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450658

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	Unpaid Work: Social Mobility
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to inform businesses about the effect that (a) paid and (b) unpaid internships have on social mobility.
tabling member constituency	South West Wiltshire
tabling member printed	Dr Andrew Murrison
uin	25863
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2016 answer text <p>The Government believes in fair wages for fair work and opportunity for all. When an intern meets the legal definition of a worker they must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage. We actively promote understanding of the importance of pay for interns through our Social Mobility Business Compact, which secures agreement from business to take measures to improve social mobility. In addition, the Common Best Practice Code for High Quality Internships secures collective commitment from leading employers to ensure internships are fairly paid. These initiatives help to ensure employers are fully aware of the types of standards and expectations that need to be in place in the intern-employer relationship.</p><p>Separately, we have made it simpler to name and shame employers that do not comply with national minimum wage regulations and complaints from interns are now fast-tracked by HMRC.</p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 12/02/2016 14:21:05 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison

450665

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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 assessment he has made of the potential merits of the introduction of a mentoring scheme for businesses who wish to export to a country or region that partners such businesses with other businesses that export to that country or region.
tabling member constituency	The Cotswolds
tabling member printed	Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
uin	25922
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/02/2016 answer text <p>Lord Maude made a <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Lords/2016-01-19/HLWS466/" target="_blank">statement</a> to the House of Lords on Tuesday 19 January on the Government’s strategy to support trade. The new operating model set out in the statement will see UK Trade &amp; Investment start to pilot schemes that provide direct support to businesses over the coming months.</p><p> </p><p>There are no plans to pilot a mentoring scheme. Instead, UKTI will continue to identify opportunities to connect UK businesses via the <a href="http://www.mentorsme.co.uk/about/articles/about-mentorsme" target="_blank">mentorsme network</a>, Britain’s first online gateway for small and medium sized enterprises looking for mentoring services. This service offers businesses free access to a list of quality-assured business mentoring organisations across Britain.</p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 16/02/2016 15:41:20 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	249 label Biography information for Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

450666

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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: Closures
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 Office Crown branches have closed or merged since the end of the last formal Crown Transformation Programme.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	25932
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2016 answer text <p>Provision of its Crown branches is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.</p><p> </p><p>I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Norfolk answering member printed George Freeman question first answered 12/02/2016 14:35:51 answering member 4020 label Biography information for George Freeman
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

450667

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Debt Collection
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department has spent on debt collection agencies in each of the last seven years.
tabling member constituency	Paisley and Renfrewshire North
tabling member printed	Gavin Newlands
uin	25972
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2016 answer text <p>The core Department has spent £0 on debt collection agencies in the last seven years.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 10/02/2016 16:41:45 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	4420 label Biography information for Gavin Newlands

450668

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Debt Collection
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with how many debt collection agencies his Department has a contract.
tabling member constituency	Paisley and Renfrewshire North
tabling member printed	Gavin Newlands
uin	25973
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2016 answer text <p>The core Department has no direct contracts with debt collection agencies.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 10/02/2016 16:38:36 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	4420 label Biography information for Gavin Newlands

450669

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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: Standards
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 potential merits of benchmarking UKTI's performance against that of other countries' export agencies.
tabling member constituency	The Cotswolds
tabling member printed	Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
uin	25925
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/02/2016 answer text <p>There is considerable merit in understanding how our competitors’ export agencies are structured and the services they offer. This is something the Exports Implementation Taskforce, which the Secretary of State chairs, looked at in some depth in developing a whole-of-Government approach to exports. This included, UK Trade &amp; Investment participating in a formal benchmarking exercise by the International Trade Centre.</p><p>Among the key things found from these comparative reviews is that UKTI employs more people than other countries’ export promotion agencies, but deploys less resource on practical support for exporters (such as interim export managers). Learning from this, UKTI is currently developing some small-scale direct practical support services and products to see what might work in the UK.</p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 16/02/2016 15:21:20 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	249 label Biography information for Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

450670

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	Innovate UK: UK Trade and Investment
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 potential merits of co-ordinating the objectives of Innovate UK and UKTI in order to increase exports.
tabling member constituency	The Cotswolds
tabling member printed	Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
uin	25926
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2016 answer text <p>Increasing exports, to all overseas markets, is a key factor in the Government’s long-term economic plan. UK Trade &amp; Investment (UKTI) and Innovate UK work together to co-ordinate activity to promote UK innovation and to help drive the UK's productivity, exports and long-term growth through increasing trade and inward investment in science and innovation. An Innovate UK secondee further augments the activities of both organisations.</p><p>This work supports UK businesses looking to take advantage of overseas opportunities and to create a strong business environment that allows them to flourish both at home and overseas. This includes working together on events and entrepreneur missions to promote the UK’s innovative companies on a global scale, identifying export opportunities and securing new markets. Innovate UK funded projects and companies are referred to UKTI trade advisers to help support international planning and exports. To date 250 companies have been referred.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Broxtowe answering member printed Anna Soubry question first answered 03/03/2016 11:07:24 answering member 3938 label Biography information for Anna Soubry
tabling member	249 label Biography information for Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

450671

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Debt Collection
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his Department's policy is on the use of debt collection agencies to collect outstanding payments.
tabling member constituency	Paisley and Renfrewshire North
tabling member printed	Gavin Newlands
uin	25974
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2016 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The core Department’s policy is governed by HM Treasury’s ‘Managing Public Money’ guidance. This sets out that public sector organisations should always pursue recovery of debts. In practice there will be both practical and legal limits to how cases should be handled. So each case should be dealt with on its merits. Within BIS, the use of a debt collection agency would only be considered after all other methods of recovery had failed.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 10/02/2016 16:43:26 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	4420 label Biography information for Gavin Newlands

450674

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Debt Collection
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how his Department regulates the activities of debt collection agencies during the period that they are under contract with his Department.
tabling member constituency	Paisley and Renfrewshire North
tabling member printed	Gavin Newlands
uin	25950
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2016 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Should any direct contracts be let with debt recovery agencies, the scope and extent of any activity would be agreed as part of the contract negotiation and a process of routine monitoring put in place.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 10/02/2016 16:40:14 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	4420 label Biography information for Gavin Newlands

450675

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Debt Collection
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 of the ethical standards of debt collection agencies his Department undertakes before entering into a contract with such agencies.
tabling member constituency	Paisley and Renfrewshire North
tabling member printed	Gavin Newlands
uin	25954
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2016 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Any debt collection contracts let by the core Department would primarily use available framework contracts agreed by the Crown Commercial Service who are responsible for including any required assessment of ethical standards. However, if the need for a specialist debt collection contract should arise that could not be met by a framework contract, the Department’s tender and contract documentation would include further assessments as may be deemed necessary.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 10/02/2016 16:25:08 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	4420 label Biography information for Gavin Newlands