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18 Mar 2010 : Column 1040W—continued


Essex county

2006 2007 2008 2009 Total

Up to £20,000

6

2

13

3

24

£20,001 to £50,000

20

15

22

2

59

£50,001 to £100,000

25

19

30

3

77

£100,001 to £150,000

7

6

6

3

22

£150,001 to £200,000

3

1

1

0

5

£200,000 to £250,000

1

1

3

0

5

Total

62

44

75

11

192


London region-police authority area figures not held

2006 2007 2008 2009 Total

Up to £20,000

38

26

21

1

86

£20,001 to £50,000

178

126

124

16

444

£50,001 to £100,000

180

155

118

19

472

£100,001 to £150,000

84

66

51

7

208

£150,001 to £200,000

16

19

17

2

54

£200,000 to £250,000

27

21

12

2

62

Total

523

413

343

47

1,326


SFLG data by police authority area are not available.


18 Mar 2010 : Column 1041W

Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many applications for funding under the Small Firms Guarantee Scheme have been made by small firms based in (a) Southend West constituency, (b) Southend, (c) Essex and (d) the Metropolitan police area of London in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [321833]


18 Mar 2010 : Column 1042W

Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of SFLG loans made to small firms based in Southend West, Southend on Sea, Essex and London in each year from 2006 are as follows:

Number

2006 2007 2008 2009 Total

Southend, West constituency

5

0

3

1

9

Southend on Sea

8

3

7

2

20

Essex

62

44

75

11

192

London

523

413

343

47

1,326


The Enterprise Finance Guarantee replaced the Small Firms Loan Guarantee in January 2009. Please note the figures for London are for the region as figures are not available by police authority area.

Businesses would apply for a loan from any one of the participating accredited lenders who would assess which form of lending, including a SFLG backed loan, was most appropriate. We do not hold figures for those businesses which were instead offered a normal commercial loan, or were rejected for failing to meet the lender's commercial criteria.

Employment Agencies: EU Law

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2010, Official Report, column 289W, on employment agencies: EU, what form the discussions with interested parties on the drafting of the guidance will take; when he expects those discussions to take place; and from which industry representatives he plans to seek contributions. [322801]

Mr. McFadden: The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 were laid before Parliament on 21 January 2010. Accompanying guidance will be drawn up in consultation with stakeholders and published in advance of the regulations coming into force on 1 October 2011. 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 are planning to seek views on the guidance from interested parties later this year including the recruitment sector, employer associations, trade union bodies, SMEs and organisations that are large users of temporary workers and agency workers themselves.

Insurance

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when he last had discussions with representatives of the insurance industry on the adequacy of the information made available to policy-holders on exclusions applying to insurance cover. [322452]

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I have been asked to reply.

The Government do not prescribe the terms, conditions or price that insurance companies may set when offering insurance.

The matter raised in this question is the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority, whose day-to-day operations are independent from Government. I have asked the FSA to write to my hon. Friend.

Learning Disability

Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate has been made of the funding required by mainstream further education colleges and training institutions to administer the provision of learning for those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11; and if he will make a statement. [322923]

Kevin Brennan: The Department allocates funding to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for the provision of further education (FE) and training for adult learners aged 19 and over. Planned investment in adult participation is £3.4 billion in the 2009/10 financial year increasing to £3.5 billion in the 2010-11 financial year.

In 2009/10 academic year the cost of provision for learners aged 19 or over with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD) undertaking provision in mainstream FE colleges and training organisations will be supported through the same adult budgets as those learners without LDD.

Learners with LDD in mainstream provision can have their additional support needs met through Additional Learning Support Funding (ALS). For the 2009/10 academic year around £150 million was allocated to FE colleges and training organisations for this purpose. However it should be noted that ALS funding is not solely for learners with LDD and can also be used to meet the needs of other vulnerable groups.

Funding allocations for 2010/11 academic year are currently under way. It is therefore not possible to provide a funding amount at this stage.

Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what estimate has been made of the number of people who will be categorised as having learning difficulties and/or disabilities in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11 under the provision of the Adult Learner Responsive sub-total
18 Mar 2010 : Column 1043W
for the Development Learning category in his Department's document, Skills Investment Strategy 2010-11, published in November 2009; and if he will make a statement.; [322925]

(2) what estimate has been made of the proportion of the cost of meeting the requirements of people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities which will be met from the provision under the Adult Learner Responsive sub-total for the Developmental Learning category in his Department's document, Skills Investment Strategy 2010-11, published in November 2009; and if he will make a statement; [322926]

(3) what estimate he has made of the number of learners of each type classified as learners under the provision of the Adult Learner Responsive sub-total for the Development Learning category in his Department's document, Skills Investment Strategy 2010-11, published in November 2009 in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11; and if he will make a statement. [322927]

Kevin Brennan: The 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.

It is for learners to declare whether or not they consider themselves to have a learning difficulty and/or disability. As a result the actual number of learners in this category accessing FE and skills provision will vary from year to year, but we estimate there have been around 200,000 each year from 2006/07 academic year to 2008/09 academic year (the most recent year for which complete data are available).

Within this overall total, learners with LDD follow various courses, depending on their personal preferences or the severity of their disability. It is therefore not possible to predict how many learners of the total with LDD will pursue courses that would be categorised as Developmental Learning. The Skills Investment Strategy 2010-11 does, however, set out the commitment that the total adult FE and skills budget will provide sufficient funding to maintain volumes at the level of previous years.

Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations have been received by his Department on the needs of learners with learning difficulties and disabilities and the strategy document, Skills investment strategy 2010-11; and if he will make a statement. [322736]

Kevin Brennan [holding answer 17 March 2010]: The Department has received a range of correspondence and has met with stakeholders in recent weeks in respect of learners with learning difficulties and disabilities. These representations have covered a number of areas,
18 Mar 2010 : Column 1044W
including funding, curriculum, accessibility and the employment of people with learning disabilities.

Investing in further education (FE) and skills training for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities remains a priority and we have set out our continuing commitment to maintaining the opportunities for this group of learners in the Skills Investment Strategy 2010-11.

Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what estimate he has made of the number of learners with a learning (a) difficulty and (b) disability who will be entitled to a learning difficulty assessment in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11; and if he will make a statement; [322737]

(2) what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of education provision for learners with a learning (a) difficulty and (b) disability who have received a learning difficulty assessment in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11; and if he will make a statement. [322739]

Kevin Brennan [holding answer 15 March 2010]: Learners aged 19 to 25 entitled to a learning difficulty assessment are covered by a statutory duty placed on the Learning Skills Council under s139 A of the Learning and Skills Act 2000. 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 through the arrangements with the Young People's 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 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).

National Measurement System

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding he allocated to the National Measurement System in (a) 2009-10 and (b) each of the previous nine financial years. [322324]

Mr. Lammy: The Department's financial records show that the National Measurement System received the following funding for the financial years 2002-03 to 2008-09 and the budget for 2009-10 was as follows:

£ million
Outturn Budget

2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

Near cash

(1,2)55

(1,2)56

47

64

63

58

74

63

60

58

Non cash

(1)-

(1)-

1

1

4

6

-1

1

10

12

Capita1

(1)-

(1)-

13

24

16

4

18

11

12

12

(1) Indicates a brace.
(2 )Represents both resource and capital expenditure-the split of funding (near-cash, non-cash and capital) prior to the financial year 2002-03 is not available.

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