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444107

	registered interest
	date	12/01/2016
	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	Disability Aids: Sales
	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 prevent the exploitation of consumers by salesmen of stair lifts and other aids to the elderly and disabled.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	22189
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2016 answer text <br /><p><strong></strong></p><p>The Department funds the Citizens Advice Service to provide valuable advice to consumers, including how to avoid scams. Citizens Advice also lead the annual Scams Awareness Month, working with Trading Standards to help give consumers the confidence to spot and report a scam.</p><br /><p>Trading Standards Officers have powers to take action under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 against salesmen who use misleading practices and aggressive pressure selling. Additionally, National Trading Standards Scambuster Teams take action against large scale national and regional scammers, including those who exploit the elderly and vulnerable through the sale of substandard or unnecessary mobility aids.</p><br /><p>Since 2014 the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations 2014 introduced important new rights for consumers to take their own action against such traders to get their money back.</p><p><strong></strong></p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 20/01/2016 17:45:38 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

446190

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2016
	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 assessment he has made of the prevalence of employers withholding wages from employees; and what steps he is taking to prevent that practice.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	23246
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2016 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not collate this information centrally, however, I refer my Hon. Friend to the additional information which was placed in the Libraries of the House in response to a question from the Hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury UIN <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-11-19/17042/" target="_blank">17042</a>. Acas were notified of 12,791 Early Conciliation claims relating to the Wages Act from April to September 2015.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, there were 9,494 Employment Tribunal claims relating to unauthorised deductions from wages in the most recent six months for which HMCTS data is available (April to September 2015, <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics</a>).</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government publishes clear advice for employers and workers on deductions from pay which can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/understanding-your-pay/deductions-from-your-pay" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/understanding-your-pay/deductions-from-your-pay</a>. A worker’s pay cannot be reduced below the National Minimum Wage (NMW) except in very limited circumstances – even if the worker agrees to the deduction.</p><p> </p><p>HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforces the NMW, and anyone concerned about underpayment of the NMW should call Acas’s confidential helpline on 0300 123 1100 or visit <a href="http://www.acas.org.uk/nmw" target="_blank">http://www.acas.org.uk/nmw</a>. HMRC will respond to every complaint they receive.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 14/03/2016 16:54:34 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

450958

	registered interest
	date	05/02/2016
	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	Universities: 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 estimate he has made of the proportion of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who applied to university in each of the last six years.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	26081
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2016 answer text <p>The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) publishes data on application and entry rates for full-time undergraduate courses.</p><p> </p><p>The tables show the proportion of 18 year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds who applied to university by the main January deadline (application rate) and the proportion of 18 year olds that accepted a place during a UCAS application cycle (entry rate).</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="8"><p>Table 1: Application rates for English 18 year olds from POLAR3 quintile 1 areas (for entry in year)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>15.2%</p></td><td><p>18.0%</p></td><td><p>18.6%</p></td><td><p>17.9%</p></td><td><p>18.9%</p></td><td><p>20.4%</p></td><td><p>21.0%</p></td><td><p>22.0%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="7"><p>Table 2: Entry rates for English 18 year olds from POLAR3 quintile 1 areas (for entry in year)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>13.6%</p></td><td><p>14.2%</p></td><td><p>15.1%</p></td><td><p>15.1%</p></td><td><p>16.4%</p></td><td><p>17.8%</p></td><td><p>18.5%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes:</strong></p><ol><li>Data published by UCAS covers full-time undergraduate applications. Table 1 shows the application rates by the main January deadline.</li><li>Data for entry rates in Table 2 include acceptances across the whole application cycle.</li><li>Disadvantage is measured by POLAR quintile 1 an area based measure of low participation.</li><li>Source of data for application rates: UCAS ‘<em>Application rates by the January Deadline</em>’ report for the 2016 cycle (underlying data for Figure 14) – published in February 2016.</li><li>Source of data for entry rates: UCAS ‘<em>2015 End of Cycle</em>’ report (underlying data for Figure 65) – published in December 2015.</li></ol><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 15/02/2016 17:14:58 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

455997

	registered interest
	date	29/02/2016
	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	STEM Subjects: Females
	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 secure the appropriate data to monitor the progress of programmes which encourage the uptake of STEM subjects and careers by girls.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	28887
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2016 answer text <p>The Government funds a number of programmes which encourage the uptake of STEM subjects by girls. We monitor the progress of these programmes against their key performance indicators through regular reports, and by evaluating their impact.</p><p>In 2014 the Government published for the first time data showing the proportion of girls and boys studying A levels in science and maths at each post-16 institution, and in 2016 time series data of students entered for mathematics and science A level subjects by number of subjects and gender. Both sets of data will continue to be published on an annual basis.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 11/03/2016 17:02:40 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

458005

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2016
	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	Migrant Workers: Fees and Charges
	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 potential effect of plans under the Immigration Bill to introduce a charge on UK employers for employing skilled foreign workers on the number of people applying to study STEM subjects at university.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	30033
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2016 answer text <p>The Government is considering carefully the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations on migration including the likely impact on different sectors. It is essential that the UK remains open for business, while migration levels are controlled.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 21/03/2016 16:00:38 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

458964

	registered interest
	date	09/03/2016
	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	Scholarships: Refugees
	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 university scholarships have been taken up by Syrian refugees in the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	30498
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/03/2016 answer text <p>This information is not held by the department or its agencies.</p><p>The sector led Supporting Professionalism in Admissions Programme (SPA) has published good practice guidance on admissions for refugees and asylum seekers.</p><p>Through the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, the Government is working closely with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to identify those most at risk and bring them to the UK.</p><p>The UK has been at the forefront of the international response to the Syrian crisis. On 4 February 2016, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced that the UK will more than double our total pledge to the Syria crisis from £1.12 billion to over £2.3 billion. This is our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis and means that the UK is one of the largest donors to the Syria crisis.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 18/03/2016 16:00:24 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett