| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
16 Dec 2009 : Column 1153W—continued
Vacancies
Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many vacancies have been reported to Jobcentres in (a) Norwich North constituency and (b) each region (i) in each year since 1997 and (ii) in 2009 to date. [301697]
Jim Knight: The available information has been placed in the Library.
Vocational Training
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what steps her Department is taking to promote re-skilling initiatives in (a) Coventry and (b) the UK; [304303]
(2) how many re-skilling initiatives there are; and how much funding her Department has allocated in support of such schemes in 2009-10. [304305]
Jim Knight: We are working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and partners to implement a Government commitment to deliver a fully Integrated Employment and Skills (IES) service in England. The new integrated service will bring together and reform existing employment and skills services to better support skills acquisition, employment and career progression. IES trials are currently operating in 12 areas in England, one of which is in Coventry, and another four of which are in other parts of the West Midlands.
The vision and principles of IES are shared across Great Britain. However, as skills policy is devolved in Scotland and Wales, we are working with their Governments to explore how an integrated service can be piloted and delivered in the devolved Administrations.
The current challenging economic climate makes our focus on skills ever more important on an individual level for people who have been caught up in the downturn. As part of our response to the recession, we have intensified our support to help individuals identify skills needs and make more training available to jobseekers, through the response to redundancy package, the six month offer and the Young Person's Guarantee. The Government have allocated over £350 million in funding over two years for the training element of these programmes.
Transport
AP Braking
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 7 December 2009, Official Report, column 31W, on the Caparo Group, what the monetary value is of the contract his Department holds with AP Braking Ltd. [307647]
Chris Mole: The answer I gave to the hon. Member on 7 December 2009, Official Report, column 31W, about whether the Department for Transport holds contracts with each company of the Caparo Group was incorrect.
The Vehicle Certification Agency previously carried out approval work through a third party on AP Braking's products. However, there was no contract between the Department for Transport and AP Braking.
Aviation: Carbon Emissions
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the average carbon emissions were per UK air passenger in each year since 1997. [306972]
Mr. Khan: The following table provides estimates of aviation carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per passenger for all domestic and international air passengers flying from UK airports in each year from 1997 to 2007.
2008 Air Passenger data are available but the 2008 CO2 emissions data will be released in February 2010.
The average CO2 per passenger figures in the table have been calculated by dividing total CO2 emissions from departing flights by the number of departing passengers. They do not therefore reflect a weighted average of emissions to account for the relative numbers of flights flying different trip lengths. The level of emissions per passenger will be affected by such factors as load factors, type of aircraft used and fuel efficiency changes.
Biofuels: Imports
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what percentage of biodiesel used in the UK was imported from the US in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09. [306975]
Mr. Khan: The Department does not hold information on biofuel supplied before the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) began in April 2008.
Provisional data from the Renewable Fuels Agency show that 38 per cent. of the biodiesel supplied for use in the UK in 2008-09 was reported as coming from the US.
Bus Services: Fares
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the percentage change in bus fares in (a) passenger transport executive areas, (b) other urban areas, (c) London and (d) other areas of England was from one year to the next in each year since 2007. [307039]
Mr. Khan: Figures are available for Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) areas and London, but it is not possible to separate other urban areas and other areas of England using published statistics. The available statistics are shown in the following table.
| Year-on-year percentage change in bus fares index in England | |||
| Financial year | London | PTE areas( 1) | Rest of England( 2) |
| (1) PTE areas are Tyne and Wear, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands. (2) The negative fares growth in the "Rest of England" in 2006-07 is largely a result of the introduction of the free local bus travel concession for older or disabled people in April 2006. This generally had a greater impact on fares structures outside of London and the PTE areas. | |||
These percentage changes are calculated using the differences in the average of the bus fares index over each year. They therefore reflect the change from the average fare level in the previous year to the average fare level in the current year.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what formula is used to allocate national concessionary bus fare grants to local authorities. [307579]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) provides the majority of concessionary travel funding to local authorities through Formula Grant. This is a block grant, so it is not possible to say how much of this grant is provided for concessionary travel. Formula grant is largely distributed using the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the authority, together with the number of band-D equivalent properties within the authority's area.
The Department for Transport provides the remainder through a special grant. This is funding solely to cover the extra costs brought about by the improvement to the statutory minimum concession which gives free off-peak local bus travel England-wide from April 2008.
The special grant formula takes into account the eligible local population, bus patronage, overnight visitors and retail space. It is designed to direct funding towards areas of greater demand, such as coastal towns and urban centres.
The Government recognise that there are some issues around the distribution of special grant and that some Travel Concession Authorities have genuine funding problems, so we are now consulting on changes to the distribution of the special grant for 2010-11. The proposed revised distribution is based on an analysis of the actual additional costs incurred in 2008-09 as a result of the improved concession.
Bus Services: Yorkshire
Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport which bus companies his Department subsidises in Yorkshire; and how much funding it provided to each such company in each of the last 10 years. [307645]
Mr. Khan: The Government subsidise bus services in England through the Department's bus service operators grant (BSOG) which is paid to operators of local bus services.
The following table shows BSOG payments made to bus operators in Yorkshire in 2008-09 and 2009-10. Data are not available for years prior to 2008-09.
| £ | |||
| Operator | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | Grand total |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |