argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Trade Opportunities — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): I recently talked to a senior Indian businessman and asked him how we could increase trade with India. He said that the one thing we could do was to leave the EU because of the restrictions. Will the Secretary of State, either as Secretary of State or personally, endorse his comment?
Trade Opportunities — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman should not do down our world-class exporters. They are doing a fantastic job. Let me give him a few examples of what they can export. They can export wine to France, chocolate to Belgium and even boomerangs to Australia, although I fear that it is sometimes the same boomerang that keeps coming back.
Apprenticeships — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): There is, in fact, no innate tension between quantity and quality. We want better quality, because that will mean more employers wanting to offer apprenticeships, such as BMW in my hon. Friend’s constituency. I strongly welcome the very high-quality apprenticeships that it is creating.
Apprenticeships — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome that question, because while it is true that Ofsted has highlighted some bad practice, that bad practice has been familiar to us all for a long time, and has inspired the reforms that we are introducing. All apprenticeship frameworks will be replaced by standards developed by employers. Training must last for more than 12 months, and at least 20% of it must be off-the-job training. We will also ensure that quality improves at all levels. I disagree slightly with the chief inspector’s implication that a level 2 apprenticeship is somehow not of high quality. Apprenticeships should be of high quality at all levels, and the existing level 2 apprenticeships increase people’s incomes by an average of 11% three to five years later.
Apprenticeships — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Questions: There were 970 new starts in my constituency last year, many of them in engineering and technology. That was an increase of 24% on the number of starts in the previous year. Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating the new apprentices, and does he agree that those figures show that the Government are committed to high-quality apprenticeship places, such as those that are provided at Prospects college of advanced technology
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): That was a stunning achievement in my hon. Friend’s constituency. I know that it was largely due to PROCAT, which is an excellent institution, and one of the first institutions to become a college for a long time. My visit to PROCAT was my first visit to a college in my current job, and if my hon. Friend invites me to return, I shall be happy to do so.
Apprenticeships — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Labor
Questions: There were 970 new starts in my constituency last year, many of them in engineering and technology. That was an increase of 24% on the number of starts in the previous year. Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating the new apprentices, and does he agree that those figures show that the Government are committed to high-quality apprenticeship places, such as those that are provided at Prospects college of advanced technology
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Gentleman knows, I greatly value the work that trade unions do in encouraging employees to take up training opportunities, which is why we continue to fund the important work of Unionlearn. I will certainly reflect on his suggestion, and will make some announcements shortly.
Business Support (Exports) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): My Department is leading a cross-Whitehall work programme to support exports. For example, UK Trade & Investment connects UK businesses with export opportunities throughout the world. Over the next year, the UKTI export hub will travel around the country to give face-to-face assistance to first-time exporters.
Business Support (Exports) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree that we should always try to do more to help small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, to export more. The hon. Gentleman may know that I recently led one of our first regional trade missions, the northern powerhouse trade mission, to the far east. It included not only the Greater Manchester chamber of commerce, but companies such as Televic Education, which is in his constituency.
Business Support (Exports) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Labor
Thomas Christopher John Pursglove (Conservative, Centre-right): Fairline has a long history of exporting luxury boats across the world, but last week we heard the devastating news of 380 redundancies. While I hope that the administrator can identify a buyer, many of those employees have been laid off for significant periods with reduced pay. Will the Secretary of State do all that he can to ensure that the redundancy payments are expedited, especially given that Christmas is just around the corner?
Business Support (Exports) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Agriculture
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman will know that these discussions are still going on. By their very nature, they are complex, as two huge economic areas are involved, and so they will still take some time. Agri-products and all products of that nature need to be carefully looked at, so we have not reached a final point. It is worth remembering that once this deal is done, it can be worth up to £400 for every household in the UK each year.
Business Support (Exports) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Michael Louis David Fabricant (Conservative, Centre-right): In my former career, I exported broadcasting equipment to 48 countries worldwide—no thanks to the EU and its regulations. Is it not the case that people need the chutzpah to export, and although the Department can give as much help as it can, people have actually to get out there and do it, and be confident in doing so?
Business Support (Exports) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I am glad the hon. Gentleman has raised the issue of the BGS, because although it was a good fee-earner for consultants, there is very little evidence to show that it helped businesses to grow. [Interruption.] There is little evidence that it was the best way to help those businesses. The best way to help businesses is to make sure that we continue to have a growing economy—our economy is growing faster than those of all our rivals—so one thing he can do is support our long-term economic plan. We are also providing funding to 39 local enterprise partnerships—all the LEPs—through growth hubs, which they can use for localised support, including export opportunities.
Apprenticeship Levy — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Labor
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): Employers with a payroll bill of more than £3 million a year will be required to pay the new apprenticeship levy. It will raise £3 billion in 2019-20 to support apprenticeship training throughout the UK, including in Scotland.
Apprenticeship Levy — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman is proud of the 25,000 modern apprenticeship starts in Scotland, just as we are proud of the half a million starts we have had in the past year in England. This would suggest to me that we can both take pride in our commitment to apprenticeships. I hope he will welcome the fact that the apprenticeship levy will be generating resources, some of which will pass to Scotland to enable it to fund what I hope will be a dramatic expansion in the number of its apprenticeships.
Apprenticeship Levy — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course I would be delighted to meet the hon. Lady and that delegation, but I will be asking them what they thought of her party’s plans for Scotland’s economy, which rested on oil prices at $100 a barrel and would now see an independent Scotland entirely bankrupt and probably scuttling to the International Monetary Fund.
Adult Skills (Funding) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Questions: What steps he plans to take to make the efficiencies and savings in adult skills set out in the “Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015”.
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): We are protecting funding for adult education at £1.5 billion per year in cash terms. We are extending advanced learner loans to more adult learners and increasing spending on adult apprenticeships to £1.5 billion by 2019-20. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State says, this means that total funding for adult skills training will be 36% higher in the last year of this Parliament than in the first.[Official Report, 5 January 2016, Vol. 604, c. 2MC.]
Adult Skills (Funding) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Questions: What steps he plans to take to make the efficiencies and savings in adult skills set out in the “Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015”.
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): Like many other colleges, the hon. Lady’s college wrote to the Prime Minister before the spending review in response to the shroud waving by the Opposition, who predicted a 25% to 40% cut in the adult skills budget. If the hon. Lady had taken the trouble to attend my right hon. Friend the Chancellor’s spending review statement, she would have heard that he was protecting it in cash terms while increasing the funding for apprenticeships, which her college and others could bid for. If she spoke to her college, she would discover that, like all other colleges, it is pleasantly surprised by the funding settlement.
Further Education College (Sittingbourne) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): The House is making me earn my salary today We have launched a process of locally-led area reviews to consider each area’s skills needs and plan how further education colleges and sixth form colleges can best organise themselves to meet them. The Kent review is due to start in November 2016.
Further Education College (Sittingbourne) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Gordon Leonard Henderson (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the review. Sittingbourne is the largest town in Kent without its own FE college. However, we have a unique opportunity to change that. May I invite the Minister to visit the Swale skills centre in my constituency to learn about how, with the right help, it could easily and cheaply be extended into a small college?
Further Education College (Sittingbourne) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): I have had a message from the Whips saying that they would be only too delighted for me to do further visits to hon. Members’ constituencies, so I would be delighted to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency. We do not hear the Opposition celebrating when new institutions open, including the Swale skills centre, which was set up by a very successful academies trust that is already doing a great job of running three local schools.
Student Loans — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I consulted on the proposal to freeze the student loan repayment threshold and received responses from a wide range of interested parties. I considered those responses, as well as a detailed impact analysis, before deciding to proceed with the freezing of the threshold.
