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18 Oct 2010 : Column 592W—continued
| Genital herpes | Genital warts | |||
| % | Number/total | % | Number/total | |
| Diagnoses of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, genital herpes and genital warts in patients over 44 years as a percentage of all diagnoses made in genitourinary medicine clinics in the UK, 2000-09 | ||||||
| Chlamydia | Gonorrhoea | Syphilis | ||||
| % | (Number /total) | % | (Number /total) | % | (Number /total) | |
Sleep Apnoea
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues to GPs on raising awareness of the symptoms and risks for drivers of obstructive sleep apnoea. [17157]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not issue guidance to general practitioners on this matter.
Social Services: Finance
Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of adult social care in Warwickshire in (a) 2020, (b) 2040 and (c) 2060. [17426]
Paul Burstow: We have not made any estimates concerning the future cost of adult social care in Warwickshire.
The funding of care and support is one of the biggest challenges faced by society today. Because of our ageing population and advances in healthcare, we expect the number of older people and younger adults with a potential care need to increase by around 1.7 million over the next 20 years. This is double the present number receiving publicly funded care. Urgent reform is needed to ensure there is a fair partnership between the state and the individual in meeting care costs; help people protect their assets; and give individuals and carers more control over their care and support.
This debate has continued for too long without a solution. So the Government established the Commission on the Funding of Care and Support in July this year to make recommendations on how to achieve a fair and sustainable funding system for care and support for all adults in England. The Commission will present its recommendations to the Chancellor and the Secretary of State by the end of June 2011.
Social Services: Older People
Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the effect on local authority health care budgets of the cost of provision of care services for the elderly in the next five years. [17528]
Paul Burstow: The Department routinely considers the impact of the needs of older people on local authority budgets.
Stem Cells
Nicky Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had on the future of stem cell research (a) nationally and (b) in the East Midlands. [16925]
Mr Willetts: I have been asked to reply.
I have not had any recent discussions on the future of stem cell research, either nationally or in the east midlands. The Research Councils are the principal public funders of stem cell research. In keeping with the Haldane Principle, decisions about scientific priorities are left to those best placed to evaluate the scientific efficacy of proposed research.
I took part in the BioIndustry Association (BIA) Regenerative Medicine Industry Group press briefing on 22 September. The purpose of the day was to promote the benefits that translating the UK's world class stem cell research can bring to the nation's health and wealth.
Tobacco: Retail Trade
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury of 8 September 2010, Official Report, column 567W, on display of tobacco products, (1) if he will consult (a) retailers, (b) the Regulatory Policy Committee and (c) other affected parties on the options for the display of tobacco products in shops; [16414]
(2) if he will conduct an impact assessment in respect of options for the display of tobacco products in shops. [16415]
Anne Milton: Options for regulating the display of tobacco products were included in the 2008 publication 'Consultation on the future of tobacco control', to which the Department of Health received nearly 100,000 responses. In 2009 a further consultation was carried out on the detail of draft tobacco display regulations, 'Consultation on proposed tobacco control regulations for England (under the Health bill 2009)'. In the light of responses to that consultation, changes were made to the final regulations which aimed to reduce burdens on retailers while balancing their concerns with those of public health groups. During this process retailers, and other affected parties were consulted.
The Government, in discussions across Whitehall, are developing options around the display of tobacco in shops that seek to ensure an appropriate balance between public health priorities and burdens on business, taking into account the previous consultations and ongoing conversations with stakeholders.
No decision has yet been made but should there be a change to the current regulations (the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion (Display)(England) Regulations 2010) then a new impact assessment would be developed and consideration would be given to whether further consultation with retailers, the Regulatory Policy Committee, or other affected parties, the would be necessary.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Aimhigher Programme: Merseyside
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Aim Higher Greater Merseyside partnership in enabling young people to progress to higher education. [13748]
Mr Willetts: The Aimhigher programme is managed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and delivered through 42 partnerships of schools, colleges and universities in England. HEFCE ensures effective delivery of the programme through annual monitoring and approval of partnership delivery plans.
Analysis of data shows that, over the period 2004-09, the number of applicants from 11-18 schools in Greater Merseyside receiving intensive Aimhigher support increased more than twice as quickly as those from 11-18 schools receiving less Aimhigher support. Over the same period, accepted applicants from 11-18 schools receiving intensive Aimhigher support rose more than twice as quickly as those from 11-18 schools receiving less Aimhigher support. This analysis is not able to separate out the effect of Aimhigher from that of other factors.
Apprentices
Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department has provided to the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network in each year since its inception; and if he will make a statement. [16893]
Mr Hayes: The following table shows the funding provided to the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) each year since its inception in 2006.
| Financial year | Full year spend (£) |
| (1) AAN was established part way through the 2006-07 financial year. Note: The budget for 2010-11 financial year is £300,000. | |
The Apprenticeship Ambassador Network provides feedback to the Government on issues which affect the
quality and effectiveness of apprenticeships; and as ambassadors, encourages the business community, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to offer apprenticeships.
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations he has received on reforming funding for apprenticeships for persons aged (a) 19 and over and (b) 25 and over; and if he will make a statement. [17971]
Mr Hayes: The Department's recent consultation on "A Simplified Further Education and Skills Funding System and Methodology" sought views on simplifying funding rates for post-19 provision including apprenticeship framework rates. Over 350 responses have been received to the consultation which closed on 14 October. This includes responses from representative organisations and key stakeholders across the sector.
In parallel our "Skills for sustainable growth: consultation on the future direction of skills policy" outlined our vision for skills and what we expect to be the key elements of a strategy for delivering it. Apprenticeships are an important element of our plans and we are currently considering over 120 responses received.
We expect to communicate the outcomes from both consultations this autumn.
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department operates an apprenticeship scheme. [17982]
Mr Davey: This Department does operate an apprenticeships scheme.
Broadband: Derbyshire
Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of homes which have access to (a) a dial-up internet connection, (b) broadband and (c) high-speed broadband in (i) Derbyshire and (ii) High Peak constituency. [17870]
Mr Vaizey: This Department has made no such estimate. However, Broadband Delivery UK is assessing current broadband provision at community level in its work on delivery of the Coalition Government's superfast broadband and universal broadband access commitments.
Business Link: Skipton
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses operating in Skipton and Ripon constituency have (a) contacted, (b) applied for support and (c) received support from Business Link in each of the last five years. [17193]
Mr Prisk: Applications to Business Link for support are not recorded on a constituency basis. However, figures are available for the Craven and Harrogate local authority areas in North Yorkshire. Skipton is a parish within the Craven district and Ripon is a parish within the borough of Harrogate. The number of businesses accessing support from Business Link Yorkshire in the Craven and Harrogate local authority areas in each of the last five years is as follows:
| Reporting period | Number of businesses contacted Business Link | Number of businesses that received intensive assistance from an adviser |
Other types of support received by SMEs via Business Link in the last five years are as follows:
Up to March 2008 the service provider was Business Link North Yorkshire and from April 2008 it was Y&H IDB Ltd. The service provider prior to April 2008 has now ceased trading and therefore it has not been possible to gather all the information requested.
Business: Co-ownership
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether officials of his Department provide information on co-ownership structures to businesses. [17242]
Mr Davey: The Department is currently examining the information made available on:
and through other channels, to ensure that businesses and other organisations are able to make appropriate choices about the legal forms and ownership structures that best suit their operations.
The Government are committed to encouraging new and existing businesses to consider the benefits of models which enable co-ownership and engagement by employees, by customers or by wider communities-while acknowledging that such models will not be appropriate for all businesses.
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will review the financial performance of the co-owned sector at company level. [17244]
Mr Davey: The Department has already examined the available evidence, which suggests that business models which enable co-ownership, for example by employees and customers, can provide benefits in terms of business performance. It does not consider that a further review is necessary.
The Government are therefore committed to encouraging new and existing businesses to consider the benefits of such models-while acknowledging that they will not be appropriate for all businesses.
Business: Government Assistance
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps he has taken to increase access to finance for small businesses in Witham constituency. [17403]
Mr Prisk: The coalition Government have articulated their ambition to ensure the flow of credit to viable SMEs. Our consultation on business finance issues "Financing a private sector recovery" closed on 20 September, and received many responses from a wide range of firms, business representative bodies, individuals and investors. I am currently considering the Government's response which will be given shortly and which will feed into the forthcoming Growth White Paper. The Growth White Paper will set out the Government's strategy for promoting sustainable growth and creating a stable environment that enable businesses to grow with confidence.
There are various measures already in place to support access to finance for SMEs. I aim to continue to support and improve the diversity of sources and access to finance for SMEs that meet their needs. Such sources of finance available to SMEs including those in your constituency of Witham were announced by the Chancellor in the budget:
A £200 million extension to the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), to benefit around 2,000 extra small businesses. In total, the EFG will now support up to £700 million in bank lending to viable small businesses. As at 6 October 2010, 16 businesses in the constituency of Witham have been offered loans totalling £2.69 million, of which, 15 businesses have drawn down £2.65 million.
A new Enterprise Capital Fund to support small businesses with high growth potential-combining both Government and private sector funding.
Confirmation of a Growth Capital Fund, to provide funding of between £2 million and £10 million for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) with strong growth potential.
We are also shortly expecting recommendations from the banking industry taskforce, led by the British Bankers Association, which was announced in the Green Paper.
Business: Performance Standards
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will bring forward legislative proposals to (a) establish overall four band rating of a company's social and environmental performance and (b) place a duty on companies to indicate such ratings on the products they produce. [17240]
Mr Davey: We have no current plans to legislate in these areas.
Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus
Mrs Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will assess the contribution of the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus to the UK science base; and if he will make a statement. [17728]
Mr Willetts: The Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus was created in 2006 to build upon the science and technology facilities at the Daresbury Laboratory. The development of the campus has included the establishment of the Daresbury Innovation Centre for new businesses and the Cockcroft Institute, a world class centre for accelerator science. Over £20 million of investment has been secured to date by the campus' tenant companies.
In 2009, Daresbury won the UK Science Park Association (UKSPA) award of 'Outstanding Science Park'. The Science and Technology Facilities Council, the North West Development Agency and Halton borough council are currently seeking a commercial partner to develop the campus further.
Debts: Advisory Services
Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will provide additional (a) guidance and (b) resources to citizens advice bureaux and other debt advisory services to deal with the rising numbers of people facing insolvency. [17563]
Mr Davey: Over the summer, Treasury officials undertook an internal review of Government support for debt advice to help support ministerial decisions in the context of the spending review. Officials have actively been seeking views and advice from other Government Departments and the debt advice sector, which includes Citizens Advice and other debt advice agencies to draw together evidence for the review. We want to ensure that the Government could in future secure the best possible value for taxpayers' money from any public support for debt advice.
In addition, I have launched a review of consumer credit and personal insolvency jointly with Mark Hoban and a call for evidence in support of the review was published on 15 October.
Departmental Communication
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what instructions have been issued by the private office of each Minister in his Department on the preparation of briefing, speeches and replies to official correspondence. [9657]
Mr Davey: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Departmental Drinking Water
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent on bottled water in each year since 2008. [16880]
Mr Davey: Since 2008 the Department spent the following on mains fed bottled water:
| £ | |
| (1) year to date | |
Departmental NDPBs
Joseph Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress he has made in reducing the number of non-governmental public bodies and executive agencies sponsored by his Department. [17347]
Mr Prisk: We are taking radical steps to reform the network of bodies sponsored by my Department. We have announced that we are abolishing 17 partner organisations, merging eight, reconstituting two as charities in the private sector, and giving further consideration to the future of nine more. Full details of all the changes to BIS partner organisations can be found at:
To support this work the Government have announced a Public Bodies Bill, to give Ministers the power to abolish or merge public bodies, or transfer their functions to other bodies.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress he has made in reducing the number of non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies sponsored by his Department in the East of England. [17405]
Mr Davey: As part of the public bodies streamlining programme, regional development agencies, including the East of England Development Agency, will be abolished and functions which are to be retained will be transferred to central or local government or other bodies.
To support this work the Government have announced a Public Bodies Bill to give Ministers the power to abolish or merge public bodies, or transfer their functions to other bodies.
There are no plans to abolish or merge any other BIS-sponsored bodies based in the East of England.
The others are the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board, based in Hertfordshire, Construction Skills, based in King's Lynn and Official Receiver's offices in Cambridge, Ipswich, Southend and Norwich.
Departmental Responsibilities
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what plans he has for the future of his Department's automotive unit; [16761]
(2) what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's automotive unit. [16762]
Mr Prisk: No specific assessment of the effectiveness of the Department's automotive unit has been made although I am aware of the high regard in which this and many other teams in BIS are held. The activities of all parts of the Department will be reviewed in the light of the outcome of the Spending Review to be announced on 20 October 2010.
East of England Development Agency: Great Yarmouth
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to ensure that the income from assets held in Great Yarmouth by the East of England Development Agency will be re-allocated to Great Yarmouth for development and regeneration purposes after the Agency is closed. [17861]
Mr Prisk: This Department is currently working with the East of England Development Agency to gather a full picture of all their assets and liabilities. No decisions have yet been made on the future of these assets. The Government's aim is to use funding for economic development as effectively as possible and to target resources where they are most needed. Consideration will be given to options for disposal, transfer, or retention of these assets consistent with the Government's commitment to localism.
Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme
Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the monetary value is of guarantees (a) applied for and (b) granted under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme in the latest period for which figures are available. [17879]
Mr Prisk: Under the enterprise finance guarantee, as of 6 October 2010, almost 12,200 businesses have been offered loans with a value of £1.24 billion. Of which, over 10,400 businesses have drawn down loans totalling almost £1.05 billion.
The Department plays no role in the application or decision-making process. Businesses may apply for a loan from any one of the accredited participating lenders who will assess which form of lending, including an enterprise finance guarantee backed loan, is appropriate. We do not hold figures for those businesses which are instead offered a normal commercial loan, or are rejected for failing to meet the lender's commercial criteria.
A Government guarantee of up to 75% of the outstanding balance of the loan is payable to the lender in the event that a business defaults on their loan repayments.
Export Credit Guarantees
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether all applicants for Export Credits Guarantee Department support are informed of his Department's policy on child and forced labour. [17097]
Mr Davey: Applications for ECGD support that fall within the ambit of the OECD Council Recommendation on Common Approaches on the Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits (the Common Approaches) are screened by ECGD for potential environmental, social and human rights impacts, including potential use of harmful child and forced labour. This screening is undertaken in compliance with ECGD's published policy to comply with all international agreements which apply to the operations of export credit agencies, including the Common Approaches. The Common Approaches requires that relevant projects should meet international standards, usually those of the World Bank Group. The International Finance Corporation's Performance Standard 2 which covers Labour and Working Conditions addresses harmful child and forced labour issues. ECGD has published guidance on its website on the processes and factors in ECGD's consideration of applications. This guidance explains the applicability of the Common Approaches to the provision of its
Further Education: Capital Investment
Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many further education colleges he expects to receive capital funding from his Department in 2010-11. [17346]
Mr Hayes: The Skills Funding Agency has budgeted to support 288 colleges with capital funding during 2010-11. Support includes funding for projects completed during the year as well as those currently underway from both the mainstream FE capital fund and the recent £50 million renewal and enhanced renewal grant funds.
Further Education: Curriculum
Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to enable further education colleges to offer additional (a) degrees and (b) diploma level courses. [17561]
Mr Willetts: Further education colleges are a vital component of the higher education landscape, offering a range of higher education qualifications including diplomas, foundation degrees and degrees, and providing accessible learning to approximately 10% of students in the sector.
Enhancing the contribution of further education colleges to higher education is one of a number of institutional issues in the wake of Lord Browne's independent review of higher education and student finance which requires
thorough debate and consultation. We intend therefore to publish a Higher Education White Paper with detailed proposals to which experts from the sector can react, leading, subject to Parliamentary time, to a Higher Education Bill in autumn 2011.
Further Education: Degrees
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with further education colleges and universities on the provision of degrees in further education colleges. [17685]
Mr Willetts: Ministerial colleagues and I have regular discussions with representatives of universities and colleges covering a wide range of policy interests, including the provision of higher education in further education colleges.
Further education colleges are a vital component of the higher education landscape, offering a range of higher education qualifications including diplomas, foundation degrees and degrees, and providing accessible learning to approximately 10% of students in the sector.
Further Education: Finance
Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for expenditure on further education college buildings in the next three years. [17290]
Mr Hayes [holding answer 14 October 2010]: The Skills Funding Agency has budgeted to support 288 colleges with capital funding during 2010-11. Support includes funding for projects completed during the year as well as those currently under way from both the mainstream FE capital fund and the recent £50 million renewal and enhanced renewal grant funds. Capital funding beyond this period will be subject to the outcome of the comprehensive spending review.
Higher Education: Admissions
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the percentage change was in the number of students from low income backgrounds entering higher education between (a) 1980 and 1997 and (b) 1997 and 2010. [17314]
Mr Willetts: This information is not held centrally.
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his most recent estimate is of the proportion of school leavers in low-participation neighbourhoods entering higher education. [17773]
Mr Willetts: Information on the proportion of school leavers from low participation neighbourhoods entering higher education is not available.
However, the latest available information from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) estimates that 19% of young people (aged 18 or 19) from low participation neighbourhoods in England entered higher education in the 2009/10 academic year. This information is taken from the HEFCE report "Trends in young participation in higher education: core results
for England" (2010/03), which was published in January of this year. The key findings of the report and the full report can be found at this link:
Higher Education: Chester
Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what percentage of school leavers in City of Chester constituency entered university in the last 12 months. [17741]
Mr Willetts: Information on the percentage of school leavers who progress to higher education is not available at constituency level, therefore local authority data have been provided as an alternative.
36% of pupils aged 15 in 2003/04 from maintained schools in Cheshire local authority progressed to higher education by age 19 in 2007/08.
Higher Education: Grants
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the monetary value is of the higher education teaching grant for 2010-11; and what the Barnett consequentials are of that grant in respect of the block grant to the Scottish Executive. [17735]
Mr Willetts: In the Secretary of State's Grant Letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England of 24 June 2010, the level of teaching grant was £5,107 million for 2010-11. As this budget area is devolved to England, there is no consequence for the block grant to the Scottish Executive.
Higher Education: Overseas Students
Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many students from EU member states other than the UK received funding from the Government to attend a university in the UK in each year from 2005 to 2010; and what the cost to the public purse was of such funding in each such year; [16886]
(2) how many students from non-EU countries received funding from his Department to attend a university in the UK in each year from 2005 to 2010; and at what cost to the public purse in each such year. [16887]
Mr Willetts: The information is as follows:
The following table presents the headcount number of undergraduate and taught postgraduate students attending higher education institutions in England who are funded by the English Government Departments via the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Note that fundable students domiciled outside the EU will all have a relevant connection to the EU, eg armed forces stationed overseas, diplomatic service.
2008/09 is the most recent year for which figures are currently available; figures for 2009/10 will be available in early 2011.
| Number of fundable undergraduate and taught postgraduate students at higher education institutions in England, by domicile group (headcount, thousand, academic years 2005/06 to 2008/09) | ||||
| Domicile | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 | 2008/09 |
| Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data, via Higher Education Funding Council for England. | ||||
Total HEFCE recurrent grant for teaching, which also funds higher education studied in further education colleges and some postgraduate research courses is in the region of £5 billion per year. It is not possible to provide a precise breakdown of cost by domicile because HEFCE funding reflects the different costs of different modes, levels and price groups (ie classroom and laboratory based subjects). But if funding was distributed equally across these domicile groups according to the numbers of full-time equivalent student numbers, an estimate of the teaching grant costs of these groups would be:
| HEFCE recurrent grant for teaching (£ million, cash terms, academic years 2005/06 to 2008/09, by domicile) | ||||
| Domicile | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 | 2008/09 |
| Sources: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data, via Higher Education Funding Council for England; and Department for Business and Innovation and Skills' (and predecessors) 'Grant Letters' to the Higher Education Funding Council for England. | ||||
Under EC law, European Union (EU) students are eligible to the same access to education as those from the member state. Tuition fee loans are paid directly to the higher education institution, not the student. EU nationals are generally eligible for tuition fee support only, provided that they have been ordinarily resident in the European economic area (EEA) or Switzerland for the three years prior to the first day of the first academic year of their course. Certain EC nationals and those from the wider EEA (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) who are exercising a treaty right to work in the UK (EEA migrant workers) may also be entitled to claim maintenance support in the form of grants and loans.
EU nationals have been eligible to apply for tuition fee loans since their introduction in academic year 2006/07. Borrowers do not become liable to repay until the April following graduation which means that the majority of EU students were not liable to repay until April 2010.
| Tuition fee loans to EU students studying in England | ||
| Academic year | Number of loans | Sum borrowed (£ million) |
| Source: Student Loans Company | ||
EU nationals who have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the three years prior to the first day of the first academic year of their course may also qualify for maintenance loans. In addition, certain EEA and Swiss migrant workers and specified family members, children of Swiss nationals and children of Turkish workers in the UK may be eligible for the full support package provided that they satisfy specific residence conditions.
Student support is not generally available to students from non-EU countries.
Internet: Wi-fi
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 14 July 2010, Official Report, column 804W, on the internet: wi-fi, if he will issue guidance to proprietors of premises offering wireless internet access on the provisions on illegal file-sharing in the Digital Economy Act 2010. [16669]
Mr Vaizey: We remain confident that the implementation of the initial obligations under the online infringement of copyright provisions in the Digital Economy Act 2010 will not cause undue difficulties for premises offering wireless internet access. We have said that there are simple and proportionate steps such bodies can adopt but I do not think that it would be appropriate for the Government to issue the guidance suggested. Different networks and local set-ups will call for different approaches and measures, and in our view the best source of authoritative advice will be the supplier of internet services to the premises.
Local Enterprise Partnerships
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his timetable is for the introduction of local enterprise partnerships; and if he will make a statement. [17400]
Mr Prisk: We received 58 outline proposals for local enterprise partnerships in response to the joint letter from the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, dated 29 June.
Ministers are currently examining the proposals in detail, looking at how they will support economic growth, before providing feedback to partnerships in due course. More details on local enterprise partnership policy will be set out in the White Paper on sub-national growth due to be published later in the autumn.
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many local enterprise partnerships he expects to be established. [17856]
Mr Prisk: The development of local enterprise partnerships is a bottom up process. No estimate has been made on the optimal number of LEPs to be established. We wish to enable partnerships to better reflect the natural economic geography of the areas they serve and hence to cover real functional economic and travel to work areas. In addition, we would expect that partnerships to be of sufficient size to be able to have a strategic oversight of the area covered.
Local Enterprise Partnerships: East of England
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many local enterprise partnership bids covering (a) all and (b) part of the East of England his Department has received. [17860]
Mr Prisk: No local enterprise partnership proposals have been submitted that cover the entire East of England region. Proposals received that cover part of and are contained within the East of England Region are:
East Anglia (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and North Essex)
Norfolk
Hertfordshire
Proposals received that cover more than one region including the East of England are:
Greater Cambridge and Greater Peterborough
South East Midlands
Kent and Greater Essex
Mature Students: Bexley
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of mature students resident in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency who are undertaking (a) part-time and (b) full-time degree courses. [17683]
Mr Willetts: The latest information from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) shows in the 2008/09 academic year, there were 225 part-time and 385 full-time mature (aged over 21) first degree enrolments at UK higher education institutions from Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
Figures for the 2009/10 academic year will be available in January 2011. The Department has recently received updated parliamentary constituency data therefore figures may not match those previously published. Figures exclude students studying degree courses in further education colleges as the Department does not hold these data at constituency level.
Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations he has received on the merits of research and development tax incentives for the car and motor manufacturing industries. [16909]
Mr Prisk: The automotive trade association (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) and a number of companies have discussed R&D tax incentives for the automotive sector with this Department recently. Taxation is, of course, a matter for HM Treasury.
Overseas Trade: Philippines
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations he has received on trade with the Philippines; what steps he is taking to increase trade with the Philippines; and if he will make a statement. [R] [17385]
Mr Prisk: The Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), has had no recent visitors from the Philippines.
To help deliver the Government's ambitious growth and prosperity agenda, the Philippines has been identified by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as one of South East Asia's six emerging powers.
UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), whose parent departments are the FCO and BIS, lead on trade and investment promotion with the Philippines. The UKTI team in the Philippines is delivering the full range of commercial services to British companies and participates in Asia task force promotional events in the UK. These events are supported by Ministers, wherever possible, and highlight business opportunities in Asia, including the Philippines, at various venues throughout the UK. Recent events were in London on 8 July and Manchester on 9 July. Future events will take place in Bristol, Newcastle and Hinckley between 23 and 25 November.
Part-time Education: Bexley
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of students resident in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency who are undertaking part-time higher education courses. [17684]
Mr Willetts: The latest information from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) shows in the 2008/09 academic year, there were 850 part-time enrolments on HE courses in UK higher education institutions from Bexleyheath and Crayford parliamentary constituency. This covers students on both undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
Figures for the 2009/10 academic year will be available in January 2011. The Department has recently received updated parliamentary constituency data therefore figures may not match those previously published. Figures exclude students studying degree courses in further education colleges as the Department does not hold these data at constituency level.
Power Stations
Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what programmes his Department has in place for encouraging best practice in power generation in respect of operations and maintenance services. [17178]
Charles Hendry: I have been asked to reply.
The Department has no programmes that are specifically related to best practice in the operation and maintenance of power generation plants. Government set the regulatory framework under which electricity generation plants operate. This framework, supported by requirements set out in Environmental and Health and Safety legislation and in the grid code, gives the owners of electricity generation plants a commercial incentive to ensure that their plant is reliable. This creates an incentive to ensure that operations and maintenance services are carried out in an efficient and timely manner to support the Government's security of supply objectives.
Public Expenditure
Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what funds were (a) bid for and (b) allocated during the most recent bidding round for Enterprise Capital Funds. [17880]
Mr Prisk: The Enterprise Capital Fund (ECF) does not have bidding rounds in the award of its funds. It is a rolling programme, assessing bids as they come forward and there are currently nine ECFs with a total commitment of £237 million. A further ECF mandate was announced at Budget in June 2010 providing up to £37.5 million commitment.
Capital for Enterprise Ltd., the body established to manage the Government's equity gap funds has a pipeline of potential ECF managers and, subject to the outcome of the spending review, expects to award further mandates on a rolling basis.
Regional Development Agencies
Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the costs it will incur in ending regional development agencies. [17329]
Mr Prisk: It is not possible at present to estimate RDA closure costs. The work will be undertaken in a way that seeks to protect taxpayers' interests.
Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether regional development agencies are to be required to fulfil their remaining duties under contracts they have entered into. [17410]
Mr Prisk: As part of closure it is expected that RDAs will review their existing contractual commitments to see if there are opportunities to novate or exit, either in accordance with break clauses or with the consent of other parties. It is expected that RDAs will consider contracts on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the rights of contractual counterparties and with a view to protecting both taxpayers' interests and the delivery of key projects.
Royal Mail
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of Royal Mail. [17406]
Mr Davey: Royal Mail is taking forward the modernisation of the business through the implementation of its transformation plan. An agreement has been reached with the Communication Workers Union that paves the way for this modernisation over the next three years. The plans will improve the operational efficiency of the company as it faces the challenge of falling market volumes and competition from other postal operators and other communications media.
The Government welcome the progress of the modernisation programme so far which has been achieved with the co-operation of the work force.
On 13 October, we introduced the Postal Services Bill which will enable Royal Mail to access private sector capital for future investment and modernisation of the business. The Bill will also enable the Government to tackle Royal Mail's pension deficit and put in place a new regulatory regime for the postal sector.
Science: Economic Growth
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that the science and innovation sector contributes to economic growth. [17407]
Mr Willetts: Science and innovation are critical to our future prosperity and strongly supported by this Government. As part of the spending review, we are continuing to strengthen the way we support science and innovation, and improving the way they contribute to economic growth.
Small Businesses: Coastal Areas
Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on the provision of support for small and medium-sized enterprises based in coastal towns. [17867]
Mr Prisk: We are committed to renewing and strengthening local economies, including those of coastal towns-and are enabling business and local authorities located in genuine economic areas to come together to form local enterprise partnerships (LEPs). LEPs will provide strategic leadership in their areas to set out local economic priorities, creating the right environment for business and growth and responding to local needs. We are currently considering the proposals we have received, looking at how they will support economic growth, before providing feedback to partnerships ahead of the publication of the White Paper on sub-national economic growth and the introduction of the Localism Bill.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for more than 99% of private businesses, and their performance and activity is a key driver of the UK economy. If we are to promote growth, we need to support small businesses by addressing the challenges they face. Whilst acknowledging that there may be separate issues for coastal towns, which will be addressed in their locality by their LEP, we have recently announced a series of measures to address the generic issues for SMEs in the UK has a whole, which include: ensuring we have a predictable tax system that rewards endeavour; enabling better access to both debt and equity finance; and reducing red tape.
To make sure the tax system rewards endeavour and encourages SMEs to grow and thrive, we announced a rise in entrepreneurs' relief lifetime limit from £2 million to £5 million, and a reduction in small profits rate (small companies' rate) from 21% to 20%. We also made changes to national insurance contributions (NIC), raising the employers' threshold to increase the number of employees for whom employers pay no NICs by 650,000 and introducing a regional employer NIC holiday to encourage new businesses in selected regions to take on employees.
Because ensuring that growing businesses can access the finance they need is vital to growth, we extended the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) by £200 million at June's Budget, benefiting around 2,000 extra small businesses. We have also announced two new capital funds for SMEs with growth potential, and will shortly respond to the recent Green Paper on the future of business finance.
One of our earliest priorities for the coalition was to make sure that there is less red tape and less regulation, giving businesses an opportunity to expand. We have already introduced a "one-in, one-out" rule for new regulation, a new Cabinet Reducing Regulation Committee, and a review of all inherited regulation in the pipeline. The "Your Freedom" website, launched within two months of the election, gave businesses and the public the opportunity to let us know what regulations we should be looking at or scrapping, and we are taking forward suggestions put forward.
Small Businesses: Retirement
Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the likely effects on small and medium-sized enterprises of proposed changes to the compulsory retirement age. [17326]
Mr Davey: We are currently consulting on our proposals to phase out the default retirement age, including how support can be provided to business in adapting to the change. The Government's survey of employers' policies and practices relating to age showed that small establishments (employing less than 50 employees) were least likely to have a compulsory retirement age for some or all staff and medium-sized establishments were among the most likely. The consultation document incorporating the impact assessment considers the impact on small firms. The closing date for the consultation is 21 October.
Students: Finance
Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students received funding from the Government to attend universities outside the UK in each year from 2005 to 2010; and what the total cost to the public purse was of such funding in each such year. [16885]
Mr Willetts: Government fund higher education in England through a combination of teaching grants provided by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), to the institution and student support provided by Student Finance England to the individual. HEFCE do not generally pay teaching grants to institutions outside of England, although there are exceptions, including the British Institute in Paris, as a constituent college of the University of London. To be eligible for student support, students in England should be domiciled in England and enrolled to study with a UK institution.
BIS currently funds a small number of bursaries for postgraduate students at the College of Europe and the European University Institute (EUI) and previously at the Bologna Institute. From September 2010 the regulations allow funding of 11 places at the College of Europe and 20 at EUI. Expenditure on these bursaries since the academic year 2004/05 is shown in the following table.
| Bursaries paid to postgraduate students at College of Europe, EUI and Bologna Institute | |
| Academic year | Value (£000) |
UK students can receive funding from the European Commission's Erasmus Programme to spend up to a year of their degree course in another higher education institution at one of the other 33 European countries participating in the Programme. It is estimated that around 11,700 UK students undertook such placements in 2009/10. To facilitate take-up of the programme the Higher Education Funding Council for England made around £3.5 million available to higher education institutions as fee waiver compensation. It should be noted that the Erasmus programme is funded by the European Commission, only the associated fee waiver is funded by HEFCE.
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what definition of the term graduate contribution in respect of higher education funding his Department uses. [17396]
Mr Willetts: In general, when referring to a graduate contribution, the Government are referring to the personal financial contribution that the individual makes towards the funding of their higher education after leaving university rather than as a student. This is in contrast to the contribution made by the taxpayer via use of public funds.
Students: Loans
Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many student loans made to citizens of other EU Member States are outstanding; how many of those loans are being repaid; and what the monetary value is of outstanding repayments. [16570]
Mr Willetts: Under EC law, European Union (EU) students are eligible to the same access to education as those from the member state. Tuition fee loans are paid directly to the higher education institution, not the student. EU nationals are generally eligible for tuition fee support only, provided that they have been ordinarily resident in the European economic area (EEA) or Switzerland for the three years prior to the first day of the first academic year of their course.
EU nationals have been eligible to apply for tuition fee loans since their introduction in academic year 2006/07. Borrowers do not become liable to repay until the April following graduation which means that the majority of EU students were not liable to repay until April 2010.
Data on balances and numbers of borrowers as at 31 March 2010 are available from the Statistical First Release on Student Loans for Higher Education published by the Student Loans Company (SLC) at:
These show that there were 39,000 borrowers with EU tuition fee loans of which 400 had fully repaid. The outstanding balance (including loans not due for repayment) was £167.1 million. The majority of these borrowers were still at university or had recently left and were therefore not yet liable to begin repaying. 4,300 were liable to repay with a balance of £12.2 million.
Information on repayment status as at 30 April is available from the SLC publication on Repayments by Repayment Cohort and Tax Year at:
The following figures exclude those who became liable to repay after March 2010, in order to be more consistent with figures in the preceding paragraph. This publication shows that a further 400 borrowers had repaid their loan in full, 400 were making repayments and a further 1,900 were not required to do so because their earnings were below the threshold or HMRC are in the process of confirming their earnings.
In addition, as at that date, 1,000 were considered to be in arrears. This figure includes accounts where borrowers have defaulted on their loan repayments. However, the majority (900) are borrowers who are known to be overseas, have not provided details of their income, and have therefore been set up with repayment schedules and put into notional arrears in order that the Student Loans Company (SLC) can commence tracing and possibly legal action where appropriate. This is an essential step in the overseas collection process. SLC were still seeking information to establish the correct repayment status of the remaining borrowers. Figures in the publication are rounded to the nearest 100, therefore figures in this answer derived by adding categories are approximate.
The April 2010 publication shows detail of the new cohort of students who completed their courses in summer 2009 and who had just become liable to repay in April 2010, but this is only a snapshot at a very early stage in the repayment process.
EU nationals who have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the three years prior to the first day of the first academic year of their course may qualify for the full support package. In addition, certain EEA migrant workers and specified family members may be eligible for the full support package provided that they satisfy specific residence conditions. Information is not available in the format requested which separately identifies these borrowers from English borrowers.
Supermarkets: Competition
Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will consider the merits of altering the remit of the proposed Grocery Supply Chain Ombudsman to cover investigations of the carbon dioxide emissions incurred by supermarkets in transporting food. [17948]
Mr Davey: The coalition programme for Government, published on 18 May, makes a commitment to introduce a Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) to enforce the Grocery Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) and curb abuses of power which undermine our farmers and act against the long-term interest of consumers.
The GSCOP contains specific provisions that aim to address the Competition Commission's concerns over
the exercise of buyer power by large supermarkets and their suppliers. The Government set out their proposals for the creation of the GCA on 3 August
The Government have no plans to extend the remit of the GCA to cover matters outside of the GSCOP.
Training: Devon
Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will allocate resources to support the development of the skills centre in Newton Abbot constituency to extend training opportunities in skills relevant to the local economy. [17868]
Mr Hayes: The Government are committed to a skills system that is more responsive to individuals and employers, where employers can lead and shape the system and where individuals are informed and empowered by access to high quality, independent careers advice and guidance. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the future allocation of public resources for skills in advance of the comprehensive spending review to be published in the week commencing 18 October. As part of our wider reforms, we have already taken action to free local colleges and training organisations from unnecessary central controls and bureaucratic burdens so that they can respond quickly and flexibly to the skills needed in their local communities.
Vocational Training
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what process his Department is following to consult on the right to request training for employees in small businesses; and if he will make a statement. [17196]
Mr Hayes: We recently ran a public consultation on the future of the right to request time to train as part of our review of regulations introduced since January. The consultation closed on 15 September. This consultation was actively promoted to all of the employer representative bodies, including the Federation of Small Business, and the TUC, and 147 consultation responses were received. We are now considering the responses before making our recommendation to the Reducing Regulation Committee (RRC). A summary of the consultation will be published by December.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to increase vocational learning opportunities in (a) Witham constituency, (b) Essex and (c) nationally. [17409]
Mr Hayes: Our consultation, Skills for Sustainable Growth, which outlined our vision of building an internationally competitive skills base and ensuring we have a skills system that prepares people for work and then to progress, closed on 14 October. Our priorities are to invest in quality, drive up professional standards and compete on high skills. We will publish a full strategy for skills after the Spending Review on 20 October which will set out how we intend to support these priorities.
The Government's decision to redeploy £150 million of our savings for 2010-11, creating an additional 50,000 adult Apprenticeship places, demonstrates our commitment to high-quality skills. The National Apprenticeships Service and the Skills Funding Agency are working with training providers which will be encouraging employers to make these additional places available.
In 2008/09 there were around 100 new apprenticeship starts in the Witham area. Essex county council is currently working with the National Apprenticeship Service on an Apprenticeship Training Agency pilot
which is testing out a new way to make it easier for businesses to take on apprentices in the area and has already created over 100 new apprenticeship places.
On a national basis, the Skills Funding Agency has been working to focus public funding on vocational qualifications on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) which are designed to meet employers and learners needs. Currently over 44% of QCF vocational qualifications are in receipt of public funding and during 2009/10 there were over 600,000 learners, both pre and post 19, following publicly funded learning aims.
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