| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
9 Nov 2009 : Column 172W—continued
| Table 2: Full-time undergraduate entrants from Peterborough local authority(1), by age and socio-economic classification(2), UK higher education institutions(3), academic years 2003/04 to 2007/08 | ||||||||||
| Socio-economic classification | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 | |||||
| <21 | 21+ | <21 | 21+ | <21 | 21+ | <21 | 21+ | <21 | 21+ | |
| (1) The table does not include entrants where the constituency of the student cannot be established due to missing or invalid information. (2 )This field collects the socio-economic classification of students participating in HE if 21 or over at the start of their course or parental classification if under 21. (3 )Figures exclude the Open university due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series. (4 )Covers students whose socio-economic classification was missing, not classified or 'Never worked and long-term unemployed'. Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, therefore components may not sum to totals. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency. | ||||||||||
Learning and Skills Council for England: Correspondence
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2009, Official Report, column 1523W, on further education: Hampshire, if he will ensure that copies of letters from the Learning and Skills Council responding to Parliamentary Questions are always sent to the Official Report for publication. [298685]
Kevin Brennan: I can confirm that letters from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) responding to parliamentary questions should always be placed promptly in the House of Commons Library. Due to an administrative error the answer to which the hon. Member refers was placed in the House of Commons Library on 3 November 2009. I have asked the LSC to review its procedures to prevent a recurrence.
Post Offices: Public Consultation
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the timetable of the new proposed consultation on the future provision of services by the Post Office will be. [298560]
Mr. McFadden: We are aiming to launch this consultation in late November/early December. This will be a full 12-week consultation.
Research: Energy
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to research into fusion energy in each of the last five years; and how much funding he plans to allocate for such purposes in each of the next five years. [298000]
Mr. Lammy: The Government provide support for nuclear fusion research in the UK through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The EPSRC funding for fusion research over the last five years was:
| £ million | |
Funding in 2009/10 is expected to total about £25 million. Funding for subsequent years will depend on the outcome of spending reviews and the quality of science case proposals.
Euratom also fund fusion research in the UK through the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. The UK also contributes indirectly to the Euratom European fusion research programme through its payments to the EU budget.
Royal Mail: Pay
Colin Burgon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria were applied to the award of a bonus to the Chief Executive of Royal Mail in 2008. [298312]
Mr. McFadden: The criteria for the bonus award to the chief executive of Royal Mail in 2008/09 were profit and service quality.
Colin Burgon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average bonus paid to Royal Mail staff at the lowest grade was in 2008. [298313]
Mr. McFadden: Under Royal Mail's Colleague Share scheme, each Royal Mail staff member received a stakeholder dividend payment of £400 in 2008/09. The total cost of payments under the scheme was £70 million.
Royal Mail staff were also eligible to receive local productivity bonuses. My Department does not hold this information and I have therefore asked the chief executive of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, to reply to you direct. A copy of the response will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Students: Grants
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students have received provisional payments in advance of full student support payments from Student Finance England in (a) the 2009/10 academic year and (b) each of the five previous years. [294702]
Mr. Lammy: The Student Loans Company has released figures to show the levels of processing and payment of Student Support in England for the 2009/10 academic year. The information is available on the Student Loans Company website and includes information on "applications approved with interim assessment".
The figures for new and returning students in this category stand at 35,000 as at 25 October 2009.
Some changes to the way applications are processed have been introduced for the 2009/10 application processing cycle which means there are no comparable data for the previous five years.
Students: Loans
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in each age group resident in (a) each local authority area in the North West and (b) England had not repaid their student loan at the latest date for which figures are available. [296433]
Mr. Lammy: Borrowers become liable to repay their loans in the April after they leave their course (the statutory repayment due date, SRDD). After that date those with earnings of over £15,000 will repay, usually by deductions from salary. Those liable to repay who have not yet made a repayment will include borrowers whose earnings are below the repayment threshold, have gone on to further study or are doing voluntary work.
The tables cover income contingent loan borrowers past SRDD with a known repayment or non-repayment position by whether or not they have made a repayment.
Tables containing the requested information have been placed in the Library.
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been deducted in student loan repayments from the salaries of individuals in each income group resident in (a) each local authority area in the North West and (b) England in each of the last five years. [296434]
Mr. Lammy: Deductions from salaries are made when the borrower's income is above £15,000 per year, £1,250 per month or £288 per week. A borrower who starts work late in the tax year on an annual salary above £15,000 will have deductions made but may have earnings during the tax year of less than £15,000.
Tables containing the requested information have been placed in the Library.
Train to Gain Programme
Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much of the Train to Gain budget managed by the Learning and Skills Council in 2009-10 is planned to be allocated to (a) adult Level 2 and adult first Level 2 courses, (b) adult first Level 2 and adult first Level 3 courses, (c) adult Level 2 and adult first Level 2 courses for 19 to 24 year olds and (d) adult Level 3 and adult first Level 3 courses for 19 to 24 year olds. [296877]
Kevin Brennan: The Grant Letter to the Learning and Skills Council for 2009-10 sent in November 2008 sets out planned expenditure across our funding priorities based on estimated volumes of activity.
A copy of this letter is available publicly at the following address:
Estimated spend for all adults in 2009-10 through Train to Gain is £626 million on full level 2 and £161 million on full level 3 qualifications. Funding through Train to Gain is prioritised on supporting adults in
employment to gain basic literacy and numeracy skills, full level 2 and full level 3 qualifications. For 2009-10 in response to the economic downturn we have provided increased flexibilities for small and medium sized enterprises to support retraining through access to funding for units and part qualifications in areas described as business critical by Sector Skills Councils.
The actual amount spent at each level and on particular age groups will depend on learner and employer demand throughout the year.
Vocational Training: Finance
David Taylor: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of guidance issued by the Learning and Skills Council to participants in the Train to Gain scheme enquiring about their use of funds for the 2009-10 contract; and if he will make a statement. [291348]
Kevin Brennan [holding answer 16 September 2009]: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is responsible for issuing national funding guidance to providers for each academic year, setting out the rules and principles for funding through Train to Gain. Guidance for 2009/10 was issued on 23 January, and is regularly updated. The latest version is available on the LSC website.
Geoff Russell, the chief executive of the LSC, sent letters to all Train to Gain-contracted providers on 19 June, informing them of their funding and contract
arrangements for the 2009/10 academic year. Since then, regional and local LSC partnership teams have been working closely with individual providers to finalise their contract documentation, including maximum contract values.
In addition, the LSC publishes regular guidance to employers and learners who access Train to Gain, including information on new flexibilities, funding that may be available and where to go for further information. This guidance is also available on the LSC website.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |