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100842

	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	Defence and Security Organisation
	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 worked for the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) on 1 April 2014; and what the budget of the UKTI DSO is for 2014-15.
	tabling member constituency	Newport West
	tabling member printed	Paul Flynn
	uin	211851
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>At 1 April 2014 the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation had 128 staff-in-post. As at 1 April the 2014-15 budget for UKTI DSO was £10.5M NET.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 03/11/2014 12:48:31 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	545 label Biography information for Paul Flynn

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

100846

	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 payback period is in relation to the one-off payment to staff in his Department who have opted to forego their entitlement to annual increment payments.
	tabling member constituency	Aberconwy
	tabling member printed	Guto Bebb
	uin	211910
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The payback period in relation to the one-off payment to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills staff who opted to forego their entitlement to annual increment payment was estimated to be 6 years. This is based upon an assumption of 1% paybill increases year on year until 2020.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 11:40:24 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3910 label Biography information for Guto Bebb

101012

	registered interest
	date	27/10/2014
	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	Private Finance Initiative
	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 private finance initiative projects his Department contracted for in each year from 1997 to 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
	tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
	uin	212090
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department and its agencies contracted for the following number of projects each year (excluding years when no projects were contracted for):</p><p>1998 – 2 projects (National Physical Laboratory and the Elgar contract)</p><p>2007 – 1 project (Insolvency Service Infrastructure contract)</p><p>This covers the following administrative departments: Department for Trade and Industries, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 12:50:27 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby

101313

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2014
	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	Industrial Health and Safety
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to encourage employer best practice in relation to employee wellbeing.
	tabling member constituency	Cambridge
	tabling member printed	Dr Julian Huppert
	uin	212278
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>To support employers to take up best practice, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), working with my department, has published online guidance to managers on the practical steps they can take to enhance the wellbeing of their staff. This guidance was drawn from material gathered in research into the relationship between worker wellbeing and business performance published by my department on 29 October 2014. This can be found at: <a href="http://www.acas.org.uk/workplacewellbeing" target="_blank">www.acas.org.uk/workplacewellbeing</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>That research shows that workplaces with “highly satisfied” employees have higher labour productivity, higher quality of output, and higher overall performance. I continue to support private sector led initiatives such as Engage for Success. More information can be found about Engage for Success at: <a href="http://www.engageforsuccess.org/" target="_blank">www.engageforsuccess.org</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 14:04:39 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3931 label Biography information for Dr Julian Huppert

99959

	registered interest
	date	20/10/2014
	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	New Businesses: Northern Ireland
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many applications for the Start Up Loans scheme have been received from Northern Ireland; and what is the total value of such loans provided for new businesses in Northern Ireland since the scheme was introduced.
	tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
	uin	HL2174
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Start Up Loan Company (SULCo) administers the Start Up Loan programme on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). As a commercially independent company, SULCo reports to BIS on the number of Start Up Loans.</p><p>The Start Up Loan programme was extended to include Northeren Ireland in June 2013.</p><p>Figures from 30/09/2014 show there have been 186 Start Up Loans with a value of £893,010 in Northeren Ireland</p><p> </p><p>in the UK, there have been over 21,000 Start Up Loans with a value of £113m issued since the programme began in June 2012.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To date there have been over 21,000 Start Up Loans with a value of £113m issued since the programme began in June 2012.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 03/11/2014 11:51:29 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

100626

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	BBC Media Action
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in each of the last ten years, what resources have been made available to BBC Media Action for the training in journalism and media skills of human rights activists and escapees from totalitarian regimes.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL2357
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>Over the last ten years BBC Media Action has delivered many opportunities to build media skills including journalism training in Algeria, Iraq, Libya and Tunisia, pan-Arab debate shows and training, support to Syrian bloggers, and radio capacity-building in Jordan and Yemen. The Department for International Development is providing funding of £89.8m over five years (2011/12-2015/16) to BBC Media Action. Figures are not held specific to the training of human rights activists and escapees from totalitarian regimes.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 03/11/2014 14:17:52 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

100627

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	BBC Media Action: North Korea
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to funding BBC Media Action to co-produce programmes with North Korean escapees (1) to enable them to broadcast via existing radio stations currently broadcasting into North Korea, (2) to help build the capacity of existing North Korean refugee broadcasters, or (3) to train North Korean refugees in journalism.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL2358
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government has made no such consideration.<strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 03/11/2014 14:18:21 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

100628

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	BBC Media Action: Asia
	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 BBC Media Action’s work in Asia; whether they consider it has increased government accountability and enabled access to information there; how that work fits in with their Governance and Rights project; and why the Korean Peninsula is excluded from that approach.
	tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
	uin	HL2359
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>While there have not been assessments carried out specifically on work in Asia, the Department for Internal Development’s Global Grant to BBC Media Action has been assessed in 2012 and 2013. Both reviews assessed BBC Media Action to be exceeding expectations.</p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 03/11/2014 14:19:07 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
	tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool