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93748

registered interest
date	16/10/2014
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	Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme
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 complaints about the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme his Department has received in each year since the inception of that scheme.
tabling member constituency	Delyn
tabling member printed	Mr David Hanson
uin	210872
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>Delivery of EFG is fully devolved to over 40 participating lenders, each of which has their own arrangements for handling customer complaints. The Department does not mediate in disputes between individual borrowers and lenders. Any business complaining to BIS or the British Business Bank is guided in the first instance to follow their lender’s complaints procedure. Upon exhaustion of that process the next step for dealing with an unresolved dispute in most instances will be to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 23/10/2014 13:08:39 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

93749

registered interest
date	16/10/2014
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	Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme
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 applications to the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme have been (a) submitted, (b) approved and (c) terminated following approval by his Department since the inception of that scheme.
tabling member constituency	Delyn
tabling member printed	Mr David Hanson
uin	210873
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>Delivery of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) is fully devolved to over 40 participating lenders. As such the Department for Business Innovation and Skills does not directly receive, approve or terminate any EFG applications.</p><p>Participating lenders do not report to the Department numbers of applications submitted or terminated. Since inception of the scheme in January 2009, participating lenders have made offers of 26,189 EFG-backed loans and other types of debt facilities.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 23/10/2014 13:09:56 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

93750

registered interest
date	16/10/2014
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	Working Conditions
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 his Department plans to take to ensure that companies are held responsible for labour conditions throughout their supply chains.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	210900
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>Companies are held accountable by investors, consumers and civil society as well as governments for the way in which they conduct their operations, including labour conditions, and how they report on their actions in this regard.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Since October 2013, quoted companies have been required to provide information in their Annual Report about social, community and human rights issues, including information about any policies of the company in relation to those matters and the effectiveness of those policies.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department has negotiated at the European level to strengthen current human rights disclosure requirements and make them more specific. Provisions have now been agreed that will apply across all EU Member States from 2017 to large quoted companies and Public Interest Entities. My Department will shortly be consulting on the transposition of these measures into UK law.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Additional disclosure requirements will be introduced in the Modern Slavery Bill. Big businesses will have to publicly state each year what action they have taken to ensure their supply chains are slavery free. This requirement goes further than any similar legislation in the world by applying to businesses regardless of the nature of a company or what it supplies, whether goods or services.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In September 2013, the UK was the first country to publish a National Action Plan implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Action Plan underlines the duty of businesses to respect the human rights of their employees and those in their supply chains. My Department is taking action to develop guidance for businesses reporting on this obligation, beginning with the retail sector.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In order to toughen up our enforcement of the National Minimum Wage my Department has made it simpler to name and shame employers that break the law on the National Minimum Wage and has increased the financial penalty that employers pay for breaking the law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the unpaid wages owed to workers. The maximum penalty has also increased from £5,000 to £20,000 and will be applied per worker not per firm.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 23/10/2014 16:23:04 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

93449

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	English Language: 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 adults enrolled on ESOL courses in further education colleges in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich West
tabling member printed	Mr Adrian Bailey
uin	210643
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2014 answer text <p>Information on ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) participation is published in Table 3 of a Statistical First Release (SFR):</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/364220/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-data-tables-oct14.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/364220/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-data-tables-oct14.xls</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 20/10/2014 14:53:52 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	320 label Biography information for Mr Adrian Bailey

93450

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	Ferries: 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, if he will make it his policy that the National Minimum Wage should apply to seafarers working on ferry services from (a) Portsmouth to the Channel Islands, (b) Weymouth to the Channel Islands, (c) Poole to the Channel Islands and (d) Portsmouth to Cherbourg.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Mr Mike Hancock
uin	210660
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government is examining the application of the legislation to seafarers, in particular those seafarers working on ferry services.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Officials have been working closely with the Department for Transport, unions and stakeholders to fully understand pay practices in the maritime industry.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Seafarers who ordinarily work in the UK are entitled to the National Minimum Wages (NMW). Seafarers who believe they are entitled to the NMW and have not received it should contact the free and confidential Pay and Work Rights helpline on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 extend certain equality rights, including pay, to all seafarers serving on UK or EEA registered vessels operating wholly or partly in Great Britain and its territorial waters. Seafarers from the EEA or designated States, whose legal relationship in regard to their employment is located within Great Britain, are also covered to the same extent. Outside our territorial waters the same level of protection is afforded to the same category of seafarers on UK registered vessels.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department for Transport is currently reviewing the application of the Equality Act Regulations with the social partners, this Department and other Departments.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>However, the UK must give due consideration to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that states that a vessel is entitled to the right of innocent passage when in the territorial waters of another State. The majority of ferries operating out of Great Britain are not flagged with the UK register and the Channel Islands and Cherbourg are beyond our territorial waters.</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 question first answered 21/10/2014 13:49:05 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	59 label Biography information for Mr Mike Hancock

93451

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	Business: Sustainable Development
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has (a) commissioned or (b) conducted research on the effects on a business's competitiveness of building sustainability into its core strategy.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Mr Mike Hancock
uin	210679
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2014 answer text <p>The Department has not commissioned or conducted research into this issue.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 22/10/2014 15:09:21 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	59 label Biography information for Mr Mike Hancock

93452

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	Phones 4u
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 progress being made to offset job losses and the cost to the economy resulting from the collapse of mobile telephone retailer Phones 4U.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	210713
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The administration of Phones4U was disappointing news and is obviously a worrying time for the workforce, but this continues to be a matter for the Administrators, PWC.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government, through its Rapid Response Service has supported the Taskforce established by local partners in Newcastle under Lyme and Stoke in September</p><p> </p><p>The Taskforce has been able to offer direct and indirect support through an Employee Support Event on 7 October which is part of a larger support programme for those looking for work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I was pleased to see media reports that more than 2,000 staff working in 198 stores and 160 concessions have been transferred to buyers of parts of the business including Vodafone and EE.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 21/10/2014 13:44:52 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

93453

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	Business: Equality
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 ensure that a conscience clause is included within equality legislation affecting UK businesses.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	210714
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that people are protected against discrimination because of religion or belief, and that they are able to exercise the right to hold and manifest their beliefs in a reasonable manner. We believe that the Equality Act 2010 strikes the right balance between the rights of people to manifest their religion or beliefs and the rights of others not to be discriminated against or harassed due to other protected characteristics, such as gender or sexual orientation, in areas such as employment and the provision of goods and services.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 21/10/2014 13:47:52 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

93454

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	Publishing: Competition
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations his Department has received on large publishing firms coercing smaller publishing houses to sign contracts with anti-competitive clauses.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	210716
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The Department has received correspondence from members of the public and publishing firms raising competition concerns about the application of certain types of contract in the publishing sector generally, for example most favoured nation or price-parity clauses. However, there has not been a concerted campaign asking for action.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has given the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) strong powers to tackle anti-competitive behaviour. I would encourage anyone that is aware of large publishing firms engaging in such anti-competitive practices to provide that evidence to the CMA.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 21/10/2014 13:50:38 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

93090

registered interest
date	14/10/2014
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	Aerospace Industry
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans his Department has to support the aerospace industry following the announcement of 440 job losses at British Aerospace.
tabling member constituency	Ribble Valley
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Evans
uin	210590
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2014 answer text <p>We will work closely with BAE Systems and local leaders to manage the impact of the losses, including through the Talent Retention Solution which is available to match skilled workers to jobs in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector. In addition support will be available through Job Centre Plus, the Skills Funding Agency and other local partners.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Government is committed to working with industry through the Defence Growth Partnership to help identify and capitalise on opportunities for growth, building on our strengths in areas such as air capabilities. The DGP’s Implementation Plan, launched by the Prime Minister at the Farnborough Airshow in July, builds on the Strategic Vision published last year and will help industry maximise defence exports through a new UK Defence Solutions Centre and a strengthened UKTI DSO.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>For the civil aerospace sector Government and industry set out a joint strategy and implementation plan for growth in the Aerospace Industrial Strategy published in March 2013. A progress update on these was published in July.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 17/10/2014 13:33:03 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	474 label Biography information for Mr Nigel Evans