Written questions by Turner.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has held with Innovate UK on their decision to close the Smart Grants Scheme.

Supporting innovative firms to flourish in the UK will be vital to delivering our Growth Mission. Innovate UK is redesigning its approach to better support these firms to scale and grow. Innovate UK has paused its Smart Grants offer so that it can work with startups and SMEs on improving this support and has invited feedback on how to do this. In Spring, it will pilot a new support package that it will evolve in partnership with businesses. An economic evaluation of the Smart Programme is being conducted to inform Innovate UK's overall strategy and its role in delivering the Industrial Strategy.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he plans to take to improve his Department’s support for UK SMEs.

The Department is committed to improving support for SMEs, working cross-government to remove barriers to growth, ensuring that SMEs have access to resources and expertise needed to develop and scale. For example, over the last 2 years, Innovate UK has awarded £5.2bn funding to more than 7,000 businesses spread across the UK, of which 86% were SMEsWe are also working to back UK tech startups through a range of policies that address the issues the sector cares about. This includes harnessing the benefits of AI, investment, skills, regulation, data and procurement.

Innovation and Technology what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of Innovate UK funding for UK SMEs.

Supporting innovative small firms is a key objective of the government’s growth mission. My department regularly engages with business organisations to understand the needs of their members. 86% of Innovate UK grant funding goes to SMEs, with 8,000 SMEs supported in 2023 that were new to Innovate UK funding. Innovate UK’s connections to SMEs and innovators include 600+ skilled innovation & growth specialists across the UK through IUK Business Growth and IUK Business Connect. This network supports more than 10,000 SMEs a year on their innovation journey.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with small business organisations on the performance of Innovate UK.

Supporting innovative small firms is a key objective of the government’s growth mission. My department regularly engages with business organisations to understand the needs of their members. 86% of Innovate UK grant funding goes to SMEs, with 8,000 SMEs supported in 2023 that were new to Innovate UK funding. Innovate UK’s connections to SMEs and innovators include 600+ skilled innovation & growth specialists across the UK through IUK Business Growth and IUK Business Connect. This network supports more than 10,000 SMEs a year on their innovation journey.

Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to review the decision of Innovate UK to close the Smart Grants Scheme.

Supporting innovative firms to flourish in the UK will be vital to delivering our Growth Mission. Innovate UK is redesigning its approach to better support these firms to scale and grow. Innovate UK has paused its Smart Grants offer so that it can work with startups and SMEs on improving this support and has invited feedback on how to do this. In Spring, it will pilot a new support package that it will evolve in partnership with businesses. An economic evaluation of the Smart Programme is being conducted to inform Innovate UK's overall strategy and its role in delivering the Industrial Strategy.

If she will make an estimate of the number of (a) company groups that have been entered into the Tonnage Tax scheme and (b) vessels entered into the scheme by those company groups in each year since 2000; and w

The Department does not maintain cumulative records of all companies that have participated in the Tonnage Tax system, as there is no business requirement to do so. The training obligation is assessed annually. However, we can provide the most recent figu...

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14304 on Prisoners Escort, how her Department collects data on prisoner delays.

The team in HM Prison & Probation Service responsible for managing the Prisoner Escort & Custody Service (PECS) contracts collects data relating to trial delays from several sources. HM Courts and Tribunal Service submits a Court Exceptions Report...

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14304 on Prisoners Escort, how her Department defines agreed court start times.

The team in HM Prison & Probation Service responsible for managing the Prisoner Escort & Custody Service (PECS) contracts collects data relating to trial delays from several sources. HM Courts and Tribunal Service submits a Court Exceptions Report...

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12397 on Prisoners Escort, what the average time for a late delivery of a prisoner is to (a) Crown Court and (b) Magistrates Court.

Delays attributable to prisoner escort supplier failure are calculated from the point at which court proceedings are ready to commence, provided this is within the agreed court start times and the delay is greater than 15 minutes. Penalties (known as serv...

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12397 on Prisoners Escort, how many penalties for late delivery of a prisoner to the Crown Court were issued in (a) 2024 and (b) 2023.

Delays attributable to prisoner escort supplier failure are calculated from the point at which court proceedings are ready to commence, provided this is within the agreed court start times and the delay is greater than 15 minutes. Penalties (known as serv...

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12397 on Prisoners Escort, how many penalties for late delivery of a prisoner to the Magistrates Court were issued in (a) 2024 and (b) 2023.

Delays attributable to prisoner escort supplier failure are calculated from the point at which court proceedings are ready to commence, provided this is within the agreed court start times and the delay is greater than 15 minutes. Penalties (known as serv...

How many offshore wind turbines were installed at locations within (a) UK territorial waters and (b) the UK Exclusive Economic Zone in each year between 2017 and 2023.

The Crown Estate’s Offshore Wind Report 2023 states there were 2,776 operational offshore wind turbines in UK waters at the end of 2023. The Department does not hold data on the number of installed turbines over time or whether they are located in UK Terr...

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2024 to Question 7745 on Migrant Workers: Wind Power, if she will contact employers that utilised the concession to obtain data on the number of workers brought to

The offshore wind workers immigration rules concession ended on 30 April 2023. There are no plans to collect this data.

What the contractual penalties are for the late transfer of prisoners to court; and at what point the penalty starts if a prisoner is transferred late to court.

The contracts for the Prisoner Escort and Custody Service set out the penalties, referred to as “service credits”, applied to suppliers found culpable for late delivery of a prisoner to court, where this has the effect of delaying the hearing. The delay i...

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) ensure the accessibility of allotments for members of the community and (b) support local authorities in (i) improving facilities and (ii) ensuring inclu

Defra is not currently taking any such steps. Allotments policy is a matter for local Government.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to (a) review and (b) amend the Allotments Act 1950 to strengthen the rights of allotment tenants.

Defra is not currently taking any such steps. Allotments policy is a matter for local Government.

Whether his Department plans to increase investment in the children's mental health system to (a) reduce waiting times and (b) ensure that more (i) children and (ii) young people can access support

It is unacceptable that too many children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long. That is why we will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across bo...

With reference to the Register of licensed sponsors: workers, published on 7 October 2024, how many seafarers were sponsored to work on ships (a) in UK waters, (b) on international routes from UK port

All those who came to the UK under the concession were stamped at the Border rather than through visa routes and therefore no data was collected.

If she will take steps to identify the number of non-UK national workers that were brought to work on the construction and maintenance of offshore wind farms within UK territorial waters under the Off

All those who came to the UK under the concession were stamped at the Border rather than through visa routes and therefore no data was collected.

What steps he is taking to increase the volume of trade between the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka.

The Government uses a range of programmes and levers to increase the volume of trade between UK and Sri Lanka. These include the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which cuts tariffs and simplifies trading rules for Sri Lankan exporters. The Gove...