Higher Education: Admissions
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to write to state school pupils to encourage them to apply to particular universities; to which universities he plans to encourage applications; and if he will make a statement. [47433]
Mr Willetts: We are considering a range of options that might help prompt able young people to consider and apply to university, and to achieve their full potential.
This Government are committed to widening participation and fair access to higher education. We are establishing a new framework, with increased responsibility on universities to widen participation. Universities wanting to charge more than a £6,000 annual graduate contribution will have to demonstrate what more they will do to attract more students from disadvantaged backgrounds through outreach activities, targeted scholarships and other financial support. The Director of the Office for Fair Access issued guidance to universities on 8 March setting out his expectations of what Access Agreements should cover. Universities wanting to charge more than a £6,000 graduate contribution will also have to participate in the new National Scholarships Programme, which will be worth £150 million by 2014-15.
Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what minimum UCAS tariff score he is setting for entrants to university, in line with the recommendation made by Lord Browne in his review. [47531]
Mr Willetts: Lord Browne’s recommendations on a tariff were intended to introduce more competition into the system by allowing institutions with higher demand to expand in response to student choice. While we currently have no plans to introduce a minimum tariff score for entry to higher education, we are interested in exploring whether there could be some categories of students with higher UCAS scores for whom a tariff approach could work. But decisions about admission to university will remain a matter for individual universities, and not for Government. We will set out proposals in the forthcoming White Paper.
Office of Fair Access: Universities
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which universities have not met the access benchmarks agreed with the Office of Fair Access in each year since that Office’s inception; and if he will make a statement. [47452]
Mr Willetts: This is a matter for the director of Fair Access. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member and place a copy of his response in the Libraries of the House.
To date, Office of Fair Access (OFFA) has published sector level summary information on progress on milestones. This information is available in the relevant annual reports describing monitoring outcomes, available at:
www.offa.org.uk
From September 2012, the director of Fair Access will assess annually the progress made by each institution towards appropriate benchmarks and other measures of widening participation, access and student retention that Higher Education Institutions will have agreed with OFFA through their access agreements. OFFA will require institutions to publish a summary of their progress against their milestones and targets each year.
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Post Offices: Closures
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) which post office branches were under long-term temporary closure on 1 March 2011; [47910]
(2) how many post office branches were under long-term temporary closure on 1 March 2011; and how many of these were (a) Crown post offices, (b) full-time sub-post offices, (c) part-time sub-post offices, (d) franchise branches, (e) satellite branches, and (f) outreach branches; [47911]
(3) how many post office branches there were on 1 March 2011; and how many of these were (a) Crown post offices, (b) full-time sub-post offices, (c) part-time sub-post offices, (d) franchise branches, (e) satellite branches, (f) outreach branches and (g) under long-term temporary closure. [47912]
Mr Davey: The information requested is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the managing director of Post Office Ltd, to respond directly to the right hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Public Sector: Training
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to support the re-training and re-skilling of public sector workers. [44917]
Mr Maude: I have been asked to reply.
All individuals, including public sector workers, are able to access the further education (FE) and skills system to re-train and re-skill. The Government’s Skills Strategy, Skills for Sustainable Growth, sets out how the FE and skills system will be reformed to better support and improve the skills of the workforce, the performance of the economy and engagement in learning.
As part of this strategy Government have announced plans to make available more apprenticeship places. In the NHS, for example, of the 8,167 apprenticeships in 2009/10, 60% were taken up by the current work force.
Regional Growth Fund
Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects to inform applicants to the regional growth fund of the outcome of their application. [47756]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 18 March 2011]:The Government welcome the very strong response to the first round of bidding to the regional growth fund. Applications are being appraised and we aim to make public the outcome of that round and inform applicants as soon as possible.
Science and Technology Funding Council
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Science and Technology Funding Council; and how much his Department has allocated it in each of (a) the last five years and (b) the next three years. [47454]
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Mr Willetts: The Performance Management System (PMS) for Research Councils was introduced in 2005 and has three elements: Delivery Plans set out the key deliverables for the spending review period; Scorecards record progress over the previous months, together with targets and risks for the coming period; and an Output Framework is published annually and includes information on economic impact, knowledge generation and exchange, and public engagement. As part of PMS, performance review meetings are held every six months between BIS and each of the Research Councils and Research Councils UK. A revised process which reduces the burden, but keeps the essence of the system, will be in place for the next financial year.
The allocations to STFC are as follows:
|
|
£000 |
| (1) The STFC was formed on 1 April 2007, so there are no allocations before then. (2) The allocations from 2011-12 onwards are not on a comparable basis to previous years because substantial activities will transfer from STFC to the UK Space Agency when the Agency is established on 1 April 2011. | |
Science: Females
Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage girls to choose science, technology, engineering or mathematics at A level. [46038]
Mr Gibb: I have been asked to reply.
The Government are funding a number of initiatives to encourage the greater participation of girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects) at GCSE, A Level and beyond. These include:
Commissioning the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM), and the National Strategies to look at ways to help widen participation in mathematics with a particular focus on engaging more girls (including reviewing the ways in which schools approach how mathematics is delivered);
Identifying resources that will engage girls more in these subjects;
Establishing the Stimulating Physics network to provide support at regional level to widen participation in A level physics; and
The network of Science Learning Centres disseminating best practice from their Girls into Physics action research programme.
In addition, the STEM Ambassadors programme arranges for over 20,000 individuals drawn from more than 1,500 employers to volunteer their time and expertise to help schools and colleges, acting as role models and enhancing and enriching their pupils' understanding of, and enthusiasm for, STEM subjects. Almost 50% of the current STEM Ambassadors are female.
In 2010, more girls than boys were entered for GCSE Mathematics, and AS and A Level Biology.
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Technology Strategy Board
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding the Technology Strategy Board allocated to each (a) university and (b) further education college in England in each of the last five years; how much it plans to allocate in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [44986]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 8 March 2011]:The Executive Technology Strategy Board was established as an non-departmental public Body in July 2007. Technology Strategy Board grant funding to individual universities and further education colleges in England is detailed as follows although it should be noted that funding announced in a given year will often support activities over subsequent years, usually no more than three years.
Future allocations cannot however be specified as grant funding is awarded to business led research projects on the basis of their technical and economic case, and there is no pre-allocation of funds for collaborations with the knowledge base.
| 2008 | £ |
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Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff were employed by the Technology Strategy Board in each of the last three years; how many he expects to be employed in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [45997]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 14 March 2011]:The Technology Strategy Board employs both permanent staff, and secondees and interims from business. Breakdown of staff numbers is as follows:
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Payroll employees | Secondees and interim appointments |
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While the Technology Strategy Board will have a reduced administrative budget in future years, we cannot specify the number of staff that will be employed over the next three years or the balance between permanent staff and secondees and interims however as this will have to reflect the nature of its programmes going forward including delivery of new activities such as Technology and Innovation Centres.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses received funding from the Technology Strategy Board in each of the last three years; how many he expects to receive funding in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [45998]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 14 March 2011]: During the period 2008-10 the Technology Strategy Board provided collaborative Research & Development funding to over 1,700 individual businesses. In addition, over 1,300 individual businesses have participated in Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) managed by the Technology Strategy Board. However, funding for KTPs goes to the academic partner in the partnership, with the businesses involved paying their own costs.
It will not be possible to specify the number of businesses that will receive funding in future years however, as this is allocated through a competitive process with collaborative R&D projects ranging in scale from £10,000 to £100 million.
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Trade: Somalia
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the potential effects of Somali piracy on UK trade. [47290]
Mr Prisk: It is not possible to make an effective assessment of the potential effects of Somali piracy on UK trade. Many companies will have taken steps to respond to the threat to their goods posed by the piracy, leading to an increase in the costs of shipping. Some shipments have been rerouted to the west coast of Africa. However, decisions have been made on a case by case basis by the companies concerned.
During 2010, approximately 23,000 ships, with $952 billion of trade transited the Gulf of Aden. Of these ships fewer than 0.01% were hijacked.
Veterinary Medicine
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many places to study for veterinary science qualifications are available in universities in England in the academic year 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [47455]
Mr Willetts: This information is not available, we do not plan for the number of students at a course or subject level. The actual number of places on veterinary courses will depend on the decisions of individual universities. We expect the total number of places on all courses in 2011/12 to be broadly similar to 2010/11.