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19 Jan 2010 : Column 298W—continued
Business, Innovation and Skills
Apprentices: Essex
Mr. Burns: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many small and medium-sized businesses in (a) West Chelmsford constituency, (b) Chelmsford local authority area and (c) Essex are employing apprentices. [311012]
Kevin Brennan: Record numbers of people are taking up and achieving an apprenticeship. Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship starts in West Chelmsford constituency, Maldon and East Chelmsford constituency, and Essex local authority. Chelmsford local authority district area is made up of West Chelmsford and Maldon and East Chelmsford parliamentary constituencies and part of Rayleigh constituency.
| Table 1: Apprenticeship starts | ||||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| Notes: 1. Constituency volumes are rounded to the nearest ten local authority figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. Parliamentary constituency and local authority are based upon the home postcode of the learner. Where the postcode is outside of England, learners are included in the 'Other' category. Where postcode is not known this is also included in the 'Other' category. 3. Chelmsford local authority district area is made up of West Chelmsford and Maldon and East Chelmsford parliamentary constituencies and part of Rayleigh parliamentary constituency. Source: WBL/ERILR | ||||||
Information is not currently available on the size of the employer for apprentices. For the 2009-10 academic year, this information will become available on the ILR when a unique employer identifier will have to be provided by all employers of apprentices.
We can provide an estimate of the size of employers, nationally, that offer and have recruited apprentices from the National Employer Skills survey (NESS). These data are based on repeated surveys of around 79,000 employers across all business sectors in England. Table 2 shows information from the published 2007 National Employer Skills survey(1) on the number of organisations that had any staff undertaking an apprenticeship in the 12 months prior to interview, by size of employer.
(1) http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/National/nat-nessurvey2007 mainreport-may08.pdf
accessed on 14 January 2010.
Aviation: Bahrain
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the participation of an RAF Typhoon fighter aircraft in an aerial display at the Bahrain International Airshow. [311456]
Ian Lucas: There are no plans for an RAF Typhoon to display at the Bahrain International Airshow owing to extensive demands currently placed on the Typhoon force as it is brought into full service with the RAF. Typhoon was on display in the region at the Dubai Air Show in November 2009.
UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation are participating in the event with a corporate chalet and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Pavilion, showcasing Britain's world-leading unmanned systems technology.
Building Regulations
John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many competent person schemes his Department manages; and which of these are registered with the UK Accreditation Service. [311418]
Mr. Ian Austin: I have been asked to reply.
There are currently 12 competent person scheme operators authorised under the Building Regulations 2000. Some are authorised for more than one type of work.
United Kingdom Accreditation Service accreditation has not been a requirement for competent person scheme operators but the Department is currently consulting on a proposal to require such accreditation in future.
Companies: Shareholders
Mr. Cash: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what legislative provisions require (a) the convening of annual meetings by publicly-funded companies requiring the participation of ordinary shareholders and (b) the establishment of shareholder committees. [311268]
Ian Lucas: The requirement for public and traded companies to hold annual general meetings is in Section 336 of the Companies Act 2006. There are no separate provisions in companies legislation governing the convening of annual general meetings in publicly-funded companies. Companies legislation does not require the establishment of shareholder committees; this is a matter for companies and their shareholders to decide.
Mr. Cash: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the extent of voting rights of shareholders in companies publicly operated in the UK; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which (a) banks and (b) stockbrokers have taken up powers in respect of nominee shareholders contained in the Companies Act 2006. [311269]
Ian Lucas: Shareholder rights in UK companies were considered as part of the Company Law Review and the implementation of the EU Shareholder Rights Directive. An assessment of the provisions of Part 9 of the Companies Act 2006, which deals with the exercise of shareholders' rights through nominees, will be made as part of the post-implementation evaluation of the Companies Act 2006.
Departmental Billing
John Mason: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of invoices from suppliers his Department paid within 10 days of receipt in December 2009. [311255]
Mr. McFadden: In December 2009 the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills paid 95.8 per cent. of invoices within 10 days.
Departmental Buildings
Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) area and (b) estimated value is of (i) vacant and (ii) occupied office space (A) owned and (B) rented by his Department. [310536]
Mr. McFadden: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not own any of its office space. It is all leasehold.
The area of vacant office space on the BIS Core Estate is 800 square metres with a current passing rent of £88,000.
The area of occupied office space on the BIS Estate is 82,908 square metres with a current passing rent of £17,450,047, including VAT where applicable.
Departmental Domestic Visits
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many planned visits by Ministers in his Department within the UK were cancelled within 72 hours of the visit taking place in the last 12 months; and what the planned venue or venues were for each such visit. [309870]
Mr. McFadden: Ministers' Private Offices do not retain this degree of detail and the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost but other Ministers and I are very conscious of the disruption cancelling visits at short notice causes and therefore seek to avoid doing so, and usually only do so in order to fulfil parliamentary business.
Departmental Food
Mr. Paice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the quantity of food waste generated by his Department in each year for which figures are available. [310802]
Mr. McFadden: During the period 1 January to 31 December 2009, the quantity of food waste generated on the BIS Estate amounted to 6.6 tonnes. This information is recorded by our contracted catering supplier.
All food waste is collected and then used for the generation of renewable energy which is fed back into the national grid.
Departmental Internet
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department spent on maintaining its Twitter feed in the most recent period for which figures are available. [310831]
Mr. McFadden: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Windsor (Adam Afriyie) on 9 November 2009, Official Report, column 164W.
East of England Development Agency: Pay
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) pay, (b) pension and (c) contract term of the Chair of the East of England Development Agency will be with effect from 1 April 2010. [311929]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The EEDA Chair from 1 April 2010 will receive (a) remuneration of £81,718 for three days per week, (b) the option of receiving a pension under the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme by analogy and (c) a contract term starting from 1 April 2010 to 13 December 2012.
Minimum Wage
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many individuals' wages increased as a direct result of the most recent uprating of the national minimum wage. [310475]
Mr. McFadden: The latest estimates for the number of beneficiaries of the most recent uprating of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) are available from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). Using this data, BIS estimate that 980,000 job holders stood to benefit as a result of the most recent uprating of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in October 2009.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to ensure all workers receive wages at a rate at least equivalent to the national minimum wage. [310833]
Mr. McFadden: The Government are committed to ensuring that those who are entitled to the national minimum wage (NMW) receive it. We have introduced a new, stronger, enforcement regime to deter non-compliance and since April 2009 HMRC have helped around 14,000 workers recoup over £3.5 million of wage arrears. We are also working to increase wider awareness of the NMW for workers and employers through publicity and guidance on the Business Link website.
The NMW is a key part of the Government's vulnerable worker strategy. Last year, the Government launched a £6 million, three-year information campaign to make sure that vulnerable workers are aware of their rights
and of how to report abuses. As part of this, the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (0800 917 2368) simplifies and streamlines access to the workplace enforcement bodies, making it easier for vulnerable workers to report bad treatment at work.
Further details can be found in the Government's 2009 non-economic evidence to the Low Pay Commission at
Minimum Wage: Preston
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many of those resident in Preston have been paid at the national minimum wage rate since its introduction. [311074]
Mr. McFadden: Data for earnings are not available at the constituency level because of small sample sizes at this level in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).
At the Government Office for the English Regions level, the lowest available, DTI previously estimated that the number of jobholders that stood to benefit from the April 1999 introduction of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in the North West region was 140,000. In 2009 the corresponding BIS estimate for the number of jobholders affected by the uprating of the NMW in the North West region was 134,000.
Minimum Wage: South West
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of people in the South West who have been paid at the rate of the uprated minimum wage in the last 10 years. [310985]
Mr. McFadden: Estimates of the number of employees paid at exactly the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate over time are not available at the Government Office Region level due to small sample sizes in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).
However 2009 ASHE data can be used to estimate the number of employees paid at or below the NMW rate for the most recent year. Using this data, BIS estimate that 76,000 jobholders in the South West were paid at or below the level of the 2009 uprated NMW prior to its introduction.
Parents: Advisory Services
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what expenditure his Department incurred on (a) publishing and (b) marketing its Parent Motivator Guide. [309755]
Mr. McFadden: The expenditure incurred in producing the Parent Motivators guide was £9,220. This includes £700 for design costs, £2,020 paid to the author and £6,500 for the development and marketing of the guide. The guide was published electronically and is available on the Directgov website:
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what fee was paid to Denise Taylor for her work relating to the Parent Motivator Guide produced by his Department. [309756]
Mr. McFadden: Denise Taylor was paid £2,020 for her work on the Parent Motivators Guide.
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