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15 Dec 2009 : Column 1097W—continued
Policy Objectives
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many regulatory impact assessments have cited peace of mind as a policy objective since 1997. [304843]
Ian Lucas: Analysis has been carried out on impact assessments contained within the impact assessment library, published on the BRE website, which date between 1 January 2008 and 18 December 2009, totalling 450 impact assessments.
No impact assessments were found to cite peace of mind as a policy objective.
Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect on the national skills base of the proposed reduction in the number of publicly-funded bodies in the skills sector by 30 over the next three years, as referred to on page 54 of Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government, Cm 7753. [307576]
Kevin Brennan: This proposal was first outlined in "Skills for Growth-the National Skills Strategy" in November. It takes forward a recommendation made by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) and addresses employer concerns that the skills system continues to be over complicated, with too many separate bodies playing a role.
Simplifying the landscape through reducing the number of intermediary bodies will contribute to a more effective national skills system, and allow more resources to be focused on front-line delivery.
Part of the reduction includes consolidation of the UK-wide sector skills council (SSC) network, creating a better fit with the likely sector boundaries of the future. Government will look to UKCES to work with SSCs to bring forward proposals for this consolidation. As has been the case with the relicensing of SSCs, we will continue to work closely with the devolved Administrations and other departmental sponsors of the commission, to ensure that this process takes full account of the impacts on, and priorities of, the whole of the UK. This also ensures that employers are involved in the development and ownership of the bodies which emerge from this process.
Regulations: Audit
Mr. Brady: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Reporting Council on the regulation of audit firms. [306843]
Ian Lucas: This Department regularly has discussions with the Financial Reporting Council and its operating bodies about a range of issues, including the regulation of audit firms.
As part of this, I met Dame Barbara Mills QC, the Chair of the Professional Oversight Board, which oversees the regulation of audit firms, on 14 October, to discuss the Board's annual report.
Students: Disabled
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer to Lord Addington of 5 November 2009, Official Report, House of Lords, column 372, on disabled people: student loans, what arrangements the Government has with universities and colleges to ensure that there is financial support for disabled students in the event of delays in the assessment or payments of support; how many individual students have been supported using these arrangements in the academic year 2009-10; what the average period of support for disabled students has been; and what estimate he has made of the monetary value of the financial support given under such arrangements. [307712]
Mr. Lammy: 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.
Students: Loans
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many enquiries have been made to the Student Loans Company (a) by telephone, (b) by email, (c) via its website and (d) by other methods in each of the last six years. [302502]
Mr. Lammy: The Student Loans Company has provided the information set out in the following table:
| Number | |||
| Financial year | Telephone calls received by contact centre | Queries received via website | Correspondence received |
| Notes: 1. Figures in the table are those in relation to Student Finance England, Student Finance Northern Ireland and income contingent repayments for borrowers across the UK. It is not possible to break down the figures further. 2. 'Queries through website' refers to the secure messaging function on the Student Finance Direct/Directgov website. | |||
Tax
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many regulatory impact assessments have included mitigation of the general reluctance to pay tax as an issue since 1997. [304842]
Ian Lucas: Analysis has been carried out on impact assessments contained within the impact assessment library, published on the BRE website, which date between 1 January 2008 and 18 December 2009, totalling 450 impact assessments.
From these it was found that five included mitigation of the general reluctance to pay tax as an issue:
Changes to rules on loan relationships;
Identifying users of disclosed tax avoidance schemes;
Impact assessment of ratification of the Council of Europe convention on action against trafficking in human beings;
Impact assessment of legal powers to support the creation of the UK Border Agency;
Final impact assessment of common travel area (CTA) reform.
Trade Agreements: Peru
Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions his Department has had with the European Commission on its decision to continue multiparty trade agreement negotiations with Peru; and if he will make a statement. [304480]
Ian Lucas: The EU and Peru, Colombia and Ecuador began negotiations on a multiparty trade agreement in January 2009, after negotiations between the EU and the Community of Andean Nations had stalled. Ecuador has since dropped out of negotiations, but remains an interested observer.
Officials from the joint BIS/DFID Trade Policy Unit have been in continuous liaison with the European Commission throughout the negotiations, via routine representation to the Article 133 Committee (now the Trade Policy Committee, since entry into force of the Lisbon treaty) and associated meetings in Brussels.
UK Trade and Investment: Hotels
Anne Main: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much UK Trade and Investment has spent on hotel accommodation for its staff in each of the last five years. [305710]
Ian Lucas: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) does not directly employ staff but draws on resource from its two parent departments the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). UKTI has offices in 98 different countries, the nine English regions, London and Glasgow.
UKTI holds financial information on travel and accommodation costs at the aggregate level centrally while detailed information is held locally. To provide the information requested would require obtaining detailed information from each location and therefore can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Vocational Training: East of England
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding under the (a) Train to Gain and (b) Skills for Life programme was provided to each college in the East of England in 2008-09; and how much such funding has been allocated under each such programme for 2009-10. [307599]
Kevin Brennan: Funding is allocated by the Learning and Skills Council to further education (FE) colleges and training organisations on an academic year basis. In the east of England, FE colleges were allocated a total of nearly £36 million in 2008/09 academic year for Train to Gain, and have maximum contract values worth £34 million in 2009/10 academic year.
We are unable to provide a breakdown of the funding allocated for Skills for Life provision. Skills for Life is a collective term, used to describe learning delivered to improve literacy, language and numeracy skills, which can be delivered through different programme lines eg Adult Learner Responsive and Employer Responsive. The amount of funding made available for Skills for Life at a national level is based on planned levels of activity for an academic year but funding to FE colleges and training organisations is not allocated at this level. Nationally, planned investment in adult (19+) Skills for Life courses delivered through Train to Gain and Adult Learner Responsive routes is nearly £600 million for 2008-09 financial year and around £630 million for 2009-10 financial year.
The proposed funding for 2010-11 for FE and Skills has recently been published in the Skills Investment Strategy, and further information and statistics regarding funding for individual FE colleges and geographical areas are available on the website of the Learning and Skills Council (www.lsc.gov.uk).
| Train to Gain allocations for FE colleges in the east of England | ||
| £ | ||
| Final maximum contract value | ||
| Further education college | Final 2008/09 | Provisional 2009/10 |
Vocational Training: Expenditure
Mr. Jenkins: 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 professional education and training for (a) lawyers, (b) accountants, (c) plumbers and (d) electricians in the last 12 months. [303025]
Mr. Lammy: The Department continues to ensure that funds are deployed to support adults into sustainable employment and further learning. For the 2010-11 financial year we plan to invest £3.5 billion in adult training through the Skills Funding Agency, an increase of 3 per cent. compared with 2009-10. Investment routed through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is £7.8 billion in 2009-10. Figures for 2010-11 will be published in January 2010.
Funding is not allocated at an individual course level to Further Education (FE) colleges, Higher Education Institutions and other training institutions. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and HEFCE are able to provide estimates of funds directed towards specific qualifications based on enrolment information. The estimated funds for 2007/08(1) are provided in the following table.
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