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101306

	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	Home Care 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 steps his Department has taken to take account of the omission of (a) some workers paid below the lower earnings limit and (b) unpaid travel time from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings when using that survey to estimate non-payment of the national minimum wage among homecare workers.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	212198
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is an employer based pay survey and provides the most accurate information available from which we can derive non-compliance estimates. Estimates are based on a sample from pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) data and may not include some workers earning below the lower earnings limit. However, following the introduction of Real Time Information, ASHE now includes the majority of those earning below the lower earnings limit.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The HMRC paper “National Minimum Wage compliance in the social care sector” (November 2013) looked at, amongst other things, the issue of unpaid travel time in compliance. It found that unpaid travel time was not the main cause of non-compliance in the sector.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We take non-compliance in the care sector very seriously, and to proactively tackle non-compliance 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 Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. Individuals should contact the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HMRC investigates every complaint made.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 05/11/2014 15:11:25 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

106472

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2014
	answering body	Department for International Development
	answering dept id	20
	answering dept short name	International Development
	answering dept sort name	International Development
	hansard heading	Developing Countries: Females
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to put women and girls at the heart of the UK's development programmes.
	tabling member constituency	North West Leicestershire
	tabling member printed	Andrew Bridgen
	uin	905899
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>Empowering girls and women is a top priority. The Strategic Vision for Girls and Women sets out the ambitious results we will deliver. Significant progress was made at the Girl Summit to tackle Child, Early and Forced Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Putney answering member printed Justine Greening question first answered 05/11/2014 15:48:33 answering member 1555 label Biography information for Justine Greening
	tabling member	4133 label Biography information for Andrew Bridgen

92995

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Typhoon Aircraft
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the current service life in flight hours is of Typhoon aircraft.
	tabling member constituency	Moray
	tabling member printed	Angus Robertson
	uin	210205
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 October 2014 to Question 210204. This can be found at the following link;</p><p>http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&amp;max=20&amp;questiontype=AllQuestions&amp;house=commons%2clords&amp;uin=210204</p> answering member constituency Ludlow answering member printed Mr Philip Dunne question first answered 05/11/2014 16:33:27 answering member 1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne previous answer version 23156 answering member constituency Ludlow answering member printed Mr Philip Dunne answering member 1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne
	tabling member	1433 label Biography information for Angus Robertson

106470

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2014
	answering body	Department for International Development
	answering dept id	20
	answering dept short name	International Development
	answering dept sort name	International Development
	hansard heading	Developing Countries: Education
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to seek international consensus on post-2015 education goals and targets.
	tabling member constituency	Mid Dorset and North Poole
	tabling member printed	Annette Brooke
	uin	905901
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government is advocating for a simple, inspiring, and relevant post-2015 development framework, centred on eradicating extreme poverty. We are actively working with international partners to ensure that access to education and quality of learning is at the heart of the post-2015 focus on education.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Putney answering member printed Justine Greening question first answered 05/11/2014 15:49:30 answering member 1555 label Biography information for Justine Greening
	tabling member	1431 label Biography information for Annette Brooke

100609

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Civil Servants: Languages
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government which languages have been studied by civil servants and diplomatic staff at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Language School; and how many civil servants and diplomatic staff have studied each language.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL2340
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>Since the Language Centre opened on 19th September 2013 a total of 45 different languages have been studied there either full or part-time by 813 students. Of those students, 779 are Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff and 34 are from other government departments (OGDs) (including staff from the following departments: Ministry of Defence, Cabinet Office, the Department for Business, Innovation &amp; Skills, Home Office, Ministry of Justice, UK Trade and Investment, the Department for International Development, HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and the House of Commons). An additional 60 FCO staff have trained at the Institut Francais. Staff across the Civil Service can also access the FCO Language Centre library to continue to develop their own language skills outside formal study and 58 OGD staff have taken advantage of this offer so far.</p><p>It is important to note that when more appropriate, staff from OGDs also receive language training outside of the FCO Language Centre through use of the Civil Service-wide contract with Language Services Direct (the company that run the FCO Language Centre) or at the Institut Francais if French is required. Since September 2014, 113 OGD students have received language training on their own premises via the FCO contract.</p><p>The table below provides a breakdown of the languages that have been taught at the FCO Language Centre:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Albanian</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Arabic</p></td><td><p>186</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Azeri</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bosnian</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bulgarian</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Burmese</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cambodian</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Czech</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Danish</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dari</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dutch</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Farsi</p></td><td><p>33</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Finnish</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>French</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Georgian</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>German</p></td><td><p>40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Greek</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hebrew</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hindi</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Indonesian</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Italian</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Japanese</p></td><td><p>33</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Korean</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Macedonian</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mandarin</p></td><td><p>93</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Norwegian</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pashto</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Polish</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Portuguese</p></td><td><p>47</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Romanian</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Russian</p></td><td><p>84</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Serbian</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sinhalese</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Slovak</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Slovene</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Spanish</p></td><td><p>153</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Swedish</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tajik</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Thai</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tigrinya</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Turkish</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Turkmen</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Urdu</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Uzbek</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Vietnamese</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>813</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 05/11/2014 15:51:51 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

100610

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Civil Servants: Languages
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they expect to see an increase in the numbers of United Kingdom civil servants capable of fulfilling the language requirements for applications to the European Civil Service; and if so by how many, and by when.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL2341
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government is working to increase the number of applicants to the European Civil Service and to increase civil service language training. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) supports all UK applicants, including civil servants, through the EU recruitment process, including advice on how to pass the recruitment tests in a foreign language. The European Fast Stream programme has been re-structured for 2014 and the training updated. As part of this, the language training provided to participants has been revised and tailored to offer more effective preparation for the Commission’s entry exam known as The Concours. There is also language training offered to civil servants through the FCO language centre. Some Government Departments also offer training in-house in different languages.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 05/11/2014 15:54:59 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

100611

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Civil Servants: Languages
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how civil servants from all departments with the wish or the potential to benefit from a course at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Language School are identified.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL2342
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text Full-time language training is available to all staff on appointment to one of the 674 designated ‘speaker’ roles based across the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)’s network of posts overseas. Appointment is made following an advert, application and selection by interview for a position. All positions (including speaker roles) in the Senior Management Service are also advertised across the Civil Service. A number of positions (including speaker roles) in the delegated grades are also advertised across the Civil Service via ‘Interchange’. All FCO staff (or staff from other governmental departments (OGDs) if on Interchange) and their spouses/partners posted to non-speaker roles in a foreign country also have the option of taking up language training to reach a basic level (Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) – A2 Confidence foreign language proficiency) to help settle into a new posting overseas. FCO staff who wish to develop skills in a foreign language can also attend a rolling programme of part-time lunchtime or evening classes in 12 languages. Where there is space in these classes, OGD staff are offered places based on language learning needs analyses by Departments. Language Services Direct (the company who run the FCO Language Centre) also provide part-time classes to a number of OGDs (the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Cabinet Office, the Department for Energy and Climate Change, the Department for International Development, Members of Parliament, UK Hydrographic Office) on their own premises or at Language Services Direct premises (HM Revenue and Customs). Language Services Direct also run a bespoke training package for staff from both the FCO and across the Civil Service wishing to apply for positions within EU institutions. A number of OGDs also appoint staff, following their own internal appointment processes, to their own ‘speaker’ roles overseas and are able use the Language Centre for training, or receive training at their own premises from Language Services Direct. To-date over 130 OGD staff have been trained either full-time or part-time at the Centre or at their own premises. answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 05/11/2014 15:56:28 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

100984

	registered interest
	date	27/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Church Schools
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the implementation of the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) (Amendment) 2014, requiring the active promotion of protected characteristics as set down in the Equality Act 2010, what provision will be made to enable Christian schools to teach traditional Christian values and views about marriage; and what measures they have taken to ensure that any such provisions are not overridden.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Eaton
	uin	HL2440
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 do not require the active promotion of the protected characteristics in the Equality Act.</p><p> </p><p>The Regulations require that schools actively promote principles which encourage respect for other people, paying particular regard to the protected characteristics. This is a crucial distinction. It is right to respect other people, even if one does not agree with them or their way of life. This is a fundamental part of preparation for life in modern Britain.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is absolutely clear that the changes make no difference to the existing legal obligations that schools have under the Equality Act 2010. All schools are already required to abide by the Act and their obligations are not altered by the changes to the standards. The changes do not fetter the views of individual teachers or censor the discussion of relevant matters. A teacher who, for instance, disagrees with same-sex marriage because of their Christian faith will not be prevented from expressing that view by these changes. Since the changes make no difference to schools’ existing legal obligations under the Equality Act there is no question of the ability of schools to teach traditional Christian values being overridden.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 05/11/2014 17:55:38 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
	tabling member	4184 label Biography information for Baroness Eaton

100584

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	answering body	Department for International Development
	answering dept id	20
	answering dept short name	International Development
	answering dept sort name	International Development
	hansard heading	Afghanistan
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the United Kingdom intends to ensure that at the London Conference on Afghanistan, due to take place on 24–25 November, Afghan women in attendance will be able fully to participate in the Conference’s deliberations.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead
	uin	HL2321
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>As co-hosts of the London Conference on Afghanistan (LCA), the UK government has agreed the overall invitation list in partnership with the Afghan Government. However, decisions on civil society attendees have been made by Afghanistan civil society themselves (rather than the UK or Afghan Government) through a democratic process in Kabul. At least 45% of these elected, sponsored attendees are Afghan women who are scheduled to contribute fully to the civil society event and its outcomes<em>. </em>The make-up of the official Afghan government delegation is for the Afghans themselves to decide, however we will be encouraging them to ensure that this includes female Afghan representatives.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Northover question first answered 05/11/2014 17:49:18 answering member 2539 label Biography information for Baroness Northover
	tabling member	3895 label Biography information for Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead

101842

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Fracking
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the mode of storage and containment of water that has been used for the hydraulic fracking permitted by the Government to date; and whether any sites have been designated for this purpose.
	tabling member constituency	Rhondda
	tabling member printed	Chris Bryant
	uin	212768
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>Flowback fluids from hydraulic fracturing operations are deemed to be a mining waste and therefore require an environmental permit from the Environment Agency for temporary storage on site. Subsequent treatment and disposal of the fluid at a waste treatment facility is also regulated by the Environment Agency. Waste waters must be stored in sealed tanks on bunded storage areas. The storage of wastewaters in open lagoons, as has sometimes been practised in the US, would not be permitted in this country.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Cornwall answering member printed Dan Rogerson question first answered 05/11/2014 15:58:14 answering member 1504 label Biography information for Dan Rogerson
	tabling member	1446 label Biography information for Sir Chris Bryant