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13 July 2009 : Column 188W—continued
Mr. McFadden: Employers are able to seek advice on redundancy issues from the Department via the Business Link helpline and website, the ACAS helpline and the redundancy payments service helpline. The available figures are set out in the following table, except for calls to the redundancy payments service helpline, which are not categorised or recorded by group.
| May | ||
| 2008( 1) | May 2009 | |
|
Percentage of total calls from employers that were about redundancy issues | ||
| March | ||
| 2008 | March 2009 | |
| March | ||
| 2008 | 2009 | |
| April | ||
| 2008 | 2009 | |
| (1) Relates to two weeks only, due to the introduction of new technology. (2) Project began in September 2008. Note: Although guidance was also available on the BIS (BERR) website in 2008, hits/visits were not categorised or recorded by group. | ||
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much financial assistance his Department and its predecessors have provided to companies in each year since 1990; under what budgetary headings such assistance was given in each year; which 10 companies received the most such funding in each year; and how much each such company received each year. [283373]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 6 July 2009]: The information requested is not held centrally and, where available, could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills by what means businesses will be able to obtain funding from the (a) Strategic Investment Fund and (b) Innovation Fund. [284961]
Mr. McFadden:
Although the Strategic Investment Fund is not a fund to which businesses can apply directly, BIS seeks and continues to engage with business to understand opportunities and challenges they face and use the Fund in areas in which Government action
can have a bigger impact. The aim of £750 million Strategic Investment Fund-which was announced in Budget 2009-is to support advanced industrial projects of strategic importance, of which £250 million has been ring fenced specifically for low carbon initiatives, a further £50 million for the Technology Strategy Board and £10 million to promote UK sector expertise through UK Trade and Investment (UKTI). The Fund will help to deliver the Government's strategy as set out in the 'Building Britain's Future-New Industry New Jobs' framework document, published on 20 April 2009, and will allow Government to support advanced industrial projects of strategic importance to the UK's economic renewal and future growth.
The UK Innovation Investment Fund will operate on a Fund of Funds structure which means it will not invest directly in companies, but rather invest in a small number of specialist technology funds that have the expertise and track record to invest directly in companies. A Fund of Funds manager will be appointed over 2009 to manage the fund and make investments in underlying technology funds with the expertise and track record to invest directly in technology businesses.
Business: Overseas Trade
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment UK Trade and Investment has made of the UK's business competitiveness in international markets in each of the last three years; and against which competitors each assessment was made. [284037]
Ian Lucas: UK Trade and Investment has made two assessments of the UK's business competitiveness in the last three years, the first in 2007 and the second in 2009.
The 2007 study assessed UK competitiveness against that of France, Germany, the USA and Japan for the period 1996 to 2004. The study looked specifically at exports of goods from eight sectors to 12 emerging markets and compared UK performance in these sectors and markets with that of the four competitors. The study is entitled "Mapping the match between UK exports and demand in emerging markets" and is available on the UKTI website at URL:
https://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/ukti/fileDownload/UKTIUKexportsreportforwebamended291107.pdf?cid=409154
The 2009 study assessed UK competitiveness against that of Germany, the USA and Japan over the period 2002-07. It considered export of goods from 16 sectors to 11 destination markets and compared UK performance in these sectors and markets with that of the three competitors. The report of this work will be available on the UKTI website in due course.
Both pieces of research have been carried out by external contractors. International trade statistics take time to collate, hence, 2007 data was the latest available for the 2009 study.
BIS has two assessments of UK business competitiveness in 2008.
A study on green business and UK comparative advantage which compared the UK to other OECD member countries. The report is available at URL:
A study of the design engineering sector compared the cost efficiency of the UK with the US and Europe. The report is available at URL:
Conditions of Employment
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what measures are in place on the use of local employment contracts in infrastructure expenditure by local and central government agencies. [285391]
Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
Public procurers are required to seek value-for-money through fair and open competition. They must comply with EU treaty open market principles and the UK public procurement Regulations implementing the 2004 EU public procurement directives. These set out the value for money criteria to be used for the award of public contracts. Any preferential treatment for local companies or those offering local employment is not allowed.
Construction Clearing House
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has yet established its proposed construction clearing house. [283901]
Kevin Brennan: The Construction Clearing House (Apprenticeship Matching Service) was established in September 2008 by ConstructionSkills (the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry), the Learning and Skills Council and the former Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Its purpose is to ensure that construction apprentices, at risk of redundancy, are not lost to the industry.
Construction Task Force
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has yet established its proposed construction task force. [283900]
Kevin Brennan: The Construction Apprenticeships Task Force was established by the then Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, my right hon. Friend for Southampton Itchen (Mr. Denham) with Construction Skills (the Sector Skills Council for the construction sector), in November 2008 to review the approach to Apprenticeships within the construction sector and to make recommendations to Government.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department is negotiating to end the lease of any buildings leased by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. [282851]
Mr. McFadden:
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills did not lease any buildings. There are no negotiations under way for any of the
buildings previously occupied by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills to be vacated, except (in the case of the buildings in Sheffield and Darlington) the plans to relocate jointly with DCSF to new premises in the same city. These plans were developed long before the creation of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Paice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions from offices in his Department and its predecessors in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff. [280939]
Mr. McFadden: This Department and its predecessors recorded the following carbon dioxide emissions during the periods requested:
| Kgs | ||
| Total CO 2 emissions | Per FTE | |
Departmental Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was spent on energy efficiency measures for his Department's predecessors' estate in each year from 2004 to 2009; what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of that expenditure; and what plans he has for future energy efficiency measures. [280534]
Mr. McFadden: Due to changes in our operations and maintenance service providers, BIS can only provide data on spend on energy efficiency measures for its predecessors for the past two years. The amounts spent are as follows:
| £ | |
BIS is continuing to work towards achieving the energy efficiency targets expressed in the Sustainable Operation of the Government Estate (SOGE) framework. Our main strategy has been to gain efficiencies through a reduction in the physical size of the estate and the number of buildings, occupied by the introduction of new ways of working, including flexible desking. As a result the size of the BIS estate has been reduced by 58 per cent. and its overall carbon footprint has been cut by 26 per cent. since the baseline year of 1999-2000. Energy consumption has reduced across the whole estate by 11.2 per cent. since 1999-2000.
The Department has recently undertaken energy audits across its estate. Projects identified to reduce carbon emissions include using lighting controls more effectively (e.g. £11,000 p.a. savings on improved lighting for the 1 Victoria Street underground car park), improved building management controls at our HQ buildings at 1 Victoria Street and Kingsgate House, piloting the use of LED technology in 1 Victoria Street and the installation of
Automated Metering and Targeting across the HQ estate. Although it is too early to evaluate the latter, it has already led to the identification of instances where plant has been running when not necessary.
So far as future plans are concerned, I refer the hon. Member to the August 2008 Sustainable Procurement and Operations on the Government Estate Delivery plan
and the December 2008 Delivery Plan Update
http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documents/Delivery_Plan_ Update_Dec08.pdf.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the energy consumed per full-time equivalent member of staff in his Department and its predecessors in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08. [280940]
Mr. McFadden: BIS and its predecessors have consumed the following amounts of energy per full-time equivalent member of staff during the periods requested:
| kWh | ||
| Total energy (electricity and gas) | Per FTE | |
Departmental Internet
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when his Department plans to update its web browsers from Internet Explorer 6. [285022]
Mr. McFadden: As part of its long term PFI Agreement with Fujitsu, the Department is currently reviewing its options for the technology refresh of software such as Internet Explorer 6.
Departmental Procurement
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what changes have been made to his Department's and its predecessor's (a) office equipment and (b) stationery purchasing policy in the last six months. [285320]
Mr. McFadden: No changes have been made during the last six months to this Department or its predecessors' purchasing policy for office equipment and stationery.
Departmental Waste
Mr. Paice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the amount of waste arising from his Department and its predecessors in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff. [281017]
Mr. McFadden: BIS and its predecessors have produced the following amounts of waste arisings:
| Kgs | ||
| Total waste arisings | Per FTE | |
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