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93689

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2014
	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	Higher Education: Finance
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in view of the latest <i>Times Guide to Universities</i> ranking all United Kingdom universities in terms of performance, what plans they have to cut or reduce funding to the poorest performers.
	tabling member printed	Lord Blencathra
	uin	HL2118
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The reforms this Government has introduced mean that funding now follows the decisions of students and that students can access better information, including about University performance, to support their choices. In September 2012 we introduced the Key Information Set to provide comparable information which students have said they find useful when choosing their higher education course. It includes on student satisfaction ratings, graduate salaries and employment outcomes, tuition fees and financial support, and the cost of accommodation.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 29/10/2014 17:38:58 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	497 label Biography information for Lord Blencathra

79135

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2014
	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	Copyright
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recommendations of the report by the Prime Minister’s intellectual property adviser, Mike Weatherley MP, what consideration is being given to the measures necessary to provide statutory underpinning of industry-wide codes and initiatives to tackle the funding of copyright infringement by advertisers and financial providers.
	tabling member printed	Lord Clement-Jones
	uin	HL1296
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Government welcomes the work undertaken by Mike Weatherley MP in highlighting a ‘follow the money’ approach to assist in the battle against online Intellectual Property crime.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There is collective agreement across Government, industry and law enforcement that influencing intermediaries is an effective approach. Initiatives such as the Infringing Website List online portal and the Intellectual Property Office supported WhiteBullet Intellectual Property Infringement Index are at the early stages of implementation and offer flexibility that wouldn’t be achievable under a statutory approach.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 29/07/2014 10:56:35 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	3396 label Biography information for Lord Clement-Jones

89899

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	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	Consumers: Protection
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the comments by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Jenny Willott, on 13 May (HC Deb, col 691), whether they will set out the additional guidance produced by the Trading Standards Institute in relation to the cited consumer regulations of December 2013.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town
	uin	HL1741
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Guidance on the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 has been produced by the Trading Standards Institute, and is available at <a href="http://www.businesscompanion.info/" target="_blank">http://www.businesscompanion.info/</a>. This guidance is updated regularly, and we have asked TSI to consider providing clarification on ticket sales as part of these updates.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 15/09/2014 11:10:30 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	4159 label Biography information for Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town

78276

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2014
	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	Higher Education: Appeals
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 3 July (WA 280), what plans they have to expand the authority of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator to include considerations of academic judgment or to establish an alternative official body to do so.
	tabling member printed	Lord Storey
	uin	HL1171
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>We have no such plans. The 2004 Higher Education Act precludes the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education from considering complaints about a university’s academic judgement.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Higher Education system in England is based on the key principles of institutional autonomy and academic freedom. Both are essential to foster a strong Higher Education sector that can shape its own future in response to the needs of learners and employers.</p><p> </p><p>As such matters relating to academic judgement are the responsibility of individual higher education institutions. The interpretation of academic judgement is ultimately for the courts to decide.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 24/07/2014 14:15:59 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
	tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

106184

	registered interest
	date	04/11/2014
	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	Productivity
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livingston of Parkhead on 13 October (HL1890), what they consider to be the reasons for the differences between the output per worker per hour in the United Kingdom and those of the other G7 countries, as reported by the Office for National Statistics in its statistical bulletin <i>International Comparisons of Productivity—Final Estimates 2012</i>; and what plans they have to improve the United Kingdom’s relative position.
	tabling member printed	Lord Birt
	uin	HL2655
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2014 answer text <p>The most up to date productivity data for 2012 are in the table.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Current Price Productivity, 2012, G7 countries, Index UK=100</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>Japan</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>Germany</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>Canada</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>Italy</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>France</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>US</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>UK</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>G7 excl. UK</em></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>GDP per worker</strong></p></td><td><p>90</p></td><td><p>108</p></td><td><p>104</p></td><td><p>116</p></td><td><p>115</p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>120</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>GDP per hour worked</strong></p></td><td><p>85</p></td><td><p>129</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>109</p></td><td><p>128</p></td><td><p>130</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>117</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Source: International Comparisons of Productivity, First Estimates for 2013, ONS (Oct 2014)</p><p> </p><p>http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/icp/international-comparisons-of-productivity/2013---first-estimates/index.html</p><p> </p><p>Analysis undertaken by BIS (2012) to support Lord Heseltine’s Review of UK Competitiveness examined UK productivity in comparison to France, Germany and the USA. An analysis of productivity across all G7 countries has not yet been completed. The full analysis can be found <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/34647/12-1207-benchmarking-uk-competitiveness-in-the-global-economy.pdf" target="_blank">here</a> but the main findings were:</p><p> </p><p>The analysis decomposed the productivity gap (measured by output per hour worked) into two components:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Sector productivity effect – the share of the gap arising due to productivity in a given sector being higher in another country than in the UK.</li><li>Sector mix effect – the share of the gap arising due to employment in another country being more concentrated in high productivity sectors than in the UK.</li></ul><p> </p><p>When UK productivity is compared to France, Germany and the USA, the sector productivity effect in each of the comparator countries fully explains the gap. As such, higher productivity across almost all sectors in each of these economies accounts for the entirety of their lead over the UK. In fact, the UK’s favourable sector mix went some way towards reducing the gap, particularly against France.</p><p> </p><p>Naturally, the factors driving the gap vary by country. However, at the aggregate level, the UK tends to have lower capital per head than France and Germany and a less efficient use of inputs in production (Total Factor Productivity) than the USA (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32101/10-1213-economic-growth.pdf" target="_blank">BIS, 2010</a>). There is also a (smaller) gap between the UK and its major competitors in terms of skills. This is generally characterised as a gap in intermediate skills with France and Germany, and a gap in higher level skills relative to the USA.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Plans to Improve UK Productivity</strong></p><p> </p><p>Government policy focuses on delivering growth which in turn depends on productivity in the longer term. In this sense, the majority of longer run Government economic policy is ultimately about raising productivity.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s industrial strategy and ‘The Plan for Growth’ are creating the right environment for businesses to invest and grow. This will continue to support UK long-term productivity growth.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Data Revisions</strong></p><p> </p><p>Recent changes to national accounts methodology have slightly reduced the productivity gap between the UK and other leading G7 economies. Data for 2012 were revised and are provided in the table above. In case it is of interest, the most recent data for 2013 is also included in the table below. A full decomposition of the productivity gap has not yet been undertaken using the revised data.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Current Price Productivity, 2013, G7 countries, Index UK=100</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>Japan</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>Germany</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>Canada</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>Italy</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>France</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>US</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>UK</em></strong></p></td><td><p><strong><em>G7 excl. UK</em></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>GDP per worker</strong></p></td><td><p>88</p></td><td><p>107</p></td><td><p>103</p></td><td><p>115</p></td><td><p>114</p></td><td><p>139</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>119</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>GDP per hour worked</strong></p></td><td><p>85</p></td><td><p>129</p></td><td><p>101</p></td><td><p>109</p></td><td><p>128</p></td><td><p>130</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>117</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Source: International Comparisons of Productivity, First Estimates for 2013, ONS (Oct 2014)</p><p> </p><p>http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/icp/international-comparisons-of-productivity/2013---first-estimates/index.html</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>References</p><p> </p><p>BIS (2010) Economic Growth, BIS Economics Paper No. 9</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32101/10-1213-economic-growth.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32101/10-1213-economic-growth.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>BIS (2012) Benchmarking UK Competitiveness in the Global Economy, BIS Economics Paper No. 19</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/34647/12-1207-benchmarking-uk-competitiveness-in-the-global-economy.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/34647/12-1207-benchmarking-uk-competitiveness-in-the-global-economy.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Livingston of Parkhead question first answered 17/11/2014 12:31:53 answering member 4278 label Biography information for Lord Livingston of Parkhead
	tabling member	2533 label Biography information for Lord Birt

142586

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 29 October (HL 2219), whether they have any plans to amend the minimum wage legislation to include interns and others not currently covered by it including those subject to the terms of the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.
	tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
	uin	HL2696
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2014 answer text <p>Many interns are already entitled to the National Minimum Wage. The term “intern” is not defined in any legislation: entitlement to the minimum wage depends on whether or not an individual is a worker for minimum wage purposes.</p><p> </p><p>The National Minimum Wage applies to all workers unless a specific exemption applies. If an intern is a worker they will be entitled to the minimum wage. An applicable exemption would be students in further or higher education performing work-experience for a period not exceeding 12 months which is part of their studies. It can be legitimate for employers to offer unpaid or ‘expenses-only’ opportunities in some circumstances – in particular where the individual is acting as a volunteer.</p><p> </p><p>Given this dependency on employment status, it is vital that employers and workers understand how this is determined. This is why last month, the Business Secretary announced a review of employment status, looking at how the system could be clarified, providing transparency for both individuals and employers. This is an internal review and findings will be presented to ministers early next year.</p><p> </p><p>There are currently no plans to specifically consider individuals covered by the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 20/11/2014 16:01:07 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

147349

	registered interest
	date	10/11/2014
	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	Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the investor-state dispute settlement system in the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will not be dealt with by United Kingdom courts.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
	uin	HL2753
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2014 answer text The Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership (TTIP) will be an agreement with 28 EU countries and the US. In the case of the UK, it has over 90 existing bilateral investment treaties with other countries across the world, UK domestic courts and the UK legal system remain the main route for resolving the overwhelming majority of disputes that foreign investors may have with the actions of the UK Government. Investment protection provisions and Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses in trade and investment treaties are nonetheless valued by investors for providing certainty and protection from discriminatory action by host governments. Well-formulated investment protection and ISDS provisions have the potential to encourage investment while placing effective safeguards on the Government’s ability to regulate in the public interest. The Government believes it is in the UK's interest to create modern investment provisions in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) to both encourage investment and create a potential model for future trade and investment agreements with other countries. As such, we would want the ISDS mechanism in TTIP to be in line with best practice, including the new The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration. answering member printed Lord Livingston of Parkhead question first answered 19/11/2014 12:33:40 answering member 4278 label Biography information for Lord Livingston of Parkhead
	tabling member	4297 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

101683

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2014
	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	EU Grants and Loans
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government which United Kingdom organisations have received European Union funding in the last year from structural, cohesion or other funds.
	tabling member printed	Lord Vinson
	uin	HL2505
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The United Kingdom receives an allocation for the Structural Funds (the European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund) but not the Cohesion Fund.</p><p> </p><p>A large number of United Kingdom organisations received European Funding under Structural Funds programmes in the last year. As these are too numerous to set down here, I have provided below details of websites which contain lists of beneficiary organisations.</p><p> </p><p>The links to the Structural Funds programmes are:</p><p> </p><p>ERDF Programmes in England: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/erdf-programmes-progress-and-achievements" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/erdf-programmes-progress-and-achievements</a>.</p><p> </p><p>ESF England and Gibraltar: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/european-social-fund-2007-to-2013" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/european-social-fund-2007-to-2013</a></p><p> </p><p>Devolved Administrations (ERDF &amp; ESF)</p><p> </p><p>Northern Ireland: <a href="http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/index/finance/european-funding.htm" target="_blank">http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/index/finance/european-funding.htm</a></p><p> </p><p>Scotland: <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/support/17404/StructuralFunds2007-2013" target="_blank">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/support/17404/StructuralFunds2007-2013</a></p><p> </p><p>Wales: <a href="http://wefo.wales.gov.uk/programmes/progress/searchprojects/?lang=en" target="_blank">http://wefo.wales.gov.uk/programmes/progress/searchprojects/?lang=en</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In terms of other sources of EU funding that BIS is responsible for, this includes the Framework Programme 7 for Research &amp; Innovation with numerous participants from Higher Education, Research Organisations, Private Sector and Public bodies. Project information is not set out on the Commission website in such a way as to make it easy to identify UK recipients of EU funding in a calendar year.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Another source of EU funding that BIS was responsible for was the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (EIP) under the Competitiveness of Innovation and Enterprises (CIP). The latest beneficiaries report is the 2012 version. The following link will provide more information about the recipients of the programme, <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/cip/files/cip/docs/beneficiaries-report-october-2012_en.pdf" target="_blank">Beneficiaries Report October 2012 Final Version</a> – <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/cip/files/cip/docs/beneficiaries-report-october-2012.en.pdf" target="_blank">http://ec.europa.eu/cip/files/cip/docs/beneficiaries-report-october-2012.en.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 05/11/2014 14:00:24 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	1807 label Biography information for Lord Vinson

92755

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2014
	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	Disabled Students' Allowances
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of reforms of the disabled student allowance, there is a clear guide to the duties of higher education sectors towards disabled students.
	tabling member printed	Lord Addington
	uin	HL1991
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government has published draft guidance which sets out what Disabled Students Allowances will fund in the 2015/16 Academic Year. Institutions have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to provide reasonable adjustments. It is not the role of Government to set out what an institution should do to meet that legal duty.</p><p><br></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 29/10/2014 17:42:16 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	3453 label Biography information for Lord Addington

89917

	registered interest
	date	01/09/2014
	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	Supermarkets: Competition
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to lay before Parliament the statutory instrument recommended by the Groceries Code Adjudicator to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the maximum level of fine that can be applied for a breach of the Code; and if so, when.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
	uin	HL1759
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Government intends to bring legislation before Parliament this autumn to set the maximum level of fine that the Groceries Code Adjudicator may impose in respect of breaches of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 08/09/2014 12:18:45 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans