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177657

registered interest
date	04/02/2015
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved institutions on ensuring that policy on, and the operation of, the ICT and digital Degree Apprenticeship qualifications being introduced in England in September 2015 is linked to similar initiatives in other parts of the UK.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	223280
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2015 answer text <p>The devolved administrations were consulted during the review of apprenticeships, and officials have engaged with them since to consider any implications for their own apprenticeship programmes. There have been no specific discussions on the ICT and digital Degree Apprenticeship qualifications being introduced in England.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 10/02/2015 11:20:57 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

176330

registered interest
date	28/01/2015
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Japan Tobacco: Ballymena
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he and officials in his Department have had with relevant stakeholders in relation to the closure of the JTI Gallahers factory in Ballymena since October 2014; and what steps he has taken as a consequence of those discussions.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	222359
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2015 answer text <p>Officials in UK Trade &amp; Investment (UKTI) have been in discussion with Invest Northern Ireland over recent months. Invest Northern Ireland have held conversations with the Northern Ireland Department of Education and Learning (DEL) about skills provision for the affected workforce, and Ballymena Borough Council. The Unite union has met my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Theresa Villiers) and the hon. Member for North Antrim (Ian Paisley), and has written to UK Ministers with a copy of their counter-proposal for JTI, with a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Minster responding to it on behalf of the UK Government.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Colleagues at the British Embassy in Tokyo have had contact with Invest NI since being notified by JTI of the closure. Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Japan was also in Belfast the week of the announcement and met the hon. Member for North Antrim (Ian Paisley) and the Northern Ireland Inward Investment team (as well as JTI UK). Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sir Simon Fraser was in Tokyo during the week commencing 2nd February 2015 and met JTI when there.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 09/02/2015 14:33:14 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

167674

registered interest
date	03/12/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Tobacco: EU Law
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the revised EU Tobacco Products Directive on the JTI Gallaher factory.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	217070
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2014 answer text <p>Over regulation, and in particular the new tobacco products directive, have been blamed for the closure of the JTI factory in Ballymena. I believe this is part of a wider picture.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The demand for cigarettes is falling. Smoking rates have continued to decline in the UK. In 1974 almost half of the UK population smoked. Rates had fallen to 18.7% last year. Around 68% of current smokers also want to quit and are increasingly aware of the health harms that smoking causes. The tobacco industry has recognised this declining market and consumer health concerns and are diversifying into electronic cigarettes and ‘heat not burn’ technology.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The directive itself is aimed at harmonising European rules for the marketing of tobacco products to ensure that barriers to trade across the union are minimised for those continuing to trade in this commodity. These new rules include specific measures aimed at protecting trade, with an enhanced track and trace system to be implemented to protect the revenue of legitimate businesses. It is true, and right, that in deciding these trade rules a high level of health protection was sought for all citizens across the EU and the European Commission’s impact assessment accepts that there is likely to be a further reduction in tobacco consumption of 2% as a result of the directive.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>However, this is just part of the picture on job losses. Job losses have resulted, in greater measure from the actions of the industry itself, for example from the mechanisation and streamlining of tobacco production than from tobacco control measures implemented by this Government.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department of Health is currently finalising proposals to transpose the revised Tobacco Products Directive into UK law, and will consult on these proposals in early 2015. The Department will consider those proposals in due course.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Norfolk answering member printed George Freeman question first answered 10/12/2014 15:30:24 answering member 4020 label Biography information for George Freeman
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

156756

registered interest
date	19/11/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Emigration: Skilled Workers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what research he has commissioned on the economic loss incurred as a result of the emigration of highly-skilled workers from the UK.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	215135
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/11/2014 answer text <p>No such work has been commissioned to date.</p><p> </p><p>In the year ending March 2014 net migration to the UK, the difference between the number of people entering and leaving the UK, stood at +243,000.</p><p> </p><p>Latest figures from the ONS show that 316,000 emigrated from the UK whilst 560,000 immigrated to it. Of those emigrating 131,000 were UK citizens, accounting for 41% of the total numbers, and of this number 57% emigrated for work related reasons, (although there is no clarification whether the work was highly skilled or not).</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 25/11/2014 14:56:27 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

147489

registered interest
date	10/11/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Research: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to maximise drawdown of European research and innovation-related grants and other forms of investment for academic institutions.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	214161
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2014 answer text <p>Our academic institutions had a strong track record in attracting European research grants under the previous Framework Programme 7 (FP7), taking 25% of the higher education pot. The Government is keen to maintain this leadership with the FP7 successor, Horizon 2020. In partnership with Innovate UK and Local Enterprise Partnerships, we will work with our Higher Education Institutions and their representative bodies to ensure that they are aware of the opportunities and that they are supported through the processes. Horizon 2020 is much larger than FP7, with an allocation of €89bn over its seven years (compared to €53bn in FP7), and the widening of its scope to cover innovation is a good fit with UK policies for a knowledge economy.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 17/11/2014 11:14:31 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

114569

registered interest
date	05/11/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Young People: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that EU and UK funding programmes aimed at increasing young people's skills prioritise interpersonal skills known to be highly valued by employers.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	213502
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2014 answer text <p>Our mainstream vocational education programmes in England are designed to equip people with the wide range of vocational and generic skills that employers need:</p><p> </p><p>• Employers are in the driving seat of new apprenticeships – by designing frameworks and standards so that they contain the elements, and young people are equipped with the skills, that employers need.</p><p> </p><p>• Work experience and employability skills are key elements of traineeships which are designed for those who are motivated to work but lack the necessary skills, behaviours and experience.</p><p> </p><p>• Projects under the Employer Ownership Pilot cover a wide range of training provision led by employers. Many of these training areas will cover interpersonal skills as it is ultimately for employers to decide which areas of training they value and are of most importance.</p><p> </p><p>• Ofsted inspection of vocational education provision includes consideration of employability skills.</p><p> </p><p>One of the main priorities of the new European Social Fund (ESF) programme for 2014-2020 is to develop the skills of the potential and existing workforce, with special emphasis on helping young people. There will be particular focus on reducing the relatively high proportion of people with low levels of qualifications/skills and developing those skills, including interpersonal skills which have been identified by employers as meeting their needs.</p><p> </p><p>Young people are being given better support to get ready for employment through the Department for Education’s 16-19 Study Programmes. These focus on exactly the areas that employers say matter, such as employability skills and work experience, and under which schools and colleges could chose to prioritise activity which relates to inter-personal skills.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 17/11/2014 11:53:30 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

114570

registered interest
date	05/11/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Service Industries
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department plans to take to support further growth in the services sector; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that EU regulations do not negatively affect support to businesses in that sector.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	213505
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2014 answer text <p>The UK is the second largest exporter of services globally, with services exports valued at £193bn in 2012, accounting for 40% of overall UK exports. The Government is taking steps to strengthen exports of the service sector through: trade negotiations; UK Trade and Investment business support for service exporters; and through the current Industrial Strategy, incorporating eleven sector strategies, including for the highly regarded Professional and Business Services sector. The UK Government is a strong supporter of the Trade in Services Agreement negotiation which could be worth £2-3bn to the UK as the EU’s most externally competitive services economy. The UK is also working closely with other EU countries to ensure that the new European Commission prioritises deepening of the single market in services through the removal of remaining barriers to trade. We will also work closely with the new Commission and other institutions to emphasise the priority the UK attaches to the reduction of unnecessary EU burdens on business across a range of sectors, to support growth and job creation.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 11/11/2014 15:43:04 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

101785

registered interest
date	30/10/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Telecommunications: Foreign Investment in UK
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote the UK as a hub for global trade to foreign investors involved in the telecoms industry.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	212747
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>As part of our measures to promote the UK to foreign investors and encourage them to locate their Headquarters in the UK, we have cut our corporate tax to 21 per cent and will reduce it further to 20% in 2015. We offer R&amp;D tax credits, and companies placing intellectual property here can take advantage of the Patent Box.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>These lower barriers to market entry allow easier access to the UK’s lucrative $65bn telecoms sector and also the wider European market. UK Trade &amp; Investment (UKTI) and its partners in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales coordinate the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment working with local partners and overseas Posts.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Most of the major global companies in the telecoms sector have a UK presence. Key account management has been introduced for a number of these through a cross-Government “Strategic Relationships Team”, to provide a central point of contact to help reach government efficiently.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We are investing over £780 million to achieve a transformation in broadband in the UK, and large parts of the country will have access to high speed 4G mobile broadband services, with 98 per cent coverage in place by 2017.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 06/11/2014 17:06:00 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

93452

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Phones 4u
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the progress being made to offset job losses and the cost to the economy resulting from the collapse of mobile telephone retailer Phones 4U.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	210713
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The administration of Phones4U was disappointing news and is obviously a worrying time for the workforce, but this continues to be a matter for the Administrators, PWC.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government, through its Rapid Response Service has supported the Taskforce established by local partners in Newcastle under Lyme and Stoke in September</p><p> </p><p>The Taskforce has been able to offer direct and indirect support through an Employee Support Event on 7 October which is part of a larger support programme for those looking for work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I was pleased to see media reports that more than 2,000 staff working in 198 stores and 160 concessions have been transferred to buyers of parts of the business including Vodafone and EE.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 21/10/2014 13:44:52 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

93453

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Business: Equality
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that a conscience clause is included within equality legislation affecting UK businesses.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	210714
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that people are protected against discrimination because of religion or belief, and that they are able to exercise the right to hold and manifest their beliefs in a reasonable manner. We believe that the Equality Act 2010 strikes the right balance between the rights of people to manifest their religion or beliefs and the rights of others not to be discriminated against or harassed due to other protected characteristics, such as gender or sexual orientation, in areas such as employment and the provision of goods and services.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 21/10/2014 13:47:52 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn