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14 Oct 2009 : Column 976W—continued
Private Rented Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much the Homes and Communities Agency has paid to DTZ for advice in relation to the Private Rented Sector Initiative; [292473]
(2) which organisations have submitted expressions of interest to the Homes and Communities Agency in respect of its Private Rented Sector Initiative; [292474]
(3) how many expressions of interest the Homes and Communities Agency received in relation to its Private Rented Sector Initiative; and by what date he expects the Agency to have evaluated the submissions. [292475]
John Healey: Up to August 2009, the HCA has authorised payment of £163,000 to DTZ for advice and support for the engagement with the numerous private organisations which have expressed interest in the private rental sector initiative. The engagement was carried under the HCA's property panel framework contract which was competitively tendered. A further assignment of up to £70,000 for further consultancy between August and November has also been agreed between HCA and DTZ.
Our priority has been to encourage new long term institutional and other equity investors into the private rental sector. The HCA has therefore continued to work with several consortiums on the future potential of this sector of the housing market. Two investment interests have declared themselves publicly in the market to date-Aviva Investors with CBRE and Legal and General.
The HCA received 64 expressions of interest from organisations interested in the private rental sector initiative. They included developers, land and property owners, management companies, housing associations and investors in this country and abroad. The HCA is now focusing on its discussions with a small number of major investment consortia which have since come together to look at the future of this new market opportunity.
Public Bodies: Executives
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his Department's consultation document, Amending the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 (S.I., 2003,
No. 533) to improve the transparency of reporting of remuneration of senior officials in public bodies, which (a) organisations and (b) individuals to the consultation, excluding those who requested confidentiality. [292848]
Barbara Follett: A summary of the responses to the Consultation document Amending the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003, No 533) will be published on 20 October 2009. It will also provide a full list of those who have submitted written responses but exclude those who have requested confidentiality.
Regional Government: Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimates were made of the (a) cost and (b) staffing complement of the proposed elected regional assemblies prior to the 2004 regional assembly referendum. [293353]
Mr. Ian Austin: The White Paper "Your Region, Your Choice: Revitalising the English Regions" published on 22 May 2002 estimated that the cost of each of the proposed elected regional assemblies would be in the order of £25 million a year with a staffing complement of around 200, excluding staff working for the regional development agency.
A copy of the White Paper can be found at:
Right to Buy Scheme
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Right to Buy applications were made by social housing tenants in each region in each year since 1997; and what percentage were accepted in each year. [292472]
John Healey: Figures showing the number of local authority Right to Buy applications and the number of successful applications are included in Live Table 648 on the CLG website, broken down by region and year, from 1998-99:
The local authority Right to Buy data are from quarterly P1B returns from local authorities to CLG. The figures only cover applications to buy local authority properties through RTB, not registered social landlord applications. Around 80 per cent. of RTB sales in 2007-08 were local authority properties, while 20 per cent. are of properties owned by Registered Social Landlords.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Bilderberg Group
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for what reason the Secretary of State has not registered with the appropriate authorities his visit to the Bilderberg Conference in Greece in May 2009. [292958]
Mr. McFadden: My noble Friend the Secretary of State did register the visit: he notified the permanent secretary. The estimated value of the hospitality received did not meet the threshold for declaration in the Register of Lords' Interests.
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if the Secretary of State will estimate the cost of the hospitality he received pursuant to his attendance at the Bilderberg Conference in Greece in May 2009, classified by (a) hotel accommodation, (b) food and drink, (c) travel and (d) other hospitality. [292959]
Mr. McFadden: My noble Friend the Secretary of State received accommodation and meals over two nights, the costs of which were estimated against commercial rates for that time of year at the hotel in question, at around £600.
Departmental Travel
Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department and its predecessors spent on (a) car hire, (b) train travel, (c) air travel, (d) hotels and (e) restaurant meals for (i) Ministers and (ii) staff of his Department in each of the last five years. [290062]
Mr. McFadden: Travel by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code, and all spending on official entertainment is made in accordance with the principles set out in Managing Public Money.
For the period 2007-08 the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform spent:
(a) Car hire-£26,333
(b) Rail-£1,810,648
(c) Air-£3,218,829
(d) Hotels-£1,051,965.
For the period 2008-09 the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform spent:
(a) Car hire-£33,200
(b) Rail-£2,091,383
(c) Air-£3,265,937
(d) Hotels-£1,769,921.
Details of restaurant meals are not centrally recorded.
For the period 2007-08 the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills spent:
(a) Rail-£1,055,224
(b) Air-£148,942
(c) Hotels-£106,608.
For the period 2008-09 the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills spent:
(a) Rail-£1,345,200
(b) Air-£135,886
(c) Hotels-£256,885.
Details of car hire are included with figures for the Department for Children, Schools and Families and are not available individually.
The Department does not centrally record the travel undertaken by Ministers from that of officials; details of the previous years are not centrally recorded and to provide this information would entail disproportionate costs.
Cabinet Office provides an annual list of overseas travel over £500 undertaken by Ministers. The 2008-09 list was published on 16 July 2009 and can be viewed at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety and ethics/ministers/travel_gifts.aspx
Employment: Information and Communications Technology
Willie Rennie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment his Department has made of the effects on the UK skills base of the outsourcing of information technology jobs overseas. [292956]
Mr. Timms: The Department has made no recent assessment, but outsourcing is only one of many factors affecting demand for IT professionals within the UK. We also recognise that there are circumstances in which it makes financial and wider business sense for UK companies to outsource an IT service. Globalisation is radically changing the digital skills needed in the UK and around the world, and the challenge for UK IT services providers is to remain competitive by moving up the value chain.
The IT services sector remains key to the UK's future prosperity-a fact recognised in the Government's "New Industry, New Jobs" and "Digital Britain" strategy documents, with the latter including recommendations for the development of a skilled and confident population, able to access and benefit from digital technology. e-skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology, is working hard to ensure that the UK has the skills for Britain to succeed in a global digital economy.
EU Law
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department and its predecessors of the statutory obligations upon it provided for in legislation on matters for which it is responsible which were introduced as a consequence of obligations arising from EU legislation in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available. [283478]
Mr. McFadden: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to his previous similar parliamentary question on 21 July 2009, Official Report, column 1708W.
Holiday Accommodation: Taxation
Mr. Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with HM Treasury on the effect of the abolition of furnished holiday lettings relief on the tourism industry. [293436]
Mr. McFadden: Tax policy is a matter for Treasury. However, my officials are in regular dialogue with Treasury colleagues on a wide range of tax matters that impact on businesses, including the withdrawal of furnished holiday lettings relief.
Lord Sugar
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to paragraph 7.16 of the Ministerial Code, whether Lord Sugar has consulted the Law Officers in relation to his proposed legal action against a Daily Mail journalist. [293014]
Mr. McFadden: Lord Sugar is not a Minister of the Crown.
Strategic Investment Fund
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many applications have been (a) received and (b) granted for funding from the Strategic Investment Fund in each month since April 2009; [292114]
(2) how many applications have been (a) received and (b) granted for the funding from the £50 million portion of the Strategic Investment Fund allocated to support business innovation to date; [292113]
(3) how many applications have been (a) received and (b) granted for the funding from the £250 million portion of the Strategic Investment Fund allocated to support renewable energy projects and low-carbon business opportunities to date; [292112]
(4) how much and what proportion of funding available from the Strategic Investment Fund has been distributed since April 2009; [292111]
(5) how much of the portion of the Strategic Investment Fund allocated for business innovation support has been distributed since April 2009; [291904]
(6) how much of the portion of the Strategic Investment Fund allocated to support renewable energy projects and low-carbon business opportunities has been distributed since April 2009. [291903]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 12 October 2009]: Over £720 million of the £750 million within the Strategic Investment Fund has already been allocated, or is earmarked for specific projects and investments. The SIF is not a fund that is open directly to companies. It is a resource that the Government are using to increase investment through existing measures-like collaborative Research and Development grants, Launch Investment for aerospace and regional Grants for Business Investment-as well as new measures such as the UK Innovation Investment Fund. Our extra support for business is delivered through these measures, not directly from the SIF. Businesses do not therefore make applications for funding from the SIF, nor do they receive funding directly from it.
We expect to spend about £200 million of the SIF by the end of this current financial year. By way of example of the projects supported, in the area of business innovation, the Technology Strategy Board has used £50 million of additional funding from the SIF to expand the scale of its ambition for a number of activities. For example, funding from the SIF, supplemented by its core funding, has been committed to projects funded under the £25 million Low Carbon Vehicle demonstrator programme. Calls worth £6 million for research have also recently opened in the area of 'Regenerative Medicine', 'High Value Manufacturing' and 'Enabling Technologies for the Internet, Applications and Services' utilising SIF funds.
The Department has published an update on the Strategic Investment Fund, and copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Children, Schools and Families
Building Schools for the Future Programme
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much each London borough has received in capital funding under the Building Schools for the Future programme; and if he will make a statement. [293045]
Mr. Coaker: The following table shows the total payments of capital grant made to each London borough as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme to the end of financial year 2008-09.
The figures are on cash paid basis during the year, and form part of much larger allocation figures which extend over a period of years. They do not include academies delivered through the National Framework.
| Total capital grant paid to end 2008-09 | |
| Local authority | £ million |
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