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21 Jun 2010 : Column 95W—continued
Regional Development Agencies
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what activity (a) each regional development agency and (b) the National Secretariat for Regional Development Agencies undertook prior to the general election to (i) lobby and (ii) communicate with Parliamentary candidates who were not previously hon. Members. [2430]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 15 June 2010]: In the 12 months up to the May 2010 general election purdah period, Regional Development Agencies responded to prospective parliamentary candidates' requests for information and meetings on RDA activity and role within the region where they were made.
As my hon. Friend for Burton will be aware, Advantage West Midlands did approach a number of prospective Parliamentary candidates before the 2010 General Election to ascertain their view of regional economic development, functions carried out by regional development agencies and their thoughts on the future implementation of economic development and regeneration. This was an information gathering exercise designed to help AWM gauge local opinion as part of AWM's normal stakeholder relations process. At no time were these meetings used, or intended to be used, for lobbying on behalf of AWM.
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what timetable he has set for the conclusion of the review of the future of regional development agencies. [3333]
Mr Prisk: We will be providing further details about the replacement of regional development agencies with local enterprise partnerships shortly.
Education
Children: Social Services
Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which local authorities have received funding under the Aiming High for children scheme; and what plans he has for that scheme after March 2011. [3112]
Sarah Teather: All local authorities in England received funding from The Aiming High for Disabled Children programme. Future plans for Government's funding for support of disabled children and their families will be finalised as part of the spending review which will report in the autumn.
This Government announced in May, as part of £6.2 billion savings from central Government, a commitment to invest in respite breaks for carers of severely disabled children from 2011-12, using recycled funding from the Government's contributions to the Children's Trust Fund.
Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children have received assistance under the Aiming High for children scheme. [3113]
Sarah Teather: The Aiming High for Disabled Children programme has provided funding to improve services for disabled children and their families in all local authorities in England. Since funding is provided to local areas, we do not keep central records of the number of children that have received assistance from the programme.
For the short breaks/respite care element of the programme, we can estimate from the data we use to support local authorities' delivery of the programme that in the 21 pathfinder authorities more than 18,000 children have received a short break since 2007-08. Data on non-pathfinders will be available in the summer.
Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment has been made of the outcomes of the Aiming High for children scheme. [3114]
Sarah Teather: There are a number of formal evaluations to assess the outcomes of the various strands of the Aiming High for Disabled Children Programme: evaluation of the short breaks element will be published in May 2011; the evaluation of the Individual Budget Pilots will be published in June 2011; and the Disabled Children's access to Childcare (DCATCH) is expected to be published in the summer of 2011.
In addition, parents of disabled children have been surveyed about their satisfaction with services for their children as part of a National Indicator.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to set out the schemes and programmes of his Department for which funding will be reduced or withdrawn. [877]
Michael Gove: I set out the breakdown of my Department's planned savings for 2010-11 in a letter to the right hon. Member for Morley and Outwood (Ed Balls) on 7 June 2010. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Libraries.
Ed Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education from which of his Department's budgets he plans to make savings in 2010-11 totalling £670 million. [1204]
Michael Gove [holding answer 7 June 2010]: I refer the right hon. Member to my letter of 7 June 2010, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries.
Treasury
Child Tax Credit
Ann Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effect on net individual incomes of qualifying families in (i) each region of England, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland of a reduction in the present qualifying threshold for the family element of child tax credit of (A) £10,000, (B) £20,000 and (C) £30,000. [1903]
Justine Greening: No such research has been commissioned or evaluated separately.
This was the arrangement under previous administrations and has not changed.
Credit Unions
Mr Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on encouraging growth in the (a) number of and (b) number of members of credit unions. [2921]
Mr Hoban [holding answer 17 June 2010]: As set out in the coalition document, the Government will bring forward detailed proposals to foster diversity, promote mutuals and create a more competitive banking industry.
Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on (a) de-regulation and (b) expansion of credit union services; and if he will make a statement. [3228]
Mr Hoban: As set out in the coalition agreement, the Government will bring forward detailed proposals to foster diversity, promote mutuals and create a more competitive banking industry.
Departmental Reviews
Andrew Miller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2010, Official Report, column 137W, on Government departments: reviews, what reviews his Department is undertaking; and what the (a) purpose and (b) timescale of each is. [2576]
Justine Greening: The Coalition Agreement sets out in detail the Government's future plans, including the key reviews it will be undertaking. The Department will bring forward detailed information about these reviews in due course.
Equitable Life Assurance Society: Chester
Stephen Mosley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Equitable Life policyholders are resident in city of Chester constituency. [3083]
Mr Hoban: The Treasury does not hold the details of the number of Equitable Life policyholders resident in city of Chester constituency.
There has been no analysis to date of the distribution across the UK of those who have suffered loss.
Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation
Mr Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 26 May 2010, Official Report, columns 1-2WS, on Equitable Life, what the functions of the independent commission to determine the designs of the payment scheme will be; for how long he expects the commission to operate; how many members of the commission there will be; how they will be recruited; and at what level they will be remunerated. [2922]
Mr Hoban [holding answer 17 June 2010]: The Government have announced that they will establish an independent commission to determine the design of the scheme.
Further details on the commission will be announced in due course.
Northwest Regional Development Agency
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 26 May 2010, Official Report, columns 2-3WS, on savings (2010-11), whether property owned by the North West Regional Development Agency will be included in the proposed £170 million reduction in costs of Government property. [1736]
Mr Prisk: I have been asked to reply.
The £170 million funding is an estimate of the amount which property sales will contribute to the Government's £6 billion savings target. The eight regional development agencies outside London will be making a contribution to Government's overall savings target of £270 million. No final decisions have been made on which of the RDAs projects will be affected.
Public Expenditure
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether there will be a Barnett consequential as a result of reductions in expenditure in the National Affordable Housing Programme in addition to the consequential that was announced on 24 May 2010. [3055]
Danny Alexander: Reductions in expenditure in the National Affordable Housing Programme were announced as part of the £6.2 billion cuts announced on 24 May. The Barnett consequentials for the Welsh Assembly Government of the £6.2 billion cuts, including these, were announced on 24 May.
Public Sector: Redundancy Pay
John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what powers he has to limit the level of high-value severance packages paid to public sector employees. [652]
Danny Alexander: Severance packages are generally agreed by the relevant public sector employer, within parameters that have been set out for that employer with the responsible Minister's agreement and which have previously been approved by the Treasury. However, Departments are required to seek prior Treasury approval before they can make or approve any novel or contentious payment that falls outside such parameters, including any with a value in excess of the maximum that is contractually due. Details on the requirements for such specific Treasury approval are set out in 'Managing Public Money' Annex 4.13.
Taxation: Overseas Companies
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to ensure that multi-national companies registered in the UK report on their annual taxation paid in each country; [2837]
(2) if he will bring forward proposals for the introduction of country-by-country taxation reporting by companies registered in the UK; [2895]
(3) what his policy is on the reporting of taxation paid in overseas countries by companies registered in the UK. [2894]
Mr Gauke: The OECD's Task Force on Tax and Development is currently conducting a detailed examination of the issue of country-by-country reporting. The Government look forward to seeing the outcome of this work.
Working Tax Credit: Carers
Helen Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to amend the system of working tax credits for carers. [3475]
Justine Greening: There are no current plans to amend the system of working tax credit for carers but the Government keeps all aspects of the tax credits system under review as part of the Budget.
Cabinet Office
Business: Closures
Simon Reevell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many retail shops have closed in Dewsbury constituency in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [2481]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many retail shops have closed in Dewsbury constituency in each of the last five years. [2481]
Annual statistics on business births, deaths and survival are available from the ONS release on Business Demography at:
Information on the number of enterprise deaths by parliamentary constituency is only available from 2005 onwards. The table below contains the latest statistics available.
| Count of retail enterprise deaths in Dewsbury from 2005-08 | ||||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
Simon Reevell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate has been made of the number of small businesses which have closed in (a) Dewsbury constituency and (b) Kirklees local authority area in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [2482]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2010:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of the number of small businesses which have closed in (a) Dewsbury constituency and (b) Kirklees local authority area in each year since 1997. [2482]
Annual statistics on business births, deaths and survival are available from the ONS release on Business Demography at:
Information on the number of enterprise deaths by parliamentary constituency is only available from 2005 onwards. The table below contains the latest statistics available on small (less than 50 employment) enterprise deaths in Dewsbury Parliamentary Constituency from 2005 to 2008 and Kirklees local authority area from 2002 to 2008.
| The count of enterprise deaths with less than 50 employment from 2002-08 | ||
| Dewsbury | Kirklees | |
| (1) Not Available. | ||
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