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1 Mar 2010 : Column 970W—continued
Apprentices: Leeds
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the number of small and medium-sized businesses in Leeds North West constituency which are employing apprentices. [319500]
Kevin Brennan: 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 Individualised Learner Record (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 Employers Skills Survey (NESS). These data are based on repeated surveys of up to 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.
| Table 2: Percentage of e mployers that had any staff undertaking an a pprenticeship in the last 12 months (NESS 2007) | |||||||
| All employers | Number of employees or employer | ||||||
| 2-4 | 5-24 | 25-99 | 100-199 | 200-499 | 500+ | ||
|
Employers that had any staff undertaking an apprenticeship over the previous 12 months (NESS 2007) (%) | |||||||
| (1) http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/National/nat-nessurvey2007mainreport-may08.pdf accessed on 4 February 2010. | |||||||
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many modern apprenticeships have been started in Leeds North West constituency since 1997. [319502]
Kevin Brennan: Table 1 shows the number of Apprenticeship starts in Leeds North West parliamentary constituency from academic year 2003-04 onwards, the earliest year for which comparable data is available.
| Table 1: Apprenticeship programme starts in Leeds North West parliamentary constituency, 2003-04 to 2008-09. | ||||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| Notes: 1. Figures for Leeds North West Parliamentary Constituency are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Figures are based upon home postcode of the learner. 3. Figures include Apprenticeships, Advanced Apprenticeships and Higher Level Apprenticeships. Source Individualised Learner Record | ||||||
Information on the number of Apprenticeship starts by Parliamentary Constituency, Local Authority, Government Office Region and for England is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 17 December, and re-issued on 21 January to include provisional national estimates of the number of apprenticeship starts and achievements in the first quarter of 2009-10:
Apprentices: Pay
David Davis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what the average starting salary is for students who have completed an apprenticeship through the National Apprenticeship Service; [318237]
(2) what the average annual earnings are for students undertaking an apprenticeship through the National Apprenticeship Service. [318238]
Kevin Brennan: Data on salaries of apprentices completing an apprenticeship framework are not available.
A survey of the pay of apprentices "Apprenticeship Pay: 2007 Survey of Earnings by sector"-DIUS Research Report 08 05, showed that the average net pay for an apprentice in England in 2007 was £170 per week. The report is available at:
Broadband: South West
Linda Gilroy: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to facilitate the provision in the South West of the access to broadband internet services as outlined in the Digital Britain report. [318865]
Mr. Timms: Since the publication of the Digital Britain Report, the Department has been working to ensure the delivery model for the Universal Service Commitment and the Next Generation project is appropriate. We hope to undertake the procurement exercise for the Universal Service Commitment by the autumn. This will help bring broadband access of 2 Mbps to every area in the UK by 2012, including the south-west.
We are aiming to legislate for the Landline Duty in the Finance Bill, and are currently consulting on the use of the Next Generation Fund in order to incentivise the market to deliver next generation broadband to 90 per cent. of UK households by 2017.
Business: Government Assistance
Mr. Prisk:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was spent on the (a) Accessing International Markets, (b) Grant for Business and Investment, (c) Export Credit Insurance, (d) Maximising Foreign Direct Insurance, (e) Developing Your International Trade Potential, (f) Business Collaboration Networks, (g) Business Premises, (h) Business Growth Specialist Facilities and Environments, (i) Starting a Business, (j) Intensive Start-up Support, (k) Starting a High Growth Business, (l) Manufacturing Advisory Service, (m) Designing Demand, (n) Innovation Advice and Guidance, (o) Coaching for High Growth, (p) Small Loans for Business, (q) Understanding Finance for Business, (r) Finance for Business, (s) Collaborative Research and Development, (t) Networking for Innovation,
(u) Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, (v) Innovation Vouchers, (w) Low Carbon Energy Demonstration, (x) Improving Your Resource Efficiency and (y) Grant for Research and Development scheme in (i) 2007-08 and (ii) 2008-09; and how many businesses have received assistance from that scheme in each of those years. [302098]
Mr. McFadden: These questions are currently under consideration by the regional development agencies following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford. He will be notified when the FOI has been answered and copies of the responses will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many performance reviews were undertaken in respect of staff of (a) his Department and (b) its predecessors in each of the last five years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a direct result of such a rating; and what percentage of full-time equivalent staff this represented. [313830]
Mr. McFadden: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) ceased to exist on 5 June 2009 when the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was created from the merger of BERR and the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). Each Department had a separate staff appraisal system.
The number of staff performance reviews undertaken for former staff in BERR is shown in the following table:
| Number of staff performance reviews undertaken | Number of cases where performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below | |
| (1) The total is less than five and has been suppressed on the grounds of confidentiality. | ||
The number of staff performance reviews undertaken for former staff in DIUS for the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 is 753. BIS does not have access to information on the number of cases where performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below in DIUS, nor how many staff left as a direct result.
The BIS performance appraisal system involves the individual (jobholder) and line manager engaging in a continuous dialogue throughout a reporting year. Performance and development objectives are agreed at the start of a reporting year. There are informal and formal opportunities to discuss progress and challenges with a written record of outcomes agreed at the end of the reporting year.
It is the responsibility of line managers to manage and maintain the performance of their staff at, or above, an acceptable standard. Where it is believed that an individual's performance has reached a level that is unacceptable, then the situation is managed in accordance with the Department's poor performance procedures and guidance.
The Civil Service Management Code sets outs regulations and instructions to Departments and agencies regarding the terms and conditions of service of civil servants and the delegations which have been made by the Minister for the Civil Service under the Civil Service (Management of Functions) Act 1992 together with the conditions attached to those delegations.
It is a requirement under the code that all staff are subject to performance reviews and that Departments and agencies must have procedures in place to deal with inefficiency/poor performance.
6.2.1 of the code deals with staff in the delegated grades; 6.2.5, non-delegated (i.e. the SCS). The code is available at:
Departmental Official Hospitality
John Mason: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department spent on Ministerial hospitality in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) 2007-08, expressed in current prices. [316838]
Mr. McFadden: The amounts spent on ministerial hospitality are as follows:
| £ | |
The above costs principally relate to conferences and receptions for key stakeholders.
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many job vacancies in his Department and its agencies were filled through external recruitment in the last 12 months. [315289]
Mr. McFadden: There were 34 job vacancies that were filled through external recruitment in the last 12 months. This number includes all types of payroll vacancies apart from those recruited on short-term casual contracts as this data is not collated centrally.
The Department of Business Innovation and Skills was formed in June 2009. The data we have provided relate to 1 April 2009 to March 2010 financial year which includes the former Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) only. We do not have data relating to the former Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) as their external recruitment was delivered by another Government Department.
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.
I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 29 January 2010, UIN 315289, to the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Companies House filled 23 job vacancies through external recruitment in the last 12 months.
The Minister of State, for the Department Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has asked me to reply to you directly in respect of your question how many job vacancies in his Department and its agencies were filled through external recruitment in the last 12 months.
In the Insolvency Service, 273 job vacancies were filled through external recruitment during the last 12 months.
Letter from Sean Dennehey, dated 4 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.
Since 1 February 2009 the Intellectual Property Office has carried out 23 external recruitment exercises for 26 vacancies.
Letter from Peter Mason, dated 4 February 2010:
I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 29 January 2010 asking the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, asking how many job vacancies were filled through external recruitment in the last 12 months.
We have filled four vacancies following external recruitment exercises during this period, in all cases following an unsuccessful attempt to fill the post by advertising within the Civil Service.
Departmental Theft
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many thefts from his Department have been recorded in the last two years. [318986]
Mr. McFadden: During the period 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2009, 207 items were reported as missing on this Department's and its predecessors central London estate. The Department records items as missing as it is not always possible to prove theft as the reason for the loss of items and many items reported are subsequently found.
The figure includes small, low value personal items.
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