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7 Oct 2008 : Column 552W—continued
Students: Disabled
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many and what proportion of students classified as having a (a) hearing and (b) vision impairment (i) applied to and (ii) were admitted into university in each of the last 10 years. [223759]
Mr. Lammy: The latest available information from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) is shown in the tables. Comparable figures for 2008 entry will be available in February 2009.
| Table 1: UK domiciled applicants to full-time undergraduate courses by disability, 1998 to 2007 years of entry | ||||
| Year of entry | Blind/partially sighted( 1) | Deaf/partial hearing( 1) | ||
| Number | Percentage of total applicants | Number | Percentage of total applicants | |
| (1) Applicants who are blind/partially sighted or deaf/partial hearing may be counted in the category of 2+ disabilities, therefore such applicants are excluded from the above figures. Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). | ||||
| Table 2: UK domiciled accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses by disability, 1998 to 2007 years of entry | ||||
| Year of entry | Blind/partially sighted( 1) | Deaf/partial hearing( 1) | ||
| Number | Percentage of total applicants | Number | Percentage of total applicants | |
| (1) Accepted applicants who are blind/partially sighted or deaf/partial hearing may be counted in the category of 2+ disabilities, therefore such accepted applicants are excluded from the above figures. Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). | ||||
Students: Finance
Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much HEFCE allocated (a) nationally and (b) to (i) Leeds University, (ii) Leeds Metropolitan University and (iii) Trinity and All Saints College for student bursary schemes for the academic year 2007-08; and how much of this funding was unspent at the latest date for which figures are available. [224460]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 6 October 2008]: HEFCE does not allocate funding for student bursary schemes. Instead, each higher education provider which wishes to charge variable tuition fees for regulated courses has to agree an access agreement with the Office of Fair Access (OFFA) under which it commits to recycle some of the extra income from variable fees to support some of its students. Information on the 2007/08 academic year will become available in the spring. The following table sets out the position for 2006/07—the first year of the new arrangements.
| £ | ||
| Amount budgeted for bursary schemes | Amount spent | |
| n/a = Not applicable Notes: 1. Many HEIs overestimated the number of students who were eligible for bursaries in the first year of the new arrangements. Where “underspends” have occurred some HEIs have chosen to redeploy the resources towards additional outreach activities designed to attract students from non-traditional backgrounds. 2. Leeds Metropolitan University does not charge fees at a level which requires bursaries to be recycled within the terms of their approved access agreement. Source: 2006/07 returns to OFFA | ||
Students: Loans
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what his most recent estimate is of how much revenue will be raised from selling parts of the student loan book as a result of the Sale of Student Loans Act 2008. [224170]
Mr. Lammy: The Sale of Student Loans Act 2008 enables an indefinite programme of sales of income-contingent repayment student loans. For each sale to proceed, it will have to be assessed as yielding good value for money. No estimate has been made of how much revenue will be raised in the long term. Any update to the original estimates of proceeds over the comprehensive spending review period will be set out in the pre-Budget report.
Prime Minister
Departmental Alcoholic Drinks
David Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what measures are in place in his Office to monitor expenditure on alcohol for hospitality purposes; [219591]
(2) what purchasing process is used by his Office for the procurement of alcohol for hospitality purposes. [219941]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Phil Hope) on 1 September 2008, Official Report, column 1433W.
Departmental Industrial Health and Safety
Philip Davies: To ask the Prime Minister how many incidents have been reported by his Office under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 since 27 June 2007. [222638]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, West (Kevin Brennan) earlier.
Departmental Public Participation
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what (a) listening exercises and (b) public forums his Office has held in each of the last two years; what the (i) purpose and (ii) cost was in each case; and who the private contractor was and how much it was paid in each case; [221358]
(2) what (a) reviews and (b) public consultations have been initiated by his Office since 27 June 2007. [221369]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, West (Kevin Brennan) earlier.
Departmental Sick Leave
David Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister (1) how many and what percentage of staff in his Office have had more than two periods of sickness absence of less than five days in each of the last three years; [218710]
(2) how many staff in 10 Downing street have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last five years. [218978]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, East (Mr. Watson) earlier.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Information
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the Power of Information report produced by the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. [219044]
Mr. Watson: I have been asked to reply.
The Power of Information report was written by Tom Steinberg (MySociety) and Ed Mayo (National Consumer Council). It was published on 7 June 2007.
The Government accepted the recommendations of the Power of Information Review in the Official Response, published on 25 June 2007. The response can be found online at:
An interim progress report was published in March this year at:
Copies of both documents have been placed in the Library.
Transport
Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what notional price per barrel of oil is used by her Department when determining whether new road schemes represent value for money. [224532]
Paul Clark [holding answer 6 October 2008]: Oil price assumptions are provided by BERR (Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) and the Department for Transport has released guidance that uses the latest (May 2008) BERR central oil price figures to produce fuel price forecasts used in highway scheme appraisal.
Central oil prices are projected to fall back from today's level to $65 in 2010 (2007 prices) before gradually rising again to $75 (2007 prices) in 2030. These correspond to nominal prices of $71 (in 2010) to $140 (in 2030).
Duchy of Lancaster
Data Protection: Manpower
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants in (a) the Cabinet Office and (b) its agency work exclusively on data protection issues, broken down by grade. [215095]
Kevin Brennan: Staff in a number of units within the Cabinet Office, including Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Security Policy Division, Transformational Government, Historical Records and Openness Unit as well as Financial and Estates Management, are involved in work related to data protection issues.
It is estimated that in excess of 20 full-time equivalent civil servants are directly engaged on work to protect information held by the Cabinet Office or on policy for the protection of information for Government.
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