| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
21 Mar 2007 : Column 935W—continued
Manufacturing: East Sussex
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to encourage (a) research and development, (b) manufacturing and (c) international investment in (i) Eastbourne and (ii) East Sussex. [125487]
Margaret Hodge: The DTI provides support to encourage research and development, manufacturing and international investment in Eastbourne and East Sussex through a range of national and regional programmes and initiatives:
The Government have introduced and improved the R and D tax credit to enable companies in all regions to carry out research and development projects, the credit is presently worth £600 million per year in Government support. In 2006-07 we are providing £3.3 billion to support UK science which includes £2.3 million to the Technology Programme which is to support the UK research base and £430 million to the Technology Programme which is 600 collaborative R and D projects across 40 technology areas, enabling manufacturers to capitalise on key technologies.
Regionally, three programmes are managed by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) on behalf of the Department. These are the Grant for Research and Development, Selective Finance for Investment and the Manufacturing Advisory Service.
In addition, SEEDA provides advice and information via the Business Link network as well as support through programmes such as the Innovation Advisory Service and Enterprise Hub Programme, among others. SEEDA also manages regional delivery of the national inward investment promotion framework which is operated by UK Trade and Investment. The framework seeks to encourage foreign direct investors as well as working directly with relevant partners in the region to encourage appropriate international investment—including into East Sussex.
Regional Government: Northern Region
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total expenditure by (a) the Northwest Regional Development Agency, (b) One Northeast and (c) Yorkshire Forward was on the recent New Local Government Network pamphlet Redesigning Regionalism: leadership and accountability in England’s regions. [126911]
Margaret Hodge: Northwest Regional Development Agency, One Northeast and Yorkshire Forward have each contributed £5,000 to the production of the report by the New Local Government Network. The report dealt with the roles of regional development agencies, city regions and regional assemblies and set out a range of options to enhance accountability. These issues reflected the priorities set out in the Local Government White Paper and are also being considered in the sub-national review as part of the comprehensive spending review process.
Space Technology: European Union
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Government have contributed to the EU space programme site in French Guyiana since its inception. [128569]
Malcolm Wicks: The UK Government have contributed €140.9 million to the European Space Agency (ESA)—not EU—programme supporting the site in French Guiana since 1976 when the programme started.
Trade Promotion
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what requests he has received for Ministers to visit non-EU countries on trade promotion visits since May 2005; [124805]
(2) which countries Ministers in his Department have visited on trade promotion visits in each year since 2000; which Ministers visited each; and on what date each visit took place. [124807]
Mr. Darling [holding answer 2 March 2007]: There is no central record of ministerial visits, and it would incur disproportionate cost to obtain this information. All ministerial visits are conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers. Since 1999, the Government have published, on an annual basis, a list of overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500 and the total cost of all ministerial travel. Information for 2006-07 will be published as soon as possible after the end of the financial year.
Under-represented Groups
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research his Department has carried out into the barriers to enterprise experienced by under-represented groups. [117322]
Margaret Hodge: Research to increase our understanding of the barriers to enterprise for under-represented groups has been carried out within the following research projects.
Women's Business Ownership: Recent research and policy development
Ethnic Minority Businesses and ICT Focus Group Research
Engaging Black and Minority Ethnic Entrepreneurs in Business Support
Enterprise Dynamics in the 20 per cent. Most Deprived Wards in England
Business-led Regeneration: Case Studies in four urban areas
Policy Interactions and Outcomes in Deprived Areas
Ethnic Minority Businesses in England; Report on the Annual Small Business
Survey 2003 Ethnic Boost
Evaluation of the Phoenix Development Fund
Evaluation of City Growth Strategies
Evaluation of Phoenix Fund support for Community Development Finance
Institutions
Finance for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Report on the 2004 UK
Survey of SME Finances
Myths surrounding starting and running a business
Household Survey of Entrepreneurship 2005
Tackling Mental Health Issues Through Enterprise
Annual Small Business Survey [for each year over the last three years]
Full details of these and other research studies carried out on enterprise issues can be found at the Small Business Service website:
Constitutional Affairs
Absent Voting: Prisoners
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate her Department has made of how many UK citizens serving a punishment in a foreign prison voted by post or proxy in (a) the 2005 General Election and (b) 2006 local elections. [128882]
Bridget Prentice: The details of voters who are registered at overseas addresses are not held centrally. Therefore no estimate has been made.
Departments: Postal Services
Mr. Fraser: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which postal companies handle mail dispatched by her Department and its agencies. [128247]
Vera Baird: My Department uses two postal companies to handle mail despatched by the Department and its agencies. The service providers are Royal Mail and DX Network Services.
Election Petitions
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what representations her Department has received from Equifax on the reliability of Election petitions. [128883]
Bridget Prentice: I am not aware that Equifax has made any such representations.
Elections: Fraud
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what submissions her Department has made to the Council of Europe on electoral fraud in the last six months. [128877]
Bridget Prentice: I, and officials from my Department, met with the Council of Europe Delegation during their visit to the UK on 26-28 February. My officials have also contributed to Council of Europe seminars on electoral modernisation, which have included discussions on election security.
Electoral Systems: Reform
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether she plans to implement the proposals of the Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life made on 27 February 2007 on the electoral system. [128893]
Bridget Prentice: The Government will respond formally to the Committee’s report in due course.
Legal Opinion
Ms Buck: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many clients received Level One advice in each English region in each of the last five years. [128673]
Vera Baird: Level One work in the Not-for-Profit contract allows providers to spend up to 10 per cent. of their casework time on short matters that do not require an assessment of financial eligibility.
Not-for-Profit providers record the number of hours undertaken at Level One, not the number of cases. The number of hours worked under Level One in the Not-for-Profit contract since 2002 is set out in the table. Data prior to this date are not available.
| Hours | |
Data broken down by region can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Under the Legal Service Commission's Funding Code, the first level of legal aid advice, Legal Help, is also referred to as Level One. This answer refers to the Level One work as defined in the Not-for-Profit contract only.
Small Claims: Personal Injury
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs on what date her Department plans to announce its findings on the appropriateness of raising the small claims limit for personal injury claims on the small claims track. [128769]
Vera Baird: The Government have been considering all the case track limits and intend to publish a consultation paper in April.
Voting Rights: Commonwealth
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which Commonwealth countries have reciprocal agreements with the UK on residential qualifications for voting in (a) local elections and (b) national elections. [128768]
Bridget Prentice: I am not aware of any formal reciprocal agreements with any Commonwealth country. The Representation of the People Act 1983 provides that all Commonwealth citizens who are lawfully resident here are entitled to vote in parliamentary and local elections. Decisions about the voting rights of British citizens resident in other Commonwealth countries are for the individual countries concerned.
Education and Skills
Adoption
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what average time his Department took to process an inter-country adoption in each of the last five years from (a) the time of the original adoption panel and (b) the sending of documentation to the other country involved; and if he will make a statement. [127394]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department does not record information on the time period between the date of a prospective adopter’s adoption panel and the receipt of their inter-country adoption application papers in this Department. Information on the processing time in each of the last five years between receipt of applications in this Department and the papers being sent to country, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Apprentices
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many learners (a) started and (b) successfully completed the framework for (i) apprenticeships and (ii) advanced apprenticeships in each year between 1997 and 2006. [127430]
Phil Hope [holding answer 14 March 2007]: Figures for learners starting and achieving apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeships can be derived from the work based learning (WBL) individualised learner record (ILR). The WBL ILR was collated for the first time in 2002-03 and figures are presented from that time.
The following table shows the number of starters and achievers for apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeships 2002-03 to 2005-06.
| Advanced apprenticeship | Apprenticeship | |||
| Number of starters | Number of achievers | Number of starters | Number of achievers | |
| Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10 learners. | ||||
The number of learners who started an apprenticeship and the number of achievers in each year are mutually exclusive. This combination of figures is not used to calculate performance information for WBL.
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service
Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how long it took on average to produce a section 7 case in respect of Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service proceedings in (a) 2006-07 and (b) each of the preceding five years; [126086]
(2) whether he expects any reduction in the number of Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service self-employed contractors in 2006-07; [126087]
(3) how many vacancies there are for (a) private law and (b) public law in each of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service regions. [126089]
Mr. Dhanda: These are matters for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). Anthony Douglas, the Chief Executive, has written to my hon. Friend with this information and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 20 March 2007:
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |