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20 Apr 2009 : Column 14W—continued
Departmental Pay
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much his Department has allocated for staff bonuses in 2008-09. [252256]
Mr. Simon: The Department’s annual non-consolidated performance payment for 2008-09 totalled £535,006 and was met within existing pay controls.
Payments are used to drive high performance and those for the senior civil service are based on recommendations from the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what his latest estimate is of his Department’s capital expenditure in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11 and (d) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [268122]
Mr. Simon: The latest capital expenditure figures for Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills are as follows:
(a) £2.2 billion
(b) £2.5 billion
(c) £ 1.8 billion
(d) The Government have not set Departments’ Capital DEL budgets for years beyond 2010-11. Capital DEL budgets for 2011-12 and beyond are a matter for the next spending review. The Government do, however, publish projections for PSNI (Public Sector Net Investment) over the forecast period at Budgets and pre-Budget reports.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much is being spent on each form of advertising in the Train to Gain advertising campaign by (a) the Learning and Skills Council and (b) his Department. [254374]
Mr. Simon: National Marketing and Communications for Train to Gain is delivered by the national Learning and Skills Council (LSC) on behalf of the Department. The total Train to Gain spend on advertising for January to December 2008 was £7,716,021 including VAT. This is broken down as follows:
| Gross media spend, booked through the Central Office for Information | |
| Gross media spend (£) | |
| Media paid for directly by LSC | |
| £ | |
Departmental Recycling
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much and what proportion of its waste his Department recycled in 2007-08. [266662]
Mr. Simon: The Department's waste services in 2007-08 were provided by Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) which manage the buildings that DIUS occupies. Neither of these organisations separates waste produced by DIUS from its waste, so information on the precise amount of waste produced by DIUS is not held.
Departmental Standards
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of measuring compliance with its targets under its public service agreements in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [266710]
Mr. Simon: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) does not maintain information specifically identifying the separate costs of measuring compliance with its targets under its Public Service Agreements (PSAs). With the cost of generating this information being disproportionate, any costs of measuring compliance with the Department’s targets under its PSAs, beyond those incurred in the normal course of managing its business and performance, are likely to be small.
Departmental Training
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills whether his Department has provided voice coaching to any of its employees in the last 12 months. [260650]
Mr. Simon: Voice coach training is not part of the core training and development offering available to staff in the Department. However, local managers are able to book external courses based on identified need and value for money. A search of local records would result in disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2009, Official Report, column 1095W, on departmental training, which Ministers attended (a) foreign language lessons, (b) the Cabinet Committees course, (c) the European Union course and (d) the media training course; in what foreign languages Ministers received lessons; and how much each of these courses cost. [265660]
Mr. Simon: Of the four courses referred to in my earlier answer the Cabinet Committee courses and European Union courses incurred no cost to the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills. The other two courses referred to in my earlier answer were foreign language lessons and media training. These cost £1,343 and £1,276 respectively.
Identifying Ministers who undertake training would, or would be likely to, discourage participation in future training sessions, acting as a disincentive for Ministers to undertake formal professional development.
Foreign Students: USA
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what changes have been made to the rules in respect of financial support for British students travelling to the US since the Prime Minister’s article in T he Wall Street Journal on 16 April 2008. [268643]
Mr. Lammy: The Prime Minister said,
“I can give a commitment that British students who need financial support to pay the travel costs of taking up a term of study in the U.S. will receive that support.”
The provisions for eligible students travelling to the USA are as follows:
A grant for travel is available to eligible students in respect of reasonable expenditure which they are obliged to incur in a qualifying quarter of their course, for the purpose of taking up a term of study at an overseas institution including one in the USA. A qualifying quarter is one in which the student is required to attend the overseas institution for at least half the length of the period covered by that quarter.
The grant for travel meets the costs of:
travel within and outside the UK in order to attend the university or college including airfares
medical insurance for treatment provided outside the United Kingdom
visas required to attend the overseas institution
medical costs incurred to meet a mandatory condition of entry into a country (e.g. vaccination costs).
Except for the first £295 of travel costs incurred, eligible students from households with incomes of up to £39,796 may be entitled to have all their reasonable travel related expenditure met by the grant for travel. Income over £39,796 is taken into account and reduces the amount of travel related expenditure that the grant will cover. Income is taken into account at the rate of £1 for each £9.27 over £39,796, subject to a maximum income contribution of £6,210.
DIUS has responsibility for higher education in England only. The devolved Administrations have responsibility for it in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Further Education: Finance
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to his written ministerial statement of 4 March 2009, Official Report, column 55W, on capital investment (further education colleges), whether colleges which have not yet received approval will be required to redesign capital funding projects in order to receive funding. [268527]
Mr. Simon: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has already begun discussing options for prioritisation with the further education sector. Once the consultation is complete, the LSC will advise on options. Until that process is complete, it is not possible to say whether capital projects will be required to be redesigned. But the potential impact on college projects including the need for redesign will be considered fully when the LSC comes forward with proposals.
Higher Education: Disadvantaged
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent assessment he has given to the merits of the provision of further and higher education institutions in all areas as a means of widening participation among non-traditional groups. [268615]
Mr. Simon: We are committed to improving choice and reducing barriers to ensure that there is fair access for all to the learning opportunities available. Further education operates across society, having a real impact on businesses, young people and adults, including those from disadvantaged and minority communities. In 2007-08, over 2.6 million people were participating in learning at a FE college.
This Government are fully committed to ensuring every young person has a fair chance of attending university. And we are making progress with the proportion of young entrants from lower socio-economic groups going to university increasing steadily, reaching almost 30 per cent. in 2007. A New University Challenge, with an investment of up to £200 million, will establish new campuses, particularly in areas with no history of provision, and provide places for 10,000 extra students.
In January 2009, the New Opportunities White Paper announced a wide-ranging package of investment and support from across Government for people to make the most of their potential throughout their lives giving them lifelong chances to succeed.
Innovation: Motor Vehicles
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what projects to develop more environmentally efficient private motor vehicles have been sponsored by his Department’s Technology Strategy Board; and what progress has been made on those projects. [243810]
Mr. Lammy: The technology strategy board’s portfolio of collaborative R and D projects comprises DTI funded legacy projects that preceded its establishment as an executive body, and those funded under its low carbon vehicles innovation platform. The projects are typically of three year duration, and the following list includes the name of the lead consortium partner:
Enhanced Diesel Engine Lubrication Systems for Reduced C02 Emissions—Ford Motor Company.
2/4SIGHT—Downsized 2 Stroke/4 Stroke switching engine for passenger cars—Ricardo.
Energy Efficient Electric Urban Transport—Zytek Electric Vehicles.
LIFECar-Morgan.
Development of the rheo-diecasting process for lightweight automotive components—Innoval.
Low carbon vehicle innovation p latform
Axon 60: A structural carbon fibre car with plug-in hybrid option—Axon Automotive Ltd.
Li-ion Batteries for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles—FiFe Batteries Ltd.
Engine optimisation for reduced parasitic losses—Ford Motor Company Ltd.
Commercial vehicle fuel and carbon reduction by the use of ‘aerospace aero’ devices—Hatcher Components Limited.
Flywheel Hybrid System for Premium Vehicles—Jaguar Cars Limited.
Limo-Green—Jaguar Cars Ltd.
Lower Cost, Lightweight Vehicles by Increasing the Use of Post Consumer Aluminium Scrap—Jaguar Land Rover.
Range Extended Electric Vehicle REHEV—Land Rover.
High torque density electric drive for commercial vehicles (HiTED)—Magnomatics Ltd.
2/4CAR 2/4-Stroke Switching Carbon Reduction Vehicle—Ricardo UK Ltd.
Lightweight lead Acid Battery for Low Carbon Vehicles (LAB-LCV)—TWI Ltd.
Adventurous R and D projects such as these have an element of uncertainty and risk by their very nature. Exploitation strategies, which are commercially confidential, setting out how the project consortium plans to exploit the results are a key component of the business case submitted to the technology strategy board and can include the development of new products or processes, the publication of results or the stimulation of further work.
These strategies are re-visited during the course of the work and the technology strategy board have monitoring systems in place to encourage robust self-monitoring and to maximise exploitation during and beyond the project’s life-time and to monitor the impact of projects at least five years after the end of the project.
While the projects funded under the innovation platform are at a formative stage, a majority of the legacy projects such as those led by Zytek and Ford have already resulted in excellent technical outputs, while the Morgan LIFECar have been presented at the Geneva Motor Show and been featured extensively in the UK press and media. The technology strategy board will now work to ensure that where appropriate, technical advances are incorporated into the relevant company development plans.
Learning and Skills Council for England: Finance
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what terms of reference Sir Andrew Foster has been given for his review of the Learning and Skills Council's capital budget. [268629]
Mr. Simon: We agreed with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) on 27 January that Sir Andrew Foster would undertake a review of the LSC further education capital programme to assess:
the main causes of the increased demand for capital funding;
the internal LSC processes and scrutiny of the capital programme and how these could be improved; and
any further steps that can be taken to ensure that for the future the expectation and demand for capital funds are kept in line with budget requirements, bearing in mind the development of the Skills Funding Agency and Young People’s Learning Agency, and the proper role of DIUS and DCSF for capital matters.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Learning and Skills Council on the allocation of funding to training providers offering apprenticeships and Train to Gain places for (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10. [268644]
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