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524641

registered interest
date	13/06/2016
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	Automation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has made an estimate of the potential number of jobs which will be replaced by automation over the next two decades.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	40325
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2016 answer text <p>The Department has not made a specific forecast of how many jobs will be replaced (or how many additional jobs will be created) over the next two decades due to automation. However, the Government’s Horizon Scanning Programme exploring the impacts of automation on the labour market, and engaging with our international partners.</p><p>Government is taking action to provide individuals with the skills that will help prepare them for changes to the labour market, such as the new school computing curriculum, developing new apprenticeship standards, growing the apprenticeships programme, and introducing the Institute for Coding.</p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 20/06/2016 14:08:26 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

523376

registered interest
date	07/06/2016
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	Space Debris
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 is taking to promote action to remove space debris.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	39726
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2016 answer text <p>The United Kingdom, through the UK Space Agency (UKSA), is one of the thirteen members of the Inter-Agency Debris Coordination (IADC) Committee, which considers the risks posed by space debris. Our national experts, along with more than a hundred experts from other agencies including NASA, met at Harwell in March 2016 for the annual IADC meeting to discuss many issues, including the need for the removal of space debris from orbit, and how that could best be accomplished.</p><p>The UK is leading studies in partnership with other national agencies to model the future space environment and identify the most effective ways of mitigating the future hazard of space debris.</p><p>UKSA is working with its international partners in technical forums such as the IADC to develop scientific consensus on the best way to manage the hazard posed by debris, such as how many objects might need to be removed, and from where. UKSA is also working to build political consensus within UN forums such as the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space to enable such missions to go ahead with appropriate supervision and support from the international community. This includes developing appropriate regulatory/oversight frameworks within the UK’s Outer Space Act which allow such technologies to be tested and demonstrated safely in the increasingly congested and contested space environment.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 15/06/2016 16:57:40 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

517069

registered interest
date	03/05/2016
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	Financial Services
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 has taken to support (a) peer-to-peer lending and (b) challenger banks.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	36256
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2016 answer text <p>Access to finance on flexible, competitive terms is essential for growing businesses. Challenger banks and alternative finance providers have an important role to play in widening choice and promoting competition.</p><p>Government is bringing into effect provisions in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 which will require the largest banks - where they decline lending requests from small business customers - to offer those customers the opportunity for their details to be referred to a government-designated funding platform. These platforms will be brought into operation later this year and will allow SMEs to match their requirements with offers from peer-to-peer platforms and challenger banks.</p><p>During the last 12 months, the British Business Bank has supported 3,301 businesses through the peer-to-peer platforms Funding Circle, RateSetter and Zopa. The British Business Bank also supports the growth of challenger banks by providing wholesale funds alongside private sector investors.</p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 10/05/2016 11:20:52 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

515189

registered interest
date	25/04/2016
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	Driverless Vehicles: Cybersecurity
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the cyber security implications of driverless cars.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	35322
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/05/2016 answer text <p>Government recognises that vehicle security is a priority to ensure the safety and security of the public and their data.</p><p>Government believes connected and autonomous vehicles should be “secure by design” and handle data appropriately. We are working closely with industry to achieve these aims as part of a wider programme of activity to ensure that the significant opportunities of these technologies can be realised safely and securely.</p><p>Connected technologies present cyber security challenges across a range of sectors. Cyber security has been identified as a key priority in the latest National Security Strategy. The Government has announced the formation of a National Cyber Security Centre, which will bring together the UK’s cyber expertise from different parts of Government into one organisation. The Government will also publish a new National Cyber Security Strategy later this year.</p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 03/05/2016 15:12:10 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

512919

registered interest
date	14/04/2016
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	Artificial Intelligence
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 research into and development of machine learning.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	33949
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2016 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills supports the research and development of machine learning through the Research Councils, for example the current Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council portfolio contains nearly 150 research and training grants involving aspects of artificial intelligence.</p><p>The Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Hartree Centre uses high performance computing combined with big data analytics, cognitive computing and visualisation techniques to collaborate with industry and research partners. The latest government investment of £113 million at Hartree in a cognitive and data centric computing centre (announced in the 2014 Autumn Statement) has attracted inward investment from IBM and other hi-tech industry exceeding £200 million.</p><p>Research Councils also support existing machine learning applications, for example the Medical Research Council support programmes which involve the use of machine learning tools for image analysis and in analysing and predicting risk of Serious Adverse Events for hospital patients.</p><p>The Arts and Humanities Research Council also support aspects of research and development on machine learning relating to its importance within the rapidly emerging field of the digital humanities and issues relating to ethical, philosophical, legal and historical perspectives of machine learning and human-computer interactions.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 20/04/2016 14:56:00 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

