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  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many telephone calls his Department received to its benefit helplines from people in Inverclyde in 2015.

    Priti Patel

    DWP operates a national network of contact centres which allows calls from anywhere in the country to be routed to the next available agent, regardless of their location. This virtual national telephony network means that it is impossible to provide a definitive answer regarding the volume of calls received from any particular geographical area.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he plans to take to support unemployed young people under 25 whose income will be affected by the planned changes to universal credit from April 2017.

    Priti Patel

    Universal Credit gives greater incentives for people to move into, and then progress in work. Within legacy benefits single young people under 25 without children are not generally eligible for in-work support from Working Tax Credit and can face a severe withdrawal of benefits when they go into work. The introduction of Universal Credit represents a marked improvement in support.

    Furthermore, DWP is introducing a new Youth Obligation from April 2017 which will ensure that young people aged 18–21 who are claiming Universal Credit, are given the support, skills and experience they need to move into work, to sustain work and to fulfil their potential.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the correlation between the reduction in the rate of unemployment in the West Midlands between 2010 and 2016 and any trend in the number of people employed on zero-hour contracts in that region.

    Priti Patel

    Figures published by ONS show that rising employment in the West Midlands since 2010 – reflected in falling unemployment – has been dominated by more people in full-time and permanent jobs.

    Information on trends in zero-hours contracts over this period is not available on a consistent basis. This reflects the view of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that responses to questions about zero-hours contracts in the Labour Force Survey are likely to have been affected by greater awareness of the term itself.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Attorney General, whether he has been consulted by the Crown Prosecution Service about a charging decision in Operation Lydd.

    Robert Buckland

    The Crown Prosecution Service routinely provides the Law Officers with updates on cases and casework issues. In accordance with the practice adopted by previous Law Officers I do not usually comment on which individual cases are raised with me.

  • 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 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Skills of 2 February 2016, Official Report, column 764, what proportion and amount of funding for adult skills is planned to be allocated to (a) apprenticeship provision and (b) non-apprenticeship provision in (i) 2016-17, (ii) 2017-18, (iii) 2018-19 and (iv) 2019-20.

    Nick Boles

    The attached table shows the amount of funding for adult skills allocated in 2016-17 and indicative allocations for 2017-18 to 2019-20 for apprenticeship and non-apprenticeship provision. These figures are taken from the Skills Funding Letter 2016-17 Skills funding letter: April 2016 to March 2017 – Publications – GOV.UK.

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  • Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23018, what steps he is taking to limit the availability of laser pens.

    Anna Soubry

    I refer to my answer of 25 January.

    I have asked my officials as a first step to request an urgent update from Trading Standards on their recent market surveillance activities. I am aware that Leicester Trading Standards recently seized 1,500 unsafe laser pens at point of entry and the importer agreed to destroy them.

    In addition RAPEX (the European electronic notification platform for the notifying and removal of dangerous consumer products) statistics show 98 different types of laser pointers were removed from the EU market and of these 9 different products were notified by UK market surveillance authorities.

  • Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23018, what steps he is taking to enforce the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.

    Anna Soubry

    Consumer products such as laser pens intended for use by consumers are regulated under The General Product Safety Regulations 2005. BIS is responsible for the legislation but it is enforced by Local Authority Trading Standards Services.

    Under the rules, Trading Standards Officers have a range of powers available to them with regards enforcement of the legislation such as requirements to mark or to warn, or to issue withdrawal or recall notices. They also have the power to prosecute traders.

    This is a well-established regime that has seen many hundreds of dangerous products taken off the market including laser pens.

  • Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23018, on lasers: regulation, what steps he is taking to restrict direct sale into the UK to individual customers.

    Anna Soubry

    I refer to my answer of 25 January.

    Under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the General Product Safety Regulations, a business importing into the EU/EEA must have a representative within the EU/EEA who is responsible and liable for the safety of imported goods. This enables Customs and Trading Standards to check that imported laser products comply with safety standards. It is harder for them to carry out these checks where customers order goods from a company outside the EU and receive them directly through the post.

    We therefore advise customers who want to buy laser products to go to a reputable dealer with authorised representation in the European Union. If consumers are concerned about the safety of laser products on sale they should report the website or retailer to their local Trading Standards department.

  • 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 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much of the funding under the European Social Fund programme assigned to his Department he expects to allocate in the current funding round.

    Anna Soubry

    The Skills Funding Agency, one of the partner organisations of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, has secured approximately £725,624,976 including administration costs from the European Social Fund (ESF) on behalf of 38 Local Enterprise Partnership areas. The Skills Funding Agency is currently procuring learning and skills activity identified by local areas. These funds are profiled to be spent by end March 2018.

  • 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 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has regulations in place to limit top-sliced management fees for European Social Fund funding by lead contractors to sub-contractors.

    Anna Soubry

    Management fees are a matter between lead contractors and sub-contractors. For European Social Fund (ESF) contracts procured by the Skills Funding Agency, the ESF and 2015/2016 match funding rules state that “You must publish your supply-chain fees and charges policy on your website before entering into any subcontracting agreements for the 2015 to 2016 funding year.” This must include the typical percentage range of fees a contractor retains to manage subcontractors, and how this range is calculated.