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89427

registered interest
date	29/08/2014
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	Telephone Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, under what timetable his Department plans to phase-out use of telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0845, 0844 and 0843 in accordance with the Cabinet Office guidance on customer service lines published in December 2013 and (b) 03 and 08, where 03 is the primary number under a dual numbering system.
tabling member constituency	Walsall South
tabling member printed	Valerie Vaz
uin	207450
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/09/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>All of the Department’s 0845, 0844 and 0843 numbers have now been replaced with 03 numbers and the 08 numbers will cease to be operational by the end of 2014. Telephone lines with dual numbering will also revert to the 03 number at the same time.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/09/2014 15:38:05 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4076 label Biography information for Valerie Vaz

79796

registered interest
date	30/07/2014
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	Sanctions: Russia
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that United Kingdom companies conducting business in or with the government of Russia in compliance with European Union sanctions will not be subject to any penalties applied by United States authorities which allege that sanctions have been breached on the basis of the United States' system of sanctions.
tabling member printed	Lord Blencathra
uin	HL1685
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The European Union has coordinated very closely with the United States on sanctions against Russia. The European Union and the United States acting in a coordinated manner not only has the maximum possible effect on Russia’s policy calculations but also ensures that we reduce to an absolute minimum the likelihood that any UK companies that comply with the European Union legislation will nevertheless fall foul of United States’ sanctions legislation applying extraterritorially. At present we are not aware of any specific circumstances where this is likely to occur, but any company with concerns about United States sanctions should in the first instance consult United States lawyers or regulatory authorities to ensure that they comply with applicable United States legislation.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Livingston of Parkhead question first answered 11/08/2014 10:26:18 answering member 4278 label Biography information for Lord Livingston of Parkhead
tabling member	497 label Biography information for Lord Blencathra

79707

registered interest
date	28/07/2014
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	Mediation
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will publish their response to their consultation on Alternative Dispute Resolution for consumers which began in March.
tabling member printed	Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town
uin	HL1599
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Government intends to publish the response to the consultation on Alternative Dispute Resolution for consumers in the Autumn.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Wallace of Saltaire question first answered 11/08/2014 10:21:51 answering member 1816 label Biography information for Lord Wallace of Saltaire
tabling member	4159 label Biography information for Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town

79599

registered interest
date	24/07/2014
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	Supermarkets: Conditions of Employment
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of employment practices in the United Kingdom supermarket sector.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradshaw
uin	HL1495
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We have not made any specific assessment of employment practices in this sector.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 11/08/2014 12:50:29 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	2483 label Biography information for Lord Bradshaw

79616

registered interest
date	24/07/2014
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	Higher and Further Education: Admissions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take to increase the number of students enrolling in further and higher education; and how they intend to fund any growth in student numbers in 2015–16, in the light of the announcement on 20 July that the student loan book will not be sold.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL1512
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Further and Higher Education Institutions are responsible for attracting students.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has implemented a reform programme enabling FE colleges to use their freedoms and flexibilities to provide the high quality skills their learners, local economy and businesses need. There is an increased drive for employer ownership of skills funding, a continuing growth, and reform of, the Apprenticeships programme and an opportunity for individuals aged 24 and over studying at Level 3 and 4 to have access to Loans to help meet up-front course fees.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government will raise the cap on HE student numbers to fund up to 30,000 additional places in 2014/15 and remove this cap altogether in 2015/16, except for high risk providers. Funding for this expansion is already agreed with HMT over the Spending Review period.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Student numbers are not contingent on the sale and all departments’ budget provision beyond 2015-2016 will be agreed as part of the next Spending Review.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Wallace of Saltaire question first answered 11/08/2014 12:51:46 answering member 1816 label Biography information for Lord Wallace of Saltaire
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

79618

registered interest
date	24/07/2014
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	Higher Education: Ethnic Groups
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support universities to address the problems highlighted in the recent report published by the Nuffield Foundation and the London School of Economics entitled <i>Black and Minority Ethnic Access To Higher Education: A Reassessment</i>.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL1514
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Government is committed to access to Higher Education (HE) based on talent and potential, irrespective of background. Promoting equal opportunities is taken very seriously and we have put in place a strong legal framework which protects the rights of people not to be discriminated against, through the Equality Act 2010.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Whilst universities are independent and autonomous organisations, responsible for their own admissions decisions, the Equality Act places clear duties and responsibilities on them to ensure that students with protected characteristics do not face discrimination or less favourable treatment whilst applying to, and studying in, higher education.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Wallace of Saltaire question first answered 11/08/2014 12:26:30 answering member 1816 label Biography information for Lord Wallace of Saltaire
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

79283

registered interest
date	22/07/2014
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	Students: Loans
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 the Answer of 11 December 2013, Official Report, column 247W, on students: loans, how many complaints (a) he and (b) the Office of Fair Trading has received about changes to the conditions of student loans sold to Erudio Student Loans Limited for loan holders (i) nationally and (ii) in Greater Manchester; what steps he has taken to remind Erudio of its responsibility to uphold the original conditions of the loan; what guidance he has issued to purchasers of the student loan book on how student loans impact credit ratings; and if he will place in the Library a copy of that guidance.
tabling member constituency	Heywood and Middleton
tabling member printed	Jim Dobbin
uin	206948
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/09/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills had received complaints about Erudio Student Loans Limited from 38 loan holders (or their elected representatives) as at 31<sup>st</sup> July 2014.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>Twelve of these did not specify their location.</li><li>Of the remaining 26, 15 were from (or about) loan holders in England, of which one was in Greater Manchester.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Office of Fair Trading was closed on 1<sup>st</sup> April 2014 and its responsibilities in relation to consumer credit passed to the Financial Conduct Authority. The Financial Conduct Authority does not investigate individual complaints. The Financial Ombudsman Service is a free, independent service for settling disputes between financial services firms and their customers, which can deal with complaints about a wide range of financial matters.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Erudio has been notified of five complaints received by the Financial Ombudsman Service as at 31<sup>st</sup> July 2014. None of these was from loan holders in Greater Manchester.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Mortgage style student loans are regulated loans under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (as amended). Terms and conditions are specified in the Education (Student Loans) Regulations 1998 and in borrowers’ loan credit agreements. Erudio Student Loans Limited is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for accounts formed under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (as amended) and must act in compliance with the terms and conditions of the loans, relevant regulatory requirements, industry guidance and all applicable laws.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not issued guidance to Erudio Student Loans Limited in relation to how mortgage style student loans impact on borrowers’ credit scores, as the Department has no involvement in the credit scoring process.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The leaflet ‘Credit explained’ published by the Information Commissioner’s Office explains this in more detail and is available at</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public/topic_specific_guides/~/media/documents/library/Data_Protection/Practical_application/credit-explained-dp-guidance.pdf" target="_blank">http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public/topic_specific_guides/~/media/documents/library/Data_Protection/Practical_application/credit-explained-dp-guidance.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 01/09/2014 13:43:24 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	446 label Biography information for Jim Dobbin

79289

registered interest
date	22/07/2014
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	Students: Disadvantaged
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what allowance his Department makes for the proportion of mature, disadvantage and harder to reach students any college has on its student rolls when assessing the adequacy of the college's student attendance rates.
tabling member constituency	North Devon
tabling member printed	Sir Nick Harvey
uin	207046
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/09/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has no role in assessing the adequacy of student attendance rates in further education (FE) colleges.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s school and college inspection body, Ofsted, in their judgement on a college’s outcome from learners may comment on low attendance and punctuality as an area for improvement and will look at how a college’s achievement gaps are narrowing between different groups of learners.</p><p> </p><p>Where Ofsted rate a college inadequate, BIS will take intervention action.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 01/09/2014 16:33:06 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	231 label Biography information for Sir Nick Harvey

79478

registered interest
date	22/07/2014
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	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to initiate a review of the sustainability of the student loans system.
tabling member printed	Baroness Deech
uin	HL1377
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>There are no current plans to initiate a formal review of the student loans system in England.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The costs of the loan system are based on projections of graduate repayments over the next 35 years. These projections were revised in 2013-14 following changes to the student loan repayments model but will continue to fluctuate due to numerous macroeconomic variables, and present no immediate pressure on the system. Funding for new student loans is secure for the remainder of the Spending Review period.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Popat question first answered 11/08/2014 11:43:29 question first ministerially corrected 08/09/2014 08:16:28 answering member 4173 label Biography information for Lord Popat previous answer version 16050 answering member printed Lord Wallace of Saltaire answering member 1816 label Biography information for Lord Wallace of Saltaire
tabling member	3756 label Biography information for Baroness Deech

79481

registered interest
date	22/07/2014
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	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to improve the student loan system, should it prove to be too inefficient in its current format.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL1380
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>There are no plans to initiate changes to the student loan system in England, but we continue to monitor the efficiency of the system in relation to government affordability.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Wallace of Saltaire question first answered 11/08/2014 12:28:37 answering member 1816 label Biography information for Lord Wallace of Saltaire
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick