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29 Jun 2009 : Column 96W—continued
General Motors
Richard Burden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what recent discussions he has had with representatives of General Motors on the future of GM Europe; [274337]
(2) what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in other EU member states on the future of General Motors Europe; [274338]
(3) whether he plans to have discussions with Fiat on its interest in the future of GM Europe and the position of General Motors operations in the UK. [274339]
Ian Lucas:
Government have had a number of discussions with GM, counterparts in other EU member states, the US Government, Fiat, Magna and other interested parties, including trade unions, about the future of GM Europe. BIS Ministers, GM Europe and ministerial
counterparts from EU member states formally met on 13 March. My noble Friend the Secretary of State and officials have regular meetings and discussions with a wide variety of interested parties.
Insolvency
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2009, Official Report, columns 925-26W, on insolvency, whether he has made an estimate of the projected increase in numbers of company administrations in 2009-10, based on the trends identified; and whether he has made an assessment of the merits of making additional funds available to the Insolvency Service to take account of the increase in the number of company administrations owing to the current economic situation. [281830]
Ian Lucas [holding answer 23 June 2009]: No official estimates of the number of company administrations in 2009/10 and beyond have been compiled by the Insolvency Service (The Service). This is because company administrations are overseen by private practice insolvency practitioners, and so do not require additional funds from The Service. Administrators have a duty to report to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the conduct of directors and shadow directors of a company in administration. Where an adverse report has been submitted, The Service may carry out an investigation. The Service has implemented a number of initiatives to assist in the planning and management to deal with increases in the number of adverse reports, including more pro-active targeting and prioritisation of cases.
The Service also monitors compliance by insolvency practitioners with Statement of Insolvency Practice 16 (SIP 16 Pre-packaged sales in administrations), with which all insolvency practitioners are required to comply. Pre-pack administrations are where a sale of the business or assets is arranged before administration and executed by the administrator immediately on or shortly after their appointment. SIP 16 requires insolvency practitioners in pre-pack administrations to explain in detail to creditors the background to their appointment and the reasons for any transaction undertaken through a pre-pack.
An increase in the number of administrations could result in an increase in the number of reports submitted to the Service under SIP 16. This work is part of The Service’s regulatory function. The Service has increased its fees to insolvency practitioners to cover our regulation work in relation to SIP 16s.
The Redundancy Payments Services has also had additional funds available to take into account the increase in the number of overall company insolvencies.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what monitoring of compliance with the Statement of Insolvency Practice 16 on pre-packaged sales in administrations is taking place; and if he will publish the results of such monitoring. [282177]
Ian Lucas
[holding answer 25 June 2009]: New disclosure requirements aimed at improving the transparency of pre-packaged administrations were introduced on 1
January 2009. The requirements are contained within SIP (Statement of Insolvency Practice) 16, which all insolvency practitioners acting as administrators are required to follow.
The Insolvency Service is thoroughly examining all information received from insolvency practitioners in relation to disclosures made under SIP 16. Any evidence of non-compliance with SIP 16 on the part of insolvency practitioners will be reported to their relevant regulatory body so that disciplinary action may be considered.
In addition, the Insolvency Service is examining the conduct of directors involved in pre-pack administrations and will take into account information disclosed under SIP 16 when considering whether to commence disqualification proceedings against directors.
A report on the Insolvency Service’s monitoring of information disclosed under SIP 16 will be published before the summer recess.
Internet: Iran
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate the Government has made of the quantity of exports from the UK to Iran of technology intended to inspect, monitor or filter internet content in the latest period for which figures are available. [282199]
Ian Lucas [holding answer 25 June 2009]: UK trade statistics do not allow us to identify exports from the UK to Iran of technology intended to inspect, monitor or filter internet content and the Government have not made an estimate of these types of export.
The Government publish statistical summaries of export licences issued and refused by destination in its Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. No UK licences have been issued for the export of items which might have contained technology intended to inspect, monitor or filter internet content to Iran since 1999. Such technology would however not necessarily be controlled under UK export controls. This would depend on the specific items concerned: some technology could be controlled if it employed cryptography or was specially designed for military use.
Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects of the vehicle scrappage scheme on the second-hand car market; and if he will make a statement. [281999]
Ian Lucas [holding answer 23 June 2009]: The vehicle scrappage scheme is a targeted, time-limited action with a capped budget designed to help the whole motor trade. It was limited to make sure its benefits are balanced with the needs of other sectors of the car industry including the second hand market and repair businesses, and of manufacturers of other consumer durables. Over 74,000 orders for new vehicles have been taken since the scheme was announced in the Budget in April.
Norman Baker:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the increase in car sales
attributable to the introduction of the car scrappage scheme; and what percentage of this increase is represented by vehicles produced in the UK. [282550]
Ian Lucas: Over 74,000 orders for new vehicles have been taken since the scrappage scheme was announced in the Budget in April. It is too early to give an estimate of how many of these orders are attributable to the scrappage scheme and what percentage of these are produced in the UK.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what consideration was given to the merits of introducing a vehicle scrappage incentive scheme based on a vehicle’s carbon dioxide emissions. [282551]
Ian Lucas [holding answer 26 June 2009]: The scrappage scheme was primarily designed to boost the automotive industry and restore consumer confidence not as a green measure. However, we believe that there will be some benefits for the environment as old vehicles are replaced by newer, by and large more fuel-efficient models. A summary of the wide range of Government initiatives aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from road vehicles was set out in our “Ultra-Low Carbon Vehicles in the UK” strategy published on 16 April 2009.
Train to Gain Programme
Steve Webb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how people who lose their jobs can access the Train to Gain opportunities announced by his Department on 14 October 2008. [272646]
Kevin Brennan: The programme announced includes £100 million for support for people who are unemployed or facing redundancy. We now expect that funding to provide training places for around 70,000 people.
Individuals who are under notice of redundancy will be able to access the funding training arranged by their employers. Employers will be able to get help and
advice and access training through brokerage service run by Business Link or by contacting the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for advice.
People who are recently redundant or who have been claiming unemployment benefits and who can be helped back into work through this targeted training programme will be able to access the programme by referral from their local JobCentre Plus office or next steps agency.
Train to Gain Programme: Finance
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much expenditure from the public purse has been incurred on the Train to Gain initiative in each month since January 2009; and what funds have been allocated to the initiative for each of the next three years. [277195]
Kevin Brennan: The Learning and Skills Council is responsible for funding of the Train to Gain programme. Based on provisional and unaudited accounts, LSC expenditure on Train to Gain was £72 million in January 2009, £95 million in February 2009 and £91 million in March 2009. These figures will be confirmed when the LSC publish their accounts in July 2009. Figures for April and May 2009 are not yet available.
Planned investment in Train to Gain for 2009-10 (financial year) is £925 million (LSC Grant Letter, November 2008). Planned investment for 2010-11 will be confirmed in autumn 2009, any expenditure beyond 2010-11 will subject to the outcome of the next spending review.
UK Trade and Investment: Finance
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much UK Trade and Investment has received from each of its funding streams in each year since 2003. [281679]
Ian Lucas: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) received the following amounts from each of its funding streams:
| Outturn (£000) | ||||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09( 1) | |
| (1) Provisional outturn | ||||||
The responsibility for defence exports transferred from the Ministry of Defence under a Machinery of Government change on 1 April 2008 (a transfer of approximately £20 million).
From 2006-07, as a result of enhancing their costing model, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) changed the basis of calculation of the total resource used by UKTI. The FCO resource figures for the period 2003-04 to 2005-06 are not available on a comparable basis to subsequent periods, and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Justice
Youth Justice Board : Manpower
David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) staff and (b) consultants employed by the Youth Justice Board in each financial year since 2003-04 had security clearance at (i) counter-terrorist check, (ii) baseline check, (iii) security check and (iv) developed vetting level. [282002]
Maria Eagle:
The following table shows the numbers and level of security clearance that Youth Justice Board
staff (including full and part-time permanent staff, seconded and temporary workers) and consultants (which
includes consultants used by the YJB and contractors who work for the YJB) had during each of the requested years.
| Employee Type | Baseline Check | Enhanced Baseline Check | Counter Terrorist Check | Security Clearance | Developed Vetting | |
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