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29 Mar 2010 : Column 809W—continued
Brussels Forum 2010
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills who will represent the UK at the Brussels Forum 2010. [324604]
Ian Lucas: The UK will be represented by senior officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Business: Government Assistance
Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many businesses are in receipt of assistance under the Working Capital Scheme; [317255]
(2) how many businesses have applied for funding under the Working Capital Scheme since 1 November 2008. [317254]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Working Capital Scheme (WCS) has provided guarantees to two banks on portfolios of short-term loans with good credit risk in order to release regulatory capital to enable those banks to increase lending to businesses. The two banks with WCS guarantees, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, have made lending commitments of £39 billion.
Public Borrowing Review 2009 announced that as the broader asset protection scheme now provides banks with considerably greater capital release, so new portfolios will not be guaranteed under the WCS although existing portfolio guarantees will remain until March 2011. Because the WCS was only available to banks, companies were not eligible to apply.
Competition Commission: Public Relations
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2009, Official Report, column 1091W, on the Competition Commission: public relations, what briefing documents Euro RSCG Apex Communications has produced for the Competition Commission in the last three years. [324201]
Kevin Brennan: Euro RSCG Apex Communications has not produced any briefing documents for the Competition Commission. As detailed in the previous answer referred to Euro RSCG Apex Communications has provided occasional advice to the Commission over the past three years, mainly in relation to stakeholder communications. Such advice has normally been provided through meetings or by commenting on particular documents.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department provides subsidised gym facilities for its staff. [324569]
Mr. McFadden: The gym facilities in the Department are funded by subscriptions of members of the Department's Sports and Social Association or Civil Service Sports Council.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2010, Official Report, column 394W, on departmental internet, what the cost of each such website redesign was. [324889]
Mr. McFadden: Detailed information about the costs of the Department's websites since June 2007, including redesigns, is readily available on the BIS website at:
The cost of the 2006 redesign of the then DTI website was an estimated £175,000, as noted in the response to a Freedom of Information request published 16 June 2006 on the BIS website, titled 'Accessibility of DTI website' at:
Departmental Official Hospitality
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what events have been hosted by his Department in each of the last 12 months. [324106]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 25 March 2010]: The information requested is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Energy: Prices
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what powers his Department has to protect consumers from unfair competition and profiteering in respect of (a) retail motor fuel prices, (b) retail home heating oil and (c) the price of oil used by commerce and industry; and if he will make a statement. [324281]
Kevin Brennan: The Competition Act 1998 and the Enterprise Act 2002 contain a range of powers to protect consumers from unfair competition in the UK economy including the markets for petrol retailing, home heating oil and oil used by Industry.
As the UK's independent competition authority, the Office of Fair Trading has been given significant powers to investigate and enforce competition law.
These powers allow OFT to investigate agreements and practices that are designed to prevent, restrict or distort competition or abuses of market dominance.
They also allow the OFT to investigate markets where they are not working to the benefit of consumers. Sectoral regulators also have concurrent powers to investigate and enforce competition law in their relevant sectors.
The OFT will take seriously any complaints or any other information it receives about these markets and will use its powers to investigate where appropriate.
Fusion Power: Research
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much Government funding has been allocated to research and development in relation to fusion power in each year since the UK fusion programme began. [323744]
Mr. Lammy:
Figures for the Government funding of nuclear fusion research in the UK are available from financial year 1974/75 and are given as follows. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
(EPSRC) took over the responsibility for funding the fusion programme in 2003/04 and its subsequent funding is also provided.
EURATOM also fund fusion research in the UK through the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. The UK contributes indirectly to the EURATOM European fusion research programme through its payments to the EU budget.
| Financial year | UK Government expenditure on fusion research (£ million) |
| Financial year | EPSRC funding for fusion research (£million) |
Higher Education: Admissions
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham of 5 February 2010, Official Report, columns 594-96W, on higher education: free school meals, if he will provide the figures by (a) constituency and (b) local authority. [324833]
Mr. Lammy:
The following figures show pupils who were in English maintained schools and aged 15 at the start of academic years 2001/02 and 2002/03 who progressed to HE by the age of 19 (in 2005/06 and 2006/07 respectively)
by local authority. Figures are not available by parliamentary constituency. 2005/06 is the earliest year for which these figures are available.
Care should be exercised when comparing figures across local authorities as the numbers of free school meal children will vary significantly at local authority
level. These figures have been estimated using matched data from the National Pupil Database, the Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record and the Learning and Skills Council Individualised Learner Record. Figures for 2007/08 will be available later this year.
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