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47122

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
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
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 effect of reform of apprenticeships resulting from the Richard Review on the cost of training new (a) ratings and (b) officer cadets in the maritime industry; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	North Ayrshire and Arran
tabling member printed	Katy Clark
uin	195525
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>Different apprenticeship programmes operate in England and Scotland. Doug Richard's Review focused on English apprenticeships and he made a number of recommendations to make the programme more rigorous and responsive to employers' needs. The Government accepted the Richard Review principles and set out its apprenticeship reform programme in the October 2013 Implementation Plan.</p><p> </p><p>The reforms include employers developing new apprenticeship standards, requiring employers to co-invest, putting the Government funding for the external training and assessment of apprentices in the hands of their employers and setting maximum Government contribution levels. With direct access to funding, employers will be able to negotiate a price for the training with their provider, and this means it is not possible in advance of the reforms to say what the costs of training apprentices in specific occupations will be.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Maritime sector has a long tradition of apprenticeships which we wish to continue. English apprenticeships are currently available for Maritime occupations and employers in the sector are currently designing a new apprenticeship standard for ratings as part of our Phase 2 Trailblazer programme.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has recognised through Alternative Completion Conditions Regulations that, in some maritime occupations, apprentices may be trainees rather than employees. The apprenticeships funding reform technical consultation is open until 1 May 2014 and this includes a question about how, or to what extent, the new funding principles and mechanism can be applied to non-employed apprentices.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
tabling member	1590 label Biography information for Baroness Clark of Kilwinning

47123

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make personal debt charged at an APR of over 30 per cent unrecoverable; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Great Grimsby
tabling member printed	Austin Mitchell
uin	195592
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>The Government legislated in the Banking Reform Act 2013 to require the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to introduce a cap on the cost of high-cost short-term credit, including payday loans, in order to protect consumers from excessive costs. In designing the cap, the FCA will take into account the interest rate and other fees and charges which may be incurred in relation to a high-cost loan.</p><p> </p><p>As part of the FCA's powers to cap the cost of credit in the Financial Services Act 2012, the Government gave the FCA specific powers to prevent a lender enforcing a credit agreement and recovering the debt, if the agreement contravenes its rules on the cost of credit. It can also require that any money or property transferred under the credit agreement must be returned.</p><p> </p><p>The FCA is currently conducting analysis to inform the design of the cap; it has committed to publishing its proposed rules which implement the cap in July. The FCA plans to publish final rules in the autumn and all lenders must be compliant with the cap by 2 January 2015. The Government supports the FCA's proposed timetable for implementing the cap: it allows the FCA appropriate time to conduct analysis, consult on its proposals and ensure that firms are fully compliant by January. It also allows the FCA to draw on the insight of the Competition and Markets Authority's study into payday lenders in designing the cap.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom grouped question UIN 195597 question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	372 label Biography information for Austin Mitchell

47124

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what due diligence was undertaken by officials in his Department in relation to the reliability of the gentlemen's agreement on the holding of Royal Mail shares by priority investors.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	195593
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>There was no agreement - gentleman's or otherwise – on the holding of Royal Mail shares by priority investors.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

47125

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what safeguards were (a) sought and (b) put in place to ensure that priority investors would continue to invest over a longer period of time in respect of the privatisation of Royal Mail.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	195594
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>More than 500 would-be investors in Royal Mail were approached in the lead up to the sale including potential long term institutional investors.</p><p> </p><p>As is standard practice for any flotation, we did not seek to lock in any investors in as they would have paid less for a stock they could not trade.</p><p> </p><p>We understand that the majority of the shares, other than those owned by government, the Royal Mail workforce and retail investors, are currently held by long term institutional investors.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

47126

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward proposals to limit the interest rate payable on payday loans; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Great Grimsby
tabling member printed	Austin Mitchell
uin	195597
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>The Government legislated in the Banking Reform Act 2013 to require the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to introduce a cap on the cost of high-cost short-term credit, including payday loans, in order to protect consumers from excessive costs. In designing the cap, the FCA will take into account the interest rate and other fees and charges which may be incurred in relation to a high-cost loan.</p><p> </p><p>As part of the FCA's powers to cap the cost of credit in the Financial Services Act 2012, the Government gave the FCA specific powers to prevent a lender enforcing a credit agreement and recovering the debt, if the agreement contravenes its rules on the cost of credit. It can also require that any money or property transferred under the credit agreement must be returned.</p><p> </p><p>The FCA is currently conducting analysis to inform the design of the cap; it has committed to publishing its proposed rules which implement the cap in July. The FCA plans to publish final rules in the autumn and all lenders must be compliant with the cap by 2 January 2015. The Government supports the FCA's proposed timetable for implementing the cap: it allows the FCA appropriate time to conduct analysis, consult on its proposals and ensure that firms are fully compliant by January. It also allows the FCA to draw on the insight of the Competition and Markets Authority's study into payday lenders in designing the cap.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom grouped question UIN 195592 question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	372 label Biography information for Austin Mitchell

47127

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
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
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 to Lord Adonis of 3 June 2013, Official Report, House of Lords, column 122WA, on government departments: secondments, of those secondments to his Department listed on that date, how many of these secondments related (a) wholly, (b) partly and (c) incidentally to the privatisation of Royal Mail; and how many of those secondments took place primarily for the purpose of helping with the privatisation of Royal Mail.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	195632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>Of the secondees listed in the answer given to the noble Lord, Lord Adonis on 3 June 2013, two worked on the Royal Mail privatisation in the Shareholder Executive.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

47128

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
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
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 secondments from the private sector to his Department and its agencies the secondee's work-related (a) wholly, (b) partly or (c) incidentally to the privatisation of Royal Mail; from which firms those secondments were made; and on what dates they began and ended.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Mr Chuka Umunna
uin	195633
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>In the Shareholder Executive teams are put together to work on specific projects bringing together appropriate skills and experience; such teams regularly include secondee appointments. Three secondees from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Lazard and KPMG spent varying degrees of time working at the Shareholder Executive on the Royal Mail IPO. The Freshfields secondee worked on various projects, and worked wholly on the Royal Mail privatisation for the second half of the secondment. The Lazard and KPMG secondees were engaged to work principally on Royal Mail. No secondee held a senior position in the team.</p><p> </p><p>The KPMG secondment started in June 2013 and is continuing. The Freshfields secondment started in December 2012 and ended in November 2013. The Lazard secondment ran from January 2013 to January 2014.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

47142

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is his policy to encourage civil servants to use video conferencing in order to reduce costs; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
uin	195411
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>Yes. Video conferencing can be used to reduce costs but specialist equipment can be required. Officials and ministers also make use of telephone conferencing.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby

47147

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	195546
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.</p><p>Before the last General Election, including for the entire period while the Hon. Member was a minister in this very department, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.</p><p>That's all changed and ministers - supported by Cabinet Office officials - now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.</p><p>We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.</p><p>We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude grouped question UIN 195560 195568 195582 question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

47152

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many jobs have been transferred from the public to private sector from (a) his Department and (b) the Office of the Leader of the House as a result of privatisation or outsourcing since May 2010.
tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
uin	195522
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>The Leader of the House's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.</p><p>Since May 2010, twenty-two jobs have been transferred to the Private Sector.</p><p>Six posts through the SWIRL joint venture and 16 posts with the mutual joint venture of the Behavioural Insights Team.</p><p>We know that joint ventures and mutuals can help drive up productivity and we will continue to support innovative business models.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell