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173876

registered interest
date	15/01/2015
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, pursuant to the Answer of 1 October 2014 to Question 206270, what (a) inquiries have been made and (b) investigations have been carried out by (i) Ministers in his Department, (ii) officials in his Department and (iii) Business Bank staff into allegations of misselling relating to the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme since 2012.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	220927
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has been pro-active in its engagement with Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) lenders, with regular audits of the use of the scheme since its launch. In February 2014 BIS wrote to all lenders participating in the EFG scheme reiterating their operational responsibilities, including the way in which it is presented to their front line staff and customers. Following evidence of concerns of lending by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in August 2014, BIS officials asked RBS to instigate an internal review into this issue.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has met with RBS to discuss these findings, and I have asked the British Business Bank – which now administers the programme on behalf of the Department – to continue to closely monitor the action being taken by RBS to address these issues. I have been given assurance from RBS that they will put right any cases where they are at fault to ensure that no detriment is suffered by either the borrower or the taxpayer.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Enterprise Finance Guarantee remains a valuable programme which helps viable businesses gain access to finance where they have insufficient security or an inadequate track record to access finance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock grouped question UIN 220931 question first answered 20/01/2015 15:48:31 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

173877

registered interest
date	15/01/2015
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, pursuant to the Answer of 1 October 2014 to Question 206270, what discussions and meetings (a) Ministers in his Department, (b) officials in his Department and (c) Business Bank staff have had with (i) participating lenders and (ii) business organisations where allegations of misselling relating to the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme were discussed since 2012.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	220928
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p>The British Business Bank maintains regular contact with all of the main lenders participating in the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme. Quarterly meetings are held at a senior level and the allegations of mis-selling have been on the agenda of those meetings since early in 2014. In addition, operational meetings take place on a regular basis. From August 2014 onwards more frequent senior level meetings have taken place with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). At a meeting in August 2014 RBS agreed to our request that they should undertake to conduct an internal review. The findings of that review and a proposed course of action were presented at a meeting with the British Business Bank in December 2014, and senior executives from RBS met the Secretary of State on 14 January 2015. The British Business Bank has also discussed the ‘mis-selling’ allegations with the British Bankers’ Association and the Lending Standards Board, each on one occasion.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 20/01/2015 16:07:55 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

173880

registered interest
date	15/01/2015
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, if he will carry out an investigation into allegations of misselling to businesses by lenders relating to loans made under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	220931
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has been pro-active in its engagement with Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) lenders, with regular audits of the use of the scheme since its launch. In February 2014 BIS wrote to all lenders participating in the EFG scheme reiterating their operational responsibilities, including the way in which it is presented to their front line staff and customers. Following evidence of concerns of lending by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in August 2014, BIS officials asked RBS to instigate an internal review into this issue.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has met with RBS to discuss these findings, and I have asked the British Business Bank – which now administers the programme on behalf of the Department – to continue to closely monitor the action being taken by RBS to address these issues. I have been given assurance from RBS that they will put right any cases where they are at fault to ensure that no detriment is suffered by either the borrower or the taxpayer.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Enterprise Finance Guarantee remains a valuable programme which helps viable businesses gain access to finance where they have insufficient security or an inadequate track record to access finance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock grouped question UIN 220927 question first answered 20/01/2015 15:48:31 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

173922

registered interest
date	15/01/2015
answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
answering dept id	63
answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
hansard heading	Dungeness B Power Station
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the future operating life of Dungeness B nuclear power station; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Folkestone and Hythe
tabling member printed	Damian Collins
uin	220873
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p>On 20 January 2015, EdF announced that the life of Dungeness B has been extended to 2028. This was a decision for EdF as the owner and operator to make in consultation with the regulator.</p><p>There is no regulatory requirement for nuclear plant operators to gain permission from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), for a plant life extension. Plant operators must instead demonstrate that plant will continue to run safely and in compliance with site licence conditions in the course of regular ONR assessments. However, in the case of Dungeness B, EdF and the ONR agreed it would be beneficial for ONR to review the life extension proposals in advance of the life extension announcement, which they have done.</p><p>Separately, in order to ensure that the extension does not impact on the UK taxpayer, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) reviewed the impact of the decision on the UK’s Nuclear Liability Fund last year. The NDA approved the life extension to the plant. The assessment showed net savings rather than net costs.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 20/01/2015 15:56:38 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	3986 label Biography information for Damian Collins

173923

registered interest
date	15/01/2015
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Plastic Bags
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will consult representatives from the compostable plastic bags industry as part of her Department's review of industry standards for the biodegradability of plastic material; and on how many occasions (a) Ministers and (b) officials have met representatives of (i) oxo-biodegradable and (ii) compostable plastic bag companies in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Cambridge
tabling member printed	Dr Julian Huppert
uin	220900
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p>Neither I nor any of my Defra Ministerial colleagues have met representatives of either the oxo-biodegradable or compostable bag industries in the last 12 months.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>At the official level, I set up a Stakeholder Advisory Group in September last year, which will be consulted as part of the review of industry standards for the biodegradability of plastic material. The Stakeholder Advisory Group met twice last year and includes Government officials as well as representatives of the Renewable Energy Association (who represent the compostable bag companies), the Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association, academics and a number of other industry stakeholders such as the British Plastics Federation and the Plastics and Films Association. We expect that this group will meet on three further occasions this year.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, officials have met representatives of oxo-biodegradable firms on two occasions in the last 12 months to provide feedback on unsuccessful applications for funding under the Small Business Research Initiative. Officials have also met representatives of companies manufacturing compostable bags on three occasions in the last 12 months.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Cornwall answering member printed Dan Rogerson question first answered 20/01/2015 14:57:07 answering member 1504 label Biography information for Dan Rogerson
tabling member	3931 label Biography information for Dr Julian Huppert

173929

registered interest
date	15/01/2015
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Accident and Emergency Departments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many vacant A&E consultant posts there were in the NHS excluding London (a) on the most recent date for which figures are available and (b) in each of the previous six years.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Dame Tessa Jowell
uin	220878
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p>Information on vacancies is not collected by the Department. The last annual National Health Service vacancy survey in England was undertaken by the Health and Social Care Information Centre in 2010. The survey was suspended in 2011 and then discontinued in 2013 following the publication of the Fundamental Review of Data Returns, which aimed to reduce the burden of the collection of data from NHS organisations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The attached table provides vacancy data for 2009 and 2010, the only two years within the last six years for which data is available.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Central Suffolk and North Ipswich answering member printed Dr Daniel Poulter question first answered 20/01/2015 16:08:26 question first ministerially corrected 20/01/2015 16:16:23 answering member 3932 label Biography information for Dr Dan Poulter attachment 1 file name Table PQ220878 Vacancy data.xlsx title Vacancy data 2009-10 A&E Consultants previous answer version 39309 answering member constituency Central Suffolk and North Ipswich answering member printed Dr Daniel Poulter answering member 3932 label Biography information for Dr Dan Poulter
tabling member	159 label Biography information for Baroness Jowell

173936

registered interest
date	15/01/2015
answering body	Northern Ireland Office
answering dept id	21
answering dept short name	Northern Ireland
answering dept sort name	Northern Ireland
hansard heading	Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether it remains her policy that the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry chaired by Sir Anthony Hart is the most appropriate place where all allegations surrounding Kincora should be examined.
tabling member constituency	Belfast East
tabling member printed	Naomi Long
uin	220898
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p>It remains my view that the Inquiry chaired by Sir Anthony Hart is the best forum to consider the allegations surrounding Kincora.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chipping Barnet answering member printed Mrs Theresa Villiers question first answered 20/01/2015 12:35:11 answering member 1500 label Biography information for Theresa Villiers
tabling member	3920 label Biography information for Naomi Long

173937

registered interest
date	15/01/2015
answering body	Northern Ireland Office
answering dept id	21
answering dept short name	Northern Ireland
answering dept sort name	Northern Ireland
hansard heading	Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will include Kincora Boys' Home in the independent inquiry into historical child sex abuse, established by the Home Office, in order to allow potential witnesses not to be constrained by the Official Secrets Act.
tabling member constituency	Belfast East
tabling member printed	Naomi Long
uin	220899
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p>It remains my view that the inquiry chaired by Sir Anthony Hart is the best forum to consider the allegations surrounding Kincora.</p><p>As you may be aware the Attorney General for England and Wales has written to the Chairman of the Inquiry and provided an undertaking in the usual format about the admissibility and use of evidence given by a witness who co-operates with the Inquiry. This undertaking covers any offences arising under the Official Secrets Act.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chipping Barnet answering member printed Mrs Theresa Villiers question first answered 20/01/2015 12:37:25 answering member 1500 label Biography information for Theresa Villiers
tabling member	3920 label Biography information for Naomi Long

173950

registered interest
date	15/01/2015
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions: Kilmarnock
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency who will reach the state pension age within 12 months from the introduction of the single-tier pension and will be eligible to receive the full rate of state pension.
tabling member constituency	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
tabling member printed	Cathy Jamieson
uin	220867
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p>The Department does not hold the required information to answer this question.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 20/01/2015 12:32:20 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	4011 label Biography information for Cathy Jamieson

173952

registered interest
date	15/01/2015
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what conclusions about effective approaches to universal credit in work conditionality he has drawn from the labour market trials which started between May 2013 and January 2014; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	220869
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2015 answer text <p /> <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The purpose of the initial Jobcentre Plus-led trials tested within Jobcentre Plus were to help inform and shape the design of larger-scale Randomised Controlled Trials that we plan to run in Universal Credit from April 2015, from which conclusions about effective in-work support will start to be drawn.</p> answering member constituency Wirral West answering member printed Esther McVey question first answered 20/01/2015 15:02:50 answering member 4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms