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22 Feb 2010 : Column 286W—continued
and its last Tri-annual Mini review published in 2008 can be found at:
Construction: Government Assistance
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many construction companies in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point have received Government assistance in the last three years. [316727]
Ian Lucas [holding answer 10 February 2010]: Business Link East, which is managed by the East of England Development Agency, has supported (a) 2,623 construction companies in Essex and (b) 136 construction companies in Castle Point in the last three years.
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to take steps to increase the level of liquidity in the construction industry; and if he will make a statement. [316728]
Ian Lucas [holding answer 10 February 2010]: The Government have been increasing liquidity in construction by helping smaller and medium-sized firms, which dominate the industry, through Real Help for Business. This package of measures aims to facilitate bank lending to smaller and medium-sized firms and will continue to do so into the financial year 2010-11. In addition, in the December 2009 Pre-Budget Report the Government announced the creation of a Growth Capital Fund that will target SMEs for which traditional bank finance is either inappropriate or unavailable.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff in his Department and its agencies (a) have the status of embedded communicators and (b) are members of the Government Communications Network but are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book. [315168]
Mr. McFadden: At the most recent assessment of those embedded, in October 2009, there were 18 embedded communicators in BIS. Embedded communicators are defined as staff employed primarily in a communications role based in policy or delivery units outside of the central communications function.
It is not possible to provide the number of embedded communicators who are members of the Government Communications Network (GCN) but not listed in the White Book as the Department does not hold GCN membership data.
I have approached the Chief Executives of the Insolvency Service, Companies House, the National Measurement Office and the Intellectual Property Office and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.
Letter from Peter Mason, dated 12 February 2010:
I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 29 January 2010, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, asking how many staff (a) have the status of embedded communicators and (b) are members of the Government Communications Network but are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book.
a) The National Measurement Office, following a recent restructure, has one part time member of staff (0.6 FTE) who we believe would be regarded as an "embedded communicator" in that she is employed primarily in a communications role based in the enforcement team of the Agency. This role is based outside of the central communications team.
b) The National Measurement Office has no staff who are members of the Government Communications Network.
Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 12 February 2010:
I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 29 January 2010, UIN 315168 to the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Companies House has five staff who are members of the Government Communication Network, and classed as Government communicators. The two members with responsibility for dealing with press enquiries are listed in the Central Office of Information White Book, the other three are not.
Letter from Sean Dennehey, dated 2 February 2010:
I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 29 January 2010, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The Intellectual Property Office does not have any staff who have the status of embedded communicators.
Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 18 February 2010:
The Minister of State, for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has asked me to reply to your question how many staff in his Department and its agencies (a) have the status of embedded communicators and (b) are members of the Government Communications Network but are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book.
The Insolvency Service has 7 embedded communicators, 2 of whom are not direct employees but are Agency staff. There are no staff that are members of the Government Communications Network but are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book.
Departmental Official Hospitality
John Mason: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many receptions he has hosted for representatives of print and broadcast media since 3 October 2008; and how many he plans to host in 2010. [316839]
Mr. Timms: I have not hosted any such receptions. However, since October 2008:
My Noble Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting hosted a digital Britain summit in April 2009 at the British Library, drawing attendees from the print, broadcast and technology communities. The key note speech was given by the Prime Minister.
My right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property hosted a lunch with educational journalists in November 2008.
There are no current plans to host any such receptions in 2010.
Departmental Video Conferencing
Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the cost was of the technical support team required to run the videoconferencing and telepresence facilities in Kingsgate House in the last 12 months. [304483]
Mr. McFadden: Technical support for the videoconferencing and telepresence facilities is currently provided to the Department via a shared services agreement with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The costs for ICT and Information Management services are in fact broken down in a way that relates to input categories, for example staff costs, licences, etc rather than products that are supported.
However, for 2009-10 the shared services charges identified against videoconferencing and telepresence from DCSF will be £37,700 and will cover overall delivery of the services and support.
Digital Broadcasting: Radio
Bob Russell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of radio microphones and other programme-making and special events technologies which will need to be replaced with new equipment as a consequence of the clearance of the digital dividend spectrum; and if he will make a statement. [317612]
Mr. Timms: We have not estimated the proportion of microphones (both channel 69 and interleaved spectrum) or other PMSE equipment which will be affected by the clearance.
However, Ofcom have estimated that 95 per cent. of all radio microphones tune to channel 69 and will therefore be affected by the clearance.
Bob Russell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to announce his decision on the (a) criteria for compensation eligibility and (b) allocation of funding to be provided to those in the programme-making and special events sector who are affected by the clearance of the digital dividend spectrum. [317613]
Mr. Timms: Ofcom are re-evaluating their initial assumptions and eligibility criteria in light of responses to their second consultation on this issue. When this work is completed, Government will agree with Ofcom an appropriate funding allocation.
Bob Russell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has made a recent estimate of the number of jobs which depend (a) directly and (b) indirectly on the use of radio microphones and other programme-making and special events technologies. [317614]
Mr. Timms: No such estimates have been made. However, the Department is aware of the contribution that the programme-making and special events (PMSE) industry makes to the UK economy, and is carefully considering how they will be relocated from channel 69 to channel 38.
Employment Agencies: EU Law
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what consideration his Department has given to the effect on the nature of ad hoc assignments of temporary workers of the Agency Worker Regulations. [316970]
Mr. McFadden: We carefully considered representations from stakeholders on the issue of ad hoc assignments. However, we concluded that it would be wrong for agency workers to be deprived of equal treatment rights just because they do not comply with 'standard' work patterns, particularly since irregular agency assignments are prevalent in lower-paid sectors. We were also concerned about the risk of any special provision on the point would further complicate the regulations, and could be exploited by the unscrupulous in order to deprive workers of equal treatment rights.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has (a) sought and (b) received from representatives of the agency work industry on the drafting of the guidance to the Agency Worker Regulations. [316971]
Mr. McFadden: The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 were laid before Parliament on 21 January 2010, coming into force on 1 October 2011. Accompanying guidance will be drawn up and published in advance of the regulations coming into force. The important role this guidance will play has been one of the subjects discussed with not only representatives of the agency work industry but also other stakeholders during recent consultations preceding the laying of the regulations. We will of course wish to have further discussions with interested parties on the drafting of this guidance in due course.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has further to consult representatives of the agency work industry prior to the implementation of the Agency Worker Regulations. [316972]
Mr. McFadden: The last year saw an intensive process of consultation on the Government's proposals to implement the European Agency Workers Directive. There were more than 300 responses to the original consultation on policy proposals and almost 100 responses to the second on the draft regulations. In addition, Ministers and officials held frequent meetings with a wide variety of interested parties, including those representing the agency work industry.
Accompanying guidance will be drawn up and published in advance of the regulations coming into force. We will seek the views of representatives of the agency work industry and other interested parties on the drafting of this guidance in due course.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what impact assessment his Department has undertaken of the Agency Worker Regulations in relation to the (a) complexity of bonus arrangements, (b) cost of tracking ad hoc assignments and (c) transferral of indemnity from the end-user to the agency. [316975]
Mr. McFadden: We have addressed these issues in the Government responses to the two consultation exercises on implementation of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010-the relevant documents have been placed in the Libraries of the House and are available on the BIS website. These include a comprehensive impact assessment.
On bonuses, we are aware of the concerns of hirers, in particular the implications of integrating agency workers into appraisal systems for permanent staff. The regulations do not require agency workers to be integrated into these systems-hirers can adopt simpler systems such as existing feedback arrangements that many agencies already have in place. It is also by no means the case that all bonus payments will come within the scope of equal treatment rights-they will not do so, for instance, if not directly attributable to the individual worker's contribution or if they would not have been payable if the same worker had been recruited directly to do the same job (if, say, there is a qualifying period before a bonus is payable). Guidance will address these issues further.
We carefully considered representations from stakeholders on the issue of ad hoc assignments. However, we concluded that it would be wrong for agency workers to be deprived of equal treatment rights just because they do not comply with 'standard' work patterns, particularly since irregular agency assignments are prevalent in lower-paid sectors. We were also concerned about the risk of any special provision on the point would further complicate the regulations, and could be exploited by the unscrupulous in order to deprive workers of equal treatment rights.
We considered that it would be inappropriate for the regulations to make provision on the issue of indemnities since to do so would amount to an inappropriate intervention in private commercial arrangements, and the directive includes no requirements in this area.
Exports: Morocco
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the monetary value was of UK exports to Morocco in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009. [317990]
Ian Lucas: UK exports of goods to Morocco were worth £484 million in 2008 and £299 million in 2009 on an Overseas Trade Statistics basis.
UK exports of services to Morocco were worth £77 million in 2008 on a Balance of Payments basis. Data for 2009 are due to be published at the end of July in the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book.
Exports: Saudi Arabia
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the monetary value was of UK exports to Saudi Arabia in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009. [317989]
Ian Lucas: UK exports of goods to Saudi Arabia were worth £2,191 million in 2008 and £2,334 million in 2009 on a Balance of Payments basis.
UK exports of services to Saudi Arabia were worth £2,633 million in 2008 on a Balance of Payments basis. Data for 2009 are due to be published at the end of July in the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book.
Graduates: Work Experience
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many unique visitors there have been to the (a) Graduate Talent Pool and (b) Our future, its in our hands website in each month since each was created. [307769]
Mr. Lammy: The Department do not have monthly figures for the number of unique visits to the Graduate Talent Pool website. But the following information is available:
Total unique visitors between 19 April and 8 December to the Employer site were: 55,012
Total unique visitors between 30th June and 8th December to the Graduate site were: 104,403
In addition the figures for total visits to the employer and graduate sites are as follows:
| Employer site | Graduate site | |
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