Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 2 July 2009
Business, Innovation and Skills
Apprentices: Manufacturing Industries
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many new apprenticeship places in the manufacturing sector have been created in the last 12 months. [272484]
Kevin Brennan: There were 43,100 apprenticeship starts in 2007-08 in the ‘Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies’ Sector Subject Area.
The Government are committed to rebuilding apprenticeships. Since 1997 we have witnessed a renaissance in apprenticeships from a low point of 65,000 to a record 225,000 apprenticeship starts in 2007-08. Completion rates are also at a record high with 64 per cent. successfully completing an apprenticeship—up from 37 per cent. in 2004-05.
The Government are also committed to using their public procurement programme—worth around £175 billion a year—to increase skills training and apprenticeship opportunities. In April, the Office of Government Commerce published guidance on how public sector bodies can include skills and apprenticeship considerations in their procurements.
Learning and Skills Council
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2009, Official Report, column 1014W, on Learning and Skills Council, if he will place in the Library a copy of each set of minutes of the Learning and Skills Council's National Council meetings which his Department holds. [264924]
Mr. Simon: The LSC publishes a summary of its Council minutes on its website. These can be found at:
However, I have asked the acting chief executive of the LSC to review the full minutes of recent National Council meetings and to assess whether it is appropriate to publish the full minutes or more information from them, and to write to the hon. Member with the outcome of that assessment.
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people were employed by each non-departmental public body that receives funding from his Department in the last three years for which figures are available. [276159]
Kevin Brennan: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was formed in June 2007, following the machinery of government changes. As a result we are only able to provide information from 2007-08. The staffing figures (full-time equivalents—FTEs) for the NDPBs which receive funding from the Department are as follows:
Train to Gain Programme
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of candidates who have registered for Train to Gain courses and are yet to start their course. [273203]
Kevin Brennan: Train to Gain is the Government's flagship service providing advice, support and funding to employers in England, of all sizes and in all sectors. It gives employers better access to a wider range of opportunities for improving the skills of their employees, and the productivity of their business.
Train to Gain learner numbers are recorded only once the learner has registered at the start of their course. Since its launch in 2006, Train to Gain has helped 971,000 employees to begin learning programmes (up to 31 January 2009).
Prior to registration, information about employers and learners with a potential interest in Train to Gain is held by providers locally and used to inform engagement activity. Before April of this year that information was not recorded centrally; however, from 1 April both Train to Gain and Business Link brokers were brought together in a new service under the Business Link brand. Information about employers and their employees who use this new service will be collected and used to track progress.
Train to Gain Programme: Cambridgeshire
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of people from (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Peterborough constituency who have registered for a Train to Gain course but have not yet commenced their training. [281717]
Kevin Brennan: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) delivers the Train to Gain programme on behalf of the Department. It counts the number of learners who register for Train to Gain at the point where they formally start on programmes. However, there is no formal registration process before a learner starts and therefore no central mechanism is in place to measure the number of people registering an interest.
The LSC is working closely with providers to support ongoing new starts for the remainder of the 2008/09 academic year where providers are within their maximum contract value. Letters have now been issued by the LSC to providers setting out their maximum contract values for 2009/10 academic year.
Vocational Training
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the financial contribution made to employee training by employers in each of the last five years. [273204]
Kevin Brennan: Estimates are drawn from employers contacted following the biennial National Employers Skills Survey (NESS) managed by the Learning and Skills Council. A follow-up survey to measure training expenditure has been conducted among employers since 2005 in addition to the NESS.
The total cost of training to employers in the 12 months prior to NESS07 is estimated to have been £38.6 billion including the labour costs of those receiving training, the labour costs of those delivering and managing training and course fees to external providers. The
estimate for the 12 months prior to NESS05 was £33.3 billion. This increase is equivalent to £3.5 billion (10 per cent.) when inflation is taken into account. The 2009 survey is currently in field and will be available in spring 2010.
The NESS 2007 report explained why reliable information could not be produced from the surveys carried out in 2004 and 2003.
Cabinet Office
Cancer
Mr. Baron: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many deaths there have been from each type of cancer as recorded by the ICD-10 classification in each year since 1997. [283288]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths there have been from each type of cancer as recorded by the ICD-10 classification in each year since 1997. (283288)
The attached table provides the number of deaths where cancer was the underlying cause of death in England and Wales, for the period 1997 to 2008 (the latest year available), for all cancers combined, and for selected cancers. The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) has been used to code mortality data since 2001, therefore figures provided for 1997 to 2000 have been extracted using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes (ICD-9), where equivalent codes exist. A copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
A more detailed breakdown of the number of deaths registered in England and Wales by all ICD codes is published annually by the Office for National Statistics. A copy of this publication is available in the House of Commons library, and can be accessed on the Office for National Statistics website at:
The latest volume is for deaths registered in 2007, and figures for deaths where cancer was the underlying cause can be found on pages 24 to 47 of this volume.
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