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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

170290

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	Apprentices: 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 11 December 2014 to Question 217744, when his Department plans to write to level 2 and 3 apprenticeships in England informing them of their National Minimum Wage entitlement.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	218767
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>A letter is issued to all new level 2 and 3 apprentices in England on Government-funded apprenticeships, setting out what they can expect from their apprenticeship. This includes information on their national minimum wage entitlement.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 05/01/2015 16:41:25 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles previous answer version 35662 answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

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

170115

registered interest
date	12/12/2014
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	Local Enterprise Partnerships: 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, with reference to his speech of 3 July 2013 to the Local Government Association, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the three pilot schemes on closer partnerships between local enterprise partnerships and further education colleges in helping people acquire the skills required to get local jobs.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	218559
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>The three pilots areas are the North East, Stoke and Staffordshire, and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnerships. Each area has developed their own bespoke approach to implementing the pilot in line with ensuring responsiveness to local priorities and the local relationships between stakeholders and skills providers. The pilots are in their first year of operation and it is too soon to draw conclusions about their effectiveness. Early indications, however, are that the pilots have promoted a more effective dialogue between business and providers in the different areas, with a greater shared understanding of the skills provision needed to support future economic growth.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 05/01/2015 10:41:08 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

169719

registered interest
date	11/12/2014
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	Apprentices
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 effect of plans to transfer apprenticeship funding to employers from further education providers on the budgets of those providers.
tabling member constituency	Dudley North
tabling member printed	Ian Austin
uin	218332
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>Our apprenticeship reforms are designed to make all apprenticeships world class, so that the programme is rigorous, responsive, and meets the changing needs of business and the future economy. As part of our reforms, we are giving employers control of funding to make them more demanding customers of high-quality training, relevant to their needs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Training providers make a vital contribution to apprenticeships and we want that to continue. Good providers already offer high-quality provision that is responsive to employers’ needs, which makes them well placed to be successful under any new arrangements. We recognise that these reforms represent a major change in the way that providers operate. The Skills Funding Agency, working with the Education and Training Foundation, Association of Colleges and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers are offering support and guidance to providers to help them prepare for the reforms. However, it will be for employers to decide who will help them deliver a high quality experience for their apprentices. We are trialling a new funding model in 2014/15 and intend to evaluate its impact before any funding system is fully implemented.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 05/01/2015 16:42:29 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	1511 label Biography information for Lord Austin of Dudley

169366

registered interest
date	10/12/2014
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	Work Permits: Construction
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 revising the length of the validity of the Construction Skills Certification Scheme card to match the length of validity of a relevant work permit.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	218090
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>The Construction Skills Competency Card (CSCS) is not a Government scheme. The scheme is an industry-led initiative, which is managed and administered by the Construction Industry Training Board on behalf of the CSCS Management Committee.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Whilst the Government recognises the important contribution that these schemes make, any decision on the validity of cards rests with the CSCS Committee, which is made up of employer organisations and trade unions representing the breadth of the construction industry.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 05/01/2015 16:44:18 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah