Oral Answers to Questions — Business, Innovation and Skills

– in the House of Commons at 9:30 am on 8 January 2015.

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The Secretary of State was asked—

  • Minimum Wage/Living Wage (10 speeches)

    What steps the Government are taking to increase the value of the minimum wage and encourage firms to pay the living wage.

  • Copycat Websites (8 speeches)

    What recent assessment he has made of the effect of copycat websites on consumers.

  • Apprenticeships (14 speeches)

    What steps his Department is taking to increase the number of apprenticeships.

  • Net Trade (4 speeches)

    What estimate he has made of the contribution net trade will make to GDP over the next four years.

  • Low-Carbon Economy (8 speeches)

    What progress his Department has made on creating a low-carbon economy.

  • Apprenticeships (9 speeches)

    What steps he is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship places through Government procurement.

  • Manufacturing: Renewable Technologies (4 speeches)

    What steps he has taken to support manufacturing in the renewable technologies sector.

  • Zero-hours Contracts (6 speeches)

    If he will take steps to ensure that employees working on zero-hours contracts who are in practice working regular hours over an extended period have the right to a fixed-term contract.

  • EU Membership (6 speeches)

    What recent assessment he has made of the effect of the UK’s EU membership on businesses and the UK economy.

  • Government Procurement (Supply Chains) (5 speeches)

    If he will make greater use of Government procurement to increase innovation and develop supply chains.

  • Apprenticeships (4 speeches)

    What assessment he has made of recent trends in the number of apprenticeship starts for people under 19; and if he will make a statement.

  • Small Businesses (8 speeches)

    What recent steps he has taken to support small businesses.

  • Engineers (6 speeches)

    What steps he is taking to increase the number of engineers.

  • Apprenticeships (4 speeches)

    What support he is providing to businesses wanting to take on apprentices.

  • Mandatory Origin Marking (4 speeches)

    What position his Department took at the Competitiveness Council discussions on 4 December 2014 on the product safety and market surveillance package and the provision of mandatory origin...

  • Pay to Stay Agreements (4 speeches)

    If he will bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit firms from being asked to make pay to stay agreements to remain or become approved suppliers by large firms.

  • Topical Questions (40 speeches)

    If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

Secretary of State

Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.