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27 Jan 2010 : Column 978W—continued
Land Agreements Exclusion and Revocation Order 2004
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to lay before Parliament the instrument to repeal the Land Agreements Exclusion and Revocation Order 2004. [313377]
Kevin Brennan: The instrument to repeal the Land Agreements Exclusion and Revocation Order 2004 was laid before Parliament on 21 January 2010.
Manufacturing Industries: Export Credit Guarantees
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of export credit guarantees in supporting the manufacturing industry; and if he will make a statement. [313006]
Ian Lucas: Since the start of 2009, the Government have introduced a number of initiatives which will provide real help to exporters, as well as other businesses, during the current economic downturn. These have included the Working Capital Scheme, and on 20 October 2009 it was announced that ECGD, the UK export credit agency, was launching a scheme to support the confirmation of Letter of Credit Guarantee Scheme.
The Government are considering what other measures might support manufacturing industry and has and will continue to work with banks and business organisations to identify what further measures may be appropriate. ECGD will continue to work with UKTI and regional development agencies to ensure British exporters get the real help they need to take advantage of all the opportunities open to them.
National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship has cost in each year since its establishment; and if he will make a statement. [313330]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) was set up as an independent company limited by guarantee in 2004 by British Chambers of Commerce and other stakeholders. NCGE is funded by BIS to promote enterprise and entrepreneurship in our universities, with the aim of increasing the numbers of students, and graduates thinking about and actually becoming self-employed or starting a business. NCGE has received the following funding:
| (£) | |
This year their programmes include Flying Start providing 8,000 students and graduates with the opportunity to attend workshop style events that encourage them to think seriously about becoming self-employed, and help them to develop a business idea.
New Businesses: Females
Tom Brake: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what new initiatives his Department has taken to help unemployed young women to set up small businesses in the last 12 months. [313525]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department is continuing to work with the Department for Work and Pensions to raise the profile of enterprise among jobseekers, including young women, and help them access the advice and support they need. Building on the success of the self-employment support provided under the "Six Month Offer", access to intensive business start-up support and advice through Business Link is due to be extended to those who have been unemployed for 13 weeks or more. In addition, eligible jobseekers will be able to receive the tax-free Self-Employment Credit of £50 a week for up to 16 weeks to help with the transition from benefits to work, including self-employment.
Female entrepreneurship is also being encouraged through the "Flying Start-Make It Happen" programme, where 5,000 more places have been made available to provide unemployed graduates with the help and support they need to become successful entrepreneurs and start their own business.
One North East
Jim Cousins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the estimated monetary value was of One North East's share in the assets of the North East Property Partnership on 1 April in each year from 2004 to 2009; how much income was received by One North East from the partnership in 2008-09; and how much it is estimated will be received in 2009-10. [312815]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 25 January 2010]: The value of One North East's share in the assets of the North East Property Partnership (NEPP), including the Loan Notes receivable by the Agency were, on 1 April in each year, as follows:
| £ | |
NEPP was created 1 April 2004. The first set of accounts was therefore for the year ending 31 March 2005.
ONE received £8.4 million income from the partnership in 2008-09.
The estimated income to be received in 2009-10 is £11 million.
Jim Cousins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many units were in the portfolio which One North East transferred to the North East Property partnership on 1 April 2004; what the average rent roll was of those units; and what the total area was of those units. [312816]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 25 January 2010]: The information requested is as follows:
The number of units in the portfolio was-883.
The average rent roll per unit is-£12,774.
The total area of the units is-384,110 m(2).
Small Businesses: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many small businesses in the London Borough of Bexley have applied for financial assistance under the (a) Enterprise Finance Guarantee and (b) Capital Enterprise Scheme since their inception; and how many such applications have been granted under each scheme. [311562]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, as of 13 January, 14 businesses in the London Borough of Bexley have been offered loans totalling £1.15 million. Businesses may apply for a loan from any one of the participating lenders who will assess which form of lending, including the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, is most appropriate. We do not hold figures for those businesses which are instead offered a normal commercial loan, or are rejected for failing to meet the lender's commercial criteria.
With respect to the Capital for Enterprise Fund equity scheme, CfEF received 243 enquiries from businesses in London seeking investment to the value of £293 million. Thus far, four businesses have received investments totalling £4.8 million, two businesses have agreed terms on investments with a value of £3.2 million, three businesses has been offered investment totalling £5 million and 23 propositions are under active consideration with a value of £39.3 million. The remaining enquiries are either being considered subject to further information to be supplied by the applicant or have been rejected or withdrawn. I am unable to provide a breakdown by parliamentary constituency or local authority as this could make it possible to identify the individual companies that have received support.
Streatham
Keith Hill: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Streatham constituency, the effects on that constituency of changes to his Department's policies since 1997. [313403]
Mr. McFadden: The statistical information requested is only available in London at borough level. I refer the right hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) on 25 January 2010, Official Report column 685W.
Unemployment: Young People
Steve Webb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people aged between 18 and 24 years and not in employment, education, or training in each (a) region and (b) local authority on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [312786]
Kevin Brennan: Table 1 gives estimates of the number and proportion of people aged(1) 18 to 24 not in education employment or training (NEET) in each region in quarter 3 2009. This information is from the Labour Force Survey. Please note quarterly estimates are heavily affected by seasonality and peak in quarter 3.
We are unable to produce NEET estimates for 18 to 24-year-olds by local authority as the sample sizes are too small, however we do have estimates for 16 to 24 year old NEET by local education authority taken from the 2008 Annual Population Survey. These estimates are given in table 2. Please note that these figures are not comparable with those in table 1, as they are for a different age group and a different time period.
All of the estimates given are subject to sampling variability and should therefore be treated with caution and viewed in conjunction with their Confidence Intervals(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 respondents academic age, which is defined as their age at the preceding 31 August.
(2) Those given are 95 per cent. confidence intervals.
In December 2009, the Government published Investing in Potential, our strategy to increase the proportion of 16 to 24-year-olds in education, employment or training and reduce the proportion of those who are NEET. This can be found here:
http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction= productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DCSF-01145-2009
| Table 1: People aged 18 to 24 not in education, employment or training in Q3 2009 | |||
| Region | Number NEET | Percentage NEET | 95 per cent. Confidence Interval |
| Base: 18 to 24-year-olds Source: Q3 2009 Labour Force Survey | |||
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