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6 Oct 2008 : Column 264W—continued
Companies
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many companies were removed from the (a) Register of Companies in England and Wales and (b) Register of Companies in Scotland following the submission of a form 652a in each of the last 10 years; and how many such companies (i) had not previously filed a set of accounts and (ii) had not filed accounts in the preceding 12 months but had done so previously. [221750]
Mr. Thomas: The number of companies removed from the Register of Companies in England and Wales, and Scotland following the submission of a form 652a in each of the last 10 years is as follows.
| Financial year | England and Wales | Scotland |
Details of companies who had not previously filed a set of accounts and had not filed accounts in the preceding 12 months and had accounts overdue at the time of their removal is not available without incurring disproportionate cost.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many applications to have a company removed from the (a) Register of Companies in England and Wales and (b) Register of Companies in Scotland using form 652a where the company in question had been incorporated for a period of less than 21 months were rejected due to an objection received from HM Revenue and Customs during 2007. [221751]
Mr. Thomas: The number for England and Wales was 214. The number for Scotland was 46.
Day Care: Pay
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimates he has made of the number and proportion of child day-care establishments that pay at least one member of staff below the national minimum wage. [223754]
Mr. McFadden: Data on payments made by individual companies are not available. They would, in any case, be disclosive.
Data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings datasets from the ONS suggest that there were in total around 6,000 employees paid below the national minimum wage in the standard industrial
classification sector ‘Social Work Activities Without Accommodation(1)’, this sector includes child day-care activities but it also includes elements of social work beyond the child care sector—see footnote.
However, this does not necessarily indicate non-compliance on behalf of the employer as certain groups of people are exempt from NMW regulations including, for example, those on Government training schemes and apprentices under the age of 19.
(1) SIC code 85.32—Social work activities without accommodation includes:
Child day-care activities, including day-care activities for handicapped children;
Day-care activities for disabled adults;
Day facilities for homeless and other socially weak groups;
Social, counselling, welfare, refugee, referral and similar activities;
Charitable activities such as fund raising or other supporting activities aimed at social work.
Defence Export Services Organisation
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the operating costs of the Defence Export Services Organisation were in each of the last five years. [222767]
Mr. Thomas: For financial year 2007-08 I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy on 16 June 2008, Official Report, column 639W. For financial years 2005-06 and 2006-07 I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces on 17 July 2007, Official Report, column 196W and for financial years 2003-04 and 2004-05 I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces on 24 April 2006, Official Report, column 845W.
Departmental Air Travel
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 14 July 2008, Official Report, column 27W, on carbon emissions: Government departments, how much air mileage incurred through departmental travel was used to calculate the departmental payment to the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund in each year that his Department and its predecessors have participated in the fund, broken down by (a) domestic, (b) short-haul and (c) long-haul flights. [222048]
Mr. Thomas: The Department and its predecessor the DTI have participated in the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund since 1 April 2006.
For the period 2006-07 details are only available for short haul and long haul flights. The number of air miles used to calculate the departmental payment was:
| Number of air miles | |
For the period 2007-08 the number of air miles used to calculate the departmental payment was:
| Miles | |
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether those staff of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies who are entitled to business class or first class air travel are permitted to (i) travel in a cheaper class to the destination and (ii) benefit in monetary terms or in kind from the saving. [222055]
Mr. Thomas: In BERR, the criteria for booking flights should be value for money and flights selected on the basis of cost and convenience. No matter what class of travel is used, staff travelling on official business must take advantage of any cheap facilities which maybe available (e.g. special offers, restricted tickets) wherever practical. Should staff choose to travel in a cheaper class than permitted, they may do so.
Staff are not entitled to any benefits in monetary terms or in kind from any savings made.
All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 6 October 2008:
The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has asked me to reply to you directly in respect of your question (2007/3620) whether those staff of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies who are entitled to business class or first class air travel are permitted to (i) travel in a cheaper class to the destination and (ii) benefit in monetary terms or kind from the saving.
The Insolvency Service Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform expects staff to use low cost airlines wherever possible. Business class air travel is used on an exceptional basis for a very small number of mostly European and International flights.
Flights are booked through official channels and no remuneration or benefits related to the cost of air travel are paid directly to staff.
It is not possible for staff to claim for savings based on a lower air travel class entitlement.
Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 6 October 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.
Members of staff who are entitled to business class or first class air travel are permitted to travel in a cheaper class to their destination. There is no benefit in monetary terms, or kind, from the savings made.
Departmental Appeals
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on how many occasions his Department and its predecessor instructed the Treasury Solicitor to seek leave to appeal to the House of Lords from (a) the Court of Appeal and (b) the House of Lords itself in each of the last 10 years; and on how many occasions the application was rejected. [220812]
Mr. Thomas: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his Department's policy is on improving the energy efficiency of the buildings which it (a) rents and (b) owns; what changes there have been in the energy efficiency of such buildings in the last (i) five and (ii) 10 years; and whether his Department has adopted targets on energy efficiency improvements in the buildings it occupies over the next (A) five and (B) 10 years. [221089]
Mr. Thomas: BERR are working toward achieving the energy efficiency targets expressed in the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) framework. The targets set are to improve the energy efficiency of the buildings on the estate by 15 per cent. in terms of KWH usage and that used per square metre by 2010-11 and 30 per cent. by 2020-21.
The main strategy is to gain efficiencies as a result of the estate strategy to reduce the physical size of the estate and the number of buildings. As a result the BERR HQ estate has been reduced by 46 per cent. with a decrease of 11.2 per cent. in energy consumption since 1999-2000. This included the introduction of flexible desking throughout our main buildings on the basis of eight work stations for every 10 staff.
BERR has also implemented a number of energy efficiency initiatives since the target was published. In 1 Victoria street this included a number of energy efficiency projects to improve lighting and environmental controls as well as occupant awareness. The Department has also undertaken a study into the use of localised microgeneration of energy on the estate. Energy efficiency is taken into account in any estate project undertaken and has included the introduction of energy minimising technology within the recent IT systems refresh.
The Department has recently undertaken energy audits across its estate. Projects identified to reduce carbon emission include using lighting controls more effectively and piloting the use of LED technology.
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the location is of each office occupied by (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies which has been (i) newly occupied and (ii) refurbished in the last 24 months; and what the floor area in square metres is of each. [222058]
Mr. Thomas: The Department has not occupied any new space nor undertaken any major refurbishments during the last 24 months.
I have approached the chief executives of the Insolvency Service and Companies House and they will respond to you directly.
Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 6 October 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.
In the last 24 months Companies House has decorated and replaced the carpet in the London office, a floor area of 275 square metres. Out of a total area of 28,800 square metres in the Cardiff office, an area of 1051 square metres has been refurbished.
Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 6 October 2008:
The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has asked me to reply to you directly in respect of your question (2007/3623) asking what the location is of each office occupied by (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies which has been (i) newly occupied and (ii) refurbished in the last 24 months; and what the floor area in square metres is of each.
For the Insolvency Service the information is:
Newly occupied and fitted out demises:
Birmingham (Cannon House)—3990 m(2)
Croydon (Sunley House)—1498 m(2)
Gloucester (Southgate House)—978 m(2)
Reading (Apex Plaza)—792 m(2)
Southampton (Town Quay)—700 m(2).
None of our demises were refurbished in the period.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the five most serious disciplinary breaches have been in his Department in the last 12 months; and what action was taken to correct the breach in each case. [222559]
Mr. Thomas: There have been no serious disciplinary breaches in BERR during the last 12 months. BERR has a disciplinary procedure which is available for all staff to view on the HR intranet. Line managers also have access to dedicated advice through nominated HR consultants.
Departmental Homeworking
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 7 July 2008, Official Report, column 1320W, on departmental home working, if he will make it his policy to collate and maintain central records of homeworking by his Department's staff. [222470]
Mr. Thomas: Records of homeworking by the Department's staff are not collated centrally. There is no intention to introduce this policy.
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