Student Loans — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): What I accept is that these were the right set of changes. I considered the responses to the consultation carefully. It is important that we strike the right balance between the interests of the students, making sure that all who have the ability have the opportunity to go to university, and the interests of the taxpayer, ensuring that we have an affordable, sustainable funding system. That is exactly what the changes bring about.
Student Loans — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right. That is true of England. We have seen a record increase to 382,000 people in the past year, and the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds has gone up from 9.5% to 18.2% in the past five years. In Scotland we have seen a fall in the number of students because Scotland does not have a funding system that allows all who want to go to university to do so.
Student Loans — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Education
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The changes in question are entirely lawful. That is the advice that I received and it is perfectly consistent with the aims. Hon. Members should remember that the loans that are provided are on significantly better terms than those that are available commercially, and they achieve the objective of allowing all those who wish to go to university and who have the ability to do so.
Aerospace Industry — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Technology
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I was delighted that in the spending review the Government committed a further £900 million of funding for aerospace research and development, supported by the Aerospace Technology Institute. That means that this Government will invest almost £2 billion in aerospace research over 13 years to 2025-26, so our world-leading aerospace industry can stay at the forefront of development and capitalise on the estimated £3.6 trillion market for new aircraft that will be needed over the next 20 years.
Aerospace Industry — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Technology
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I am more than happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the concerns of all those he has met with. Rolls-Royce, along with the aerospace sector as a whole, is a major contributor to the United Kingdom economy, so we get how important it is. That is why we have protected and, indeed, extended the investment that we are making in research and development.
Aerospace Industry — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Technology
Stephen Daniel Double (Conservative, Centre-right): The recent announcement of the expansion of the Aerohub enterprise zone in Cornwall to include the Goonhilly earth station has been keenly welcomed in Cornwall. Does the Minister agree that this creates a great opportunity for Cornwall to be awarded the location of the UK spaceport, which would provide a huge bonus to the Cornish economy?
Aerospace Industry — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Technology
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure my hon. Friend will continue to make that case. I have to say that a number of other airports are in the running and we aim to launch the selection process next year. We have heard the great news about the launch today and Major Tim going up into space. Ground control can report that the UK space sector has almost doubled to £11.8 billion—[Interruption.] I know it is the festive season, but I think it is most unfortunate that Opposition Members are singing. It is not good. I hope they might cheer the fact that the sector has almost doubled to £11.8 billion in just seven years and employs 37,000 people.
Aerospace Industry — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): We should of course mention the importance of Rolls-Royce to a great city like Derby; I say that, obviously, as a Nottinghamshire MP. In all seriousness, we are monitoring the situation carefully. We recognise the huge importance of the role that Rolls-Royce plays in our economy. It is really important that we do not talk things down. [Interruption.] Forgive me, but there is too often a tendency among Labour Members, not necessarily the hon. Lady, to talk things down. It is really important that we do not do that and that we continue to support Rolls-Royce.
Aerospace Industry — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): Because—I know the hon. Gentleman will have trouble in understanding this—this is 2015. We are not back in the ’60s and the dark days of the ’70s, and we have a long-term economic plan that delivers, unlike his plan, which would be an absolute disaster for our country.
Energy Sector (Research and Development) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Energy
Peter James Guy Aldous (Conservative, Centre-right): The North sea oil and gas sector faces significant challenges at the current time, with a need for a collegiate approach to research and development to fuel innovation and to drive down costs. To achieve this, will the Minister consider setting up a North sea oil and gas innovation centre similar to the very successful offshore wind catapult?
Energy Sector (Research and Development) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Energy
George William Freeman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very interesting point. On the east coast in East Anglia, in the north and in Scotland, this country is leading in the field of offshore energy. We have just funded the offshore energy centre, but I would be happy to look at the specific idea that he recommends.
Energy Sector (Research and Development) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Energy
George William Freeman (Conservative, Centre-right): It is a pleasure to follow that speech. I will happily repeat the figure I just gave: the Prime Minister has just announced £400 million of extra funding for energy finance. We have just made announcements on onshore research. One of the lessons for Scotland is to reduce its dependence on public sector funding. The truth is that, under the renewables obligation for offshore wind, 28% of the funding went to Scotland—that is £560 million—when it represents only 10% of bill payers. We need to support the green economy in Scotland, just like we are doing in the rest of the country.
