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179062

	registered interest
	date	10/02/2015
	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	Zero Hours Contracts
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what definition the Government uses for classifying a zero hours contract.
	tabling member constituency	Wirral South
	tabling member printed	Alison McGovern
	uin	223955
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2015 answer text <p>There is no legal definition of a zero hours contract in UK domestic employment law. In general terms a zero hours contract is an arrangement under which an employer does not guarantee the individual any work, and the individual is not obliged to accept any work offered.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The ONS in their Labour Force Survey describe a zero hours contract as a contract ‘where a person is not contracted to work a set number of hours, and is only paid for the number of hours that they actually work’.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 24/02/2015 11:48:33 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern

178815

	registered interest
	date	10/02/2015
	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	Utilities: Billing
	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 on consumers of decisions by utility companies to introduce charges for receiving information and bills in paper format.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford South
	tabling member printed	Mr Gerry Sutcliffe
	uin	223938
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p>Charges for a paper bill must reflect only the additional costs actually incurred by the business concerned for providing this service. Consumers who believe they have been overcharged should consult the Citizens’ Advice Consumer Helpline on 03454 04 05 06 (<a href="http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/" target="_blank">www.adviceguide.org.uk</a>).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In many instances, consumers could re-negotiate or find an alternative provider to obtain better value for money overall. Especially for financially or otherwise vulnerable customers, paper <a title="A proposal for new legislation that is debated by Parliament." href="http://www.theyworkforyou.com/glossary/?gl=249" target="_blank">bills</a> will not always be the best choice - but any consumer can obtain information from Citizens’ Advice on how to find the best tariff for their needs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 23/02/2015 09:36:05 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	403 label Biography information for Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

178798

	registered interest
	date	10/02/2015
	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	Offshore Industry
	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 9 February 2015 to Question 223458, what the current (a) employment protections and (b) collective bargaining rights are for contractors working in the offshore oil and gas sector.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	224044
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2015 answer text <p>A contractor’s employment protections will depend on the facts of the working relationship and the contract under which they are working. This is irrespective of whether the individual is being contracted for offshore work or not. Contractors who are actually workers or employees would be entitled to the same basic employment protections as other offshore workers with a similar status, and indeed would have common collective rights. Contractors who are self-employed may be entitled to a smaller number of employment protections, depending on the terms of their contract. There is no single list of the protections and rights of offshore workers and contractors because these will be specific to the contract, the location of the work place and the employment status of the contractor. The Government is exploring how to add clarity to this as part of the employment status review.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 17/02/2015 16:15:00 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

178805

	registered interest
	date	10/02/2015
	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	Groceries Code Adjudicator
	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 bring forward proposals to extend the powers of the Groceries Code Adjudicator to consider complaints from primary producers.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Greg Mulholland
	uin	224085
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2015 answer text <p>The jurisdiction of the Groceries Code Adjudicator is defined by the Groceries Supply Code of Practice. The Code governs the commercial relationships between the ten largest UK supermarkets and their direct suppliers, and reflects the findings of the Competition Commission’s market investigation into the supermarket sector conducted between 2006 and 2008.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There will be a statutory review of the performance of the Adjudicator next year in accordance with section 15 of the Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 23/02/2015 13:51:47 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1540 label Biography information for Greg Mulholland

178854

	registered interest
	date	10/02/2015
	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	Care Workers: Pay
	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 introduce legislative proposals to ensure social care workers and home care providers are paid costs for travel to clients, training and on-call time in addition to being paid for the time spent with those for whom they provide care.
	tabling member constituency	Newport West
	tabling member printed	Paul Flynn
	uin	224122
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2015 answer text <p>The Government already makes clear in legislation and guidance that travel time between assignments should be paid at least the appropriate National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate. Whether a worker paid by the hour is entitled to the minimum wage for periods such as the time spent travelling between home and their first assignment and between their last assignment and home depends on the terms of their contract and whether they are working during that time. We have updated our guidance on the Gov.UK to make it clear that time spent travelling between assignments and rest breaks must be paid at least the NMW.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In relation to training, the NMW rules state that, where a worker is paid according to the number of hours they work, the NMW must be paid for all time spent training.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Workers who are required to be available to work, either on standby or on call, should also receive at least the NMW rate for this time, although there are exceptions in some circumstances.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We encourage any care sector worker who believes that they have been underpaid to make a complaint, using the free and confidential Pay &amp; Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue &amp; Customs investigate all complaints. In addition, they are currently undertaking proactive enforcement action into the six largest care providers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 24/02/2015 11:49:35 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	545 label Biography information for Paul Flynn

178818

	registered interest
	date	10/02/2015
	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	Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many people have applied for the Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund in each year since its establishment; and what estimate she has made of the total grants from that date to May 2015.
	tabling member constituency	Wirral South
	tabling member printed	Alison McGovern
	uin	223992
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2015 answer text <p>The number of people who have made applications to the Access to Elected Office fund by year is in the table.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of applicants</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>27</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>34</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15 (to date)</p></td><td><p>34</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>The total value of Grants awarded to date (from July 2012 to January 2015) is £399,061, and applications totalling £92,442 are currently pending. Total grant expenditure will depend on the final number of successful applications between now and the end of March 2015, after which date the fund will cease to take applications.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 19/02/2015 16:12:50 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4083 label Biography information for Alison McGovern