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101619

registered interest
date	29/10/2014
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	UK Coal
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 full-time equivalent officials of what grade in his Department have been assigned to assist UK Coal in the drafting of a state aid bid.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Tom Greatrex
uin	212484
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>Senior Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Yorkshire Humber North East Office have been assigned to assist UK Coal following their interest in applying for government funding to extend the operation of the two remaining deep mines until the end of 2018. These officials met with UK Coal on 10 October and are now working with them to help prepare a case for Government support. The company fully understands that this is the first phase of a complex and challenging process before the government submits a state aid case to the European Commission.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 03/11/2014 16:24:19 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4047 label Biography information for Tom Greatrex

101303

registered interest
date	28/10/2014
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, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2014 to Question 211397, what plans the Government has to increase the proportion of Technology Strategy Board funds allocated to the video games sector.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Wavertree
tabling member printed	Luciana Berger
uin	212346
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>Innovate UK is responsible for determining its spending priorities, in the context of the Tasking Framework Letter issued to it by my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills after each Spending Review.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The main competition that has supported games businesses is Innovate UK’s £15M &quot;Cross-Platform Production in Digital Media&quot; programme, which is directed towards encouraging games, film and TV sectors to innovate together. This competition is now closed and Innovate UK has no more planned competitions within the current Spending Review period.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Video games businesses have wider capabilities which make them suited to addressing challenges in areas such as healthcare management, transport management and urban living. Innovate UK funds are available for innovation in each of these areas, and games businesses expertise may have a strong role to play, but the award of any funding will be subject to Innovate UK’s normal competitive processes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Also, Innovate UK support for small and medium-sized businesses is continually available through programmes like its Smart scheme, which is open to businesses in all technology areas.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 03/11/2014 16:23:16 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	4036 label Biography information for Luciana Berger

101309

registered interest
date	28/10/2014
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	Farepak
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much the Insolvency Service has spent on advertising relating to Farepak unclaimed funds to date.
tabling member constituency	Newport East
tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
uin	212232
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Insolvency Service has not spent any money on paid advertising in relation to Farepak unclaimed funds.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 16:20:16 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

101311

registered interest
date	28/10/2014
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	Mobile Phones: Contracts
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 mobile telephone operators and other companies display the total cost of consumer contracts over the contracts' lifetime, including predicted inflation rises at the point of sale.
tabling member constituency	Brigg and Goole
tabling member printed	Andrew Percy
uin	212259
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 set out the information that a consumer must be given before they enter into a contract with a trader. This includes “the total price of the goods or services inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the goods or services is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated”.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To further safeguard consumers, Ofcom introduced new rules in January 2014 which mean that for contracts entered into after 23 January 2014, when the agreed core price increases mid-contract, consumers can exit their contracts without penalty and hence can switch to another provider or tariff. This applies to all communications provider<em>s.</em></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 03/11/2014 16:21:56 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3939 label Biography information for Andrew Percy

101313

registered interest
date	28/10/2014
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	Industrial Health and Safety
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 encourage employer best practice in relation to employee wellbeing.
tabling member constituency	Cambridge
tabling member printed	Dr Julian Huppert
uin	212278
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>To support employers to take up best practice, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), working with my department, has published online guidance to managers on the practical steps they can take to enhance the wellbeing of their staff. This guidance was drawn from material gathered in research into the relationship between worker wellbeing and business performance published by my department on 29 October 2014. This can be found at: <a href="http://www.acas.org.uk/workplacewellbeing" target="_blank">www.acas.org.uk/workplacewellbeing</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>That research shows that workplaces with “highly satisfied” employees have higher labour productivity, higher quality of output, and higher overall performance. I continue to support private sector led initiatives such as Engage for Success. More information can be found about Engage for Success at: <a href="http://www.engageforsuccess.org/" target="_blank">www.engageforsuccess.org</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 14:04:39 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3931 label Biography information for Dr Julian Huppert

101314

registered interest
date	28/10/2014
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	Industrial Health and Safety
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 potential relationships between employee wellbeing, productivity and levels of absenteeism.
tabling member constituency	Cambridge
tabling member printed	Dr Julian Huppert
uin	212301
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department published an analysis of the relationship between worker wellbeing and business performance on 29 October. It finds that workplaces with &quot;very satisfied&quot; employees had higher labour productivity, higher quality of output, and higher overall performance. It also cites other research that finds a correlation showing absenteeism falls as worker wellbeing increases. This analysis can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/worker-wellbeing-and-workplace-performance" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/worker-wellbeing-and-workplace-performance</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 16:19:00 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3931 label Biography information for Dr Julian Huppert

101012

registered interest
date	27/10/2014
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	Private Finance Initiative
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 private finance initiative projects his Department contracted for in each year from 1997 to 2010.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
uin	212090
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department and its agencies contracted for the following number of projects each year (excluding years when no projects were contracted for):</p><p>1998 – 2 projects (National Physical Laboratory and the Elgar contract)</p><p>2007 – 1 project (Insolvency Service Infrastructure contract)</p><p>This covers the following administrative departments: Department for Trade and Industries, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 12:50:27 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby

101018

registered interest
date	27/10/2014
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	Deloitte
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 the Insolvency Service has made of the performance of Deloitte as an appointed administrator in collective redundancy consultation.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull North
tabling member printed	Diana Johnson
uin	211982
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>Responsibility for assessing the conduct and performance of insolvency practitioners in their role as Administrators falls to the Regulatory Professional Body of which they are a member. The role of the Secretary of State, through the Insolvency Service, is to ensure that these bodies are effectively undertaking their regulatory functions.</p><p> </p><p>In June 2014, an Employment Tribunal judgement was handed down which was critical of the role of the Administrators (from Deloitte) in their handling of redundancies involving approximately 6,500 employees following the collapse of Comet, a large national retailer of electrical goods. The judgement was referred by the Insolvency Service to the Administrators’ Regulatory Professional Body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for consideration of disciplinary action. That investigation is currently on-going.</p><p> </p><p>An Employment Tribunal had previously made criticisms of the Administrators of WW Realisations 1 Limited formerly known as Woolworths (also from Deloitte). That matter was also referred by the Insolvency Service to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales for consideration. No disciplinary action was taken as a result of that investigation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 30/10/2014 15:34:24 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1533 label Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson

101021

registered interest
date	27/10/2014
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	British Business Bank
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what research he has commissioned on the number of black and ethnic minority-owned businesses from each ethnic group which have received support as a result of investments made by the British Business Bank (BBB); what meetings he has had with BBB staff to discuss the needs of black and ethnic minority-owned businesses; and what steps were subsequently taken by the BBB to address the issues raised.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	211991
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>The objective of the British Business Bank is to ensure that finance markets work more effectively for smaller businesses. In achieving this objective, the Business Bank does not lend to or invest directly in any smaller business and instead works through and invests alongside private sector providers such as banks, peer to peer lenders, leasing companies or venture capital funds which offer a wide range of finance products.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As part of its remit, the Business Bank regularly monitors the performance of programmes by collecting a range of data, including the ethnic background of business owners, for a number of key programmes, such as Start Up Loans. The latest data shows that as of August 31, 26% of Start Up Loans recipients identified themselves to be either Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) businesses. Around 300,000 (6%) of small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK are BAME led.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, Business Bank officials and I regularly meet with key stakeholders to discuss and better understand the broader finance needs of different types of smaller businesses, in order to ensure that Business Bank programmes are targeted to address market failures.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 30/10/2014 17:09:15 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

101022

registered interest
date	27/10/2014
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	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 will be affected by the Network Transformation Programme in each region and constituent part of the UK; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
uin	212039
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government has committed nearly £2 billion since 2010 to maintain a network of at least 11,500 branches and to protect and modernise the network by 2018, securing its long-term sustainable future.</p><p> </p><p>Under the Government funded Network Transformation programme, the Post Office is modernising and improving its national network with branches benefiting from investment and customers seeing big improvements with converted branches typically offering much longer opening hours in brighter more attractive customer environments. National rollout of Network Transformation began in October 2012, and to-date 3,363 post offices have already been modernised under the programme. The programme is fully-funded and by March 2018 around 8,300 branches will have converted, with a further 3,400 ‘Community Branches’ benefitting from access to a £20 million investment fund.</p><p> </p><p>I include a breakdown of modernised branches to-date, by nation and region, in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>Network Transformation – Number of modernised branches by UK nation and region (data provided by Post Office Limited – as at 2 November 2014)</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of Branches</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="9"><p>England</p></td><td><p>East Midlands</p></td><td><p>214</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East of England</p></td><td><p>325</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>277</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East</p></td><td><p>177</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North West</p></td><td><p>362</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South East</p></td><td><p>396</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South West</p></td><td><p>382</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>276</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorkshire and the Humber</p></td><td><p>338</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Northern Ireland</p></td><td><p>110</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Scotland</p></td><td><p>310</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>196</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>3363</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 17:06:02 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards