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100102

registered interest
date	21/10/2014
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	Video Games
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funds distributed by the Technology Strategy Board were allocated to the video games sector in each of the last three years; and what proportion of the total funding from that Board this represented in each such year.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Wavertree
tabling member printed	Luciana Berger
uin	211397
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2014 answer text <p>Innovate UK is the new name for the Technology Strategy Board.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In 2011/12 Innovate UK did not provide any funds to organisations in the video games sector. In 2012/13, it provided £277k (0.06% of its core budget) to organisations in the video games sector and in 2013/14 it provided £1.9m (0.4% of its core budget).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The figures above do not include any awards made under Innovate UK’s Smart or Knowledge Transfer Partnership programmes, as this information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 24/10/2014 06:55:43 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	4036 label Biography information for Luciana Berger

99775

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
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	NHS: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
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 his Department has made of the potential effect of including the National Health Service in the negative list of exclusion for negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
tabling member printed	Ian Murray
uin	211053
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will not change the fact that it is up to UK Government alone to decide how UK public services, including the NHS, are run. The UK has insisted on maintaining the same safeguards for the NHS in TTIP as it has in all recent trade agreements.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This position was confirmed by the European Commission</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 23/10/2014 17:00:03 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock previous answer version 24061 answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

99805

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
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	Apprentices: Young People
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 persuade more businesses to offer apprenticeships to 16 to 18 year olds.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich West
tabling member printed	Mr Adrian Bailey
uin	211057
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>Apprenticeship reforms are putting employers in the lead of designing apprenticeships, making it more attractive for them to offer more in the future.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Across this parliament we have already supported over 500,000 new apprenticeships for 16-18 year olds. Building on the success of the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers, we are providing an additional £170 million to fund over 100,000 incentive payments of £1,500 to employers taking on a young person aged 16-24.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 23/10/2014 15:58:54 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	320 label Biography information for Mr Adrian Bailey

99708

registered interest
date	17/10/2014
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	Apprentices
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 who accessed a traineeship in the last 12 months have progressed to an accredited apprenticeship.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	211004
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2014 answer text <p>Progression data for Traineeships is planned for publication, subject to data quality, in a Statistical First Release. When available, it will be accessible at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 22/10/2014 15:25:52 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

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

93764

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	Internet: Data Protection
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 potential for online personal information and big data to be used for discriminatory practices by organisations and agencies.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne East
tabling member printed	Mr Nicholas Brown
uin	210878
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government is committed to protecting the privacy and data security rights of individuals, and does recognise that the potential exists for online personal information and data to be misused by organisations and agencies, including for discriminatory purposes. For this reason, stringent safeguards are in place to ensure personal data is protected and handled appropriately.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Data Protection Act 1998 and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights impose clear legal limits on how organisations can record, store, alter, use or disclose personal data. In addition the Information Commissioners Office, the UK’s independent authority for upholding information rights, provides advice to citizens, rulings on eligible complaints and can take action when the law on data privacy is broken.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government is also currently working with the Information Economy Council, business groups, regulators, the third sector, and consumer bodies to develop a framework of trust and privacy principles for businesses. The framework will be in addition to existing data protection legislation and is being developed to help create greater public confidence in how companies use and re-use their personal data.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 23/10/2014 16:00:16 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	523 label Biography information for Mr Nicholas Brown

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