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Cumbria Higher Learning

Greater Manchester Strategic Alliance


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Greater Merseyside and West Lancashire

Lancashire

Departmental Internet

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills for which Government websites his Department is responsible; how many visitors each received in the last period for which figures are available; and what the cost of maintaining each site was in that period. [235042]

Mr. Simon: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was created in June 2007. The current website was created in October 2007 and no visitor figures prior to October 2007 are available. The cost of maintaining
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the Department’s corporate site was £104,336 in 2007-08 with 494,596 unique visitors to the site October 2007-March 2008.

The following websites became the responsibility of the Department in June 2007 and their visitor figures and maintenance costs for the full 2007-08 period are available.

Unique visitors to site 2007-08 Costs of maintaining the site 2007-08 (£)

The Intellectual Property Office (www.ipo.gov.uk)

2,412,300

130,858

RoHS Enforcement (www.rohs.gov.uk)

485,593

9,261

Foresight (www.foresight.gov.uk)

124,276

78,576

The National Weights and Measures Laboratory (www.nwml.gov.uk)

270,628

12,791

www.innovation.gov.uk

72,280

26,000

British National Science Centre (www.bnsc.gov.uk)

(1)—

—

(1) Full data not available

Departmental Land

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much surplus land (a) his Department and (b) its agencies own; and what the (i) area and (ii) estimated monetary value of each site is. [236421]

Mr. Simon: Neither the Department nor its agencies own any surplus land.

Departmental Older Workers

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many people recruited by his Department in 2007-08 were aged over (a) 55 years and (b) 60 years; and what percentage this represented of the number of new recruits in each case. [235238]

Mr. Simon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 November 2008, Official Report, column 280W.

Departmental Postal Services

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills whether his Department uses Royal Mail as the primary company for sending its post, parcels and packages. [238319]

Mr. Simon: The Department’s postal services are provided through the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. In both cases, the majority of DIUS’s external post, parcels and packages are dispatched via Royal Mail (including Parcelforce).

Departmental Television

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills whether the television licence fee in his official Ministerial residence is paid for from public funds. [235343]


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Mr. Simon: Ministers in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills do not have the use of an official ministerial residence.

Departmental Training

Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what personal training courses at public expense he has undertaken since his appointment. [230954]

Mr. Simon: None.

Departmental Written Questions

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many questions for written answer were tabled to his Department in Session (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04, (c) 2004-05, (d) 2005-06, (e) 2006-07 and (f) 2007-08 to date; and how many were (i) answered substantively and (ii) not answered on grounds of disproportionate cost. [235391]

Mr. Simon: The numbers of written parliamentary questions received by this Department in each session since it was formed on 28 June 2007 are shown in the following table:

Session Total number of written parliamentary questions tabled

2006-07

531

2007-08 (to date)

1,942


Information on how many questions received a substantive answer or were not answered on disproportionate cost grounds is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Engineering Workforce Development Scheme: Crosby

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many workers in Crosby constituency have received training under the Engineering Workforce Development Scheme since its inception. [236680]

Mr. Lammy: Following extensive inquiries with a wide range of regional partners including the Northwest Regional Development Agency, it has not been possible to identify the engineering workforce development scheme in Crosby. If my hon. Friend wishes to write to me separately with more detail about the scheme, I will endeavour to provide the information requested.

English Language: General Certificate of Secondary Education

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of over-16 year-olds who do not have a grade C or above in English at GCSE or an equivalent qualification. [224566]

Mr. Simon: The Skills for Life survey in 2003 estimated the literacy and numeracy levels and functional ability of adults in England. The Skills for Life survey reported that 10 per cent. of adults aged 16 to 65 achieved a D-G grade in English Language. Half of the respondents in
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the 2003 survey (51 per cent.) had a grade A*- C GCSE (or equivalent) in this subject and the rest (40 per cent .) did not have this qualification.

Since we launched our SfL strategy in 2001, more than 2.25 million people have improved their literacy and numeracy skills—meeting our 2010 PSA target more than two years early.

Further Education: Debts

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the level of total debt taken out by further education colleges at commercial rates of interest has been in each year since 2001. [235330]

Mr. Simon: Information on the level of debt taken out by further education (FE) colleges is not held at departmental level. The financial position of FE colleges is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC's chief executive, Mark Haysom, will write to the hon. Member for Havant with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.

Languages: Further Education

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what progress he has made towards the implementation of Lord Justice Auld's recommendation that the Government should consider central funding of further education establishments to equip them, where necessary, to provide courses for lesser known languages for the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting; and if he will make a statement. [239011]

Mr. Simon: I would like to refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 24 November, Official Report, column 1029W.

Learning and Skills Council for England

Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of the Learning and Skills Council budget is allocated to (a) Gwent and (b) Wales. [239008]

Mr. Simon: The Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) remit is to provide funding for England only. The Welsh Assembly is responsible for Learning and Skills in Wales. Under section 12 of the Further Education and Training Act 2007, the LSC may take part in arrangements in relation to Wales and Scotland to assist in the training for employment opportunities, subject to the consent of the Secretary of State and the Welsh Ministers. This has allowed Wales to participate in the Career Development Loan Scheme. Approximately 4 per cent. of the Career Development Loans scheme is allocated to Wales, this equates to £947,000. No figures are available for Gwent.

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