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12 Oct 2009 : Column 603W—continued
| Bankrupts by age, Greater Manchester | |||||||
| Age group( 1) | |||||||
| Under 25 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65 and over | Unknown | |
Banks: Loans
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many banks (a) received information on and (b) are operating the Working Capital Guarantee Scheme; how much capital has been loaned to businesses under the scheme to date; and how many businesses have received financial assistance under the scheme. [275879]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 15 May 2009]: The Department sent a mini prospectus to the British Banking Association who circulated it to its members. The Working Capital Scheme is not directly available to businesses; however, £2 billion of guarantees have been provided to banks under the scheme to free up regulatory capital for new lending to UK companies. As a result of action by the Government and the regulatory authorities leading to improvements in the capital position of the UK banking system since the introduction of the WCS, the Government have been able to allocate resource provision for the WCS to other measures to support businesses, including as announced at the Budget 2009 a trade credit insurance 'top-up' scheme and a possible new letters of credit scheme in the Export Credit Guarantee Department.
Banks: Meetings
Mr. Brady: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for what reasons no minutes were taken of the meetings between his Department's officials and Ministers which took place on 13, 16, 20 and 31 October and 11 December 2008 at which the proposed merger between Lloyds TSB and HSBOS was discussed; and what his Department's policy is on the minuting of meetings between (a) his Department's officials and Ministers and (b) his Department's Ministers or officials and private or public companies. [291361]
Kevin Brennan
[holding answer 16 September 2009]: The purpose of these meetings was to enable the relevant Ministers and officials to consider the substantive issues raised by this case and to ensure the Secretary of State was in a position to take properly informed final decisions in accordance with his statutory duties under the Enterprise Act 2002. No summary of outcomes from the meetings was required to ensure action was taken forward. Ministers had the appropriate material and relevant officials at the meetings. The conclusions reached are reflected either in the subsequent actions taken, advice to Ministers about the next steps, or are otherwise set out in public
statements such as the final decision document which seeks to provide a clear summary of the reasons behind the decision. The Department does not have a specific policy on taking minutes of meetings though there is a general requirement to keep an appropriate record of all departmental business.
Broadband: Rural Areas
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to increase the availability of cable broadband in the rural areas of (a) North Yorkshire and (b) England; and if he will make a statement. [291697]
Mr. Timms: The cable broadband network in the UK is owned and provided by Virgin Media. It is a commercial decision for them whether they should extend this network. However, the Government are working to implement the key broadband recommendations made in the Digital Britain Report to improve the UK's communications infrastructure, namely around the universal service commitment to broadband and Next Generation broadband.
The Universal Service Commitment will ensure the possibility of universal broadband access to virtually all UK homes and businesses at a speed of at least 2Mbps by 2012. The Network Design and Procurement Group will be responsible for the procurement and delivery of the universal service commitment, and will be established by the autumn. Those currently unable to receive a service will be given priority.
The Government are also working to set up the Next Generation Fund to help pay for upgrading the UK telecoms infrastructure, which will help to incentivise the delivery of next generation broadband to the home or business premises in the final third of the UK that the market will not deliver to.
Business Link
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses have requested and been refused a Business Link health check. [291256]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 16 September 2009]: The RDAs have no record of any business that has requested a Business Link health check having had their request refused for the whole period since such health checks began.
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many Business Link employees attended the Beijing Olympics in July 2008 in an official capacity. [291259]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 16 September 2009]: No Business Link employee who was directly employed in the provision of the Business Link service, by RDAs and their Business Link Providers, travelled to Beijing to attend the Beijing Olympics in July 2008 in their capacity as a Business Link employee.
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many Business Link employees carry out business health checks. [291260]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 16 September 2009]: The number of Business Link employees who carry out health checks as part of their role is shown in the following table.
| Name of RDA | Number of Business Link employees who currently carry out business health checks |
Business Links: Finance
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the budget for Business Links is for (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12. [285068]
Mr. McFadden: For the period 2007-08, an estimate of the budget for Business Link allocated by the regional development agencies was £190 million. No forward budget is agreed with the RDAs for this activity. Business Link services are funded from the Government's single-pot to the regional development agencies to deliver agreed core services to businesses in each region. The exact budget for those contracted services is left for each RDA to determine based on what is appropriate for its region.
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much (a) each regional development agency and (b) his Department allocated to Business Link in each of the last five years. [289830]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In 2005, responsibility for managing Business Link face-to-face services was transferred to the RDAs. The previous budget used to deliver Business Link services was added to the Department's contribution towards the RDA "Single-Pot". This allows the regions to draw down as much or as little funding as they see fit to deliver the service in their areas.
Over the last five years, the RDAs have allocated the following budgets to their Business Link providers:
| BL funding over period 2005-10 | |||||
| £ million | |||||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | |
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