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5 Nov 2009 : Column 1232W—continued
Supplementary table 5.1 shows apprenticeship starts by constituency, local authority, Government office region and England for 2003/04 to 2007/08.
Supplementary table 11.1 shows provisional apprenticeship starts for the first nine months of 2008/09. Provisional full-year figures for 2008/09 were published in a statistical first release on 22 October:
Supplementary geographic breakdowns will be available shortly after the main release.
Bank Services: Fraud
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps the Government is taking to protect members of the public from organised fraudulent schemes which solicit money and bank details; and if he will make a statement. [294069]
Kevin Brennan: On 2 July the Government published the Consumer White Paper "A Better Deal for Consumers: Delivering Real Help Now and Change for the Future". The Paper details plans for more effective enforcement at those that deliberately set out to defraud consumers, often targeting the most vulnerable and to empower consumers through better enforcement and information.
The Office of Fair Trading takes the lead on tackling mass scams. The OFT and Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) lead on the development of the "National Fraud Strategy" in partnership with a wide range of other enforcement, consumer and industry bodies which launched on 19 March 2009. The strategy sets out the UK's strategic priorities to tackle fraud and will provide a framework and long term commitment to making the UK the world's hardest target for fraudsters.
In addition, the Government have invested £7.5 million over three years (in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11) for specialist Trading Standards scambuster teams in Scotland, Wales and every region of England. These are dedicated teams working across local authority boundaries focusing on the hardest-to-tackle scams and rogue trading practices. To date, the teams have uncovered an estimated £30 million worth of fraud, made an estimated £6.5 million of consumer savings, and seized £4.5 million of criminal assets.
Broadband
John Battle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of households which have access to high-speed broadband internet; and if he will make a statement. [294013]
Mr. Timms: While there is currently no figure for the number of households in the United Kingdom connected to high speed broadband internet, approximately 12 million households are within reach of fast broadband via Virgin Media's cable network. This covers approximately 50 per cent. of all UK households. BT announced its plans to invest £1.5 billion in a fibre-based super-fast broadband network. They plan to have the service available to one million households by March 2010 and the service should be available to around 40 per cent. of the UK's homes and businesses by 2012. They are currently rolling out superfast broadband to 10,000 homes in Ebbsfleet and have a 40Mbps service pilot scheme to 15,000 homes in Muswell Hill and Whitchurch.
Other high speed broadband developments include H20's Fibrecity scheme to 88,000 homes in Bournemouth and Dundee and Redstone's scheme serving 5,000 homes in Belfast.
Competition
Andrew George: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on what criteria his Department's decisions on recommendations referred to it by the competition authorities under the Enterprise Act 2002 are taken. [297260]
Kevin Brennan: There is no set criteria, however all decisions on recommendations made to Government by the competition authorities are considered very carefully. Although it is the role of this Department to formally respond, Government collectively will weigh up a number of factors which include costs and benefits and the impact on the wider economy. The factors taken into account will vary according to the market and the recommendation in question. In addition Government would not want to prejudge or rule out the range or type of issue that might be raised by stakeholders during any consultation that followed.
Andrew George: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on how many occasions the (a) Competition Commission and (b) Office of Fair Trading has referred a (i) matter and (ii) recommendation to his Department for determination under the provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 since that Act came into force. [297262]
Kevin Brennan: Since the Enterprise Act 2002 came into force, the Competition Commission (CC) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) published the following market study investigations and market studies respectively which made recommendations to government: These are listed as follows:
Supply of Groceries in the UK
Supply of Airport Services by BAA in the UK
Rolling Stock Leasing.
Pharmacies
Private dentistry in the UK
Regulation of Licensed Taxi and PHV services in the UK
Estate Agency in England and Wales
Doorstep Selling
Public Subsidies
Property Searches
Care Homes
Opium Derivatives
Commercial Use of Public Information
UK Airports
Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme
Medicines Distribution
Home Building
Sale and Rent back.
Further details about the CC and OFT reports are available at the following website links:
In addition, the Secretary of State (SoS) has intervened in nine merger cases on public interest grounds. In such cases, final decisions are taken by the SoS based on reports received from competition authorities. A list giving further details can be found at the following website link:
Employment Tribunals Service
Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost of employment tribunals relating to each of the nine universities in the North West in the latest period for which figures are available. [297893]
Mr. Lammy: This information is not collected by either the Department or the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Framework for Excellence
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received from further education colleges on Framework for Excellence 2009. [288191]
Kevin Brennan: Since becoming Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, I have received no representations from any further education college about the Framework for Excellence. The framework was one of several topics covered in a letter (15 June 2009) from the Association of Colleges (AoC), which I replied to on behalf of my right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State. It was also part of a subsequent discussion I had with Martin Doel, Chief Executive of the AoC, during our introductory meeting on 8 July.
Further Education
Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what proportion of adult further education students in Learning and Skills Council-funded provision are 19 to 24 year-olds; [296874]
(2) how many adult further education students are studying (a) full-time and (b) part-time; [296875]
(3) how many 19 to 24 year-olds in adult further education are studying (a) full-time and (b) part-time. [296872]
Kevin Brennan: Table 1 shows students in LSC funded-provision by age group.
| Table 1: LSC-funded participation by age. | ||
| Age | Learner n umbers | Learner (%) |
Table 2 shows LSC-funded further education participation by mode of attendance, for learners of all age groups.
| Table 2: LSC-funded participation for all age groups, by mode of attendance | |
| AH Learners | Learner n umbers |
Table 3 shows LSC-funded further education participation by mode of attendance, for learners aged between 19 and 24.
| Table 3: LSC-funded participation for learners aged between 19 and 24, by mode of attendance. | |
| 19-24 year old Learners | Learner n umbers |
| Notes: 1. Source data includes ASL, LR and ERILR datasets. 2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred, and may not sum to total due to rounding. 3. Age is based on academic age at the 3 August of the academic year. 4. Part-time Part Year includes part-time Distance Learning, Open Learning, E-Learning and Evening Learning. 5. FE Students classified for statistical purposes as full-time are defined as those enrolled on programmes of at least 450 guided learning hours per year, or for at least 150 guided learning hours per tri-annual period or more than 16 guided learning hours per week for shorter courses. Full-time students who enrol on a programme of at least 450 guided learning hours per year are classified as full-time full-year. This includes those students who withdraw from the programme during the year and actually attend for less than 450 guided learning hours. Also counted as full-time full-year are students who enrol on programmes of less than 450 guided learning hours but stay longer than expected and actually attend for more than 450 guided learning hours. Full-time students who are not classified as full-time full-year are classified as other full-time. All other students are classified as part-time. | |
Higher Education: Botany
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many students received an undergraduate degree in botany at a university in England in each of the last five years; [297468]
(2) how many PhDs in botany have been awarded by universities in England in each of the last five years. [297469]
Mr. Lammy: The latest information from the Higher Education Statistics Agency is shown in the following table. Figures for the 2008/09 academic year will be available in January 2010.
| Doctorate, first degree and other undergraduate botany qualifiers( 1) : UK Higher Education Institutions | |||
| Academic years 2003/04 to 2007/08 | |||
| Academic year | Doctorate | First d egree | Other u ndergraduate |
| (1) Covers qualifiers of all domiciles from both full-time and part-time courses. Note: Figures are based on a qualifications obtained population and have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) | |||
Insolvency
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many insolvencies there were in each local authority area in each of the last five years. [297848]
Ian Lucas: Official statistics for company insolvencies are not available at local authority level, however figures for England and Wales as a whole are available on the Insolvency Service website.
The number of insolvent individuals in England and Wales is available broken down by the equivalent of local authority levels; these official statistics can be found on the Insolvency Service website here:
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