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147418

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	Care Workers: Minimum Wage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the contribution of 5 November 2014 by the Minister of State in his Department, Official Report, column 240WH, on care workers, when the themed work on minimum wage enforcement in the care sector will start.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	213960
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2014 answer text <p>We are considering how further targeted enforcement in the care sector may be undertaken as part of our annual review of HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) service level agreement for national minimum wage enforcement, taking account of the Minister of State for Care and Support’s views that this sector should be prioritised. This service level agreement sets out priority areas for enforcement activity.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to targeted enforcement activity, HMRC respond to every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the helpline on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p><p>In relation to the last targeted enforcement activity, HMRC published findings on 25 November 2013. Over the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013, HMRC had made enquiries into 224 employers in the social care sector. Of the cases completed by the end of September 2014, HMRC have found non-compliance in 108 (48%) of their enquiries, identifying £1,319,729 arrears of pay for 6,550 workers, with penalties issued with a total value of £146,931.</p><p> </p><p>As part of this targeted enforcement activity, 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>The Department of Health has recently published statutory guidance for local authorities as part of the package of secondary legislation that accompanies the Care Act. The chapter of statutory guidance on commissioning and market shaping explicitly states that local authorities should have evidence that contract terms, conditions and fee levels will not compromise care providers’ ability to pay at least minimum wages.</p><p> </p><p>The Department of Health is asking all Local Authorities to sign up to the Social Care Commitment which incorporates a statement about employer compliance with minimum wage legislation. The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services has written out to all its members encouraging them to support the Commitment as a way of raising standards in adult social care.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 19/11/2014 15:05:49 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

147419

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	Procurement
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 contracts signed by his Department with suppliers of services or consultants include a clause providing that if the contract is abrogated by the Government, the provider or consultant will be compensated for lost income since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Great Grimsby
tabling member printed	Austin Mitchell
uin	214000
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2014 answer text <p>The maintenance of central records of all contracts let by the Department commenced from August 2012. Therefore, I can provide information on contracts let in the period August 2012 to date only.</p><p> </p><p>No contracts put in place for the Department using UK SBS terms and conditions include provision for compensation for lost income in the event of abrogation by the customer. Indeed, UK SBS terms and conditions include clauses specifically excluding such activity. Where the Department’s needs have been met through the use of Crown Commercial Service frameworks, the terms and conditions applied will be those required by the respective framework.</p><p> </p><p>The Department’s contract opportunities with a value greater than £10,000 and all contracts subsequently awarded are published on <a href="https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder" target="_blank">Contracts Finder</a>.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 20/11/2014 15:47:11 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	372 label Biography information for Austin Mitchell

147420

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	SAFERjobs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Question 212650, how many potential cases of human trafficking have been intercepted by SAFERjobs in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	213967
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2014 answer text <p>SAFERjobs is not part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and we do not hold information on potential cases of human trafficking that may have been intercepted by SAFERjobs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>SAFERjobs (Safe Advice for Employment and Recruitment) SAFERjobs is a non-profit, joint industry and law enforcement organisation set up to raise awareness and combat criminal activities that may be attempted on those seeking a job, or through the services provided by the recruitment industry.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 17/11/2014 11:17:26 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

147421

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	SAFERjobs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Question 212650, what resources he provided to SAFERjobs in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	213968
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2014 answer text <p>SAFERjobs (Safe Advice for Employment and Recruitment) is not part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and we do not provide any resources or funding to them.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>SAFERjobs is a non-profit, joint industry and law enforcement organisation set up to raise awareness and combat criminal activities that may be attempted on those seeking a job, or through the services provided by the recruitment industry.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>SAFERjobs works collaboratively with the Employment Agency Standards (EAS) Inspectorate in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to share information and intelligence.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 17/11/2014 11:15:55 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

147422

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	Business: Alcoholic Drinks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, at what stage during the progress of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill he plans to bring forward proposals to exempt independent family brewers from the provisions of the Bill.
tabling member constituency	Faversham and Mid Kent
tabling member printed	Sir Hugh Robertson
uin	214062
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government’s intention is that all pub-owning companies with tied tenants, including family brewers but not micro-businesses, should be in scope of the measures for a Pubs Code and Pubs Code Adjudicator in Part 4 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill. The Government published a revised draft Pubs Code on 14 November which reflects a number of requirements we consider it would be proportionate to move to the enhanced Code and, as such, would not apply to pub-owning companies with fewer than 500 tied pubs, including family brewers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has tabled amendments that specify that the requirements to produce an annual Compliance Report, to have a Code Compliance Officer and rent assessments signed off by a RICS valuer, will apply only to large pub-owning companies. This is in addition to the Parallel Rent Assessment requirement which has always been in the enhanced Code. In addition, the revised draft Code also reflects a number of other requirements that have also moved to the enhanced Code. These are the requirement to ensure that tenants complete pre-entry training, requirements around Business Development Managers, and the requirement to provide a tenant with information about rent deposit arrangements. The Government has reached these conclusions following the discussions in Public Bill Committee and the constructive meetings with hon Members, including my hon Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises that the beer and pubs industry, including family brewers, makes a significant contribution to the UK economy. It is an industry we want to see grow and flourish and the measures in the Bill are intended to do just that. According to the British Beer and Pub Association, it is an industry that contributes £22 billion to UK GDP, generates £11 billion in tax revenue and supports almost one million jobs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 214063 question first answered 17/11/2014 17:36:31 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1415 label Biography information for Sir Hugh Robertson

147423

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	Business: Alcoholic Drinks
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 contribution of independent family brewers to the UK economy; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Faversham and Mid Kent
tabling member printed	Sir Hugh Robertson
uin	214063
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government’s intention is that all pub-owning companies with tied tenants, including family brewers but not micro-businesses, should be in scope of the measures for a Pubs Code and Pubs Code Adjudicator in Part 4 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill. The Government published a revised draft Pubs Code on 14 November which reflects a number of requirements we consider it would be proportionate to move to the enhanced Code and, as such, would not apply to pub-owning companies with fewer than 500 tied pubs, including family brewers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has tabled amendments that specify that the requirements to produce an annual Compliance Report, to have a Code Compliance Officer and rent assessments signed off by a RICS valuer, will apply only to large pub-owning companies. This is in addition to the Parallel Rent Assessment requirement which has always been in the enhanced Code. In addition, the revised draft Code also reflects a number of other requirements that have also moved to the enhanced Code. These are the requirement to ensure that tenants complete pre-entry training, requirements around Business Development Managers, and the requirement to provide a tenant with information about rent deposit arrangements. The Government has reached these conclusions following the discussions in Public Bill Committee and the constructive meetings with hon Members, including my hon Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises that the beer and pubs industry, including family brewers, makes a significant contribution to the UK economy. It is an industry we want to see grow and flourish and the measures in the Bill are intended to do just that. According to the British Beer and Pub Association, it is an industry that contributes £22 billion to UK GDP, generates £11 billion in tax revenue and supports almost one million jobs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 214062 question first answered 17/11/2014 17:36:31 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1415 label Biography information for Sir Hugh Robertson

143349

registered interest
date	07/11/2014
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	Insolvency
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 his Department has made of the costs to insolvency practitioners of holding a physical creditor meeting in an insolvency procedure.
tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
tabling member printed	Toby Perkins
uin	213841
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2014 answer text <p>The cost of holding a meeting varies according to the insolvency process and the nature of the meeting being held.</p><p> </p><p>Estimates of the cost of the initial meetings in various insolvency procedures are included in the Impact Assessment [“Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill: proposed changes to the law governing insolvency proceedings impact assessment”, BIS/14/935, 30 October 2014] and range from £144 in a bankruptcy to £420 for an administration.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Process</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Cost of meeting/£</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Creditors’ voluntary liquidation</p></td><td><p>294</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Administration</p></td><td><p>420</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Compulsory winding-up (official receiver)</p></td><td><p>144</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Company voluntary arrangement</p></td><td><p>420</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bankruptcy (official receiver)</p></td><td><p>144</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Individual voluntary arrangement</p></td><td><p>420</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 19/11/2014 14:32:04 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins

143350

registered interest
date	07/11/2014
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	Insolvency
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 his Department has made of the saving to the public purse made by removing the provision for insolvency practitioners to call a physical creditor meeting.
tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
tabling member printed	Toby Perkins
uin	213842
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2014 answer text <p>The savings to creditors identified in the first year from removal of the requirement to hold a meeting and abolition of final meetings in liquidations and bankruptcies where the official receiver is not the office holder, are estimated to be at least £9.2m (comprised of £2.9m for removal of requirement for meetings and £6.3m for abolition of final meetings).</p><p> </p><p>We have not sought to quantify the savings to the public purse, such as the specific benefit to HMRC as a creditor. We have however estimated that around 10% of creditors are not businesses, so approximately £0.9m of savings can be attributed to such creditors as Crown departments, employees and customers for deposits.</p><p> </p><p>The savings figures are based on 2013 costs.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 19/11/2014 14:34:37 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins

143351

registered interest
date	07/11/2014
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	Insolvency
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 his Department has made of the proportion of (a) secured and (b) unsecured creditors who attend creditor meetings during an insolvency procedure.
tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
tabling member printed	Toby Perkins
uin	213843
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2014 answer text <p>There is no central record of how many creditors attend meetings in person, but evidence indicates that attendance at meetings is very low and that many meetings are not attended at all.</p><p> </p><p>The 2013 report, “Review of Insolvency Practitioner Fees” by Professor Elaine Kempson, estimated that only 4% of creditors attend meetings in person and that fully secured creditors seldom attend in person.</p><p> </p><p>The report goes on to say that two firms had actually calculated the percentage of creditors attending meetings in person. A large firm had calculated that 1% of creditors do so, and a smaller firm had calculated the amount to be 3.5%.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 19/11/2014 14:33:03 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins

142067

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	Buildings
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 buildings owned by his Department have been sold in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Walsall South
tabling member printed	Valerie Vaz
uin	213769
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS Core) have not sold any buildings between 2010 and 2014. BIS Core do not own any freehold property to sell.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 11/11/2014 15:21:57 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4076 label Biography information for Valerie Vaz