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27 Jan 2009 : Column 455W—continued
Departmental Surveys
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much his Department's central media and communication unit has spent on public surveys since its inception. [248026]
Mr. Simon: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was formed in June 2007, following the machinery of government changes.
Since its inception, DIUS central communications unit is estimated to have spent £680,000 on qualitative research and omnibus or other quantitative surveys of the public. Of this total an estimated £275,000 has been spent on qualitative research (primarily campaign
development) and £405,000 on quantitative or omnibus research (primarily campaign evaluation).
Departmental Telephone Services
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what use (a) his Department and (b) service providers under contract to his Department make of (i) 0844 and 0845 telephone numbers and (ii) revenue-sharing telephone numbers for calls from members of the public; for which services such numbers are used; what prefixes are used for revenue-sharing numbers; how much revenue has accrued from revenue-sharing numbers in each of the last five years; what consideration his Department has given to introducing 03-prefixed telephone numbers for calls to all such services; and if he will make a statement. [247345]
Mr. Simon: Comprehensive information about 0845 and similar numbers is not readily available centrally and to respond fully would involve an extensive information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold. However, using a variety of information and data sources, I can confirm that the following numbers are in use:
The service for the separate numbers for specific National Contact Points within the FP7UK consortium are run not by DIUS but by external contractors managed by the Technology Strategy Board. The average number of calls to all of these helplines is 240 per month. We do not have data on revenue generated.
Departmental Work Experience
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many graduate interns his Department currently employs. [249121]
Mr. Simon: The Department took two interns on the Summer Development Programme and one intern on the Summer Placement Scheme in 2008 through bids to Cabinet Office for their Summer Diversity Internship programmes which aim to attract high calibre people from diverse backgrounds.
The Department and Department for Children, Schools and Families have made a combined bid for 15 Summer Development Interns and 15 Summer Placement Interns for 2009.
Educational Institutions: Expenditure
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much his Department has spent on college buildings in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire in each year since 1997. [250560]
Mr. Lammy: In 1997-98, the total capital expenditure in Further Education colleges in England in the financial year 1997-98 was nil.
In total since that time, this Government have invested £2.4 billion and will be investing a record further £2.3 billion across the next three years.
Capital funding for further education colleges is administrated by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and I have asked Mark Haysom, the LSC chief executive, to write to the hon. Member with the further information requested. A copy of his letter will be placed in the House Library.
Further Education: Offenders
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills whether there are any restrictions on people on the sex offenders register being able to enrol at further education and sixth form colleges; whether colleges are entitled to know if any of their students are on the sex offenders register; and whether the police are expected to inform colleges if they believe a student on the sex offenders register may pose a threat to other students, including those aged under 18 years. [250219]
Mr. Simon: There are no specific restrictions on sex offenders being able to enrol at further education or sixth form colleges. Nor is there any general entitlement for colleges or sixth form colleges to know whether any of their students are sexual offenders subject to current notification requirements or who have been subject to such requirements in the past. However, under the terms of the national multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) guidance, the police, and other MAPPA agencies, are required to consider whether to disclose information to third parties (including schools and colleges) in all MAPPA eligible cases. This includes all offenders subject to the notification requirements.
We expect in relevant cases that the police will provide information about an individual where a college needs to be aware of that individual's previous convictions if they affect the safety of other learners, young or old. The detail of that information would depend on the particular individual and the nature of the offence and would be provided following a proper assessment of risk of harm to others.
Further Education: Standards
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the projected expenditure on the further education improvement body is in each of the next five years. [247544]
Mr. Simon: In 2008-09 the combined total projected expenditure by all Government Departments on the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) is expected to be £145,285,000; in 2009-10 DIUS’ contribution to LSIS’ total projected expenditure is expected to be £96,470,000; and in 2010-11 total DIUS expenditure is expected to be £87,470,000. Projected expenditure beyond 2010-11 is not available.
Learning and Skills Council for England
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many capital projects were approved under the Learning and Skills Council capital project funding in (a) February, (b) March, (c) April, (d) May, (e) June, (f) July, (g) August, (h) September, (i) October, (j) November and (k) December 2008. [248610]
Mr. Simon: It is thanks to this Government's commitment to colleges that investment in college capital projects will amount to £2.3 billion between 2007 and 2011.
As a result of this and past spending under this Government nearly 700 projects, at 330 colleges have been agreed by the Learning and Skills Council.
The following table describes all capital projects approved by the Learning and Skills Council for the requested period. This includes all capital proposals approved in principle and in detail, for all proposals seeking capital support from the Further Education, Adult Safeguarded Learning, and 16-19 capital funds.
| N umber of capital proposal approved (FE, Adult Safeguarded Learning, and 16-19) | |||
| Month of approval | In detail | In principle | In total |
Official Cars
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what cars are (a) owned, (b) leased, (c) hired and (d) otherwise regularly used by his Department, broken down by cubic capacity of engine. [250142]
Mr. Simon:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State at the Department for Transport, on 21 January 2009, Official Report, column 1434W, about cars provided by the Government Car and Despatch Agency.
Details of other official vehicles used by the Department are not held centrally and would incur disproportionate cost to provide.
Research: Finance
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he plans to take to increase funding for research at new universities. [251922]
Mr. Lammy: On 22 January, the Department's grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was published. This outlines the broad principles on which we expect HEFCE to base their funding allocations. This letter states that we expect HEFCE
“to continue to recognise and reward the highest levels of research excellence wherever it is found.”
It also made reference to the importance of both rewarding pockets of excellence, and of adequately supporting the institutions with the largest volumes of world-class research:
“I know that you will need to maintain high levels of funding for those institutions with the largest volumes of world-class research whilst rewarding and nurturing pockets of excellence elsewhere.”
Research: Leukaemia
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the Medical Research Council’s expenditure was on (a) leukaemia and (b) brain tumour research in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08. [250689]
Mr. Lammy: The Medical Research Council is one of the main agencies through which the Government support medical and clinical research.
The MRC is currently funding a large portfolio of site-specific and general underpinning cancer research. In 2007/08, the MRC’s expenditure on cancer research amounted to £89.5 million.
The MRC’s expenditure on research related to leukaemia and brain tumours in 2005/06 to 2007/08 is as follows:
| S pend | |||
| Area | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 |
The aforementioned brain tumour figures include core funding to the MRC Clinical Trials Unit in London for various clinical trials in brain cancer.
The MRC, Cancer Research UK, Leukaemia Research and Children with Leukaemias have each committed £100,000 per annum for three years (from 1 April 2007) to the UK Children Cancer and Leukaemia Group in Leicester. Further information can be found at:
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