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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

100306

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	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	Bassetlaw
	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 next plans to visit local businesses in Bassetlaw.
	tabling member constituency	Bassetlaw
	tabling member printed	John Mann
	uin	211421
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is planning to visit Bassetlaw on Thursday 27 November.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 29/10/2014 14:30:51 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1387 label Biography information for Lord Mann

100662

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	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	Post Offices: Rhyl
	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 the proposed relocation or closure of Rhyl Post Office.
	tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
	tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
	uin	211757
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>The proposed franchising of some of its Crown Post Offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited (POL). I understand that the company continues to explore all options for Rhyl with a view to finding a retail partner for the franchise. In the event that a suitable new retail partner cannot be found, POL has given a commitment that a post office service will be retained within the area.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As this is the operational responsibility of the company 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 East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 30/10/2014 15:32:33 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

100776

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	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	Performance Appraisal
	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 staff in his Department (a) are currently on a personal improvement plan, (b) have been on a persoanl improvement plan for over one year and (c) have been on a personal improvement plan for more than two consecutive years; and what the grades are or were of such staff.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	uin	211820
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>At present the Department does not hold any central data on the number of staff on personal improvement plans, as these are handled within the line management chain.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 30/10/2014 14:59:54 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

100777

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	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	Performance Appraisal
	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 staff in his Department are responsible for mentoring staff on personal improvement plans.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	uin	211821
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>At present the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) does not hold any central data on the number of staff on personal improvement plans, as these are handled within the line management chain.</p><p>BIS currently has over 200 internal mentors; however, mentor relationships are confidential and therefore no data is held on how many of these are involved in mentoring staff on personal improvement plans.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 30/10/2014 14:55:26 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

100778

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	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	Performance Appraisal
	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 teams in his Department currently have more than one member of staff on personal improvement plans.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	uin	211822
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>At present the Department does not hold any central data on the number of staff on personal improvement plans, as these are handled within the line management chain.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 30/10/2014 14:56:39 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

100779

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	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	Job Evaluation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the procedure is in his Department for assessing grade boundaries and job roles; and how often such assessments take place.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	uin	211823
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) uses grading guidance as a tool to help managers and job holders determine the grading of a post. The guidance applies to all BIS staff, except the Senior Civil Service (SCS) and Fast Streamers, who have central grading structures.</p><p> </p><p>Job evaluation is used when the grading guidance alone is insufficient for the manager and job holder to determine the grade of a post. BIS uses a systematic job evaluation system called JEGS (Job Evaluation and Grading Support) for non-SCS staff and JESP (Job Evaluation for Senior Posts) for SCS staff. These have been developed specifically for the Civil Service. It is a systematic process for defining the relative worth or size of jobs in order to establish internal relativities.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The procedure for assessing grade boundaries using job evaluation are:</p><p> </p><p>1. Form a clear picture of the job</p><p> </p><p>2. Refer to grading guidance and where possible allocate to a grade</p><p> </p><p>3. If not, a trained evaluator will evaluate the post</p><p> </p><p>4. The evaluator’s conclusions are quality assured by an appropriate panel which includes trade union representatives</p><p> </p><p>5. HR will communicate the outcome to the line manager</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We do not keep records of how often the grading guidance are used or when job evaluations have taken place. Possible reasons for formal job evaluation might include:</p><p> </p><p>· the recruiting manager, Independent Panel Member (IPM) and Deputy Director cannot agree on the appropriate grade using the BIS grading guidance;</p><p> </p><p>· a new post has arisen and there are limited comparator posts within which to agree the grading;</p><p> </p><p>· a substantial and material change has been made to the weighting and responsibilities of the post;</p><p> </p><p>· an area has been restructured and the boundaries for responsibility and weighting have changed significantly;</p><p> </p><p>· there is sufficient doubt of grading when similar roles are compared across the Department; or</p><p> </p><p>· the Department is undergoing a full grading review.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 30/10/2014 14:58:14 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

100781

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	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, what recent discussions he has held with stakeholders on the nature of the warranties sold by Scottish Power to its customers in the 1980s and 1990s.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
	tabling member printed	Mr William Bain
	uin	211767
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>After this matter was raised by the Hon. Member for Bradford South (Gerry Sutcliffe) at Prime Minister’s Questions on 28 June 2014, I, along with officials from the Insolvency Service, held a meeting with the Hon. Member for Bradford South, Mr Sutcliffe, on 17 July 2014. Mr Sutcliffe is head of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for this issue, and therefore representative of stakeholders’ views. At that meeting he handed over further information from the liquidators of two companies which operated the extended warranty schemes sold by Scottish Power, and we agreed that the Insolvency Service would review this information to ascertain whether or not further investigation was appropriate. It was explained to Mr Sutcliffe that any decision whether or not to commence an investigation using s447 Companies Act would be confidential and the Insolvency Service would not be in a position to confirm that decision or comment further.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 29/10/2014 16:07:52 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1610 label Biography information for Mr William Bain

100843

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2014
	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	Social Services: Pay
	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 his Department has made of the merits of HM Revenue and Customs launching pro-active investigations into the non-payment of the national minimum wage.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	211865
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government has not undertaken a formal assessment of the merits of pro-active investigations but believes they are an important part of enforcement.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC published findings from their targeted social care evaluation on 25 November 2013. Over the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013, HMRC had made enquiries into 224 employers in the social care sector. Of the cases completed by the end of September 2014, HMRC have found non-compliance in 108 (48%) of their enquiries, identifying £1,319,729 arrears of pay for 6,550 workers, with penalties issued with a total value of £146,931.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As part of this targeted enforcement activity, HMRC have collaborated with care sector representative bodies to improve understanding of compliance risks and design controls within payroll systems that prevent workers being underpaid the minimum wage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department of Health has recently published statutory guidance for local authorities as part of the package of secondary legislation that accompanies the Care Act. The chapter of statutory guidance on commissioning and market shaping explicitly states that local authorities should have evidence that contract terms, conditions and fee levels will not compromise care providers’ ability to pay at least minimum wages. A copy of the guidance can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-2014-statutory-guidance-for-implementation" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-2014-statutory-guidance-for-implementation</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department of Health is asking all Local Authorities to sign up to the Social Care Commitment which incorporates a statement about employer compliance with minimum wage legislation. The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services has written out to all its members encouraging them to support the Commitment as a way of raising standards in adult social care.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We regularly update our Guidance on Gov.UK and we will continue to work with the sector to improve understanding and compliance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the Pay &amp; Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue &amp; Customs investigate all complaints.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 11:47:07 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

100844

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2014
	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	Pay
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the cost of paying a one-off payment to the staff of his Department in lieu of their entitlement to annual increments was.
	tabling member constituency	Aberconwy
	tabling member printed	Guto Bebb
	uin	211898
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The cost of paying a one-off payment to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills staff in lieu of their entitlement to annual increments was £3.2m. This cost is offset against a reduction in overall pay bill costs over the longer term.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The non-consolidated payments were staggered by grade in line with contractual step values.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>AA</p></td><td><p>£1008</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>AO</p></td><td><p>£1168</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>EO</p></td><td><p>£1360</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HEO</p></td><td><p>£1656</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>SEO</p></td><td><p>£1880</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>G7</p></td><td><p>£2528</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>G6</p></td><td><p>£3060</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 12:46:36 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3910 label Biography information for Guto Bebb