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  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with (a) public sector employers, (b) private sector employers and (c) UnionLearn on the implications of the Apprenticeship Levy on staff training budgets.

    Nick Boles

    Ensuring that the apprenticeships levy works for all employers is a key priority for BIS. As such, we are engaging with both public and private sector employers, representatives from Unionlearn, and wider Government Departments on how the levy will operate and how they will build apprenticeships into their workforce training plans. We will be continuing engagement over coming months.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and (b) Chancellor of the Exchequer on how the Apprenticeship Levy will operate in combined authorities to whom powers over skills and training are devolved.

    Nick Boles

    Apprenticeship funding is not devolved and we have no plans to do so.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential financial implications for small businesses with 100 employees or fewer of the Apprenticeship Levy.

    Nick Boles

    Employers with a pay bill of less than £3m will not have to pay the levy. This is more than 98% of all employers. Small employers will continue to have access to government funding to support apprenticeships. Until the levy comes in, the apprenticeships scheme will continue to operate as it does now.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his Department’s document, English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision, published in December 2015, whether the progression from traineeships is intended primarily to be into apprenticeships or into employment.

    Nick Boles

    Traineeships are a demand-led, high quality education and training programme, designed to support 16-24 year olds educated to below level 3 who have little work experience but are strongly motivated by work. Traineeships have been designed to support progress into both apprenticeships and wider employment opportunities.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what role the UK Commission for Employment and Skills will have in 2016 in monitoring or contributing to the programmes to increase the number of apprenticeships and traineeships set out in his Department’s document, English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision, published in December 2015.

    Nick Boles

    UKCES’s main support for the Department in respect of English Apprenticeships in 2016 is its ongoing work to map the new apprenticeship standards against frameworks and Standard Occupational Classification codes to help identify the remaining gaps in standards coverage.

    As announced in the 2015 Spending Review, in order to prioritise funding to allow the core adult skills participation budgets to be protected in cash terms, Whitehall Departments will be withdrawing their funding for UKCES during 2016-17. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is working with UKCES and other stakeholders to manage the implications of this decision.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria have been set to access Dormant Assets Commission funds.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The Commission on Dormant Assets will will provide advice on which dormant assets can be brought into an expanded dormant assets scheme. The Committee remit will also include a suggested mechanism through which dormant assets could be redirected by Government to good causes.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who is on the board of the Dormant Assets Commission, announced on 19 December 2015.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    Nick O’Donohoe, outgoing Chief Executive of Big Society Capital, was announced as Chair of the new Commission on Dormant Assets on December 19 2015. The Commission is still being set up and I expect the appointments of commissioners who will work with the Chair to be finalised shortly.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department issues on conducting public consultations during the summer recess.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    Cabinet Office publishes Consultation Principles, which it expects all government departments to follow. They were most recently updated on 14 January in response to feedback from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee.

    Principle G includes the line:

    ‘When the consultation spans all or part of a holiday period, consider how this may affect consultation and take appropriate mitigating action, such as prior discussion with key interested parties or extension of the consultation deadline beyond the holiday period’.

    The Principles also make clear that formal consultation should only form part of the engagement process and that departments should make use of new digital tools and consider whether an iterative approach is appropriate.

    The Principles can be found online on gov.uk and a copy can be found in the House of Commons Library.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the public sector exit payments cap on morale in the Civil Service.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Civil Service has successfully changed the way it operates and become more efficient – it is now delivering far more, for less, than it did before 2010. The Government has delivered a range of policy changes over the last five years to modernise the Civil Service and save taxpayers money. During this time employee engagement rates have actually increased.

  • Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Harriet Harman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the (a) timing of the consultation on the proposed Bill of Rights and associated measures and (b) effect of the purdah of the Scottish Government and dissolution of the Scottish Parliament on that timing.

    Dominic Raab

    We are committed to consulting fully on our proposals prior to the introduction of any legislation and will announce further details in due course.

    We will adhere to any guidance published by the Cabinet Office in respect of the pre-election periods. We have and will continue to seek to work with the devolved administrations to deliver a modernised and reformed human rights framework for all of the United Kingdom.