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17 Mar 2010 : Column 927W—continued
Business, Innovation and Skills
Departmental Consultants
Angus Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was spent on external consultants and advisers by (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible in each year since 2005. [319767]
Mr. McFadden: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan An Iar (Mr. MacNeil) on 16 March 2010, Official Report, column reference 838W.
Departmental Lost Property
John Mason: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what property has been recorded as (a) lost and (b) stolen from his Department in the last 12 months; and what estimate has been made of the cost of the replacement of that property. [322069]
Mr. McFadden: During the period 1 February 2009 to 31 January 2010, 116 items were reported as missing on this Department's and its predecessors' central London estate with an estimated replacement value of £32,044. Of these, 22 items were subsequently found with an estimated replacement value of £3,257.
The Department records items as missing as it is not always possible to prove theft as the reason for the loss of items and some items reported are subsequently found.
The figure includes small, low value personal items as well as items of electrical equipment, such as ICT equipment, mobile phones and accessories (some of which may have been personal items) and multi media equipment.
Departmental Theft
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps the Department is taking to deter theft from within the Department. [322645]
Mr. McFadden: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills takes thefts seriously, and has long standing policies in place designed to reduce the number of thefts.
To raise awareness of the need for ongoing vigilance we undertake the following:
Poster campaigns in areas such as in the tea points and lift lobbies reminding staff of the threat of opportunist thefts.
Advice on the Department's intranet site alerting staff that they could be a victim, and advising them what to do in the unlikely event they become a victim.
Frequent foot patrols by our security guards, both in and out of office hours.
There have also been notices to staff published on the Department's electronic bulletin board reminding staff of the need to protect departmental assets when travelling on public transport and when in public places.
We record thefts in the Department and monitor the trends. If trends deteriorate in a given area, we would put in place further measures to tackle the problem. These could include seminars to staff in affected areas, one to one advice and specific intervention by line managers.
We review our policies frequently making improvements to security when necessary.
Diamond Jubilee 2012
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many officials from his Department are working on plans for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. [322510]
Mr. McFadden: A Diamond Jubilee Unit has been established in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. This is staffed by 1.5 (full-time equivalent) staff. The Unit is working closely with officials from 15 Government Departments (including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) and the Devolved Administrations.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether there are plans to strike medals to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. [322522]
Mr. McFadden: I refer the hon. Member to the statement given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Regulatory Reform (Ian Lucas) to the House on this matter on 5 January 2010, Official Report, columns 56-57. A medal will be issued to mark the Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Further details will be released in due course.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many letters he has received on the subject of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in the last 12 months. [322619]
Mr. McFadden: My Noble Friend the Secretary of State has received approximately 52 letters on the subject of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to link events to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee with London 2012 Olympics. [322620]
Mr. McFadden: Planning for the Diamond Jubilee is still at an early stage. Consideration will be given nearer the time as to whether there are opportunities to link the Jubilee celebrations with other events going on around the country in the run up to the games.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with Buckingham Palace on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. [322621]
Mr. McFadden: Although planning for the Diamond Jubilee is still at an early stage, discussions are ongoing between Government and the Royal Household about the arrangements for the Diamond Jubilee.
Insolvency: Gloucestershire
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses employing (a) fewer than 10, (b) between 10 and 50, (c) between 51 and 100, (d) between 101 and 200, (e) between 201 and 300 and (f) over 300 employees have been declared insolvent in (i) Stroud constituency and (ii) Gloucestershire in each year since 1990. [322789]
Ian Lucas: Official statistics covering corporate insolvencies are not currently available at a sub-national level within England and Wales.
Additionally, the number of employees is not recorded on the source datasets.
Self-employed traders may be declared bankrupt (or enter into an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA)). While official regional figures down to constituency level for self-employed bankrupts are maintained from calendar year 2000, the number of employees (if any) is not available.
Learning Disability
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that adult learners with learning (a) difficulties and (b) disabilities are given support to participate in education; and if he will make a statement. [322738]
Kevin Brennan: This Department routes funding through the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for the provision of further education (FE) and skills training for adult learners aged 19 and over. This includes funding for learners with difficulties and/or disabilities (LLDD).
Funding for these learners remains a priority and we remain committed to maintaining future opportunities for them.
Additional learning support (ALS) funding is provided to FE colleges and training organisations to support the additional costs associated with learners with LDD to help them to undertake mainstream provision.
There is a broad range of provision available to support learners with LDD, for example the Foundation Learning Curriculum supports improved achievement and progression towards employment and independent living below level 2. However it is for FE colleges and training organisations to determine their offer to these learners in line with their level of need.
Currently, learners aged 19 to 25 entitled to a learning difficulty assessment (LDD) (S139A) are covered by a statutory duty placed on the Learning Skills Council. From 1 April 2010 responsibility will transfer to local authorities (LAs) following changes announced in the Learning Skills Act 2008 and the Apprenticeship, Schools, Children and Learning Act 2009. Such learners will continue to be funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) through the arrangements with the Young Persons Learning Agency and LAs. This will support the policy that there should be a single body with responsibility for all young adults with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LLDD) up to the age of 25 who require significant levels of support.
It is not possible to separately identify learners in receipt of S139A assessments. However we are able to estimate that there have been around 200,000 learners aged 19 and over in mainstream provision with a self declared disability each year from 2006/07 to 2008/09 academic year (the latest whole year for which data are available).
Redundancy: Public Sector
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) voluntary and (b) involuntary redundancy rates were in the public sector in (i) Leeds North-West constituency and (ii) each industrial category in each year since 1997. [322702]
Mr. McFadden: Estimates of the total number of redundancies are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). However there is no available disaggregation between voluntary and involuntary redundancies or a constituency-level or regional breakdown.
Individuals recently made redundant are not asked in the LFS whether they were in the public or private sectors and are instead classified according to the industrial group of their previous job. The industrial group 'public administration, education and health' may act as a very broad approximation of a large part of the public sector. Although a large fraction of employees in and redundancies from this industrial group are likely to be in the public sector, private sector firms also operate within this industry whilst there are also public sector employees in other sectors.
BIS estimates of redundancies from public administration, education and health and all other industries are provided in the third and fourth columns of Table 1 for the first quarter of each year since 1999, the earliest date available. These figures should only be treated as indicative as the LFS is a self classification survey completed by individuals. Some individuals are unlikely to identify exactly the industry in which they work.
The second column of Table 1 reports Office for National Statistics published figures for total economy-wide redundancy rates. These do not exactly match the other columns due to missing values in the industrial classification of redundancies.
| Table 1: First quarter redundancy rates 1997 to 2009. Not seasonally adjusted. | |||
| Industrial breakdown | |||
| ONS total first quarter redundancy rates | Public administration, education and health | All other industries | |
| Source: ONS Economic and Labour Market Statistics (column 2) and BIS analysis of Labour Force Survey (columns 3 and 4). The data are not seasonally adjusted although there are seasonal variations in the number of redundancies. | |||
Stroud
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will set out, with statistical information related as directly as possible to Stroud constituency, the effects on that constituency of the policies and actions of his Department and its predecessors since 2000. [321473]
Mr. McFadden: I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Regional Development and Co-ordination on 27 January, Official Report, column 974W, and 10 February, Official Report, column 111W, regarding specific examples of support to Stroud district.
The Government have put in place a broad programme of reform since 1997. Over the decade to 2007, the economic performance of all parts of the UK improved considerably. More recently we have provided significant support to businesses through 'Real Help for Business', and the strategy 'New Industry, New Jobs'.
There are a number of websites that provides a wide range of statistical information at parliamentary constituency level. Examples are the National Statistics website at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/
Students: Radicalism
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what written guidance his Department has issued to educational establishments on reducing levels of (a) religious and (b) political extremism in those establishments. [321684]
Mr. Lammy: Guidance was issued to vice-chancellors and college principals from the former Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills on managing the risk of violent extremism.
These two guidance documents can be found at:
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