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100843

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Social Services: Pay
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of HM Revenue and Customs launching pro-active investigations into the non-payment of the national minimum wage.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	211865
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government has not undertaken a formal assessment of the merits of pro-active investigations but believes they are an important part of enforcement.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC published findings from their targeted social care evaluation on 25 November 2013. Over the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013, HMRC had made enquiries into 224 employers in the social care sector. Of the cases completed by the end of September 2014, HMRC have found non-compliance in 108 (48%) of their enquiries, identifying £1,319,729 arrears of pay for 6,550 workers, with penalties issued with a total value of £146,931.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As part of this targeted enforcement activity, HMRC have collaborated with care sector representative bodies to improve understanding of compliance risks and design controls within payroll systems that prevent workers being underpaid the minimum wage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department of Health has recently published statutory guidance for local authorities as part of the package of secondary legislation that accompanies the Care Act. The chapter of statutory guidance on commissioning and market shaping explicitly states that local authorities should have evidence that contract terms, conditions and fee levels will not compromise care providers’ ability to pay at least minimum wages. A copy of the guidance can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-2014-statutory-guidance-for-implementation" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-2014-statutory-guidance-for-implementation</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department of Health is asking all Local Authorities to sign up to the Social Care Commitment which incorporates a statement about employer compliance with minimum wage legislation. The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services has written out to all its members encouraging them to support the Commitment as a way of raising standards in adult social care.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We regularly update our Guidance on Gov.UK and we will continue to work with the sector to improve understanding and compliance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the Pay &amp; Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue &amp; Customs investigate all complaints.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 11:47:07 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

101311

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Mobile Phones: Contracts
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that mobile telephone operators and other companies display the total cost of consumer contracts over the contracts' lifetime, including predicted inflation rises at the point of sale.
	tabling member constituency	Brigg and Goole
	tabling member printed	Andrew Percy
	uin	212259
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 set out the information that a consumer must be given before they enter into a contract with a trader. This includes “the total price of the goods or services inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the goods or services is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated”.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To further safeguard consumers, Ofcom introduced new rules in January 2014 which mean that for contracts entered into after 23 January 2014, when the agreed core price increases mid-contract, consumers can exit their contracts without penalty and hence can switch to another provider or tariff. This applies to all communications provider<em>s.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 16:21:56 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3939 label Biography information for Andrew Percy

101313

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Industrial Health and Safety
	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 is taking to encourage employer best practice in relation to employee wellbeing.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Dr Julian Huppert
	uin	212278
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>To support employers to take up best practice, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), working with my department, has published online guidance to managers on the practical steps they can take to enhance the wellbeing of their staff. This guidance was drawn from material gathered in research into the relationship between worker wellbeing and business performance published by my department on 29 October 2014. This can be found at: <a href="http://www.acas.org.uk/workplacewellbeing" target="_blank">www.acas.org.uk/workplacewellbeing</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>That research shows that workplaces with “highly satisfied” employees have higher labour productivity, higher quality of output, and higher overall performance. I continue to support private sector led initiatives such as Engage for Success. More information can be found about Engage for Success at: <a href="http://www.engageforsuccess.org/" target="_blank">www.engageforsuccess.org</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 14:04:39 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3931 label Biography information for Dr Julian Huppert

101314

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Industrial Health and Safety
	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 potential relationships between employee wellbeing, productivity and levels of absenteeism.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Dr Julian Huppert
	uin	212301
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department published an analysis of the relationship between worker wellbeing and business performance on 29 October. It finds that workplaces with &quot;very satisfied&quot; employees had higher labour productivity, higher quality of output, and higher overall performance. It also cites other research that finds a correlation showing absenteeism falls as worker wellbeing increases. This analysis can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/worker-wellbeing-and-workplace-performance" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/worker-wellbeing-and-workplace-performance</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 16:19:00 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3931 label Biography information for Dr Julian Huppert

100844

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Pay
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the cost of paying a one-off payment to the staff of his Department in lieu of their entitlement to annual increments was.
	tabling member constituency	Aberconwy
	tabling member printed	Guto Bebb
	uin	211898
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The cost of paying a one-off payment to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills staff in lieu of their entitlement to annual increments was £3.2m. This cost is offset against a reduction in overall pay bill costs over the longer term.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The non-consolidated payments were staggered by grade in line with contractual step values.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>AA</p></td><td><p>£1008</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>AO</p></td><td><p>£1168</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>EO</p></td><td><p>£1360</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HEO</p></td><td><p>£1656</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>SEO</p></td><td><p>£1880</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>G7</p></td><td><p>£2528</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>G6</p></td><td><p>£3060</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 12:46:36 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3910 label Biography information for Guto Bebb

100846

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Pay
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the payback period is in relation to the one-off payment to staff in his Department who have opted to forego their entitlement to annual increment payments.
	tabling member constituency	Aberconwy
	tabling member printed	Guto Bebb
	uin	211910
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The payback period in relation to the one-off payment to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills staff who opted to forego their entitlement to annual increment payment was estimated to be 6 years. This is based upon an assumption of 1% paybill increases year on year until 2020.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 11:40:24 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3910 label Biography information for Guto Bebb

101308

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Farepak
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, in which publications the Insolvency Service has placed advertisements about Farepak unclaimed funds.
	tabling member constituency	Newport East
	tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
	uin	212231
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Insolvency Service has not placed any adverts about Farepak in any publications. However, the Insolvency Service has liaised with media outlets and the matter has been covered by BBC Moneybox, MoneySaving Expert and BBC Watchdog. The issue has also been covered in the Western Daily Press, Accountancy Age, Scotland Mail, and the Swindon Advertiser.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, a statement has been published on the Insolvency Service website asking creditors to contact them to claim their money (<a href="http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/insolvency/Companies/Farepak" target="_blank">http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/insolvency/Companies/Farepak</a>). The statement was also sent out via Twitter and generated 21 associated tweets, discussing the dividends.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 17:19:57 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

101309

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Farepak
	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 the Insolvency Service has spent on advertising relating to Farepak unclaimed funds to date.
	tabling member constituency	Newport East
	tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
	uin	212232
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Insolvency Service has not spent any money on paid advertising in relation to Farepak unclaimed funds.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 16:20:16 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

101310

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Farepak
	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 advertisements the Insolvency Service has placed about Farepak unclaimed funds in (a) newspapers, (b) magazines, (c) television, (d) social media, (e) transport and (f) radio.
	tabling member constituency	Newport East
	tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
	uin	212233
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Insolvency Service has not placed any adverts about Farepak. However, a statement was published on the Insolvency Service website (<a href="http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/insolvency/Companies/Farepak" target="_blank">http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/insolvency/Companies/Farepak</a>) asking creditors to contact them to claim their money.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The statement was also sent out via Twitter and generated 21 associated tweets, discussing the dividends.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Director of Business Services at The Insolvency Service was interviewed on BBC Radio Scotland and Wiltshire, two of the areas most affected by the collapse of the company.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The story also appeared in the Western Daily Press, Accountancy Age, Scotland Mail, and the Swindon Advertiser.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Insolvency Service has liaised with media outlets and the matter has been covered by BBC Moneybox, MoneySaving Expert and BBC Watchdog.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 17:18:47 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

101022

	registered interest
	date	27/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Post Offices
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many post offices will be affected by the Network Transformation Programme in each region and constituent part of the UK; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
	tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
	uin	212039
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government has committed nearly £2 billion since 2010 to maintain a network of at least 11,500 branches and to protect and modernise the network by 2018, securing its long-term sustainable future.</p><p> </p><p>Under the Government funded Network Transformation programme, the Post Office is modernising and improving its national network with branches benefiting from investment and customers seeing big improvements with converted branches typically offering much longer opening hours in brighter more attractive customer environments. National rollout of Network Transformation began in October 2012, and to-date 3,363 post offices have already been modernised under the programme. The programme is fully-funded and by March 2018 around 8,300 branches will have converted, with a further 3,400 ‘Community Branches’ benefitting from access to a £20 million investment fund.</p><p> </p><p>I include a breakdown of modernised branches to-date, by nation and region, in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>Network Transformation – Number of modernised branches by UK nation and region (data provided by Post Office Limited – as at 2 November 2014)</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of Branches</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="9"><p>England</p></td><td><p>East Midlands</p></td><td><p>214</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East of England</p></td><td><p>325</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>277</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East</p></td><td><p>177</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North West</p></td><td><p>362</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South East</p></td><td><p>396</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South West</p></td><td><p>382</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>276</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorkshire and the Humber</p></td><td><p>338</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Northern Ireland</p></td><td><p>110</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Scotland</p></td><td><p>310</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>196</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>3363</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 17:06:02 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards