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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

170378

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Family Courts
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's financial commitment is to the Family, Drug and Alcohol Court project; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Worthing and Shoreham
tabling member printed	Tim Loughton
uin	218666
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Education has been a strong supporter of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court model since 2008, and has worked closely with the team to grow the model and secure its sustainability. With regard to further financial commitment, I refer the Hon Member to the reply given to him on 14 July in <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2014-07-09/204870/" target="_blank">PQ 204870</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Mr Edward Timpson question first answered 18/12/2014 12:46:54 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	114 label Biography information for Tim Loughton

170379

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Child Rearing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effects of Parental Alienation Syndrome on families; and what plans he has to issue guidance or being forward legislative proposals to deal with those effects.
tabling member constituency	East Worthing and Shoreham
tabling member printed	Tim Loughton
uin	218667
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The family courts consider the facts of each case with the welfare of the child as paramount. Parental Alienation Syndrome is not recognised as a 'syndrome' by many professionals in this country<strong>. </strong> The courts do, however, recognise that some resident parents are responsible for alienating their children from non-resident parents and can take this into account when considering their decisions.</p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes grouped question UIN 218665 question first answered 18/12/2014 15:52:51 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
tabling member	114 label Biography information for Tim Loughton

170380

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Foster Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the number of foster carers; and what recent estimate she has made of the number of foster carers required.
tabling member constituency	East Worthing and Shoreham
tabling member printed	Tim Loughton
uin	218668
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>Our evidence at national level suggests that there is no overall shortage of foster carers. However, some local authorities report local difficulties, including shortages of particular types of foster carer such as those able to accommodate sibling groups and children with complex needs and challenging behaviours.</p><p>The Government is investing £750,000, over the period 2013 -15, in an innovative programme to help local authorities and their partners address issues and barriers in recruiting the range of foster carers needed to meet the needs of all looked-after children.</p><p>The Government's wider programme of reform for fostering aims to further support effective recruitment and retention of foster carers through: improving the assessment and approval process for new foster carers, facilitating effective delegation of parenting decisions to foster carers, and awarding £90,000 to Research in Practice to develop training on foster care for social workers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Mr Edward Timpson question first answered 18/12/2014 12:40:48 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	114 label Biography information for Tim Loughton

170512

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Child Rearing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effects of Parental Alienation Syndrome on family breakdowns; and what plans he has to issue guidance or bring forward legislative proposals to deal with that syndrome and its effects.
tabling member constituency	East Worthing and Shoreham
tabling member printed	Tim Loughton
uin	218665
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The family courts consider the facts of each case with the welfare of the child as paramount. Parental Alienation Syndrome is not recognised as a 'syndrome' by many professionals in this country<strong>. </strong> The courts do, however, recognise that some resident parents are responsible for alienating their children from non-resident parents and can take this into account when considering their decisions.</p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes grouped question UIN 218667 question first answered 18/12/2014 15:52:51 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
tabling member	114 label Biography information for Tim Loughton

170285

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Written Questions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the savings to the Law Officers' Departments from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems the Law Officers' Departments have introduced or plan to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	218771
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>The Attorney General’s Office has made an estimated saving of £164 in respect of stationery costs since June 2014. There may also have been some savings in staff time but it is not possible to quantify this without incurring a disproportionate cost. There have been no other identified savings.</p><p> </p><p>There have also not been any modifications made to existing ICT systems that were dependent on introduction of the Q&amp;A system.</p><p> </p><p>One of the benefits of the new system is the possibility for the reporting of the timeliness of answers to Parliamentary Questions to be delivered with greater consistency and accuracy across all answering bodies.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It will be for the Procedure Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the new system in improving performance when it assesses the evidence following the end of the session.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Mr Robert Buckland question first answered 05/01/2015 17:40:06 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

170286

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	Written Questions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems his Department has introduced or plans to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	218770
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/01/2015 answer text <p>No financial estimate of savings has been made since the introduction of the Q&amp;A system. However, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has seen a reduction in paper usage and BIS staff no longer have to physically deliver PQ answers to hon. Members and the House authorities. These obvious savings will continue.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>BIS changed its IT platform for managing PQs to eCase last summer. This would have happened regardless of the introduction of the Q&amp;A system.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 02/01/2015 11:52:42 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

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

170289

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	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, if he will take steps to ensure that interns used for full-time work are paid at least the National Minimum Wage; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Warrington North
tabling member printed	Helen Jones
uin	218759
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The term “intern” is not defined in any legislation: entitlement to the minimum wage depends on whether or not an individual is a worker. If an internship meets the legal definition of a worker, then they must be paid at least the minimum wage from the start.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Given this dependency on employment status, it is vital that employers and workers understand how this is determined. We continue to carry out targeted awareness raising initiatives with interns and HMRC have been working with employers to identify potential non-compliance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Complaints from interns about non-payment of the minimum wage are prioritised by HMRC for investigation and HMRC will investigate every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the helpline on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Determining an individual’s employment status can be complicated. This is why the Business Secretary announced a review of employment status in October this year, to help ensure an employment status framework in the UK that meets the needs of everyone. This is an internal review and will present findings to ministers early next year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 18/12/2014 12:13:10 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	432 label Biography information for Helen Jones