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23 Jun 2009 : Column 862W—continued
Treatment Centres: Southampton
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doctors from Southampton General Hospital have been seconded to the independent sector treatment centre in Southampton in each month since its establishment; and if he will make a statement. [281376]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The number of doctors that have been seconded from Southampton University Hospital Trust to the Southampton NHS Treatment Centre, on a monthly basis, since it opened on 28 October 2008 is shown in the following table.
| Whole - time equivalent (WTE) | |
Weather
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2009, Official Report, column 404W, on weather, what the costs were of (a) revising each of the three web-based documents and (b) printing and posting the leaflet. [281260]
Gillian Merron: The Heatwave Plan itself is a web-based document only.
To date, the cost of producing and distributing the 2009 package of Heatwave Plan documents is £79,504.79, made up of the cost of revising the three web-based documents and enabling them to be downloaded from the Department’s website, and the printing and posting costs of the leaflet. The breakdown of costs is:
| £ | |
Business, Innovation and Skills
Aviation: Government Assistance
Peter Luff: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent application he has received from the aerospace sector for repayable launch investment; and if he will make a statement. [280594]
Ian Lucas: In the last 18 months, Government have received applications for repayable launch investment from Bombardier, GKN and Airbus. Each of these is being taken forward. We announced on 13 July 2008 agreement in principle to support to Bombardier Aerospace for the design and development of the composite wing for the new CSeries aircraft, approved by the European Commission on 18 June 2009. The final agreed figure of repayable launch investment was £113.37 million. Similarly, we announced on 15 September 2008, agreement to provide a £60 million repayable launch investment to GKN Aerospace for the design and development of the rear spar and fixed trailing edge on the new Airbus A350 XWB aircraft, subject to European Commission approval. We are currently in detailed negotiations with Airbus about funding arrangements for the A350 XWB aircraft.
Business: Advisory Services
John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress has been made in simplifying the reporting of inconsistent or inaccurate guidance as referred to in the Government’s response to the Anderson Review of Good Guidance. [274369]
Ian Lucas: The better regulation website provides a simple way for businesses to report inaccurate or inconsistent guidance. Issues are handled by the relevant Department or agency and a response posted on the website. A new version of the site has recently been launched and provides a clearer and more up to date web form which businesses can use to report issues.
The facility to report inconsistent or inaccurate guidance is available at:
Business: Government Assistance
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress the Government has made towards its target of reducing administrative burdens on the private and third sectors by 25 per cent. by 2010. [280121]
Ian Lucas: As at December 2008, Departments, Regulators and Agencies involved in the administrative burden reduction programme reported delivery of £1,888 million of annual net administrative savings, i.e. a 14.4 per cent. reduction.
Progress for each Department, Regulator or Agency is reported in their Simplification Plans which can be found at:
To ensure that the reduction efforts are felt on the ground, claimed savings are scrutinised by a External Validation Panel, made up of representatives from business organisations, before they are reported. The Government will report further progress in December 2009.
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress the Government has made towards its target of identifying annual net reductions in costs to private sector organisations of £3.5 billion by 2010. [280133]
Ian Lucas: The Government's target is to deliver a 25 per cent. annual net reduction in the administrative burdens on regulation affecting businesses and third sector organisations by May 2010, so reducing costs by an estimated £3.4 billion. As at December 2008, Departments, regulators and agencies involved in the administrative burden reduction programme reported delivery of £1,888 million of annual net administrative savings, i.e. a 14.4 per cent. reduction.
Progress for each Department, regulator or agency is reported in their Simplification Plans which can be found at:
To ensure that the reduction efforts are felt on the ground, claimed savings are scrutinised by an External Validation Panel, made up of representatives from business organisations, before they are reported. The Government will report further progress in December 2009.
Business: Human Rights
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on the further development of the toolkit on business and human rights. [279653]
Ian Lucas:
My officials have been closely involved in discussions with officials of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the development of a toolkit on business and
human rights for UK overseas posts. The toolkit is still being developed and various stakeholders are being consulted. No discussions have taken place between the two Departments at ministerial level.
Business: Regulation
Mr. Binley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to businesses of regulations due to come into force in April 2009. [261345]
Ian Lucas: Government Departments publish details of regulatory changes introduced on the two common commencement dates of 6 April and 1 October on the BusinessLink website:
In April 2009, 22 regulatory changes were published on BusinessLink.
These included the second phase of the extension to the statutory entitlement to four weeks' paid holiday required under the EU working time directive, making it additional to the number of bank holidays in England and Wales. This extended the right for all workers from 24 to 28 days holiday a year. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Economics and Business on 28 April 2009, Official Report, column 1274W. The cost to business of this second phase was estimated at between £1.8 billion and 2.4 billion.
The remaining 21 regulatory changes are estimated to have a total additional net cost to business of approximately £30 million. The estimated total benefits of these 21 regulatory changes are in excess of £230 million, it is not always possible to monetise the benefits of regulation.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations Ministers from his Department and its predecessors have made to the European Union on a reduction in the regulatory burden on business in the last 12 months. [280738]
Ian Lucas: Following successful Government lobbying at the Spring European Council in 2007 to secure agreement to a target to reduce administrative burdens stemming from EU law by 25 per cent. by 2012, Ministers from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its predecessors have continued to push the European Commission to bring forward simplification proposals as a matter of priority.
This has already resulted in the Commission presenting a proposal to give member states the option to exempt micro-enterprises from the requirements of the accounting directives. In January, the Commission committed to making:
“Every effort... to adopt these proposals before the end of this Commission mandate.”
Ministers were instrumental in paving the way for the 2009 Spring European Council conclusions which urged the Commission to go one step further and:
“present all proposals in each of the 13 priority areas before the end of its mandate”.
Ministers were also key in getting better regulation measures into the Small Business Act for Europe which was agreed in June 2008.
As a result, the Act stresses the importance of reducing administrative burdens and includes a Commission commitment to assess the impact on SMEs of all forthcoming legislative and administrative initiatives and to use ‘specific measures’ such as transition periods, derogations and exemptions for small and micro firms, wherever appropriate.
EU member states endorsed the Small Business Act in December 2008, calling for action to be prioritised in areas where it will have most impact, including better regulation. Ministers pressed for this emphasis and continue to underline the importance of implementing better regulation commitments at the EU level at every opportunity.
Climate Change
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many (a) full-time equivalent and (b) headcount officials at each grade are working in his Department’s energy and climate change unit; and which Minister is responsible for the unit; [273649]
(2) what the budget under each sub-heading is of his Department's energy and climate change unit in 2009-10; and what the (a) responsibilities and (b) programme of work are of that unit. [273650]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 8 May 2009]: There are 17 full-time equivalent posts in the energy and climate change unit and a current vacancy with a Range 11 official covering the SCS post. The breakdown is as follows:
| Posts in the energy and climate change unit by grade | |
| Number | |
| (1) Vacant post | |
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 May 2009, Official Report, column 55W, to the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose) and to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the then Minister for Business and Economics on 20 May 2009, Official Report, column 1470W, to the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose).
Following the recent reshuffle, Lord Drayson is the Minister responsible for the unit within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Debts: Advisory Services
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what services his Department's face-to-face debt advice project has provided since September 2008; how many (a) males and (b) females in each age group have applied for assistance under the project since September 2008;
what estimate he has made of the number and percentage of such people who have had their debt problems resolved; whether the project is able to loan money to applicants; and if he will make a statement. [281100]
Ian Lucas: The Department's face-to-face debt advice project—funded by the Treasury's Financial Inclusion Fund—provides the crucial broad range of advice assistance required by those facing crisis debt situations. From 1 October 2008 to 31 March 2009 51,131 clients were helped. The split between males and females seen is roughly 46.8 per cent. male and 53.2 female and this gives the numbers seen as 23,929 men and 27,202 women. The project does not claim to resolve every single aspect of the debt problems of all clients but a large number of clients are helped to arrange debt repayment plans. All are offered on-going assistance until they are satisfied unlike some funding schemes that have cut off points.
There is no facility to loan people money from the project. However, the Financial Inclusion Fund also funds the Department for Work and Pension's Growth Fund and this helps facilitate credit union loans to people in our client target group.
Departmental Public Consultation
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many public consultations have been conducted by his Department and its predecessors since 27 June 2007; what the title of each was ; how many responses were received to each; and what estimate he has made of the cost incurred for each consultation. [280915]
Ian Lucas [holding answer 18 June 2009]: BIS and its predecessors have conducted 79 consultations since 27 June 2007. The titles of those relating to the former BERR are listed at:
The titles of the former DIUS ones are listed at
The number of replies received for individual consultations is recorded in the government response documents—these are published on the above departmental websites alongside the consultations themselves. Providing the costs of conducting the consultations could be done only at disproportionate cost.
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