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22 July 2008 : Column 1130W—continued
Departmental Pay
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what proportion of staff of his Department and its agencies did not receive the maximum bonus possible under a bonus scheme applying to them since his Department was established. [217372]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform awards non-consolidated special bonuses throughout the year to staff to recognise performance in particularly demanding tasks or situations. There is no maximum limit to the size of bonus that can be awarded but bonus costs are constrained to an overall cost limit, so it is not possible to say what proportion of staff did not receive the maximum bonus possible.
The agencies of BERR are Companies House and the Insolvency Service. Information on their bonus schemes are an operational matter for the chief executives of BERR's agencies and I have asked them to reply to the right. hon. Member direct. A copy of their replies will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 22 July 2008:
I am responding on behalf of Companies House to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Companies House awards special non-consolidated bonuses to staff throughout the year for exceptional performance. It also has a corporate bonus scheme linked to performance against a range
of targets. There is no limit to the special bonuses except the budget for the scheme so no member of staff received the maximum bonus possible. On the corporate scheme, again, no member of staff received 100% of the maximum bonus possible.
Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 22 July 2008:
The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has asked me to reply to you directly in respect of your question (2007/3387) asking how many of The Insolvency Service's staff did not receive the maximum bonus possible under a bonus scheme applying to them since his Department was established.
The Insolvency Service special bonus scheme does not have a maximum value for any one particular bonus payment. The scheme as a whole is subject to an annual cost of no more than 0.4% of its annual pay bill.
Departmental Regulation
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the projected budget for each regulator for which his Department is responsible is for each financial year to 2011-12. [219918]
Mr. Thomas: The projected total net budget for each Statutory Regulator for which the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has responsibility is shown in the following table. Budgets within central government are set for periods of 3 years and the budgets are therefore shown for each financial year from 2008-09 to 2010-11.
| £000 | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Regulator | Resource | Capital | Resource | Capital | Resource | Capital |
Departmental Research
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what proportion of his Department's budget and that of its predecessor was used for research within its areas of responsibility in each of the last 10 years. [218059]
Mr. Thomas: Historic data on key science, engineering and technology research are collated by the Office for National Statistics in their Science, Engineering and Technology statistics. These can be found at:
This includes outturn data for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's (BERR) predecessor, the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) going back 10 years.
The Department's Annual Resource Accounts also include information on amounts spent on Research and Development alongside other programme expenditure. The information may be found at notes 10 and 11 of the 2006-07 DTI Resource Accounts. BERR's 2007-08 Resource Accounts will be published shortly.
Departmental Retirement
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the standard retirement age in his Department is; and how many people in his Department and its predecessor worked beyond the standard retirement age in each of the last five years. [214132]
Mr. Thomas:
The retirement age in the Civil Service for staff below the SCS is delegated to individual departments and agencies under the Civil Service
(Management Functions) Act 1992 as set out in Chapter 11 of the Civil Service Management Code. The retirement age for the SCS is not delegated to departments and is 65. Members of the Senior Civil Service (SCS) have the right to request to continue to work beyond age 65 in the same way as those below the SCS.
The standard retirement age in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is 65. When an employee reaches age 64 and four months they are sent a letter providing details of their retirement date and how to request to continue to work beyond age 65 if they wish to do so.
The numbers of employees who worked beyond their 65th birthday in each of the last five years in BERR (and the former Department of Trade and Industry) are as follows:
| Number | |
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many employees in his Department have been asked to retire on reaching 65 in each year since 2000. [218308]
Mr. Thomas: The retirement age in the civil service for staff below the senior civil service (SCS) is delegated to individual departments and agencies under the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992 as set out in Chapter 11 of the Civil Service Management Code.
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations which came into force on 1 October 2006, made it illegal to discriminate on grounds of age unless it can be objectively justified (in very narrow circumstances). A ‘right to consider’ procedure was included in the regulations, which allows employees to request to work beyond the retirement age of their organisation but employers do not have to agree to the request nor give a reason for their decision.
The standard retirement age in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is 65. Employees are not asked to retire at age 65. When an employee reaches 64 and four months they are provided with details of their retirement and informed of their right to request to continue to work beyond age 65 if they wish to do so.
The retirement age for the SCS is not delegated to Departments and is 65. Members of the SCS have the right to request to continue to work beyond age 65 in the same way as those below the SCS.
Electricity: Meters
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many electricity consumers with dynamically teleswitched meters there were in Scotland (a) in 2005 and (b) on the most recent date for which figures are available; and how many consumers who now have such meters are no longer supplied by their previous electricity supplier. [216827]
Malcolm Wicks: The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has some data about dynamically teleswitched meter customers in Scotland. In September 2003, there were 228,000 dynamically teleswitched meter customers. Ofgem does not have data for 2005, but that number had fallen to 176,000 by July 2008. Data on how many dynamically teleswitched meter customers have switched to another supplier are not available.
Environment
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the evidential basis is for the Government's estimate of the value of the environmental industries by 2010, including renewables and nuclear energy, waste management and pollution control. [219392]
Malcolm Wicks: Figures for the UK's environmental industries, includes the renewables, waste management and pollution control sub-sectors, come from the report ‘Emerging Markets in the Environmental Industries Sector’, written by the UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development (UKCEED) for the DTI and published in November 2006.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's statement that a significant expansion of nuclear in the UK in the coming decades (going beyond 2010) could potentially create up to 100,000 jobs was based on a 20-reactor (10 station) fleet and the experience of jobs created from past nuclear construction in the UK and in other countries.
This includes jobs in the nuclear power stations, off site jobs for corporate, business, maintenance and fuel cycle functions, construction jobs, and jobs in the engineering and construction supply chains. This could represent around £20 billion worth of business for UK companies.
Fraud
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on how many occasions staff employed by his Department have defrauded his Department in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [214629]
Mr. Thomas: 11 members of staff have defrauded the Department and its predecessor, the DTI, in the last 10 years.
All cases have resulted in disciplinary action being taken.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the losses to his Department from fraud committed by staff of his Department in each year since 2003; and if he will make a statement. [214636]
Mr. Thomas: We do not make estimates of losses. The Department conducts an annual exercise to collate details of discovered cases and passes the result to HM Treasury for inclusion in their Annual Report of Fraud against Government Departments.
The Annual Fraud Report analyses data submitted by central Government Departments and their agencies
about fraud and theft perpetrated by staff. Reports for 2006-07 and the previous two years can be found on Treasury’s public website at:
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many staff were prosecuted for (a) attempting to defraud and (b) defrauding his Department in each year since 2003; and if he will make a statement. [214639]
Mr. Thomas: There has been one prosecution since 2003 for attempting to defraud, and defrauding the Department and its predecessor, the DTI, since 2003.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many staff of his Department were responsible for each instance of fraud or attempted fraud in each year since 2003; and if he will make a statement. [214643]
Mr. Thomas: One member of staff was responsible for each instance of fraud or attempted fraud in each year since 2003 in this Department and its predecessor.
Fuel Poverty: Greater London
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the number of households in fuel poverty in each London borough in each of the last five years. [219278]
Malcolm Wicks: London borough level estimates of fuel poverty are available only for 2003. The following table shows fuel poverty levels taken from the Fuel Poverty Indicator dataset, available online at:
| London borough | Estimate of number of fuel poor households |
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