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17 Jun 2009 : Column 405W—continued
Sentencing data are given in this answer because data on length of time served are not collected by specific offence.
If the offence was committed on or after the 4 April 2005, release arrangements are covered by the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 2003, where either a standard determinate sentence, extended sentence for public protection or imprisonment for public protection would apply. The
Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 amended the release arrangements for certain sentences from the CJA 2003. Life sentence prisoners are released under the terms of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997.
Average time served in prison for young offenders can be found in table 9.2 of Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2007 available at the following link:
Business, Innovation and Skills
Adult Education: Finance
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding he plans to allocate to adult learning centres in Derbyshire in 2009-10. [278776]
Kevin Brennan [holding answer 9 June 2009]: The Government are investing £5 billion in adult skills in 2009-10; this investment will fund a record three million adult learners.
In addition to this, in the light of the economic downturn we have made available a significant package of support, focused on providing opportunities for those out of work to gain the skills to enter sustainable employment.
This includes £83 million to fund an additional 75,000 further education (FE) places over the next two years for those who have been out of work for six months or longer. FE providers in Derbyshire have successfully bid for £1.6 million of this package. We are also investing £100 million to support around 70,000 places in employment-focused activity for those out of work or under notice of redundancy. £3 million of this investment is planned to support 2,200 learners on response to redundancy programmes in Derbyshire.
Nationally, we also spend £210 million per year on informal adult learning, which can be delivered through a range of local providers.
The former Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills published the Learning Revolution White Paper in March 09 which sets out a cross-Government strategy for informal learning in the 21st Century, with £30 million additional spend in 2009-10.
Further, for 2009-10 we are providing £21.5 million to support the key role that trade union and their union learning representatives can play in driving up demand for learning and skills in the workplace.
Aviation: Government Assistance
Mr. Todd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the home country rule in relation to the provision of financial support on aircraft sales. [277260]
Ian Lucas: To date I have not had any discussions with my EU counterparts on the so called “home country rule” in relation to the provision of financial support on aircraft sales.
Basic Skills
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on the use of languages other than English and Welsh in advertising skills courses. [274061]
Kevin Brennan: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills do not advertise skills courses.
Responsibility for advertising skills courses rest with the colleges or course providers.
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to increase skills levels amongst 18 to 24 year-olds. [278331]
Kevin Brennan: We now have the highest-ever level of young adults participating in learning. We are taking a joined-up approach across government to ensure that all young adults have the skills they need to obtain a meaningful job with prospects.
Young adults up to the age of 25 are entitled to provision leading up to and including a full Level 3 qualification, which can be taken up through a wide range of learning provision. We are also widening participation in higher education, to ensure that all those with the potential and merit to benefit from HE are able and willing to do so.
Government have rescued and expanded apprenticeships over the last 10 years. We are providing over £1 billion of investment in apprenticeships for young people and adults in this financial year, supporting over 250,000 starts.
The Budget announced a guaranteed offer of pre-employment training places for young people age 18-24 who have been unemployed for 12 months. Over £120 million of new money will be available in England and the whole package is worth £1.7 billion. £83 million is also available to fund an extra 75,000 new work-focused training opportunities for those who have been unemployed for six months or more.
Young people over 18 on out-of-work benefits are already subject to conditionality, and we are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to deliver an integrated employment and skills service so that those on benefits will be given extra help to gain the skills they need and to find work. The service includes early skills screening of 18 to 24-year-olds, piloting of mandatory skills health checks, as well as basic skills and job-focused provision. We are also creating a new adult advancement and careers service offering information, advice and guidance.
Better Regulation Executive and Local Better Regulation Office: Pay
John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much and what proportion of the annual budget for the (a) Better Regulation Executive and (b) Local Better Regulation Office has been spent on staff costs in each year since inception. [276292]
Ian Lucas: The Better Regulation Executive (BRE) was established in May 2005. The staff costs were £4.6 million in 2005/06 (85 per cent. of total spend); £5.6 million in 2006/07 (88 per cent.); £6.4 million in 2007/08 (94 per cent.); and £6.0 million in 2008/09 (87 per cent.).
The Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) was established in September 2007. The staff costs were £0.8 million in 2007/08 and £1.7 million in 2008/09. Staff costs accounted for 50 per cent. and 37 per cent. of total spend respectively.
The 2007/08 LBRO figures account for a partial financial year from September 2007-March 2008 and reflect the fact that LBRO was not yet fully staffed.
Staff costs include salaries and other costs directly associated with staff in post.
Building Colleges for the Future Programme
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the capacity of (a) the Skills Funding Agency, (b) the Young People’s Learning Agency and (c) local authorities to continue the system for prioritising further education capital projects once they take on functions of the Learning and Skills Council. [277847]
Kevin Brennan: The structures that will come into place following the dissolution of the LSC have been designed to ensure all the organisations have the capacity to discharge their responsibilities including those related to capital projects. We are working closely with the LSC to ensure a smooth transition and it is taking forward a transition plan to implement shadow structures by September 2009.
Climate Change
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what steps his Department has taken to adapt to climate change in the last two years; [277645]
(2) what steps his Department has taken to adapt to climate change in 2009 to date. [278295]
Mr. Lammy: All Departments are actively involved in the cross-Government Adapting to Climate Change Programme, which aims to help society adapt to climate change. The role of the programme is to develop and provide a comprehensive evidence base including adaptation tools, to raise awareness of the need to adapt, to measure success and to work across Government at all levels to embed adaptation. Further details about the programme’s work can be found at
As well as working together to tackle issues that affect all departments and their work, each Government Department is adapting to climate change in its own operations and policies.
Over the last two years DIUS has built upon the sustainable action plan, which sets out how the Department contributes to addressing climate change. A Science and Innovation White Paper has been published, including proposals on fostering private and public sector innovation
which will help to identify technological and social solutions needed for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
DIUS has supported the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Learning and Skills Council in putting sustainability at the centre of their investment strategies.
DIUS has funded the Research Councils’ “Living with Environmental Change” (LWEC) initiative, a programme to increase resilience to and reduce costs of, environmental change, addressing the associated pressures on natural resources, ecosystem services, economic growth and social progress.
DIUS has also supported the Research Councils’ Energy Programme, bringing together energy-related research and training across the councils to address climate change and security of energy supply and to implement the Science and Innovation White Paper proposals on fostering private and public sector innovation.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minster of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of his Department’s potential gross (a) costs and (b) savings arising from its climate change adaptation measures in the next three years. [277720]
Mr. Lammy: It is not currently possible to provide estimates of the potential costs and savings over the next three years. It has, however, been shown in the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change that timely and well-targeted climate adaptation measures will yield benefits in excess of their costs. The main rationale for investment to address climate risk will be to reduce the UK’s vulnerability to longer-term climate change impacts.
The Government are undertaking a Climate Change Risk Assessment and Economic Analysis, which will provide estimates of the costs and benefits of adaptation to the UK. This analysis will be presented to Parliament within three years of the Climate Change Act coming in to force.
Consumer Credit: Licensing
John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many companies whose consumer credit licence had expired were still trading while awaiting a decision on renewal of the licence in each month since January 1997; and for how long on average each such company had been waiting in each of those months. [277310]
Kevin Brennan: The OFT does not routinely hold all the data requested.
In accordance with section 29 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, licences submitted for renewal prior to their expiry date will continue in force until the OFT decision on its application and, if there is an appeal against the OFT decision, until the appeals process is completed.
Since December 2008, when the OFT established a dedicated team to process and allocate high-risk credit applications, the average processing time for high risk renewal applications has been 59 working days from the
date the application was received. This is in line with the OFT's target of processing 75 per cent. of applications within 90 days.
John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the maximum length of time is that a company which requires a consumer credit licence may continue to trade without a licence while awaiting a decision from the Office of Fair Trading on licence renewal. [277508]
Kevin Brennan: No business may legally engage in Consumer Credit Act regulated activities without a consumer credit licence.
In accordance with section 29 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, licences submitted for renewal prior to their expiry date will continue in force until the OFT decision on its application and, if there is an appeal against the OFT decision, until the appeals process is completed.
The OFT aims to process 75 per cent. of applications for high risk category activities within 90 days. Cases where further investigation is required or where regulatory action such as the imposition of requirements is considered appropriate will take more than 90 days.
Data Service
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the functions of the Data Service are in relation to the provision of information for further education; and if he will make a statement. [278246]
Kevin Brennan: The Data Service was announced in the FE Reform White Paper in March 2006 and launched in April 2008 to become the single authoritative source of data for post-16 further education, with sole responsibility for its collection and dissemination.
It is an independently managed entity, formed from and still within the Learning and Skills Council. It is responsible for providing a service to the whole FE Sector and reports to a steering group with representation from across the FE sector.
The Data Service brings together a range of functions related to data collection and dissemination and is building to a mature service able to support all data collection and primary dissemination activities required for the academic year 2010-11. The Data Service collects a range of information including data from providers on learners and learning aims, for operational purposes. Data includes information on learners in FE colleges, Train to Gain and Apprenticeships collected via the Individualised Learner Record.
The Data Service works closely with the Department on the production and dissemination of publicly available statistical information, including a series of National Statistics publications, the most recent of which was released on 26 March 2009:
Departmental Data Protection
James Brokenshire:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many notifications his Department made to the Information Commissioner in the year ended 30 April 2009 in respect
of the loss or mishandling of personal information or data; what was notified in each such case; and how many individuals were the subjects of personal information or data in respect of which such notifications were made. [278731]
Departmental Training
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2009, Official Report, column 697W, on departmental training, which Minister took part in (a) training on the European Union, (b) training on Cabinet Committees, (c) foreign language lessons and (d) media training; what each course involved; when each course took place; and what the total cost of each session was. [268566]
Kevin Brennan: 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.
The Cabinet Committee and European Union courses incurred no cost to the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills. The short briefing session on each topic was delivered by the National School of Government in September 2008. The first covered an overview of cabinet committee processes. The EU session similarly looked at structures, processes hierarchy and the relationship with Whitehall.
The foreign language lessons have cost £1,343 to date. These lessons in Italian have taken place weekly since October 2008.
The media training course involved two sessions in April 2008. The overall cost for the two sessions was £1,276. The course looked at developing skills to communicate the Minister’s remit in a particular area.
All of these courses were one-to-one sessions delivered to Ministers.
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