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166630

	registered interest
	date	27/11/2014
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many post offices and sub-post offices have closed in the United Kingdom since 2005.
	tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
	uin	HL3221
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p>In November 2010, this Government published its policy statement “Securing the Post Office network in the digital age”, which made a clear commitment that this Government would end the programmes of closure of the previous administration, and instead invest in the Post Office to secure a network of at least 11,500 branches with a sustainable long-term future.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Since 2010, this Government has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect the Post Office network, and this is clearly reflected in the network figures that show the size of the network is now stabilised. It is important to note that within a network of over 11,500 branches that is overwhelmingly operated by independent agents, there will be fluctuations in the number of open branches as subpostmasters leave the network for a number of reasons, such as retirement. Where a replacement is not immediately available, the Post Office works hard to restore access to services in the community.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Post Office makes details of the size of its network available to Parliament on a regular basis. These show that at on 31 March 2005, there were 14,609 post offices. The comparative figure at the end of the 2013-14 reporting year showed there were 11,697 branches. The following table sets out changes to the network size for the years between 2005 and 2014:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Reporting date</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Post Office network size</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2005</p></td><td><p>14,609</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2006</p></td><td><p>14,376</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2007</p></td><td><p>14,219</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2008</p></td><td><p>13,567</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2009</p></td><td><p>11,952</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2010</p></td><td><p>11,905</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2011</p></td><td><p>11,820</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2012</p></td><td><p>11,818</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2013</p></td><td><p>11,780</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2014</p></td><td><p>11,697</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 08/12/2014 15:39:37 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

166197

	registered interest
	date	26/11/2014
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to change the eligibility criteria for young people who wish to undertake apprenticeships, but have prior academic qualifications such as A-levels.
	tabling member printed	Lord Storey
	uin	HL3181
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2014 answer text <p>Having prior academic qualifications does not preclude a young person being eligible to do an apprenticeship. There are therefore no plans to change the eligibility criteria.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Full details of the funding rules can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-funding-rules" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-funding-rules</a> and cover both the current apprenticeship programme and for the Trailblazer Apprenticeship Standards</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 03/12/2014 16:11:28 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

166095

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	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	Sign Language: Interpreters
	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 effectiveness of the market for British Sign Language interpreters to meet the needs of the deaf community.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
	uin	HL3153
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business Innovation and Skills supports British Sign Language (BSL) provision in England through the Adult Skills Budget (ASB). Colleges and providers have the freedom and flexibility to use the ASB as best fits the needs of their local learners and businesses. This includes BSL qualifications, for those wishing to learn for their own use or to become an interpreter.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Skills provision in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and the assessment and adequacy of BSL provision is the responsibility of the devolved administrations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe grouped question UIN HL3154 question first answered 03/12/2014 16:16:06 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

166096

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	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	Sign Language: Interpreters
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that there are enough fully qualified British Sign Language interpreters to support the needs of the deaf community.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
	uin	HL3154
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business Innovation and Skills supports British Sign Language (BSL) provision in England through the Adult Skills Budget (ASB). Colleges and providers have the freedom and flexibility to use the ASB as best fits the needs of their local learners and businesses. This includes BSL qualifications, for those wishing to learn for their own use or to become an interpreter.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Skills provision in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and the assessment and adequacy of BSL provision is the responsibility of the devolved administrations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe grouped question UIN HL3153 question first answered 03/12/2014 16:16:06 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

164523

	registered interest
	date	24/11/2014
	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	Package Holidays: EU Action
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made on the Package Travel Directive and what is their definition of Assisted Travel Arrangements.
	tabling member printed	Lord Harrison
	uin	HL3116
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p>Negotiations in the European Council are nearing completion. The proposal was discussed at the Competitiveness Council of Ministers on 4 December and a General Approach was agreed by Member States’ Ministers. We expect final agreement to be achieved in the New Year following the completion of the next stage in the negotiation; discussions between the Presidency of the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The definition of Assisted Travel Arrangements in the text agreed at Council is:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>'assisted travel arrangement' means at least two different types of travel services purchased for the purpose of the same trip or holiday, not constituting a package within the meaning of paragraph 2(b), resulting in the conclusion of separate contracts with the individual travel service providers, if a trader facilitates:</p><p> </p><p>(a) on the occasion of a single visit or contact with its point of sale, the separate selection and separate payment of each travel service by travellers, or</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>(b) in a targeted manner, the procurement of additional travel services from other traders where contracts with such other traders are concluded not more than 48 hours after the confirmation of the first travel service.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong><br> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 08/12/2014 16:42:09 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	2488 label Biography information for Lord Harrison

164233

	registered interest
	date	21/11/2014
	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	Counterfeit Manufacturing
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to stop the sale of counterfeit goods online in the United Kingdom.
	tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
	uin	HL3063
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2014 answer text <p>This Government takes Intellectual property (IP) crime very seriously and is working closely with law enforcers and rights holders to tackle criminality, including the sale of counterfeit goods online. We recently announced an additional £3 million investment in the police IP crime unit (PIPCU), securing its future until 2017. PIPCU is an operationally independent law enforcement unit dedicated to tackling serious and organized IP crime affecting physical and digital goods.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition to this, the Intellectual Property Office continues its coordinating role to ensure that industry, Government and law enforcement share intelligence, and that collaborative operations result in arrests. All this activity is supported by a range of education programmes and a government/private industry partnership to provide IP training to enforcement officers and brand representatives to help them tackle issues arising from counterfeit products.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 03/12/2014 16:03:29 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

157097

	registered interest
	date	20/11/2014
	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: Teachers
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of teachers in further education colleges are employed on zero hours contracts.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
	uin	HL3042
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business Innovation and Skills does not collect information about the terms and conditions of employment of individuals working in the further education sector. Further education colleges are independent organisations responsible for determining the terms and conditions of their employees.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 01/12/2014 12:10:25 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	3792 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Whitchurch

157098

	registered interest
	date	20/11/2014
	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	Directors: LGBT+ People
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the action they have taken on gender and race, what efforts they are making to improve the representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people on corporate boards in the United Kingdom.
	tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Madingley
	uin	HL3043
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2014 answer text <p>Following Lord Davies’s Review on Women on Boards in 2011, we are now at 22.8% women on FTSE 100 boards (October 2014), from a starting point of 12.5% in 2011.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State for Business innovation and Skills has also recently asked Trevor Phillips to start a new private sector led campaign which will look to address the lack of ethnic diversity in boardrooms, based in part on research that indicates the proportion of Black &amp; Ethnic Minority people in leadership positions is lower than expected compared to the wider population (estimated at 5.1% and 14% respectively).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Recruitment, appointment and promotion should always be on merit, irrespective or gender, race, disability or sexual orientation. We believe it is in the best interests of business to tap into the widest talent pool and that by definition means a diverse and representative leadership team.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We expect that through the progress made on gender and the planned work on ethnic diversity, the momentum will help to improve diversity on corporate boards for all people from different backgrounds, including those from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 03/12/2014 16:07:22 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	2172 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Madingley

156561

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2014
	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	Quindell
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are investigating Quindell plc and its board of directors and financial advisers; and if not, whether they plan to do so.
	tabling member printed	Lord Myners
	uin	HL2984
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2014 answer text <p>Quindell plc is Alternative Investment Market (AIM) listed which is controlled by London Stock Exchange and any enquiry relating to possible market abuse sits within the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s Insolvency Service has discretionary powers under the Companies Acts to conduct enquiries on behalf of the Secretary of State where it appears that there has been misconduct in relation to the affairs of any company, including those not subject to formal insolvency.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>For the investigation process to be effective it is essential to maintain confidentiality at all stages and there is also a need to protect the commercial interest of companies against the danger of damage from malicious complaints. For these reasons there are legal restrictions on disclosing information obtained during an enquiry and The Service does not confirm or deny whether an investigation of a particular company is taking place.</p><p> </p><p>Where other regulators and investigating agencies are involved, the Insolvency Service would liaise closely to ensure public money is not wasted duplicating resources.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 01/12/2014 12:09:55 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	3869 label Biography information for Lord Myners

156476

	registered interest
	date	18/11/2014
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are putting in place to increase the proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises which take on apprentices.
	tabling member printed	Lord Storey
	uin	HL2918
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2014 answer text <p>The Apprenticeship Grant for Employers provides £1,500 to help smaller employers recruit a new apprentice aged 16 to 24. We have made £170m additional funding available over 2014-16 financial years to fund over 100,000 additional incentive payments. Provisional figures show that between Feb 2012 and July 2014 there were 95,200 apprenticeship starts for which a payment was made through the AGE Grant. A further 8,200 were in the pipeline (started but not yet paid).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Apprenticeship reforms are putting employers in the lead of designing apprenticeships, making it easier and more attractive for them to offer more in the future. Funding reforms will also provide a financial incentive to support smaller businesses taking on an apprentice.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 01/12/2014 12:03:03 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey