Every parliamentary written question tabled by John Whittingdale this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–3 of 3 · Department for Business and Trade
Whether the provisions enabling AI Sandboxes in the Regulating for Growth Bill will include protections for UK Intellectual Property to ensure that it cannot be suspended to allow experimentation in relation to technologies such as AI.
Awaiting answer.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of requiring repayment of covid business support grants that were (a) paid in error by local authorities, (b) received and spent in good faith and (c) only identified several years after the original payment on small community sports clubs.
The various business grant schemes were a vital component of support for many businesses during the Covid-19 crisis. However, due to the speed of delivery, payments were made in good faith and in some cases following post payment compliance checks, some awards were identified as being made when they didn’t qualify for the support. In such cases, to protect public money these funds are recovered. Recovery action is assessed on a case-by-case basis, with repayment terms on an interest-free basis offered to support businesses required to repay funds.
If his Department will review the policy requiring local authorities to claw back covid grant payments made in error where (a) significant periods of time have elapsed before notification of the error, (b) the payment was (i) made and (ii) used in good faith and (c) repayment would have a disproportionate impact on small community organisations.
The various business grant schemes were a vital component of support for many businesses during the Covid-19 crisis. However, due to the speed of delivery, payments were made in good faith and in some cases following post payment compliance checks, some awards were identified as being made when they didn’t qualify for the support. In such cases, to protect public money these funds are recovered. Recovery action is considered and assessed on a case-by-case basis, with repayment terms on an interest-free basis offered to support businesses required to repay.