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100088

registered interest
date	21/10/2014
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	ACAS
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to evaluate the effect of the ACAS early conciliation service on keeping workplace disputes out of court.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	211244
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2014 answer text <p>Early Conciliation was introduced in April 2014 and it is too early to make any meaningful assessment on the effect of Early Conciliation on Employment Tribunal cases at this stage. However, officials in the Department and Acas are already monitoring the impact of Early Conciliation and I will make an announcement on evaluation in due course, once we have a sufficient evidence base to do so.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 24/10/2014 11:30:02 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

100103

registered interest
date	21/10/2014
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	Minimum Wage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2014 to Question 201383, how much was spent on national minimum wage enforcement in 2013-14.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	211245
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2014 answer text <p>£7.5m was spent by HM Revenue and Customs on the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage in 2013/14.</p><p>We have increased the budget allocation for National Minimum Wage enforcement in 2014/15 to £9.2m. This extra funding will enable HMRC to increase the number of compliance officers working in this area who, as well as continuing to respond to every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline, will also undertake targeted enforcement, focusing on the worst offending employers in the highest-risk sectors.</p><p>Anyone who believes they are entitled to the National Minimum Wage and has not received it should contact this free and confidential helpline on 0800 917 2368.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 24/10/2014 11:29:09 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

99773

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
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, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's latest internal guidance for officials on the drafting of answers to parliamentary questions.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	211071
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>A copy of the Department’s internal guidance will be placed in the Libraries of the House.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Office of the Leader of the House also provides guidance to all Departments on the practice of answering Parliamentary Questions.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The full Guide is available on the gov.uk website at: http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>A copy of this guidance has already been placed in the libraries of the House. The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons intends to review the Guide to Parliamentary Work in the coming months.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 27/10/2014 14:36:52 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson attachment 1 file name mpst-WrittenPQs - 211071 attachment.doc title Parliamentary Unit Process and Guidance
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

99776

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
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, when he last reviewed the adequacy of prior investigations in connection with the nature of the warranties sold by Scottish Power to its customers between 1980 and 1999 and any potential losses suffered by such customers.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
tabling member printed	Mr William Bain
uin	211060
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>It is not the policy of the Secretary of State to announce or comment on confidential enquiries conducted using powers contained in the Companies Acts.</p><p>However, the Secretary of State has recently received further information regarding the Extended Warranty schemes sold by Scottish Power between 1997 and 2001 from the liquidators of two companies involved in administering the schemes. Officials are currently reviewing this information together with the conclusions of an earlier investigation to determine what further action, if any, is appropriate.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 27/10/2014 14:06:40 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1610 label Biography information for Mr William Bain

99778

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
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, if he will reopen the enquiry into the nature of the warranties sold by Scottish Power to its customers between 1980 and 1999 and any potential losses suffered by such customers.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
tabling member printed	Mr William Bain
uin	211059
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>The Secretary of State has recently received further information regarding the Extended Warranty schemes sold by Scottish Power between 1997 and 2001 from the liquidators of two companies involved in administering the schemes. Officials are currently reviewing this information together with the conclusions of an earlier investigation to determine what further action, if any, is appropriate, within the limits of his powers of investigation under the Companies Acts.</p><p> </p><p>The liquidators have also notified other regulators who may have an interest in this matter and who will be considering their own courses of action.</p><p> </p><p>It should be noted that any decision whether or not to commence an investigation using s447 Companies Act 1986 is confidential and the existence or otherwise of such an investigation will not be announced or commented on.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 27/10/2014 14:09:30 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1610 label Biography information for Mr William Bain

99948

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
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	Minimum Wage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps he has taken to ensure employer compliance with minimum wage legislation.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Paul Flynn
uin	211009
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>Individuals who are entitled to the National Minimum Wage should receive it and we are committed to taking the steps necessary to improve compliance; ensuring employers understand their responsibilities and workers know their rights, and ensuring robust enforcement of the law.</p><p>Detailed guidance, including how to calculate the minimum wage, is available on the gov.uk website. Confidential advice is also available for both workers and employers through the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. Any worker who is concerned that they have not been paid what they are legally entitled to or who wants to make a complaint, should call the helpline on 0800 917 2368.</p><p>We have taken a number of steps to strengthen enforcement activity. This year, HMRC’s enforcement budget has increased by £1.2million to £9.2 million. This extra funding will enable HMRC to increase the number of National Minimum Wage compliance officers who, as well as continuing to respond to every complaint, will also undertake targeted enforcement, focusing on the worst offending employers in the highest-risk sectors.</p><p>Employers who are found to have broken the law face substantially higher penalties. We increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the unpaid wages owed to workers and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. The increase came into effect on 7 March 2014. Since revising the Government’s naming scheme, we have also named 30 employers who between them owed over £50,000 in arrears, to provide further incentive to all employers to comply.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 27/10/2014 14:11:14 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	545 label Biography information for Paul Flynn

93750

registered interest
date	16/10/2014
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	Working Conditions
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 plans to take to ensure that companies are held responsible for labour conditions throughout their supply chains.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	210900
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>Companies are held accountable by investors, consumers and civil society as well as governments for the way in which they conduct their operations, including labour conditions, and how they report on their actions in this regard.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Since October 2013, quoted companies have been required to provide information in their Annual Report about social, community and human rights issues, including information about any policies of the company in relation to those matters and the effectiveness of those policies.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department has negotiated at the European level to strengthen current human rights disclosure requirements and make them more specific. Provisions have now been agreed that will apply across all EU Member States from 2017 to large quoted companies and Public Interest Entities. My Department will shortly be consulting on the transposition of these measures into UK law.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Additional disclosure requirements will be introduced in the Modern Slavery Bill. Big businesses will have to publicly state each year what action they have taken to ensure their supply chains are slavery free. This requirement goes further than any similar legislation in the world by applying to businesses regardless of the nature of a company or what it supplies, whether goods or services.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In September 2013, the UK was the first country to publish a National Action Plan implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Action Plan underlines the duty of businesses to respect the human rights of their employees and those in their supply chains. My Department is taking action to develop guidance for businesses reporting on this obligation, beginning with the retail sector.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In order to toughen up our enforcement of the National Minimum Wage my Department has made it simpler to name and shame employers that break the law on the National Minimum Wage and has increased the financial penalty that employers pay for breaking the law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the unpaid wages owed to workers. The maximum penalty has also increased from £5,000 to £20,000 and will be applied per worker not per firm.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 23/10/2014 16:23:04 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

93450

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
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	Ferries: Minimum Wage
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 it his policy that the National Minimum Wage should apply to seafarers working on ferry services from (a) Portsmouth to the Channel Islands, (b) Weymouth to the Channel Islands, (c) Poole to the Channel Islands and (d) Portsmouth to Cherbourg.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Mr Mike Hancock
uin	210660
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government is examining the application of the legislation to seafarers, in particular those seafarers working on ferry services.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Officials have been working closely with the Department for Transport, unions and stakeholders to fully understand pay practices in the maritime industry.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Seafarers who ordinarily work in the UK are entitled to the National Minimum Wages (NMW). Seafarers who believe they are entitled to the NMW and have not received it should contact the free and confidential Pay and Work Rights helpline on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 extend certain equality rights, including pay, to all seafarers serving on UK or EEA registered vessels operating wholly or partly in Great Britain and its territorial waters. Seafarers from the EEA or designated States, whose legal relationship in regard to their employment is located within Great Britain, are also covered to the same extent. Outside our territorial waters the same level of protection is afforded to the same category of seafarers on UK registered vessels.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department for Transport is currently reviewing the application of the Equality Act Regulations with the social partners, this Department and other Departments.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>However, the UK must give due consideration to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that states that a vessel is entitled to the right of innocent passage when in the territorial waters of another State. The majority of ferries operating out of Great Britain are not flagged with the UK register and the Channel Islands and Cherbourg are beyond our territorial waters.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 21/10/2014 13:49:05 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	59 label Biography information for Mr Mike Hancock

93452

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
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	Phones 4u
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 progress being made to offset job losses and the cost to the economy resulting from the collapse of mobile telephone retailer Phones 4U.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	210713
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The administration of Phones4U was disappointing news and is obviously a worrying time for the workforce, but this continues to be a matter for the Administrators, PWC.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government, through its Rapid Response Service has supported the Taskforce established by local partners in Newcastle under Lyme and Stoke in September</p><p> </p><p>The Taskforce has been able to offer direct and indirect support through an Employee Support Event on 7 October which is part of a larger support programme for those looking for work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I was pleased to see media reports that more than 2,000 staff working in 198 stores and 160 concessions have been transferred to buyers of parts of the business including Vodafone and EE.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 21/10/2014 13:44:52 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

93453

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
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: Equality
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 take steps to ensure that a conscience clause is included within equality legislation affecting UK businesses.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	210714
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that people are protected against discrimination because of religion or belief, and that they are able to exercise the right to hold and manifest their beliefs in a reasonable manner. We believe that the Equality Act 2010 strikes the right balance between the rights of people to manifest their religion or beliefs and the rights of others not to be discriminated against or harassed due to other protected characteristics, such as gender or sexual orientation, in areas such as employment and the provision of goods and services.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 21/10/2014 13:47:52 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn