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100004

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	Unpaid Work
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the recent proposal by the Child Poverty and Social Justice Commission that unpaid internships should be illegal.
tabling member printed	Baroness Berridge
uin	HL2219
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>This Government is absolutely clear: exploitation of interns is unacceptable and we don’t hesitate to act where we find that employment law has been broken and someone who is entitled to the minimum wage hasn’t been paid it.</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.</p><p> </p><p>Research shows that internships and work experience programmes can be valuable opportunities for young people taking their first steps in the labour market. Our work on interns and the National Minimum Wage aims to achieve the right balance between ensuring that opportunities for young people are not cut off and minimising the risk of exploitation.</p><p> </p><p>Our concern, if we were to prohibit unpaid internships, is that this may lead to employers recruiting interns through informal and privileged networks with adverse effects on social mobility or have adverse consequences on the number of available opportunities.</p><p> </p><p>There is no definition of an internship in minimum wage legislation and interns are considered in the same way as everyone else with regards to whether the minimum wage is due. The key issue is whether or not they are workers as defined by minimum wage legislation. If they are, then they are eligible for the minimum wage unless a specific exemption applies. Volunteers are not workers and are not eligible for the minimum wage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 29/10/2014 16:15:22 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge

99805

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	Apprentices: Young People
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 persuade more businesses to offer apprenticeships to 16 to 18 year olds.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich West
tabling member printed	Mr Adrian Bailey
uin	211057
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>Apprenticeship reforms are putting employers in the lead of designing apprenticeships, making it more attractive for them to offer more in the future.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Across this parliament we have already supported over 500,000 new apprenticeships for 16-18 year olds. Building on the success of the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers, we are providing an additional £170 million to fund over 100,000 incentive payments of £1,500 to employers taking on a young person aged 16-24.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 23/10/2014 15:58:54 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	320 label Biography information for Mr Adrian Bailey

99948

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	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, what recent steps he has taken to ensure employer compliance with minimum wage legislation.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Paul Flynn
uin	211009
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>Individuals who are entitled to the National Minimum Wage should receive it and we are committed to taking the steps necessary to improve compliance; ensuring employers understand their responsibilities and workers know their rights, and ensuring robust enforcement of the law.</p><p>Detailed guidance, including how to calculate the minimum wage, is available on the gov.uk website. Confidential advice is also available for both workers and employers through the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. Any worker who is concerned that they have not been paid what they are legally entitled to or who wants to make a complaint, should call the helpline on 0800 917 2368.</p><p>We have taken a number of steps to strengthen enforcement activity. This year, HMRC’s enforcement budget has increased by £1.2million to £9.2 million. This extra funding will enable HMRC to increase the number of National Minimum Wage compliance officers who, as well as continuing to respond to every complaint, will also undertake targeted enforcement, focusing on the worst offending employers in the highest-risk sectors.</p><p>Employers who are found to have broken the law face substantially higher penalties. We increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the unpaid wages owed to workers and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. The increase came into effect on 7 March 2014. Since revising the Government’s naming scheme, we have also named 30 employers who between them owed over £50,000 in arrears, to provide further incentive to all employers to comply.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 27/10/2014 14:11:14 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	545 label Biography information for Paul Flynn

93764

registered interest
date	16/10/2014
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	Internet: Data 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 assessment he has made of the potential for online personal information and big data to be used for discriminatory practices by organisations and agencies.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne East
tabling member printed	Mr Nicholas Brown
uin	210878
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government is committed to protecting the privacy and data security rights of individuals, and does recognise that the potential exists for online personal information and data to be misused by organisations and agencies, including for discriminatory purposes. For this reason, stringent safeguards are in place to ensure personal data is protected and handled appropriately.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Data Protection Act 1998 and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights impose clear legal limits on how organisations can record, store, alter, use or disclose personal data. In addition the Information Commissioners Office, the UK’s independent authority for upholding information rights, provides advice to citizens, rulings on eligible complaints and can take action when the law on data privacy is broken.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government is also currently working with the Information Economy Council, business groups, regulators, the third sector, and consumer bodies to develop a framework of trust and privacy principles for businesses. The framework will be in addition to existing data protection legislation and is being developed to help create greater public confidence in how companies use and re-use their personal data.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 23/10/2014 16:00:16 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	523 label Biography information for Mr Nicholas Brown

93094

registered interest
date	14/10/2014
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	Childbirth: Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will undertake research into the effects of having a baby prematurely born on a mother's labour market attachment.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	210336
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government currently has no plans to look at the impact of having a premature baby on the mother’s attachment to the labour market. We will, however, consider the issues facing families with babies admitted to neonatal care within the context of the review of changes to employment law enacted by the Children and Families Act after 2018 – in particular the take up of shared parental leave and pay.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The new system of shared parental leave and pay will give parents much more flexibility in the first year following their child’s birth. This flexibility will be particularly valuable to parents who have to deal with difficult or unexpected circumstances and it will allow parents, for the first time, to take leave together in a way that suits them. The system will be available for working parents whose baby is due on or after 5 April 2015 (irrespective of when the baby is born), and will be introduced later this year so that it catches babies who are born early.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 20/10/2014 14:55:29 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

93167

registered interest
date	14/10/2014
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	Erasmus+ Programme
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 ensure that graduates work in the UK following participation in the Erasmus overseas study programme.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	210438
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>Given that a large proportion of the Erasmus students outgoing from the UK are studying languages, it is unsurprising that they are more likely than non-mobile students to be employed overseas after graduation often in international comparison. Nonetheless most UK Erasmus graduates are employed in the UK.<br> <br></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 30/10/2014 16:32:42 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

93414

registered interest
date	14/10/2014
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	Asylum: English Language
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance is given to successful asylum seekers who wish to learn English.
tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
uin	HL2080
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>Refugees recognised by the UK Government, along with their husband, wife, civil partner and children, are eligible for funding to attend an English for Speakers of Other Languages course. The level of funding is determined by existing eligibility rules, which are set out in the Skills Funding Agency’s rules at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287917/Funding_rules_2014_15.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287917/Funding_rules_2014_15.pdf</a>. Education and skills funding is devolved and the eligibility criteria apply to England.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Those isolated by their lack of English can also access pre-entry level English training through the Department for Communities and Local Government’s £6million Community-Based English Language programme, which offers tuition to 24,000 adults most isolated by their lack of English in 29 target areas.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 27/10/2014 16:44:21 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

92827

registered interest
date	13/10/2014
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	Intellectual Property: Research
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what guidance his Department provides to public sector research establishments on exploiting intellectual property rights; and what systems his Department has in place to monitor the exploitation of those rights.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	210125
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2014 answer text <p>Public Sector Research Establishments (PSREs) are the responsibility of a number of Government Departments. No central guidance is issued by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) on exploiting intellectual property rights. The approach to doing so is determined by individual PRSEs in consultation with their sponsoring department where appropriate.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>However, tools like the Lambert toolkit have been developed, hosted and promoted by the Intellectual Property Office. These can help PSREs conduct effective negotiations in collaborative research projects and includes a set of model IP licensing and ownership agreements.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>BIS has conducted surveys of knowledge transfer activities of PSREs since 2002. The results of the most recent survey undertaken earlier this year will be published shortly. This will include data about numbers of patents applied for, numbers granted and income from the licensing of IP.</p><p><br></p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 20/10/2014 15:02:58 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

93062

registered interest
date	13/10/2014
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	Business: Government Assistance
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 the Government has spent in grants and support schemes to businesses since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	210156
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department’s finance systems do not hold data on total government support to business since 2010.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 10/11/2014 15:43:02 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

92433

registered interest
date	10/10/2014
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: Government Assistance
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 start-up loans have been granted, and how much money has been loaned through that scheme, in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England since its inception.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
tabling member printed	Michael Dugher
uin	209811
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2014 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Start Up Loans</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Barnsley East </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>South Yorkshire </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>England </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>United Kingdom</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Volume of Drawn Loans</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>321</p></td><td><p>19,901</p></td><td><p>21,470</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Value of Drawn Loans</p></td><td><p>£60,000</p></td><td><p>£1,551,421</p></td><td><p>£106,326,369</p></td><td><p>£113,485,492</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 22/10/2014 15:11:22 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	3916 label Biography information for Michael Dugher