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100843

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
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	Social Services: Pay
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 merits of HM Revenue and Customs launching pro-active investigations into the non-payment of the national minimum wage.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	211865
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government has not undertaken a formal assessment of the merits of pro-active investigations but believes they are an important part of enforcement.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC published findings from their targeted social care evaluation on 25 November 2013. Over the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013, HMRC had made enquiries into 224 employers in the social care sector. Of the cases completed by the end of September 2014, HMRC have found non-compliance in 108 (48%) of their enquiries, identifying £1,319,729 arrears of pay for 6,550 workers, with penalties issued with a total value of £146,931.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As part of this targeted enforcement activity, HMRC have collaborated with care sector representative bodies to improve understanding of compliance risks and design controls within payroll systems that prevent workers being underpaid the minimum wage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department of Health has recently published statutory guidance for local authorities as part of the package of secondary legislation that accompanies the Care Act. The chapter of statutory guidance on commissioning and market shaping explicitly states that local authorities should have evidence that contract terms, conditions and fee levels will not compromise care providers’ ability to pay at least minimum wages. A copy of the guidance can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-2014-statutory-guidance-for-implementation" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-2014-statutory-guidance-for-implementation</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department of Health is asking all Local Authorities to sign up to the Social Care Commitment which incorporates a statement about employer compliance with minimum wage legislation. The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services has written out to all its members encouraging them to support the Commitment as a way of raising standards in adult social care.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We regularly update our Guidance on Gov.UK and we will continue to work with the sector to improve understanding and compliance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the Pay &amp; Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue &amp; Customs investigate all complaints.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 11:47:07 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

100844

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
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	Pay
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 cost of paying a one-off payment to the staff of his Department in lieu of their entitlement to annual increments was.
tabling member constituency	Aberconwy
tabling member printed	Guto Bebb
uin	211898
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The cost of paying a one-off payment to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills staff in lieu of their entitlement to annual increments was £3.2m. This cost is offset against a reduction in overall pay bill costs over the longer term.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The non-consolidated payments were staggered by grade in line with contractual step values.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>AA</p></td><td><p>£1008</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>AO</p></td><td><p>£1168</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>EO</p></td><td><p>£1360</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HEO</p></td><td><p>£1656</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>SEO</p></td><td><p>£1880</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>G7</p></td><td><p>£2528</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>G6</p></td><td><p>£3060</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 12:46:36 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3910 label Biography information for Guto Bebb

100847

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
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	Technology: Urban Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress his Department has made with the Smart Cities programme; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	211921
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government encourages UK cities to take up innovative initiatives and adopt modern technology to respond to developing urban needs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has set up the Smart Cities Forum to bring together cities, industry and experts to identify and explore emerging policy issues. In order to benefit from the experiences of other Governments and European cities, the Government is a partner in a commitment within the European Innovation Partnership to share best practice.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Future Cities Catapult has been established as a Centre of Excellence and works to develop and support urban innovation. Projects in Glasgow, London, Bristol and Peterborough have been funded by Innovate UK to demonstrate and display smart applications to improve city services and quality of life.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To ensure readiness to future developments, the Government Office for Science is undertaking the Foresight Future of Cities project, which explores opportunities and challenges facing UK cities over the next 50 years.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 04/11/2014 16:38:44 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark previous answer version 25067 answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

100848

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Electronic Government
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has received representations on a public sector provider of identity assurance during the Gov.uk Verify programme.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	211904
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>Information on Verify is published at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introducing-govuk-verify" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introducing-govuk-verify</a><br> <br>GOV.UK Verify provides the first opportunity for people to verify their identity entirely digitally. <br> The service has not yet been launched and is still in public beta. Performance data will be published in due course.</p><p>Government Digital Service has not received representations from public sector providers of identity assurance</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude grouped question UIN 211873 211881 question first answered 29/10/2014 17:49:36 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

100850

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Electronic Government
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress his Department has made in introducing the Government identity assurance programme, Gov.uk Verify; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	211881
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>Information on Verify is published at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introducing-govuk-verify" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introducing-govuk-verify</a><br> <br>GOV.UK Verify provides the first opportunity for people to verify their identity entirely digitally. <br> The service has not yet been launched and is still in public beta. Performance data will be published in due course.</p><p>Government Digital Service has not received representations from public sector providers of identity assurance</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude grouped question UIN 211873 211904 question first answered 29/10/2014 17:49:36 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

100851

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Lord Wei
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department were assigned to work with Lord Wei when he was a government adviser.
tabling member constituency	Wigan
tabling member printed	Lisa Nandy
uin	211877
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>Lord Wei was appointed to advise the Government on aspects of the Big Society. He held a Cabinet Office pass and had three officials assigned to work with him.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude grouped question UIN 211880 question first answered 29/10/2014 16:59:22 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	4082 label Biography information for Lisa Nandy

100854

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Care Workers: Minimum Wage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made an assessment of or received evidence on the effect on care standards of non-payment of the national minimum wage in the social care sector.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	211866
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department has not conducted any recent research on the effect of treatment of staff on standards of care and on the relationship between levels of pay and quality of social care services.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As part of the development of Caring for our Future white paper in 2011, the Department undertook extensive engagement with both service users and carers who highlighted a range of issues they felt needed addressing to ensure high quality care and support is available. In addressing this, the Department, working with the Sector Skills Council – Skills for Care – and other partners, has implemented a range of policies that has included setting out clear minimum training standards, recruiting more apprentices and supporting the transformation of the social work profession.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There are a number of factors that determine the quality of care provided in the social care sector, including the way staff are treated. Pay is not the single most significant factor in delivering high quality services.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department is clear however that care providers must abide by the law with regards to payment of the national minimum wage and is taking steps to ensure this happens. The Department is liaising with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to name and shame any social care providers who do not comply with the national minimum wage legislation and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is continuing to carry out enforcement action in the social care sector and will investigate all complaints made by care workers that their employer is not paying them the national minimum wage. In addition, it is looking to ensure that the statutory guidance that will accompany the Care Act on commissioning and market shaping explicitly states local authorities should have evidence that contract terms, conditions and fee levels are appropriate to provide the agreed care packages with agreed quality of care.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Norfolk answering member printed Norman Lamb question first answered 03/11/2014 16:37:18 answering member 1439 label Biography information for Norman Lamb
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

100867

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
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	Energy: Prices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if his Department will estimate the potential change in annual household energy bills arising from government subsidies to Drax for biomass power generation over the next 13 years.
tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
tabling member printed	Jim Fitzpatrick
uin	221889
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>We currently support two units of Drax under the Renewables Obligation (RO), one as a full conversion, the other as an enhanced co-firing unit. One further unit has been awarded a contract under Final Investment Decision Enabling for Renewables (FIDeR). Government spending on levy funded support for low carbon electricity, including renewables, is capped by the Levy Control Framework (LCF), thereby helping to minimise the impact on consumer bills.</p><p>An estimate of the cost of support for renewable electricity generation by Drax cannot be provided as such information would allow the determination of operational factors which are commercially confidential.</p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 30/10/2014 15:11:44 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	197 label Biography information for Jim Fitzpatrick

100886

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Asthma
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people (a) under and (b) over the age of 18 died as a result of asthma in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Leicester West
tabling member printed	Liz Kendall
uin	211917
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading East answering member printed Mr Rob Wilson question first answered 29/10/2014 16:57:49 answering member 1556 label Biography information for Mr Rob Wilson attachment 1 file name PQ 211917 ONS 369.pdf title ONS Letter to Member - Death from Asthma
tabling member	4026 label Biography information for Liz Kendall

100888

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Skin Cancer
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have died as a result of (a) malignant melanoma and (b) other forms of skin cancer in England and Wales in the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Bassetlaw
tabling member printed	John Mann
uin	211893
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Reading East answering member printed Mr Rob Wilson question first answered 29/10/2014 16:56:43 answering member 1556 label Biography information for Mr Rob Wilson attachment 1 file name PQ 211893 ONS 370.pdf title ONS Letter to Member - Death from Skin Cancer
tabling member	1387 label Biography information for Lord Mann