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7 Apr 2010 : Column 1406W—continued
Croydon
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will set out with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to the Croydon Central constituency, the effects of his Department's policies on that constituency since 2005. [325823]
Ian Lucas: Since 2005, the policies and actions of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (and its predecessors) have focused on building a competitive economy and on delivering prosperity and sustainable economic growth. The implementation of BIS policy in the London borough of Croydon (information is not available specifically for the Croydon Central constituency) has been taken forward primarily by the London Development Agency and Government Office for London, working in partnership with the local authority and other relevant bodies.
Caution must be exercised in seeking to attribute directly the effects of specific measures on local economic indicators. None the less, examples of how BIS policies and actions have impacted on Croydon include:
Levels of skills have increased in Croydon since 2005 and remain at around the London and national averages:
Performance at level 2 has increased from 68.7 per cent. to 71.4 per cent.
Performance at level 3 has increased from 49.9 per cent. to 53.7 per cent.
Performance at level 4 has increased from 31.6 per cent. to 35.6 per cent.
The overall stock of registered businesses in Croydon grew from 9,000 in 2005 to 9,435 in 2007 (latest data available).
The number of businesses supported by Business Link in London has increased steadily since 2007-08, when it picked up the contract:
From 4,222 businesses accessing information in 2007-08 to 6,388 in 2009-10
From 196 businesses receiving intensive assistance in 2007-08 to 369 in 2009-10.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many designs for its (a) internal website and (b) intranet his Department and its predecessors have commissioned since 2005; and what the cost was of each such design. [321998]
Ian Lucas: The Department has commissioned four intranet designs since 2005 involving the use of external companies.
The Human Resources (HR) section of the intranet for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was substantially redesigned in 2007/08. The cost of this redesign was £16,653.
The intranet for the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was designed in-house when DIUS was created in June 2007. The intranet was redesigned in 2008/09 at a cost of £2,800 for the main DIUS intranet and £2,400 for the Government Office for Science (GO-Science) intranet.
Existing intranet designs were used when BIS was created in June 2009 by merging BERR and DIUS. The BIS intranet was updated in September 2009 at a cost of £6,400. This included the costs of software fixes and improvements. The specific costs for design are not available.
The BIS intranet is currently being redesigned to improve its accessibility and to provide staff better access to corporate information. The costs for this redesign cannot be provided as the work is not yet complete.
Departmental Video Conferencing
Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2010, Official Report, column 288W, whether his Department has made an estimate of the comparative (a) financial cost and (b) level of carbon dioxide emissions from (i) video conferencing and telepresence and (ii) travel to meetings. [325666]
Ian Lucas: At the time of considering the investment for video conferencing and telepresence facilities for the ex-DIUS Department, a cost benefit analysis was carried out which assessed potential benefits through the reduced need for travel between London and Sheffield, the then Department's two main staff locations. This estimated reduced travel for staff members to (up to) four meetings per day, is equivalent to savings of £440,000 per annum when the facilities are fully utilised. The impact on the carbon dioxide emissions directly related to this reduced travel, compared with the use of video conferencing and telepresence, was not directly factored into the original estimates.
Jarvis: Insolvency
John Mann: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will consider the provision of support for retaining the (a) jobs and (b) skills of the workforce of Jarvis plc. [325783]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government regret that, despite the support provided through the HMRC Time To Pay scheme, Jarvis Plc was unable to continue to trade. There are two principal parts of the business, the rail businesses and the Facilities Management services for PFI contracts. With regard to the rail businesses BIS are offering all available support through Jobcentre Plus and the Regional Development Agencies. This support is to help those made redundant back into the workforce, including facilitating contacts with other employers in the Rail Industry, to ensure that, where possible, their valuable skills are retained. For the Facilities Management business we and colleagues in HMT and Partnerships UK are liaising with the Administrators to work towards a smooth transition of the business and staff to new ownership.
John Mann: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Office of Rail Regulation on the entry into administration of Jarvis plc. [325784]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I have spoken to Bill Emery, the Office of Rail Regulation's chief executive on 1 April and Ian Prosser, Chief Inspector of Railways and Director of Railway Safety at the Office of Rail Regulation on 7 April.
Post Offices: Bank Services
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Post Office on the possible establishment of a Post Bank; and if he will make a statement. [324337]
Ian Lucas: I refer my hon. Friend to the written statement that my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills made to the House on 29 March 2010, Official Report, columns 73-74WS, on the issue of Post Office Banking. This sets out the Government's vision for the future of financial services at the Post Office. The Government's response to the Post Office Banking Consultation, published on the same day, details how the Government and the Post Office will work together to deliver a greatly expanded role for Post Office financial services. Copies of the Government's Response to the Post Office Banking Consultation are available in the Libraries of the House.
Students: Radicalism
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what working groups his Department has which undertake work on combating religious extremism at universities. [321686]
Mr. Lammy: There are no formal departmentally-led working groups which undertake work on combating religious extremism at universities, although the Department regularly consults with a range of stakeholders on this issue.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Rural Payments Agency expects to make the payment outstanding to the constituent of the hon. Member for North East Milton Keynes, Mr R. A. Sawbridge, registered with SBI number 106253911 and holding number 0315736. [325748]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Processing work on Mr. Sawbridge's 2009 Single Payment Scheme claim is ongoing. The claim value has not yet been finalised as there are issues yet to be resolved connected to earlier entitlement transfer activity.
It is very difficult to predict when the work will complete to allow payment to be made but the Rural Payments Agency is working hard to ensure all remaining payments are made as soon as possible.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what assessment he has made of the likely contribution to the effectiveness of his Department's bovine tuberculosis policy of eliminating that disease in wildlife; and if he will make a statement; [325570]
(2) whether he plans to take steps to (a) eliminate and (b) reduce the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in wildlife. [325572]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The key issue with bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in wildlife is when the disease is transmitted to livestock.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate issued a licence for the injectable badger vaccine on 24 March 2010. Steps are being taken to use this vaccine in badgers through the Badger Vaccine Deployment Project, which will assess and maximise the viability of using the injectable badger vaccine and to help us move towards the long term goal of an oral badger vaccine. Vaccination is not 100 per cent. effective in terms of protection. As with many other disease control strategies, vaccination is a risk reduction measure most likely to be successful in controlling bTB when considered alongside other disease control measures and not in isolation.
Government's policy is that no licences will be issued for culling badgers for the purpose of preventing the spread of bTB in cattle, although we remain open to the possibility of revisiting this policy under exceptional circumstances, or if new scientific evidence were to become available.
Bovine Tuberculosis: South West
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farms in (a) the south-west and (b) Torridge and West Devon constituency were under bovine tuberculosis restrictions on the latest date for which figures are available. [325571]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The latest data from VetNet shows that there were 2,409 herds under restriction in the Government office for the south-west county region (Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Isles
of Scilly, Somerset, Wiltshire) during the 12 months up to 31 December 2009. Of this figure 1,017 were from Devon.
DEFRA is unable to give data for areas smaller than county level and is therefore unable to provide data for Torridge and West Devon.
Please note that data downloaded from the VetNet system are provisional and subject to change as more data become available.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle in (a) the south-west and (b) Torridge and West Devon constituency have been slaughtered under his Department's bovine tuberculosis prevention policy in the last 12 months. [325573]
Jim Fitzpatrick: There were 16,230 cattle slaughtered under bovine tuberculosis measures in the Government office for the south-west county region (Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Isles of Scilly, Somerset, Wiltshire) during the 12 months up to 31 December 2009. Of this number 6,863 were from Devon.
DEFRA is unable to give data for areas smaller than county level and is therefore unable to provide data for Torridge and West Devon.
Please note that data downloaded from the VetNet system are provisional and subject to change as more data become available.
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how (a) the UK and (b) the EU voted on each agenda item at the recent CITES conference of parties in Doha. [325680]
Huw Irranca-Davies: While the majority of items discussed at the 15 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Doha were agreed by consensus after discussions, several were voted upon. The following table indicates which these were and how the UK and the EU voted on each of those occasions. In all but one instance the UK and the EU votes were the same. The voting record is as follows:
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