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170297

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2014
	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	Scottish Power
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he received reports from the MacDonald Partnership in relation to mis-sold Scottish Power Power Plan warranties; what the titles of such reports were; and when he plans to respond to those reports.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
	tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
	uin	218595
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>The initial report from Mr MacDonald was received on 17 July 2014 for review by the Insolvency Service. Further information including another more detailed report was received from him during September and October 2014, and these again have been reviewed by the Insolvency Service. The reports are confidential.</p><p> </p><p>The reports themselves do not require a direct response but I can confirm that the Insolvency Service has completed its review of this material and is in communication with Mr MacDonald.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 17/12/2014 11:11:20 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram

169723

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	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	Small Businesses: Procurement
	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 has received from small and medium-sized businesses about companies that require a supplier company to make a payment in order to join or to remain on a list of suppliers.
	tabling member constituency	Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
	tabling member printed	Simon Hart
	uin	218269
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has received a number of representations about this issue both from small business representative organisations and from small- and medium-sized businesses themselves. The recent media coverage relating to Premier Foods has prompted an increase in such representations. However, there is not a consensus amongst correspondents: some are in favour of company investment and/ or discount schemes and have explained how they have helped them thrive as a supplier; others are against such schemes and have highlighted the negative impact of their imposition.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 17/12/2014 16:20:33 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	3944 label Biography information for Simon Hart

169930

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	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	Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) fraud and (b) financial error in (i) his Department, (ii) its executive agencies and (iii) its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218496
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>The estimated annual cost of fraud and financial error in each of the last five years in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and its forty six partner organisations is estimated to be about £50-100m. This represents some 0.5% of total annual BIS spending on average.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Nearly all of this estimated figure relates to the error rate (made by applicants and officials) on student support, although that has declined in successive years from over 1% to some 0.5% in the latest year (2013-14) for which data is available.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department and all its partner organisations are now working closely with each other and with other Departments, led by the Cabinet Office, and other organisations inside and outside central government to improve the prevention, detection, measurement and early recovery of losses from fraud and error.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I have asked Chief Executives of the Executive Agencies to respond directly to the Hon Member. This information is not held by BIS in respect of non-Departmental Public Bodies.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson attachment 1 file name PQ-218496-Exec-Agencies-NDPB-Responses.pdf title Responses from Executive Agencies and NDPBs 2 file name PQ-218496-Met-Office-Response.pdf title Response from the Met Office question first answered 17/12/2014 11:13:28 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

170085

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2014
	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	Employment Tribunals Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to introduce a scheme for naming and shaming employers who fail to pay an employment tribunal award.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
	tabling member printed	Ian Murray
	uin	218531
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes very seriously the non-payment of employment tribunal awards. Currently, as part of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, the Government is proposing a financial penalty for employers that fail to pay awards. We are also ensuring that enforcement options and consequences of non-payment are made clear throughout the dispute resolution process from early conciliation to the tribunal hearing itself.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We will also look to learn the lessons of existing naming and shaming schemes and consider if such a scheme could further encourage prompt payment of employment tribunal awards.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 17/12/2014 10:16:21 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

170086

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2014
	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	Consumers: Protection
	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 has received from (a) consumer organisations and (b) individuals on the effectiveness of Trustmark and NAPIT in protecting consumers from rogue traders.
	tabling member constituency	Ogmore
	tabling member printed	Huw Irranca-Davies
	uin	218544
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>TrustMark (2005) Ltd (TrustMark) operate the TrustMark Scheme. TrustMark aims to marginalise unscrupulous traders by identifying to consumers traders who have been inspected for both trade competence and good trading practice.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) receives a small volume of correspondence from individuals each year relating to TrustMark. These communications are passed to the TrustMark Board to investigate the actions of their Scheme Operators which would include NAPIT should the case arise. The Department does not hold records of communications about specific Scheme Operators as these are audited and monitored by TrustMark and not BIS.</p><p> </p><p>In 2011 a consumer body provided views about the scheme to the Department; those views were fed into a review of the scheme which the TrustMark Board undertook in 2013.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 17/12/2014 10:24:39 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	1476 label Biography information for Huw Irranca-Davies

