Holidays: Prices

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the possibility of collusion between travel companies and airlines when setting prices for school holiday dates; and if he will make a statement. [183508]

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Jenny Willott: The Department for Business, innovation and Skills has not made any assessment of the possibility of collusion between travel companies and airlines when setting prices for school holiday dates.

Evidence of anti-competitive practices by airlines can be presented to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and evidence of anti-competitive practices by travel companies can be presented to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The CAA and OFT have significant powers to investigate and act if they find a company or group of companies abusing a dominant position or behaving anti-competitively.

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what research his Department has commissioned into reasons for price differentials charged by airlines and travel companies during (a) school holidays and (b) term times. [183509]

Jenny Willott: The Government have commissioned no research into price differentials charged by airlines and travel companies during the school holidays and term times. The Government are aware that prices increase at times of peak demand where there is limited supply. In respect of holidays abroad, UK holiday organisers compete with organisers from other countries. Consumers also wish to holiday during the peak periods. The holiday industry maintains that, in general, the sector relies on profits from the peak periods to enable it to trade throughout the year.

Manufacturing Industries

Mr Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of trends in the level of manufacturing activity in (a) Coventry, (b) the west midlands and (c) England in each of the last three years; and what assessment he has made of future capacity in that sector. [183518]

Michael Fallon: Figures on employment and output (in terms of gross value added) for manufacturing in Coventry, the west midlands and England are contained in the following table. Gross value added data for 2012 are only currently available at the whole UK level.

While the Department and the wider Government has many plans to promote and improve the environment for manufacturing businesses, there have been no official forecasts made of manufacturing performance or capacity.

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Minimum Wage

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to improve compliance in paying the (a) apprentice rate, (b) youth development rate and (c) 16 to 17 rate of the national minimum wage. [183145]

Matthew Hancock: The Government take the enforcement of the national minimum wage (NMW) very seriously. HMRC review every single complaint from workers, including apprentices, youth workers and 16 to 17-year-olds.

In addition, the Government are toughening up on enforcement of the NMW. The revised NMW naming and shaming scheme which came into effect on 1 October 2013 made it easier to name employers that break national minimum wage law. By naming and shaming employers, it is hoped that bad publicity will be an additional deterrent to employers who would otherwise be tempted not to pay the NMW. We anticipate naming employers very soon. The Government also announced that we will be increasing the NMW financial penalty in February 2014 subject to regulations receiving parliamentary approval.

The Government have also stepped up their communication activity to increase the level of awareness of the minimum wage rules across the board, including young people and apprentices. This is to help employers avoid falling foul of minimum wage rules unwittingly, and ensure that individuals are well-informed about their minimum wage eligibility.

At a more targeted level, we are addressing non-compliance in other ways for apprentices due to our concern about the level of employer non-compliance with the NMW rules for apprentices. We are ensuring that complaints from apprentices are prioritised by HMRC.

In addition, in England, I am writing to each new apprentice on a Government-funded apprenticeship, setting out what they can expect from their apprenticeship—this includes information on NMW entitlement. We have also ensured that information on the NMW rules is included in the information packs that the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) issues to prospective apprenticeship employers.

Anyone not receiving the minimum wage that they are legally entitled to should call the pay and work rights helpline on 0800 917 2368.

Parental Leave

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of (a) women and (b) men who (i) did and (ii) did not return to work after taking maternity or paternity leave in the last year for which figures are available. [183690]

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Jenny Willott: The latest Maternity and Paternity Rights and Women Returners Survey shows that in 2009-10, 77% of mothers who had worked before the birth of their child returned to work. This was between 12 and 18 months of the birth of their child.

The survey does not report on the percentage of fathers who return to work after paternity leave.

The Maternity and Paternity Rights and Women Returners Survey was published in 2011 by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions. It can be found on gov.uk.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects to publish a further impact assessment for the Government's revised shared parental leave and pay proposals. [183718]

Jenny Willott: The Impact Assessment for Shared Parental Leave and Pay was published on the 25 February 2013 alongside publication of the Shared Parental Leave Administration consultation. The published document is located here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/110692/13-651-modern-workplaces-shared-parental-leave-and-pay-impact-assessment2.pdf

The document will be republished alongside Royal Assent of the Children and Families Bill and will be revised, as necessary, to take account of any amendments to the provisions as a result of the passage of the Bill through Parliament.

Parents: Surveys

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when the next Maternity and Paternity Rights and Women Returners Survey between his Department and the Department for Work and Pensions will be (a) commissioned, (b) collected and (c) published. [183680]

Jenny Willott: The Government intend to conduct an evaluation of the new system of Shared Parental Leave after its introduction. It is anticipated that the next survey in the Maternity and Paternity Rights series will be commissioned as part of this work. The exact timing of the survey has yet to be decided.

Procurement

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much and what proportion of the Department's procurement was conducted using e-procurement tools in each of the last three financial years; and what the value of such contracts was. [182978]

Jenny Willott: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has not made any direct procurement using e-procurement in the last three financial years (2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13). However, following the outsourcing of departmental procurement actions to UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UKSBS) as part of a wider shared service contract the introduction of e-procurement tools is currently taking place.

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UKSBS is working closely with the Government Procurement Service (GPS) and GPS has introduced a range of e-Procurement tools to improve procurement efficiency and facilitate savings across all Government Departments. These include:

An e-Sourcing suite—Used to run further competitions under framework agreements, to run procurements that must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, and to undertake industry consultations and buyer surveys for early market engagement.

Government e-Marketplace—Provides easy access to centralised deals via online catalogues (GPS's framework agreements and other Departments' contracts) and allows customers to place orders; provides an optional facility for complete transactional and integration functionality with e-Invoicing.

Dynamic Marketplace—Used by customers to tender for non-complex and low-value procurements below the OJEU threshold.

Students: Loans

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what recent discussions, either oral or in writing, he has had with the Scottish Government regarding future sales of the student loan book; [183494]

(2) with reference to the Autumn Statement 2013, Cm 8747, paragraph 2.16, what response he has received from the Scottish Government to the Government's proposal for future sales of the student loan book. [183532]

Mr Willetts: Officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have regular meetings with Scottish Government officials on the student loans portfolio. Scottish Ministers have decided not to participate in the current Income Contingent Repayment loan sale.

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the value of student loans for (a) tuition and (b) maintenance that will be issued in each of the next 10 years. [183702]

Mr Willetts: In the 2014-15 financial year the estimated loan outlay is (a) £7 billion for tuition fee loans and (b) £4 billion for maintenance loans. Estimates for 2015-16 onwards are still to be finalised.

Telephone Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Cabinet Office Guidance for Customer Service Helplines, published on 26 December 2013, when his Department expects to comply with the instruction set out in that guidance that non-geographic 084 numbers should by default use the 03 prefix. [183202]

Jenny Willott: All but one of the Departments public facing 0845 numbers have had their 03 equivalents activated. The last number will be activated by 1 March 2014.

UK Trade & Investment: West Midlands

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to increase the number of UK Trade & Investment staff in the West Midlands. [183544]

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Michael Fallon: There are no plans to increase the number of staff directly employed by UK Trade & Investment in the west midlands. There are currently 39 international trade advisers in the region including three additional advisers appointed in 2012 and six additional advisers appointed in 2013.

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what financial support UK Trade & Investment West Midlands received from the Government in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2013. [183545]

Michael Fallon: UK Trade & Investment West Midlands received the following amounts for trade work: £2,782,400 in 2010-11, £3,294,000 in 2011-12 and £4,679,100 in 2013-14.

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UK Trade & Investment employees in the West Midlands were focused on attracting inward investment to Shropshire in (a) 2010, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013. [183546]

Michael Fallon: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) resource tasked with attracting inward investment is divided between the UK and priority markets overseas, There were 34 priority markets in 2010 and 2012. In 2013, these rose to 40.

Figures for the regional development agency responsible for the west midlands in 2010 are not available.

UKTI investment resource in the UK and priority markets overseas is responsible for supporting inward investment to the UK and promoting UK capability at the national, regional and local level. In 2012 and 2013 no employees were deployed on a county by county basis within England.

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the value was of exports from UK Trade & Investment-assisted projects in Shropshire in (a) 2010, (b) 2012 and (c) 2008. [183547]

Michael Fallon: Official trade statistics published by the ONS and HMRC cannot identify the value of exports from UKTI assisted projects.

Official data on the value of trade are not available at sub-regional or county level. Trade in goods data at regional level is published by HMRC in the Regional Trade Statistics release. This includes data on the value of goods exports in the west midlands region. The latest release is available at:

https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/RTS/Pages/default.aspx

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many overseas trade delegations UK Trade & Investment West Midlands organised for Shropshire firms in (a) 2008, (b) 2010 and (c) 2012. [183578]

Michael Fallon: UK Trade & Investment West Midlands organised five trade missions in 2008/09, nine in 2010/11 and 13 in 2012/13. All of these visits were open to companies from Shropshire. As well as regionally organised missions, companies from Shropshire are also able to participate in a wide range of sector focused missions organised by UK Trade & Investment.