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3 Nov 2009 : Column 962W—continued
Business, Innovation and Skills
Bankruptcy
Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many bankruptcies there were in (a) England, (b) London, (c) Richmond-upon-Thames and (d) Twickenham constituency of individuals in each age group of each of the last five years. [294756]
Ian Lucas: The available information on the number of bankruptcies in England, London, Richmond-upon-Thames and Twickenham constituency, by age group, may be seen in tables la to 1d as follows.
| Table 1 a: Bankrupts by age, England | |||||||
| Age group( 1) | |||||||
| Under 25 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65 and over | Unknown | |
| Table 1 b: Bankrupts by age, London | |||||||
| Age group( 1) | |||||||
| Under 25 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65 and over | Unknown | |
| Table 1 c: Bankrupts by age, Richmond-upon-Thames | |||||||
| Age group( 1) | |||||||
| Under 25 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65 and over | Unknown | |
| Table 1 d: Bankrupts by age, Twickenham constituency | |||||||
| Age Group | |||||||
| Under 25 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65 and Over | Unknown | |
| (1 )Where the bankrupt has provided a valid postcode (increasing from 94.5 per cent. of cases in 2004 to 96.9 per cent. in 2008) | |||||||
Broadband
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to upgrade broadband facilities in the UK. [297255]
Mr. Timms: We have recently set up the Network Design and Procurement Company as we pledged to do in the Digital Britain Report. The company will be responsible for procuring the upgrade and replacement works to deliver the Universal Service Commitment (USC) for 2 Mbps to virtually every community by 2012. In due course, it will also be responsible for the administration of the Next Generation Fund outlined in the Digital Britain White Paper, with a view to 90 per cent. of UK households having access to next generation broadband services by 2017.
On take-up of broadband and Digital Inclusion, the Government have also appointed Martha Lane Fox as our Digital Inclusion Champion. Her role will be to find ways of helping people without previous experience of computers to develop the skills needed to make use of the internet in order to take advantage of the benefits it offers.
Broadband: Finance
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of delivery of the universal service commitment of two megabits per second by 2012; and from which of his Department's budgets the funding for the commitment will be drawn. [297656]
Mr. Timms: The Government set out in the Digital Britain report that it would make available £200 million of public funds to support delivery of the universal service commitment of two megabits per second by 2012. This will be drawn from a combination of the underspend on the Digital Switchover Fund (from the TV licence fee) and the £750 million BIS Strategic Investment Fund announced in the budget to support advanced industrial projects of strategic importance.
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost of delivery of next generation broadband to at least 90 per cent. of homes and businesses by 2017; what proportion of that cost will be funded from the public purse; and what arrangements he plans to make for such funding. [297657]
Mr. Timms: The Broadband Stakeholder Group published a report in September 2008 on the cost of delivering next generation broadband nationwide. This put the cost of UK-wide fibre networks at between £5.1 billion and £28.8 billion depending on the technology used.
The Digital Britain Report indicated that around 60 per cent. of homes are likely to be served by next generation broadband purely through market provision. The Government have proposed a supplement of 50p per month on each fixed copper line in order to raise £150 million-£175 million a year. This will provide a fund earmarked for supporting delivery of next generation broadband to at least 90 per cent. of homes and businesses by 2017. The exact proportion of public and private investment in relation to those areas not served on a purely commercial basis by the market will be determined by a competitive process. We will bring forward for Parliament's approval legislation to deliver this fund in Spring 2010.
Business: UK Trade and Investment
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses with (a) fewer than 50, (b) between 51 and 100, (c) between 101 and 250 and (d) more than 250 employees received assistance from UK Trade and Investment in each of the last four years. [294932]
Ian Lucas [holding answer 22 October 2009]: This information is publicly available in UKTI's Performance and Impact Monitoring Survey, available at
This covers activity delivered from the period beginning 1 July 2005 through to the end December 2008. The reports include validated and de-duplicated total number of companies helped through UKTI trade services and a wide range of characteristics of those companies.
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses received assistance from UK Trade and Investment in each of the last four years, broken down by (a) region and (b) local authority area. [295066]
Ian Lucas [holding answer 22 October 2009]: The information is as follows:
(a) This information is publicly available in UKTI's Performance and Impact Monitoring Survey, available at
This covers activity delivered from the period beginning 1 July 2005 through to the end December 2008. The reports include validated and de-duplicated total number
of companies helped through UKTI trade services and a wide range of characteristics of those companies.
(b) UKTI does not hold this information.
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