. | :45:43. | |
major manufacturers and service providers, also to the world is one | :45:44. | :45:49. | |
of the key themes that is emerging from the sector deals that are being | :45:50. | :46:02. | |
negotiated. Number 19, yes. Nearly ?56 billion has been invested in | :46:03. | :46:06. | |
renewable energy since 2012. In the budget last year, my friend the | :46:07. | :46:13. | |
honourable former Chancellor, announced investments for projects | :46:14. | :46:17. | |
including offshore wind. The renewable heat incentive was | :46:18. | :46:23. | |
announced at ?1.15 billion by 2021. We have heard a lot about the | :46:24. | :46:27. | |
importance of small business this morning but there are 44,000 small | :46:28. | :46:32. | |
businesses that have their own smaller sola Micra generators that | :46:33. | :46:35. | |
are currently exempt from business rates but from April one they face | :46:36. | :46:40. | |
an 800% increase in business rates. This is clearly damaging for them | :46:41. | :46:44. | |
and the solar industry. Hopefully, it isn't deliberate so will the | :46:45. | :46:46. | |
Minister meet with the Chancellor to see what can be done to relieve | :46:47. | :46:52. | |
this? I'm grateful for the question. The impact of rates does differ from | :46:53. | :46:55. | |
company to company as regards the solar panels. They have three | :46:56. | :47:01. | |
quarters of the businesses projected to have rates that fall next year | :47:02. | :47:07. | |
and they're is transitional rate relief. We as a department long | :47:08. | :47:13. | |
recognise the problems in some cases she refers to. Number 24, or is it | :47:14. | :47:23. | |
22? 23! The honourable gentleman was close on either side! I will respond | :47:24. | :47:32. | |
shortly to the Competition and Markets Authority report and take | :47:33. | :47:35. | |
steps to increase competition and tell consumers. If he is successful | :47:36. | :47:40. | |
in generating much-needed competition, will we need a | :47:41. | :47:47. | |
regulator at all? The aim of government policy must be to have | :47:48. | :47:50. | |
such vigorous competition in markets that that takes care of itself. I | :47:51. | :47:55. | |
don't think we are in that position so I'm determined to make sure | :47:56. | :47:58. | |
customers are treated fairly. Topical questions. Number one, Mr | :47:59. | :48:08. | |
Speaker. As well as continuing the consultation on our own just real | :48:09. | :48:10. | |
strategy green paper, we are acting ice diagnosis. We set out our plan | :48:11. | :48:17. | |
to transform technical education, increasingly our students are taught | :48:18. | :48:22. | |
by 50%, increasing funding for technical education by 01 ?5 billion | :48:23. | :48:25. | |
a year and new Institute of technology. We announced in the butt | :48:26. | :48:32. | |
of the first ?270 million of projects under the industrial | :48:33. | :48:35. | |
strategy Challenge Fund, including a world leading investment in the | :48:36. | :48:39. | |
development, design and manufacture of batteries to power the next | :48:40. | :48:43. | |
generation of electric vehicles and we announced ?100 million Fellowship | :48:44. | :48:46. | |
fund to attract the world's brightest minds to come and work in | :48:47. | :48:53. | |
the UK. I'm pleased my honourable friend is planning to visit the | :48:54. | :48:57. | |
Astra Joker site in the UK, the largest in the UK, but can he tell | :48:58. | :49:03. | |
us what plans there are to further support life sciences? My honourable | :49:04. | :49:09. | |
friend, a great champion for life sciences, as well as the Treasury | :49:10. | :49:14. | |
economy, knows that the opportunity to negotiate a sector deal for life | :49:15. | :49:18. | |
sciences, which is being led by Sir John Bell, is going to be good for | :49:19. | :49:22. | |
the whole country but will have particular relevance to Cheshire and | :49:23. | :49:26. | |
to Macclesfield and I'm looking forward to visiting his constituency | :49:27. | :49:32. | |
to see these facilities myself. Will the Secretary of State join me in | :49:33. | :49:36. | |
congratulating the greatest evening newspaper in the country, the | :49:37. | :49:41. | |
express and Star, and the brilliant work of Wolverhampton University, | :49:42. | :49:46. | |
who launched a scheme which has now successfully distributed ?4 million | :49:47. | :49:50. | |
of regional growth fund money, supporting 65 businesses, creating | :49:51. | :49:56. | |
or protecting 600 jobs and extraordinarily generating over ?11 | :49:57. | :49:59. | |
million in private sector investment to support businesses in places like | :50:00. | :50:05. | |
Dudley, which everybody knows is the real birthplace of the industrial | :50:06. | :50:10. | |
revolution. I'm going to dip my toes into controversy by talking about | :50:11. | :50:16. | |
the industrial revolution so I am not going to talk about the best | :50:17. | :50:19. | |
local newspaper in the country. I gather that the Foreign Secretary | :50:20. | :50:22. | |
began his illustrious career on the express and Star. I'm not sure if | :50:23. | :50:27. | |
this shows their pre-shins or whether they have recovered from | :50:28. | :50:32. | |
that particular judgment, but it is... Local newspapers make a vital | :50:33. | :50:37. | |
contribution to the success of local business and I'm delighted to hear | :50:38. | :50:40. | |
the initiative of the express and Star. My constituency of Rochester | :50:41. | :50:50. | |
and Strood has seen 8800 apprenticeships started across many | :50:51. | :50:54. | |
sectors and very soon I will be hosting my first apprenticeship | :50:55. | :50:58. | |
there, bringing together local students and businesses. With the | :50:59. | :51:01. | |
Minister outlined what steps he is taking to encourage more small | :51:02. | :51:05. | |
businesses to engage and take on more apprentices in places like my | :51:06. | :51:08. | |
constituency of rust just and Strood? The new phase of the get in, | :51:09. | :51:17. | |
go far campaign focused on the benefits of apprenticeships and they | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
support this by contacting small businesses who have previously | :51:23. | :51:25. | |
engaged with the programme and this will be of great benefit to SMEs in | :51:26. | :51:32. | |
their constituency. There are talks of needs to close the skills gap and | :51:33. | :51:37. | |
invest in so, Secretary of State explain to the House on childcare | :51:38. | :51:42. | |
isn't mentioned once? What I would say is that making ourselves | :51:43. | :51:47. | |
attractive as a country to the workforce, making sure we are the | :51:48. | :51:50. | |
best place to operate a business and to work as an important theme of | :51:51. | :52:00. | |
that and I will look forward to the her contribution to the | :52:01. | :52:08. | |
consultation. I thank him for his support for the Midlands engine. In | :52:09. | :52:11. | |
Stafford, we build them and last week I have the honour of opening | :52:12. | :52:16. | |
the technical training centre and large engine plant in Stafford. | :52:17. | :52:20. | |
Would he agree with me that this shows just how important it is for | :52:21. | :52:25. | |
businesses to be proactive in putting together the facilities for | :52:26. | :52:33. | |
apprentices and taking on more? I quite agree with my honourable | :52:34. | :52:38. | |
friend. It does demonstrate the need for all businesses, especially SMEs | :52:39. | :52:41. | |
to take advantage of the 3 million apprenticeship target we have and | :52:42. | :52:48. | |
the huge improvement in quality that is supported by the national | :52:49. | :52:53. | |
apprenticeship service. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Given that the Brexit | :52:54. | :52:58. | |
negotiations are about to start, can the Secretary of State to tell us | :52:59. | :53:01. | |
whether he agrees with his right honourable friend the Prime Minister | :53:02. | :53:07. | |
that no deal is better than a bad deal? Does my right honourable | :53:08. | :53:19. | |
friend... Could he set out how he is intending to shape the regulatory | :53:20. | :53:22. | |
environment as we leave the EU, including things like these | :53:23. | :53:26. | |
allegations, to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of the | :53:27. | :53:29. | |
technical revolution? The UK is the number one place in | :53:30. | :53:34. | |
Europe for investment in technology and the Government's industrial | :53:35. | :53:37. | |
strategy will deliver the prime minister's vision of Britain as a | :53:38. | :53:43. | |
magnet for talent and home to the innovators and pioneers that will | :53:44. | :53:54. | |
shape the future. Scotland's economy, from its thriving | :53:55. | :54:00. | |
universities to its economic food and drink sector, relies on EU | :54:01. | :54:04. | |
freedom of movement. How does the Minister hoped to close the skills | :54:05. | :54:07. | |
gap and pave the way for highly skilled economy if he cannot | :54:08. | :54:10. | |
safeguard the rights of EU nationals living here? The Government, | :54:11. | :54:16. | |
including at the highest level, have made clear on many, many occasions | :54:17. | :54:21. | |
that we value tremendously the important contribution that EU | :54:22. | :54:25. | |
nationals make to the success of our higher education institutions and | :54:26. | :54:27. | |
our scientific establishments across the country, including in Scotland, | :54:28. | :54:32. | |
and we have every intention that continuing years ahead. When I | :54:33. | :54:39. | |
visited the corgi steelworks on Friday, there was a real enthusiasm | :54:40. | :54:42. | |
for a sector deal for the steel industry and a real commitment to | :54:43. | :54:47. | |
ongoing partnership working. Would my right honourable friend the | :54:48. | :54:49. | |
Secretary of State be willing to visit the corgi works to discuss | :54:50. | :54:53. | |
these opportunities? I would be delighted to visit corgi with my | :54:54. | :54:57. | |
honourable friend. He is right that my discussions with the steel | :54:58. | :55:02. | |
industry show a real appetite to set out a long-term sector deal to | :55:03. | :55:05. | |
secure the future of the steel industry. Given the decimation of | :55:06. | :55:12. | |
Scotland's renewable sector and the fact Scotland has very different | :55:13. | :55:14. | |
energy capabilities than the rest of the UK, why does this government | :55:15. | :55:18. | |
continue to think that a one size fits all energy policy is in anyway | :55:19. | :55:22. | |
appropriate for Scotland's very different energy capabilities? I've | :55:23. | :55:28. | |
emphasised in earlier answers the importance of a diverse energy | :55:29. | :55:32. | |
supply, which is at the root of energy security, and there is no | :55:33. | :55:34. | |
question about this Government's commitment to investment in | :55:35. | :55:40. | |
renewables. Driving forward the fourth industrial revolution in new | :55:41. | :55:44. | |
sectors such as robotics and 3D printing, can he ensure that this | :55:45. | :55:50. | |
sector engagement includes new challenges, not just incumbents? It | :55:51. | :55:54. | |
certainly can't up through our industrial strategy, we are backing | :55:55. | :55:57. | |
Britain's innovators with the biggest investment in science and | :55:58. | :56:02. | |
ten and since 1979 and a new industrial strategy Challenge Fund | :56:03. | :56:05. | |
to bring cutting-edge ideas out of the lab and into the wider economy. | :56:06. | :56:11. | |
A recent resolution foundation report stated that one in three UK | :56:12. | :56:15. | |
businesses admit to under investing over the last five years. What | :56:16. | :56:18. | |
measures will the UK government take turn this round? | :56:19. | :56:23. | |
Yes this country does recognise that it has been under investing in | :56:24. | :56:29. | |
research and develop mud, that is why at the Autumn Statement and the | :56:30. | :56:32. | |
budget we will be making the biggest investment in RND in over 40 years. | :56:33. | :56:38. | |
Public investment in RND helps bring in money about ?1 36 for every pound | :56:39. | :56:47. | |
of Marburg that at a big investment. Yellow mac can my right honourable | :56:48. | :56:50. | |
friend outline what measures are included in the middle and strategy | :56:51. | :56:54. | |
to support small businesses enterprises such as those in Cannock | :56:55. | :56:59. | |
Chase. As the honourable lady knows through the growth deal, there is a | :57:00. | :57:05. | |
bought through the local enterprise partnerships for small businesses | :57:06. | :57:07. | |
both start-ups and growing businesses. Following Npower's 15% | :57:08. | :57:15. | |
price hike last month, the government pledged that where | :57:16. | :57:19. | |
markets are not working we are prepared to act. Given that Dion | :57:20. | :57:23. | |
raised their prices by 14%, and SSE by 8% yesterday, and many more | :57:24. | :57:28. | |
companies need to raise their prices until the government actually acts | :57:29. | :57:31. | |
to stop energy customers from getting fleeced. The honourable | :57:32. | :57:39. | |
gentleman is absolutely right, the behaviour is unacceptable, reported | :57:40. | :57:42. | |
by Ofgem that there is no reason to increase prices. We have committed | :57:43. | :57:48. | |
to a Green paper, on the issue. It will be published very shortly and | :57:49. | :57:54. | |
the time is up for these companies. As the chairman for a VP for small | :57:55. | :57:58. | |
businesses I never access to finance is a real challenge for small | :57:59. | :58:02. | |
businesses. What advice could he give to those in my constituency who | :58:03. | :58:05. | |
are looking to access to financing the early years? I can advise my | :58:06. | :58:10. | |
honourable friend that the start-up loans company has already helped | :58:11. | :58:16. | |
44,000 small start-ups, and will be on hand to support start-ups in his | :58:17. | :58:23. | |
constituency. What plans does the Secretary of State had to encourage | :58:24. | :58:27. | |
new innovation support for SMEs in our key foundation industries which | :58:28. | :58:31. | |
make materials like glass, ceramics and steel for cars such as those | :58:32. | :58:36. | |
needed, for those in my constituency. This could help create | :58:37. | :58:40. | |
hundreds of jobs, in the supply chain that are actually made in | :58:41. | :58:47. | |
Britain. Mr Speaker support renovation has received its biggest | :58:48. | :58:52. | |
boost since 1979, the industrial strategy challenge fund has just | :58:53. | :58:56. | |
seen the first allocations of ?270 million that will help boost | :58:57. | :58:58. | |
innovation in key areas across the economy. The diesel power generators | :58:59. | :59:10. | |
for poor and equality, small inoperative, in my constituency | :59:11. | :59:12. | |
whose Mobile hybrid units provide green energy to the construction. My | :59:13. | :59:19. | |
noble friend makes a good point and through him, can I congratulate the | :59:20. | :59:22. | |
business involved that as my honourable friend. With the | :59:23. | :59:27. | |
government 's plans, to improve the energy infrastructure, what positive | :59:28. | :59:31. | |
impact will that have. On small businesses when it comes to | :59:32. | :59:42. | |
electricity cost. The primary effect will be to keep the it down for | :59:43. | :59:49. | |
small businesses. There is an excellent company and a new car is a | :59:50. | :59:52. | |
pride chain that have excellent vacancies that will be on offer in | :59:53. | :59:56. | |
Mike seventh annual Pendle jobs that. What more can we do to support | :59:57. | :00:03. | |
the nuclear supply chain. Mr Speaker one of the things we have done to | :00:04. | :00:07. | |
support the supply chain is to have a continuing commitment and it will | :00:08. | :00:15. | |
benefit his constituents and through a network of training colleges, we | :00:16. | :00:18. | |
will make sure that we grow the nuclear skills. I found the minister | :00:19. | :00:23. | |
was a touch complacent in his earlier answer on smart meters, | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
given this is going to coursed the taxpayer 11 billion by the end of | :00:29. | :00:31. | |
the Parliament, what is he going to do by the fact that it doesn't work | :00:32. | :00:40. | |
when you try to switch supplier. It will save ?47 billion by the end of | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
that decade. When will the business rate review commenced an report, in | :00:47. | :00:51. | |
the light that sticking plasters last week do little for the small | :00:52. | :00:58. | |
businesses in York. The review will report in due course and in the not | :00:59. | :01:04. | |
too distant future. Thank you Mr Speaker, the Digital strategy is a | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
key component in the government 's industrial strategy, can he do | :01:09. | :01:11. | |
better than decent MS and tummy which countries have committed to | :01:12. | :01:15. | |
working Great Grimsby as part of the skills partnership. It is about | :01:16. | :01:24. | |
invitation to businesses to come forward and pose to the government | :01:25. | :01:26. | |
what is required to grow the jobs and skills there. That is the aim of | :01:27. | :01:42. | |
all skills. They have felled to declare much more complimentary | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
today, tenants are protesting outside the office, how long will | :01:48. | :01:50. | |
they keep failing to do their duty and not facing up to the situation? | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
The honourable gentleman knows that the Commissioner for Public | :01:56. | :01:58. | |
avoidance stated that the panel did consider that there were no | :01:59. | :02:01. | |
conflicts of interest in this case that would preclude Mr Newby from | :02:02. | :02:08. | |
doing his job. We must now remove on. Statements, the Prime Minister. | :02:09. | :02:15. | |
CHEERING Thank you Mr Speaker had with | :02:16. | :02:18. | |
permission I would like to make a statement on last weeks European | :02:19. | :02:21. | |
Council. And the next steps in preparing to trigger Article 50, and | :02:22. | :02:25. | |
beginning in the process of leaving the European Union. The summit began | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
by re-electing Donald Tusk as president of the European Council, I | :02:31. | :02:33. | |
welcomed this because we have a close working relationships with | :02:34. | :02:36. | |
Donald Tusk and we recognise the strong contribution he has made in | :02:37. | :02:39. | |
office. In the main business | :02:40. | :02:40. |