453837

registered interest
date	22/02/2016
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	Aviation: Noise
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when the Government will introduce incentives for the adoption of new technologies designed to manage noise from aircraft on the ground.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	27725
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2016 answer text <p>The Government is supporting investment in new technologies to reduce aircraft noise through grants for R&amp;D supported by the Aerospace Technology Institute. The Government has committed £1.95 billion for aerospace R&amp;D to 2025/26, bringing the total joint Government and industry funding commitment since 2013 to £3.9 billion. So far, 20 projects, worth £136 million, are directly concerned with new technologies to reduce noise from aircraft engines, propellers, rotors, wings and landing gear. These projects are focused on demanding international environmental targets and ensure UK aerospace companies are leading the technological evolution to achieve these.</p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 29/02/2016 14:31:00 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

448173

registered interest
date	27/01/2016
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	Financial Services
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 plans to take to widen access to sources of alternative finance.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	24417
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2016 answer text <p>Alternative finance is a rapidly growing sector. Latest figures from the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) show that new SME loans originated by their members increased by 89% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2015. Equity crowdfunded deal numbers and investment totals have also been steadily rising. The British Business Bank is an active participant in the sector and during the last 12 months has supported 3,301 businesses through the peer-to-peer platforms Funding Circle, RateSetter and Zopa.</p><p>A key element in the growth of the UK alternative finance sector has been a regulatory environment that supports innovation while protecting both investors and businesses. In addition, government is bringing into effect provisions in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 which will require the largest banks - where they decline lending requests from small business customers - to offer those customers the opportunity for their details to be referred to a government-designated funding platform. These platforms will help match SMEs with alternative finance providers and will be brought into operation later this year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 04/02/2016 16:49:45 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

435773

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	Driverless Vehicles
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made on pilot schemes of driverless cars.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	18898
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/12/2015 answer text <p>Following the Innovate UK competition, ‘Introducing Driverless Cars to UK roads’ in July last year three exciting world leading projects, UKAutodrive, Venturer and GATEway, are now underway and making good progress.</p><p>The Government-backed Milton Keynes driverless Pathfinder pods have been incorporated into the UKAutodrive project. They were demonstrated recently at the ITS World Congress in Bordeaux and attracted a great deal of international attention. Venturer, based in Bristol is delivering important insights around situational awareness, a key area for autonomous systems. The GATEway project will evaluate the integration and acceptance of automated vehicles in the real world.</p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 14/12/2015 11:26:07 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

431608

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	Business: Billing
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 Prompt Payment Code on (a) UK businesses in the FinTech sector and (b) other businesses.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	17357
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/11/2015 answer text <p>The Prompt Payment Code is a voluntary code which organisations from the public, private and third sector can sign up to. The Government monitors a variety of sources to monitor the level of late payment debt. We are not able to assess the direct effect of the Prompt Payment Code on any individual sector.</p><p>New transparency measures will allow us to monitor the payment performance of signatories. Through powers in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 the Government will introduce a new reporting requirement on the UK’s largest companies – including many Code signatories - to report on their payment practices and performance. We plan to introduce this next year, and the Code will make full use of this new information. From next year small and medium-sized Code signatories will also report on their payment performance directly to the Code. Small and medium-sized companies will report, on an annual basis, on a comply or explain basis.</p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 30/11/2015 11:15:43 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

425306

registered interest
date	02/11/2015
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	Economic Situation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the contribution of (a) crowdfunding businesses, (b) peer-to-peer lending businesses and (c) big data businesses to the UK economy.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	14290
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/11/2015 answer text <p>The state of equity investment in small businesses was assessed by the British Business Bank in March this year. Their report shows an overall increase in equity investment to small firms in each of the past four years, with both the number of deals and the total amount invested showing a clear upward trend. The contribution from crowdfunding has grown strongly since 2012. By the third quarter of 2014, deal numbers exceeded those of private equity, accounting for almost one-third of seed funding deals in the first half of 2014.</p><p>The Peer-to-Peer Finance Association publishes quarterly performance data, which show net new lending to small businesses of £91m in Q3 2015. According to NESTA, peer-to-peer lending in the UK grew at a rate of 250% annually between 2012 and 2014. The growth of the UK peer-to-peer lending sector has been facilitated by a responsive and flexible regulatory regime that recognises the importance of a competitive and diverse market for business finance.</p><p>The Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that the big data market could benefit the UK economy by up to £216 billion between 2012 and 2017. Research by NESTA has also found that UK companies making greater use of online customer data are up to 13% more productive than their peers.</p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 09/11/2015 14:52:44 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie