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  • Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the transparency of contact details for the National Consumer Council pension scheme.

    Nick Boles

    The National Consumer Council participated in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), which is managed by the Cabinet Office. Administration of the PCSPS is contracted out to MyCSP Ltd. MyCSP’s performance in administering the PCSPS is monitored by the Supplier Management team within Civil Service Pensions in the Cabinet Office; the performance of MyCSP is also reported to the Civil Service Pensions Board on a regular basis, which is independent of the Cabinet Office team.

    Contact details for MyCSP are available from the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/contact-us/.

    “

  • Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will investigate the fitness for purpose of the members’ payments division of the National Consumer Council pension scheme.

    Nick Boles

    The National Consumer Council participated in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), which is managed by the Cabinet Office. Administration of the PCSPS is contracted out to MyCSP Ltd. MyCSP’s performance in administering the PCSPS is monitored by the Supplier Management team within Civil Service Pensions in the Cabinet Office; the performance of MyCSP is also reported to the Civil Service Pensions Board on a regular basis, which is independent of the Cabinet Office team.

    Contact details for MyCSP are available from the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/contact-us/.

    “

  • Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what arrangements are in place to ensure that the pension schemes of abolished non-departmental public bodies which lay within his Department’s remit efficiently discharge their liabilities to pensioners.

    Nick Boles

    The majority of the Department’s non-departmental public bodies (NDPB) contribute into existing multi-employer schemes, these include the PCSPS and Research Council Pension Scheme. Individuals also have the option to contribute to a partnership pension scheme operated by selected pension companies. In both these cases the responsibility to make payments to pensioners lies with the scheme, and not with the individual employer.

    Where an individual NDPB operating its own scheme was to be abolished, as part of that process a decision would be made whether it was appropriate to transfer the liability to the Department or to transfer that scheme to the management of the Cabinet Office.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on consumers of businesses issuing seven-day legal procedure notices with invoices.

    Nick Boles

    In response to the Law Commissions’ report on Consumer Redress for Misleading and Aggressive Practices in March 2012, the Government introduced an amendment to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 giving consumers new powers to pursue civil redress for misleading and aggressive practices.

    The regulations expressly cover demands for payment from a consumer in full or partial settlement of the consumer’s liabilities or purported liabilities to the trader (regulation 2(1A)). This means that misleading and aggressive practices in respect of such demands could lead to both criminal sanctions as well as private redress.

  • 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 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on taking steps to tackle recent reductions in the number of employers posting apprenticeship vacancies.

    Nick Boles

    Latest data shows that whilst the number of employers advertising vacancies has fallen, the number of apprenticeship opportunities posted on the ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ website has increased each year from 71,060 in 2010/11 to 200,460 in 2014/15.

    The Apprenticeship Delivery Board and Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network work with employers to champion apprenticeships and increase the number of places on offer. The Skills Funding Agency also works closely with the National Employer Services Team in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to encourage employers to offer apprenticeships.

    We are launching a new apprenticeships communications campaign in May, jointly designed with DWP, which will promote the benefits of apprenticeships to young people, parents and employers. This will build on National Apprenticeship Week 2016, which saw more than 30,000 apprenticeship places pledged by businesses.

    We also work closely with DWP to ensure that information about apprenticeship vacancies is available to jobseekers through Universal Jobmatch.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many EEA nationals living in the UK have resided in the UK for (a) less than three months, (b) three to six months, (c) six to 12 months, (d) one to two years, (e) two to three years, (f) three to four years, (g) four to five years and (h) longer than five years.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Philip Hollobone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Philip Hollobone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people from Kettering constituency have participated in the National Citizen Service in each of the last three years.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    I am very pleased to report that around 2,500 young people in Kettering have participated in NCS over the past three years. The NCS Trust does not collect data at a constituency level. Therefore, the figures below are for the local authority area of Northamptonshire:

    2013 – 542 participants

    2014 – 1,032 participants

    2015 – 1,103 participants

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many prosecutions have been brought under Section 70 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in each year since the coming into force of that Act.

    Matthew Hancock

    Section 70 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not contain an offence. It amends the Data Protection Act 1998 to exempt data falling within section 1(1)(e) of that Act from some of its provisions, including the offence under section 55 of that Act.

  • Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of representatives he has invited to the Anti-Corruption Summit to be held in May 2016.

    Matthew Hancock

    The London Anti-Corruption Summit will bring together governments, international organisations, businesses and civil society to confront the problem of corruption. Information about the summit can be found on the summit web pages of the GOV.UK website. Further details will be announced in due course.

    “

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people from other EEA member states settled in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) Scotland, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland (i) before and (ii) since 1 January 2004.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.