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2 Mar 2009 : Column 1348W—continued
Small Businesses: Procurement
Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate his Department has made of the number of small and medium-sized enterprises registered with the Supply2.gov.uk website in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08; what projection he has made of the equivalent figure for 2008-09; and of these, how many renewed their annual registration in each such year. [246767]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 12 January 2009]: No figures are available for businesses registered on supply2.gov.uk. The number of supplier user registrations in 2006-07 and 2007-08 was 42,766 and 31,352 respectively. The projected number of supplier user registrations in 2008-09 is 55,834. There is no annual requirement on users to renew the free local location access.
Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate his Department has made of the amount paid to Supply2.gov.uk in subscription fees for (a) Free Location Service, (b) Regional Area Service, (c) Home County Service and (d) National Service in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08 and (iii) 2008-09. [246768]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 12 January 2009]: The supply2.gov.uk service was let under a concession type contract, following a competitive tender. All the commercial risk is borne by the operator. The contract only requires the contractor to provide information on revenues where these exceed an annual threshold. This provision has not so far been triggered during the course of the current contract.
VAT: Channel Islands
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the number of businesses which have closed as a result of competition from businesses on the Channel Islands which operate under value added tax exemption rules; and if he will take steps to compensate those businesses which have closed. [256806]
Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.
No such estimate has been made. In practice it is unlikely to be possible to attribute reliably the closure of any particular business to one specific factor.
Waterford Wedgwood
Mr. Cash: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he last met representatives of (a) Waterford Wedgwood and (b) JCB; and what steps (i) he and (ii) Advantage West Midlands have taken to provide advice and assistance to each company. [247889]
Mr. McFadden
[holding answer 15 January 2009]: My noble Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) spoke to JCB on 9 January 2009 and JCB was also present, as a representative of the construction equipment sector, at
the meeting between the automotive industry and BERR Ministers on 27 November 2008. Support for the automotive sector has been the subject of much recent discussion and I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) on 4 February 2009, Official Report, column 1315W.
Advantage West Midlands (AWM) has been working with other regional partners to explore ways in which they could assist industry, including these two companies. This includes support for the work force (comprising training for the existing work force, as well as support for company staff facing redundancy), support for suppliers and exploring the potential for redevelopment of parts of the companies estates.
Since Waterford Wedgewood went into administration, AWM have approached the administrators to further the discussion. In addition, a Ceramics Task Group involving AWM has been called by the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership to discuss support to the wider ceramics industry.
Working Hours: Fire Services
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will hold discussions with Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority on the effect of proposed changes to the EU Working Time Directive on Shropshire's retained firefighters. [258263]
Mr. McFadden: The UK Government recognise that losing the individual’s right to opt-out of the 48 hour working week as set by the working time directive, would have a detrimental effect on the hours which firefighters working the retained duty system could be available for duty, especially the substantial numbers who work full-time for their primary employer. Many other workers also use this important flexibility and so we remain firmly of the view that this right should remain. We, along with a majority of other member states will be fighting for the retention of the opt-out as this dossier progresses through the European negotiation process.
I am very aware of the widespread concern on this issue among retained firefighters. Officials both from this Department and the Department for Communities and Local Government have worked very closely with the Retained Firefighters’ Union and will continue to keep them informed throughout the negotiations.
Duchy of Lancaster
10 Downing Street
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make it his policy to enable members of the public to purchase 10 Downing Street gift shop products. [258613]
Kevin Brennan: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer the Prime Minster gave to the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) on 13 October 2008, Official Report, column 881W.
10 Downing Street: Repairs and Maintenance
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood of 27 January 2009, Official Report, column 467W, on 10 Downing Street: repairs and maintenance, on what date the works in 10 Downing Street associated with Westminster City Council planning application reference 08/00696/1884 were (a) started and (b) completed. [258616]
Kevin Brennan: The work was carried out during August and September 2008.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Norwood of 27 January 2009, Official Report, column 467W, on Downing Street: repairs and maintenance, (1) which external contractors were used to undertake the works in 10 Downing Street associated with Westminster City Council planning application reference 08/00696/1884; [258693]
(2) what the estimated budget for the works in 10 Downing Street associated with Westminster City Council planning application reference 08/00696/1884 was before commencement of the works. [258617]
Kevin Brennan: The procurement of facilities services across the Cabinet Office estate is provided by the total Facilities Management provider for the Cabinet Office. Expenditure figures for 2008-09 will be available after the end of the financial year, once the Cabinet Office accounts have been audited.
Cancer
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the most recent five-year cancer survival rates are in each primary care trust. [259386]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Dennis Roberts, dated February 2009:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the most recent five-year cancer survival rates are in each primary care trust. I am replying in her absence. [259386]
Cancer survival rates are only produced for specific cancers. A figure giving the overall survival rate for all cancer patients is not produced as it would not be meaningful to combine figures for disparate conditions having very different survival rates.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not produce survival rates for individual primary care trusts. ONS regularly publishes five-year survival rates for patients resident in the ‘Spearhead Group’ of primary care trusts in England, compared with those for patients resident in the rest of England. These survival rates for ten cancers (bladder, breast, cervix, colon, lung oesophagus, ovary, prostate, rectum and stomach) are available on the Office for National Statistics website at:
The lowest geographical area for which cancer survival rates are available are strategic health authority areas. Five-year survival rates for patients resident in government office regions, and strategic health authorities for eight cancers (bladder, breast, cervix, colon, lung, oesophagus, prostate and stomach) are available on the Office for National Statistics website at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=11991&;Pos=9&ColRank=1&Rank=272
Charity Commission: Empty Property
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the estimated cost in empty property business rates for the vacant property of the Charity Commission as recorded on the e-PIMS database at (a) Woodfield House and (b) Harmsworth House is in 2008-09. [258540]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission to reply.
Letter from Andrew Hind, 27 February 2009
As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, I have been asked to respond to your written Parliamentary Question on vacant office space.
The Charity Commission has no empty property on which it is paying business rates. Our entry on e-PIMS reflects this.
I hope this is helpful
Civil Servants: Computers
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many Macbook Air computers are on offer to civil servants as part of the showusabetterway.co.uk competition. [250334]
Mr. Watson: Show us a better way was a competition to stimulate ideas on how to improve public services through information. The prizes were: a £60,000 fund to develop ideas further and £20,000 for working prototypes.
There was an additional prize of a Macbook Air for the best idea from a civil servant. This was to encourage participation online and to stimulate and reward innovation within the service.
The Cabinet Office will be awarding a Macbook Air to one civil servant for their winning idea of a school catchment area tool.
Computer Software
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the Government’s policy on the use of open source software is. [258366]
Mr. Watson: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd’s Bush (Andrew Slaughter) on 25 February 2009, Official Report, columns 592-3W.
Conditions of Employment: Parents
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many parents of young children in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the City of York have requested flexible working. [257974]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated February 2009:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on how many parents of young children in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the City of York have requested flexible working. (257974)
The available information is provided in the attached table.
Estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) household datasets. These are based on the number of parents in employment who are working agreed alternative working arrangements. It cannot provide the numbers of parents that have requested such working arrangements.
Parents of young children have been defined as those having at least one child aged 0 to 4 years.
The LFS is a sample survey covering over 53,000 households in the United Kingdom in each three month period. As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
| Number of parents( 1) with dependent children aged under five in employment( 2) with agreed flexible work arrangement( 3) , April to June 2008, not seasonally adjusted | |
| Number (Thousand ) | |
| (1) Parents are defined as people with dependent children who are residents in their household. (2) Excluding those on college-based schemes. (3) Agreed work arrangement includes; flexible working hours, annualised hours contract, term time working, job sharing, nine day fortnight, four and a half day week and zero hours contract. (4) Sample size too small to provide an estimate. Source: Labour Force Survey Household dataset. | |
Departmental Databases
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the IT division of the Cabinet Office has a list of each database maintained by or on behalf of the Cabinet Office. [258611]
Mr. Watson: The IT division of the Cabinet Office has a list of each database maintained by or on behalf of the Department. For information regarding this list, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by me to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 21 April 2008, Official Report, column 1696W.
Departmental Public Appointments
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which of the public appointments for which his Department is responsible are due to be (a) renewed and (b) filled in the next 24 months; what the (i) remit, (ii) salary, (iii) political restriction, (iv) eligibility requirement and (v) timetable for each appointment is; and what records his Department keeps in respect of such appointments. [254234]
Mr. Watson: Information on appointments made by the Department published in the Cabinet Office Public Appointments Plans, is available at:
Copies are also available in the Libraries of the House. The report for 2008 is due to be published shortly. More detailed information about individual appointments is set out in the relevant body’s Annual Report. Vacancies may be advertised on the Cabinet Office Public Appointments website at:
The process for making a public appointment, including guidance on political activity and eligibility criteria, follows the Cabinet Office publication “Making and Managing Public Appointments”. For appointments
regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, the appointments process also complies with the “Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies”. Copies are in the Libraries of the House.
Departmental Video Recordings
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2009, Official Report, columns 745-6W, on departmental video recordings, how much expenditure the Cabinet Office incurred in payments to each company in the last 12 months; and what the (a) title and (b) purpose of the video produced was in each case. [257488]
Mr. Watson: The Department has not used any of the companies on the list provided by the chief executive of the Central Office of Information.
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