Helen Jones

Our consultation on the feed-in tariff review reflects the need to balance sector support whilst keeping bills down for consumers. We strongly welcomed evidence from the sector during this review consultation, which ended on 23 October, and we asked a question about the impact on the wider economy, including jobs, in the consultation. We will respond in due course.

National Grid has recently published their Winter Outlook Report with a capacity margin of 5.1% for winter 2015-16.

National Grid continually assesses the risks to security of supply and system stability across GB. They have confirmed they have all the tools they need to manage the system this winter.

Ensuring that hardworking families and businesses across the country have secure, affordable energy supplies they can rely on is our top priority.

National Grid has recently published their Winter Outlook Report with a capacity margin of 5.1% for winter 2015-16.

National Grid continually assesses the risks to security of supply and system stability across GB. They have confirmed they have all the tools they need to manage the system this winter.

The Government does not collect data on the different types of unsecured debts and the creditors to whom they are owed across the full range of formal insolvency procedures.

The Government acknowledges that some people are unhappy with the system of retentions as it stands, but it is an embedded feature of the construction industry.

Therefore, our general approach is towork with the industry through the Construction Leadership Council and its supply chain payment charter; endorsing its commitment to zero retentions by 2025. Achieving this commitment will involve far-reaching changes to the way the sector works.

It is not clear that requiring money to be placed in trust funds is the best way to overcome any shortcomings in the system of retentions: it would impose a financial burden on construction clients, many of whom are themselves small businesses, and where there is financial weakness, may itself make insolvency more likely. The Government is commissioning research on the costs and benefits of the retention system and alternatives, including the use of trust funds. This will inform future action.

The Government does not collect data on the different types of unsecured debts and the creditors to whom they are owed across the full range of formal insolvency procedures.

The Government acknowledges that some people are unhappy with the system of retentions as it stands, but it is an embedded feature of the construction industry.

Therefore, our general approach is towork with the industry through the Construction Leadership Council and its supply chain payment charter; endorsing its commitment to zero retentions by 2025. Achieving this commitment will involve far-reaching changes to the way the sector works.

It is not clear that requiring money to be placed in trust funds is the best way to overcome any shortcomings in the system of retentions: it would impose a financial burden on construction clients, many of whom are themselves small businesses, and where there is financial weakness, may itself make insolvency more likely. The Government is commissioning research on the costs and benefits of the retention system and alternatives, including the use of trust funds. This will inform future action.

The Government does not collect data on the different types of unsecured debts and the creditors to whom they are owed across the full range of formal insolvency procedures.

The Government acknowledges that some people are unhappy with the system of retentions as it stands, but it is an embedded feature of the construction industry.

Therefore, our general approach is towork with the industry through the Construction Leadership Council and its supply chain payment charter; endorsing its commitment to zero retentions by 2025. Achieving this commitment will involve far-reaching changes to the way the sector works.

It is not clear that requiring money to be placed in trust funds is the best way to overcome any shortcomings in the system of retentions: it would impose a financial burden on construction clients, many of whom are themselves small businesses, and where there is financial weakness, may itself make insolvency more likely. The Government is commissioning research on the costs and benefits of the retention system and alternatives, including the use of trust funds. This will inform future action.

In June last year, the Government introduced online electoral registration for the first time. Our new online system allows people to register to vote quickly and simply - a crucial first step to engaging in the democratic process.

Since 1 July 2014 nearly 4.3m people have applied to register to vote under individual electoral registration, with about two thirds of this number making their application online.

The term “intern” is not defined in any legislation: entitlement to the minimum wage depends on whether or not an individual is a worker. If an internship meets the legal definition of a worker, then they must be paid at least the minimum wage from the start.

Given this dependency on employment status, it is vital that employers and workers understand how this is determined. We continue to carry out targeted awareness raising initiatives with interns and HMRC have been working with employers to identify potential non-compliance.

Complaints from interns about non-payment of the minimum wage are prioritised by HMRC for investigation and HMRC will investigate every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the helpline on 0800 917 2368.

Determining an individual’s employment status can be complicated. This is why the Business Secretary announced a review of employment status in October this year, to help ensure an employment status framework in the UK that meets the needs of everyone. This is an internal review and will present findings to ministers early next year.

The Government has named 30 employers under the revised Naming and Shaming Scheme. Between them they owed workers a total of over £50,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £24,000. Details of these employers can be found on the original press notices (28 February 2014 and 8 June 2014), including the town in which the employer is based. However, these organisations may employ staff or have offices or other operations in other geographical locations.

No employers have been prosecuted under the National Minimum Wage Act since October 2013.

The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and the effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it.

The Government has collaborated with care sector representative bodies to improve understanding of compliance risks and design controls within payroll systems that prevent workers being underpaid the minimum wage, in order to improve compliance.

Guidance on Gov.uk has been updated to make it as clear as possible that travel time and rest breaks between assignments must be paid at least the national Minimum Wage.

In addition, the Government will continue to work with the sector to ensure that understanding improves. This will include the Department of Health’s statutory guidance as part of the overall guidance on market shaping and commissioning, the final version of which will be published in Autumn 2014.

The aim of our Northern Futures initiative is to facilitate a new kind of conversation about how we rebalance our economy. There are no plans to create a “Northern Futures Board”, but Liverpool and Warrington are strongly encouraged to join the Northern Futures conversation by submitting ideas via northernfutures@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk

Information on students awarded and paid Disabled Students' Allowance is published annually by Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Support for Higher Education England'. The latest statistics are available at the following link:

http://www.slc.co.uk/media/694170/slcsfr052013.pdf

A further breakdown for Warrington North constituency and Warrington LEA has been provided in the table for the academic year 2012/13. Equivalent figures for the academic year 2013/14 will be available from November 2014.

Students in receipt of Disabled Students Allowance^[1] from Warrington LEA and Warrington North Constituency

Academic Year 2012/13

Effective date: 13/11/2013

Notes:

[1] Disabled Student Allowance may be paid to the Student or to a Supplier on the student's behalf.

[2] Figures are derived from the Post Code of the applicant's home address.

[3] The effective date is that of the November 2013 Awards Statistical First Release. The figures are therefore provisional and do not include students who were awarded DSA after November 2013.

[4] DSA Payments may be made at any point during the Academic Year or after the end of the Academic Year.

[5] Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not add to the sum of the components due to rounding.

[6] '-' represents a number less than 5.

No businesses in Warrington North have received project funding directly from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) but they can apply to regional and national RGF programmes for support.

Information on students awarded and paid Disabled Students' Allowance is published annually by Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Support for Higher Education England'. The latest statistics are available at the following link: http://www.slc.co.uk/media/694170/slcsfr052013.pdf

A further breakdown for Warrington North constituency, Warrington LEA and the North West has been provided in the table for the academic year 2012/13. Equivalent figures for the academic year 2013/14 will be available from November 2014.

Students in receipt of Disabled Students Allowance^[1] from Nottingham South

constituency, Nottingham and the East Midlands

Academic Year 2012/13

Effective date: 13/11/2013

Notes:

[1] Disabled Student Allowance may be paid to the Student or to a Supplier on the student's behalf.

[2] Figures are derived from the Post Code of the applicant's home address.

[3] The effective date is that of the November 2013 Awards Statistical First Release. The figures are therefore provisional and do not include students who were awarded DSA after November 2013.

[4] DSA Payments may be made at any point during the Academic Year or after the end of the Academic Year.

[5] Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not add to the sum of the components due to rounding.

[6] '-' represents a number less than 5.

The latest available information on applicants is shown in Table 1. UCAS have not released any data on applications from individual constituencies for the 2014 application cycle, but the latest figures for total applicants to all UK institutions (published on May 30^th) show that they have risen by 4%, compared to the same point in 2013.

Table 1

UCAS applicants to full-time undergraduate courses from Warrington North constituency

Source: UCAS

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The number of entrants to UK HEIs who were domiciled in Warrington North constituency prior to starting their course is shown in Table 2. HESA figures for 2013/14 will be available in January 2015. There are differences in the coverage of UCAS and HESA: the UCAS figures cover applicants to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), Further Education Colleges (FECs), and Alternative Providers (APs) of HE in the UK; the HESA figures cover HEIs only, plus the University of Buckinghamshire. Not all applicants apply via UCAS: some apply directly to institutions. In addition, some applicants who obtain a place via UCAS opt to defer entry until the following year.

Table 2

Entrants ⁽¹⁾ domiciled ⁽²⁾ in Warrington North constituency

UK Higher Education Institutions

Academic years 2009/10 to 2012/13

Source: HESA Student Record

Notes:

(1) Entrants refers to students in their first year of study, on full-time and part-time courses, at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

(2) Domicile refers to a students' home or permanent address prior to starting their course

The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

Results for all wards are available on the Commission's website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

The ward results for the Warrington North constituency were as follows:

We are implementing the commitments in our Open Government Partnership National Action Plan ensuring we maintain the UK’s position as a world leader on transparency and open data.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Department launched a formal public consultation on 9 November on proposals to end electricity generation from unabated coal power stations by 2025 in Great Britain. Officials in the department are engaging a range of stakeholders as part of the consultation process. An assessment of stakeholders’ views will be published after the consultation ends in February 2017.

Our current energy pipeline, published in the National Infrastructure Plan 2016 which includes investment to 2030, suggests that £18bn (or 9%) of total investment is to be publicly funded, £177bn is to be privately funded, whilst a final £12bn of energy investment will be jointly funded by the private and public sectors.

The Department has received a number of representations on the future of carbon capture and storage (CCS). This includes carefully considering the findings and recommendations made in the report ‘Lowest Cost Decarbonisation for the UK: the critical role of carbon capture and storage’, published in September 2016 by the Parliamentary Advisory Group on CCS, chaired by the noble Lord, Lord Oxburgh.

We are considering the options for CCS in the UK, and will set out our approach in due course.

The Government will publish an impact assessment on the increase in the National Living Wage and the increases in the National Minimum Wage rates announced at Autumn Statement in due course.

The Low Pay Commission also evaluates the impact of the various rates upon both employers and workers, drawing on economic, labour market and pay analysis, independent research and stakeholder evidence. Their report can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-minimum-wage-low-pay-commission-autumn-2016-report.

From April 2017 all National Minimum Wage rates, and the National Living Wage, will be increased by more than inflation. The main rate (for 21 – 24 year olds) is expected, at that point, to be at its highest ever level in real terms.