Minutes of the 2018 AGM

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12 December 2018 – Room Q, Portcullis House

Present: Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Baroness Kramer, Seema Malhotra MP, Lisa Cameron MP, Lord Lucas, Philip Salter (The Entrepreneurs Network), Sam Dumitriu (The Entrepreneurs Network).

Elections:

Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP stood down as Chair and Seema Malhotra MP was unanimously elected as Chair and Registered Contact for the APPG. The group thanked Liam for his chairmanship.

Baroness Neville-Jones was elected as an Officer for the APPG.

The following officers were re-elected:

Dr Lisa Cameron MP, Vice-Chair
Rachel Maclean MP, Vice-Chair
Colin Clark MP, Officer
Gillian Keegan MP, Officer
Darren Jones MP, Officer
Wayne David MP, Officer
Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Officer
Lord Bilimoria, Officer
Baroness Kramer, Officer
Lord Cromwell, Officer

The following parliamentarians joined as members:

Sir Henry Bellingham MP
Lord Lucas
Baroness Wolf of Dulwich CBE
Lord Leigh of Hurley

Update from Secretariat:

Philip Salter noted that in 2018 the APPG for Entrepreneurship released 3 reports (on the topics of Enterprise Education, Women in Leadership and Tax Reform), held 2 launch events and hosted 6 roundtables with entrepreneurs and parliamentarians.

Research for 2019:

  • Lisa Cameron MP expressed interest in researching entrepreneurship as an option for people living with disabilities. She notes that flexibility is valuable for disabled. Lisa chairs APPG for Disability and raised the prospect of collaboration.

  • Seema Malhotra MP expressed interest in following up the APPG’s report on Enterprise Education at University level, with an addition report looking at provision in Primary and Secondary education. Lisa Cameron MP mentioned that the APPG should look at Enterprise Education’s place in the curriculum. Seema Malhotra MP mentioned importance of foundational business skills based on research with female entrepreneursc .

  • Baroness Kramer expressed interest in research ahead of the Immigration White Paper. Seema Malhotra MP also expressed interest in the Start-Up Visa and raised the possibility of a joint letter or article ahead of the White Paper.

  • Philip Salter set out three policies on immigration. Reforming the investor visa to channel more money into risk capital, the start-up visa to subsume the current entrepreneur visa, and a new post-study work option. Philip also highlighted issues with existing entrepreneur visa.

  • Baroness Kramer raised the issue of exporting and entrepreneurship

  • Lord Lucas raised the issue of procurement and whether SMEs are given a fair opportunity to compete for tenders. Baroness Kramer seconded that and raised concerns about the way tenders are overseen. Philip Salter mentioned South Korea’s online marketplace for public tenders as a potential model.

AOB

The meeting concluded and the group congratulated Seema on her election as Chair.