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170285

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Written Questions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the savings to the Law Officers' Departments from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems the Law Officers' Departments have introduced or plan to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	218771
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>The Attorney General’s Office has made an estimated saving of £164 in respect of stationery costs since June 2014. There may also have been some savings in staff time but it is not possible to quantify this without incurring a disproportionate cost. There have been no other identified savings.</p><p> </p><p>There have also not been any modifications made to existing ICT systems that were dependent on introduction of the Q&amp;A system.</p><p> </p><p>One of the benefits of the new system is the possibility for the reporting of the timeliness of answers to Parliamentary Questions to be delivered with greater consistency and accuracy across all answering bodies.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It will be for the Procedure Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the new system in improving performance when it assesses the evidence following the end of the session.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Mr Robert Buckland question first answered 05/01/2015 17:40:06 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

170286

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
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	Written Questions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems his Department has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	218770
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/01/2015 answer text <p>No financial estimate of savings has been made since the introduction of the Q&amp;A system. However, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has seen a reduction in paper usage and BIS staff no longer have to physically deliver PQ answers to hon. Members and the House authorities. These obvious savings will continue.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>BIS changed its IT platform for managing PQs to eCase last summer. This would have happened regardless of the introduction of the Q&amp;A system.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 02/01/2015 11:52:42 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

170287

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
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	Post Offices: Worcestershire
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 post offices were closed in (a) Worcester and (b) Worcestershire (i) between 1997 and 2010 and (ii) between 2010 and 2015.
tabling member constituency	Worcester
tabling member printed	Mr Robin Walker
uin	218796
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government understands the important role that post offices play in communities across the country and since 2010 has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect a network of at least 11,500 branches that continues to meet strict access criteria that see, for example, 95% of the urban population living within one mile of a post office outlet.</p><p> </p><p>This Government has also committed that there will be no programme of Post Office closures. There are currently around 11,700 post office branches in the UK, with the Post Office network at its most stable for over two decades.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited and I understand from the company that it does not hold information in the format requested. For your reference I include historic information on the number of open Post Office branches at national level and by the West Midlands Government Office region in the tables below:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Number of open post offices in the UK</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number of open Post Office branches</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of March 1997</p></td><td><p>19251</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of March 2010</p></td><td><p>11905</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of Sept 2014</p></td><td><p>11631</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Number of open post offices in West Midlands Government Office region (historic figures are only available from the year 2000)</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number of open Post Office branches</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of March 2000</p></td><td><p>1479</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of March 2010</p></td><td><p>930</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of Sept 2014</p></td><td><p>904</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 05/01/2015 11:22:53 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker

170288

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
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	Further Education
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 people aged 24 years and older participated in Government-funded further education courses at all levels in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	218803
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>Table 1 shows the number of people aged 24 years and older who participated in Government-funded further education courses at all levels in the last five academic years.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: 24+ FE &amp; Skills Participation (2009/10 to 2013/14) – Learner Volumes</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td colspan="5"><p><strong>Funded Learners</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p><strong>2009/10</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010/11</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011/12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012/13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Participation</strong></p></td><td><p>2,873,400</p></td><td><p>2,515,100</p></td><td><p>2,493,600</p></td><td><p>2,583,100</p></td><td><p>2,273,300</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p> </p><p>1) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 100; percentages are calculated on pre-rounded data.</p><p> </p><p>2) Age is reported as at 31 August of the academic year and is based upon self-declaration by the learner.</p><p> </p><p>3) The data source for this table is the Individualised Learner Record.</p><p> </p><p>4) Figures for 2011/12 onwards are not directly comparable to earlier years as a Single Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data collection system has been introduced. Small technical changes have been made in the way learners from more than one provision type are counted, leading to a removal of duplicate learners and a reduction in overall learner numbers of approximately 2 per cent.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 05/01/2015 14:05:48 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

170291

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
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	Post Offices
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 post offices have been refurbished as a result of the Government's £2 billion investment in the Post Office Network since 2010 in (a) Worcester, (b) Worcestershire and (c) England.
tabling member constituency	Worcester
tabling member printed	Mr Robin Walker
uin	218797
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government understands the important role that post offices play in communities across the country and since 2010 has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect the network. This is an historic commitment, and is designed to ensure that the Post Office has a vibrant, successful and financially sustainable long-term future where is it less reliant on an annual taxpayer funded subsidy.</p><p> </p><p>The Post Office is undertaking the largest modernisation programme in its history and network transformation is seeing subpostmasters receiving public investment to improve their branches; delivering benefits to customers including longer opening hours, more convenient access and improved branch environments. To date over 3,500 branches have converted to the new Main and Local models and nearly 290 of the Post Office’s directly owned Crown post offices have benefitted from investment.</p><p> </p><p>The following table sets out the numbers of post offices that have received investment in the areas requested:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p>Number of post offices that</p><p>have received investment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Worcester</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Worcestershire</p></td><td><p>32</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands Government Office Region</p></td><td><p>302</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>England</p></td><td><p>3173</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 05/01/2015 14:03:59 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker

170292

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
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	UK Trade and Investment: West Midlands
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 businesses in the West Midlands have received support from UK Trade and Investment in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Worcester
tabling member printed	Mr Robin Walker
uin	218798
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/01/2015 answer text <p>The figures below detail the number of businesses which have had interactions with UKTI West Midlands in the last 5 financial years.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>West Midlands based</strong></p><p><strong>Businesses Assisted*</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>2333</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>2212</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>2784</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>2993</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>2799 (to Dec 2014)</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>*The figures provided are the total number of unique businesses that benefited from a Service Delivery. Service Delivery is participation in either the Passport To Export or Gateway to Global Growth programme, or a ‘Significant Assist’ – which is the provision of in-depth advice and support from an International Trade Advisor.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 06/01/2015 16:38:13 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker

170293

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
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	Students: Safety
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department issues guidance to higher and further education institutes on student safety during trips abroad.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne East
tabling member printed	Mr Nicholas Brown
uin	218715
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/01/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not issue guidance to UK higher and further institutions on student safety during trips abroad. Higher and further education institutions are autonomous bodies, and as such each institution is wholly responsible for their own risk assessment and guidance on student safety during trips abroad.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 02/01/2015 11:49:23 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	523 label Biography information for Mr Nicholas Brown

170296

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
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	Scottish Power
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made on implementing the findings of the original report compiled by the Office of Fair Trading and Department of Trade and Industry regarding the collapse of Scottish Power's Power Plan.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
uin	218594
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/01/2015 answer text <p>Statutory investigations by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Business, Innovation and Skills) using Companies Act powers are confidential and their findings cannot be disclosed outside strict statutory gateways.</p><p> </p><p>The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) did not directly investigate the collapse of Scottish Power’s Power Plan. In 2003 an investigation was undertaken by the OFT into the terms and conditions used in contracts with consumers purchasing goods under the PowerPlan scheme sold by Scottish Power plc. As a result a series of recommendations regarding those terms and conditions were made to the companies who operated the scheme, and I understand that the recommendations were implemented by the companies before they entered insolvency.</p><p> </p><p>More generally, the OFT investigated the market for extended warranties in the UK in 2002 and, having found that competition in the market did not appear to be working effectively, referred the market to the Competition Commission (CC). Following the CC’s report in 2003, the DTI implemented the Supply of Extended Warranties on Domestic Electrical Goods Order which came into force in April 2005. The OFT undertook a further study of the market for extended warranties in 2012.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 06/01/2015 17:15:43 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram

170297

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
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	Scottish Power
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he received reports from the MacDonald Partnership in relation to mis-sold Scottish Power Power Plan warranties; what the titles of such reports were; and when he plans to respond to those reports.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
uin	218595
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>The initial report from Mr MacDonald was received on 17 July 2014 for review by the Insolvency Service. Further information including another more detailed report was received from him during September and October 2014, and these again have been reviewed by the Insolvency Service. The reports are confidential.</p><p> </p><p>The reports themselves do not require a direct response but I can confirm that the Insolvency Service has completed its review of this material and is in communication with Mr MacDonald.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 17/12/2014 11:11:20 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram

170304

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
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	Postal Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the financial sustainability of the Universal Postal Service in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22, (d) 2022-23 and (e) after 2023.
tabling member constituency	Knowsley
tabling member printed	Mr George Howarth
uin	218700
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/01/2015 answer text <p>Parliament has given Ofcom, as an independent regulator, the primary statutory duty to secure the provision of a universal postal service and to have regard for its financial sustainability.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ofcom have a detailed monitoring and forecasting regime in place to assess the health of the universal postal service on a monthly basis and if the evidence suggests the need for a further review – which can be carried out at any given point in time - Ofcom would not hesitate to do this.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 02/01/2015 14:02:44 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	481 label Biography information for Sir George Howarth