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168624

	registered interest
	date	08/12/2014
	answering body	Women and Equalities
	answering dept id	31
	answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
	answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
	hansard heading	Transgender People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress she has made on implementing the conclusions of her Department's report, Advancing transgender equality: a plan for action, published in December 2011; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
	tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
	uin	217662
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2014 answer text <p>The Government has made good progress implementing the actions set out in Advancing transgender equality: a plan for action, and the majority have now been completed.</p><p>We also continue to liaise regularly with representatives of the transgender community to understand their priorities in tackling remaining areas of inequality and discrimination</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 218130 question first answered 15/12/2014 12:57:40 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby

168722

	registered interest
	date	08/12/2014
	answering body	Women and Equalities
	answering dept id	31
	answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
	answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
	hansard heading	Hearing Impairment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that public and private service providers are complying with their duty under the Equality Act 2010 to take action to avoid deaf service users being placed at a substantial disadvantage.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh North and Leith
	tabling member printed	Mark Lazarowicz
	uin	217751
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2014 answer text <p>We expect both public and private sector service providers to comply with their duty to make reasonable adjustments for deaf people, but responsibility for enforcing this in particular cases is a matter for individuals themselves who may ultimately take their case to a court or tribunal; and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.</p><p> </p><p>The Commission is responsible for monitoring and enforcing the equality duty in England and non-devolved bodies in Scotland and Wales. The range of enforcement tools set out for the Commission under the Equality Act 2006 also apply to the equality duty, these include: compliance notices, judicial review, assessments under section 31 of the Act, statutory agreements with employers or service providers, and interventions in legal cases.</p><p> </p><p>The Commission publishes guidance on the public sector equality duty and its broader technical guidance provides an authoritative and comprehensive guide to the detail of the law for anyone who needs to understand the law in depth, or apply it in practice.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is supporting the provision of Video Relay Services and the eAccessibility Forum. We are also looking at improving the accessibility of Government communications for deaf customers and participating in the Accessible Britain Challenge initiative, which aims to motivate communities, including local service providers, businesses, employers, community, voluntary and disabled people’s group to do more to be inclusive and accessible for disabled people.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 15/12/2014 12:55:29 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1411 label Biography information for Mark Lazarowicz

168565

	registered interest
	date	08/12/2014
	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 plans he has to improve apprentice National Minimum Wage enforcement.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	217685
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2014 answer text <p>The Government is committed to the National Minimum Wage and is absolutely clear that everyone who is entitled to it should receive it. Any worker who thinks they have been underpaid should call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HMRC investigates every complaint made to the helpline and calls from apprentices are prioritised for consideration.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government is aware that non-compliance involving apprentices is an issue and we are taking action. We are:</p><p> </p><p>· Ensuring that all training providers [in England] deliver on existing obligations to inform employers and apprentices of their NMW requirements.</p><p> </p><p>· Improving guidance and information more generally, to ensure we have clear and comprehensive information on the minimum wage rules. In England the National Apprenticeship Service includes information on the NMW in its information pack for employers taking on an apprentice.</p><p> </p><p>· Encouraging workers to call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline if they think they are not getting what they are legally entitled to through our communication campaign which began in Sept 2014.</p><p> </p><p>· Writing to level 2 &amp; 3 apprentices in England informing them of their NMW entitlement.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We have also asked the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to consider whether we can simplify the apprentice rate structure so that it is as clear and simple as possible, in order to support those employers who take on apprentices. The LPC will report back with their recommendations in February 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We are continuing to take a tough approach towards all employers that do not comply with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) law, including through making their non-compliance public. 55 employers, including some who underpaid apprentices, have been named so far and between them they owed workers a total of over £139,000 in arrears.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has also increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the unpaid arrears owed to workers and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. This came into effect on 7 March 2014. We are introducing primary legislation so that the penalty can be calculated on a per worker basis which will substantially increase the penalty for some employers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There have been no prosecutions since 2010 involving apprentices. Prosecution is reserved for the most serious cases. The Government usually pursues other means, which are more effective, to achieve the key goals of getting workers paid their arrears of wages and deter employers from being non-compliant. For example, the Government policy on the naming scheme and the increase in the NMW civil penalty will have considerable reputational and financial consequences for employers who are non-compliant with the NMW. However, HMRC will refer suitable cases to prosecutors.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 217684 217744 question first answered 11/12/2014 16:21:02 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

168567

	registered interest
	date	08/12/2014
	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	Furniture
	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 desks are in his Department's main building; how many such desks are (a) owned and (b) leased by his Department; and what the cost is per desk of leasing.
	tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
	tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
	uin	217688
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2014 answer text <p>The main building for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is 1 Victoria Street, London. This is a building which the Department leases and as such leases the workstations within together with partner organisations. BIS Core occupy a total of 2,601 workstations within this building at a cost of £6067.89 per FTE.</p><p> </p><p>Any space within the building is sub-let via a Memorandum of Terms of Occupation agreement and is charged per square metre, not per workstation.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 15/12/2014 12:34:13 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

168569

	registered interest
	date	08/12/2014
	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, with reference to page 5 of his Department's publication, National Minimum Wage, Interim government evidence for the 2015 Low Pay Commission report, published in October 2014, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the rate of non-compliance with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for apprentices; and what steps he plans to take to increase the rate of compliance with the apprentice NMW.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	217744
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2014 answer text <p>The Government is committed to the National Minimum Wage and is absolutely clear that everyone who is entitled to it should receive it. Any worker who thinks they have been underpaid should call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HMRC investigates every complaint made to the helpline and calls from apprentices are prioritised for consideration.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government is aware that non-compliance involving apprentices is an issue and we are taking action. We are:</p><p> </p><p>· Ensuring that all training providers [in England] deliver on existing obligations to inform employers and apprentices of their NMW requirements.</p><p> </p><p>· Improving guidance and information more generally, to ensure we have clear and comprehensive information on the minimum wage rules. In England the National Apprenticeship Service includes information on the NMW in its information pack for employers taking on an apprentice.</p><p> </p><p>· Encouraging workers to call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline if they think they are not getting what they are legally entitled to through our communication campaign which began in Sept 2014.</p><p> </p><p>· Writing to level 2 &amp; 3 apprentices in England informing them of their NMW entitlement.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We have also asked the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to consider whether we can simplify the apprentice rate structure so that it is as clear and simple as possible, in order to support those employers who take on apprentices. The LPC will report back with their recommendations in February 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We are continuing to take a tough approach towards all employers that do not comply with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) law, including through making their non-compliance public. 55 employers, including some who underpaid apprentices, have been named so far and between them they owed workers a total of over £139,000 in arrears.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has also increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the unpaid arrears owed to workers and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. This came into effect on 7 March 2014. We are introducing primary legislation so that the penalty can be calculated on a per worker basis which will substantially increase the penalty for some employers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There have been no prosecutions since 2010 involving apprentices. Prosecution is reserved for the most serious cases. The Government usually pursues other means, which are more effective, to achieve the key goals of getting workers paid their arrears of wages and deter employers from being non-compliant. For example, the Government policy on the naming scheme and the increase in the NMW civil penalty will have considerable reputational and financial consequences for employers who are non-compliant with the NMW. However, HMRC will refer suitable cases to prosecutors.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 217684 217685 question first answered 11/12/2014 16:21:02 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

168572

	registered interest
	date	08/12/2014
	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	Older Workers
	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 working in his Department are over 65 years old; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
	tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
	uin	217650
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2014 answer text <p>As at 19 November 2014, there are 35 civil servants over 65 years old employed to work for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). We do not centrally hold details of the age of staff in the department's partner organisations, staff working in companies contracted by the department, or other non-payroll staff.</p><p> </p><p>As an equal opportunities employer, BIS is committed to eliminating discrimination, promoting equality of opportunity and encouraging diversity amongst its workforce, and meeting its obligations under the Public Sector Equality Act.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 16/12/2014 14:17:19 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby

168574

	registered interest
	date	08/12/2014
	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, how many employers have been prosecuted for non-payment of the apprentice National Minimum Wage in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	217684
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2014 answer text <p>The Government is committed to the National Minimum Wage and is absolutely clear that everyone who is entitled to it should receive it. Any worker who thinks they have been underpaid should call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HMRC investigates every complaint made to the helpline and calls from apprentices are prioritised for consideration.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government is aware that non-compliance involving apprentices is an issue and we are taking action. We are:</p><p> </p><p>· Ensuring that all training providers [in England] deliver on existing obligations to inform employers and apprentices of their NMW requirements.</p><p> </p><p>· Improving guidance and information more generally, to ensure we have clear and comprehensive information on the minimum wage rules. In England the National Apprenticeship Service includes information on the NMW in its information pack for employers taking on an apprentice.</p><p> </p><p>· Encouraging workers to call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline if they think they are not getting what they are legally entitled to through our communication campaign which began in Sept 2014.</p><p> </p><p>· Writing to level 2 &amp; 3 apprentices in England informing them of their NMW entitlement.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We have also asked the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to consider whether we can simplify the apprentice rate structure so that it is as clear and simple as possible, in order to support those employers who take on apprentices. The LPC will report back with their recommendations in February 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We are continuing to take a tough approach towards all employers that do not comply with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) law, including through making their non-compliance public. 55 employers, including some who underpaid apprentices, have been named so far and between them they owed workers a total of over £139,000 in arrears.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has also increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the unpaid arrears owed to workers and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. This came into effect on 7 March 2014. We are introducing primary legislation so that the penalty can be calculated on a per worker basis which will substantially increase the penalty for some employers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There have been no prosecutions since 2010 involving apprentices. Prosecution is reserved for the most serious cases. The Government usually pursues other means, which are more effective, to achieve the key goals of getting workers paid their arrears of wages and deter employers from being non-compliant. For example, the Government policy on the naming scheme and the increase in the NMW civil penalty will have considerable reputational and financial consequences for employers who are non-compliant with the NMW. However, HMRC will refer suitable cases to prosecutors.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 217685 217744 question first answered 11/12/2014 16:21:02 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield