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21 July 2009 : Column 1756W—continued
Union Modernisation Fund
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Chichester (Mr. Tyrie) of 19 February 2008, Official Report, column 658W, on the Union Modernisation Fund: audit, which accountancy firms have undertaken audits on union modernisation fund profits since the date of that Answer; [288631]
(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of each evaluation report of the Union Modernisation Fund produced by his Department in conjunction with Leeds University Business School; [288668]
(3) for what reason no minutes are kept of the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board meetings; [288672]
(4) what declaration of past and present union activity and membership each current member of the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board has made; [288676]
(5) what related party transactions have been declared by each of the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board members; [288677]
(6) if he will place in the Library a copy of the protocol adopted by the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board on conflicts of interest. [288678]
Mr. McFadden: I shall take the answers together and in order.
Since my response to the hon. Member for Chichester on 19 February 2008, Official Report, column 658W, the additional companies listed have undertaken reports to confirm claims and expenditure from the Union Modernisation Fund.
Naylor Wintersgill
Knox Cropper
H K Jenkins FCCA
BDO Stoy Hayward LLP
Nabarro
Brooks Green
UHY Hacker Young
RSM Bentley Jennison
The independent accountants' reports have confirmed that none of the project costs claimed have been calculated to include any profit.
A copy of the final evaluation report of the first round of the Union Modernisation Fund produced by my Department in conjunction with Leeds University Business School will be published shortly and placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Copies of the two interim evaluations of the first round are available on the Department's website, and we will ensure that they are available from the Libraries.
An action record of decisions is taken at Supervisory Board meetings in line with the Board's terms of reference and these are communicated to Ministers by the Board's secretariat and to the applicants of all bids.
Members of the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board are selected by open competition in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments' Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies, with support from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. As part of that appointment process, applicants must declare relevant experience and give details of potential conflicts of interest. All appointment letters set out the Nolan Principles of Public Life, which are the foundations of the public appointments process and provide guidance on the standards expected of public appointees. All members declare their political activities at the time of application to the Board. Board members are reminded of the need to observe the rules on conflict of interest when assessing bids.
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the (a) minimum and (b) maximum proportion of the UK Atomic Energy Authority Ltd which will remain under Government control following the completion of a sale of a majority stake. [285838]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There is no 'minimum or maximum' estimation of the proportion of the share capital of UKAEA Ltd. which will remain under Government control following a sale process. Up to 100 per cent. of UKAEA Ltd.'s share capital has been offered for sale, but bidders have been permitted to bid for a lower proportion if they believed that this would result in a more attractive proposition for HMG.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations (a) the Secretary of State and (b) his predecessors have received from the management of the UK Atomic Energy Authority Ltd in favour of a sale of all or part of the business since 1997; on what dates such representations were received; and what factors were taken into account in determining the response to such representations. [285839]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The process for the sale of the business has been approved by the UK Atomic Energy Authority's Board in consultation with its financial adviser and UKAEA Ltd.'s management. The
recommendation has been approved by the Secretary of State after taking into account key areas of the board's consideration.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the likely effect on competition in nuclear site decommissioning of the sale of a stake in the UK Atomic Energy Authority Ltd. [285840]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The introduction of private capital is expected to strengthen UKAEA Ltd. financially as well as permitting it to recruit and retain appropriate skills and expertise. This should allow it to compete more effectively within the nuclear site decommissioning market. This, in turn, is expected to benefit the competitive dynamics of the UK nuclear decommissioning market as a whole.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which companies have registered an interest in purchasing a stake in the UK Atomic Energy Authority Ltd. [286011]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is commercially sensitive during a live sale process.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what account has been taken of the merits of maintaining an international centre of nuclear expertise in the UK in deciding on the future of UKAEA Ltd. [286908]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The skills and nuclear expertise included within UKAEA Ltd. will be enhanced by private sector ownership. UKAEA Ltd. is one of several service providers of nuclear decommissioning services to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The NDA contracts with a broad rangeof UK and international businesses to manage decommissioning more effectively at its various sites. Contracts are awarded by the NDA by way of a competitive process.
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the reasons are for his decision to sell a majority stake in UKAEA Ltd; and what criteria he will apply to determine the suitability of potential purchasers. [285853]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 13 July 2009]: The decision to sell UKAEA has been motivated by the objective of supporting the continuity of UKAEA Ltd's operations. A sale is expected to provide UKAEA Ltd. with access to the resources that it requires to participate effectively in the forthcoming Nuclear Decommissioning Authority competitions. The sale process has been opened to all categories of bidder who, inter alia, will need to satisfy the Secretary of State and the NDA with regard to their suitability as an experienced and responsible future owner of the business.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the capital value of the assets of UKAEA Ltd was in each of the last five years. [285854]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 13 July 2009]: UKAEA Ltd. was dormant until 1 April 2008. Audited statutory figures are not yet available for 2008-09.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what net financial contributions have been made by UKAEA Ltd to (a) the UK Atomic Authority and (b) the Exchequer in each year since 1997; and what the Government's most recent estimate of future such contributions in the next three years was prior to the decision to sell a majority stake in UKAEA Ltd. [285860]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 13 July 2009]: UKAEA Ltd. was dormant until 1 April 2008 hence there were no financial contributions from UKAEA Ltd to either the UK Atomic Authority or the Exchequer.
Although UKAEA Ltd. is forecast to be profitable for the three-year period following the decision to sell, distributions are a matter for the board of the UK Atomic Energy Authority to propose based on their assessment of the overall funding requirements for the authority as a whole.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what information the companies which have registered an interest in purchasing a stake in UKAEA Ltd have communicated to his Department in respect of their expertise in nuclear technology. [286856]
Ms Rosie Winterton: All final round bidders for UKAEA Ltd. have been asked to provide a detailed offer. As part of this, they will need to respond to a data request to fully clarify their operating credentials. The precise nature of the questions contained in the data request and the information that is ultimately received from interested parties is commercially sensitive.
Vehicle Scrappage Scheme
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps have been taken to prevent the destruction of classic cars under the vehicle scrappage scheme. [288601]
Ian Lucas: It is for the owners of a vehicle to decide what they wish to do with their own property.
David Taylor: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many vehicles of each (a) age and (b) make had been scrapped under his Department's scrappage scheme by the latest date for which figures are available. [288684]
Ian Lucas: Government have approved or made payments for 29,542 completed transactions (a requirement of which is that a Certificate of Destruction on the old car has been obtained before the claim is made) and further claims are in the pipeline. BIS does not directly collect data on the age of vehicles scrapped, although they must have been registered in the UK before 31 August 1999. We will be publishing information on the makes of vehicles scrapped in due course.
Vocational Training
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which 10 vocational training courses funded by his Department had the lowest participant job entry rate after completion in the last 12 months. [287740]
Kevin Brennan: Information on the job entry rate for vocational courses is not available.
Our vocational qualification reforms are creating a more flexible qualifications and skills system whereby qualifications are closely aligned to the real needs of employers and employers have a real say in what qualifications are needed across occupational areas. Sector skills councils (SSCs) have a key role in developing vocational qualifications based on their sector's needs and will only approve qualifications that fit their skills requirements and, in future, the skills funding agency will only fund those qualifications which SSCs advise them to. Allowing and encouraging employers to get their training accredited onto the new qualifications and credit framework also ensures demand-led qualifications based on employers needs.
Information on the number of awards of national vocational qualifications/Scottish vocational qualifications and vocationally related qualification (VRQs) is published in a statistical first release, including information on the subjects with the largest volume of awards. Tables 1 and 2 as follow provide information on the number of NVQ/SVQ and VRQ awards by sector subject area.
| Table 1: NVQ/SVQ awards by sector subject area, 2007-08 , coverage UK | |
| Sector subject area | Total awards (000s) |
| (1 )Less than 1,000 Note: Numbers may not add up to total due to rounding. Source: NISVQ | |
| Table 2: VRQ Awards (as reported by participating awarding bodies) by sector subject area, 2007-08, coverage: UK | |
| All VRQ Awards (000s) | |
| Sector subject area | Total awards |
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