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420335

	registered interest
	date	09/10/2015
	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	Employment: Females
	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 the Government plans to take to reduce the incidence of women being asked about their plans to have children during job interviews with prospective employers.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	11220
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2015 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">Skills provision must meet the needs of employers. This is why employer-led Trailblazers are currently leading the way in the design and delivery of new more rigorous apprenticeship standards.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">Standards relating to several chef roles have already been developed and these are intended to cover specialisms such as Indian cuisine. Employers in the curry industry may therefore wish to contact the Trailblazer leads Kathryn.Porter@Hilton.co.uk or Annette.Allmark@people1st.co.uk for more details of how to get involved in the standards’ development. If they identify a particular skills gap not accommodated by the existing standards, then they could come together and apply to develop a specific standard to meet their needs.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">In 2014 the Government commissioned an extensive research project into perceived pregnancy and maternity discrimination in Great Britain. The research was jointly managed and funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, supported by the Government Equalities Office.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">This is the largest ever study of pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination conducted in Great Britain. Interim findings were published in July 2015 and can be found at: <a href="http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/publication/pregnancy-and-maternity-related-discrimination-and-disadvantage-first-findings-surveys-employers-and-0" target="_blank">http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/publication/pregnancy-and-maternity-related-discrimination-and-disadvantage-first-findings-surveys-employers-and-0</a>.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The final report, due to be published later this year, will inform the Government’s response.</ins></p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 20/10/2015 15:35:04 question first ministerially corrected 20/10/2015 16:51:21 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles previous answer version 24638 answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

420561

	registered interest
	date	12/10/2015
	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	UK Membership of EU
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the result of the Federation of Small Businesses poll showing that 47 per cent of small businesses would vote to stay in the European Union.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL2536
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2015 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU. The reforms we have in mind will benefit business and investment, and we know that many businesses are supportive of them. As the Prime Minister made clear in his Bloomberg speech, this is about providing the certainty and reform that businesses have asked for.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Many of the reforms we have in mind will benefit business and investment, and we know that many businesses are supportive of them. As the Prime Minister made clear in his Bloomberg speech, this is about providing the certainty and reform that businesses have asked for.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"></ins></p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 26/10/2015 14:59:34 question first ministerially corrected 02/11/2015 11:52:17 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe previous answer version 25636 answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

431574

	registered interest
	date	23/11/2015
	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	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, how many (a) foreign direct investment projects were developed in the UK which originated from other EU countries in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15, (b) jobs were created by those projects and (c) jobs were safeguarded by those projects.
	tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton North East
	tabling member printed	Emma Reynolds
	uin	17379
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2015 answer text <p>Below is a breakdown of all successful foreign direct investment projects from EU countries in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 together with the estimated number of jobs created and safeguarded, as recorded by UK Trade &amp; Investment.</p><br /><p><strong>Number of Inward FDI Projects originating from EU recorded by UKTI</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><br /></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>Projects</strong></del></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>New Jobs</strong></del></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>Safeguarded jobs</strong></del></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>2012-13</strong></del></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>485</strong></del></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>15,053</strong></del></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>34,824</strong></del></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>2013-14</strong></del></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>541</strong></del></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>19,933</strong></del></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>22,712</strong></del></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>2014-15</strong></del></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>634</strong></del></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>26,845</strong></del></p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>6,076</strong></del></p></td></tr></tbody></table><table><tbody><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial"></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>Projects</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>New Jobs</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>Safeguarded jobs</strong></ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>2012-13</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>504</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>15,399</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>35,073</strong></ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>2013-14</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>564</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>20,432</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>22,805</strong></ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>2014-15</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>658</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>28,250</strong></ins></p></td><td><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong>6,686</strong></ins></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em>Source: UKTI FDI projects database.</em></p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 26/11/2015 16:02:45 question first ministerially corrected 01/12/2015 14:55:44 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry previous answer version 32327 answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
	tabling member	4077 label Biography information for Emma Reynolds

435694

	registered interest
	date	07/12/2015
	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	Students: Loans
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes in student loan repayments to freeze the £21,000 income threshold cap on students and graduates from lower and middle incomes.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Burt of Solihull
	uin	HL4269
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2015 answer text <br /><p><del class="ministerial">The budget for the Tradeshow Access Programme was £11.05M in 2014/15 and the estimated spend in 2015/16 is £10.25M.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">For 2016/17 and beyond, UKTI will be reviewing how the Tradeshow Access Programme is aligned with other Export Services as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review settlement. It is therefore not possible to confirm the budget at this stage.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">I will respond positively to a request for a meeting with the Sponsors Alliance subject to diary commitments.</del></p><br /><p><ins class="ministerial">The Government published an Equality Analysis of the impact of freezing the student loan repayment threshold on 25th November.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">All borrowers whose earnings are above the repayment threshold will pay around £6 per week more (in nominal terms) by 2020/21. Those individuals with the lowest lifetime earnings will be affected the least, because they will either never earn above the earnings threshold, or will only do so for a more limited period of the loan’s life.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The full Equality Analysis is attached, but can also be found at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479559/bis-15-635-freezing-student-loan-repayment-threshold-equality-analysis.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479559/bis-15-635-freezing-student-loan-repayment-threshold-equality-analysis.pdf</a></ins></p> answering member printed Baroness Evans of Bowes Park question first answered 15/12/2015 16:20:37 question first ministerially corrected 21/12/2015 13:24:16 answering member 4329 label Biography information for Baroness Evans of Bowes Park attachment 1 file name HL4269 attachment -freezing-student-loan-repayment-threshold-equality-analysis.pdf title Equality Analysis previous answer version 35662 answering member printed Lord Maude of Horsham answering member 115
	tabling member	1567 label Biography information for Baroness Burt of Solihull

433138

	registered interest
	date	30/11/2015
	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	Construction
	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 support the creation of painting and decorating opportunities in the construction sector.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	18208
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/01/2016 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">Late payment remains an important issue for small businesses in the UK. The Government is taking significant steps to assist small businesses to recover late payment debts.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">Through the Enterprise Bill, currently before Parliament, we will legislate to establish a Small Business Commissioner to help small business resolve disputes with large companies, tackling, in particular, late payment. The Commissioner will act as a disincentive to unfavourable payment practices, and build the confidence and capabilities of small businesses to help them to assert themselves in contractual disputes and negotiate more effectively with larger businesses.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">This is part of a package of measures to tackle late payment. We have also legislated for new transparency measures in the public and private sectors. This will allow full public scrutiny of payment performance.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">We have also strengthened the Prompt Payment Code to ensure it is a recognised and demonstrated beacon of best practice, and we recently consulted on proposals to give representative bodies wider powers to challenge grossly unfair payment practices.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">Government promotes fair payment practices in construction through legislation (the &quot;Construction Act&quot;), the use of public procurement (promoting prompt payment to Tier 3 and the use of Project Bank Accounts), and by working with the industry through voluntary measures (such as the Prompt Payment Code and the Construction Leadership Council's Payment Charter).</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">The Payment Charter includes a commitment of zero retentions by 2025. To support this work, the Government recently announced a review of the practice of cash retentions under construction contracts.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">Tackling late payment is about creating a responsible payment culture where larger companies recognise the benefit of having a sustainable and robust supply chain, and smaller businesses feel able to challenge poor behaviour. Once implemented, the Government is confident that these measures will lead to significant changes in the UK's payment culture.</del></p><br /><p><ins class="ministerial">Opportunities in painting and decorating will be created through the steps Government is taking to increase demand in the construction industry, including its support for housebuilding in England.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Last week the Chancellor announced that the public housing budget for England is to double to over £2 billion per year, and the Housing Bill sets out plans to build 1 million homes in England by 2020.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">To deliver Government ambitions for construction it is vital to attract new people to the industry. The government is committed to significantly increasing the quantity and quality of all apprenticeships in England to 3 million starts by 2020; the construction industry will have a significant part to play in achieving this target.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">However, skills policy (including apprenticeships policy) is a devolved matter and, in Northern Ireland (NI), is the responsibility of the Department of Employment and Learning.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Minister of Employment and Learning, Dr Stephen Farry, published <em>Securing our Success, </em>a new NI Strategy on Apprenticeships in June 2014. This Strategy aims to reform the system of apprenticeships in NI, introducing them in a much broader range of occupational areas and establishing them as an attractive route to gaining higher level qualifications including at degree level and above.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Construction Skills Network Report for NI suggests that there will be an annual recruitment requirement of 100 painters and decorators over the next five years, within a total requirement of 1,490 construction trades each year.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Construction Industry Training Board NI has a role to encourage the adequate training of those employed or intending to be employed in the construction industry and to improve the skills and productivity of the sector. NI’s six Further Education Colleges provide professional and technical training for the painting and decorating trades.</ins></p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 06/01/2016 15:08:11 question first ministerially corrected 11/01/2016 16:04:15 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles previous answer version 37693 answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

444534

	registered interest
	date	13/01/2016
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, how his Department works with businesses in the (a) construction, planning and the built environment sector subject area and (b) engineering and manufacturing technologies sector subject area to create more apprenticeships.
	tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	tabling member printed	Phil Boswell
	uin	22278
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2016 answer text <p>Skills policy is a devolved area so the Devolved Administrations have complete flexibility over how to support businesses in all sectors to ensure there are sufficient skilled workers. In England, our 2020 Vision sets out how we will reach 3 million apprenticeship starts in 2020.</p><br /><p><ins class="ministerial">We are also introducing the apprenticeships levy to fund the step change in apprenticeship numbers and quality – delivering on our commitment of 3 million starts by 2020. The levy will put apprenticeship funding on a sustainable footing and improve the technical and professional skills of the workforce.</ins></p><br /><p>We are supporting the growth of apprenticeships in all sectors by working with large and small businesses to begin or expand their programmes, setting new expectations for public sector bodies, and through public procurement. We are providing £85 million to extend the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE), which supports small businesses to take on apprentices, to the end of the 2016/17 academic year.</p><br /><p>Employers in both of these specific sectors are heavily involved in designing new apprenticeship standards that fully meet their needs. Employers in the construction sector are involved in developing new apprenticeships standards in over 20 occupations, including site management and construction technician. Those in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector are involved in developing new apprenticeship standards in over 30 occupations, including aerospace engineer and manufacturing engineer.</p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 22/01/2016 14:48:16 question first ministerially corrected 26/01/2016 17:18:49 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles previous answer version 40672 answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4388 label Biography information for Philip Boswell

444898

	registered interest
	date	14/01/2016
	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	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Defibrillators
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Department manages.
	tabling member constituency	Brigg and Goole
	tabling member printed	Andrew Percy
	uin	22549
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2016 answer text <p>The provision of defibrillators in Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) buildings managed by BIS (i.e. BIS is the landlord and in control of the building), is as set out in the table below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>BIS - 1 Victoria Street London - 3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>BIS - 10 Victoria Street London - 4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>BIS - 151 Buckingham Palace Road - 3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>BIS - Atholl House Aberdeen - 2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>BIS - Abbey Orchard Street London – <del class="ministerial">0 (Insolvency Service moving to Fleetbank House within 3-4 months)</del> <ins class="ministerial">1 being acquired</ins></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>BIS - Fleetbank House – 1 being acquired</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>BIS - Nottingham (Apex Court) - 1</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Whilst BIS is the landlord for the buildings listed above, where sub-letting arrangements are in place, the occupiers take responsibility for their own provision of defibrillators, and these are not included in this list.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 01/02/2016 15:01:09 question first ministerially corrected 08/02/2016 10:55:51 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone previous answer version 42402 answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
	tabling member	3939 label Biography information for Andrew Percy

445417

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2016
	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	Employment Tribunals Service: Fines
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many financial penalties have been imposed on respondent employers under section 16 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013; and how many such penalties (a) have been paid and (b) remain unpaid.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	22831
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2016 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">Eleven financial penalties have been imposed on employers for aggravated breach of employment law, under section 16 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, since its introduction on 6 April 2014.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">To date, four penalties have been paid and seven remain unpaid. Enforcement action is currently being considered for the outstanding penalties.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Twelve financial penalties have been imposed on employers for aggravated breach of employment law, under section 16 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, since its introduction on 6 April 2014.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">To date, six penalties have been paid and six remain unpaid. Enforcement action is currently being considered for the outstanding penalties.</ins></p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 26/01/2016 14:33:10 question first ministerially corrected 11/02/2016 17:56:31 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles previous answer version 41148 answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

447455

	registered interest
	date	25/01/2016
	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	UK Membership of EU
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to engage with leaders of businesses of all sizes in every sector to ensure that they have information about the pros and cons of the UK remaining a full member of the EU.
	tabling member printed	Lord Allen of Kensington
	uin	HL5357
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2016 answer text <p><em><del class="ministerial">No such assessment has been made.</del></em></p><p><del class="ministerial"><em>The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in the UK - so we get a better deal for our country and secure our future. We are confident that the right agreement can be reached.</em></del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Under Sections 6 and 7 of the European Union Referendum Act 2015, the Government has a duty to publish information on what has been agreed by Member States following negotiations on the UK’s request for reforms; the Government’s opinion on what has been agreed; the UK’s rights and obligations as a member of the EU; and examples of non-EU countries that have other arrangements with the EU. As stipulated in the Act, this information will be published before the beginning of the final 10 week period ending with the date of the referendum.</ins></p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 08/02/2016 15:40:41 question first ministerially corrected 15/02/2016 15:49:57 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe previous answer version 44070 answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	4304 label Biography information for Lord Allen of Kensington

457378

	registered interest
	date	03/03/2016
	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	New Businesses: Students
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to encourage universities to support students who have started, or plan to start, a business venture while at university.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL6704
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2016 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">Government’s Start-Up Loans scheme supports people wanting to start a business and has provided over 35,000 loans worth over £200 million. We’re committed to supporting start-ups by cutting taxes on small businesses, extending rate relief and increasing the Employment Allowance.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">In Cambridge, Government has invested £4.8m in the establishment of the Sir John Bradfield Technology Centre to support business incubation on Cambridge Science Park. This is in addition to a range of other growth-enabling investments made through the £500m Greater Cambridge City Deal, the £109.1m Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Growth Deal and a three year funding package to support development of a local business Growth Hub</del></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Government fully supports and actively encourages students who wish to start a business. This commitment was reiterated in the recent grant letter from Ministers to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) where we welcomed the Council’s commitment to:</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">The continued funding and support for the work of National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), which we see as key to promoting enhanced university and business activity. NCUB gathers evidence and brings together university and business leaders, sharing best practice. The NCUB’s work covers all aspects of the interaction between Businesses and Higher Education, including addressing skills shortages, work experience and graduate recruitment.</ins></li></ul><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><ul><li><ins class="ministerial">To continue to promote knowledge exchange through the Higher Education Innovation Fund, which is focussed on promoting entrepreneurship and enterprise education, as well as the commercialisation of research.</ins></li></ul><p><ins class="ministerial">In addition to this, the QAA issued guidance to Higher Education Institutions in 2012 to promote best practice in developing enterprise and entrepreneurship education.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">According to HESA, support provided by universities led to 4,600 graduate start-ups in 2013-14[1] an increase of 1,100 on the previous year.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong> </strong></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong> </strong></ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">[1] HE-BCI (Higher Education – Business Community Interaction) survey</ins></p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 11/03/2016 12:27:08 question first ministerially corrected 16/03/2016 16:22:13 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe previous answer version 50700 answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick