Written questions by Thompson.

What steps his Department is taking to help expand the pipeline of qualified floor layers to deliver (a) public housing, (b) hospitals, (c) schools and (d) other infrastructure projects.

Government is investing £625 million in construction skills over this Parliament. This includes Foundation Apprenticeships, expanded Skills Bootcamps, and the launch of Construction Technical Excellence Colleges. These measures aim to deliver up to 60,000 additional skilled workers and support employers to invest in training.The industry-led Construction Skills Mission Board is working to create construction job opportunities to meet the government's announced 159 infrastructure and built environment (1.5 million homes and retrofitting 5 million existing homes) commitments.

What steps he is taking to ensure that the chemical flame-retardant sector is represented in discussions on furniture and furnishings fire safety regulations.

The Government is committed to maintaining a high level of fire safety for domestic upholstered furniture. The Policy paper The fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture published on 22 January sets out the Government’s intention for wider reforms to furniture fire safety regulation and some immediate actions the Government has taken. The Department for Business and Trade is carrying out extensive, targeted stakeholder engagement across industry to inform decision making, including discussions with chemical producers and trade associations. As part of this ongoing work the Government will assess the impact of any proposals.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to furniture and furnishings fire safety regulations on fire safety.

The Government is committed to maintaining a high level of fire safety for domestic upholstered furniture. The Policy paper The fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture published on 22 January sets out the Government’s intention for wider reforms to furniture fire safety regulation and some immediate actions the Government has taken. The Department for Business and Trade is carrying out extensive, targeted stakeholder engagement across industry to inform decision making, including discussions with chemical producers and trade associations. As part of this ongoing work the Government will assess the impact of any proposals.

What steps he has taken to encourage collaboration between business and universities to increase economic growth.

The Government encourages university-business collaboration through a range of incentives, funding and knowledge exchange. The Higher Education Innovation Fund, managed through Research England, providing £280m annually for knowledge exchange, including £20m specifically for business and commercialisation activity. The Government has also established Skills England, which is tasked with identifying and articulating the skills needed while working with other actors in the skills system to ensure provision is aligned with our industrial strategy. We are building a flexible and high-quality system that breaks down the barriers to opportunity and drives growth.