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12 Jan 2009 : Column 53W—continued
Iran: Nuclear Power
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister whether he discussed the Iranian state shareholding in the French state Uranium Enrichment Company during the visit of President Sarkozy on 8 December 2008. [244884]
The Prime Minister: I discussed a wide range of issues with President Sarkozy. I refer the hon. Member to the press conference I held with President Sarkozy and President Barroso on 8 December. A transcript is available on the No. 10 website at:
A copy has also been placed in the Library of the House.
Israel: Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister what matters concerning (a) Israel’s nuclear weapons arsenal and (b) Iran’s nuclear programme, he discussed in his meeting with his Israeli counterpart on 16 December 2008. [245675]
The Prime Minister: I discussed a wide range of issues with Prime Minister Olmert.
Right of Search
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Prime Minister whether he or any Minister, civil servant or adviser sought to influence the content of Mr. Speaker’s statement of 3 December 2008, Official Report, columns 1-3. [246591]
The Prime Minister: The statement was entirely a matter for Mr. Speaker.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Departmental Data Protection
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many civil servants in his Department have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended and (c) dismissed for (i) losing and (ii) deliberately disclosing (A) data stored on departmental equipment and (B) confidential information in each year since its inception. [242920]
Mr. Simon: Between the creation of the Department in June 2007 and November 2008, no civil servants have been investigated, suspended or dismissed for losing or deliberately disclosing information. There have been no cases of data loss or disclosure of sensitive information requiring investigation.
The Department takes any breach of security very seriously and, in some cases, may take disciplinary action against those who commit such breaches. Policies and guidance on IT security are available to all staff on the departmental intranet. Logging into the Department’s IT system requires that staff must agree to abide by these policies.
Departmental Energy
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps his Department is taking to reduce the amount of energy it wastes. [244613]
Mr. Simon: The Government's Delivery Plan for “Sustainable Procurement and Operations on the Government Estate”, published in August 2008, provides a full account of the initiatives Departments are taking to reduce their energy waste. The Government have committed to updating the Delivery Plan on a six monthly basis, and the first of these updates was published on 18 December 2008.
Departmental Equality
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what information his Department holds on the (a) sex, (b) ethnicity, (c) age, (d) disability, (e) sexual orientation and (f) religion or belief of its staff; and what assessment he has made of his Department's performance against its targets relating to diversity in its workforce. [246022]
Mr. Simon: In the Department, the employee breakdown is as follows:
(a) 457 male (52.3 per cent. of all staff);
(b) 417 female (47.7 per cent. of all staff);
(c) 45 staff declared from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds (5.1 per cent. of all staff), 376 not known (43.0 per cent.), 13 prefer not to say (1.5 per cent.);
(d) 39 declared a disability (4.5 per cent.), 515 not known (58.9 per cent.), 19 prefer not to say (2.2 per cent.);
(e) 13 declared not heterosexual (1.5 per cent.), 238 sexual orientation not known (27.2 per cent.), 29 prefer not to say (3.3 per cent.);
(f) Three staff declared Buddhist (0.6 per cent.), 192 Christian (22.0 per cent.), three Hindu (0.3 per cent.), one Jewish (0.1 per cent.), five Muslim (0.6 per cent.), five other religion (0.6 per cent.), 119 no religion (13.6 per cent.), 511 not known (58.5 per cent.), 35 prefer not to say (4.0 per cent.).
Departmental records on the numbers of BME staff are based on voluntary self-declaration on the basis of the categories used in the 2001 census. Records on the numbers of disabled staff are also solely based on voluntary, self-declaration of being a disabled person as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act, and not connected in any way to a formal register of disability. Similarly, records on religion or beliefs are solely based on voluntary, self-declaration.
The Department has a Diversity Action Plan and is currently developing its diversity targets.
Departmental Gifts
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many members of staff in his Department have received gifts valued at £100 or higher in the course of their duties since his Department's creation; what these gifts were; and from whom they were received. [242025]
Mr. Simon: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was created as a result of Machinery of Government changes in June 2007.
The Department keeps a record of all gifts received.
No member of staff has received a gift valued at £100 or more.
The rules and guidance on receipt of gifts by civil servants are set out in the Civil Service Management Code, and in departmental staff handbooks.
English Language: Education
Mr. Paul Goodman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many staff in his Department are employed in (a) administering the English for Speakers of Other Languages programme and (b) developing content for citizenship courses; and
what estimate he has made of the cost of employing such staff in (a) 2008-09 and (b) each of the next two financial years. [245584]
Mr. Simon: The team responsible for English for Speakers of Other Languages policy has evolved during 2008 so I am unable to provide a precise costing. This figure is an estimation based on the current cadre of five full-time equivalent staff at a cost of £290,000 for 2008-09. This does not include any Learning and Skills Council resource. Future costs are not provided as these would be predicated on future pay remits agreed with HM Treasury and the cadre may change according to policy priorities.
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills does not employ staff to develop content for citizenship courses. Citizenship materials are developed to meet Home Office criteria and content for these courses are developed by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service.
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills with reference to the answer of 24 June 2008, Official Report, column 248W, on English language: education, when he expects to publish the independent impact assessment report on the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) measures introduced in August 2007; and what the expected cost of provision of ESOL is expected to be in (a) 2008-09 and (b) the two following years. [245706]
Mr. Simon: The Department commissioned an independent review of the changes made to ESOL fees in 2007 to inform any future policy decisions. This work is not yet concluded because the initial work necessitated further in-depth research to produce a more complete picture. No decision has yet been taken on publication.
The cost of provision of ESOL is expected to be in the region of £300 million in 2008-09 and this will be maintained at a similar level for the following two years.
Foreign Students
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many (a) Swedish and (b) Danish nationals are engaged in full-time study in English universities. [245270]
Mr. Lammy: In the 2006/07 academic year, the most recent year for which figures are available, there were 2,400 Swedish domiciled enrolments and 925 Danish domiciled enrolments on full-time courses at English higher education institutions.
The figures come from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record and cover enrolments to all levels study.
Higher Education: Charities
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) how much has been spent on the charitable research projects at higher education institutions which receive funding from the Charity Research Support Fund in each year since its creation; [246248]
(2) what the planned expenditure for the Charity Research Support Fund is for 2009-10. [246250]
Mr. Lammy: The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) provides a Quality Related (QR) block grant for research to higher education institutions. The QR grant is determined by adding together a number of elements—the “charity support element” is calculated by reference to institutions’ levels of charitable research income. The funding that arises from this calculation is distributed to institutions within their overall QR block grant rather than as a separate fund. It is for institutions that receive QR to determine how to use that funding in line with their own priorities.
The amount to be allocated to the charity support element for 2009-10 and any subsequent year will be determined by HEFCE in due course, having regard to the resources available for distribution at the time.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much funding has been provided by UK charities for (a) medical research and (b) cancer research in higher education institutions in each of the last five academic years; and what information his Department has on equivalent figures in other European countries for benchmarking purposes. [246249]
Mr. Lammy: Statistics on higher education institutions’ income are collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
Research income received by higher education institutions in England from UK-based charities for the last five academic years for which data are available is shown in the following table.
| Income (£ million) | |
Information is not collected on the type of research that this income was used for.
The Department does not collect equivalent figures from other European countries.
Higher Education: Finance
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when the Higher Education Funding Council for England plans to publish its report on means to increase the capacity for teaching Islamic studies. [245586]
Mr. Lammy: The Higher Education Funding Council for England has produced the following reports on their work to develop Islamic studies in the UK—all these reports can be found on its website at:
1. Circular letter 03/2008 provides information about the conference held in April 2008 on Islamic Studies.
2. Islamic Studies: current status and future prospects: November 2007
3. Islamic Studies: the way forward in the UK, April 2008
4. Desk based report: International approaches to Islamic Studies in Higher Education
5. Islamic Studies: Trends and profiles report September 2008
6. Sector Impact Assessment of Islamic Studies
7. Board Paper B93 September 2008 sets out HEFCE’s proposals for taking forward the development of Islamic Studies in the UK.
No further reports are due at this time.
Higher Education: Job Evaluation
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what appeals process is available for academic staff who dispute their gradings under the higher educational role analysis evaluation process; and if he will make a statement. [246284]
Mr. Lammy: As universities are autonomous, independent bodies they are responsible for determining their own academic and administrative affairs, including terms and conditions for their staff and staff grading structures. The Government play no part in determining grading structures for higher education staff. As such any appeals process for staff under this or any other job evaluation process would be a matter for the universities to determine in consultation with their recognised trade unions.
Higher Education: Leeds
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many new higher education students in (a) Leeds West and (b) Leeds metropolitan district will receive a maintenance grant in 2008-09. [245433]
Mr. Lammy: Reliable information is not available at constituency level.
In academic year 2007/08, there were 2,520 new university entrants from the Leeds metropolitan district who received a maintenance grant or special support grant.
Information for the 2008/09 academic year is not yet complete. Students can apply for support up to nine months after the start of their course, and in exceptional circumstances, this limit can be extended. Applications generally take six to eight weeks to process.
The Statistical First Release published on 28 November shows the provisional number of new students successfully applying for support in England in academic year 2008/09 under the 2008/09 entry regulations reached 278,100 by mid-November 2008. The provisional distribution shows that 40 per cent. of these students received the full maintenance grant of £2,835 and 29 per cent. received a partial maintenance grant. 31 per cent. received no maintenance grant. No specific information is available yet for the Leeds metropolitan district.
Learning and Skills Council
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what buildings are occupied by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC); what the cost of occupying these buildings is in 2008-09; when each of the lease agreements for occupying these buildings expires; and to what use those buildings will be put following the abolition of the Learning and Skills Council in 2010. [246251]
Mr. Simon:
A list of buildings occupied by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the year of expiry of lease agreements are provided in the following table. The total cost of the LSC’s property portfolio for 2008-09 is £26.1 million. DIUS and DCSF are undertaking an assessment of the detailed options, costs and benefits
for the estate to support effective delivery by the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) and Skills Funding Agency (SFA).
We have already announced that the YPLA and SFA headquarters will be co-located in Coventry.
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