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16 Dec 2009 : Column 1372W—continued
Mr. Lammy:
Changes required to deliver the new Student Finance (England) service are due to be phased in over a number of years. The total cost of designing and implementing the system between financial years
2006-07 and 2011-12 is expected to be £48.7 million, of which £33.3 million had been spent at the end of financial year 2008-09.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations (a) his Department and (b) the Students Loans Company has received from universities seeking reimbursement of emergency loans issued to students. [303180]
Mr. Lammy: The Department has not received any representations from universities seeking reimbursement of emergency loans to students. Neither has the Student Loans Company.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the monetary value was of (a) outstanding student loans held and (b) student loan repayments made by students from (i) the UK, (ii) other EU member states and (iii) non-EU countries in each of the last five years. [303590]
Mr. Lammy: The information requested is as follows:
| Loan balance outstanding and repayments | ||
| £ million | ||
| Financial Year | Loan balance outstanding including loans not yet due for repayment( 1) | Repayments posted to SLC accounts during financial year |
| (1) Loan balance at the end of the financial year (2) Less than 100,000 Source: Student Loans Company | ||
The table shows those who at the time of their application for student support were either English domiciled students studying in the UK, or who were EU students studying in England.
Students from non-EU countries are not generally eligible for support. However, EEA migrant workers and certain family members, children of Swiss nationals and children of Turkish workers may be eligible. Such students are entitled to apply for the full student support package, and are included in the English domicile part of the table.
EU students who have taken out tuition fee loans only, (introduced in academic year 2006-07), are shown in the EU domicile part of the table. Most EU loan borrowers are still at university and therefore not yet required to begin repaying their loans. A borrower who started a typical three year course in 2006-07 will become liable to begin repaying in April 2010.
Most income contingent loan repayments are collected through the tax system. The SLC are notified of repayments after the end of the tax year. This means that, for example, repayments shown in financial year 2008-09 mostly relate to repayments made in tax year 2007-08. Repayments made via the tax system in tax year 2008-09
are not reflected in the table. The figures include repayments made directly to the SLC from borrowers living overseas and from borrowers who have chosen to repay more than the regulatory amount.
The SLC has robust measures in place to collect loan repayments from EU Students. Those staying in the UK are expected to obtain a National Insurance Number (NINO) and make repayments through the UK tax system. But those borrowers who move and default on their loans will be traced and, where appropriate, legal action will be taken.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he expects all outstanding student loan applications to be processed by 31 December 2009. [305795]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 10 December 2009]: I have been advised that Student Finance England cleared the backlog of correspondence by 11 December 2009 and I have sought clarification of this from the chief executive of the Student Loans Company. The Student Loans Company is still receiving around 1,500 new applications each week.
There are students in the system who still need to provide all the necessary evidence for their application to be completed. This includes people claiming disabled students' allowance who are still awaiting their assessments. I have instructed the SLC to work swiftly to contact students and assessment centres in universities to process all outstanding cases as quickly as possible.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of second instalment student loans he expects to be paid by 28 January 2010; and if he will make a statement. [305796]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 10 December 2009]: It is not clear whether the question relates to maintenance or tuition fee loans.
Of the applications processed so far, there are currently 741,376 second maintenance loan instalments relating to Student Finance England scheduled for payment between 24 December and 31 January.
These figures exclude payment of grants.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what mechanisms are in place to ensure that students in higher education receive their tuition fee and maintenance loans before their course commences. [307409]
Mr. Lammy: Students cannot receive maintenance loans or grants before their course commences. Once the university has confirmed the student's attendance, payment is made through the Bankers' Automated Clearing System (BACS). Tuition fees are paid directly to Higher Education Institutions on behalf of students in two equal instalments during the academic year.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the budget of the Student Loans Company has been in each of the last three years. [307410]
Mr. Lammy: The Student Loans Company's UK budget is set out in an Annual Performance and Resource Agreement letter, the most recent of which is available to download from the Student Loans Company website at:
The UK budget for the last three years has been as follows:
| Financial year | £ million |
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what powers the Government has to alter the management (a) structure and (b) personnel of the Student Loans Company. [307411]
Mr. Lammy: Governance arrangements agreed between the Administrations of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland and the Student Loans Company (SLC) are set out in the SLC's Framework Document which is available in the House of Commons Library and also on the Student Loans Company's website at:
Ministers appoint the Chair and Non-Executive Directors of the SLC Board and approve the appointment by the Board of the Chief Executive Officer. Other Executive Director appointments are a matter for the SLC Board.
Students: Radicalism
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Lancaster and Wyre of 15 July 2009, Official Report, column 507W, on students: radicalism, which institutions will receive further targeted support in the new academic year. [307744]
Mr. Lammy: The list of which institutions will receive further targeted support will be finalised in February 2010. I will write to the hon. Member with the list once it has been finalised.
UK Trade and Investment: Internet
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what redesigns of websites operated by UK Trade and Investment 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. [306204]
Ian Lucas: £42,000 was spent redeveloping the former MOD Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO) website when the organisation became UKTI Defence and Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) in April 2008. The work on the website:
Vocational Training: West Midlands
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to maintain a high skills level in the West Midlands. [307313]
Kevin Brennan: The Government are taking a range of measures to maintain a high skills level in the West Midlands and across the country as a whole.
On 3 November Government published "Higher Ambitions: the future of universities in the Knowledge economy". It sets out the priorities for the Government's approach to higher education (HE) over the next 10 years. Public funding for HE has increased by over 25 per cent. from 1997-98 to 2008-09 in real terms. We now have a third of the population with Level 4 plus qualification compared to less than a quarter in 1997.
We also published the "Skills for Growth" White Paper on 11 November. This is our National Skills Strategy which sets out a number of new commitments, including:
Renewal of commitment to the basic targets set out by the 2006 Leitch report for improving the skills level of the nation.
A new ambition for three quarters of young people to participate in higher education or complete a technician or equivalent course by the age of 30.
A new approach to anticipate and respond to future skills needs for economic prosperity and social mobility whilst continuing to respond to the "here and now" of employers and learners.
Expanding apprenticeships to create a modern class of technicians, with 35,000 more advanced apprenticeships and progression routes for apprentices into HE.
Improve quality of provision, empowering learners with greater choice; giving more autonomy to colleges and training institutions that deliver excellence; and cutting lower priority courses.
In our Skills Investment Strategy, published on the 16 November, we set out how we will fund skills training in the academic year 2010-11. It outlines that:
We will increase funding for adult apprenticeships to £400 million which includes increased support for advanced apprenticeships for 19-30 year-olds in line with the commitments in Skills for Growth for an additional 35,000 places over the next two years.
We will continue our investment to provide vital training and employability skills to support those out of work into sustainable employment, particularly through the six month offer and young person's guarantee.
We will also continue to support the delivery of statutory entitlements that give adults the opportunity to gain the basic skills for employability including literacy and numeracy skills.
Treasury
Banks: Finance
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether (a) UK Financial Investments and (b) HM Treasury is undertaking currency cover in respect of the £170 billion of foreign currency loans covered by its underwriting for Royal Bank of Scotland. [307151]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: United Kingdom Financial Investments does not have the remit to undertake currency cover in respect of foreign currency loans.
The Treasury does not normally buy insurance against risk.
Civil Service: Location
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on compensatory steps to reduce the economic effects of transferring further Civil Service posts away from Croydon. [304986]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 9 December 2009]: The Government's existing property strategy requires all new acquisitions, lease renewals and break clauses to seek my approval to stay in London and the south-east. This ensures that in reaching a decision, I can assess the implications of the case for remaining in London and the south-east or for relocating to another part of the country.
Where necessary Treasury Ministers will discuss relocation issues with ministerial colleagues.
Climate Change Levy: Agriculture
Mr. Paice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the expenditure on energy efficiency measures by the (a) horticulture, (b) pig and (c) poultry industry which was funded by receipts under the Climate Change Levy to the Carbon Trust. [307501]
Joan Ruddock: I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend has made no such estimate. However, the Carbon Trust (CT) offers energy efficiency advice and surveys in respect of all agricultural sectors including horticulture, and the pig and poultry industries, and publishes a wide range of advice on their website with self help guidance and fact sheets including specific sections for:
Poultry meat
Pigs
Protected horticulture
In 2007-08 CT also funded the Grow Save programme-run by the Horticultural Development Board-which helps growers reduce the energy consumption of greenhouses.
These activities were funded by Carbon Trust's core government grant as well as other sources of income
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