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6 Jan 2010 : Column 393W—continued
Telephone Tapping
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his predecessor had discussions with the Metropolitan Police in 2006 regarding its inquiry into the illegal telephone tapping of her mobile telephone on behalf of media organisations. [307872]
Mr. Bradshaw: My predecessor was contacted by the Metropolitan police on two occasions in 2006 when she was informed that they had evidence that led them to believe that her voicemail had been systematically intercepted in May 2006.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Broadband
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of households in the United Kingdom have access to broadband internet. [309090]
Mr. Timms: According to Ofcom's Communications Market Report published in August 2009, over 99 per cent. of households are connected to a broadband enabled exchange and 65 per cent. of households in the UK subscribe to a fixed broadband connection.
Not all households connected to a broadband exchange can in practice access a broadband service. The Digital Britain report estimated that 89 per cent. of UK households can access a broadband service at 2mbps or above.
Broadband: Herefordshire
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answers of 30 November 2009, Official Report, column 554W, on broadband: Herefordshire, and pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2009, Official Report, column 831W, on broadband, what his estimate is of the percentage of (a) residential and (b) business properties which have access to at least two megabits per second of broadband service in Herefordshire; and if he will make a statement. [307285]
Mr. Timms: No such estimate has been made.
Broadband: Kent
Damian Green: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of households in (a) Ashford constituency and (b) Kent have broadband connections at speeds of (i) 2 Mbps or less and (ii) more than 2 Mbps. [304863]
Mr. Timms: This Department does not hold this information.
Business: Billing
Jenny Willott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses have signed up to the Prompt Payment Code in each month since it was introduced; and if he will make a statement. [307821]
Ian Lucas: The following table is taken from data produced by the Institute of Credit Management (ICM). It shows the number of businesses that have signed up since the code was introduced and it is based on the date when the business applied to join.
A full list of all signatories is provided on the ICM website and can be viewed via the following link:
| Month | Number of business applying to join code |
Business: Chesterfield
Paul Holmes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) small, (b) medium-sized and (c) large businesses in (i) Chesterfield constituency and (ii) Derbyshire have received funding under the Regional Loans Transition Fund Scheme. [308996]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In Derbyshire 10 businesses have received funding from the Regional Loans Transition Fund Scheme. Of these, two are within the Chesterfield constituency. All of these are small and medium sized businesses-it is not possible however to split the numbers between these categories.
Business: Credit
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations he has received on the level of access to credit for small businesses; and if he will make a statement. [305196]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department receives regular representations from banks, businesses, representative bodies and members of the public on financial issues relating to small businesses, including access to credit.
The Department remains committed to ensuring viable businesses secure financial support as is required, and continues to work closely with the banks and business representative bodies through the Small Business Finance Forum. The Forum fosters stronger working relationships and effective communication between all parties, and is informed by the monthly SME bank lending data submitted to BIS by the four main SME lenders.
Business: Government Assistance
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress has been made in providing venture capital support to small businesses. [307369]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Since 2000 national Government have committed £400 million to a range of venture capital funds that have attracted a further £551 million of public sector investment. In 2006 Government established Capital for Enterprise Ltd. as an arm's length body to manage these funds and that body now has more than £951 million under management. These funds have invested in nearly 600 businesses.
The enterprise capital funds are Government's current main equity programme which continue to invest in early stage technology-orientated SMEs, together with the Aspire fund for female entrepreneurs and the capital for enterprise fund-part of the Real Help package. In addition Government are progressing delivery arrangements for the UK innovation investment fund, announced in
June this year-as a fund of funds which will invest in underlying technology based funds including those in the healthcare and low carbon sectors. The Government have committed £150 million to this fund leveraging £175 million from the private sector so far, creating a funding pool initially worth £325 million.
The Government's 2009 pre-Budget report announced our intention to establish a new growth capital fund, for SMEs seeking growth capital between £2 million and £10 million and plans are progressing to design and deliver that fund.
These funds are complemented by a range of regional funds operated by the regional development agencies (RDAs). RDAs are currently agreeing plans, totalling around £500 million for further regional fund delivery drawing in EU structural funds from the European regional development fund and additional private sector contributions from Europe.
