Ann McKechin: What discussions she has had with the Scottish Government on the clustering of betting shops and fixed odds betting terminals.
Ann McKechin: The number of bookmakers in the city of Glasgow has increased by 20% in the past seven years, and millions of pounds have been lost from our poorest communities, a situation that has been replicated right across the United Kingdom. The city council has asked the Scottish Government for powers to limit the number of bookmakers in such communities, and I ask the Minister, when she next has...
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will create a national certification scheme for work readiness for young people.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the level of gross fixed investment in the UK as a percentage of GDP.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential for skills shortages in the manufacturing sector caused by the retirement of experienced workers.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many civil servants in his Department have been seconded to the private sector in each of the last three years.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many private sector secondees his Department employed in each of the last three years.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether the Government Procurement Service imposes any conditions in its contracts on the employment of apprentices by the companies from which it procures.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the qualifying criteria are for loans offered to family members where UK residents are harmed abroad.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprentices his Department employed in each of the last three years.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to reduce staff turnover in his Department.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department compiles statistics on the destination of staff leaving to work in the private sector.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to complete the review on services offered in situations where UK residents are harmed abroad; and if he will publish the results of that review.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether there are basic service levels or protocols in place in respect of services offered in situations where UK residents are harmed abroad.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on increasing the number of apprentices in (a) departments and (b) agencies and public bodies.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Building the Business Bank: Strategy Update, published by his Department in March 2013, whether the roll out of the British Business Bank’s extended loan guarantee programme has been completed.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects the British Business Bank to commence lending activity to businesses.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will provide details of the tendering process which led to the award of British Business Bank funding to Praesidian Capital and BMS Finance; how many other fund managers he expects the British Business Bank to partner with; and how much of the Bank's capital will ultimately be invested in fund management companies.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Building the Business Bank: Strategy Update, published by his Department in March 2013, if he will publish details of the initial transactions of the British Business Bank's £300 million investment programme.
Ann McKechin: The Financial Times this morning quotes a Treasury spokesman as saying that an interest rate rise is “not something we are worried about” and a “sign of success”. Does the Secretary of State concur with that view?