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18 Jan 2010 : Column 178Wcontinued
Regional or cross regional projects-one application granted | ||||||||
Funding band | ||||||||
Areas covered | Number of successful projects to work in this area( 1) | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
National projects-one application granted | ||||||||
Funding band | ||||||||
Areas covered | Number of successful projects to work in this area( 1) | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
(1) Total is a higher figure than the number of total bids as some bids aimed to work in more than one LA area. |
Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of (a) establishing and (b) administering in each of the next three years the Community Learning Champions Support Programme Development Fund. [309489]
Kevin Brennan: Organisations and consortia were invited to tender to set up and manage the Community Learning Champions Support programme in July 2010. A budget of up to £3 million was made available to the successful contractor to deliver the commitments outlined in "The Learning Revolution" White Paper. Clear emphasis was placed on the need to provide excellent value for money in order to maximise spending on the support programme and the sharing of resources with local champion schemes.
Funding is available for two years only and comprises £1.7 million for 2009/10 and £1.3 million for 2010/11. All administrative costs are to be met from this budget. The proposal for a development fund was a feature of the successful tender which, along with the contractor's management and administration costs, is covered by a contract with the Department and as such is subject to commercial confidence.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on negotiations at EU level on the extension of copyright term limits. [310448]
Mr. Lammy: The Government have made clear their support for an appropriate extension to the term of protection for sound recordings and performer's rights in sound recordings. Any extension should more closely match the expected lifetime of performers and should also be accompanied by a package of measures that deliver real and lasting benefits to all performers and musicians. We believe that the current proposal of the European Parliament for an extension of term from 50 to 70 years, together with a number of permanent measures designed to assist performers and musicians, will deliver this.
The text proposed by the European Parliament is still before the Council and I expect discussions to continue under the new Commission when it is appointed. The UK will continue to work to deliver a satisfactory outcome.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many (a) animation and (b) design students have graduated with an honours degree from a university in England in each year since 1997; [310612]
(2) how many (a) art, (b) mathematics, (c) video games, (d) computer science and (e) IT students have graduated with an honours degree from a university in England in each year since 1997. [310613]
Mr. Lammy: The latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) are shown in the table. Comparable figures prior to 2002/03 are not available due to changes in the coding of subject of study. Figures for the 2009/10 academic year will be available in January 2011.
The level of detail of individual subjects is not consistently recorded by institutions. Subject of study is only required
at the subject line level (i.e. Computer Science), though some institutions choose to record subjects at a lower level (i.e. Multimedia Computer Science). As such, the figures may undercount the numbers studying "Multimedia Computer Science", as some institutions may have chosen
to code as "Computer Science". The same applied for "Animation Techniques", as some institutions may have chosen to record the subject line level of "Cinematics and Photography".
First degree qualifiers by subject of study English higher education institutions academic years 2002/03 to 2008/09 | ||||||
Academic year | Animation Techniques | Design Studies | Fine Art | Mathematics | Computer Science | of which: Multimedia Computing Science |
Note: Figures are based on a qualifications obtained population and have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). |
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 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. [307573]
Mr. McFadden: The Department's CIO is employed on pay band SCS PBl, on a permanent contract. The size of the budget for which the CIO is responsible is £29 million (period 2009-10). The budget incorporates all ICT and Information Strategy and Services activities.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the effects of EU Food Supplement Directive (2002/46/EC) in setting maximum levels of vitamins and minerals on (a) small vitamin and food supplement producers, (b) consumer choice, (c) the availability of products from unregulated vitamin suppliers from countries outside the EU and (d) sales of vitamin and food supplements in the UK; and what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on this matter. [310450]
Kevin Brennan: The Department has been actively engaged in the ongoing development of a full impact assessment by the Food Standards Agency who lead on this issue for Government; we have not, however, conducted an additional assessment of our own. The Food Standards Agency impact assessment addresses the effect of these proposals on all stakeholders, including small vitamin and supplement producers, UK sales of supplements, availability of unregulated supplies and ongoing consumer choice.
The assessment has been informed by recent constructive meetings between industry, the Food Standards Agency and BIS officials as well as the recent impact assessment carried out by industry representatives following discussions with Food Standards Agency, DEFRA and BIS.
Although I have not had recent discussions with European counterparts on this matter, BIS officials continue to work closely with the Food Standards Agency to develop the UK negotiating position and feed into Commission proposals.
Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students enrolled on a foundation degree course in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [311119]
Mr. Lammy: The latest available information from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is provided in the following table.
The numbers of students enrolled on foundation degrees at English higher education institutions (HEIs) and English further education colleges (FECs) are provided for each of the last five years.
Foundation degree enrolments( 1) : English HEIs and FECs academic years 2003/04 to 2007/08 | |
Academic year | Enrolments |
(1) Covers enrolments of all domiciles to full-time and part-time courses. (2) Figures for 2007/08 are provisional. Note: Figures in the table have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: HEFCE report 2008/16 |
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Office of Fair Trading on changes in the cost of foam supplied to furniture manufacturers over the last 12 months. [308838]
Kevin Brennan: I have had no discussions with the Office of Fair Trading on this matter.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills under what headings the Further Education Development, Capacity and Quality budget for 2010-11 will be spent; and if he will make a statement. [309505]
Kevin Brennan: The Skills Investment Strategy, setting out investment in Further Education (FE) and Skills for 2010-11, was published in November 2009. £3.5 billion, an increase of 3 per cent. on 2009-10, will be routed through the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) to support training places.
In addition, the SFA will invest £241 million in FE development, capacity and quality in 2010-11. Detailed allocations of this resource will be made by the SFA in due course. This funding supports a wide range of initiatives aimed at promoting the effectiveness and quality of FE, including, for example, information, advice and guidance services for adult learners. The final allocations of this resource will continue to support Government priorities, as set out in the Skills Investment Strategy.
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment has been made of the likely effect of a reduction in the length of undergraduate courses to two years on the global ranking of English universities. [310627]
Mr. Lammy: Two year honours degrees are but one example of the increased flexibility we believe is important for the future development of higher education, as set out in our recent strategy document "Higher Ambitions". They are targeted at a specific sector of the student population. Students cover the full content of an honours degree in two calendar years, by working through university vacations. An interim evaluation of pilot projects currently in train in eight institutions was published by the Higher Education Academy in August 2009. It confirmed that the quality of curricula, the student learning experience and the standard of student work were at least comparable with traditional three year degrees and in some cases higher.
Michael Gove: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much Higher Education Funding Council for England recurrent spending on widening participation is planned for 2010/11. [309858]
Mr. Lammy: Provisional recurrent grant allocations, including the element for widening participation for the next academic year 2010/11 will be made by the funding council in the usual way in March.
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