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167251

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
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	Sri Lanka
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the European Union decision in 2010 to remove trade concessions from Sri Lanka pending the government of that country improving its human rights record has created a precedent for other countries.
tabling member printed	Baroness Tonge
uin	HL3352
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2014 answer text <p>In 2010 some trade preferences, known as GSP+, were removed from Sri Lanka by the European Union following investigations and reports which found significant shortcomings in respect of Sri Lanka’s implementation of three human rights conventions. Sri Lanka continues to receive beneficial but less generous trade preferences from the EU under the ‘standard’ GSP scheme.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As was the case for Sri Lanka, any decision for the EU to remove GSP+ preferences from a country is based on the objective criteria and following the process established in the GSP Regulation as agreed by European Member States and the European Parliament.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Livingston of Parkhead question first answered 15/12/2014 17:51:12 answering member 4278 label Biography information for Lord Livingston of Parkhead
tabling member	200 label Biography information for Baroness Tonge

167253

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent steps they have taken to improve enforcement of the national minimum wage.
tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
uin	HL3354
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2014 answer text <p>HM Revenue and Customs enforces the National Minimum Wage for all workers and investigates every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights helpline. In addition, HMRC conducts pro-active enforcement in sectors or areas where there is a higher risk of workers not getting paid the legal minimum wage.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is taking a tough approach towards employers that do not comply with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) law, including through making their non-compliance public. 55 employers have been named so far and between them they owed workers a total of over £139,000 in arrears.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the unpaid arrears owed to workers and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. This came into effect on 7 March 2014. We are introducing primary legislation so that the penalty can be calculated on a per worker basis.</p><p> </p><p>Any worker who thinks they are not being paid what they are legally entitled to can call the Pay and Work Right Helpline on 0800 917 2368. Employers can also call the helpline for free advice if they are unsure of their obligations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 11/12/2014 14:21:53 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

167284

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
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	Postgraduate Education
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to Master’s degree funding opportunities.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL3385
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2014 answer text <p>At Autumn Statement 2014 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the Government’s intention to introduce an income contingent postgraduate loan of up to £10,000 for those students aged under 30 studying for a 1 year full-time, or 2 year part-time, Master's course. BIS will launch a public consultation in the New Year on the loan terms and eligibility criteria, before finalising the design of the scheme.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 16/12/2014 17:08:34 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

167296

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
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	Diversification: Greater London
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 his Department is taking to diversify London's economy; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
uin	216728
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p>The Mayor has a statutory responsibility for economic development in the capital. It is for the Mayor, advised by the London Enterprise Panel, to determine priorities for economic development in the capital and to use the resources available to support economic growth in London.</p><p> </p><p>Last summer London was awarded £236m from the Local Growth Fund, as part of their Growth Deal. A further £1billion will be awarded to LEPs in the New Year, on a competitive basis.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 08/12/2014 14:38:43 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

167387

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
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	Energy
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 has taken to insulate his departmental estate in order to improve energy efficiency; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
uin	216832
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has not made any recent changes to the insulation of the departmental estate, however a number of steps have been taken to improve energy efficiency.</p><p> </p><p>The Department currently uses energy monitoring software to examine energy usage at a number of BIS sites. This provides daily consumption data and enables estate management to reduce usage and optimise building services.</p><p> </p><p>Building Management Systems are also installed across the estate, providing live data to engineers on building performance and energy demand throughout each building.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has a number of renewable energy installations installed which support the department to reduce carbon and increase efficiency. The Biomass boiler at Companies House in Cardiff produces 88% of heating for the building, saving 227 tonnes of carbon per annum. The scheme has become an Ofgem case study and Carbon Trust Exemplar.</p><p> </p><p>An ongoing initiative aimed at reducing energy consumption in the BIS core building is the partial Christmas shutdown at 1 Victoria Street. This has been implemented since 2011. The main areas of focus are the reduction of operational workspace in the building, reducing heating and cooling load by disabling most of the heating zones and reducing the number of operational lifts. BIS has saved approximately £12,000 and 80 tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub>. This year, in order to increase further energy savings, the feasibility of implementing this across further sites is being investigated.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 09/12/2014 15:57:13 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby

167388

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
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	Public Houses
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he last met representatives of (a) the Campaign for Real Ale, (b) the British Beer and Pub Association, (c) Punch Taverns, (d) Enterprise Inns and (e) Marston's Brewery.
tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
tabling member printed	Toby Perkins
uin	216852
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2014 answer text <p>My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills last met representatives of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) on 25 February 2014 when he spoke at a CAMRA reception in the House of Commons. He has not met representatives of Punch Taverns, Enterprise Inns or Marston’s in 2013 or 2014 but last met representatives of the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), the representative organisation for brewers and pub companies, on 30 September 2013. Other BIS ministers have also met CAMRA, the BBPA and pub companies on a number of occasions as set out below:</p><p> </p><p>· I met CAMRA on 22 January 2013 (roundtable for tenant organisations)</p><p> </p><p>· I met BBPA and Punch on 28 January 2013</p><p> </p><p>· My Hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon) met Enterprise Inns on 27 February 2013</p><p> </p><p>· I met BBPA, Marston’s, Enterprise Inns and Punch at a roundtable on 12 June 2013 and officials attended a further roundtable with CAMRA and other tenant representatives on 13 June 2013 when I was unable to attend due to illness</p><p> </p><p>· My Hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff Central (Jenny Willott) met BBPA and Punch Taverns on 24 March 2014</p><p> </p><p>· My Hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff Central (Jenny Willott) met Camra on 31 March 2014</p><p> </p><p>· My noble Friend Baroness Neville Rolfe met BBPA and Punch Taverns on 1 December 2014</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 09/12/2014 16:52:06 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins

167389

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
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	Takeovers
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 he has made of the potential merits of a public interest test with regards to corporate takeovers; and for what reasons provision for such a test was not included in the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Bill.
tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
tabling member printed	Toby Perkins
uin	216853
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2014 answer text <p>The power to propose changes to the public interest regime is set out under the Enterprise Act 2002, and would involve the Secretary of State bringing forward secondary legislation. While we keep this issue under review, we are not currently planning to bring forward changes to the regime.</p><p> </p><p>We do, however, welcome the consultation launched by the Takeover Panel in September 2014. This consultation proposed changes to the Takeover Code to allow companies to make more binding, long-term commitments during the bid process. These proposed changes would distinguish between a voluntary commitment made by a company about actions they commit to take, and statements about actions they intend to take. They would also enhance the Panel’s ability to monitor on-going compliance. I understand that the Takeover Panel is reviewing responses to its consultation and will be responding in the New Year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 09/12/2014 10:55:33 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins

167390

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
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	Foreign Investment in UK: Greater London
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 his Department has made of the level of overseas investment in small and medium-sized businesses based in London; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
uin	216729
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2014 answer text <p>According to UK Trade &amp; Investment’s Annual Inward Investment Report it is estimated that a total of 656 inward investment projects were recorded in London during 2013/14 Financial Year. These projects are estimated to have brought with them over 28,000 new or safeguarded jobs. The Department does not have estimates of the level of overseas investments into small and medium-sized businesses in London.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 10/12/2014 12:44:31 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

167391

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
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	Tuberculosis: Vaccination
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department provides to research into finding new vaccines for antibiotic resistant strains of TB; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
uin	216738
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills supports research into TB through the UK Research Councils who support a broad portfolio of research addressing different aspects of the disease. This includes research on vaccines and treatments for antibiotic resistant strains of TB.</p><p> </p><p>The Medical Research Council (MRC) currently supports five projects directly relating to antibiotic resistant strains of TB with a total value of £5.7m. These include studies which aim to identify novel targets for antibacterial drug discovery, the development of new TB vaccines and antibiotics, clinical trials with a focus on translational and implementation research relevant to developing countries, and health services and health systems research.</p><p> </p><p>The MRC is also leading an anti-microbial resistance (AMR) funders’ forum to coordinate activities in this area and an initiative involving all of the UK Research Councils on which aims to tackle resistance and try to develop treatments and diagnostic tools. In addition the MRC also supports a broader portfolio of research into TB likely to improve our understanding and inform future research into antibiotic resistant strains.</p><p> </p><p>The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) are funding research into new treatments for antibiotic resistant strains of TB in addition to research on vaccine development, which while not specifically addressing antibiotic resistant strains is likely to improve our understanding and inform future research.</p><p> </p><p>An Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded study aims identify barriers to tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment uptake while an EPSRC fellowship is looking at the transmission dynamics of TB.</p><p> </p><p>Researchers are also using the Diamond Light Source, to identify ways of disabling the enzyme that protects the TB bacteria and to understand the structure of the protein that enables the TB bacteria to survive in the human body. It is hoped that this work will make existing treatments easier and more effective and to help design new drugs. The Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron, funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).</p><p> </p><p>The UK is also a member of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) which aims to accelerate the development of new or improved drugs, vaccines, microbicides and diagnostics against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other neglected diseases. In December 2014 the second phase of the partnership, EDCTP2 was launched aiming to contribute over 1billion euros over the next 10 years. Further information can be found at: <a href="http://www.edctp.org/" target="_blank">http://www.edctp.org/</a></p> answering member constituency Mid Norfolk answering member printed George Freeman grouped question UIN 216741 question first answered 09/12/2014 11:14:42 answering member 4020 label Biography information for George Freeman
tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby

167392

registered interest
date	02/12/2014
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	Ebola
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department provides to research into finding a cure for Ebola; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
uin	216739
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills supports research into Ebola through the UK Research Councils who support a number of research projects addressing different aspects of the disease. This includes work on vaccines, treatments and interventions, and finding a cure.</p><p> </p><p>Current Medical Research Council (MRC) funded research includes a £2.8m grant funding jointly by the MRC, the Wellcome Trust and DFID to allow a team led by the University of Oxford to test the safety of a candidate vaccine alongside similar trials in the US.</p><p> </p><p>The MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling, at Imperial College London, is an official WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling. Researchers there have been providing advice to the WHO regarding the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa and contributed to a study reviewing data since the beginning of the outbreak in December 2013 to determine the scale of the epidemic, better understand the spread of the disease, and explore what it will take to reverse the trend of infections.</p><p> </p><p>The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is supporting one £3.6m study which aims to improve our understanding of the cultural and political dimension to inform interventions. In addition researchers funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) are using the Diamond Light Source to investigate emerging viruses are making an Ebola protein for therapeutic antibodies. The Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron and is also funded by STFC.</p><p> </p><p>The UK is also a member of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) which aims to accelerate the development of new or improved drugs, vaccines, microbicides and diagnostics against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other neglected diseases, including Ebola. In December 2014 the second phase of the partnership, EDCTP2 was launched aiming to contribute over 1billion euros over the next 10 years. Further information can be found at: <a href="http://www.edctp.org/" target="_blank">http://www.edctp.org/</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Norfolk answering member printed George Freeman grouped question UIN 216740 question first answered 09/12/2014 14:19:58 answering member 4020 label Biography information for George Freeman
tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby