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41162

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2014, Official Report, column 694W, on polling stations, what assessment he has made of the effect of foreign language translation by local authorities on integration of non-English speakers into their communities.
	tabling member constituency	Bromley and Chislehurst
	tabling member printed	Robert Neill
	uin	190554
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>In March 2013, my Department published new guidance for local authorities outlining how councils should stop translating into foreign languages. As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 12 March 2013, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 5WS, such translation weakens integration; discourages communities from learning English; undermines rather than strengthens equality goals; harms community relations; and is an expensive waste of taxpayers' money at a time when councils need to be making sensible savings. It is disappointing that councils like Tower Hamlets have disregarded that guidance, and reflects broader issues with the dysfunctional governance and divisive practices of the council.</p><p>I would add that in light of previous instances of electoral fraud, including impersonation in polling stations, postal voting irregularities and allegations of improper influence, Ministers in this Department have concerns about the practice of allowing foreign language translators/interpreters inside polling stations. The privacy of the ballot must be protected and voters inside a polling station should not be subject to any pressure or influence to vote in a particular way. In that context, the integrity of the ballot box and of the local democratic process requires independent and transparent scrutiny in polling stations by polling agents, council staff, the police and, indeed, passing members of the public who are also voting. This is undermined by polling room administration being conducted in foreign languages.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
	tabling member	1601 label Biography information for Sir Robert Neill

18743

	registered interest
	date	04/11/2013
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding was allocated from Homes and Community Agency to (a) develop new affordable housing and (b) bring empty homes back into use in Harrow in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Harrow West
	tabling member printed	Mr Gareth Thomas
	uin	174351
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p><em>[Holding Reply: Thursday 7 November 2013]</em></p><p>The figures for affordable housing are as follows for the London Borough of Harrow area:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>2008-09</p></td><td><p>£22 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009-10</p></td><td><p>£45 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>£26 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>£15 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>£13 million</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Since April 2012, allocations from the Affordable Housing Programme have been overseen by the Greater London Authority rather than the Homes and Communities Agency. There have been no specific allocations on empty homes over this period.</p><p>As outlined to the hon. Member in the answer of 7 January 2013, <em>Official Report</em>, Column 121W, I would note that the new Affordable Rent model now allows for more affordable housing to be delivered with lower levels of taxpayer capital subsidy and lever in more private investment.</p><p>As the National Audit Office has observed: “The Department selected the best delivery model open to it for the funds it had available” and “The Department has so far achieved its policy objective to maximise the number of homes delivered within the available grant funding” (National Audit Office, “Financial viability of the social housing sector; introducing the Affordable Homes Programme”, 4 July 2012, HC465, pp.6-7).</p><p>I also note that the Mayor's proposed Housing Strategy states: “£1.8 billion of public funding has been secured by the Mayor which will unlock an estimated additional £3.7 billion of other investment for London to enable 55,000 affordable homes to be delivered between 2011-15” (Mayor of London, “The Revised London Housing Strategy”, December2011, p.35).</p><p>Across England, 170,000 affordable homes have been delivered so far since April 2010, and a total of £19.5 billion of public and private investment is being spent on affordable housing over the current Spending Review period.</p><p> </p><p><em> </em></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	177 label Biography information for Gareth Thomas

26106

	registered interest
	date	22/11/2013
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which contracts his Department holds with (a) Capita, (b) A4E, (c) G4S, (d) Serco, (e) GeoAMEY, (f) Sodexo and (g) Mitie; when each contract started; how much each contract is expect to cost over its lifetime; when each contract is due to end; whether there are any options in the contract for extension; whether any financial penalties have been incurred by each contractor to date; and whether each such contract has a break clause.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	uin	177489
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>I undertook to write to you when the information had been received.</p><p> </p><p>The table contained within Annex A details the live contracts that the Department holds with Capita, G4S, Serco, GeoAmey, Sodexo and MITIE. The table provides you with details on the start and end dates of these contracts, the estimated value of the contract as advertised when the procurement process was initiated, extension options and whether there is a break clause. Where information pertaining to any of these questions is already in the public domain, you will find for ease of reference links to the Hansard extracts.</p><p> </p><p>There are no contracts between the Department and A4E.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The table within Annex A provides details on financial penalties where this information is already available in the public domain. To obtain this information for all the contracts listed would incur disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p><p>The details for the legacy Electronic Monitoring contracts between the Department and G4S and Serco have not been provided to you due to the ongoing criminal investigation into issues relating to these contracts.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright attachment 1 file name 177489.XLS title Table 1
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

38810

	registered interest
	date	12/02/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many new criminal offences have been created in each year since May 2010; and what the predicted effect was on the number of prisoners for each such offence.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	uin	188279
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>I have set out below the number of criminal offences in England and Wales created by government departments. The numbers are collated by the Criminal Offences Gateway which scrutinises proposals on new and amended criminal offences for England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>The numbers are based on offences put through the Criminal Offences Gateway during the period 1 June 2010 to 31 May 2013 (the latest available data).</p><p> </p><p>Further information can be found in the New Criminal Offences England and Wales <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revised-new-criminal-offences-statistics-in-england-and-wales-june-2009-may-2013" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revised-new-criminal-offences-statistics-in-england-and-wales-june-2009-may-2013</a></p><p> </p><p>The numbers of new criminal offences, which include entirely new offences and existing offences which have been extended or amended in some way, are published annually by my department in the statistical bulletin <em>New Criminal Offence</em>s. The new criminal offences enforce Government policy in a range of areas, including to contain the spread of serious animal diseases and to criminalise squatting in a residential building.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Period covered</p></td><td><p>Number of legislative provisions (secondary &amp; primary) containing new offences</p></td><td><p>Total criminal offences created</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1 June 2010 to 31 May 2011</p></td><td><p>33</p></td><td><p>174</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1 June 2011 to 31 May 2012</p></td><td><p>52</p></td><td><p>292</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1 June 2012 to 31 May 2013</p></td><td><p>60</p></td><td><p>327</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>712 criminal offences were created during the period 1 June 2009 to May 2010 which was the 12 months immediately prior to the establishment of the Criminal Offences Gateway.</p><p> </p><p>New offences are needed for a number of reasons, for example, to update legislation that is now out of date, to underpin delivery of government priorities and to set out clearly what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. The Government committed to putting in place a mechanism, an additional layer of scrutiny, for proposals to create new offences. This is the first time a Government has done so and committed to doing so publicly. The Government has repealed 140 offences in the 12 months ending May 2013.</p><p> </p><p>The information on the predicted effect on the number of prisoners for each relevant offence is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark answering member printed Simon Hughes question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 194 label Biography information for Simon Hughes
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

39732

	registered interest
	date	24/02/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum cases were awaiting decision for travel documents on 1 February 2014.
	tabling member constituency	Leicester East
	tabling member printed	Keith Vaz
	uin	189239
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>We are unable to provide figures specific to asylum cases awaiting travel <br>documents. This information is only held within paper case files, which would <br>mean this question could only be answered through a disproportionately <br>expensive manual case search.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
	tabling member	338 label Biography information for Keith Vaz

47290

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many cases of domestic violence have led to prosecutions for psychological abuse in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	South Swindon
	tabling member printed	Mr Robert Buckland
	uin	195668
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The CPS flags all cases identified as domestic violence according to the revised Government definition implemented in March 2013. This includes the elements of coercive control, and behaviours which do not display visible injuries such as psychological abuse which were introduced in the revised definition. However the records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) cannot separately identify the number of people prosecuted for each of these elements. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald grouped question UIN 195663 195667 question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
	tabling member	4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland

47291

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many domestic violence cases have led to prosecutions for non-injurious behaviours.
	tabling member constituency	South Swindon
	tabling member printed	Mr Robert Buckland
	uin	195667
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The CPS flags all cases identified as domestic violence according to the revised Government definition implemented in March 2013. This includes the elements of coercive control, and behaviours which do not display visible injuries such as psychological abuse which were introduced in the revised definition. However the records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) cannot separately identify the number of people prosecuted for each of these elements. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald grouped question UIN 195663 195668 question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
	tabling member	4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland

47292

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, whether any domestic violence cases have led to prosecutions for coercive control since the inclusion of coercive control in the Government's definition of domestic violence in March 2013.
	tabling member constituency	South Swindon
	tabling member printed	Mr Robert Buckland
	uin	195663
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The CPS flags all cases identified as domestic violence according to the revised Government definition implemented in March 2013. This includes the elements of coercive control, and behaviours which do not display visible injuries such as psychological abuse which were introduced in the revised definition. However the records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) cannot separately identify the number of people prosecuted for each of these elements. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald grouped question UIN 195667 195668 question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
	tabling member	4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland

47293

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, whether any cases of domestic violence have led to prosecutions for stalking when the stalking behaviours occurred before the victim and perpetrator had separated.
	tabling member constituency	South Swindon
	tabling member printed	Mr Robert Buckland
	uin	195669
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service do not identify the number of people prosecuted for domestic violence that have led to prosecutions for stalking where the stalking behaviour occurred before the victim and perpetrator had separated. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
	tabling member	4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland

47116

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by the Law Officers' Departments since May 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	195504
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The Law Officers' Departments have not transferred any permanent jobs from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing since May 2010.</p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

47877

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions have taken place under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 for the offence of providing unrestricted access to hardcore pornography online, as set out in the 2005 Crown Prosecution Service guidelines, disaggregated by year.
	tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
	tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
	uin	196000
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)indicate the number of offences charged, in which a prosecution commenced at magistrates' courts under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (publishing or having an obscene article for publication for gain), rather than identifying the number of people prosecuted.</p><p>Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 creates the offence of publishing or having an obscene article for publication for gain.</p><p>The table below shows, in each of the last 8 years, for which figures are available, the number of offences, charged by way of Section 2 of the OPA 1959, and which reached a first hearing at magistrates' courts, in England and Wales.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Obscene Publications Act 1959 { 2 }</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2005-2006</strong></p></td><td><p>111</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2006-2007</strong></p></td><td><p>105</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2007-2008</strong></p></td><td><p>111</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2008-2009</strong></p></td><td><p>152</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009-2010</strong></p></td><td><p>82</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010-2011</strong></p></td><td><p>71</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011-2012</strong></p></td><td><p>76</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012-2013</strong></p></td><td><p>34</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
	tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

46163

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many cases were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for pre-charge decision in 2013-14 and each of the five preceding years; how many of those cases were (a) subject to a decision to take no further action, (b) disposed of by way of a simple caution, (c) disposed of by way of a conditional caution, (d) disposed of by another type of out-of-court disposal, (e) prosecuted, (f) prosecuted successfully and (g) prosecuted successfully where the defendant contested the charge.
	tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
	tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
	uin	194680
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of suspects (not cases) referred to prosecutors for a pre-charge decision and the number of defendants prosecuted, following a decision to charge.</p><p>The table below shows, in each of the last five years for which figures are available, the total number of charging decisions made against suspects and the outcome of decisions where the decision was to (a) take no further action, (b) caution, (c) conditionally caution or (d) recommend another out of court disposal. In addition, the table shows the number of defendants prosecuted at magistrates' courts and at the Crown Court, by the CPS following a decision to charge (e), the number convicted (f) and the number convicted after a contested hearing (g). The table does not include other outcomes related to pre-charge decisions.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p><strong>Total Pre-Charge</strong></p><p><strong> Decisions</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(a) No Further</strong></p><p><strong> Action</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(b) Simple</strong></p><p><strong> Caution</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(c) Conditional</strong></p><p><strong> Caution</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(d) Other Out </strong><strong>of </strong></p><p><strong>Court Disposal</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(e) Prosecuted</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(f) Convictions</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(g) Conviction</strong></p><p><strong> after Contest</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2008-09</strong></p></td><td><p>532,427</p></td><td><p>140,895</p></td><td><p>9,596</p></td><td><p>8,378</p></td><td><p>4,520</p></td><td><p>357,785</p></td><td><p>288,996</p></td><td><p>31,049</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009-10</strong></p></td><td><p>477,522</p></td><td><p>127,502</p></td><td><p>8,040</p></td><td><p>8,229</p></td><td><p>3,088</p></td><td><p>326,051</p></td><td><p>259,017</p></td><td><p>28,777</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010-11</strong></p></td><td><p>468,656</p></td><td><p>120,144</p></td><td><p>6,595</p></td><td><p>6,935</p></td><td><p>2,390</p></td><td><p>332,935</p></td><td><p>261,539</p></td><td><p>28,186</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p></td><td><p>369,564</p></td><td><p>89,104</p></td><td><p>4,275</p></td><td><p>4,982</p></td><td><p>1,377</p></td><td><p>282,970</p></td><td><p>223,504</p></td><td><p>26,042</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p></td><td><p>309,315</p></td><td><p>73,916</p></td><td><p>2,993</p></td><td><p>3,781</p></td><td><p>863</p></td><td><p>233,594</p></td><td><p>185,176</p></td><td><p>20,872</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System</p><p>The data reported in the above table are inclusive of suspects referred to the CPS for a charging decision and defendants prosecuted by the specialised national divisions of the CPS including, from April 2011, proceedings formerly dealt with by the prosecution functions of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health.</p><p>Since 2011 the Police have been able to charge some offences without referral to the CPS, as outlined in the DPP's Guidance on Charging which can be found on the CPS website at <a href="https://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/directors_guidance/dpp_guidance_5.html" target="_blank">https://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/directors_guidance/dpp_guidance_5.html</a></p><p>Data for the annual year 2013-14 are not currently available.</p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
	tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

46167

	registered interest
	date	01/04/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, what the performance of each Crown Prosecution Service business area was on (a) pre-charge decisions, (b) decisions to take to further action, (c) discontinuances after charge, (d) prosecutions, (e) convictions and (f) convictions after a not-guilty plea for each of the flagged offence groups in 2013-14 and each of the five previous years.
	tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
	tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
	uin	194784
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Tables have been deposited in the Library of the House containing the following information for each of the last five years for which complete and validated data is available;</p><p>· Number of pre-charge decisions and the proportion that resulted in a decision to take no further action.</p><p>· Number of finalised prosecutions.</p><p>· Number of convictions and the conviction rate</p><p>· Number of prosecutions discontinued after charge</p><p>· Number of convictions in contested cases</p><p>The figures are broken down for the 13 regional Crown Prosecution Service Areas and by principal offence category of the cases concerned. The principal offence category indicates the most serious offence with which the defendant is charged at the time of finalisation.</p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Oliver Heald question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald attachment 1 file name 194784 - Data tables -Pre charge decisions.XLSX title Tabels - CPS pre charge decisions
	tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

46818

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2014
	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
	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 assessment he has made of the Government's progress in encouraging exports to emerging markets; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
	tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
	uin	195157
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>UK exports of goods and services to Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs) reached £34.9 billion in 2013, their highest level since records began in 1999. In the Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Chancellor highlighted rising exports, with combined goods exports to Brazil, India and China rising faster than those of the UK's competitors (France, Germany, Italy) in 2013, but said there was more to do.</p><p> </p><p>UK Trade &amp; Investment's Britain Open for Business: The Next Phase (January 2014) underlined that: ‘To deliver our ambitious trade and investment targets we are continuing vigorously to pursue opportunities in developed markets while strengthening our efforts in high growth markets'. The Chancellor has given UKTI additional funding to strengthen its support for high growth markets.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, UK Export Finance (UKEF) is devoting additional resources to supporting High Value Opportunities. UKEF also has cover available for over 200 overseas markets and is increasing its product range to provide more effective support to Mid-Size Businesses (MSBs) and smaller companies.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby

47892

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
	tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
	uin	196014
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has put in place a robust framework to reduce the burden of regulation on all businesses, particularly small business.</p><p> </p><p>In January 2011, we brought in the One-in, One-out rule. This required departments wanting to introduce new regulation which generated costs for business to first identify a corresponding cut in regulation elsewhere with the same value. In January 2013 this was increased to a more demanding One-In, Two-Out rule so that departments now need to find £2 of savings for every £1 cost they introduce. To date, as set out in the 7<sup>th</sup> Statement of New Regulation published on 17 December 2013, we have cut the annual cost of domestic regulation by £1.19 billion.</p><p> </p><p>We are also reducing the stock of regulation through the Red Tape Challenge, with over 3,000 regulations now having been identified to be scrapped or improved. When fully implemented, we expect that these changes will bring estimated annual savings to business of over £850 million.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Specifically to help small business, in April 2011 we introduced a moratorium exempting micro and start-up businesses from new domestic regulation for three years. From 1 April 2014 this was extended to include small businesses (with up to 50 employees) through the introduction of the Small and Micro Business Assessment (SaMBA).</p><p> </p><p>Measures that this Department has introduced specifically to reduce the burden of regulation on small businesses include giving small and medium-sized enterprises the flexibility to determine the most appropriate set of accounting rules for them, along with flexibility in how they submit their company reports through regulatory changes to audit rules. We have also extended the qualifying period of unfair dismissal to two years and introduced a new employment status of employee shareholder.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby

47893

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what research and development into the commercial application of robotics his Department funds; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
	tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
	uin	196017
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>This Department has worked with the Technology Strategy Board's (TSB) Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Special Interest Group to develop a National Strategy for robotics in the UK, which will identify commercial opportunities in key sectors of the Government's Industrial Strategy.</p><p> </p><p>The Department and its partner organisations fund research and development into the commercial application of robotics as follows:</p><p> </p><p>BIS</p><p>This Department is currently providing funding of £1.5m to support the development of autonomous road vehicles. The consortium (which includes Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the Transport Systems Catapult and other partners) will develop small pod-like vehicles capable of carrying up to 2 passengers and which will ultimately be capable of autonomous operations.</p><p> </p><p>BIS has previously funded a two year automation programme with the British Automation and Robot Association that ended in September 2013. The £600k programme over two years enabled the provision of a one day manufacturing review and diagnostic to small and medium-sized enterprises on the potential to apply robotics and automation in their businesses. The programme also provided the opportunity for more detailed interventions. Over 268 one day reviews were carried out, and more detailed interventions accounted for a further 282 days of advice.</p><p> </p><p>Research Councils</p><p>The Research Councils current investment into research related to the commercial application of robotics is £36.5m, which includes a £10m investment through the Natural Environment Research Council into Marine Autonomous Systems.</p><p> </p><p>Technology Strategy Board</p><p>The TSB is the prime channel through which Government supports business-led technology innovation. Since 2010 it has invested £8 million in robotics and robotics related projects, helping business develop and commercialise new products and services.</p><p> </p><p>The TSB is arranging an entrepreneur-led overseas delegation to the US in June 2014 to develop the UK's brand in robotics and to engage with the rapidly growing robotics cluster in San Francisco and San Diego. This creates a real opportunity for UK robotics companies to capitalise on this growth and take a lead in integrating their technologies in a range of markets that could exploit them. The message behind the mission is that the UK is open for business and has innovative robotics companies that are interested in the US market and are ready to engage in dialogue, form partnerships and do business in the international arena.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government (through TSB) has previously funded research and demonstration of civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicles through the £62m ASTRAEA programme over the past seven years. The programme has made possible the ‘unmanned' flight of a Jetstream 31 from Lancashire to Inverness, clocking up to 2,500 miles in flights between Lancashire and Inverness and around the Irish Sea.</p><p> </p><p>UK Space Agency</p><p>The UK Space Agency encourages and supports companies and research organisations to spin-out technology developed through space exploration into non-space sectors. The funding provided by the Agency is for feasibility studies. The relevant studies funded are:</p><p> </p><ul><li>the application of Mars rover autonomous navigation for large off road vehicles; and</li><li>development of Auto-Resonant Control System.</li></ul> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby

47899

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	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 value of bilateral trade in agricultural goods and services between the UK and Israel was in each year since 2004.
	tabling member constituency	Tiverton and Honiton
	tabling member printed	Neil Parish
	uin	196116
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Data on agricultural goods trade between UK and Israel in each year since 2004 is shown in the following table. Data on agriculture services trade is not available from official published sources.</p><p> </p><p><strong>UK trade in agricultural goods with Israel, 2004 to 2013, £ millions:</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>UK exports to Israel</p></td><td><p>UK imports from Israel</p></td><td><p>Total bilateral trade</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2004</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>169</p></td><td><p>179</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2005</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>198</p></td><td><p>208</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2006</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>190</p></td><td><p>203</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>204</p></td><td><p>217</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>132</p></td><td><p>140</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>93</p></td><td><p>97</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>95</p></td><td><p>101</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>96</p></td><td><p>101</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>128</p></td><td><p>134</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>121</p></td><td><p>127</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Source: Eurostat (Comext), based on CPA 2008 (Classification of Products by Activity) code 01 “Products of Agriculture” - values converted from Euros into £ using HMT Pocket Databank exchange rates (27 March 2014)</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	4072 label Biography information for Neil Parish

47252

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what joint trade missions have been undertaken by the UK and the Republic of Ireland since 2010; and what steps he is taking to increase collaboration with the Republic of Ireland on trade and exports.
	tabling member constituency	Worcester
	tabling member printed	Mr Robin Walker
	uin	195631
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The UK and Ireland have embarked on a wide programme of cooperation following the visit of HM the Queen to Ireland in 2011. Led by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach, this programme is designed to develop and strengthen the relationship between the UK and Ireland over the next decade across a range of policy areas.</p><p> </p><p>The UK and Ireland delivered the first ever joint trade mission between the two countries to the Singapore Airshow during the week commencing 10 February 2014. The UK-Ireland mission delegation consisted of 25 companies, 16 from the UK (including 9 from Northern Ireland) and 9 from the Republic of Ireland. Delivering a joint trade mission was one of the key deliverables for the 2014 PM/Taoiseach Summit.</p><p> </p><p>UK Trade &amp; Investment is committed to maintaining its work programme with Enterprise Ireland to further develop cooperation on trade promotion in support of UK and Irish business.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker

47898

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	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 student loan default rate is for students and graduates of (a) Bristol, (b) Cambridge, (c) Durham, (d) Exeter, (e) Leeds, (f) Manchester and (g) Oxford Universities.
	tabling member constituency	Bognor Regis and Littlehampton
	tabling member printed	Mr Nick Gibb
	uin	196099
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Information on the repayment status of student loans is available in the Student Loans Company (SLC) publication <em>‘Income Contingent Repayments by Repayment Cohort and Tax Year'</em>, which is availableat the following link: <a href="http://www.slc.co.uk/media/589346/slcosp012013.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.slc.co.uk/media/589346/slcosp012013.pdf</a> .</p><p> </p><p>Institution-specific information is not published and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb

47136

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	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
	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 break down by component elements the increase in the RAB charge from 33 per cent to 45 per cent.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hodge Hill
	tabling member printed	Mr Liam Byrne
	uin	195456
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The increase in the RAB charge has been due to:</p><p> </p><p>- macroeconomic effects – earnings growth has been lower than expected since the £21,000 threshold was set making it more generous in real terms than was expected at the time it was set; and</p><p>- modelling changes – we have made methodological improvements to our modelling of individual borrower's earnings over time. We have done this through a new approach that takes greater account of an individual's past earnings and of Student Loans Company data on actual loan repayments.</p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	1171 label Biography information for Liam Byrne

47137

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	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
	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 proportion of student loans issued under the (a) pre-2012 and (b) new funding system that will be fully written off.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hodge Hill
	tabling member printed	Mr Liam Byrne
	uin	195458
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Our model is designed to estimate aggregate repayments across the full range of borrowers. It does not estimate outcomes at the individual level, such as the probability of an individual's loan balance being fully written off.</p><p> </p><p>However, Student Loans Company data for early pre-2012 cohorts show that that around 10% of the cohorts up to 2005 have made no repayments since taking out their loans.</p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	1171 label Biography information for Liam Byrne

47138

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his Department's estimate is of the latest RAB charge for part-time students.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hodge Hill
	tabling member printed	Mr Liam Byrne
	uin	195459
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The current estimate for the resource accounting and budgeting charge for part-time students is 65%.</p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	1171 label Biography information for Liam Byrne

47140

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what he expects the RAB charge to be for extra students entering higher education when the present cap on student numbers is removed in 2014-15.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hodge Hill
	tabling member printed	Mr Liam Byrne
	uin	195413
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>We produce a single RAB charge that is an estimate of the overall cost of issuing loans to students. This charge is currently around 45% for full time students. Similarly, a single RAB charge will be applied to all students entering higher education in 14-15.</p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	1171 label Biography information for Liam Byrne

47464

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when the Higher Education Funding Council for England will run its annual monitoring exercise to collect information about the ongoing financial sustainability, quality of provision, and changes to management and governance arrangements at alternative learning providers; and when the Higher Education Funding Council for England will publish this information.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hodge Hill
	tabling member printed	Mr Liam Byrne
	uin	195764
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The Department will publish guidance on the annual monitoring process and associated timetable in July 2014.</p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts grouped question UIN 195753 question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	1171 label Biography information for Liam Byrne

47469

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when the Higher Education Funding Council for England plans to commence its annual monitoring exercise to collect information about the ongoing financial sustainability, quality of provision and changes to management and governance arrangements at alternative learning providers; and when that body plans to publish such information.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hodge Hill
	tabling member printed	Mr Liam Byrne
	uin	195753
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The Department will publish guidance on the annual monitoring process and associated timetable in July 2014.</p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts grouped question UIN 195764 question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	1171 label Biography information for Liam Byrne

47471

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any alternative learning providers have notified the Higher Education Funding Council for England of material changes which may affect their financial sustainability or quality of provision.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hodge Hill
	tabling member printed	Mr Liam Byrne
	uin	195761
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The requirement for providers to notify the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) of material changes which may affect their financial sustainability or quality of provision is a new condition that providers are required to meet after they have successfully applied to have courses designated under the under the new specific course designation arrangements. All alternative providers must go through the new process during the 2013/14 academic year. Of those providers that have already successfully applied none has yet notified HEFCE of material changes which may affect their financial sustainability or quality of provision.</p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	1171 label Biography information for Liam Byrne

47882

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	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 Growth is Our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services published in July 2013, what engagement plan for disseminating high value opportunity programme opportunities has been developed; and what opportunities have been identified within the professional and business services sector.
	tabling member constituency	Hartlepool
	tabling member printed	Mr Iain Wright
	uin	195986
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Through this strategy UKTI has invigorated its support for this vital sector including a sector-focused trade mission programme, new business ambassadors, a marketing plan, and a sharper focus on the High Value Opportunity (HVO) programme, to make sure professional and business services (PBS) businesses are aware of theexport opportunities and are able to get involved. We are engaging with industry on how we maximise the impact of these activities and what more we can do to help. This has included discussions with businesses from this sector across the country and the Devolved Administrations.</p><p> </p><p>Companies are able to find out more about HVO opportunities including a link to an opportunity map at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/high-value-opportunities" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/high-value-opportunities</a>.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	1478 label Biography information for Mr Iain Wright

47888

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	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 Growth is Our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services published in July 2013, if the new envoy network has been convened through UK Trade & Investment; and what progress his Department has made in orchestrating a mission programme.
	tabling member constituency	Hartlepool
	tabling member printed	Mr Iain Wright
	uin	195994
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>In line with the commitment in “Growth is Our Business” to invite leading business people from professional and business services (PBS) to act as sector envoys whilst travelling abroad, several individuals were approached to join the Prime Minister's list of Business Ambassadors. Appointments of four new PBS Business Ambassadors were announced in January 2014. These were Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE (Chief Executive Officer MITIE), Rona Fairhead CBE, Steve Varley (UK Chairman and Managing Partner (UK and Ireland) of Ernst and Young) and Will Lawes (Senior Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer). They joined Caroline Plumb (Chief Executive Officer, FreshMinds), Alan Parker (Chairman, Brunswick Group), who were already active.</p><p> </p><p>Business Ambassadors agree to undertake a programme of activities agreed with UK Trade &amp; Investment (UKTI) including holding events to promote UK businesses around the world, meeting overseas Ministers and inward missions, participating in trade missions and providing insights into how UKTI can best deliver for business.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	1478 label Biography information for Mr Iain Wright

47889

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	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 Growth is Our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services published in July 2013, whether his Department is on course to run at least two professional and business services dedicated trade missions each year; and what such missions have taken place since the Strategy was published.
	tabling member constituency	Hartlepool
	tabling member printed	Mr Iain Wright
	uin	195995
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>UK Trade &amp; Investment (UKTI) is developing professional and business services dedicated trade missions to North America, South America, South East Asia and India this year. These missions will complement other planned trade missions open to this sector, for example the business delegations which accompany the Lord Mayor of London's overseas visits.</p><p> </p><p>UKTI delivered a professional services event in Russia with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment and the Royal Society of Chartered Surveyors in November 2013.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	1478 label Biography information for Mr Iain Wright

48117

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much in cash terms and what proportion of total university funding came from (a) domestic tuition fees, (b) foreign student fees, (c) public funding and (d) external sponsorship in the last year for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Esher and Walton
	tabling member printed	Mr Dominic Raab
	uin	196285
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Information on the finances of English Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). A summary of the income of publicly-funded HEIs in England from Home and EU Tuition Fees, Non-EU Tuition Fees, Public Funding and External Sponsorship has been provided in the table.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Income of publicly-funded higher education institutions<sup>(1)</sup></strong></p><p>English Higher Education Institutions</p><p>Academic year 2012/13</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Academic year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Income<br>(£ millions)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Share of Total Income (%)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total Course Fee Income</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>10,142</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>41.7%</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Of which…</p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Home &amp; EU Tuition Fees</p></td><td><p>6,479</p></td><td><p>26.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Non-EU Tuition Fees</p></td><td><p>2,997</p></td><td><p>12.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Other Tuition Fee Income<sup>(2)</sup></p></td><td><p>666</p></td><td><p>2.7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Public Funding <sup>(3)</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>8,580</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>35.3%</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>External Sponsorship <sup>(4)</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>5,598</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>23.0%</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total Income</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>24,320</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>100.0%</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><em>Source: HESA Finance Record</em></p><p>Notes:</p><p>All figures are rounded to the nearest £ million and, as a result, columns may not total correctly.</p><p><sup> </sup></p><p><sup>(1) </sup>The University of Buckingham are the only non-publicly funded HEI to return financial data to HESA and their income has been omitted from the final figures.</p><p><sup>(2) </sup>Other Tuition Fee Income includes income received from FE Courses and Non-Credit bearing courses.</p><p><sup>(3) </sup>Public Funding refers to funding received from Funding Bodies, BIS Research Councils, UK Central Government, Local Authorities, Health and Hospital Authorities and EU Government Bodies.</p><p><sup>(4) </sup>External Sponsorship refers to income from non-public sources including research grants and other income from EU and UK industry, commerce and other corporations.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	4007 label Biography information for Dominic Raab

46828

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what incentives were (a) offered to (b) accepted by priority investors in relation to Royal Mail privatisation.
	tabling member constituency	Streatham
	tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
	uin	195211
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>No incentives were offered to priority investors.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

46832

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2014
	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
	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 apprentices aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) between 19 and 24 and (c) 25 years or over are employed at the Competition and Markets Authority.
	tabling member constituency	Streatham
	tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
	uin	195281
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The Competition and Markets Authority employs no apprentices at this time.</p><p> </p><p>As a supporter of apprenticeships, the Government launched the first Civil Service Fast Track Apprenticeship Scheme in 2013.</p><p> </p><p>As at September 2013, the most recent date for which figures are available, the Civil Service Fast Track Apprenticeship Scheme had 100 18-21 year old apprentices employed in permanent posts across government on the 2-year scheme.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

48174

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he has made an assessment of the recommendations contained in the Association of Business Recovery Professionals publication entitled Level Playing Field: SMEs, taxpayers, and the Football Creditors Rule.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
	tabling member printed	Mr Bob Ainsworth
	uin	196373
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>R3 has made some interesting recommendations which the football authorities should consider carefully. The football authorities have already made some changes, notably through agreeing “financial fair play” rules, salary caps and an early warning system for tax debts, as well as to governance arrangements, to increase financial stability in the leagues and to increase transparency for creditors.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Cardiff Central answering member printed Jenny Willott question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1497 label Biography information for Jenny Willott
	tabling member	306 label Biography information for Mr Bob Ainsworth

47894

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether information included in the registry of company beneficial ownership information will be available for free.
	tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
	tabling member printed	Martin Horwood
	uin	196058
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Companies House is a Trading Fund and must recover the costs for the services it provides where there are clear identifiable costs. However, Companies House already provides a lot of company data for free, including company appointments. It is actively working to increase the amount of data available for free and company beneficial ownership information will form part of this ongoing strategy.</p> answering member constituency Cardiff Central answering member printed Jenny Willott question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1497 label Biography information for Jenny Willott
	tabling member	1499 label Biography information for Martin Horwood

47895

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether information included in the registry of company beneficial ownership information will be cross-checked against data held by (a) passport authorities, (b) vehicle licensing authorities, (c) electoral registers and (d) other databases.
	tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
	tabling member printed	Martin Horwood
	uin	196059
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>Companies House currently undertakes a range of checks across the breadth of documents delivered to them. In 2012-13 over 400,000 documents were rejected because they did not pass these checks.</p><p> </p><p>We are carefully considering whether any further reform is necessary, whilst ensuring the UK's company registration regime remains quick, simple and inexpensive. We do not however envisage that this would include cross-checking data against other sources of information.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Cardiff Central answering member printed Jenny Willott question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1497 label Biography information for Jenny Willott
	tabling member	1499 label Biography information for Martin Horwood

47896

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the registry of company beneficial ownership information will contain a description of how the beneficial owner exercises control over (a) a company, (b) names of the chain of companies that demonstrate a person is the beneficial owner and (c) any other means by which a person exercises control over a company.
	tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
	tabling member printed	Martin Horwood
	uin	196061
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>As outlined in the Government's response to the <em>Transparency and Trust </em>discussion paper we are continuing to develop how details of the beneficial interest are to be recorded on the company's register and at Companies House. We intend that this information will allow users of the register to build a meaningful picture of the company's ownership and control structure.</p> answering member constituency Cardiff Central answering member printed Jenny Willott question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1497 label Biography information for Jenny Willott
	tabling member	1499 label Biography information for Martin Horwood

47465

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Energy and Climate Change about the local socioeconomic effects of the Magnox nuclear sites before the award of the decommissioning contract on 31 March 2014; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Alyn and Deeside
	tabling member printed	Mark Tami
	uin	195775
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>This Department has not had any discussion with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) about the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's (NDA) competition to secure a new Parent Body Organisation for Magnox Ltd and Research Sites Restoration Ltd. The NDA ran the competition in strict accordance with UK and EU procurement regulations. Oversight and governance of the process was provided by the NDA's Competition Programme Board. The Government is represented by the Shareholder Executive (on behalf of DECC), HM Treasury and Infrastructure UK.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	1383 label Biography information for Mark Tami

47466

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department plans to provide to areas affected by changes to the nuclear decommissioning programme following the award of a new contract on 31 March 2014.
	tabling member constituency	Alyn and Deeside
	tabling member printed	Mark Tami
	uin	195776
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>This Department, together with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), is fully committed to helping to deliver the Nuclear Industrial Strategy, including through the Nuclear Industry Council, on which the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) also sits. The announcement of the preferred bidder in the NDA's parent body competition for Magnox Ltd and Research Sites Restoration Limited should not materially affect our support. The Cavendish Fluor Partnership brings a successful track record and extensive nuclear experience that will bring benefits to the decommissioning and clean-up programme. They are committed to developing the skills of the workforce and to meeting socio-economic responsibilities, as were all the bidders.</p><p> </p><p>This Department will continue to work with DECC, the NDA and the industry to ensure that decommissioning is achieved safely, to schedule, competitively and taking into account UK economic benefit.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	1383 label Biography information for Mark Tami

48090

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what revenue the Government received through student loan repayments in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Mark Hendrick
	uin	196183
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Information on the repayment of student loans is published in the Statistical First Release<em>“Student Loans for Higher Education in England”</em>. The latest publication is available at the following link.</p><p><a href="http://www.slc.co.uk/statistics/national-statistics/newnationalstatistics2.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.slc.co.uk/statistics/national-statistics/newnationalstatistics2.aspx</a></p><p> </p><p>The amounts repaid via HMRC through Pay As You Earn (PAYE) or directly to Student Loans Company (SLC) in the financial years 2009-10 to 2012-13 have been provided in the table. The statistics include repayments made on outstanding debt from both Mortgage Style and Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) loans.</p><p> </p><p>Statistics referring to the financial year 2013-14 will be published in June 2014.</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><p><strong>Student Loan Repayments Financial Years 2009-10 to 2012-13 : amounts (£m)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></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></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Repaid directly by customer to SLC</strong></p></td><td><p>302.2</p></td><td><p>326.5</p></td><td><p>294.6</p></td><td><p>256.9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Reported by HMRC as collected via PAYE and Self-Assessment</strong></p></td><td><p>726.4</p></td><td><p>850.0</p></td><td><p>1,044.9</p></td><td><p>1,185.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Refunded by SLC to customer</strong></p></td><td><p>-18.8</p></td><td><p>-33.6</p></td><td><p>-33.6</p></td><td><p>-35.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total amount repaid, including interest, during the financial year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1,009.7</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1,143.0</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1,305.9</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1,406.8</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="5"><p><em>Source: Statistical First Release Student Loans for Higher Education in England</em></p><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="5"><p>Notes:</p><p>- Repayments are shown in the financial year when they are posted to customer accounts. The SLC are notified of repayments by HMRC, usually within one year of the end of the tax year to which they relate.</p><p> </p><p>- Refunds can occur when an account holder has overpaid SLC in previous financial periods for various reasons.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

47141

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much compensation was paid by the Land Registry following fraudulent registrations in each year since 2005.
	tabling member constituency	Carlisle
	tabling member printed	John Stevenson
	uin	195443
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Indemnity figures are published in Land Registry's annual report and accounts and the information for the years requested is collated below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Indemnity paid due to fraud and forgery (£)*</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2005/06</p></td><td><p>9,834,617.73</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2006/07</p></td><td><p>2,123,496.34</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2007/08</p></td><td><p>3,953,378.02</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008/09</p></td><td><p>5,074,113.43</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>4,947,650.06</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>7,367,416.18</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>7,190,094.82</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>5,101,916.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>7,209,713.53</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br>*Substantive loss plus costs</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	3942 label Biography information for John Stevenson

48116

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, who made the decisions and on what basis were the decisions made on how many shares would go to each priority investor, each institutional investor and each retail investor in respect of the privatisation of Royal Mail.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	196282
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The Government set the overall allocation policy with the aim of getting the right balance between longer-term, stable investors, retail investors and shorter-term investors who provide liquidity in the market.</p><p> </p><p>Allocations were made to a number of institutions who in the early stages of engagement were willing to place non-binding orders despite the risks attached to the IPO such as the industrial relations situation. These investors gave us confidence that there was sufficient demand to proceed with the IPO.</p><p> </p><p>We had nearly three-quarters of a million retail applications so their allocations were scaled back as they were for institutional investors. Given this high demand, Ministers decided to prioritise smaller investors and put in place a cut-off above £10,000 and give everyone below that the same number of shares. Around 95% of retail investors were allocated shares.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

46442

	registered interest
	date	02/04/2014
	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
	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 (a) median and (b) mean (i) annual and (ii) hourly salary is for (A) men and (B) women in Government-sponsored apprenticeship schemes; and what those figures were in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Ashfield
	tabling member printed	Gloria De Piero
	uin	195007
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>In 2012, the median gross hourly wage for an Apprentice in England was £6.09. The mean was £6.21. In 2011, the equivalent gross hourly wages were £5.83 and £5.80.</p><p> </p><p>For females, in 2011, the median gross hourly wage was £5.96 and the mean £5.88. In 2012, these were £6.19 and £6.23 respectively.</p><p> </p><p>For males, in 2011, the median gross hourly wage was £5.43 and the mean £5.71. In 2012, these were £5.93 and £6.19 respectively.</p><p> </p><p>Please note that the only available data we have for Apprenticeship Pay is for 2012 and 2011, from the two Apprenticeship Pay Surveys (APS). These surveys do not calculate an annual wage from the survey responses as the hours Apprentices work are variable. There was a pay survey conducted in 2007, but this is not considered to be comparable with the two later years.</p><p> </p><p>Source: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-pay-survey-2012" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-pay-survey-2012</a></p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock previous answer version 5033 answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	3915 label Biography information for Gloria De Piero

47130

	registered interest
	date	07/04/2014
	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
	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 projects in Ashfield constituency have been selected to receive funding from the Regional Growth Fund in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many projects from Ashfield contituency have received final offer letters from the Regional Growth Fund in the latest period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	Ashfield
	tabling member printed	Gloria De Piero
	uin	195636
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>There was one Round 4 Regional Growth Fund (RGF) project award from the Ashfield constituency. However, the postcode of the project has changed since and the project now falls under a different constituency.</p><p>There are two awards made to RGF programmes to which small and medium-sized enterprises in the Ashfield constituency may bid.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	3915 label Biography information for Gloria De Piero

47467

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2014
	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
	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 adequacy of the provision of statutory maternity and paternity pay to parents of premature and sick babies.
	tabling member constituency	East Lothian
	tabling member printed	Fiona O'Donnell
	uin	195855
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The UK's maternity leave provision is one of the most generous in the world; all employed women have a “day one” entitlement to 52 weeks of maternity leave. Mothers with 26 weeks qualifying service and meeting the earnings requirement are entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). Those mothers who do not qualify for SMP may be entitled to Maternity Allowance. This means that expectant mothers and mothers can take time off work to prepare for and recover from childbirth and bond with their babies, and to deal with unexpected eventualities including ill health, premature births and any complications associated with sick babies.</p><p> </p><p>Through the Children and Families Act 2014, the Government is introducing a new system of shared parental leave which will give parents much more flexibility in how to use their leave entitlement. This flexibility will be particularly valuable to parents who have to deal with difficult or unexpected circumstances and it will allow parents, for the first time, to take leave together in a way that suits them. The system will be available for working parents whose baby is due on or after 5 April 2015 (irrespective of when the baby is born), and will be introduced later this year so that it catches babies who are born early.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has committed to explicitly considering the issues facing families with babies admitted to neonatal care within the context of the review that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has announced it will undertake on the review of changes to employment law enacted by the Children and Families Act after 2018.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Cardiff Central answering member printed Jenny Willott question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1497 label Biography information for Jenny Willott
	tabling member	3964 label Biography information for Fiona O'Donnell

47900

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what research his Department has commissioned into the effects of reducing funding to further, higher and adult education.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
	tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
	uin	196108
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Changes to the Student Finance system weredesigned to meet the Government's aims of increased dynamism and student choice. If the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) recurrent grant for teaching and the estimated fee income from students subject to regulated fees is combined, the overall Higher Education Institution resource from teaching actually rises from around £7.9 billion in 2011-12 to almost £8.5 billion in 2013-14. It has the potential to reach £9.9billion in 2015-16 dependant on recruitment.</p><p> </p><p>BIS has asked HEFCE to monitor the impact of the Higher Education (HE) reforms introduced in 2012 to assess the effect of changes. In March 2013, HEFCE published their first update “Higher Education – Impact of the 2012 reforms”. This is available online at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/about/intro/abouthighereducationinengland/impact" target="_blank">http://www.hefce.ac.uk/about/intro/abouthighereducationinengland/impact</a>/</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This was followed a year later by an updated report entitled “Higher Education in England 2014” published on 10 April 2014. This provides an overview of recent shifts and longer-term trends in publicly-funded higher education and considers possible further changes and continuities in the year ahead. This is available online at: <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/heinengland/2014/" target="_blank">http://www.hefce.ac.uk/heinengland/2014/</a></p><p> </p><p>Analysts in my Department also monitor the impact of any changes to funding methods for Higher Education using leading data on applications for places. The latest application figures published by UCAS inJanuary 2014show that young people have not been put off applying to university. The application rate for young people from England has risen to 34.8% this year, the highest ever.</p><p> </p><p>In Further Education, while the budget for adult skills has reduced, savings have been made in a way that protects the vulnerable and supports economic growth, ensuring that Government funding provides value for money. Overall funding for adult further education and skills is £4.1bn in 2014-15 financial year; of that £3.4bn will be granted to the Skills Funding Agency to support learners.</p><p> </p><p>Because of the reforms we have put in place, more learners are taught today than under the last policy:</p><p> </p><p>· Over 1 million adult learners have participated in government-funded English and maths training in each of the last two years - higher than in previous years.</p><p>· In 2012/13, there were 973,000 learners participating in Full Level 2 courses (similar to 2008/09), and 495,000 learners participating in Full Level 3 courses (up 16.8% on 2008/09).</p><p>· There were 869,000 funded Apprentices participating in 2012/13 - almost double the number in 2008/09.</p><p>· Advanced Learning Loans have been successfully introduced, encouraging 60,000 people to apply to take training courses at Level 3 and above.</p><p> </p><p>An evaluation published in October 2013 - based on a survey of nearly 500 colleges and providers - showed that there is strong support in the sector for the overall aims and objectives of the reforms. This report - 'Further education and skills reform plan 'New Challenges, New Chances': evaluation' - is published at the link below:</p><p><a title="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-and-skills-reform-plan-new-challenges-new-chances-evaluation" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-and-skills-reform-plan-new-challenges-new-chances-evaluation" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-and-skills-reform-plan-new-challenges-new-chances-evaluation</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Havant answering member printed Mr David Willetts question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 53 label Biography information for Lord Willetts
	tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

47485

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to introduce customer service training in the apprenticeship programme.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
	tabling member printed	Ann McKechin
	uin	195934
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>An apprenticeship is a job with an accompanying skills development programme designed by employers in the sector to meet the key requirements of the job role. In many cases this will include an aspect of customer service as many jobs recognise the importance of such skills and these will be reflected in the apprenticeship framework.</p><p> </p><p>More than 400 employers are involved in the development of new apprenticeship standards as part of our Trailblazers programme. Where they see customer service skills as crucial to an occupation, they will include these within the new employer-led standards.</p><p> </p><p>For individuals in jobs that are specific customer service roles there is a dedicated Customer Service Apprenticeship available.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	1419 label Biography information for Ann McKechin

47486

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2014
	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
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for which firms his Department has agreed bonus payments as part of the privatisation of Royal Mail; and on what criteria such payments were made.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
	tabling member printed	Ann McKechin
	uin	195936
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>No firms have received bonuses in relation to the sale of Royal Mail shares.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon grouped question UIN 195939 question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	1419 label Biography information for Ann McKechin

47488

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2014
	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
	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 professional and business services special envoys have been appointed by his Department; and what the remit of those envoys is.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
	tabling member printed	Ann McKechin
	uin	195937
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>There are currently six appointed Business Ambassadors covering the Professional and Business Services Sector: Caroline Plumb – CEO FreshMinds, Alan Parker – Chairman Brunswick Group, Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE – CEO MITIE, Rona Fairhead CBE, Will Lawes – Senior Partner Freshfields Bruchaus Deringer and Steve Varley – UK Chairman and Managing Partner (UK and Ireland) EY.</p><p> </p><p>Business Ambassadors are appointed by the Prime Minister to act as advocates of the UK, promoting the UK's excellence, economy, business environment and its reputation as the international trade and inward investment partner of choice.</p><p> </p><p>Business Ambassadors agree to undertake a programme of activities agreed with UK Trade &amp; Investment (UKTI) including, among others, holding events to promote UK businesses around the world, meeting overseas Ministers and inward missions; participating in trade missions; and providing insights into how UKTI can best deliver for business.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	1419 label Biography information for Ann McKechin

47491

	registered interest
	date	08/04/2014
	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
	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 firms that advised his Department on the privatisation of Royal Mail were awarded a bonus payment.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
	tabling member printed	Ann McKechin
	uin	195939
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>No firms have received bonuses in relation to the sale of Royal Mail shares.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon grouped question UIN 195936 question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	1419 label Biography information for Ann McKechin

48114

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2014
	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
	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 small businesses in High Peak constituency have received support from the Regional Growth Fund.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Andrew Bingham
	uin	196243
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>We do not hold the information requested. However, businesses in High Peak constituency are eligible to bid to the Regional Growth Fund programme administered by Derbyshire County Council as well as national programmes.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	3994 label Biography information for Andrew Bingham