International Development
Departmental Sick Leave
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in his Department have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last three years. [316459]
Mr. Michael Foster: There have been 37 home civil service staff of the Department for International Development (DFID) who have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more or the last three years.
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Government Car and Despatch Agency
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department paid to the Government Car and Despatch Agency in each of the last five years; how much it has spent on such payments in 2009-10; and what proportion of such payments was made in respect of the Government Car Service. [316423]
Mr. Michael Foster: The amount paid by the Department for International Development (DFID) to the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) in each of the past five years is provided in the following table.
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| Amount paid to GCDA (£) |
Costs to DFID of ministerial cars are reported annually to Parliament by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport through written ministerial statements and are available in the Libraries of the House.
Haiti: Earthquakes
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department’s four-person field assessment team deployed to Haiti has (a) returned and (b) produced its report. [316550]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development’s (DFID’s) original assessment team members returned to the UK on Sunday 7 February after a period of handover to new personnel who will continue to provide daily field reports on the developing humanitarian situation in Haiti. These daily situation reports are used to inform strategic choices and funding decisions and are published on the DFID website for members of the public to view. To date DFID has not produced a final report on Haiti. We expect our assessment team to continue reporting from Haiti for at least three months from the date of the earthquake on 12 January. Daily situation reports and further information on the earthquake in Haiti can be found at:
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/News-Stories/2010/Haiti-Earthquake/
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people the UK Fire and Rescue Service personnel saved in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake; and what assessment the UK Fire and Rescue Service has made of the effectiveness of search and rescue efforts in Haiti. [316551]
Mr. Michael Foster: The UK fire and rescue team pulled three people from the rubble alive and helped others through treating the injured. They also assisted the United Nations co-ordinate the overall search and rescue effort.
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The team was debriefed on its return and is looking closely at what lessons have been learned from the mission in Haiti that can be applied in future emergency responses.
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) personnel and (b) other resources his Department has in Haiti as part of the earthquake relief effort. [316552]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) currently has a seven member field assessment team in Haiti. In addition, four experts have been seconded to other organisations to assist with the relief effort. The stabilisation unit has also deployed two staff to Haiti, with two more expected to deploy this week and a further two standing by to provide additional support should the need arise.
DFID has funded four airlifts of relief supplies and provided funding to multilateral organisations and NGOs for a range of interventions including shelter, health, water and sanitation. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ship Largs Bay is presently on route to Haiti carrying further relief goods including corrugated iron sheeting, vehicles, port enabling equipment consisting of various forklifts and further relief items for the Red Cross and a number of NGOs.
Stress
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will place in the Library a copy of any advice issued to staff of his Department on stress recognition and management. [316480]
Mr. Michael Foster: Copies of the advice and guidance available to staff of the Department for International Development (DFID) will be placed in the House Library.
Zambia: Debts
Mr. Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of Zambia’s bilateral debt to the UK is outstanding. [316164]
Mr. Thomas: Zambia has no outstanding bilateral debt to the UK. In April 2005 Zambia reached completion point under the heavily indebted poor countries initiative (HIPC), which aims to reduce external debt burdens of the most heavily indebted poor countries. This resulted in a full cancellation of Zambia’s remaining bilateral debt owed to the UK.
Solicitor-General
Legal Costs: Criminal Proceedings
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Solicitor-General what recent discussions she has had with the Law Society and the Bar Council on proposals to change levels of remuneration for prosecuting lawyers in the criminal courts. [316146]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), superintended by the Attorney-General, has responsibility for negotiating any changes to levels of remuneration for lawyers prosecuting its cases in criminal courts.
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CPS officials meet with the Remuneration Committee of the Bar Council to discuss remuneration arrangements for self-employed barrister advocates and they last met on 1 February 2010. At that meeting CPS officials discussed with the Remuneration Committee options for re-structuring the CPS graduated fee scheme.
The CPS does not engage in discussions with the Law Society regarding remuneration for prosecuting lawyers because few solicitor advocates are instructed by CPS and when they are arrangements will mirror those for self-employed barristers.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Adult Education: Hemsworth
Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding his Department and its predecessors have allocated to adult (a) literacy and (b) numeracy in Hemsworth constituency since 1997. [316622]
Kevin Brennan: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) provides funding to further education (FE) colleges and training providers to support adults (aged 19 and older) undertaking courses in literacy, numeracy and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). Since the launch of the Skills for Life Strategy in 2001, it is estimated that £5 billion has been invested in Skills for Life provision (for those aged 16 and older) up until 2008. Nearly six million adults (aged 19 and older) across England have taken courses to improve their literacy, language and numeracy skills since 2001.
LSC funding is not allocated at the local authority level. Planned investment in Skills for Life at a national level is based on estimated levels of activity for an academic year. The amount of funding routed through Adult Learner Responsive and Train to Gain routes for Skills for Life is estimated at nearly £600 million for 2008-09 financial year and around £630 million for 2009-10 financial year, as set out in the Skills Investment Strategy 2010-11 (November 2009). The actual amount spent on Skills for Life literacy and numeracy provision will depend on learner and employer demand.
Business: Government Assistance
David Mundell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many loans each participating bank has made under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme (a) overall and (b) to businesses registered in Scotland; [315311]
(2) how much has been lent by each participating bank under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme (a) in total and (b) to businesses registered in Scotland. [315381]
Ms Rosie Winterton: As of 27 January 2010, 6,456 businesses have drawn down loans totalling £647.41 million. Of which, in Scotland, 470 businesses have drawn down loans totalling £62.38 million.
Due to confidentiality it is not broken down by bank.
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding has been provided to Early Growth Funds in each year since their introduction. [315351]
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Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 3 February 2010]: The Early Growth Fund Programme (EGF) was launched in 2002-03 when my right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State entered into agreements to provide up to £31.5 million of funding to EGFs. The total programme expenditure to date is £30.17 million.
Details of the sums drawn down are included in the following table:
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| Drawn down (£) |
Business: Lancashire
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to encourage business investment in Morecambe and Lunesdale. [311301]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) has taken a number of steps to encourage business investment in Morecambe and Lunesdale. These include the wide range of support available within the “Solutions for Business” portfolio, as well as specific measures to encourage tourism such as £300,000 for a feasibility study to bring the Winter Gardens back into use and a £4 million contribution towards the refurbishment of the iconic Midland Hotel, revitalising the tourist economy. Heysham is also one of the 10 sites under consideration for a new power station under the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement.
Business: Stroud
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assistance the South West Regional Development Agency has provided to businesses in Stroud constituency during the economic downturn. [315884]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Data are not broken down by parliamentary constituency, but is available at local authority level.
The SW Regional Development Agency (RDA) provides the core funding for the SW Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) and Business Link and leads the regional co-ordination of eight Area Action Forces in the South West providing co-ordinated public sector support to companies affected by the recession.
The Area Action Force for Gloucestershire helped 108 companies between December 2008 and 8 January 2010 including 14 based in the Stroud district. Support ranged from help accessing training provision, redundancy support for staff, Job Fairs for staff and referrals to Business Link, SW MAS and other organisations.
Business Link engaged with 2,147 businesses in the Stroud District (10,605 across Gloucestershire) in 2009
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of which 197 received intensive assistance. In addition, 220 businesses from the Stroud district attended Business Link Events during that period. The South West MAS helped 99 companies in Gloucestershire between October 2008 and the end of 2009 of which 26 are located in the Stroud district. These companies all received ‘Level 2’ intervention, which consists of a face to face business review with a MAS specialist and additional in-depth support if required.
Copyright: Music
Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what account his Department took of the (a) options appraisal section and (b) generating and short-listing policy option section of its impact assessment toolkit when designing the consultation on the requirement to pay royalties for playing recorded and broadcast music by charitable and not-for-profit organisations. [312476]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 21 January 2010]: The Department fully complied with all impact assessment requirements and worked with the Better Regulation Executive when generating and shortlisting policy options.
Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect of proposed changes to the music licensing system on charities and other not-for-profit groups in (a) Staffordshire Moorlands constituency and (b) the West Midlands. [312477]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 21 January 2010]: The Government did not make any specific assessment of the effects on (a) Staffordshire Moorlands constituency or (b) the West Midlands. However, as part of our consultation process we commissioned a final impact assessment from independent consultants, Europe Economics. This assessment estimated the impact on groups across the UK which would be affected. It was published on 12 November 2009 with the Government Response and a summary was placed in the House Library.
The exact impact will be determined by the outcome of consultations between Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) and organisations concerned on licence fee levels. We value the contribution musical performers make to the economic and cultural success of our country. We have got to make sure that they are rewarded for their efforts so they can continue creating. As part of this process it is essential that PPL work with the third sector to agree reasonable and appropriate tariffs. The Government want to ensure that discussions between PPL and the third sector are facilitated so that the outcome is satisfactory for all concerned. A mutually agreed solution is vital if the needs of both PPL members and the third sector are to be met. I remain confident that this will be possible.
Alun Michael: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department made use of the generating and shortlisting policy options section of its impact assessment toolkit in its consultation on the requirement for the payment of royalties for playing recorded and broadcast music by charitable and not-for-profit organisations. [312575]