My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills spoke with the First Minister about the steel crisis following his re-appointment on 18 May. He also wrote to the new Minister for Economy and Infrastructure on 23 May congratulating him on his appointment and extending a joint request from both myself and the Secretary of State for an early discussion on the situation in the South Wales steel industry.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3938", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Anna Soubry"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Broxtowe"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Anna Soubry"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-06-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-06-06T12:47:29.013Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "26"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-05-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Iron and Steel: Wales"} , "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, Innovation and Skills, whether (a) he and (b) ministers of his Department have met with the new Welsh Government to discuss the steel crisis.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4264", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Stephen Doughty"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Cardiff South and Penarth"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Stephen Doughty"} ], "uin" : "38236"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521048", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Innovation and Skills"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521048/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Information on Ministerial attendances can be found on the British-Irish Council website:<\/p>
<\/p>
https://www.britishirishcouncil.org/communique/ministerial-meetings<\/a><\/p> <\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4039", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Orpington"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Joseph Johnson"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-06-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-06-06T10:14:38.917Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "26"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2016-05-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "British Irish Council"}
, "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, Innovation and Skills, how many meetings of the British-Irish Council Ministers of his Department took part in since May 2013.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1409", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Londonderry"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Gregory Campbell"}
], "uin" : "38265"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521049", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Innovation and Skills"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521049/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Government is working to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business by supporting businesses across the country. In Stafford, 42 Government backed Start-Up Loans have been drawn down since September 2012 with a value of over £218,000. A Regional Growth Fund award of £4m made in 2011 has attracted private investment of £56.5 million, delivering 1,600 jobs. Since May 2010, 26 loans have been drawn down in Stafford, worth over £2.6 million, from the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme. Businesses in Stafford also have access to the Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Growth Hub which was live from September 2014, which is one of a network of 39 Growth Hubs set up across England.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3938", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Anna Soubry"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Broxtowe"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Anna Soubry"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-06-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-06-01T10:23:44.133Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "26"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2016-05-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Business: Stafford"}
, "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, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to support businesses in Stafford constituency.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4109", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jeremy Lefroy"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Stafford"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Jeremy Lefroy"}
], "uin" : "38309"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521050", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Innovation and Skills"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521050/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 contained two specific policies to support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in accessing finance.<\/p> The first requires major banks to refer SMEs they reject for finance to designated \u2018finance platforms\u2019 that can help match SMEs with alternative finance providers. This will ensure that viable SMEs, including businesses in Stafford, that may not fit the major banks\u2019 risk appetite can still get the finance they need to grow and expand. Three platforms have recently been designated by HM Treasury on the advice of the British Business Bank and are expected to come into operation later this year.<\/p> The second requires the major banks to share information on their SME customers, with the SME\u2019s permission, with other lenders through designated Credit Reference Agencies. This will improve the ability of challenger banks and alternative finance providers to conduct accurate risk assessments and level the playing field between providers and make it easier for SMEs to get finance from providers other than their bank.<\/p> The Government is supporting the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and Crowdfunding sectors, which provide alternative sources of finance for both businesses and individuals. The British Business Bank, for example, has invested £100m in SMEs via five P2P platforms.<\/p> In addition, the British Business Bank\u2019s Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme has facilitated over £2.6 billion of bank lending and other finance to over 25,000 SMEs. Since the start of the scheme, 45 EFG loans have been drawn down in Stafford worth over £5 million. Government has also provided loans through the Start Up Loans Company to help new businesses in Stafford. 42 start up businesses in Stafford have secured a loan from the Start Up Loans Company, with a total value of over £218, 000.<\/p> More widely, credit conditions for business continue to improve with net lending to SMEs in 2015 positive across the complete year, the first time this has happened since the financial crisis.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3938", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Anna Soubry"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Broxtowe"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Anna Soubry"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-06-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-06-01T10:22:58.727Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "26"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2016-05-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Business: Stafford"}
, "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, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the level of access to credit for businesses in Stafford constituency in the last 12 months.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4109", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jeremy Lefroy"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Stafford"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Jeremy Lefroy"}
], "uin" : "38310"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521051", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Innovation and Skills"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521051/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Government is committed to ensuring that consumers are properly protected and that children\u2019s vulnerability and inexperience is not exploited by aggressive commercial practices. <\/strong>We welcomed the Office of Fair Trading\u2019s (OFT) investigation into whether children have been unfairly encouraged to spend money in online games and apps, in breach of consumer laws. The OFT\u2019s subsequent Principles for Online and App-based Games<\/em> were published in January 2014, to help ensure that online and app games publishers better understand their responsibilities and do not subject children to unfair or aggressive selling practices. The Competition and Markets Authority subsequently referred 3 games to the Advertising Standards Authority for further enforcement action.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3995", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Nick Boles"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Grantham and Stamford"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Nick Boles"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-06-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-06-03T09:58:02.737Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "26"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2016-05-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Video Games: Internet"}
, "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, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to protect children from in-game selling and promotions when playing games online.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/411", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Huddersfield"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Barry Sheerman"}
], "uin" : "38300"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521052", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Innovation and Skills"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521052/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Government is committed to ensuring that consumers are properly protected and that children\u2019s vulnerability and inexperience is not exploited by aggressive commercial practices. <\/strong>We welcomed the Office of Fair Trading\u2019s (OFT) investigation into whether children have been unfairly encouraged to spend money in online games and apps, in breach of consumer laws. The OFT\u2019s subsequent Principles for Online and App-based Games,<\/em> which are based on the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (2008), were published in January 2014. The Competition and Markets Authority subsequently referred 3 games to the Advertising Standards Authority for further enforcement action. The Government continues to take a close interest in this issue.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3995", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Nick Boles"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Grantham and Stamford"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Nick Boles"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-06-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-06-03T09:58:11.843Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "26"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2016-05-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Video Games: Internet"}
, "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, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of legislation for protecting children from in-game selling and promotions when playing games online.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/411", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Huddersfield"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Barry Sheerman"}
], "uin" : "38301"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521053", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Innovation and Skills"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521053/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " There is no single data source that comprehensively measures all business start-ups within the UK.<\/p> <\/p> However, ONS has published statistics showing that there were 2,210 businesses newly registered for VAT or PAYE in the Manchester, Withington constituency between 2010 and 2014. Some newly registered businesses will have been trading for a number of years and other active businesses will not be covered because they are operating below the VAT and PAYE registration thresholds.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3938", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Anna Soubry"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Broxtowe"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Anna Soubry"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-06-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-06-06T12:54:22.917Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "26"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2016-05-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "New Businesses: Manchester Withington"}
, "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, Innovation and Skills, how many new businesses have been set up in Manchester, Withington constituency since May 2010.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4456", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jeff Smith"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Manchester, Withington"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Jeff Smith"}
], "uin" : "38352"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521054", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Business, Innovation and Skills"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/521054/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "