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14 Dec 2009 : Column 947W—continued
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the likely savings to the Exchequer consequent on the implementation of the new Post Office Horizon system. [306495]
Mr. McFadden: In 2007, the Government agreed a business plan with the Post Office for the period to March 2011. This was linked to the funding of up to £1.7 billion which the Government are providing to the Post Office over that period. The business plan sets out a range of cost saving measures being undertaken by the Post Office, including upgrades to its Horizon IT system. These measures will in total provide an annual cost saving of over £200 million from 2011 and Post Office Ltd is on target to achieve this. POL's progress on delivering these cost savings is monitored by the Shareholder Executive.
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the Post Office Horizon system will be examined by independent auditors prior to its replacement. [306496]
Mr. McFadden: I have asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of Post Office Ltd., to respond directly to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Libraries.
Postal Services Commission: Hotels
Anne Main: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the Postal Services Commission has spent on hotel accommodation for its officials in each of the last five years. [306045]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for which Postcomm has direct responsibility. I have therefore asked Postcomm's Chief Executive, Tim Brown, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
A copy of the response will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Postal Services Commission: Internet
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what redesigns of websites operated by the Postal Services Commission have been carried out since 27 June 2007; and what the (a) cost to the public purse and (b) date of completion of each such redesign was. [306210]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for which Postcomm has direct responsibility. I have therefore asked Postcomm's Chief Executive, Tim Brown, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
A copy of the response will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Public Sector: Information
Mr. Mark Field:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the announcement on 17 November 2009 on the Making Public Data Public initiative, what steps
are being considered by the Government to increase the availability of public sector information to business, individuals and community organisations. [306350]
Mr. Timms: The Government's overall policies and plans for increasing the availability and re-use of public data are set out in "Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government" (Cm 7753), published on 7 December.
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the terms of reference are for his Department's Making Public Data Public initiative; and if he will make a statement. [306484]
Mr. Timms: The terms of reference for the initiative led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee OM and Professor Nigel Shadbolt are as follows:
In the last two years the Government's work on the power of information has shown how the information revolution has the potential to transform Government and public services.
The Government have accepted all of the recommendations of the Power of Information Taskforce to open up access to Government information for free re-use.
In particular, and linked to its wider programme of Public Service Reform, the Government are committed to implementing and to extending to the wider public sector the principle that public sector information should be available under straightforward licences and in standard formats for others to re-use: the principle that public sector information should be public.
In the next six months, Sir Tim Berners-Lee will serve in an advisory capacity to the Minister for the Cabinet Office, and he will work with Professor Nigel Shadbolt to form a panel of technical and delivery experts to oversee the rapid implementation of key recommendations, including:
(1) Overseeing the creation of a single online point of access for all public UK datasets-and work with departments to make this part of their routine operations-with a live Beta site running by the end of the year.
(2) Bringing forward specific proposals to implement and extend to the wider public sector the public sector information principle, including:
helping to select and implement common standards for the release of public data
helping to select, develop and implement common terms for that data where necessary
developing Crown Copyright and 'Crown Commons' licences and extending these to the wider public sector
supporting the exploitation and publication of distributed and decentralised information assets
looking at the potential for reform of the information regulatory framework, working with the Information Commissioner's Office and other experts to ensure that the regulatory regime supports the proactive publication of Government information
(3) Driving the use of the internet to improve Government consultation processes as proposed by the Taskforce and learning from the innovations already used by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Cabinet Office and others.
Other key areas in which Sir Tim Berners-Lee will advise the Government include:
(4) Working with the Government to engage with the leading experts internationally working on public data and standards, and to promote international liaison and global standards setting-an investment in future international data sharing.
(5) Helping to drive culture change in Whitehall toward an assumption of total publication for anonymous data using open standards.
The panel will work closely with the recently-appointed Director for Digital Engagement and other officials in the Cabinet Office, the Office for Public Sector Information (part of The National Archives), and the Technology Strategy Board.
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which public sector information holders are being considered under his Department's Making Public Data Public initiative; and if he will make a statement. [306485]
Mr. Timms: The Making Public Data Public initiative has initially focused on public sector information holders in central Government Departments and agencies. The Government consider that the same principles should be extended to all public services, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced on 7 December that Professor Nigel Shadbolt will lead a Local Public Data Panel to work with local government to release local public data.
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what methodology was used to calculate the estimate that the implementation of the Making Public Data Public initiative could contribute £1 billion to the economy. [306486]
Mr. Timms: The Office of Fair Trading market study "Commercial Use of Public Information" (published in 2006) estimated that improving the way in which the market for public sector information worked could mean it would grow to over £1 billion per annum.
Students: Loans
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people not domiciled in the UK have outstanding loans with the Student Loans Company; how many such loans are in arrears; and in respect of how many such loans no repayments were made in the last 12 months. [303616]
Mr. Lammy: The most recent figures showing the number of borrowers not domiciled in the UK with outstanding loans and the number in arrears and not paying have been published by the Student Loans Company, and are available in the following documents on the website.
SLC SFR 02/2009 Student Loans for Higher Education in England, Financial Year 2008-09 (Provisional) at:
Annexe-Income Contingent Repayments by Repayment Cohort and Tax Year 2000/01 to 2007/08 Inclusive (Provisional) at:
For borrowers who are domiciled in the EU, effective collection is underpinned by EC Regulations 44/2001 which allows the SLC to obtain judgments in UK courts, which can be enforced by courts in other EU countries. Borrowers' accounts must be set up with repayment schedules and put into notional arrears in order that the SLC can inform borrowers that unless they take steps to provide income details and commence repayment where appropriate, legal action will be taken against them. This is an essential step in the overseas collection process.
Transport
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many companies involved in (a) passenger rail transport, (b) interurban and suburban passenger land transport, (c) urban, suburban and metropolitan area passenger transportation by underground, metro or similar systems and (d) taxi operation have (i) become insolvent, (ii) ceased trading for other reasons and (iii) been started up in each of the last 10 years. [306642]
Ian Lucas: The Insolvency Service does not currently collect or maintain a record of figures at the level of detail requested for part (i). The lowest available industry breakdown is for "Land Transport" as a whole; these figures are available at:
and were also provided in the answer of 3 December 2009, Official Report column 982W.
Parts (b) and (c) can not be answered independently. Instead information has been provided on standard industrial classification 6021 which covers elements of both part (b) and part (c), and 6023 which also covers elements of part (b).
Responsibility for statistics relating to business start-ups and closures ("births" and "deaths") has moved from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The data recorded as follows are the record statistics received from the ONS in response to (b) and (c) above. These represent those figures which are both readily available and most similar in coverage to the figures for insolvencies, but they should not be treated as being entirely consistent and, in particular, the ONS' figures will include some businesses that are not registered companies.
| (a) Passenger rail transport (England and Wales) | |||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| (b) interurban and suburban passenger land transport and (c) urban, suburban and metropolitan area passenger transportation by underground, metro or similar systems(England and Wales) | |||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| (d) taxi operation (England and Wales) | |||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| (a) Passenger rail transport (England and Wales) | |||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| (b) Interurban and suburban passenger land transport and (c) urban, suburban and metropolitan area passenger transportation by underground, metro or similar systems(England and Wales) | |||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| (d) taxi operation (England and Wales) | |||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Source: ONS The population base includes all those businesses which are registered for VAT and/or PAYE, rather than registered companies. It should be noted that the above figures are inclusive of insolvencies; it is not possible to separate these out. | |||||||
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