Energy Sector (Research and Development) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Energy
David Mowat (Conservative, Centre-right): In the spending review, a major energy investment of £250 million was announced for small modular reactors. That was warmly welcomed in the north-west and it will make a big difference to our ability to meet our climate change targets. It is crucial that the UK owns the intellectual property rights that result from that technology. Will the Minister and his colleagues in the Department of Energy and Climate Change make sure that that is the case?
Energy Sector (Research and Development) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Energy
George William Freeman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is something of an expert on those matters and I will happily look into the very important point he makes. One of the benefits of our support for the green economy—which, as I have said, is now a £45 billion sector in this country—is that we are generating the leading technologies in 21st-century green energy. I will happily look into the specific points he makes.
Small Businesses (Late Payments) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Transportation
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I fear that, as ever, I am a bit off message. I take a radical approach to parking. As far as is ever possible, I take the view that there should be no parking charges in any towns. The car parks belong to the people—they absolutely do. There are times when a local authority wants to put in car-parking charges—a very good example being in Rushcliffe—to make sure that people do not abuse them, but, as far as possible, we should be supporting our great town centres and our great small businesses. We should not charge people for the luxury of parking in their own hometowns.
Small Businesses (Late Payments) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: International Affairs
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): It was all going so well—I was going to be a little Christmas fairy. Of course, everybody knows my views, and, indeed, those of my Prime Minister, on the European Union: we want to stay in a reformed Union and make sure that we get those reforms. In the spirit of Christmas, I would be delighted to go to Huddersfield. I could talk about my family’s long-standing relationship with Huddersfield. We will do that on the basis that I will go to Huddersfield if the hon. Gentleman will come to Broxtowe, to Beeston in particular.
Cyber-resilience — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Technology
Edward Vaizey (Conservative, Centre-right): I am delighted to say that I talk about cyber-resilience a lot with the Minister for the Cabinet Office. Only the other day, we were saying how pleased we were to hear the Chancellor announce the doubling of the cyber-security budget to almost £2 billion.
Cyber-resilience — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Technology
Edward Vaizey (Conservative, Centre-right): I did not double the budget; it was the Chancellor. It is important—particularly for one’s career—to give him credit when he does such things. I take the hon. Gentleman’s point very seriously. We have a fantastic scheme called the cyber essentials scheme, which allows small businesses and large businesses to get a certificate to show that they have been through a process to increase their cyber-security.
Productivity — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): No, that is absolutely not the case. The hon. Gentleman is right that there has been a long-running productivity issue in our country under successive Governments. That is why we have published the ambitious productivity plan, dealing with issues such as skills, infrastructure and innovation. In the past year, we have seen a 1.3% year-on-year increase in output per hour, which is very encouraging.
Productivity — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): Because after 13 years of the Labour party being in charge, we had the biggest recession our country had seen in almost 100 years and it has taken time for the country to recover from that. As I have said, productivity is on the rise.
Broadband Market (Competition) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Technology
Edward Vaizey (Conservative, Centre-right): It is nice to be back, Mr Speaker. We have a very competitive broadband market. I was thinking about that the other day when I went to York to see TalkTalk delivering fibre to premises. I met the chief executive of Virgin Media, which is investing billions in fibre. There has been an announcement from CityFibre about its acquiring some of KCom’s holdings. On Friday, I will go to see Gigaclear delivering broadband to homes in Epping Forest. We have a very competitive market.
Broadband Market (Competition) — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Technology
Edward Vaizey (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady knows full well that Hull has traditionally had one, in effect municipal, provider—Kingston Communications, which has been privatised—which is why Hull has white phone boxes, rather than red ones. I am pleased to say that KCom is investing in broadband for the whole of Hull without any need for a public subsidy.