170087

	registered interest
	date	12/12/2014
	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	NHS: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
	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 has received from the Scottish Government on a possible exemption for the NHS in Scotland negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
	tabling member constituency	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
	tabling member printed	Cathy Jamieson
	uin	218548
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>The Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership (TTIP) and the NHS have been discussed with the Scottish Government at official and Ministerial level.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Both the European Commission and US negotiators have explicitly ruled out public services from the scope of any market liberalisation in TTIP, and it has therefore not been necessary to discuss any exclusions related to specific public services. The Scottish Government’s ability to determine how publically funded health services in Scotland are provided will not be affected. It will be completely up to the Scottish Government to take decisions on which providers deliver health care services in the best interests of their patients.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 17/12/2014 16:18:24 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	4011 label Biography information for Cathy Jamieson

169929

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	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	Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
	tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
	uin	218466
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>In each of the last five financial years the following amounts have been spent by the Department (BIS and UK Trade and Investment) on first class train tickets and business class air travel. Figures for the total amount spent on taxis prior to 2012-13 cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost as these costs were included in individual travel and expense claims and not centrally collated.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><strong> Financial Year</strong></td><td><strong> Rail<ins class="ministerial"> - 1st Class</ins></strong></td><td><strong><del class="ministerial"> 1st Class </del>Air<ins class="ministerial"> - Business Class</ins></strong></td><td><strong><del class="ministerial"> Business Class </del>Taxis</strong></td></tr><tr><td>2009-2010</td><td>£761,381.87</td><td>£2,061,066.16</td><td>£n/a</td></tr><tr><td>2010-2011</td><td>£179,884.52</td><td>£1,177,664.09</td><td>£n/a</td></tr><tr><td>2011-2012</td><td>£47,316.35</td><td>£1,379,266.78</td><td>£n/a</td></tr><tr><td>2012-2013</td><td>£18,974.65</td><td>£1,282,766.02</td><td>£92,301</td></tr><tr><td>2013-2014</td><td>£21,277.50</td><td>£1,725,998.87</td><td>£79,701</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />Note: The use of first class rail travel is restricted for those with health issues and exceptional business need. In both cases prior approval is required in line with the Department’s travel policy. The use of business class flights is restricted to long haul and the figures above will include some costs relating to multi leg journeys made up of economy and business class elements; these cannot be separated without incurring disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 18/12/2014 11:51:08 question first ministerially corrected 02/02/2015 11:18:45 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson previous answer version 35491 answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

170289

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2014
	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	Minimum Wage
	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 take steps to ensure that interns used for full-time work are paid at least the National Minimum Wage; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Warrington North
	tabling member printed	Helen Jones
	uin	218759
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The term “intern” is not defined in any legislation: entitlement to the minimum wage depends on whether or not an individual is a worker. If an internship meets the legal definition of a worker, then they must be paid at least the minimum wage from the start.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Given this dependency on employment status, it is vital that employers and workers understand how this is determined. We continue to carry out targeted awareness raising initiatives with interns and HMRC have been working with employers to identify potential non-compliance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Complaints from interns about non-payment of the minimum wage are prioritised by HMRC for investigation and HMRC will investigate every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the helpline on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Determining an individual’s employment status can be complicated. This is why the Business Secretary announced a review of employment status in October this year, to help ensure an employment status framework in the UK that meets the needs of everyone. This is an internal review and will present findings to ministers early next year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 18/12/2014 12:13:10 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	432 label Biography information for Helen Jones

170298

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2014
	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	Scottish Power
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what meetings he has had with his ministerial colleagues on what steps to take in response to allegations that Scottish Power mis-sold cashback warranties in the 1990s.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
	tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
	uin	218620
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>No meetings have been held between myself, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills or other ministerial colleagues concerning this matter. The Secretary of State and I have both met with the Insolvency Service for briefing on their conclusions following review of material submitted by liquidators of two companies involved in administering the cash-back warranty scheme.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 18/12/2014 12:11:50 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram

170299

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2014
	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	Scottish Power
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how he plans to keep the people who lost money following the failure of firms involved in Scottish Power's cash back warranty scheme updated on progress on the review of whether there will be a further investigation of that matter.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
	tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
	uin	218621
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Investigations conducted under section 447 Companies Act 1985 are confidential, therefore it is not possible to announce whether or not such an investigation is taking place, or to report on the investigation outside of strict statutory gateways.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Whether or not an investigation under section 432 Companies Act 1985 is being undertaken is something which can be announced, and I am able to confirm that such an investigation will not be commenced at this stage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Because the liquidation of the companies involved in the scheme is still under way, I do not propose to make a public announcement about the outcome of any review. However the creditors of those companies will receive reports from the liquidators if they are to be paid further dividends.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 18/12/2014 12:10:36 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram