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7 July 2008 : Column 1376W—continued
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Apprentices
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many apprenticeship (a) starts and (b) completions there were in (i) each region and (ii) each county in the most recent year for which figures are available. [208852]
Mr. Lammy: Information about the number of apprenticeships starts and completions for England in 2006/07 is given in tables placed in the House Library.
A comprehensive breakdown by English county is not readily available. The second table is a breakdown by local authority, some of which are counties.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what IT contracts his Departments and its agencies have entered into in the last two years. [215160]
Mr. Lammy: DIUS is a new Department which leases its IT equipment and obtains IT services through a contract with Fujitsu Services.
We investigated the feasibility of providing details of the IT contracts that DIUS’ agencies have entered into but concluded that to answer would incur a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Manpower
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many jobs his Department expects to relocate under the policy of civil service job dispersal. [213397]
Mr. Lammy: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was created in June 2007, following Machinery of Government changes. The Department inherited commitments under Lyons review from its predecessors, the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Trade and Industry. My Department has a target to relocate out of London and the south-east around 223 posts from its own organisation and its partner organisations by 2010.
At the end of March 2008, 108 posts had been relocated out of London and the south-east by my Department and its partner organisations. My Department is working with our partners to continue to deliver further relocations of posts. We expect to meet the target.
Departmental Retirement
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the standard retirement age in his Department is; and how many people worked beyond the standard retirement age since his Department was established. [214138]
Mr. Lammy: As part of the Machinery of Government changes of 28 June 2007 my Department has taken on board terms and conditions of staff transferred in from the former Department for Education and Skills (DFES) and Department for Trade and Industry (DTI). In DFES there was no set retirement age for the majority of staff. In DTI staff could retire at any time between the minimum retirement age of 60 and the maximum retirement age of 65. Staff also have a statutory right to request to continue working beyond 65. Careful consideration is given to such requests, but any offer to continue working beyond that age will be at the discretion of the Department.
A retirement age of 65 has been adopted by central Government for the Senior Civil Service (SCS) but members of the SCS can request to work beyond that age.
Four members of staff have worked beyond age 65 since my Department was set up, three from the former DFES, and one from the former DTI.
Departmental Secondment
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what procedures his Department uses to ensure equal opportunities in relation to staff secondments to the Department. [214681]
Mr. Lammy: In my Department, for vacancies that are filled through inward secondments, we adhere to the Government guidelines on fair and open competition and ensure that opportunities and the selection process do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, age and sexual orientation.
Occasionally the Department makes contact with or is approached by key delivery partners in the suggestion of identifying staff who can enter DIUS on secondment for a temporary period to assist with a specific specialist piece of work. This is only in cases where we are not able to secure the services and skills of employees within the Department. In these cases specific identified staff are appointed. In all cases appointments are temporary and these do not become permanent civil servants.
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council: Finance
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much funding the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) allocated to (a) research and (b) research grants in each of the last 10 years; and how many new PhD students were supported by the EPSRC in (i) the UK and (ii) Leeds University in each of those years. [213364]
Ian Pearson: The funding allocated by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to research and research grants in each of the last 10 years is shown in table 1. These data are taken from EPSRC annual reports and accounts.
| Table 1 | ||
| £000 | ||
| Expenditure on research grants | Total expenditure on research | |
The numbers of new PhD students supported by EPSRC in (i) the UK and (ii) Leeds University over the last 10 years are shown in tables 2 (a) and (b) respectively.
| Table 2 (a)—new PhD students supported | ||
| Total students | Estimated new PhD students within year | |
| Notes: 1. Total students reported are based on fixed date in year. 2. Estimates based on total students divided by number of years of study. 3. From 2005 calculation based on 3.5 years not 3 years to reflect change in average length of PhD. | ||
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