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166095

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	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	Sign Language: Interpreters
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the market for British Sign Language interpreters to meet the needs of the deaf community.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
	uin	HL3153
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business Innovation and Skills supports British Sign Language (BSL) provision in England through the Adult Skills Budget (ASB). Colleges and providers have the freedom and flexibility to use the ASB as best fits the needs of their local learners and businesses. This includes BSL qualifications, for those wishing to learn for their own use or to become an interpreter.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Skills provision in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and the assessment and adequacy of BSL provision is the responsibility of the devolved administrations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe grouped question UIN HL3154 question first answered 03/12/2014 16:16:06 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

166096

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	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	Sign Language: Interpreters
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that there are enough fully qualified British Sign Language interpreters to support the needs of the deaf community.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
	uin	HL3154
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business Innovation and Skills supports British Sign Language (BSL) provision in England through the Adult Skills Budget (ASB). Colleges and providers have the freedom and flexibility to use the ASB as best fits the needs of their local learners and businesses. This includes BSL qualifications, for those wishing to learn for their own use or to become an interpreter.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Skills provision in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and the assessment and adequacy of BSL provision is the responsibility of the devolved administrations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe grouped question UIN HL3153 question first answered 03/12/2014 16:16:06 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

166107

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	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	UK Trade with EU
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total trade deficit or surplus with the European Union in goods and services between 2010 and 2013; and what is their estimate of any deficit in 2014 to date.
	tabling member printed	Lord Stoddart of Swindon
	uin	HL3165
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/12/2014 answer text <p>UK’s trade deficit with the European Union was £28.5bn in 2010, £21.7bn in 2011, £39.5bn in 2012 and £56.2bn in 2013.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Currently, UK trade balance figures cover the period up to the second quarter of 2014. In the first half of 2014, UK’s trade deficit with the European Union was £25.5bn.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Source: ONS UK Economic Accounts 2014Q2</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Livingston of Parkhead question first answered 02/12/2014 12:28:47 answering member 4278 label Biography information for Lord Livingston of Parkhead
	tabling member	950 label Biography information for Lord Stoddart of Swindon

166120

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	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	Higher Education: Northern Ireland
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government which department in which administration based where is responsible for all aspects of the funding and operations of the two universities in Northern Ireland.
	tabling member printed	Lord Laird
	uin	HL3178
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p>The Northern Ireland Department for Employment and Learning has responsibility for higher education in Northern Ireland, including providing institutional funding for research.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, as the UK operates a dual support system for funding research in universities, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, through Research Councils UK, competitively provides grants for individual research projects and programmes across the UK.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 08/12/2014 17:53:57 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

166197

	registered interest
	date	26/11/2014
	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	Apprentices
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to change the eligibility criteria for young people who wish to undertake apprenticeships, but have prior academic qualifications such as A-levels.
	tabling member printed	Lord Storey
	uin	HL3181
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2014 answer text <p>Having prior academic qualifications does not preclude a young person being eligible to do an apprenticeship. There are therefore no plans to change the eligibility criteria.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Full details of the funding rules can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-funding-rules" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-funding-rules</a> and cover both the current apprenticeship programme and for the Trailblazer Apprenticeship Standards</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 03/12/2014 16:11:28 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

166200

	registered interest
	date	26/11/2014
	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	Students: Sponsorship
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase the sponsorship of students by employers.
	tabling member printed	Lord Storey
	uin	HL3184
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2014 answer text <p>The Government's view is that the best way to produce more employable graduates, with the particular ‘skill-sets’ required for the workplace, is for employers, either individually or jointly, to work directly with universities and colleges. They can and should help with course design and delivery, provide work placements, and, where appropriate, offer sponsorship for students. The Government is also promoting and making more funding available for higher apprenticeships which enables apprentices working with an employer to achieve up to degree and masters level as an in work progression route combining theoretical and applied skills.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 09/12/2014 13:06:44 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

166630

	registered interest
	date	27/11/2014
	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	Post Offices
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many post offices and sub-post offices have closed in the United Kingdom since 2005.
	tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
	uin	HL3221
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p>In November 2010, this Government published its policy statement “Securing the Post Office network in the digital age”, which made a clear commitment that this Government would end the programmes of closure of the previous administration, and instead invest in the Post Office to secure a network of at least 11,500 branches with a sustainable long-term future.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Since 2010, this Government has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect the Post Office network, and this is clearly reflected in the network figures that show the size of the network is now stabilised. It is important to note that within a network of over 11,500 branches that is overwhelmingly operated by independent agents, there will be fluctuations in the number of open branches as subpostmasters leave the network for a number of reasons, such as retirement. Where a replacement is not immediately available, the Post Office works hard to restore access to services in the community.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Post Office makes details of the size of its network available to Parliament on a regular basis. These show that at on 31 March 2005, there were 14,609 post offices. The comparative figure at the end of the 2013-14 reporting year showed there were 11,697 branches. The following table sets out changes to the network size for the years between 2005 and 2014:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Reporting date</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Post Office network size</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2005</p></td><td><p>14,609</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2006</p></td><td><p>14,376</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2007</p></td><td><p>14,219</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2008</p></td><td><p>13,567</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2009</p></td><td><p>11,952</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2010</p></td><td><p>11,905</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2011</p></td><td><p>11,820</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2012</p></td><td><p>11,818</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2013</p></td><td><p>11,780</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2014</p></td><td><p>11,697</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 08/12/2014 15:39:37 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

166636

	registered interest
	date	27/11/2014
	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	Higher Education
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of massive open online courses on traditional higher education.
	tabling member printed	Lord Storey
	uin	HL3227
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2014 answer text <p>The Government has not conducted a formal assessment of the impact of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 11/12/2014 12:49:11 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

167251

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	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	Sri Lanka
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the European Union decision in 2010 to remove trade concessions from Sri Lanka pending the government of that country improving its human rights record has created a precedent for other countries.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Tonge
	uin	HL3352
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2014 answer text <p>In 2010 some trade preferences, known as GSP+, were removed from Sri Lanka by the European Union following investigations and reports which found significant shortcomings in respect of Sri Lanka’s implementation of three human rights conventions. Sri Lanka continues to receive beneficial but less generous trade preferences from the EU under the ‘standard’ GSP scheme.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As was the case for Sri Lanka, any decision for the EU to remove GSP+ preferences from a country is based on the objective criteria and following the process established in the GSP Regulation as agreed by European Member States and the European Parliament.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Livingston of Parkhead question first answered 15/12/2014 17:51:12 answering member 4278 label Biography information for Lord Livingston of Parkhead
	tabling member	200 label Biography information for Baroness Tonge

167253

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	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	Minimum Wage
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent steps they have taken to improve enforcement of the national minimum wage.
	tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
	uin	HL3354
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2014 answer text <p>HM Revenue and Customs enforces the National Minimum Wage for all workers and investigates every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights helpline. In addition, HMRC conducts pro-active enforcement in sectors or areas where there is a higher risk of workers not getting paid the legal minimum wage.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is taking a tough approach towards employers that do not comply with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) law, including through making their non-compliance public. 55 employers have been named so far and between them they owed workers a total of over £139,000 in arrears.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the unpaid arrears owed to workers and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. This came into effect on 7 March 2014. We are introducing primary legislation so that the penalty can be calculated on a per worker basis.</p><p> </p><p>Any worker who thinks they are not being paid what they are legally entitled to can call the Pay and Work Right Helpline on 0800 917 2368. Employers can also call the helpline for free advice if they are unsure of their obligations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 11/12/2014 14:21:53 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont