Small businesses play a central role in driving economic growth across the UK and this Government is committed to supporting their continued success.<\/p>
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The industrial strategy will build on this to make the most of the diverse strengths of all of Britain\u2019s cities and regions including Scotland, and grasp the opportunities that could drive faster growth in each of them.<\/p>
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Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness City Deals have seen £702m of additional funding from the UK government flow into Scotland. Projects and programmes agreed are helping businesses by: establishing new incubation and innovation hubs; improving local infrastructure; extending and improving the quality of broadband; and tackling key barriers to growth in certain sectors.<\/p>
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Moving forward we are committed to working with the Scottish Government and local communities to agree further deals with: Edinburgh and South East Scotland; Stirling and Clackmannanshire; Tay Cities; and Borderlands.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4115", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Margot James"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Stourbridge"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Margot James"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2017-06-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2017-06-28T16:03:13.957Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "201"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2017-06-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Small Businesses: Scotland"} , "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 strategy his Department has to support a growth pipeline to help small businesses in Scotland expand.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4604", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Stephen Kerr"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Stirling"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Stephen Kerr"} ], "uin" : "404"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/731427", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/731427/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
From the early stages of the development and rollout of Universal Credit we have collaborated closely with Scottish Government, Local Authorities and stakeholders. Our roll out so far includes a mixture of rural and urban sites to help us better understand the complex requirements that a reform of this scale entails. We have noted concerns and unique circumstances in Scotland and have taken action to ensure that they are accommodated. We are also working closely with Scottish Government to plan for implementation of the UC flexibilities devolved to Scotland in the Scotland Act 2016.<\/p>
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Universal Credit is available in every jobcentre in Scotland to all new claims from single jobseekers. We are expanding the UC full service and nine jobcentres are taking claims for all claimant types.<\/p>
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Some of the lessons we have learned include the need for better communications with landlords and a smoother process for gathering information to make the first claim. We have made improvements to our processes as a result of this.<\/p>
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