Business: West Midlands
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average size was of grants made under the Enterprise Guarantee Scheme to small and medium-sized enterprises in the West Midlands in the latest period for which figures are available. [307315]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 16 December 2009]: The Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme (EFGS) provides the lender with a guarantee of 75 per cent. of the loan to viable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the margins of commercial lending. The scheme was launched in January and, by 9 December, loans worth a total of £64.41 million had been made to 643 businesses in the West Midlands. This represents an average value of £100,171. The Chancellor announced in the pre-Budget report that the scheme would be extended for a further 12 months to 31 March 2011 supporting up to £500 million of further bank loans to businesses across the country. The scheme has been welcomed by business and will play a vital role in encouraging enterprise and investment and driving productivity and growth throughout the UK economy.
Capital for Enterprise
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) headcount and (b) employment cost was of Capital for Enterprise Limited in the last 12 months. [308401]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The headcount and total employment costs for Capital for Enterprise Ltd. for the 12 months ending 30 November 2009 are listed as follows:
| £ | ||
| Staff | NEDs | |
| Staff | NEDs | |
| (1) Salary cost includes bonus payments (2) Based on staff numbers between 10-17 | ||
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been paid in bonuses to staff at Capital for Enterprise Ltd. since April 2008. [308403]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Capital for Enterprise Ltd. commenced on 1 April 2008 and established a system whereby work objectives are set and bonuses earned according to performance against those objectives. Approval of bonus payments rests with the remuneration committee. Staff have been paid bonuses of £34,412 under this arrangement.
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what financial performance objectives have been set for the (a) Capital for Enterprise Fund and (b) UK Innovation Investment Fund. [308404]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The capital for enterprise fund financial performance objective is to make commercial returns commensurate with the instruments used and the risk of the underlying investments. A performance incentive has been created for the manager of the capital for enterprise fund which entitles it to a share of profits once the investors have received a return equivalent to 8 per cent. per annum on their investment in the fund (8 per cent. internal rate of return). This is in line with normal commercial practices
The UK innovation investment fund is a fund of funds. The target financial return is the average of the performance of the top quartile funds available for investment in the relevant vintage years (2010 and 2011), less the fund-of-funds fees. This measure will provide a target for the funds-of-funds to select and manage funds which have the clear potential to be among the top 25 per cent. of funds in their peer group.
Defence and Security Organisation
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the role of the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation is in promoting arms sales; and if he will make a statement. [309359]
Ian Lucas: UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) was created in UKTI in April 2008 when the lead for supporting UK industry manufacturing defence goods for export was transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
UKTI DSO delivers the essential government-to-government dimension in sales providing assistance to defence and security companies based in the UK to promote UK equipment, products and services overseas in a responsible and transparent manner, to help companies succeed.
The defence and security sectors are important elements of the UK economy, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and contributing billions of pounds annually in
exports. UK was the second most successful defence global exporter in 2008 and is recognised as a world leader in the security field.
Departmental Research
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what research his Department has (a) evaluated and (b) conducted on barriers to women and those from ethnic minorities establishing businesses. [307228]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Household Survey of Entrepreneurship was conducted by the Department bi-annually between 2001 and 2007. This survey included analysis of barriers to starting a business for women and ethnic minorities.
The Annual Small Business Survey has been used to systematically acquire data on obstacles to success reported by women-led and ethnic minority-led businesses since 2003.
A number of studies focusing on specific issues have also been conducted. These include:
The Government's response to the Ethnic Minority Business Task Force (2009).
The Government's response to the Women's Enterprise Task Force (2009).
Assessing the effectiveness of different forms of support for women's enterprise: the regional women's enterprise initiatives (2008).
Exploring gender differentials in access to business finance: an econometric analysis of survey data (2007).
Finance for small and medium-sized enterprises: comparisons of ethnic minority and white owned businesses (2006).
Women's business ownership: recent research and policy developments (2006).
Sharing the vision: a collaborative approach to increasing female entrepreneurship (2003).
Engaging black and minority ethnic entrepreneurs in business support (2003).
Further details of these and other relevant studies are available on the Publications page of the BIS website:
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