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11 Jan 2010 : Column 734W—continued
Schools: Repairs and Maintenance
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many schools have been refurbished through the Primary Capital Programme; how many of them were found to have asbestos in the course of the refurbishment; and how many had that asbestos removed; [309983]
(2) how much has been spent on refurbishing schools through the Primary Capital Programme; how much has been spent dealing with asbestos during such refurbishments; and if he will make a statement. [309984]
Mr. Coaker: The Primary Capital Programme was rolled out to all local authorities from April 2009, supported by funding allocations of £755 million in 2009-10 and £893 million in 2010-11. In 2008-09, 23 regional "pathfinder" authorities received funding of £149 million and 32 exemplar projects-20 new build and 12 refurbishment-have already been completed. The programme commits to renewing at least half of all primary schools by 2022-23, and national output assumptions are that 5 per cent. of schools in the worst condition will be rebuilt or taken out of commission and 45 per cent. refurbished.
Responsibility for prioritisation and procurement of specific projects rests with individual local authorities and information on those that involve asbestos removal will not be held centrally. Information on spend is not yet available and the Department does not collect data on spend in relation to the removal of asbestos.
Teachers: Training
Michael Gove:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many entrants there were to (a) primary school and (b) secondary
school teaching through (i) the Graduate Teacher Programme, (ii) a Postgraduate Certificate of Education, (iii) TeachFirst and (iv) a Bachelor of Education degree in the last year for which figures are available. [307327]
Mr. Coaker: The available information is given in the table and shows the number of trainees gaining qualified teacher status (QTS) by the requested routes and phase of training.
Numbers of undergraduate QTS completers are not held separately for BEds, BAs or BScs with QTS.
| Teachers gaining QTS by route and phase of training, 2007/08, England | |||
| ITT course type | |||
| Primary | Secondary | Total | |
| Notes: 1. Excludes cases where QTS was granted primarily as a result of assessment-based training. 2. Figures for secondary also include those for key stage 2-3. 3. Other routes to QTS not presented here include: Overseas Trained Teacher programme; and the Registered Teacher programme. 4. The recruitment figures for Teach First are starters at the Teach First summer institute. This is the most comparable indicator to 'entrants' via other initial teacher training routes. Teach First is mainly secondary but there is a pilot of 30 primary places spread across 2008/09 and 2009/10. 5. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: TDA's Performance Profiles. | |||
Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what methodology will be used to determine the cost to local authorities which do not reduce their emissions below their baseline of the purchase of carbon allowances under the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC); and what he expects the average expenditure of a local authority on such allowances to be in the first year of the implementation of the CRC. [308698]
Joan Ruddock: Any costs (or financial benefits) attributed to local authorities or other CRC participants will be based on a participant's relative placing in the CRC league table. The expenditure of a local authority or other CRC participant on the purchase of carbon allowances cannot be forecast as it will depend on a range of factors including participants' planned energy efficiency improvements and their approach to risk management.
Climate Change: International Cooperation
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effects of the outcomes of the Copenhagen climate change conference on his Department's policies. [309315]
Joan Ruddock: I refer the hon. Member to the oral statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 5 January 2010, Official Report, column 42, for the Government's assessment of the Copenhagen conference.
At home, the UK's Low Carbon Transition Plan provides a long-term vision to make the UK a low carbon economy while maximising economic opportunities, maintaining secure energy supplies and protecting the most vulnerable in society. No changes are envisaged following the immediate outcomes of the Copenhagen conference.
Departmental Conferences
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was spent by his Department on conferences it organised which were subsequently cancelled in each of the last three years; and what the title was of each such conference. [308825]
Joan Ruddock: For the duration of DECC's existence (approximately one year) there has been nil spend on conferences cancelled.
Departmental Information and Communications Technology
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 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. [307567]
Joan Ruddock: The Department's chief information officer is in Senior Civil Service Pay Band 1. The post is currently filled by a permanent civil servant on loan to DECC. The CIO's delegated budget for 2009-10 is £10.961 million.
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many day's sickness absence have been taken by staff in his Department in each month of 2009-10; and at what cost. [308573]
Joan Ruddock: The Department encourages a culture where good attendance is expected and valued. However, it recognises from time to time absences for medical reasons may be unavoidable. The Department aims to treat its staff who are ill with sympathy and fairness and where possible provide them with support which will enable them to recover their health and return to work.
The number of days of sickness absence taken by staff in DECC in each of the last 12 months could be calculated only by incurring disproportionate cost. However, the total number of working days lost due to sickness in the year to 30 September 2009 (the latest available figure) is 2,521, an average of 2.6 days per employee.
The Department does not routinely calculate the number of staff who have received sick pay. As this would involve manually investigating employee sickness records and pay details on an individual basis, the cost of doing this would be disproportionate to the benefit to be derived.
Departmental Training
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many sessions of media training were organised for Ministers in his Department in each of the last three years. [309911]
Joan Ruddock: Ministers have not received any media training since the creation of the Department in October 2008.
Energy: Housing
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his most recent estimate is of the unit cost of (a) subsidising and (b) funding the provision of (i) energy-efficient light bulbs and (ii) insulation for a home. [308700]
Joan Ruddock: The main route by which insulation and energy efficient light bulbs are promoted to households is through the Carbon Emission Reduction Target. This is an obligation on energy suppliers to meet household carbon emission saving targets. The suppliers' unit cost of purchase and the level of subsidy they employ is commercial in confidence. The Government estimate that the total unit cost of compact fluorescent lights (including administrative costs) is around £1.41, and for cavity wall insulation is around £455. There are a number of variables which impact the estimates for the level of subsidy suppliers employ, including whether the household is a priority group or non priority group customer and whether it is in social housing. For example, for cavity wall insulation in non social housing, the estimate for energy supplier subsidy is on average just under 100 per cent. for priority group households and just over 50 per cent. for non priority group households.
Hotels
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many hotel room nights were booked by officials in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each year since its inception; and how much (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies spent on the fees of third party agents in booking hotel accommodation in each of those years. [309053]
Joan Ruddock: Since its inception on 3 October 2008 and from information held centrally, the number of hotel room nights booked by officials in my Department by November 2009 totalled 1,006. Additionally some officials booked accommodation using their Government procurement cards (GPCs) and to provide details of each transaction would entail disproportionate cost.
Hotel accommodation is provided through a cross-Government hotel booking agent contract awarded by Buying Solutions. Records of fees paid are not centrally recorded and to provide this information would entail disproportionate cost.
Natural Environment Research Council: University of East Anglia
Mr. Djanogly:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much the Natural Environment Research Council has provided in grants,
subsidies or awards to the University of East Anglia in each financial year since 1998; and how much was assigned to the University's Climatic Research Unit in each such year. [310258]
Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
The following table shows the total value of awards made by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to the university of East Anglia (UEA) in each year from 1998 to 2009. It also includes the value of any of these awards categorised as climate or climate-related. Figures for awards specifically to the Climatic Research Unit are not available. NERC believes, however, that grants made to Climatic Research Unit researchers comprise a minor fraction of the climate and climate-related investment at UEA shown in the table.
| £ | ||
| Value of awards | Climate or climate-related | |
Tidal Power
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of Seagen's tidal stream project technology located in Strangford Lough and its possible application in other waters of the United Kingdom, with particular reference to the River Thames; and if he will make a statement. [309662]
Mr. Kidney: Funding bodies such as Technology Strategy Board and Carbon Trust who have provided funding to the Seagen project have made assessments of the technology, which is the most advanced tidal stream technology.
It is for developers to determine where the most suitable locations are to deploy their devices. The UK tidal stream resource has been mapped by a project team led by APB Marine Environmental Research and this can be viewed at
Defence
Equipment and Vehicles: Afghanistan
16. Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether new equipment and vehicles being introduced for use in Afghanistan are available for pre-deployment training. [309580]
Mr. Quentin Davies: There is always a difficult balance to strike when we provide new equipment and vehicles for operations in Afghanistan. We want to allow our deployed forces to take advantage of the latest equipment as soon as possible. On the other hand, they must be thoroughly trained on the equipment they use before they face the enemy.
We endeavour to deploy complete equipment capability, which is a combination of trained manpower and sustainable equipment. To do this, often the first delivery of a new item of equipment is required for training to ensure the best effect is achieved from the new capability once deployed. That said, there can be occasions, particularly with less complex equipments, when it makes sense to strike a different balance and train in theatre.
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