Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

455128

registered interest
date	25/02/2016
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	Training: Young People
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that young people gain key transferable skills in order to increase their future employment opportunities.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL6433
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2016 answer text <p>This Government is taking a series of important steps to help young people gain a good broad education with transferable skills such as literacy and numeracy, as well as employability skills from work experience.</p><p> </p><p>This includes our reforms to GCSEs to ensure that they are more stretching and provide greater assurance of core literacy and numeracy than the old GCSEs. We are also reforming Functional Skills to improve the rigour and relevance of these qualifications as well as improving their recognition among employers. The new Functional Skills qualifications will be ready to teach in 2018.</p><p> </p><p>As of August 2015, the condition of funding has been revised, so all 16-18 year old full-time students starting their study programme who have a grade D GCSE or equivalent in maths or English must be enrolled on a GCSE or approved IGCSE qualification in maths or English to work towards attaining a good pass.</p><p> </p><p>We have also built English and maths into the heart of traineeships and apprenticeships to ensure that young people have the literacy and numeracy skills needed by employers. Our traineeship programme is supporting 16-24 year olds to gain the skills and work experience they need to be able to compete for apprenticeships and other jobs. In addition, all of the new employer-led apprenticeship standards must demonstrate acquisition of transferable skills and offer more than just training for a single job or employer. Standards must ensure that an apprentice can adapt to a variety of roles, with different employers, developing the ability to progress in their careers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 11/03/2016 11:46:53 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

455129

registered interest
date	25/02/2016
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	Foreign Investment in UK: Northern Ireland
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent discussions they have had about the work of UK Trade and Investment in promoting inward investment in Northern Ireland.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL6434
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2016 answer text <p>The established relationship between UKTI and Invest Northern Ireland (INI) enables both to support each other’s efforts to achieve the shared ambition to increase trade and investment and in turn jobs and growth, this includes regular engagement at Ministerial, Chief Executive, and operational levels.</p><p> </p><p>For example, over the last month Lord Maude visited Northern Ireland on 28<sup>th</sup> and 29<sup>th</sup> January, including both a meeting with the Chief Executive of INI and a number of company meetings. He has also conducted one overseas visit alongside Northern Ireland Assembly Minister Bell to Canada in February.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 11/03/2016 11:49:09 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

446642

registered interest
date	21/01/2016
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	Basic Skills
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what resources and schemes are being targeted at those who lack the basic levels of literacy and numeracy.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL5298
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2016 answer text <p>This Government understands the importance of English and maths and makes these subjects a priority for support within the adult skills system. Adults who improve their literacy and numeracy are more likely to experience better health and well-being, increase their chances of employment and progress to better jobs.</p><p>We fully fund, through a statutory entitlement, all adults to achieve their first English and maths GCSE at grade C or above as well as other qualifications which help them get to that level. The total funding for English and maths for academic year 2013/14 (including for apprenticeships, English for Speakers of Other Languages and prisoners) was £563,961,000. Of this £142m was spent on English and maths in apprenticeships. (905,600 learners participated in English and maths courses in 2013/14)</p><p>We fund a wide range of learners to study English and maths including:<br>• Prisoners, through the Offender Learning and Skills Service<br>• Learners in the community, including through Family English, Maths and Language<br>• People who need English for Speakers of Other Languages <br>• Trainees as part of their traineeship<br>• Apprentices as part of their apprenticeship<br>• Jobseekers</p><p>We have increased our expectations of what learners should achieve in order to increase the standard of literacy and numeracy. To do this we have embedded English and maths at the heart of all our major programmes. This means:<br>• Learners who did not achieve a good GCSE pass in English and/ or maths by the age of 16 are now required to continue to study those subjects post-16; <br>• Since 2014/15, the English and maths requirement for Intermediate Apprenticeships has been stronger, with all apprentices who have already achieved level 1 English and maths having to work towards level 2;<br>• Since 2014/15, young people undertaking a traineeship have been required to study English and maths unless they already have level 2 qualifications in these subjects;<br>• In August 2014, we introduced mandatory assessment of maths and English for all newly-received prisoners to ensure that all offenders, not just those that go into learning, receive a learning assessment (focused around English and maths, but also covering learning difficulties and disabilities)</p><p>We have reformed GCSEs to ensure they are more stretching and provide greater assurance of core literacy and numeracy than the old GCSEs. We also recognise that some people are not ready to take GCSE so we are also improving the rigour and relevance of English and maths Functional Skills qualifications, which are taken by many students and apprentices aged 16 and over. We have commissioned the Education and Training Foundation to revise the National Literacy and Numeracy Standards and reform Functional Skills. The foundation has launched a consultation which will run until April and which will involve employers, teacher and subject experts.</p><p>We recognise the need to improve the quality of English and maths teaching in further education. We have invested over £30m over the past 3 years to fund a range of measures to improve the workforce in areas such as leadership, governance, teaching and learning, with a particular focus on maths and English. This has resulted in over 1,000 bursaries to attract graduates to teach in further education and over 3,800 teachers have benefited from training to improve the quality of their English and maths courses. <br>We are undertaking a range of research to best understand where Government investment in English and maths has the greatest impact and delivers value for money. This includes:<br>• Using behavioural insights to identify how to motivate adults to improve their English and maths and encourage learners to keep studying once enrolled on a course; ;<br>• Longitudinal research into skills gain and skills atrophy of adult English and maths learners<br>• Comparing the impact of blended and more traditional classroom learning.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 01/02/2016 12:38:20 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

446479

registered interest
date	20/01/2016
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	Commonwealth: Trade Promotion
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are (1) currently taking, (2) plan to take, to promote trade and investment opportunities between the UK and other Commonwealth countries.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL5251
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2016 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) is committed to helping UK business succeed overseas, including in Commonwealth countries. HMG is represented across the Commonwealth and, UK Trade and Investment has offices in around half of all Commonwealth countries as part of its global footprint. Dependent on the scale of opportunities in each country there are a range of export services that business can benefit from. In late 2013, UKTI opened in five new Commonwealth markets, and reinforced teams in four others. There are ten dedicated Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys in Commonwealth countries, charged specifically with the promotion of trade and investment in their respective markets.</p><br /><p>I attended the Commonwealth Business Forum in November 2015 in Malta, held in the margins of The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. My participation at this event advanced UK business interests with key decision makers and businesses from other Commonwealth countries.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><br /> answering member printed Lord Maude of Horsham question first answered 27/01/2016 14:48:39 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

446480

registered interest
date	20/01/2016
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	Foreign Investment in UK
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking steps to ensure that inward investment and job creation is encouraged on an equal basis across all the regions of the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL5252
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2016 answer text <br /><p>UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) actively promotes all areas of the UK and is investing significant effort and resources to fully support HMG’s drive to rebalance the UK economy, whilst staying true to UKTI’s <em>‘UK First principle’</em>.</p><br /><p>UKTI always ensures it offers the client the most suitable location options for that client’s businesses investment to be a commercial success, since success is the best guarantee of a long-term investment.</p><br /> answering member printed Lord Maude of Horsham question first answered 27/01/2016 14:45:08 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

446481

registered interest
date	20/01/2016
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	Apprentices
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made with their adult apprenticeship schemes.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL5253
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2016 answer text <p>Final data show that there were 499,900 apprenticeship starts in the 2014/15 academic year. 374,000 of these were aged 19+, an increase of 16.6% on 2013/14.</p><p>We have delivered 2.6 million apprenticeships starts since May 2010, 73% (1.9 million) of these were adults (aged 19+).</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to reaching 3 million new apprenticeship starts in England by 2020. Our <em>2020 Vision for English Apprenticeships </em>sets out how we will increase apprenticeships numbers for people of all ages - working with employers and setting new expectations for public sector procurement.</p><p> </p><p>Apprenticeship reforms are being led by employers designing standards to meet their skill needs. Over 1300 employers are currently involved. 198 new standards have been published and more 150 are in development (including 60 Higher or Degree level). More Degree Apprenticeships are being developed, combining a high quality degree with an apprenticeship.</p><p> </p><p>Through the UK-wide apprenticeships levy, we are also giving employers control over funding apprenticeship training in England.</p><p> </p><p>We are establishing an independent employer-led Institute for Apprenticeships to regulate the quality of apprenticeships in England which will be fully operational by April 2017.</p><p> </p><p>We are doubling the annual level of spending on apprenticeships between 2010-11 and 2019-20 in cash terms to £2.5bn, including income from the new apprenticeship levy.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 01/02/2016 12:35:04 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

426403

registered interest
date	05/11/2015
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	Small Businesses: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what specific steps they are taking to help SMEs to move online.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL3342
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2015 answer text <br /><p>As part of our wider support for small businesses, Government has provided funding to Local Enterprise Partnerships to extend the reach of their digital support for small firms. We are also increasing the number of Digital Trade Advisors working around the country to help small businesses expand into new overseas markets.</p><br /><p>Government supports the extensive range of private sector-led activity to help small businesses improve their digital skills. We particularly welcome the work that Go ON UK does to encourage and join up this activity.</p><br /><p>In addition to this, Government’s Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme allowed businesses to apply for grants of up to £3,000 to help them move to a faster digital market and connect to superfast broadband. The initiative has now allocated all of the £40m available funding since April 2015, with more than 55,000 small businesses across the UK taking up the offer.</p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 20/11/2015 11:59:55 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

388808

registered interest
date	09/07/2015
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	Imports: USA
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government which categories of United States exports of goods to the United Kingdom are free of European Union tariff and non-tariff barriers; and what was the aggregate value of those exports in the last year for which figures are available.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL1285
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2015 answer text <p>For US exports to the EU, around 31% of their agricultural product lines and 26% of non-agricultural product lines face no EU tariffs.</p><p> </p><p>As official detailed measures of non-tariff barriers are not available it is not possible to estimate the value or categories of US exports to the UK that are free of tariff and non-tariff barriers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Maude of Horsham question first answered 20/07/2015 10:44:56 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

386130

registered interest
date	29/06/2015
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	Basic Skills: Young People
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps are being taken to better support young adults at or below average literacy and numeracy levels.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL929
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2015 answer text <p>Literacy and numeracy are the foundation for all achievement in education and critical for work and everyday life. We have set a clear expectation that having a good level of English and maths should be the norm.</p><p> </p><p>Learners who did not achieve a Level 2 in English and maths by the age of 16 are now required to continue to study those subjects post-16 and from September all 16-19 full-time students starting their study programme who have a grade D GCSE or equivalent in these subjects must be enrolled on a GCSE or approved IGCSE qualification in maths and/ or English.</p><p> </p><p>We have embedded English and maths within our core programmes for young people. Our Traineeships programme for young people puts English and maths at its core, alongside work preparation and work experience. All apprentices without level 2 qualifications in English and Maths are now required to work towards and take them.</p><p> </p><p>We fully fund all adults to achieve their first English and maths GCSE as well as any other qualifications which will help them find and sustain employment.</p><p> </p><p>We are improving qualifications to ensure they are relevant and robust. We have reformed English and maths GCSEs and are reviewing Functional Skills. We have invested over £30m to ensure that the Further Education workforce has the skills it needs to teach these subjects to a high level.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 13/07/2015 11:19:49 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont