| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
6 May 2008 : Column 868W—continued
Written Questions: Government Responses
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to answer Question 182354, on the National Identity Register, tabled by the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden on 24 January 2008. [193698]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 13 March 2008]: I replied to the right hon. Member on 31 March 2008, Official Report, column 610W.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Business: Grants
Mr. Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many of the 3,000 business support schemes which the Government pledged in the 2006 Budget to reduce to 100 by 2010 have been closed down or amalgamated with other schemes. [199936]
Malcolm Wicks: The Government are on track to deliver no more than 100 schemes by 2010 and close or amalgamate existing schemes as the new products are launched. We announced the timetable in March.
New, more effectively targeted, products will become available to business, starting this year. Business Link is gearing up to be the primary access channel to give business one main source of advice.
The new product portfolio will be available no later than March 2009 and will address business issues:
Export Credit Guarantee (March 2008), Skills Solutions for Business, Capital Investment Grants, Preparing to Export, Investigating New Overseas Markets, Getting The Most from Foreign Direct Investment (October 2008), Business Collaboration Networks, Shared Business Support Environments (November 2008), Debt Finance, Risk Capital,
Finance Awareness and Capability (January 2009), Business Creation, Business Expertise for Growth, Promoting Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Waste Management, Protecting the Natural Environment, Local Community Business Coaching, Innovation Finance, and Innovation Collaborations (March 2009).
Coal
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what plans he has to review coal policy with particular reference to (a) employment, (b) carbon dioxide emission reduction and (c) future energy demand; and if he will make a statement. [202132]
Malcolm Wicks: The Government’s Energy Policy is set out in the Energy White Paper “Meeting the Energy Challenge” published in 2007. There are no present plans to review this policy.
Construction
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many construction industry businesses there were in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [202456]
Malcolm Wicks: Estimates of the total number of construction businesses in the North East and UK are published by BERR. These data are shown in the following table, for each year that data are available from 1997 to 2006. Regional data are available for 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005. Data for 2007 will be published in July 2008.
| Table 1: Total number of construction businesses, start of year calendar year | ||
| North East | UK | |
| Source: Small and Medium Enterprise Statistics for the UK and Regions 1997 to 2006, available at: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/sme | ||
The number of construction businesses in the UK rose by 91,715 (11 per cent.) between 1997 and 2006. The number of construction businesses in the North East rose by 2,465 (12 per cent.) between 1998 and 2005.
Below regional level the only data available are that on the number of VAT registered construction businesses, which are published by BERR. These data are shown in the following table for Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside local authority, the North East Government Office Region and the UK. Data for 2008 will be published in November 2008.
| Table 2: VAT registered construction businesses, start of calendar year | ||||
| Jarrow constituency( 1) | South Tyneside | North East | UK | |
| (1) Data for Jarrow Constituency come from special analysis of the Inter Departmental Business Register. Source: Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994-2006, available at: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/vat | ||||
VAT registrations do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which was £60,000 at the start of 2006. Only 221,000 out of 921,000 UK construction enterprises (24 per cent.) were registered for VAT at the start of 2006.
Departmental Information and Communications Technology
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 27 March 2008, Official Report, column 328W, on departmental ICT, what advice he has given to departmental staff on the protection and security of personal electronic devices issued to them by his Department. [198279]
Mr. Thomas: Personal electronic devices are only issued to users following mandated training, which covers use, protection and storage of the device.
Departmental Legislation
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what criminal offences have been created by primary legislation sponsored by his Department since July 2007. [198307]
Mr. Thomas: There have been no criminal offences created by primary legislation sponsored by this Department since July 2007.
Departmental Manpower
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many (a) permanent civil service posts, (b) permanent non-civil service post and (c) posts filled by temporary and agency workers there were in his Department in each month since May 2005. [199459]
Mr. Thomas:
The Office for National Statistics publishes civil service employment statistics every quarter in the Public Sector Employment First Release. Table 6 of the publication provides a breakdown of
employment by Government Department. It includes a breakdown of permanent and temporary/casual employees.
The latest statistics published are for Q4 (December) 2007. These can be viewed at:
CS_Employment_Qtr_4_2007.
Previous statistics are available going back to Ql 2006. These can be viewed at:
ONS Statistics
Prior to 2006 civil service employment numbers were available on only an annual basis.
Civil service statistics collected are the number of employees and not the number of posts. An employee covering multiple posts is counted only once and no information on vacancies is held.
The ONS does not publish statistics for non-civil service posts broken down by Government Department.
Information on employment agency workers could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Pensions
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his most recent estimate is of the unfunded liability in present value terms of each public sector pension scheme for which his Department is responsible; and on what assumptions for (a) discount and (b) longevity the estimate is based. [200701]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is not directly responsible for a public sector pension scheme.
BERR’s accounting officer has responsibility for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) Pension Scheme. The information for the UKAEA Pension Scheme is set out in the scheme’s resource accounts.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the unfunded liability in present value terms was of each public sector pension scheme for which his Department is responsible in each year since 1990-91. [200702]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is not directly responsible for a public pension scheme.
BERR’s accounting officer has responsibility for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) Pension Scheme. The information on liabilities in present value terms are in the UKAEA Pension Scheme’s resource accounts (since 2000-01), although these are produced under differing sets of assumptions (e.g. on longevity), so are not comparable across years.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the (a) rate and (b) cost was of employer contributions for each public sector pension scheme for which his Department has responsibility in each year since 1990-91; and if he will make a statement. [200703]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |