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170297

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Scottish Power
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he received reports from the MacDonald Partnership in relation to mis-sold Scottish Power Power Plan warranties; what the titles of such reports were; and when he plans to respond to those reports.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
	tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
	uin	218595
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>The initial report from Mr MacDonald was received on 17 July 2014 for review by the Insolvency Service. Further information including another more detailed report was received from him during September and October 2014, and these again have been reviewed by the Insolvency Service. The reports are confidential.</p><p> </p><p>The reports themselves do not require a direct response but I can confirm that the Insolvency Service has completed its review of this material and is in communication with Mr MacDonald.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 17/12/2014 11:11:20 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram

178814

	registered interest
	date	09/02/2015
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Government Departments: Procurement
	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 increase apprenticeship places and support small businesses through greater use of government procurement.
	tabling member constituency	North West Durham
	tabling member printed	Pat Glass
	uin	907598
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2015 answer text <p>Under the industrial strategy, we encourage a long term approach to procurement, including training and apprenticeships.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Twickenham answering member printed Vince Cable question first answered 12/02/2015 14:58:36 answering member 207 label Biography information for Sir Vince Cable
	tabling member	4103 label Biography information for Pat Glass

179400

	registered interest
	date	09/02/2015
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Higher Education: Admissions
	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 widen access to higher education.
	tabling member constituency	Hereford and South Herefordshire
	tabling member printed	Jesse Norman
	uin	907614
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2015 answer text <p><strong>The most recent UCAS statistics show another record year for university entry for disadvantaged students. 18.2% of 18 year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds obtained a university place via UCAS in 2014. </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>By 2018/19, Universities expect to spend £735m on bursaries, outreach and supporting retention and student success through their agreements with the Director of Fair Access. </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Our reforms have been fair, progressive and given our universities sustainable funding for the future.</strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Twickenham answering member printed Vince Cable question first answered 12/02/2015 14:50:27 answering member 207 label Biography information for Sir Vince Cable
	tabling member	3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman

47891

	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 assessment he has made of the effect of migration on UK businesses which require highly-skilled employees.
	tabling member constituency	Reading East
	tabling member printed	Mr Rob Wilson
	uin	903672
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2014 answer text <p>We recently published analysis proving that highly skilled migrants are not displacing UK workers. Indeed, in many sectors such as engineering and digital technologies, they're filling skills gaps and starting new companies.</p><p> </p><p>Business groups tell me that an open labour market helps foreign investment in the UK and that migrants foster innovation and growth by bringing in new ideas, language skills and assisting trade links overseas. So overall, it's a positive picture.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Twickenham answering member printed Vince Cable question first answered 10/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 207 label Biography information for Sir Vince Cable
	tabling member	1556 label Biography information for Mr Rob Wilson

91347

	registered interest
	date	08/09/2014
	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	Small Businesses: Loans
	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 availability of finance for small firms and the level of lending by banks to small businesses.
	tabling member constituency	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	tabling member printed	Tom Blenkinsop
	uin	905314
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Recent data from the Bank of England shows some signs that bank lending to SMEs is starting to recover. Gross lending to SMEs in the first 7 months of 2014 was nearly £30 billion, up 21% on the equivalent period last year. Net lending was at zero or modestly positive in each of the last three months if overdrafts are excluded, reversing a long term negative trend. Credit conditions, however, remain tight for the smallest businesses in particular.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Twickenham answering member printed Vince Cable question first answered 11/09/2014 15:26:49 answering member 207 label Biography information for Sir Vince Cable
	tabling member	4037 label Biography information for Tom Blenkinsop

100116

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications have been made to the Government Funeral Payment scheme since May 2010; and how many such applications have been rejected.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
	tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
	uin	211293
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2014 answer text <p>From the latest data available, 280,780 applications have been made for Funeral Payments in Great Britain between May 2010 and September 2014. In the same period there have been 139,560 refusals.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p> </p><p>1. These figures do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System.</p><p> </p><p>2. The figures given are the number of applications and initial refusals in the given time period and not the number of people who made applications or received awards. An individual may make more than one application in a year. Information on the number of people who made applications and received awards is not available.</p><p> </p><p>3. The refusal figures given are based on the initial decisions made on each case and may include cases where an award was later made on review.</p><p> </p><p>4. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/10/2014 13:48:18 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram

100275

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Automated Credit Transfer
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost is to the Government for each transaction for (a) pension payments and (b) benefit payments paid into a (i) Post Office card account, (ii) bank account and (iii) simple payment scheme.
	tabling member constituency	East Lothian
	tabling member printed	Fiona O'Donnell
	uin	211235
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The cost to Government for making payments into a Post Office Card Account are £0.50, into a bank account £0.04497 and by Simple Payment £3.60. These costs are applicable to both pension and benefit payments.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 27/10/2014 14:05:05 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	3964 label Biography information for Fiona O'Donnell

100276

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Post Office Card Account
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit payments of each type were paid into Post Office card accounts in each of the last five years; and what proportion of such recipients were (a) of working age and (b) retired.
	tabling member constituency	East Lothian
	tabling member printed	Fiona O'Donnell
	uin	211236
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Please find below details of the volume of payments, by benefit, paid into Post Office card accounts in each of the last five contract years from October 2009, the start of the current Post Office card contract. As at September 2014 the proportion of POca working age customers is 41.66% and retirement customers 58.34%.</p><p /> <p /><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Benefit type</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Oct '09 to Mar '10</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Apr '10 to Mar '11</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Apr '11 to Mar '12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Apr '12 to Mar '13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Apr '13 to Mar '14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Apr '14 to Sept '14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Attendance Allowance </strong></p></td><td><p>1,282,073</p></td><td><p>2,646,196</p></td><td><p>2,980,275</p></td><td><p>3,166,677</p></td><td><p>3,116,840</p></td><td><p>1,538,852</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Child Support (DC) Client Fund</strong></p></td><td><p>2,079</p></td><td><p>5,608</p></td><td><p>9,178</p></td><td><p>9,689</p></td><td><p>7,938</p></td><td><p>285</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>CMEC</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>1,197</p></td><td><p>3670</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>CSA DWP Payments - CSA DWP</strong></p></td><td><p>284,118</p></td><td><p>557,228</p></td><td><p>648,147</p></td><td><p>626,507</p></td><td><p>584,705</p></td><td><p>268,170</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Dfee Employment Services </strong></p></td><td><p>79,971</p></td><td><p>214,855</p></td><td><p>59,427</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Disability Living Allowance</strong></p></td><td><p>4,090,836</p></td><td><p>7,931,027</p></td><td><p>7,678,957</p></td><td><p>7,488,219</p></td><td><p>7,179,077</p></td><td><p>3,386,779</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>DWP Local Payment</strong></p></td><td><p>83,618</p></td><td><p>149,836</p></td><td><p>128,871</p></td><td><p>145,018</p></td><td><p>186,974</p></td><td><p>75,160</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>DWP Universal Credit</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>334</p></td><td><p>634</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Incapacity Benefit</strong></p></td><td><p>3,956,020</p></td><td><p>6,640,787</p></td><td><p>5,369,680</p></td><td><p>3,703,178</p></td><td><p>1,745,634</p></td><td><p>444,821</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Income Support</strong></p></td><td><p>32,694,702</p></td><td><p>57,496,385</p></td><td><p>48,077,834</p></td><td><p>42,369,841</p></td><td><p>35,144,716</p></td><td><p>15,612,744</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Industrial Injuries</strong></p></td><td><p>1,823,692</p></td><td><p>3,499,816</p></td><td><p>3,304,669</p></td><td><p>3,108,446</p></td><td><p>2,923,184</p></td><td><p>1,391,414</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Invalid Care Allowance</strong></p></td><td><p>2,010,877</p></td><td><p>3,886,243</p></td><td><p>3,685,821</p></td><td><p>3,591,341</p></td><td><p>3,390,941</p></td><td><p>1,642,035</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Jobseekers Allowance</strong></p></td><td><p>2,126,450</p></td><td><p>3,952,375</p></td><td><p>4,039,600</p></td><td><p>3,986,790</p></td><td><p>3,154,319</p></td><td><p>1,177,786</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Personal Independence Payment</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>15,579</p></td><td><p>53,193</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Resource Management</strong></p></td><td><p>141,271</p></td><td><p>268,619</p></td><td><p>206,031</p></td><td><p>145,249</p></td><td><p>105,362</p></td><td><p>15,817</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Retirement Pensions</strong></p></td><td><p>41,051,123</p></td><td><p>77,838,703</p></td><td><p>72,231,420</p></td><td><p>69,904,004</p></td><td><p>64,327,423</p></td><td><p>30,210,680</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Social Fund</strong></p></td><td><p>161,723</p></td><td><p>263,709</p></td><td><p>246,262</p></td><td><p>270,296</p></td><td><p>219,543</p></td><td><p>91,450</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Employment &amp; Support Allowance</strong></p></td><td><p>339,047</p></td><td><p>1,380,741</p></td><td><p>2,286,925</p></td><td><p>5,264,219</p></td><td><p>7,812,066</p></td><td><p>4,358,635</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Winter Fuel Payments DWP</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>888,462</p></td><td><p>382</p></td><td><p>380</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 28/10/2014 17:32:45 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	3964 label Biography information for Fiona O'Donnell

100277

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Winter Fuel Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many in-work working-age households received winter fuel payments in 2013-14; what estimate he has made of how many such households will be claiming winter fuel payments in each of the next four financial years; and what assessment he has made of the effect of equalising the state pension age for men and women on the take-up of winter fuel payments.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Mr Frank Field
	uin	211255
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Information about how many in-work working-age households received Winter Fuel Payments in 2013-14 is not available.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the number of people aged under 65 receiving a Winter Fuel Payment and the associated expenditure in years 2009-10 to 2018-19 inclusive:</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Expenditure (£m)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Caseload (000s)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>640.8</p></td><td><p>3,358</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>624.1</p></td><td><p>3,265</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>451.5</p></td><td><p>2,927</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>385.4</p></td><td><p>2,484</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>324.1</p></td><td><p>2,056</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>268.2</p></td><td><p>1,714</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>215.8</p></td><td><p>1,389</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>157.1</p></td><td><p>1,019</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>85.8</p></td><td><p>563</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>14.8</p></td><td><p>95</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p /> <p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p>Numbers are for Winter Fuel Payments made to those eligible in Great Britain, European Economic Area and Switzerland aged 60-64: outturn to 2013-14; forecast 2014/15 onwards.</p><p>Winter Fuel Payments in 2009-10 and 2010-11 included one-off £50 payments for the under 80s.</p><p>One of the Winter Fuel Payment eligibility criteria is a person’s age in the qualifying week (the third full week in September). This age has been rising in line with the increase to the female State Pension age.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/10/2014 13:51:22 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Frank Field

100538

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Fund
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average wait for a decision on a social fund application was in each year since 2003.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
	tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
	uin	211466
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Table 1 below shows the average wait (in days) for decisions on a Social Fund application for each year from 2003 and a breakdown by application type.</p><p> </p><p>No data is provided for 2014. This is because the number of applications and waiting times vary seasonally, meaning that an average only covering part of the year is not comparable with whole year averages shown from 2003-2013.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Average wait (days)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Funeral Payments</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Community Care Grants</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Crisis Loans</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Budgeting Loans</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Sure Start Maternity Grants</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2003</strong></p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>8.3</p></td><td><p>1.2</p></td><td><p>2.7</p></td><td><p>4.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2004</strong></p></td><td><p>13.5</p></td><td><p>8.2</p></td><td><p>1.3</p></td><td><p>3.0</p></td><td><p>4.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2005</strong></p></td><td><p>12.1</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>1.4</p></td><td><p>2.9</p></td><td><p>4.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2006</strong></p></td><td><p>12.5</p></td><td><p>9.1</p></td><td><p>1.5</p></td><td><p>3.2</p></td><td><p>3.9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2007</strong></p></td><td><p>13.4</p></td><td><p>10.9</p></td><td><p>1.6</p></td><td><p>4.5</p></td><td><p>4.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2008</strong></p></td><td><p>14.3</p></td><td><p>11.3</p></td><td><p>1.8</p></td><td><p>5.1</p></td><td><p>5.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009</strong></p></td><td><p>14.8</p></td><td><p>13.3</p></td><td><p>2.0</p></td><td><p>5.3</p></td><td><p>5.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010</strong></p></td><td><p>15.3</p></td><td><p>8.9</p></td><td><p>2.1</p></td><td><p>5.4</p></td><td><p>4.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>2.1</p></td><td><p>5.0</p></td><td><p>4.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p>14.6</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>3.0</p></td><td><p>4.9</p></td><td><p>3.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p>17.1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>5.5</p></td><td><p>4.0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>1. These figures do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System.</p><p> </p><p>2. No average wait time is reported for Community Care Grants or Crisis Loans in 2013. This is because these payments were replaced by Local Welfare Provision in March 2013.</p><p> </p><p>3. The clearance time for an individual Social Fund loan or grant is measured in whole working days from the date the application is received until the date the decision is taken. The minimum clearance time recorded for an individual case is one working day, even if the application is cleared immediately.</p><p> </p><p>4. Cold Weather Payments are not included in Table 1. These are made automatically if the claimant is eligible at the time of the cold weather trigger, so there is no decision to be made.</p><p> </p><p>5. All figures are provided to 1 decimal place.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 27/10/2014 13:51:34 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram