Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received on the reasons for the recent collapse of Hewden; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
We have received no representations on the reasons for Hewden entering administration.
But we recognise this is a very uncertain time for Hewden employees and their families; and it is positive that some business units have been sold and jobs secured. The Department for Work and Pensions are in contact with the administrators, the redundancy factsheet has been issued to all those affected and Job Centre Plus will help those affected move into new jobs as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with Ofgem on customers of GB Energy Supply who will be given a new energy supplier due to that company ceasing trading.
Answered by Jesse Norman
On 30 November Ofgem appointed Co-operative Energy to take on GB Energy Supply’s customers. Co-operative Energy is honouring the current contracts and prices of GB Energy Supply’s customers. This applies to customers on fixed deals and on standard variable tariffs. Co-operative Energy will also honour all outstanding credit balances for households who are owed money by GB Energy Supply.
The appointment of Co-operative Energy follows a competitive process run by Ofgem to get the best deal possible for customers. The Government will continue to work closely with Ofgem to ensure that consumers’ interests are being protected.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what workplace protection is in place for young people under the age of 25 to protect them from exploitation by their employer.
Answered by Margot James
In 2015, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) launched new advice for employers to help ensure they are fully aware of their obligations in respect of young workers. There are key protections for young workers in the following areas:
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much has been spent on television advertising for the Government's apprenticeship programme in each year since 2006.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Government has spent the following amounts on TV media to advertise apprenticeships in the financial years since 2006.
These costs are exclusive of VAT.
2006/7 | £0 |
2007/8 | £0 |
2008/9 | £2,764,557 |
2009/10 | £0 |
2010/11 | £0 |
2011/12 | £0 |
2012/13 | £0 |
2013/14 | £0 |
2014/15 | £927,287 |
2015/16 | £0 |
2016/17 | £1,499,997 (spend to 23 June 2016) |
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to Skills Funding Agency statistics on Apprenticeship Achievements by framework code, level and gender, 2002-03 to 2013-14, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the reduction in the proportion of engineering apprenticeships which were undertaken by women between 2002 and 2014.
Answered by Nick Boles
The proportion of apprenticeship starts by women on the Engineering apprenticeship framework in England decreased from 4.6 per cent in 2002/03 to 3.8 per cent in 2013/14. The volume of apprenticeship starts on this framework by women actually increased by over ten percent over this period, but there was a larger proportionate increase in male apprentices in this period.
We are encouraging more young women to enter science and engineering careers, including apprenticeships. The annual Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (TEWeek) acts a focal point to encourage them to consider a career in engineering. The Your Life campaign inspires young people to study maths and physics as a gateway to STEM careers. The STEM Ambassadors programme is a network of over 28,000 volunteers working with schools across the UK, 40% of whom are women.
We are taking action to support the growth of apprenticeships in all areas to meet our commitment to 3 million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020. We will launch a new communications campaign in May aimed at promoting the benefits of apprenticeships. Our promotional campaigns include role models of successful female apprentices in sectors where they are under-represented.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding of the Young Women's Trust on page 13 of its report, Making apprenticeships work for young women, that apprenticeships are reinforcing, rather than challenging, occupational segregation by gender.
Answered by Nick Boles
We want to make apprenticeships accessible to the widest possible range of people, as part of meeting our commitment to reach 3 million starts in England by 2020.
Women are well-represented within English apprenticeships - 53.0% of starts in 2014/15 were made by women. This is higher than in both 2013/14 (52.9%) and 2009/10 (49.6%). We will continue to support the extension of this positive representation across all sectors.
We have made it a priority to ensure that all young people have access to quality careers advice and support to help them make the right personal choices. This includes communicating career opportunities in sectors such as science and engineering. We will launch a new communications campaign in May aimed at promoting the benefits of apprenticeships. Our promotional campaigns include role models of successful female apprentices in sectors where they are under-represented.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 2.48 of the National Minimum Wage Low Pay Commission Report Spring 2016, Cm 9207, what assessment he has made of the potential incidence of employers hiring apprentices to avoid paying the new higher minimum wage.
Answered by Nick Boles
No assessment has been made of the potential incidence of employers hiring more apprentices to avoid paying the national minimum wage.
The current minimum wage rate for an apprentice is £3.30 per hour. This applies to apprentices who are aged under 19 or those in the first year of their Apprenticeship. Apprentices aged 19 or above and in the second year of their apprenticeship must be paid at least the minimum wage rate that relates to their age. This means an apprentice aged 25 or above in the second year must be paid at least the National Living Wage.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the findings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on page 5 of its report, Engineered in Britain, published in December 2015, if he will take steps to increase the confidence of the public and manufacturers in Government support for the manufacturing sector.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Government is creating a highly competitive business environment that makes the UK an attractive location for new manufacturing investment and drives strong productivity growth and export success. We are securing the place of UK Manufacturers at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is why we have invested £300m over five years in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult to support the commercialisation of the innovation and new technologies that will be crucial to UK manufacturing success.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what skills businesses in the retail and commercial enterprise sector are required to teach to apprentices to qualify for funding under the Government's apprenticeship programme.
Answered by Nick Boles
In England, apprenticeships must be undertaken under either an agreed Specification for Apprenticeships in England (SASE) framework or a new employer designed apprenticeship standard.
Apprenticeship Frameworks Online (AFO) contains detailed information on all of the apprenticeship frameworks currently available. Apprentices can undertake apprenticeships in Retail and Retail Management under SASE.
Employer-designed apprenticeship standards will replace apprenticeship frameworks. There are three new retail apprenticeship standards ready for delivery – Retailer, Retail Manager and Retail Team Leader. Each of these standards describes the skills, knowledge and behaviours that an apprentice needs to be competent in these occupations.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations his Department received on the requirements to be set for businesses in the retail and commercial enterprise sector to qualify for funding under the apprenticeship programme before those requirements were determined.
Answered by Nick Boles
In England, to qualify for apprenticeships funding, an apprenticeship offered in any sector must comply with the Skills Funding Agency’s funding rules: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sfa-funding-rules-2016-to-2017.