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450619

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	Languages: Higher Education
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will take steps to encourage the Higher Education Funding Council for England to continue supporting language study, in particular by maintaining the Year Abroad subsidy.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL5920
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2016 answer text <p>The Government will be writing to the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) shortly setting out its funding for the coming year. The HEFCE Board will make decisions on funding for universities and colleges in light of the Government’s letter. The Government continues to recognise the importance of language study and the value of studying abroad. Approximately 220,000 students have benefitted from the Erasmus Programme.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Evans of Bowes Park question first answered 29/02/2016 13:10:56 answering member 4329 label Biography information for Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

450649

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	Foreign Companies: Property
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they propose to bring the rules regarding transparency in respect of overseas company ownership of UK property into line with those for UK registered companies' property ownership.
tabling member printed	Lord Rooker
uin	HL5950
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2016 answer text <p>As announced, the Government is considering measures to increase the transparency of beneficial ownership of assets by foreign companies</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 25/02/2016 14:58:10 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	302 label Biography information for Lord Rooker

450652

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	National Institute of Adult Continuing Education: Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the merger of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education and the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion.
tabling member printed	Baroness Rebuck
uin	HL5953
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2016 answer text <p>No assessment has been made of the merger of these two independent organisations.</p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 17/02/2016 14:31:34 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	4332 label Biography information for Baroness Rebuck

450653

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	Literacy: Females
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of poor literacy skills on women relative to men.
tabling member printed	Baroness Rebuck
uin	HL5954
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2016 answer text <p>The Skills for Life Survey 2011 showed no notable difference between the levels of literacy of men and women:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Literacy levels by gender (%)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Literacy Level</strong></p></td><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Gender</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>All</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Male</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Female</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Entry Level 1 or below</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Entry Level 2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Entry Level 3</p></td><td><p>/8</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Level 1</p></td><td><p>28</p></td><td><p>29</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Level 2 or above</p></td><td><p>57</p></td><td><p>54</p></td><td><p>59</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Unweighted base</p></td><td><p>5824</p></td><td><p>2520</p></td><td><p>3304</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>(Skills for Life Survey 2011)</p><p> </p><p>For both women and men, poor literacy is associated with higher rates of unemployment and poorer health and well-being. We do not have evidence to suggest that illiteracy affects women any more than men.</p><p> </p><p>This Government nevertheless understands the importance of English for all adults and has made this subject a priority for support within the adult skills system. An example of this is the Government-funded English and ESOL programmes, which include more female than male learners:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>English and maths participation figures 2014/15</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>English </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>ESOL</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total Learners</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>668,600</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>131,100</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Gender</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Female</p></td><td><p>379,700</p></td><td><p>88,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Male</p></td><td><p>289,000</p></td><td><p>43,100</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>(Statistical First Release – first published January 2014)</p><p> </p><p>We are undertaking a range of research to better understand where Government investment in English and maths has the greatest impact and delivers value for money. This includes: using behavioural insights to identify how to motivate adults to improve their English and maths and encourage learners to keep studying once enrolled on a course, through our partnership with the Behavioural Research Centre for Adult Skills and Knowledge (ASK); longitudinal research into skills gain and skills atrophy of adult English and maths learners; and a comparison of the impact of blended and more traditional classroom learning.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 25/02/2016 14:12:36 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	4332 label Biography information for Baroness Rebuck

450654

registered interest
date	04/02/2016
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	Literacy: Young People
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the UK economy of poor literacy skills on the part of 16–24 year-olds.
tabling member printed	Baroness Rebuck
uin	HL5955
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2016 answer text <p>There are a number of ways in which the Government assesses the impact of poor literacy on the economy.</p><p> </p><p>On 28 January 2016, the OECD published its report <em>‘Building skills for all – a review of England’</em>. The report was commissioned by BIS following the publication of the OECD’s Survey of Adult Skills in 2013. Key findings from <em>Building Skills for All</em> are:</p><ul><li>Nine million adults in England have poor basic skills.</li><li>Overall, in terms of proportion, this is average for OECD countries, but England’s young people lag behind other countries.</li><li>A third of 16-19 year olds in England have poor basic skills – three times the proportion than in high performing countries.</li><li>Eliminating the tail of low achievement could increase long term productivity growth by around 0.5%.</li></ul><p>The BIS Research Paper 195 ‘Estimation of the labour market returns to qualifications gained in English Further Education’, published in December 2014, shows that there are higher returns to qualifications achieved at younger ages and that English (and maths) Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications provide an additional wage uplift for achievers of higher learning aims. Increased earnings and employment rates following training provide an indication of the positive impact on the economy of improving skills.</p><p> </p><p>In 2012, when the PIAAC carried out the survey fieldwork for both reports, only 70% of 16-19 year olds were participating in education and training that leads to a formal qualification; compared to almost universal participation in some other OECD countries. Since then the participation age in England has been increased to age 18 and action has been taken to improve GCSE qualifications and raise standards in post-16 education. These reforms have been welcomed by the OECD in its latest report. .</p><p> </p><p>Since changing the requirement for all learners who did not achieve a Level 2 in English and maths by the age of 16 to continue to study these subjects as part of their 16-19 study programme, we have seen a positive effect on participation and attainment. In 2014/15, 97% of 16 to 19 year olds without GCSE A*-C English and/or maths attending an FE institution continued their study of these subjects. In 2015, for 17-year-olds and over, entries for English rose by 23% (30% for maths). As a result, last year there were over 4,000 more GCSE passes at grades A*-C in English by students aged 17 and over (7,500 more maths passes).</p><p>On 5 February 2016 we published a new report on the impact of poor English and maths from the perspective of employers. Some key findings are:</p><p> </p><ul><li>The vast majority of employers surveyed reported no issues with the literacy of their employees.</li><li>Employers that do offer basic skills training reported positive impacts on aspects of work such as the number of errors (63%), better capacity to meet statutory requirements (58%), being able to introduce new processes (52%) and being able to produce higher quality products (51%).</li></ul><p> </p><p>The full report can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/poor-basic-literacy-and-numeracy-effect-on-employers" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/poor-basic-literacy-and-numeracy-effect-on-employers</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 22/02/2016 12:31:09 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe attachment 1 file name BIS-impact-of-poor-basic-literacy-and-numeracy-on-employers.pdf title Literacy and Numeracy skills
tabling member	4332 label Biography information for Baroness Rebuck

450498

registered interest
date	03/02/2016
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	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Location
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the announced closure of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ Sheffield office and their proposal to establish six new business centres across the country, where those proposed new centres will be located.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL5860
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2016 answer text <p>As part of the Department’s change programme, BIS2020, we anticipate reducing the number of our locations from more than 80 to approximately 7 centres plus a regional footprint. Beyond the announcement made about our Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place on 28 January, we do not yet know exactly which sites will be retained or closed over the course of the Parliament. By 2020 the majority of employees in BIS and its Partner Organisations will continue to be based outside London through a number of centres – such as in Birmingham, Glasgow, and Swindon – as well as a regional footprint for the provision of local services.</p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 11/02/2016 12:54:11 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

449671

registered interest
date	02/02/2016
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	Students: Prescriptions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect of changes to maintenance grants on low-income students' ability to afford prescription charges.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL5753
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/02/2016 answer text <p>An Equality Analysis of changes to the support package for full-time students in 2016/17 was published on the GOV.UK website on 3 December 2015. No specific assessment was made of prescription costs, but this reform provides more up-front support for living costs.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 16/02/2016 16:29:33 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

449672

registered interest
date	02/02/2016
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	Students: Health
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the health status of low-income university students in comparison to other university students.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL5754
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2016 answer text <p>We have made no specific assessment of that issue. However, whilst higher education is an adult environment, it is a long-established principle that universities have a duty of care to their students.</p><p>Where health issues are related to a disability, universities have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled students and to monitor their compliance with their Equality Act duties. The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 require institutions to publish information as to their compliance with the general public sector equality duty.</p><p><br> There is a range of guidance and support available to institutions on supporting students with mental health conditions from a range of sector and medical bodies including Universities UK (UUK), the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) and the Association of Managers of Student Services in Higher Education (AMOSSHE).</p><p><br></p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 15/02/2016 15:18:14 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

449700

registered interest
date	02/02/2016
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	Trading Standards
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will publish their review into Trading Standards, first announced on 10 July 2015 as part of their report into productivity <i>Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation</i>.
tabling member printed	Baroness Crawley
uin	HL5782
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2016 answer text <p>The Government is still considering the issues raised during this review and will respond in due course.</p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 11/02/2016 17:16:41 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	3386 label Biography information for Baroness Crawley

449701

registered interest
date	02/02/2016
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	Trading Standards
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their reasons are for the delay in publishing their review of Trading Standards, outlined in the report on productivity <i>Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation</i>, in the light of the fact that the competition plan <i>A better deal: boosting competition for families and firms </i>published in November 2015 stated that the review had been completed.
tabling member printed	Baroness Crawley
uin	HL5783
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2016 answer text <p>The Government is still considering the issues raised during this review and will respond in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 11/02/2016 17:39:08 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	3386 label Biography information for Baroness Crawley