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65624

registered interest
date	03/07/2014
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Credit: Interest Rates
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, what steps the Crown Prosecution Service is taking to prosecute payday money lenders under the Fraud Act 2006.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Paul Flynn
uin	203917
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2014 answer text <p>The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is not an investigative agency and will only bring cases to court that have been referred by the police or another Law Enforcement Agency.</p><p>The Financial Conduct Authority has regulatory responsibility for payday lenders along with other financial institutions and may either investigate criminal conduct themselves or refer it to another agency or force, as appropriate.</p><p>There has been recent publicity about the conduct of one particular payday lender, Wonga. It was widely reported that the Financial Conduct Authority are to refer a file to the police for consideration of whether a criminal investigation is appropriate. This followed the announcement that Wonga would pay £2.6 million in compensation, after sending letters from non-existent law firms to customers in arrears.</p><p>The CPS Deputy Head of the Specialist Fraud Division has met with the City of London Police to discuss this case. City of London Police are the national police lead in substantial fraud investigations. At this stage, the police have still to consider whether a criminal investigation is required and no advice has been sought from the CPS. Any referral to the CPS will be made to the Specialist Fraud Division.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald question first answered 10/07/2014 11:20:43 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
tabling member	545 label Biography information for Paul Flynn

65626

registered interest
date	03/07/2014
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Young Offenders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of all defendants of charges of (a) rape, (b) sexual offences other than rape and (c) domestic violence have been aged (i) 18 to 24 and (ii) 14 to 17 in each of the last 10 financial years.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	203934
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2014 answer text <p>The table below shows the proportion of prosecuted defendants, flagged as rape, sexual offences excluding rape and domestic violence, recorded in the age bands 18 – 24 and 14 – 17 in each of the last seven years:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>(a) </strong><strong>Rape</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>(b) </strong><strong>Sexual Offences</strong></p><p><strong> exc Rape</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>(c) </strong><strong>Domestic</strong></p><p><strong> Violence</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>(i) 14 - 17</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(ii) 18 - 24</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(i) 14 - 17</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(ii) 18 - 24</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(i) 14 - 17</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(ii) 18 - 24</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2007 - 2008</strong></p></td><td><p>10.1%</p></td><td><p>21.5%</p></td><td><p>7.5%</p></td><td><p>16.3%</p></td><td><p>4.0%</p></td><td><p>24.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2008 - 2009</strong></p></td><td><p>9.4%</p></td><td><p>22.5%</p></td><td><p>6.1%</p></td><td><p>16.3%</p></td><td><p>4.0%</p></td><td><p>25.5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009 - 2010</strong></p></td><td><p>9.5%</p></td><td><p>22.5%</p></td><td><p>6.0%</p></td><td><p>17.0%</p></td><td><p>4.0%</p></td><td><p>26.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010 - 2011</strong></p></td><td><p>7.6%</p></td><td><p>21.9%</p></td><td><p>5.5%</p></td><td><p>16.9%</p></td><td><p>3.8%</p></td><td><p>25.9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011 - 2012</strong></p></td><td><p>8.1%</p></td><td><p>21.3%</p></td><td><p>4.7%</p></td><td><p>16.6%</p></td><td><p>3.3%</p></td><td><p>25.8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012 - 2013</strong></p></td><td><p>7.4%</p></td><td><p>22.6%</p></td><td><p>4.5%</p></td><td><p>16.9%</p></td><td><p>3.0%</p></td><td><p>25.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013 - 2014</strong></p></td><td><p>6.8%</p></td><td><p>21.4%</p></td><td><p>4.3%</p></td><td><p>16.8%</p></td><td><p>2.7%</p></td><td><p>23.5%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Data Source: CPS Management Information System</p><p>The CPS did not separately collect data pertaining to the ages defendants prior to April 2007.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald question first answered 10/07/2014 11:18:26 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

65627

registered interest
date	03/07/2014
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Rape: Convictions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of all unsuccessful outcomes in rape cases have been because of victim issues in each of the last seven financial years.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	203935
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2014 answer text <p>The table below shows the proportion of unsuccessful prosecutions in rape cases due to victim issues in each of the last seven years.</p><p>The recording of the reasons for unsuccessful outcomes was changed in April 2013 leading to enhanced recording of victim issues. It is hoped that this may more accurately reflect the rape victim issues the CPS is addressing through the National Rape Action Plan published in June 2014. The Plan includes a specific action to conduct research into the reasons behind victim withdrawals to help identify steps to encourage victims to engage with the court process.</p><p>Previously victim reasons may have been recorded as ‘essential legal element missing' or ‘unreliable witnesses'. Following a change to clarify the definitions in 2013-14, the CPS has seen a fall in these reasons (from 4% to 1.5% and 8.1% to 1.3% respectively). In parallel there has been a rise in recording of unsuccessful outcomes due to victim issues, with the figure rising from 12.5% to 18% of all unsuccessful outcomes, of which 10.8% was due to victim retraction.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Rape Victim Issues</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2007-2008</strong></p></td><td><p>18.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2008-2009</strong></p></td><td><p>17.5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009-2010</strong></p></td><td><p>16.5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010-2011</strong></p></td><td><p>13.9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011-2012</strong></p></td><td><p>11.8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012-2013</strong></p></td><td><p>12.5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013-2014</strong></p></td><td><p>18.0%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Data Source: CPS Management Information System</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald question first answered 10/07/2014 11:15:10 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

65628

registered interest
date	03/07/2014
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Prosecutions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of unsuccessful Crown Prosecution Service prosecutions have been because of victim issues in each of the last seven financial years.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	203936
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2014 answer text <p>The table below shows the proportion of unsuccessful prosecutions due to victim issues in each of the last seven years. The data for 2013-14 is not directly comparable with previous years.</p><p>Victim reasons or issues are defined as non-attendance, retraction or the evidence of the victim does not support the case or come up to proof.</p><p>The CPS is continually striving to improve the quality of data used in both internal and external reports. The recording of the reasons for unsuccessful outcomes was changed in April 2013 leading to enhanced recording of victim issues. It is hoped that this may more accurately reflect the proportion of unsuccessful cases due to victim issues.</p><p>Previously victim reasons may have been recorded as ‘essential legal element missing' or ‘unreliable witnesses'. Following a change to clarify the definitions in 2013-14, The CPS has seen a fall in these reasons (from 13.7% to 4.0% and 2.2% to 1.4% respectively). In parallel there has been a rise in recording, of unsuccessful outcomes due to victim issues, with the figure rising from 15.8% to 18.8% of all unsuccessful outcomes, of which 8.1% was due to victim retraction.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p><strong>Victim Issues/Reasons</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2007-2008</strong></p></td><td><p>13.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2008-2009</strong></p></td><td><p>13.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009-2010</strong></p></td><td><p>14.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010-2011</strong></p></td><td><p>15.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011-2012</strong></p></td><td><p>15.7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012-2013</strong></p></td><td><p>15.8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013-2014</strong></p></td><td><p>18.8%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Data Source: CPS Management Information System</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald question first answered 10/07/2014 11:12:19 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

65630

registered interest
date	03/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Individual Voluntary Arrangements
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the value of publishing the average total debt of individuals subject to individual voluntary arrangements.
tabling member constituency	Walthamstow
tabling member printed	Stella Creasy
uin	204045
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2014 answer text <p>Individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) are supervised by licensed insolvency practitioners, who are required to notify the Insolvency Service of the registration of new IVAs, the name, date of birth and address of the individual, and the date of completion or termination of the IVA. They are not required to provide information on the amount of debt, so it is not possible to publish such information.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 09/07/2014 16:09:41 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4088 label Biography information for Stella Creasy

65631

registered interest
date	03/07/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
hansard heading	Consumers: Protection
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) consumers and (b) endorsement of consumer protection law of the hand-over of investigations from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority.
tabling member constituency	Walthamstow
tabling member printed	Stella Creasy
uin	204046
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2014 answer text <p>The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market. The transfer of regulatory responsibility for consumer credit from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Fair_Trading" target="_blank">Office of Fair Trading</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OFT" target="_blank">OFT</a>) to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Conduct_Authority" target="_blank">Financial Conduct Authority</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCA" target="_blank">FCA</a>) took effect in April. The FCA has stronger powers and is far better equipped to protect consumers than the OFT.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has ensured that the FCA has inherited the OFT's powers (both criminal and regulatory) in relation to misconduct which occurred before 1 April 2014, as well as considerably strengthening the FCA's powers in relation to misconduct which occurs under the new regulatory regime.</p><p> </p><p>The FCA has the same powers as the OFT had to investigate and prosecute offences under the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Credit_Act" target="_blank">Consumer Credit Act</a> 1974.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The FCA has also inherited the OFT's power to fine, although the OFT's power to fine under the Consumer Credit Act was limited to fining a firm for breaches of a requirement imposed by the OFT (and the maximum penalty in this regard was £50,000). The Government has already strengthened the new regime by giving the FCA the ability to impose unlimited fines for breaches of regulatory requirements that take place after 1 April 2014.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 09/07/2014 15:30:09 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	4088 label Biography information for Stella Creasy

65632

registered interest
date	03/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Civil Servants: Codes of Practice
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) internal and (b) external complaints have been received by his Department about alleged breaches of the Civil Service Code of Conduct since 2010; and what steps his Department has taken in response to each such complaint.
tabling member constituency	Glenrothes
tabling member printed	Lindsay Roy
uin	203953
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2014 answer text <p>There have been no internal or external complaints about alleged breaches of the Civil Service Code of Conduct received by the Departmental Complaints Officer since 2010.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 09/07/2014 16:16:15 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1608 label Biography information for Lindsay Roy

65633

registered interest
date	03/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	British Business Bank
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many small and medium-sized business in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) England and Wales have (i) applied for and (ii) been granted loans by the British Business Bank in the last year.
tabling member constituency	Ashfield
tabling member printed	Gloria De Piero
uin	203964
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2014 answer text <p>The British Business Bank does not lend directly to small and medium-sized businesses.</p><p>However, the British Business Bank does administer a number of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills' schemes designed to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses by facilitating lending which would not otherwise take place.</p><p>In all cases the loans are made by third party lenders and neither the Department nor the Business Bank plays any part in the individual lending decisions.</p><p>In some instances the loans are made using capital partially or wholly provided by the Department as either a grant or a loan and in other cases the lenders' own capital is used under the partial protection of a guarantee from the Department.</p><p>The devolved nature of the delivery arrangements mean that the Department does not hold fully comparable information on the number of applications received by each lender in each programme but information on loans drawn down in the Financial Year 2013/14 is available as follows:</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 10/07/2014 13:39:25 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock attachment 1 file name British Business Bank loans.docx title British Business Bank loans to SMEs
tabling member	3915 label Biography information for Gloria De Piero

65638

registered interest
date	03/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Exports
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assistance his Department provides to help small rural businesses to export; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Thirsk and Malton
tabling member printed	Miss Anne McIntosh
uin	203921
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2014 answer text <p>UK Trade &amp; Investment (UKTI) provides a wide range of export services to small businesses, including small businesses located in rural areas. Those services include access to UKTI's network of trade advisers who help companies develop their export potential, as well as support for companies to attend overseas missions and exhibitions. When overseas, small companies can access support from UKTI teams in more than 100 international markets.</p><p>In the past 12 months, UKTI has supported 29 companies in Thirsk Malton and Filey.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 10/07/2014 13:44:26 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
tabling member	384 label Biography information for Baroness McIntosh of Pickering

65639

registered interest
date	03/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Business: Cybercrime
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support and protection the Government provides to UK businesses experiencing cyber attacks.
tabling member constituency	Blaydon
tabling member printed	Mr David Anderson
uin	203893
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2014 answer text <p>The UK Cyber Security Strategy, published in November 2011, sets out how the UK will support economic prosperity, protect national security and safeguard the public's way of life by building a more trusted and resilient digital environment. A £860 million National Cyber Security Programme is in place to 2016 to deliver the objectives of the strategy. These objectives include making the UK one of the most secure places in the world to do business in cyberspace, and making the UK more resilient to cyber attack and better able to protect our interests in cyberspace.</p><p>Government is working closely with industry to address the threat and impact of cyber attacks. These measures include:</p><p>o Creating a National Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT UK which works closely with industry, Government and academia to enhance UK cyber resilience. It provides support to Critical National Infrastructure companies to handle cyber security incidents. The Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership (CISP), part of CERT UK, enables companies to share information and intelligence on cyber security threats.</p><p>o The creation of a Government approved list of Cyber Incident ‘Clean Up' companies which can help companies respond effectively to incidents and get them up and running as soon as possible.</p><p>o Advice and guidance resources including the '10 Steps to Cyber Security' guidance, the CyberStreetwise behaviour change campaign <a href="http://www.cyberstreetwise.com/" target="_blank">www.cyberstreetwise.com</a> and the Government and industry funded GetSafeOnline <a href="http://www.getsafeonline.org/" target="_blank">www.getsafeonline.org</a>.</p><p>o The Government-backed and industry approved Cyber Essentials scheme, which enables businesses to certify themselves against core technical cyber requirements and implement a basic level of cyber hygiene against cyber threats.</p><p>o Practical support for small businesses with the Cyber Security Innovation Vouchers Scheme to enable individual businesses to receive £5,000 to increase their cyber security.</p><p>o Support for industry initiatives such as Nominet's ‘Cyber Assist' pilot service for small and medium-sized enterprises experiencing cyber attacks.</p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 09/07/2014 16:50:57 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
tabling member	1486 label Biography information for Mr David Anderson