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  • Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he has received an invitation to the Crans Montana forum in Dakhla, occupied Western Sahara; and whether he plans to send a representative to that forum.

    Matthew Hancock

    My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has received and declined an invitation to this forum and my Department does not plan to send a representative. We are aware of reports that the African Union has called for the forum to be cancelled but we do not intend to make any assessment.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many young people living in Preston entered higher education in each of the last 20 years.

    Greg Clark

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) publishes young participation rates by parliamentary constituency. These show the proportion of young people in each parliamentary constituency who entered higher education by the age of 19, for each cohort of 18 year olds between 1998 and 2011. These can be viewed at the following link:

    http://www.hefce.ac.uk/analysis/yp/trendsyp/pment/

    The statistics will be updated to include the 2012 cohort of 18 year olds in the summer.

    “

  • Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what meetings he and Ministers in his Department had with the Prospect and Public and Commercial Services trades unions before taking the decision to change Ordnance Survey from a trading fund to a Government-owned company; and whether he plans further such meetings.

    Matthew Hancock

    Ordnance Survey senior management have led on discussions with the trade unions and other Ordnance Survey staff members as the project has developed. This dialogue took place throughout 2014, and will continue as the project reaches its conclusion through regular meetings.

  • Gregory Barker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gregory Barker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Barker on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent progress he has made on UK participation in the Mumbai/Bangalore Economic Corridor; and if he will place in the Library the feasibility report for that project and other related studies.

    Matthew Hancock

    Her Majesty’s Government continues to engage with India on the Bangalore/Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC). BMEC was most recently discussed on 11 February 2015 in a meeting between Chief Executive of UKTI, Dominic Jermey, and Indian Commerce Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.

    The feasibility report has not yet been completed by Egis, a French company commissioned by Government of India. The report will be the property of the Government of India and it will be their decision as to how it circulated when complete.

  • Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department plans a full or part privatisation of the Ordnance Survey to result from the change of operating model for that organisation.

    Matthew Hancock

    No. The change to a Government–owned Company is operational in nature, designed to improve the performance of the organisation. There are no plans to privatise Ordnance Survey.

  • Gerald Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gerald Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Howarth on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will ensure that the change in definition of ambulance in Government Amendment 43 of the House of Lords Committee stage of the Deregulation Bill will continue to permit private ambulance and medical providers to operate (a) conventional ambulances and (b) fast response cars and motorbikes under blue lights.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    The relevant clause now contained in the Deregulation Bill is not intended to have any effect on the existing legal status of ambulances, including those used by the private or voluntary sector. Conventional ambulances may continue to use blue lights and be exempt from certain road traffic provisions when responding to emergencies. The amendments in the Bill continue to allow vehicles dispatched by the NHS ambulance services (including vehicles that private ambulance and medical providers operate), that are not ambulances, by allowing them to use blue lights and extending the road traffic exemptions to them.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many people have applied for the Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund in each year since its establishment; and what estimate she has made of the total grants from that date to May 2015.

    Jo Swinson

    The number of people who have made applications to the Access to Elected Office fund by year is in the table.

    Financial Year

    Number of applicants

    2012/13

    27

    2013/14

    34

    2014/15 (to date)

    34

    The total value of Grants awarded to date (from July 2012 to January 2015) is £399,061, and applications totalling £92,442 are currently pending. Total grant expenditure will depend on the final number of successful applications between now and the end of March 2015, after which date the fund will cease to take applications.

  • Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of commissioners from local government have attended the Commissioning Academy; and by which local authorities those commissioners are employed.

    Mr Francis Maude

    Through its programme of Civil Service Reform, the Government is taking urgent action to address long-standing skills gaps in the Civil Service. Our pioneering Commissioning Academy is building commercial capability across the public sector, and improving how public services are delivered.

    To date 392 individuals have attended the central Commissioning Academy programmes, including 206 (52%) from central government. In the last year there was a 50% increase in demand for places on the programme, and it will be expanded to deliver 1,500 places by March 2016.

    Commissioners have attended from the following local authorities:

    Basildon Borough Council

    Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council

    Birmingham City Council

    Bradford Metropolitan Borough Council

    Bristol City Council

    Canterbury and Coastal Clinical Commissioning Group

    Cheltenham Borough Council

    Cherwell District, South Northants and Stratford on Avon Councils

    Cheshire East Council

    Cheshire West and Chester Council

    Cheshire West and Chester (a place-based group)

    Cumbria County Council

    Devon County Council

    Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

    Essex County Council

    Fenland District Council

    Gloucestershire County Council

    Harborough District Council

    Horsham District Council

    Kent County Council

    Knowsley Council (Health and Social Care Integration)

    Lancashire County Council

    Leicestershire County Council

    London Borough of Barnet

    London Borough of Haringey

    London Borough of Lambeth

    London Borough of Lewisham

    London Borough of Sutton

    London Borough of Waltham Forest

    Lowestoft Rising (Place based group)

    Manchester City Council

    Milton Keynes Council

    Norfolk County Council

    Northamptonshire County Council

    Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

    Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council

    Shropshire

    Somerset County Council

    Southend-on-sea Borough Council

    Staffordshire County Council

    Stoke-On-Trent City Council

    Suffolk Coastal

    Sunderland City Council

    Surrey County Council

    Swindon Borough Council

    Tamworth Borough Council

    Tri-borough councils: Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster

    Wakefield Metropolitan District Council

    Walsall Council

    Warrington Borough Council

    Waverley Borough Council

    West Sussex County Council

    Westminster City Council

    Wirral Council

    Worcestershire County Council

    A number of other programmes sit alongside the central programme under the Commissioning Academy umbrella. 78 officials have attended local programmes in Norfolk and Staffordshire, modelled on the central programme, with participants drawn from local authorities and other public sector bodies in the local area. In addition, 8 councillors have attended a streamlined programme for Local Authority elected members.


  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2015 to Question 221932, what estimate he has made of the number of redundancies in the offshore drilling sector since the introduction of the Investment Allowance.

    Priti Patel

    The government understands the challenges currently facing the UK oil and gas industry and is following developments in the North Sea closely.

    The Investment Allowance rewards companies investing in the long-term future of the basin – at all stages of the investment life cycle – and we would expect it to significantly reduce the effective tax rate for companies investing in the UK Continental Shelf.

    Work on the design of the new Investment Allowance has been progressing rapidly since December – the government published a consultation document on its proposals on 22 January.

    The government recognises the importance of the industry to local economies and as an employer. The report published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, in partnership with Oil and Gas UK and OPITO (the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation) in December, “Fuelling the next generation: A study of the UK upstream oil and gas workforce” highlighted both the sector’s current contribution to employment and its future potential. The government will continue to work closely with industry through the Oil and Gas Industry Council and with the newly-formed Scottish Energy Jobs Taskforce to support jobs in the sector, develop the industry’s skills base and make sure this potential is realised.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to comments by the Minister of State for Care and Support in the Daily Telegraph on 7 February 2015, on investigations into minimum wage payment in the social care sector, when HM Revenue and Customs will complete its investigations into the six companies; how the companies to be investigated were identified; and if he will take steps to ensure that workers are compensated when breaches of the minimum wage are found to have taken place.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage or is aware of an employer who does not meet NMW legislation should make a complaint to the Pay & Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) on 0800 917 2368.

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are unable to comment on ongoing investigations.

    I refer the honourable member to the answer provided to him at UIN 212652 on how HMRC identify sectors and employers for targeted investigation and enforcement.

    Any arrears of pay due to workers are uprated to the current rate of NMW. The majority of employers identified as paying below the NMW will pay arrears on receipt of a formal Notice of Underpayment. Where they do not, HMRC will pursue recovery through the civil courts on behalf of the workers.