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1 Feb 2007 : Column 466W—continued
A new strategic funding programme announced in the Action Plan, worth £2.4 million over three years, which will among other things enable nationally representative social enterprise bodies to help spread best practice;
Using the developing evidence base to raise awareness and understanding of social enterprise among a range of audiences, working in partnership with the sector;
An investment of almost £6 million over four years to improve the capacity of the Business Link service to broker business support for social enterprises;
Support for the annual Enterprising Solutions Awards, which celebrate and highlight the achievements of the best social enterprises;
Sponsorship of sector conferences such as the recent Voice 07 national social enterprise conference, which provide opportunities for sharing best practice;
A campaign to attract young people to start or join social enterprise, Make Your Mark: Change Lives, which uses inspirational examples of success in the sector. A recent example of this is the Trailblazers magazine and DVD, produced in collaboration with Enterprise Insight and the Social Enterprise Coalition.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what Government assistance is available to establish social enterprises. [111800]
Edward Miliband:
Government help available to establish social enterprise is described in the Social
Enterprise Action plan—Scaling new heights—published on 16 November 2006. In particular, the Government aims to foster a culture of social enterprise and ensure that the right information, advice and finance are available to those running social enterprises.
To foster a culture of social enterprise, the Government will work with the sector to raise the level of awareness of social enterprise and to show that financial success and social and environmental benefits can be achieved together. For example the Office of the Third Sector will work with the sector to develop a programme to appoint 20 social enterprise ambassadors to raise awareness of social enterprise, and work with Government on the development of policy. In addition Government are working with Enterprise Insight to attract young people into social enterprise through the new “Make Your Mark: Change Lives” campaign.
The Business Link Service is the Government’s gateway to support for small businesses. Funding will be provided from April 2007 to Regional Development Agencies to boost Business Link’s capacity to broker business support for social enterprise. From an initial pilot level of at least £0.5 million in 2007-08, the funding will rise to £1.8 million per year from April 2008 to March 2011. This will help ensure that the right information and advice are available to those running social enterprises.
Special Advisers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister without Portfolio whether her special advisers have (a) conducted work and (b) provided advice to her on the funding or financing of political parties in the last 12 months. [112578]
The Minister without Portfolio: My special advisers provide me with advice in accordance with the provisions of the ‘Code of Conduct for Special Advisers’.
Third Sector
Mr. Geoffrey Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what role the Cabinet Office plans for the third sector in the delivery of public services; and if she will make a statement. [111689]
Edward Miliband: The third sector already has a significant role in delivering public services. We are committed to positively encouraging the involvement of third sector organisations in the delivery of services in the future.
On 6 December 2006, the Cabinet Office published “Partnership in Public Services: an action plan for third sector involvement”. The action plan sets out 18 service areas in which there are particular new opportunities for the sector to deliver more, including in health, welfare, employment, education and probation services.
Commitments in the action plan include developing commissioning frameworks and standard contracts to streamline public sector commissioning and procurement processes. We expect these reforms to
make public services more accessible to third sector organisations that have the ambition to help design, deliver and improve public services.
V Charity
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate she has made of the cost of administration for the charity V to date. [111923]
Edward Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 18 January 2007, Official Report, column 1312W.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2007, Official Report, column 1207W, on the V charity, whether the figures for (a) marketing and communications and (b) web portal development are for youth volunteering projects or the administration of the charity V. [111958]
Edward Miliband: The funds provided to V for (a) marketing and communications and (b) web portal development are restricted grants that have allowed v to provide information to individuals and organisations on how to apply for project grants for youth volunteering opportunities, increase awareness of youth volunteering, and develop a web portal that will allow young people to look for appropriate volunteering opportunities and register their interest or participation in particular opportunities. The web portal will provide specific identifier numbers to allow young people to evaluate the opportunities they have taken part in, provide feedback and log the volunteering opportunities they have attended.
Trade and Industry
British Household Panel Survey
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2007, Official Report, column 1144W, on British household panel survey, for what reason his Department considers living in (a) a household with no other individuals, either adults or children and (b) accommodation that is rented from either a local authority or from a housing association an indicator of disadvantage. [117526]
Malcolm Wicks: These measures were among a wide range of indicators of social disadvantage used in a report on multiple disadvantage (using the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS)) commissioned by the then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) in 2003. Some of the measures are indicative of social disadvantage in a broad sense, without in themselves being direct measures of disadvantage.
The ODPM published a report based on this work in September 2004 as “Low income and multiple disadvantage 1991 to 2001: Analysis of the British Household Panel Survey for the Social Exclusion Unit in the Breaking the Cycle Series”.
This report contains details of the results of the research, which was carried out on behalf of the Social Exclusion Unit by the University of Essex.
Social exclusion unit report:
www.socialexclusionunit.gov.uk/publications.asp?id=276.
Carbon Sequestration
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will establish further carbon capture and storage demonstration projects in addition to those proposed in the pre-Budget report. [117827]
Malcolm Wicks: The pre-Budget report announced the appointment of consulting engineers to look at the costs of building a carbon capture and storage plant based here in the UK. The results of this work will assist Government in reaching a decision on whether to commit to a demonstration project in 2007. However, in addition we have already allocated £35 million for the demonstration of carbon abatement technologies, which includes both cleaner coal and carbon capture and storage technologies.
Energy Saving
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will launch an advertising campaign to encourage people to save energy. [112634]
Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
The Government are committed to raising awareness on climate change, and its links to energy use. DEFRA, the Department for Trade and Industry, and associated agencies and non-departmental public bodies currently run a number of different climate change-related communications activities focused on specific issues and target audiences. These include campaigns to address business and household energy efficiency, renewable power generation, low-carbon transport and climate change impacts.
The Energy Saving Trust (EST), which is funded by DEFRA to promote energy efficiency in the household sector, runs campaigns to encourage consumers to take energy saving action. EST’s “Save Your 20 per cent.” marketing campaign is a key source of information and a call to action for consumers to reduce their energy use and install energy efficient measures.
In addition, DEFRA is developing a CO2 calculator. This will be launched in the spring and promoted with an advertising campaign. It will help individuals to calculate their CO2 footprint and enable them to make more informed choices about how to save energy.
Engagements
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry with which non-governmental organisations he has had meetings to discuss energy policy since he took office; and how many such meetings have taken place. [117696]
Malcolm Wicks:
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and my noble Friend the Minister for Energy and I have held regular discussions since May 2006 with a wide variety of
non-governmental organisations, including the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy (UKBCSE), Green Alliance, CBI, Institute of Directors, British Chambers of Commerce, the Trade Union Sustainable Advisory Committee (TUSAC), and the Carbon Trust as well as a large number of individual companies and trade associations, on a range of energy issues including the Energy Review; energy prices; short term and long term security of supply; low carbon energy; and European and international energy policy. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the CBI jointly chair the Business Energy Forum where energy issues are discussed at a strategic level with Ofgem and key industry bodies.
Environmental Liability Directive
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meetings on which dates since May 2004 (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with (i) industry employees, (ii) members of trade bodies and (iii) members of non-governmental organisations in relation to the implementation of the environmental liability directive in the UK; and what organisations were represented at each meeting. [110764]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department has liaised with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs since 2002 (start of the negotiations) to the present concerning the transposition of the environmental liability directive.
Throughout this time, the Department has held meetings, in conjunction with DEFRA, with members of the trade and non-governmental organisations and these are listed in a table which has been placed in the Library of the House as DEFRA's written answer, on 29 January 2007, Official Report, column 12W.
In addition to the above meetings, the Department held a meeting with the Association of Electricity Producers on 29 January 2007.
Executive Agencies
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which of the executive agencies of his Department have regional offices outside London. [116731]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department is responsible for the following five Executive agencies: Small Business Service, Companies House, the Insolvency Service, Patent Office and National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML). Their offices outside London are as follows:
Small Business Service has an office in Sheffield.
The Patent Office HQ is in South Wales.
Companies House HQ is in Cardiff and has an office in Edinburgh.
National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) HQ is in Teddington.
The Insolvency Service’s offices are given in the following table.
| Number | |
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which executive agencies are the responsibility of his Department; what the function is of each agency; and what the budget was of each agency in the most recent year for which figures are available. [116738]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department is responsible for the following five Executive agencies: Small Business Service, Companies House, the Insolvency Service, Patent Office and National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML).
Improve access to finance for small and medium enterprises;
Build the capabilities of small and medium enterprises to grow;
Encourage more enterprises in disadvantaged communities and under-represented groups;
Develop better regulation; and
Simplify support for businesses.
Following a review last year, in April 2007 the SBS will cease to be an Executive agency and become a smaller policy unit within DTI’s Enterprise and Business Group.
Budget (2006-07): £232.6 million.
The main functions of Companies House are to:
incorporate and dissolve limited companies;
examine and store company information delivered under the Companies Act and related legislation; and
make this information available to the public.
Budget (2006-07): £70.3 million.
administers and investigates the affairs of bankrupts, of companies and partnerships wound up by the court, and establish why they became insolvent;
acts as trustee/liquidator where no private sector insolvency practitioner is appointed;
acts as nominee and supervisor in fast-track individual voluntary arrangements;
takes forward reports of bankrupts’ and directors’ misconduct;
deals with the disqualification of unfit directors in all corporate failures;
deals with bankruptcy restrictions orders and undertakings;
authorises and regulates the insolvency profession;
assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay its employees;
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