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30 Nov 2009 : Column 554W—continued
British Petroleum
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on what dates representatives of his Department and its predecessors have met executives of BP plc in each year since 2002. [301575]
Mr. McFadden: Representatives of the Department regularly meet with a range of companies. However, the Department does not have a central record of the dates when meetings with executives of BP plc have taken place. To separately identify them over the specified period of time would incur disproportionate cost.
Broadband
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding is available to provide access to broadband in local community facilities. [301520]
Mr. Timms: This Department has no dedicated funding set aside to provide access to broadband in local community facilities. Working with partners, however, it does help provide access to the internet in local communities. For example, this Department, with DCSF, provides funds of up to £10 million per year to UK Online Centres. These centres use a variety of facilities, with 82 per cent. located in areas of high deprivation. These funds provide people with help and support to access and use computers and the internet.
Broadband: Herefordshire
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what percentage of residents in Herefordshire have access to a broadband with a speed of (a) 0 to two, (b) three to five, (c) six to 10, (d) 11 to 15, (e) 16 to 20, (f) 21 to 25, (g) 26 to 30, (h) 31 to 35, (i) 36 to 40, (j) 41 to 45, (k) 46 to 50, (l) 51 to 55 and (m) 55 Mbps and above. [301518]
Mr. Timms: This information is not available.
Business: Fraud
Mark Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has made an assessment of the risk to the directors of defunct companies of identity theft from the data held on the Companies House register. [301731]
Ian Lucas: The particulars of directors held on the public record under the Companies Act 2006 are the minimum necessary to ensure that third parties, including enforcement agencies, can hold directors to account. The information is needed equally for the directors of defunct companies as their responsibilities do not cease when a company is struck off or dissolved.
Business: Government Assistance
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in each location in each region of the country have received assistance from their Regional Development Agency's small business loan fund; and how much on average each such business received. [301090]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There is no product called a "small business loan fund" offered by the Regional Development Agencies.
Regional Development Agencies offer a range of measures to assist businesses. Transition Loan Funds are made available by Regional Development Agencies to viable small and medium size businesses that are having difficulty gaining access to credit.
The Transition Loan Funds are part of the Regional Loan Funds.
These loans make up part of the wider support offer RDAs are offering to businesses.
Business: Hungary
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will hold discussions with the government of Hungary on improving procedures in that country for the awarding of private and public sector contracts to businesses from the UK and other EU member states. [302509]
Ian Lucas: I have no immediate plans to meet with my Hungarian counterparts but will discuss these matters with them as and when the opportunities arise. The British ambassador in Budapest, in collaboration with the ambassadors of the countries responsible for the majority of investment in Hungary, has engaged frequently with the Government of Hungary on these and other issues. He will continue to do so.
Company Liquidations
Mr. Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many liquidations which commenced (a) five, (b) 10, (c) 15 and (d) 20 or more years ago have not yet been finalised. [300787]
Ian Lucas: Companies House records show the number of liquidation proceedings started and not yet finalised, are as follows:
| Number | |
In practice, it is likely that the number of liquidation processes started during this time and remain ongoing is significantly lower than this. It would be unusual for an individual process to continue for as long 10 years or more. The implication is that, in a significant number of cases, the insolvency practitioner may not have notified Companies House that a process is complete.
According to the case database maintained by the Insolvency Service, there are:
(a) 103 compulsory liquidations where the insolvency order was made more than five years ago;
(b) 16 compulsory liquidations where the insolvency order was made more than 10 years ago;
(c) nine compulsory liquidations where the insolvency order was made more than 15 years ago; and
(d) one compulsory liquidation where the insolvency order was made more than 20 years ago, where the official receiver has not applied for release as liquidator.
Departmental Air Travel
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey of 2 November 2009, Official Report, columns 786-87W, on departmental aviation, how much his Department has spent on (a) first and (b) standard class air travel by (i) the Secretary of State, (ii) Ministers in his Department and (iii) departmental officials since 3 October 2008. [301605]
Mr. McFadden: The amount spent on flights by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform including the ex Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) part of the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) for the period from 3 October 2008 to 7 November 2009 was:
| £ | |
Travel by Ministers is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code. The Department does not hold separate records of the travel undertaken by Ministers as opposed to those undertaken by civil servants, 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 and can be viewed at:
Departmental Meetings
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which (a) individuals other than Ministerial colleagues and officials of his Department and (b) organisations (i) he and (ii) the Secretary of State met in an official capacity in the week commencing 9 November 2009. [301163]
Mr. McFadden: In its response to a report by the Public Administration Select Committee "Lobbying: Access and influence in Whitehall", the Government agreed to publish on-line, on a quarterly basis, information about ministerial meetings with outside interest groups. Information for the period 1 October to 31 December will be published by Departments as soon as the information is ready.
Departmental Official Gifts
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on how many occasions the Secretary of State has presented an official gift which was manufactured overseas in the last 12 months. [302572]
Mr. McFadden: My noble Friend the Secretary of State tries whenever possible to provide his gifts from the House of Lords gift shop.
Departmental Visits Abroad
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many officials of his Department travelled abroad with the Secretary of State on each foreign visit he has made since his appointment; and at what cost for each visit. [301644]
Mr. McFadden: The Cabinet Office published on 16 July a list of all overseas visits undertaken by Ministers costing £500 or more during the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March. The list provides details of the date, destination and purpose of all such visits and the cost of Ministers' travel and accommodation where appropriate. Copies of the list have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and is also available on the Cabinet Office website at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/226022/travel 2008 2009.pdf.
The cost of accompanying private office staff is included in the annual published cost of all Ministers' visits overseas.
All travel by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the "Ministerial Code" and the "Civil Service Management Code" respectively.
Higher and Further Education: Radicalism
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many instances of extremism have been recorded as taking place on (a) university premises and (b) further education college premises in each of the last three years. [302499]
Mr. Lammy: For operational reasons, we cannot release this information. Universities and colleges work closely with their local police forces and information about individuals or groups of concern is shared and recorded as appropriate.
Higher Education: Antisemitism
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many meetings have been held of the higher education sub-group of the cross-government working group on anti-Semitism; and what issues were discussed at each meeting. [302497]
Mr. Lammy: There have been two meetings of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills' 'Antisemitism and Higher Education' Group. The first meeting took place in April and discussed antisemitic incident monitoring in higher education (HE), and how this was reported by students. The second meeting took place in November and included updates from members of the Group on their wider work on equality and diversity, including tackling antisemitism, and on the recent guidance for students, 'A Student's Guide to Antisemtism on Campus', produced by the Union of Jewish Students and the Community Security Trust. Both meetings resulted in practical agreed actions which are being progressed by HE stakeholders and the Jewish community.
Higher Education: Finance
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions Ministers have had with the Higher Education Funding Council for England on its review of teaching funding consultation. [302500]
Mr. Lammy: Ministers have had no such discussions. The establishment of the Review is, however, consistent with the principles that we announced in Higher Ambitions, published on 3 November.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what average per-student teaching grant was received by each higher education institution in England for (a) UK and (b) non-UK EU undergraduate students in the latest period for which figures are available. [302501]
Mr. Lammy: For 2009/10 the amount of teaching grant per student can be calculated as follows (see notes in table).
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