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100107

registered interest
date	21/10/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	National Insurance Contributions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to simplify the rates of employees' National Insurance contributions.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	211325
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>This Government is committed to a competitive tax regime and has introduced a range of measures to reduce the burden of National Insurance Contributions (NICs), as part of our long term economic plan to back business and create jobs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Employment Allowance, introduced in April this year, means that around 450,000 employers– one third of all employers – are expected to be taken out of paying employer NICs altogether in 2014-15 and from April 2015, employer NICs for under 21 year olds will be abolished, helping to support jobs for almost 1.5 million young people currently in employment.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 27/10/2014 16:16:49 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

100150

registered interest
date	21/10/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Teachers: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to encourage (a) computer science graduates and (b) professional programmers to become teachers.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	211327
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Education is committed to recruiting high-quality graduates into teaching. The latest data published by UCAS on 25 September 2014 in its ‘UCAS Teacher Training statistical releases’[1], indicates that there will be an increase in computing trainees commencing initial teacher training (ITT) this year, although this will not be certain until the 2014/15 ITT census is published.</p><p>For computing trainees starting their training in 2015/16, we have increased bursaries to up to £25,000 tax-free. We are also funding a prestigious scholarship scheme for computing trainees worth £25,000 tax-free and offering a range of professional benefits. Additional funding has also been made available to schools offering School Direct (salaried) places in computing to boost starting salaries; computing trainees will be able to earn over £21,000 nationally and £25,000 in inner London.</p><p>There are a range of other incentives in place to attract high quality computing trainees into the teaching profession, including:</p><ol><li>The delivery of a targeted marketing campaign to encourage high-quality computing graduates and potential career changers to consider a career in teaching.</li><li>The offering of tailored support for graduates and career changers interested in teaching computing, including access to a School Experience Programme.</li><li>Funding of computing subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) programmes, which prepare applicants for teacher training by building up or refreshing their existing knowledge. 31% of computing applicants who accepted an ITT place for 2013/14 accessed a SKE course.</li></ol><p>[1] <a href="http://www.ucas.com/data-analysis/ucas-teacher-training-statistical-releases" target="_blank">www.ucas.com/data-analysis/ucas-teacher-training-statistical-releases</a></p> answering member constituency Yeovil answering member printed Mr David Laws question first answered 24/10/2014 10:10:23 answering member 1473 label Biography information for Mr David Laws
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

41989

registered interest
date	07/03/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate the net benefit to the UK economy of data.gov.uk since it publicly launched in January 2010.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	191143
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2014 answer text <p> We know that open data is of huge value to the economy. It is difficult to cite an exact figure for the net benefit of data.gov.uk. </p><p /> <p>A recent <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/198905/bis-13-743-market-assessment-of-public-sector-information.pdf" target="_blank">Deloitte report</a>, available at LINK, cited £1.8bn of direct benefit and £6.8bn of indirect benefit to the UK economy from the use of open data, although this also includes data that is not government data. </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude question first answered 17/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

43527

registered interest
date	17/03/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on encouraging computer science and programming in UK schools.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	192351
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2014 answer text <p>As part of the reforms to the national curriculum, the Department for Education is strengthening the teaching of computing in schools by replacing information and communications technology with computing. The new programmes of study for computing, which will be taught in maintained schools from September 2014, have a much greater emphasis on computer science. For example, pupils at key stage 1 will be taught to create and debug simple programs and key stage 3 pupils will be taught to use two or more programming languages.</p><p>We also working with exam boards and sector experts to review the computer science GCSE and A level so that they reflect and build upon the changes made to the curriculum. The inclusion of computer science in the English Baccalaureate will provide further encouragement for pupils to take up the subject at GCSE level. We are also providing funding for several projects to help teachers acquire the necessary subject knowledge and skills to teach the new computing curriculum.</p><p>We are funding the British Computer Society to build a network of 400 ‘Master Teachers', create online teach-yourself resources and deliver 800 in-school workshops to help primary school teachers improve their subject knowledge. A further £500,000 competitive match-funded scheme was announced on 4 February to support excellent computing teaching and lever additional investment and engagement from business.</p> answering member constituency South West Norfolk answering member printed Elizabeth Truss question first answered 24/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4097 label Biography information for Elizabeth Truss
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

44643

registered interest
date	24/03/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to incentivise departmental officials to bring old Government data sets online in accessible formats.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	193287
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2014 answer text <p>The UK has been recognised as the international leader in data transparency. During our Presidency of the G8 in 2013 we led Members to commit to publishing data openly by default as a matter of principle through the Open Data Charter.<br> <br> Departments are engaging the public and special interest groups about the most important data held by Government (whether old or new); publishing open data strategies and reporting to Parliament on progress on a quarterly basis.<br> <br> Those data sets that are judged to have the most significant economic and social impact we refer to as the National Information Infrastructure, and are our priority for making available and accessible.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude question first answered 31/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

44784

registered interest
date	24/03/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the contribution of the (a) Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa route and (b) Tier 1 (Investor) visa route on economic growth.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	193286
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2014 answer text <p>The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) advises the Government on economic issues relating to migration.<br><br>On 1 July 2013 the MAC published a &quot;Report on the economic and labour market impacts of tier 1 entrepreneur and investor migrants to the UK&quot; which it had commissioned from the Migration Observatory. The report made a number of findings, although it concluded that it was too early to make a full assessment of the economic contribution of the two routes without further research. The report is available on the gov.uk website at:<br><br><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-and-labour-market-impacts-tier-1-entrepreneur-and-investor-migrants" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-and-labour-market-impacts-tier-1-entrepreneur-and-investor-migrants</a><br><br>More recently, on 25 February 2014 the MAC published its own report, &quot;Tier 1 (Investor) route: investment thresholds and economic benefits&quot; in response to a Government commission. The MAC concluded that the direct investment required by the route is of little or no benefit, but there is some benefit from indirect spending by investors and their families in the UK (although this is difficult to quantify). The report is available on the gov.uk website at:<br><br><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-investment-limits-and-economic-benefits-of-the-tier-1-investor-route-feb-2014" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-investment-limits-and-economic-benefits-of-the-tier-1-investor-route-feb-2014</a><br><br>The Government keeps all routes under review and is currently considering its response to the MAC's report on the Tier 1 (Investor) route.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 30/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

45856

registered interest
date	31/03/2014
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
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 people applied to the 2014 Sirius Programme for young entrepreneurs; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	194417
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/04/2014 answer text <p>The Sirius Programme, led by UK Trade and Investment, enables talented graduates with innovative start up ideas to start a business in the UK. Successful applicants receive support via a structured mentoring programme and participants requiring a visa, are able to access support through a dedicated visa route for the Sirius Programme. The current programme is a 2 year pilot - the first round was launched on 6 September 2013 and closed on 15 January 2014. A total of 1543 people applied.<br><br>A second round of the Sirius Programme will open shortly.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 07/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

45921

registered interest
date	31/03/2014
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department allocated to microfinance schemes in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	194399
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/04/2014 answer text <p>DFID's work on microfinance is integrated into broader financial sector development programmes that work to strengthen policy and regulation, build infrastructure and innovate new products and services that meet the needs of poor people.</p><p>DFID monitors expenditure in terms of actual spend. Actual spend on the financial sector development portfolio totalled £50.9 million in 2010-11; £50.9m in 2011-2012 and £59.2m in 2012-2013. Cumulative spend between 2007 and 2012 totalled £282.0m.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hornsey and Wood Green answering member printed Lynne Featherstone question first answered 07/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1531 label Biography information for Baroness Featherstone
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

46020

registered interest
date	31/03/2014
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
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 steps he has taken to support part-time entrepreneurs; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	194519
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2014 answer text <p>People are setting up and growing different types of businesses all the time. We continue to work hard to provide the right support to make life easier for them all.</p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/" target="_blank">www.gov.uk</a> is the home for Government services and information online. One of the tools available is the 'Finance Finder;' a searchable database of publicly-backed sources of finance. The website <a href="http://www.greatbusiness.gov.uk/" target="_blank">www.greatbusiness.gov.uk</a> also provides support and advice for anyone trying to grow a business as well as for entrepreneurs starting out.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to on-line support, the Business Support Helpline is available to provide a quick response on queries about starting a business, or a personalised and in-depth advice service for more complex needs. For those looking for start up finance and advice there are Start-Up Loans: 7 loans worth a total of £37,000 have been drawn down in Windsor since the scheme began in 2012.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 08/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

47135

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps she has taken to increase tourism to (a) Berkshire and (b) the South East; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Windsor
tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
uin	195452
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>DCMS is responsible for the policy that supports the growth of domestic and international tourism, working in partnership with other Government Departments and our Arms-Length Bodies, VisitBritain and VisitEngland. Between 2011 and 2015, Government is investing more than £105m in tourism through the GREAT and other international campaigns. Investment to date is showing positive results. 2013 was a record year for inbound tourism with 32.9 million international visits being made which generated a record £21 billion into the UK in 2013.</p><p>In terms of Berkshire specifically, VisitBritain's public-facing website includes a range of tourism information relating to Windsor which is available via the following link: <a href="http://www.visitbritain.com/en/Destinations-and-Maps/History-and-heritage/Windsor.htm" target="_blank">http://www.visitbritain.com/en/Destinations-and-Maps/History-and-heritage/Windsor.htm</a>. VisitBritain's ‘Heritage is GREAT' advertising campaign also prominently featured Highclere Castle, which is the setting for Downton Abbey.</p><p>The South East region will benefit from a number of thematic campaigns currently being run by VisitEngland which can be found at <a href="http://www.visitengland.com/" target="_blank">http://www.visitengland.com/</a>. It will also benefit from VisitEngland's Holidays at Home are GREAT campaign, which has been broadcast on mainstream terrestrial channels since 1 April, while those areas in the South East region affected by the recent floods are also benefitting from both VisitEngland's ‘Spot on England' marketing campaign and business support events.</p> answering member constituency Maidstone and The Weald answering member printed Mrs Helen Grant question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4018 label Biography information for Mrs Helen Grant
tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie