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5 Jan 2010 : Column 248W—continued
Fishburn Hedges currently works on two specific projects for the Learning and Skills Council and that this is contracted via the Central Office of Information (COI) on:
Skills for Life: Get On. The campaign is designed to promote the importance of improving literacy and numeracy skills to adults.
Skills for employers: incorporating Train to Gain/Skills Pledge/National Skills Academy/Training Quality Standard: The campaign is designed to promote the skills offer to employers in a clear and concise manner:
Fishburn Hedges is not contracted to work directly for the Learning and Skills Council and any procured projects are managed through COI.
Fishburn Hedges has worked on Skills for Life: Get On, for the Learning and Skills Council via COI, since April 2008.
Fishburn Hedges has worked on the employer campaign for the Learning and Skills Council via COI, since July 2009.
The costs paid by the LSC via COI to Fishburn Hedges are as follows:
Skills for Life: April 2008 to March 2009-£378,583 ex VAT
Skills for Life: April 2009 to date-£151,086 ex VAT
Employers: July 2009 to date-£124,968 ex VAT
Weber Shandwick Public Affairs, in the past 3 years, has worked on one specific project for the Learning and Skills Council.
The LSC engaged Weber Shandwick Public Affairs to provide information to and on public affairs and media arenas in relation to the education and skills sector for the LSC's public affairs team. Weber Shandwick did not speak on behalf of the LSC or represent the organisation at events. Their contract concluded in April 2008 and the LSC no longer retains an agency for this purpose.
The total amount paid by the LSC to Weber Shandwick for the last 3 years was £44,255 ex VAT.
Weber Shandwick public relations team (i.e. not the Public Affairs team) was also appointed by the Learning and Skills Council via COI between February and November 2009 to secure the engagement of large employers in the direct delivery of Apprenticeships, Skills for Life and Train to Gain to meet targets set.
The total amount paid by the LSC via COI was £195,200 ex VAT.
Local Government
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has made an assessment of the merits of extending the Joint Statement on Access to Skills, Advice and Trade Unions to include local government. [306732]
Angela E. Smith: I have been asked to reply.
The Joint Statement on Access to Skills, Trade Unions and Advice in Government Contracting was launched out across the central Government Departments and executive agencies in July 2008.
It has always been the Government's aspiration to extend the Joint Statement to other parts of the public services, following evaluation of the impact in central Government and subject to further discussion on the detail of any possible implementation.
A six-month review was recently completed by the Joint Statement Review Steering Group and is available on the Cabinet Office website at
The review recorded good progress in implementation and signalled the steering group's support for local government to develop the principles of the Joint Statement in that sector. Local Government Employers have since expressed their support for further extension and are progressing the early stages of implementation through a series of discussion within the sector.
Office of Fair Trading: Internet
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what redesigns of websites operated by the Office of Fair Trading 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. [306213]
Mr. McFadden: The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is currently undertaking a redesign and restructure of its website. Research conducted on its primary target audience including businesses, corporate lawyers and local authority trading standards services, found that the current structure of the OFT website is not meeting their requirements. The project costs so far have been £28,000 for qualitative research, with a further £86,000 committed to conduct user journey testing and design development work. The project is due for completion by the end of March 2010.
A project is also under way on the Consumer Direct website (which is run by the OFT) which will enhance the functionality of the site and guide consumers more easily to the information they need by the provision of video help guides. The cost of the research so far has been £20,000 and the total projected project cost is £70,000. The project is due for completion by the end of March 2010.
Royal Mail: Disciplinary Proceedings
Lynne Featherstone:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many postal workers were disciplined for failing to attempt to deliver parcels and delivering 'sorry you
were out' slips instead in each of the last three years; what discussions he has had with representatives of Royal Mail on the matter; and if he will make a statement. [308781]
Mr. McFadden: Disciplining of its staff by Royal Mail for any operational failings is a matter for the company's management. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, to provide the hon. Lady with a reply to her question.
A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Trade Agreements: Colombia
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations he has received on the negotiation of a free trade agreement between the EU and Colombia. [308969]
Ian Lucas: In recent months, this Department has received representations from industry, NGOs, unions, Members of the UK and European Parliaments, and members of the public on the EU-Andean nations multi-party free trade agreement negotiations. These representations have covered market access issues and the human rights situation in Colombia.
Colleagues in other Departments have been receiving similar representations.
UK Trade and Investment: Training
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) away days and (b) conferences that took place outside UK Trade and Investment's (UKTI) buildings attended by civil servants in UKTI there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each. [307446]
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.
While UKTI holds aggregate figures relating to staff training, it does not hold records centrally on the number or cost of (a) away days, or (b) conferences that took place outside UKTI's buildings that were attended by civil servants.
To provide this information would require obtaining details from each location and therefore can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Unemployment: Kent
Damian Green: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of 16 to 24 year olds were not in education, employment or training in (a) Ashford constituency and (b) Kent in each of the last eight quarters. [304925]
Kevin Brennan: The Labour Force Survey sample is not large enough to provide quarterly estimates for small geographies such as local authority areas. We are able to give annual estimates for Kent from the Annual Population Survey, which has a larger sample, but this is not large enough to produce estimates at constituency level.
The following table gives the number and proportion of people aged(1) 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training in Kent from 2000 to 2008.
Please note that these estimates are subject to large sampling variability and should therefore be treated with caution and viewed in conjunction with their Confidence Interval(2) (CIs), which indicate how accurate an estimate is. For example, a CI of+/- 4.2 percentage points (pp) means that the true value is between 4.2pp above the estimate and 4.2pp below the estimate.
(1) Age used is the respondents academic age, which is defined as their age at the preceding 31 August.
(2) Those given are 95 per cent. confidence intervals.
| People aged 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training in Kent | |||
| 16 to 24-year-olds NEET | |||
| Number | Percentage | Confidence intervals around percentages | |
| Base: 16 to 24-year-olds in Kent. Note: The ALALFS covers the period from March of the given year, to the following February. Source: 2000 to 2003 Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey (ALALFS), 2004 to 2008 Annual population Survey. | |||
Wales
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent in Wales in each financial year since 1997. [306632]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 14 December 2009]: Country and regional analysis spending data for all Government Departments is available in the PESA CRA table on the HM Treasury website covering financial years 2003-04 to 2010-11. The latest data were collected prior to the announcement of the creation of BIS and so figures are currently presented against BERR and DIUS. Figures for BIS will be published in spring 2010 and earlier editions cover previous years and preceding Departments.
Yorkshire Forward and One North East: Public Appointments
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what provision is made in the proposed contracts of the new Chairman of (a) Yorkshire Forward and (b) One North East for circumstances where the body ceases to exist before the end of the contract. [305123]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The terms and conditions of all RDA board members including chairs states that:
"should the Agency be dissolved, restructured or wound up during the period of appointment, the appointment would also cease with effect from that dissolution or such other date as is specified in any relevant legislation."
This clause will also be included in the contracts for the new chairs of Yorkshire Forward and One North East.
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 5 January 2010
International Development
Departmental Air Travel
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's policy is on the accumulation and use of air miles by his Department's personnel flying at public expense. [308486]
Mr. Michael Foster: Staff employed by the Department for International Development (DFID) are not permitted to use air miles for their personal benefit. Any breach of these rules may result in dismissal.
Air miles accumulated in the course of an employee's business, may however be used to fund official travel.
Departmental Information and Communications Technology
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what pay band his Department's Chief Information Officer (CIO) is employed; whether the CIO is employed on a fixed-term or permanent contract; and what the size is of the budget for which the CIO is responsible in the period 2009-10. [307562]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The role of the chief information officer (CIO) in the Department for International Development (DFID) is discharged by the director of business solutions division. The current post holder is employed on a permanent contract in the senior civil service pay band 2. The director of business solutions is responsible for an administration budget of £24.9 million in 2009-10.
Departmental Pay
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses were paid to officials in his Department in each of the last three years; and how much was paid in such bonuses in each such year. [307107]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer of 16 December 2009, Official Report, column 1341W, on departmental pay.
Departmental Training
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) away days and (b) conferences that took place outside his Department's building attended by civil servants in his Department there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each. [307515]
Mr. Michael Foster: This information cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
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