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101521

registered interest
date	29/10/2014
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	Met Office
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 increased accuracy in weather forecasting arising from the new Met Office supercomputer.
tabling member constituency	South Antrim
tabling member printed	Dr William McCrea
uin	212467
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>The new supercomputer will enable the Met Office to improve the accuracy of its weather forecasts on all timescales. At short-range, for example, the Met Office expects that during the lifetime of the new supercomputer its 24-hour forecast will become as accurate as its 12-hour forecast is now. This will enable the Met Office to provide earlier, more accurate and more detailed warning of severe weather and help the UK to be more resilient and better prepared for high impact events.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 06/11/2014 14:14:04 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	655 label Biography information for Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown

101522

registered interest
date	29/10/2014
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	European Space Agency
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 reasons for the time taken for the general release of data from European Science Agency (ESA) projects; and if he will make future UK contributions to ESA projects conditional on full and immediate release of all data.
tabling member constituency	Gower
tabling member printed	Martin Caton
uin	212454
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>Data release from ESA missions is governed by agreements approved by all Member States. Release is normally after 6 months, allowing the scientists leading the mission –including many from the UK - to check the integrity of the data and undertake necessary calibrations. This is essential for the data to be scientifically useful.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The UK will continue to press for the best agreements to maximise the effective use of the data and ensure that images are available as soon as possible to inform the public about these exciting projects.</p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 06/11/2014 14:20:32 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	566 label Biography information for Martin Caton

101523

registered interest
date	29/10/2014
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: Cumbria
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 new apprenticeships were created in (a) Cumbria and (b) South Lakeland in each year since 2005.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	212460
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>Information on apprenticeship starts by geography is published in a supplementary table to a Statistical First Release (SFR):</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/364255/apprenticeships-starts-by-geography-learner-demographics-and-sector-subject-area.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/364255/apprenticeships-starts-by-geography-learner-demographics-and-sector-subject-area.xls</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 06/11/2014 14:16:59 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

101524

registered interest
date	29/10/2014
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	Public Opinion
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 spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.
tabling member constituency	Croydon North
tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
uin	212492
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>This information is not held centrally within BIS and could only be provided at disproportionate cost to the Department.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 05/11/2014 12:52:16 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

101619

registered interest
date	29/10/2014
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	UK Coal
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 full-time equivalent officials of what grade in his Department have been assigned to assist UK Coal in the drafting of a state aid bid.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Tom Greatrex
uin	212484
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>Senior Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Yorkshire Humber North East Office have been assigned to assist UK Coal following their interest in applying for government funding to extend the operation of the two remaining deep mines until the end of 2018. These officials met with UK Coal on 10 October and are now working with them to help prepare a case for Government support. The company fully understands that this is the first phase of a complex and challenging process before the government submits a state aid case to the European Commission.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 03/11/2014 16:24:19 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	4047 label Biography information for Tom Greatrex

101303

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	Video Games
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2014 to Question 211397, what plans the Government has to increase the proportion of Technology Strategy Board funds allocated to the video games sector.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Wavertree
tabling member printed	Luciana Berger
uin	212346
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>Innovate UK is responsible for determining its spending priorities, in the context of the Tasking Framework Letter issued to it by my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills after each Spending Review.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The main competition that has supported games businesses is Innovate UK’s £15M &quot;Cross-Platform Production in Digital Media&quot; programme, which is directed towards encouraging games, film and TV sectors to innovate together. This competition is now closed and Innovate UK has no more planned competitions within the current Spending Review period.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Video games businesses have wider capabilities which make them suited to addressing challenges in areas such as healthcare management, transport management and urban living. Innovate UK funds are available for innovation in each of these areas, and games businesses expertise may have a strong role to play, but the award of any funding will be subject to Innovate UK’s normal competitive processes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Also, Innovate UK support for small and medium-sized businesses is continually available through programmes like its Smart scheme, which is open to businesses in all technology areas.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 03/11/2014 16:23:16 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
tabling member	4036 label Biography information for Luciana Berger

101304

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	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, how many employers in (a) Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency, (b) the London Borough of Hackney, (c) London and (d) England that have broken the national minimum wage law have been (i) prosecuted and (ii) named since the revision to the national minimum wage law came into effect on 1 October 2013.
tabling member constituency	Hackney North and Stoke Newington
tabling member printed	Ms Diane Abbott
uin	212281
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government has named 30 employers under the revised Naming and Shaming. Between them they owed workers a total of over £50,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £24,000. Details of these employers can be found on the original press notices (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-gets-tough-with-employers-failing-to-pay-minimum-wage" target="_blank">28 February 2014</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-names-employers-who-fail-to-pay-minimum-wage" target="_blank">8 June 2014</a>), including the town in which the employer is based. However, these organisations may employ staff or have offices or other operations in other geographical locations.</p><p>No employers have been prosecuted under the National Minimum Wage Act since October 2013.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 04/11/2014 14:09:07 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	172 label Biography information for Ms Diane Abbott

101305

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	Met Office
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the new Met Office supercomputer will be better able to predict heavy storms such as the one in Castle Point on 20 July 2014; and whether that supercomputer will enable agencies listed as category one flood responders to obtain more accurate data about catastrophic weather events with more notice than they currently receive.
tabling member constituency	Castle Point
tabling member printed	Rebecca Harris
uin	212282
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>The new supercomputer will enable the Met Office to predict small-scale, high impact weather features – such as thunderstorms – with greater detail and accuracy, and to provide earlier warnings of severe weather to emergency responders.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered 06/11/2014 14:10:23 answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	3948 label Biography information for Rebecca Harris

101306

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	Home Care 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 steps his Department has taken to take account of the omission of (a) some workers paid below the lower earnings limit and (b) unpaid travel time from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings when using that survey to estimate non-payment of the national minimum wage among homecare workers.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	212198
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is an employer based pay survey and provides the most accurate information available from which we can derive non-compliance estimates. Estimates are based on a sample from pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) data and may not include some workers earning below the lower earnings limit. However, following the introduction of Real Time Information, ASHE now includes the majority of those earning below the lower earnings limit.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The HMRC paper “National Minimum Wage compliance in the social care sector” (November 2013) looked at, amongst other things, the issue of unpaid travel time in compliance. It found that unpaid travel time was not the main cause of non-compliance in the sector.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We take non-compliance in the care sector very seriously, and to proactively tackle non-compliance 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 Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. Individuals should contact the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HMRC investigates every complaint made.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 05/11/2014 15:11:25 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

101307

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	Social Enterprises: South East
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 social enterprises there were in (a) Brighton and Hove, (b) East Sussex and (c) the South East in the most recent period for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
uin	212201
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) does not produce statistics giving geographical breakdowns of the number of social enterprises. National level estimates are produced using the Small Business Survey, which does not have a sufficiently large sample to provide sub-national estimates. BIS estimates there are 280,000 social enterprises in the UK.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 05/11/2014 12:54:28 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby