The Department does not hold data on the effects of individual store closures on High Street footfall.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4487", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Rochester and Strood"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kelly Tolhurst"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-22T16:56:32.293Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "201"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "William Hill: Closures"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will make an assessment of the effect on trends in the level of high street footfall of William Hill's recent announcement to close branches throughout the UK.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4440", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Marion Fellows"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Motherwell and Wishaw"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Marion Fellows"} ], "uin" : "278547"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139700", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139700/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with Avara. This is a commercial matter which BEIS have been monitoring for some time, however we have not sought to intervene while staff consultation and the administration process are underway.<\/p>
<\/p>
AstraZeneca announced on Wednesday that they have set aside funding of up to £12m, to be administered independently, to make sure their former employees at the Avlon site receive full severance should the ongoing administration of the site not generate enough funds to cover redundancy costs.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4487", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Rochester and Strood"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kelly Tolhurst"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-22T16:50:37.263Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "201"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Avara Avlon Pharma Services: Insolvency"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with Astrazeneca and Avara Avlon about the (a) three year guarantee on enhanced redundancy payments and terms for staff agreed as part of the sale of the company for £1 in December 2016 and the (b) collapse of Avara Avalon.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1548", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jessica Morden"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newport East"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Jessica Morden"} ], "uin" : "278449"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139736", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139736/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Through our ambitious, modern Industrial Strategy we are working to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business. We are committed to ensuring all small businesses have access to the advice and support they need to succeed to start, grow, and scale their businesses.<\/p>
All businesses can access core services, information and guidance on starting up and running a business, as well as their statutory rights and obligations, on our GOV.UK sites and www.gov.uk/browse/business<\/a>. The Business Finance and Support Finder tool on the website provides information on how to access a wide range of Government-backed financial support for start-up businesses, such as funding and grant schemes.<\/p> The Business Support Helpline forms a key part of the Government\u2019s offer to SMEs in England, providing trusted and joined-up information and sign-posting businesses to relevant sources of support. The Helpline number is 0300 456 3565. In 2018, it\u202fhelped 31,500 businesses, of which\u202f65% were entrepreneurs and start-ups.<\/p> The network of 38 Growth Hubs across England (one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area) provide businesses with tailored advice and support, as a dedicated, free and impartial \u2018single point of contact\u2019. At the end of FY18/19, Government had invested £56.4 million in Growth Hubs, with a further £12 million committed of core grant funding to LEPs for Growth Hubs for the FY19/20 funding period. LEPS have self-reported that in FY17/18 their Growth Hubs supported over 130,000 businesses, of which over 13,000 received high intensity support of 12 hours or more. They helped over 8,000 individuals start a business and achieved an average customer satisfaction rate of 89.5%.<\/p> The Government-backed British Business Bank is there to make finance markets work better for small businesses at all stages of their development. The Bank\u2019s programmes are currently supporting over £6.6bn of finance to over 89,000 smaller businesses (as at end-March 2019). The British Business Bank\u2019s Start-Up Loans programme provides loans to entrepreneurs seeking to start and grow their own businesses. Since 2012, the Programme has delivered almost 65,000 loans, worth nearly £511m to small businesses (as at end-June 2019).<\/p> Finally, we are working to make small business owners more aware of the wide range of advice and support available to them. We continue to develop our online support through GOV.UK, ensuring SMEs can access the key information they need on running their business any time they wish. And we are also improving SME awareness of finance options: the British Business Bank helps publish the Business Finance Guide, and has launched an online Finance Hub, an online advice platform aimed at raising awareness of appropriate finance options for SMEs.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4487", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Rochester and Strood"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kelly Tolhurst"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "278355"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-22T16:54:59.627Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "201"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Small Businesses: Government Assistance"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to provide (a) advice, (b) support and (c) services for small business owners looking to grow their business.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/308", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Coventry South"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Jim Cunningham"}
], "uin" : "278354"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139737", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1139737/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " Through our ambitious, modern Industrial Strategy we are working to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business. We are committed to ensuring all small businesses have access to the advice and support they need to succeed to start, grow, and scale their businesses.<\/p>