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11 May 2009 : Column 555W—continued
Flexible working messages were included as part of this campaign. The Government also engaged with key stakeholders including Working Families, CarersUK, the Scouts and the TUC to promote the flexible messages to employees.
(c) The production of a good practice guide for employers on supporting carers
Employers for Carers, facilitated by Carers UK and led by a core group of employers, was formally launched in January 2009. Their work includes identifying and promoting the business benefits of supporting carers in the workplace and offering employers practical support to develop and benchmark good practice. They aim to
create a culture that supports carers in and into work. Government are working with groups such as Carers UK and Employers for Carers to assess the best way of disseminating and promoting a good practice guide as agreed in the Carers Strategy.
Contracts
Harry Cohen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will take steps to ensure that companies which do not complete work which they have contracted to undertake do not receive the full value of payments specified in such (a) public and (b) private sector contracts. [262280]
Ian Pearson: Where there is not full or satisfactory receipt of the required outputs, full payment should not be made and this commercial position is reinforced in Government's recommended model terms and conditions of contract for goods and services. These model terms also include a range of remedies available to the procuring authority in the event of a contractor's failure to meet the required specification.
Departmental Domestic Visits
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many bank branches the Secretary of State has visited on official business in the last 12 months. [261143]
Mr. McFadden: My right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State visited a branch of Natwest at 1 Princes Street, London, to mark the start of RBS’s regional fund schemes for local entrepreneurs.
Departmental Electronic Equipment
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many laptops were provided to (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants in his Department in each year since 2005; and what the cost to the public purse was. [266346]
Mr. McFadden: The Department uses two types of laptop device. One provides secure remote access to the Departments network from the UK and overseas; the other is a standalone model with encryption. The figures in the following table show the number of laptops in use at the end of each financial year.
Departmental Public Consultation
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies paid Opinion Leader Research in financial year 2007-08. [260972]
Mr. McFadden: Central records indicate that the Department paid Opinion Leader Research Ltd. £108,152.29 in financial year 2007-08.
I have asked chief executives of the Executive agencies to respond directly to the hon. Member.
Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 11 May 2009 :
The Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has asked me to reply to your question how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies paid Opinion Leader Research in financial year 2007-08.
The Insolvency Service Executive Agency of The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform made no payments to Opinion Leader Research in the financial year 2007-08.
Letter from Gareth Jones , dated 11 May 2009 :
I am responding on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 2 March 2009, UIN 260972, to the Minister of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Companies House did not make any payments to Opinion Leader Research in the financial year 2007-08.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what payments for (a) polling and (b) other services his Department has made to (i) Deborah Mattinson and (ii) Opinion Leader Research Ltd. since 31 December 2007; and if he will make a statement. [261062]
Mr. McFadden: Central records indicate that the Department has made no payments for (a) polling and (b) other services to Deborah Mattinson and Opinion Leader Research Ltd. since 31 December 2007.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2009, Official Report, column 1128W, on the economic situation, what expenditure under what budgetary headings his Department incurred in relation to each of its Department’s three summits on the economic situation held at 1 Victoria Street since January 2009. [268173]
Mr. McFadden: The costs of the three summits referred to in my answer to the hon. Member on 17 March 2009, Official Report, column 1128W, were as follows:
Regional Economic Council—5 November 2008: Total cost: £395.25 of which venue hire was £328.00 and hospitality was £67.25.
Credit Card Summit—26 November 2008: Total cost: £1,126.30 of which venue hire was £490.00 and hospitality was £636.30.
Regional Economic Council—5 January 2009: Total cost: £605.70 of which venue hire was £468.00 and hospitality was £137.70.
East Midlands Airport: Radio Frequencies
Ms Hewitt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what assessment he has made of the cost to East Midlands Airport of the introduction of administered incentive pricing for aeronautical radio spectrum; [272230]
(2) what estimate he has made of the individual cost to passengers using East Midlands Airport of administered incentive pricing for aeronautical radio spectrum if the full cost is passed on by airlines. [272231]
Mr. McFadden: The matter raised is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive of Ofcom to reply directly to my right hon. Friend. Copies of the chief executive’s letter will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Electronic Equipment: Forgery
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate his Department has made of (a) the prevalence of counterfeit electronic components and (b) the extent of their inclusion in assemblies for military and civilian purposes; and what steps are being taken to inform users of the dangers of component failures. [273605]
Ian Pearson: The Department has made no such estimates, but we recognise that counterfeiting of electronic components is a problem in the UK, and we are helping the UK Electronics Alliance (UKEA) to co-ordinate work on ways to share best practice on prevention, detection and intelligence sharing.
Other organisations involved in this work include the MOD, HMRC, the UK Intellectual Property Office, Trading Standards, the Components Obsolescence Group, Intellect, and the Association of Franchised Distributors of Electronic Components (AFDEC).
Minimum Wage: Telephone Services
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what consultation his Department undertook with the Public and Commercial Services Union before the decision was taken to outsource the national minimum wage helpline. [273117]
Mr. McFadden
[holding answer 7 May 2009]: Several meetings took place with trade union representatives about the Department’s plans prior to a decision being
taken to outsource the new single enforcement helpline. These representatives included both local and national public and commercial services union officers.
The new helpline will provide a single point of contact for vulnerable workers and employers seeking information and advice about the national minimum wage, the agricultural minimum wage, working time regulation and the special regulations relating to employment agencies and gangmasters. Plans for the helpline have been discussed at meetings of the Fair Employment Enforcement Board which brings together enforcement agencies from across Government, as well as employer and employee representations.
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which organisations bid for the national minimum wage helpline contract; and what the monetary value of the contract awarded to BSS for the national minimum wage helpline is. [273118]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 7 May 2009]: The contract with BSS will last for three years, with a possibility of extension for a further three years if the service proves to be effective, and represents value for money. The Department regards the anticipated contract value and the names of the unsuccessful bidders as commercially confidential.
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will place in the Library a copy of the business case for the decision to outsource the work of national minimum wage helpline. [273119]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 7 May 2009]: The Department looked very carefully at options for direct Government delivery of the service before turning to an outsourcing solution.
The helpline provider was selected following a competitive tendering process which assessed bids against a number of factors including value for money, evidence of a high level of operator skills, a track record in delivering sensitive services on behalf of the public sector, and flexible IT systems and skills. I expect the successful tenderer to deliver a high quality service for vulnerable workers and for the different workplace enforcement bodies that stand behind the helpline.
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what training has been provided to BSS staff who will be employed on the national minimum wage helpline contract. [273120]
Mr. McFadden: [holding answer 7 May 2009]: BSS's helpline staff are receiving more than eight weeks' full-time training prior to commencement of the new helpline service. Much of the training has been delivered by the Government's workplace enforcement bodies on whose behalf the helpline will answer straightforward queries from callers, and refer on complex queries and complaints of abuses which require investigation.
Ministers: Members Interests
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what advice the Secretary of State received from (a) his Permanent Secretary and (b) the independent adviser on Ministers' interests, pursuant to paragraph 7.7 of the Ministerial Code, prior to establishing his blind trust. [272381]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 5 May 2009]: My right hon. Friend's blind trust was established prior to his becoming Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Mobile Phones: Contracts
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many complaints Ofcom has received on the handling by each mobile telephone service provider of cancellations of mobile telephone services in each of the last five years. [264097]
Mr. McFadden: Office of Communications (Ofcom) have advised that the information requested could be provided only at a disproportionate cost. While Ofcom does monitor the levels of complaints against service providers’ customer services, this information is aggregated and does not go down to the level of detail requested.
Furthermore, Ofcom only publishes complaints data in an aggregated manner and does not release supplier-specific information. The Communications Act 2003 provides clear guidance for how Ofcom should release supplier-specific information. Ofcom must also weigh up the potential risk of civil liability, should it release information that is inaccurate or misleading.
Non-domestic Rates
Peter Luff: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions his Department has had with the Treasury and the Department for Communities and Local Government on the implementation of measures to introduce automatic rate relief for small businesses. [271533]
Ian Pearson: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government gave on 5 May 2009, Official Report, column 141W.
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