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4 Jun 2008 : Column 972W—continued
| Foundation degree student( 1) at Higher Education Institutions and Further Education Colleges in England—academic years 2006/07 and 2007/08 | |
| Academic year | Foundation degree students |
| (1) Figures show counts of years of instance eligible to be counted in that years HESES or HEIFES return. See Annex E of HEFCE’s HESES or HEIFES guidance for further information—http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2007/07_26/ Source: Columns 1 + 2 of the Higher Education Students Early Statistics Survey (HESES) and the Higher Education in Further Education Students Survey (HEIFES) produced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Notes: 1. 2007/08 values are provisional. 2. Figures cover Home, ED and Overseas domiciled students. | |
The UCAS website states that there are 3,986 Foundation Degree courses due to start in England in 2008. Figures for the number of courses running in 2006/07 and 2007/08 are not held centrally.
The success of Foundation Degrees means we are likely to meet our target participation rate of 100,000 Foundation Degree students by 2010.
Higher Education: Science
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment has been made of the effect of Student and Technology Facilities Council funding cuts on university science departments with particular reference to (a) staffing, (b) student recruitment and (c) research development; and if he will make a statement. [207368]
Ian Pearson: Staffing at university science departments and student recruitment is a matter for the universities.
STFC Council has made clear that the funding for physics exploitation grants will remain broadly level in this financial year (2008-09) and that there will be no major change in Particle Physics exploitation grant funding, other than for programmatic reasons, until after the Wakeham review has reported in late summer. Bill Wakeham, Vice Chancellor of Southampton university, has been asked to lead a review of the health of physics research in the UK, as part of a RCUK review of the continued health of key research disciplines.
The number of Post Doctoral Research Assistants (PDRAs) supported by STFC’s astronomy grants in 2008-09 will also be very similar to the previous financial year. In addition, the research community will continue to have access to a range of world-class facilities, including CERN and the European Southern Observatory.
Lokhai Foundation
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much his Department has allocated to the Lokahi Foundation in each year for which figures are available. [206863]
Mr. Lammy: The Department does not hold the information at the level of detail you require, so to provide it to you would be at disproportionate cost.
Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what role the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property will play in shaping Government policy on the creative industries; and if he will make a statement. [207836]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 2 June 2008]: SABIP’s role is to give Government strategic advice on the formulation of policy in all areas of intellectual property including those related to the creative industries.
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what plans he has to commission research from the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property; and if he will make a statement. [207837]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 2 June 2008 ]: SABIP will be established on 2 June and is expected to a present a draft work programme for Ministers to sign off in September. The Secretary of State will then consider with the Minister for Intellectual Property what research needs to be commissioned from SABIP.
Vocational Training
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will provide a breakdown by main budget heading of the Train to Gain budget for (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09. [207551]
Mr. Lammy: Train to Gain is the Government’s premier service to help businesses identify their skills needs and then to access the training and support they need to succeed including publicly funded training for low skilled employees and referrals to other sources of business support such as IIP. It is delivered through the Learning and Skills Council.
Train to Gain is already a success, since it began roll out in April 2006 it has engaged with almost 90,000 employers, supported almost 420,000 learners and helped over 195,000 people to achieve qualifications.
Expansion of Train to Gain is central to our aim to work with employers to improve productivity and competitiveness by raising the skills of their work force.
The Train to Gain budget as published in the last LSC Grant Letter in November 2007, broken down by the main budget headings, is given as follows:
| Budget (£000) | ||
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| Note: The Train to Gain budget increased by £6.392 million during 2007-08. | ||
Defence
Armed Forces: Mental Health
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what steps his Department is taking to prevent armed forces personnel from developing mental health conditions; [208057]
(2) what mechanisms are in place to provide members of the armed forces who develop mental health conditions with support. [208060]
Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to chapter 6, paragraphs 90-97, of the House of Commons Defence Committee report, ‘Medical Care for the Armed Forces’ (HC 327), published 18 February 2008.
In summary, in Iraq and Afghanistan, we deploy uniformed mental health nurses to provide the necessary in-theatre care and treatment for our personnel. Where possible personnel returning from front-line duty are provided with a period of decompression, that is to say they have the opportunity to recover in a group setting before returning to their families and friends. Within
the UK MOD provides mental health care in accordance with the principles set out by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. This is carried out primarily through 15 military Departments of Community Mental Health, with satellite centres overseas. This approach was endorsed by the HCDC report.
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Saxon, (b) CVR(T) and (c) FV432 (and derivative) armoured vehicles are (i) in the Army's inventory, (ii) fully serviceable and (iii) capable of becoming fully serviceable at short notice; what the anticipated out-of-service dates are of each type; what change there has been to those out of service dates since 2005; and if he will make a statement. [207199]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: For the purposes of MOD reporting, the definition used for fully serviceable is that the vehicle and everything on it is working and operationally effective. The information set out below, includes the FV430 Series, of which the FV432 is a derivative.
| Saxon | CVR(T) | FV430 Series | |
|
Number which could be made fully serviceable at short notice | |||
Defence Medical Training Establishment
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Defence Medical Training Establishment to be operational at the Whittington Barracks near Lichfield; what assessment he has made of progress to date; and if he will make a statement. [207597]
Derek Twigg: The Midland Medical Accommodation project is still in the assessment phase. It remains our intention to co-locate key elements of the Defence Medical Services at Whittington Barracks, Lichfield. As well as the Defence Medical Services Training Centre, these elements are likely to include the HQ of the Joint Medical Command, which has recently replaced the Defence Medical Education and Training Agency, and the new Strategic Medical HQ that is now being developed.
We hope to reach a decision before the summer recess on the next steps in taking forward this project. I will write to the hon. Member when we have reached a decision.
Departmental Computers
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has issued guidance to staff in his Department to switch off personal computers when not in use; and if he will make a statement. [208174]
Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence has for some time issued instructions for staff to close down personal computers (PCs) when not in use. These instructions are regularly repeated in notices to system users. Exceptions apply to some older equipment that is left switched on for technical reasons, but most legacy equipment is being replaced under the Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) programme. DII is already implemented throughout MOD Main Building and many other key MOD sites.
Departmental Disclosure of Information
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether it is his policy to release the home addresses of (a) senior and (b) middle-ranking officials in his Department if requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and what assessment he has made of the implications for personal security resulting from the release of such data. [207439]
Derek Twigg [holding answer 2 June 2008]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice gave on Monday 2 June, Official Report, column 640W.
Departmental Manpower
Chris Huhne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) UK citizens born in the UK, (b) UK citizens born abroad and (c) foreign nationals
were employed as staff by his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years. [206546]
Derek Twigg: No information on country of birth or nationality can be provided for civilian personnel. This is because the Ministry of Defence civilian personnel reporting system Human Resources Management System, does not identify personnel by country of origin, nationality or citizenship status.
Country of birth information for UK armed forces personnel cannot be provided. This information was not collected centrally pre-joint personnel administration
(JPA), the Departments' service personnel system, and is not available post JPA due to an ongoing data validation exercise, however, information on nationality can be provided.
The following table shows UK and Non-UK Naval Service and Army personnel as at 1 April 2003, 2004 and 2005 and for all Naval Service, Army and RAF personnel as at 1 April 2006 and 2007.
(1) Data are for UK regular forces which includes nursing services and excludes full time reserve service personnel, Gurkhas, the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists. It includes trained and untrained personnel.
| Navy and Army only( 1) | All services | ||||
| Nationality | April-2003 | April-2004 | April-2005 | April-2006 | Apr-2007( 2) |
| (1) Information on nationality for RAF personnel pre-joint personnel administration (April 2006 for RAF) can only be provided at a disproportionate cost. Consequently the data in the table from 1 April 2003-05 only includes Navy and Army data. (2 )Due to ongoing validation of data from the new joint personnel administration system. UK armed forces data as at 1 April 2007 is provisional and subject to review. (3 )Provisional. Source: DASA (Quad-Service) | |||||
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