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77828

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Prosecutions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many applications for a preliminary hearing for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (a) the Director of Public Prosecutions and (b) the Serious Fraud Office have made since 24 February 2014.
tabling member constituency	North East Fife
tabling member printed	Sir Menzies Campbell
uin	205838
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>No such applications have been made so far.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Mr Robert Buckland question first answered 22/07/2014 12:11:22 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	627 label Biography information for Lord Campbell of Pittenweem

77829

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Billing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by the Law Officers' Departments since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Mr Tom Watson
uin	205965
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Treasury Solicitor’s Department (TSol) does not hold a register of duplicate payments. Appropriate controls are in place to prevent duplicate payments and if any are identified, action is taken to recover overpaid monies. As at 18 July 2014, there are no known unrecovered duplicate payments.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Identification of the value of duplicate payments made by TSol, the Attorney General’s Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate since 2010 would require detailed analysis of accounting and other records which would incur disproportionate cost. However, in the 3 months since April 2014, TSol have identified and recovered duplicate payments with a total value of £13,068 representing 0.05% of the value of payments made during this period.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Available records show that, since April 2010, the Serious Fraud Office has identified and recovered £46,000 in duplicate supplier payments. No other duplicate payments have been identified.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The following table shows the value of duplicate payments identified by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) since 2009/10 and the proportion of such payments recovered in each of the last two financial years is presented below.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="6"><p><strong>Duplicate Payments and Recoveries 2009-2014</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p><strong>2009/10</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010/11</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011/12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012/13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Duplicate payments</p></td><td><p>£135,958</p></td><td><p>£256,803</p></td><td><p>£72,729</p></td><td><p>£91,578</p></td><td><p>£149,124</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Recovered proportion</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>96.2%</p></td><td><p>98.8%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Mr Robert Buckland question first answered 22/07/2014 12:14:09 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

77830

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Systems: Islam
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Solicitors Regulation Authority is continuing to endorse the Law Society practice note on Sharia succession rules; and whether such an endorsement is compatible with the SRA's obligations under the Equality Act 2010; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Broxbourne
tabling member printed	Mr Charles Walker
uin	205890
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>Sharia law has no jurisdiction in England and Wales and the Government has no intention to change this position.</p><p> </p><p>The legal profession is independent of Government and is regulated by approved regulators for which the Legal Services Board has oversight responsibility. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society, the approved regulator for solicitors under the Legal Services Act 2007. The SRA has advised that its recent guidance issued on the drafting and preparation of wills relates to conduct issues concerning the drafting and preparation of wills, rather than their content. At the end of that guidance, reference was made and links attached to other sources of information, amongst which was a link to the practice note issued by the Law Society. The SRA advise that such references are regularly attached to their guidance and are not an endorsement of their content. The SRA advise that the reference to the Law Society practice note has now been removed from the appendix to its guidance note.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 22/07/2014 16:51:32 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker

77832

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
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	Royal Mail
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his letter of 2 May 2014 which was placed in the Library, on what date agreement was reached with each of the pilot fishing investors in Royal Mail on share allocations.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	206021
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>The allocations to pilot fishing investors was finalised for all these investors on 8 October 2013.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 22/07/2014 14:26:56 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

77833

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
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	Sunday Trading
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 staff (a) in his Department and (b) its executive agencies are currently working wholly or in part on the issue of Sunday trading.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	206023
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>a) No staff in BIS are currently working full time on the issue of Sunday Trading. There are two policy staff and one lawyer that have Sunday Trading as part of their wider portfolio e.g. providing briefing on policy and employment aspects, answering PQs, drafting responses to Bill amendments and information requests, providing correspondence advice. In addition there are 2 staff that deal with standard correspondence some small proportion of which will include responding to letters referring to Sunday Trading legislation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>b) We are not aware of any staff in Executive Agencies of BIS that are specifically assigned to work on the issue of Sunday Trading.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 22/07/2014 13:41:30 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

77837

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
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: Email
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 financial advantages enjoyed by larger companies in preventing their marketing and promotional emails from being blocked by servers.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Andrew Bingham
uin	205876
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/08/2014 answer text <p>The Department has not made an assessment regarding this issue.</p><p>If there is evidence that treating emails in this manner is driving anti-competitive behaviour by companies, this should be referred to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s independent competition authority, for consideration.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 28/08/2014 15:43:56 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	3994 label Biography information for Andrew Bingham

77838

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
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	Tickets: Internet
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 he received from representatives of secondary ticketing websites on the guidance to or implementation of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	205818
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not received any direct representations from representatives of the secondary ticketing websites on amendments tabled to the Consumer Rights Bill or about the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Neither my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State nor other Ministers in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have had meetings with the secondary ticketing websites about the implementation of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 or the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ guidance on them.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The draft Regulations and the contents of the Bill were widely consulted on and the Department received a range of comments in response. Officials from the Department have also had discussions with a wide range of stakeholders (including with secondary ticketing websites) on the implementation of those Regulations and the guidance on them.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Following a consultation on the draft regulations, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills has produced guidance on the requirements of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. This guidance is easily accessible on the gov.uk website. Officials have also worked with the Business Support Helpline, which offers free advice to business on a wide range of issues, including regulation, and with the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), as the primary body responsible for educating businesses on consumer law. TSI has also produced guidance which is available on their website. Consumers themselves are important in driving compliance and officials have worked with Citizens Advice to raise consumer awareness so that they can see when businesses are not abiding by the requirements of the regulations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has also actively promoted the changes in the Regulations across all sectors through seminars, presentations and communications to businesses.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ministers in the Home Office, Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills have discussions and correspond together on a wide range of issues, and this has included agreeing the content of the Consumer Rights Bill. Officials from those Departments are in regular contact, including regarding the issue of resale of tickets.</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 grouped question UIN 205806 205807 205808 205864 question first answered 21/07/2014 14:17:11 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

77839

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
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	Billing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Mr Tom Watson
uin	205964
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>The Department does not maintain a central register but an analysis of the Departmental financial system and records identified that since 2010, the following duplicate payments were made and recoveries undertaken:</p><p>10/11 nil</p><p>11/12 nil</p><p>12/13 £726 of which all was recovered</p><p>13/14 £1835.40 of which all was recovered</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 22/07/2014 14:52:08 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

77840

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
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	Research: Middle East
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assistance the UK has given to the developments of the SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) project; and what collaborative scientific research projects the UK supports between Israel, Iran and the Palestinian Authority.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Paul Flynn
uin	205936
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>The UK became an observer member of the SESAME Interim Council in 2001. Professor Samar Hasnain of Liverpool University has represented the UK Government at the SESAME Council, following his appointment in 2004. The Government has provided funding since 2008/9 to Professor Samar Hasnain to support his role as the UK’s representative on the SESAME council as follows:</p><p>- 2008/9 – 2013/14: £15k per annum</p><p>- Additional funding of £22k per annum was recently approved following a review of the project for the financial years 2014/15 – 2015/16</p><p>Professor Samar Hasnain in his role as an observer undertakes various activities on behalf of the Government for the progress of SESAME including:</p><p>- Representing the Government at the Interim Council meetings</p><p>- Producing an annual report on SESAME and its benefits to the UK; and</p><p>- Spreading awareness of the existence and desirability of SESAME to existing and potential SESAME member countries.</p><p>He is also an active member of the Science Advisory Committee which meets twice a year.</p><p>This Department does not currently fund any other collaborative scientific research projects between Israel, Iran and the Palestinian Authority.</p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 22/07/2014 14:44:15 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	545 label Biography information for Paul Flynn

77843

registered interest
date	15/07/2014
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	Royal Mail
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what agreement was sought from priority investors on the long-term holding of shares in Royal Mail.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	206020
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/08/2014 answer text <p>No agreement was sought from the priority investors ahead of the sale of shares in Royal Mail on the long term holding of shares.</p><p>Any mechanism which requires a buyer to give up the rights normally associated with shares, such as a restriction on the right to sell those shares for a period of time, would be reflected in the price investors would be prepared to pay for those shares.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 28/08/2014 15:23:59 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna