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714059

registered interest
date	27/03/2017
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
hansard heading	Electronic Commerce
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what advice her Department has given to local authorities on attracting future investment for digital start-ups as a result of the UK's decision to leave the EU.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	69304
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2017 answer text <p>We regularly engage with local authorities to discuss their role in growing the digital economy. This includes our investment of £200 million to fund locally-led projects across the UK to leverage local and commercial investment in full fibre. This builds on the relationship BDUK developed with the Superfast, and Connected Cities projects. We are continuing this close partnership with local authorities across the UK to develop our approach to this full fibre investment.</p><p> </p><p>At Budget 2016 Government announced reductions in business rates worth almost £9 billion over the next 5 years. This included permanently doubling Small Business Rate Relief and extending the thresholds of the relief to ensure that 600,000 businesses will not pay business rates again.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, at Spring Budget we announced an additional business rates package providing £435m of further support for businesses facing significant increases in bills in England. This includes:</p><p> </p><p>· support for small businesses losing Small Business Rate Relief to limit increases in their bills to £600 each year</p><p> </p><p>· providing English local authorities with £300m of funding to support to allow them to provide support to individual hard cases in their local area.</p><p> </p><p>We have awarded Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield councils over £11m of grant funding in March 2016 to establish and develop new work space, business incubation and other services for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses based in the North of England whose ambitions and business models rely on digital technologies and their applications. We regularly meet to discuss progress with these projects.</p><p> </p><p>We recently published the Digital strategy which set a clear vision to make the UK the best place in the world to start a digital business, building on our commitment to back our economic strengths as we leave the EU.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matt Hancock grouped question UIN 69302 69303 question first answered 31/03/2017 10:27:13 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

714060

registered interest
date	27/03/2017
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Public Sector: Procurement
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he plans to take to support UK digital technology companies to access public sector procurement contracts.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	69277
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2017 answer text <p>The Government Transformation Strategy and the UK Digital Strategy set out how this Government will lead a step-change in procurement, making it easier than ever for digital technology companies of all sizes to access public sector procurement contacts through the Digital Marketplace.</p><p>As part of this, we will be heavily promoting the use of the Digital Marketplace by local and wider public sector bodies to lower barriers for all digital and technology suppliers. The Government’s aim is that the public sector should spend at least £750 million a year with SMEs by 2020.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 05/04/2017 08:19:06 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

714061

registered interest
date	27/03/2017
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
hansard heading	Electronic Commerce
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has met local councils to discuss making empty buildings available for use by digital start-ups.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	69281
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2017 answer text <p>DCMS awarded Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield councils over £11m of grant funding in March 2016 to refurbish existing buildings to establish and develop new work space, business incubation and other services for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) based in the North of England whose ambitions and business models rely on digital technologies and their applications. My officials regularly meet with their counterparts to discuss progress with these projects.</p><p> </p><p>The Government encourages Local Authorities to think creatively about actions they can take to contribute to the vitality and vibrancy of our town centres. Specifically, local authorities can act as a focal point for economic regeneration efforts in local areas, including making better use of the public sector estate to provide a place for business incubators.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matt Hancock question first answered 03/04/2017 08:32:36 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

714065

registered interest
date	27/03/2017
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
hansard heading	Electronic Commerce
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with local authorities on their role in strengthening the digital economy.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	69302
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2017 answer text <p>We regularly engage with local authorities to discuss their role in growing the digital economy. This includes our investment of £200 million to fund locally-led projects across the UK to leverage local and commercial investment in full fibre. This builds on the relationship BDUK developed with the Superfast, and Connected Cities projects. We are continuing this close partnership with local authorities across the UK to develop our approach to this full fibre investment.</p><p> </p><p>At Budget 2016 Government announced reductions in business rates worth almost £9 billion over the next 5 years. This included permanently doubling Small Business Rate Relief and extending the thresholds of the relief to ensure that 600,000 businesses will not pay business rates again.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, at Spring Budget we announced an additional business rates package providing £435m of further support for businesses facing significant increases in bills in England. This includes:</p><p> </p><p>· support for small businesses losing Small Business Rate Relief to limit increases in their bills to £600 each year</p><p> </p><p>· providing English local authorities with £300m of funding to support to allow them to provide support to individual hard cases in their local area.</p><p> </p><p>We have awarded Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield councils over £11m of grant funding in March 2016 to establish and develop new work space, business incubation and other services for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses based in the North of England whose ambitions and business models rely on digital technologies and their applications. We regularly meet to discuss progress with these projects.</p><p> </p><p>We recently published the Digital strategy which set a clear vision to make the UK the best place in the world to start a digital business, building on our commitment to back our economic strengths as we leave the EU.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matt Hancock grouped question UIN 69303 69304 question first answered 31/03/2017 10:27:13 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

714066

registered interest
date	27/03/2017
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
hansard heading	Electronic Commerce: Non-domestic Rates
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of increases to business rates on the viability of digital start-ups in the UK.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	69303
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2017 answer text <p>We regularly engage with local authorities to discuss their role in growing the digital economy. This includes our investment of £200 million to fund locally-led projects across the UK to leverage local and commercial investment in full fibre. This builds on the relationship BDUK developed with the Superfast, and Connected Cities projects. We are continuing this close partnership with local authorities across the UK to develop our approach to this full fibre investment.</p><p> </p><p>At Budget 2016 Government announced reductions in business rates worth almost £9 billion over the next 5 years. This included permanently doubling Small Business Rate Relief and extending the thresholds of the relief to ensure that 600,000 businesses will not pay business rates again.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, at Spring Budget we announced an additional business rates package providing £435m of further support for businesses facing significant increases in bills in England. This includes:</p><p> </p><p>· support for small businesses losing Small Business Rate Relief to limit increases in their bills to £600 each year</p><p> </p><p>· providing English local authorities with £300m of funding to support to allow them to provide support to individual hard cases in their local area.</p><p> </p><p>We have awarded Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield councils over £11m of grant funding in March 2016 to establish and develop new work space, business incubation and other services for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses based in the North of England whose ambitions and business models rely on digital technologies and their applications. We regularly meet to discuss progress with these projects.</p><p> </p><p>We recently published the Digital strategy which set a clear vision to make the UK the best place in the world to start a digital business, building on our commitment to back our economic strengths as we leave the EU.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matt Hancock grouped question UIN 69302 69304 question first answered 31/03/2017 10:27:13 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

714093

registered interest
date	27/03/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Design and Technology: GCSE
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to promote take-up of GCSE design and technology in schools.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	69276
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/04/2017 answer text <p>The new design and technology GCSEs will be taught from September 2017, and will provide pupils with the knowledge required to progress to further study and employment.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to supporting the recruitment of design and technology teachers through bursaries of up to £12,000. In addition, subject knowledge enhancement courses are available for those candidates prior to commencing teacher training.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 07/04/2017 13:46:08 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

714243

registered interest
date	27/03/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Jobcentres: West Bromwich
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many public access computer terminals there are for searching Universal Jobmatch and applying for universal credit across the Jobcentre Plus network in West Bromwich East constituency.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	69155
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2017 answer text <p>West Bromwich Jobcentre sits in the West Bromwich East constituency. We currently have 21 computer terminals available for customers to use within West Bromwich Jobcentre to search Universal Jobmatch and to apply for universal credit.</p><p>The 21 computers also allow the Work Coaches to support customers who have limited knowledge of how to use a computer properly, particularly searching for jobs through the daily Job Clubs or one to one support.</p><p>We offer daily Job Clubs to all age groups, matching customers to vacancies, Apprenticeships and Traineeships and a triage service where employers are on site offering an immediate opportunity for customers to be seen by a variety of employers on the day.</p><p>Vulnerable customers are also given one to one support when either making new claims or again searching for jobs.</p><p>We work with a number of partner organisations across the Borough and within the West Bromwich East constituency, such as Sandwell Women’s Enterprise Development Agency who have 11 computers offering CV and Job search support to unemployed customers / constituents.</p><p>West Bromwich Library has 44 computers for constituent use.</p><p>Sandwell College have in excess of 260 main terminals and 60 laptops, offering on site or virtual learning from home for all unemployed people and both full and part time students.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 04/04/2017 15:17:32 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest