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170234

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Eritrea
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether negotiations are taking place with the government of Eritrea about the number of refugees from that country coming to the European Union and, in particular, to the United Kingdom.
tabling member printed	Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead
uin	HL3730
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>There is an ongoing dialogue on migration related issues between representatives of the UK and Eritrean governments, including a recent meeting with my Hon. Friend, the Immigration and Security Minister (James Brokenshire)and the Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh on 27 November in Rome. This took place in the margins of a conference to launch the new European Union - African Union ‘Khartoum Process’.</p><p>The UK is playing an active role in this initiative which is bringing together EU countries and those in the Horn of Africa, including Eritrea, to support dialogue and cooperation to tackle people smuggling and human trafficking in the region. More recently, there has been a visit to Eritrea by a joint delegation of senior Home Office and Foreign Office officials on 9-11 December to discuss a range of migration topics, including the current drivers of irregular migration and ways to mitigate it, asylum and returns, and potential areas for joint co-operation.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 05/01/2015 15:36:32 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	3895 label Biography information for Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead

170258

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	IVF
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 15 December (HL3302), how exhaustively the POLG gene at chromosomal locus 15q25 has been sequenced in all individuals known to be affected by the mitochondrial diseases listed in Annex D of the mitochondrial donation consultation document in order to establish the evidence base described in that answer; and whether the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority would routinely require sequencing of the POLG gene in order to ensure that pronuclear transfer or spindle-chromosomal transfer should only be used for patients who have an inherited mitochondrial DNA mutation and not where faulty mitochondria may have arisen from a nuclear gene mutation.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3754
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>We are advised by the Wellcome Trust that diagnosis of mitochondrial DNA disease is performed within the National Health Service Highly Specialised Service diagnostic laboratory using well established diagnostic algorithms and Practice Guidelines for the Molecular Diagnosis of Mitochondrial Diseases published by the Clinical Molecular Genetics Society at:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.acgs.uk.com/media/774654/mito_2008.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.acgs.uk.com/media/774654/mito_2008.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Mitochondrial defects that arise due to nuclear gene mutations, such as DNA polymerase gamma, routinely give rise to multiple different mutations of mitochondrial DNA within patient tissues or depletion of mitochondrial DNA. This is apparent upon genetic testing and would then lead to analysis of the DNA polymerase gamma gene to identify the nuclear gene defect.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that it will design the regulatory process following the passage of any regulations to allow mitochondrial donation. Should Parliament pass the mitochondrial donation regulations, the technique could only be licensed for the avoidance of diseases caused by inherited mutations in mitochondrial DNA, not nuclear DNA.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 05/01/2015 12:41:56 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe attachment 1 file name CMGS Practice Guidelines for the Molecular Diagnosis of Mitochondrial Diseases.pdf title CMGS Practice Guidelines
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

170285

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Written Questions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the savings to the Law Officers' Departments from the Q&A system in the (a) 12 months and (b) five years since 4 June 2014; what additional ICT systems or improvements to existing systems the Law Officers' Departments have introduced or plan to introduce that would not have been feasible without the Q&A system; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which the system has made it easier to answer questions from hon. Members on time.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	218771
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>The Attorney General’s Office has made an estimated saving of £164 in respect of stationery costs since June 2014. There may also have been some savings in staff time but it is not possible to quantify this without incurring a disproportionate cost. There have been no other identified savings.</p><p> </p><p>There have also not been any modifications made to existing ICT systems that were dependent on introduction of the Q&amp;A system.</p><p> </p><p>One of the benefits of the new system is the possibility for the reporting of the timeliness of answers to Parliamentary Questions to be delivered with greater consistency and accuracy across all answering bodies.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It will be for the Procedure Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the new system in improving performance when it assesses the evidence following the end of the session.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Mr Robert Buckland question first answered 05/01/2015 17:40:06 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

170287

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	Post Offices: Worcestershire
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 post offices were closed in (a) Worcester and (b) Worcestershire (i) between 1997 and 2010 and (ii) between 2010 and 2015.
tabling member constituency	Worcester
tabling member printed	Mr Robin Walker
uin	218796
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government understands the important role that post offices play in communities across the country and since 2010 has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect a network of at least 11,500 branches that continues to meet strict access criteria that see, for example, 95% of the urban population living within one mile of a post office outlet.</p><p> </p><p>This Government has also committed that there will be no programme of Post Office closures. There are currently around 11,700 post office branches in the UK, with the Post Office network at its most stable for over two decades.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited and I understand from the company that it does not hold information in the format requested. For your reference I include historic information on the number of open Post Office branches at national level and by the West Midlands Government Office region in the tables below:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Number of open post offices in the UK</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number of open Post Office branches</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of March 1997</p></td><td><p>19251</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of March 2010</p></td><td><p>11905</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of Sept 2014</p></td><td><p>11631</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Number of open post offices in West Midlands Government Office region (historic figures are only available from the year 2000)</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number of open Post Office branches</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of March 2000</p></td><td><p>1479</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of March 2010</p></td><td><p>930</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>End of Sept 2014</p></td><td><p>904</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 05/01/2015 11:22:53 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker

170288

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	Further Education
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 people aged 24 years and older participated in Government-funded further education courses at all levels in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	218803
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>Table 1 shows the number of people aged 24 years and older who participated in Government-funded further education courses at all levels in the last five academic years.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: 24+ FE &amp; Skills Participation (2009/10 to 2013/14) – Learner Volumes</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td colspan="5"><p><strong>Funded Learners</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p><strong>2009/10</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010/11</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011/12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012/13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Participation</strong></p></td><td><p>2,873,400</p></td><td><p>2,515,100</p></td><td><p>2,493,600</p></td><td><p>2,583,100</p></td><td><p>2,273,300</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p> </p><p>1) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 100; percentages are calculated on pre-rounded data.</p><p> </p><p>2) Age is reported as at 31 August of the academic year and is based upon self-declaration by the learner.</p><p> </p><p>3) The data source for this table is the Individualised Learner Record.</p><p> </p><p>4) Figures for 2011/12 onwards are not directly comparable to earlier years as a Single Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data collection system has been introduced. Small technical changes have been made in the way learners from more than one provision type are counted, leading to a removal of duplicate learners and a reduction in overall learner numbers of approximately 2 per cent.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 05/01/2015 14:05:48 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

170290

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	Apprentices: 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 Answer of 11 December 2014 to Question 217744, when his Department plans to write to level 2 and 3 apprenticeships in England informing them of their National Minimum Wage entitlement.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	218767
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>A letter is issued to all new level 2 and 3 apprentices in England on Government-funded apprenticeships, setting out what they can expect from their apprenticeship. This includes information on their national minimum wage entitlement.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 05/01/2015 16:41:25 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles previous answer version 35662 answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

170291

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	Post Offices
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 post offices have been refurbished as a result of the Government's £2 billion investment in the Post Office Network since 2010 in (a) Worcester, (b) Worcestershire and (c) England.
tabling member constituency	Worcester
tabling member printed	Mr Robin Walker
uin	218797
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government understands the important role that post offices play in communities across the country and since 2010 has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect the network. This is an historic commitment, and is designed to ensure that the Post Office has a vibrant, successful and financially sustainable long-term future where is it less reliant on an annual taxpayer funded subsidy.</p><p> </p><p>The Post Office is undertaking the largest modernisation programme in its history and network transformation is seeing subpostmasters receiving public investment to improve their branches; delivering benefits to customers including longer opening hours, more convenient access and improved branch environments. To date over 3,500 branches have converted to the new Main and Local models and nearly 290 of the Post Office’s directly owned Crown post offices have benefitted from investment.</p><p> </p><p>The following table sets out the numbers of post offices that have received investment in the areas requested:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p>Number of post offices that</p><p>have received investment</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Worcester</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Worcestershire</p></td><td><p>32</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands Government Office Region</p></td><td><p>302</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>England</p></td><td><p>3173</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 05/01/2015 14:03:59 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker

170307

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Postal Services: Conditions of Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information he holds on the number of workers in parcel delivery companies who are (a) self-employed and (b) on zero hours contracts.
tabling member constituency	Knowsley
tabling member printed	Mr George Howarth
uin	218703
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading East answering member printed Mr Rob Wilson question first answered 05/01/2015 13:51:56 answering member 1556 label Biography information for Mr Rob Wilson attachment 1 file name PQ 218703 ONS 466.pdf title ONS Letter to Member - Zero Hour Contracts
tabling member	481 label Biography information for Sir George Howarth

170342

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral evidence taken by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee on 3 December 2014, Question 6, and 10 December 2014, Questions 168, 169 and 174, how many premises in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013 were not and in (c) 2014, (d) 2015 and (e) 2016 will not be able to get at least 2 Mbps broadband from copper and fibre networks; what the geographic location is of those premises; what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of covering the capital equipment and installation cost of a satellite broadband solution for those premises in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016; and what estimate he has made of the monthly cost to the consumer of such a solution.
tabling member constituency	Rhondda
tabling member printed	Chris Bryant
uin	218633
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>Ofcom reported in its Infrastructure Report 2013 that the proportions of connections receiving below 2Mbit/s were 10% in 2012 and 8% in 2013, while in its Infrastructure Report 2014 it reported proportions were 6% in 2013 and 4% in 2014. The locations of these slow connections are available at postcode level at <a href="http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/research/ir/Fixed_postcode.zip" target="_blank">http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/research/ir/Fixed_postcode.zip</a>and by local authority at <a href="http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/infrastructure/2014/Fixed_local_authority.csv" target="_blank">http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/infrastructure/2014/Fixed_local_authority.csv</a> Ofcom suggested that about half of the 4% of premises in June 2014 receiving below 2Mbit/s already had access to superfast services. Almost all premises should be able to have access to at least 2Mbit/s by 2016. The cost of providing a minimum of 2Mbit/s broadband services would vary dependent upon the solution deployed; for satellite broadband the installation cost could be in the range £100 - £500 per user, and monthly costs to consumers could be from £25.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 05/01/2015 13:16:13 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	1446 label Biography information for Sir Chris Bryant

170343

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Direct Marketing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of nuisance calls made by companies in (a) the UK and (b) abroad to customers registered with the Telephone Preference Service; and if he will bring forward proposals to increase fines for businesses that breach the law on nuisance calls.
tabling member constituency	Livingston
tabling member printed	Graeme Morrice
uin	218643
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2015 answer text <p>No estimate has been made about the level of nuisance calls made by companies in the UK or abroad to Telephone Preference Service (TPS) registered consumers, as this type of information is not readily available. However, tackling nuisance calls is a priority for the Department, including those that are made to consumers who are registered with the TPS. We published the first ever Nuisance Calls Action Plan on 30 March 2014: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuisance-calls-action-plan-unveiled">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuisance-calls-action-plan-unveiled</a>.This set out our achievements to date, work underway and proposed actions for the future, which included both legislative and non-legislative measures. We are currently pursuing these measures, which we believe that as a combination are beginning to make a significant difference for the benefit of consumers. The Information Commissioner’s Office’s Office (ICO) can issue a substantial monetary penalty of up to £500,000 to any organisation for breaching the TPS and therefore we are not looking to increase this further. However, we have consulted between 25 October and 6 December 2014, proposing to lower or preferably remove the legal threshold, as this will make it easier for the ICO to issue more monetary penalties. The Government’s Response will follow shortly in 2015. Details of enforcement action taken to date by ICO can be viewed at: <a target="_blank" href="http://ico.org.uk/enforcement/action/calls">http://ico.org.uk/enforcement/action/calls</a></p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 05/01/2015 13:19:44 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	4012 label Biography information for Graeme Morrice