Further Education: Finance
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to publish the consultation document on the introduction of loans for further education students referred to on page 13 of his Department's Business Plan published in November 2010. [54052]
Mr Hayes
[holding answer 4 May 2011]: In November 2010, we announced in “Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth” that further education fee loans will be repaid
10 May 2011 : Column 1196W
on an income contingent basis in line with the recently announced approach for higher education fee loans. Further education fee loans will share key features with higher education fee loans, we plan to publish proposals for implementing further education fee loans following the publication of the Higher Education White Paper.
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with which stakeholder groups and organisations he has discussed his proposals for the introduction of loans for further education students over the age of 24 years at Level 3 and the age of 25 years at Level 2. [54053]
Mr Hayes [holding answer 4 May 2011]: Proposals for implementing further education fee loans have been discussed with the following organisations.
Association of Colleges
National Union of Students
Third Sector National Learning Alliance
Dudley College
South Tyneside College
Association of Learning Providers
Hospitality Industry Training
Skills Funding Agency
Student Loans Company
National Institute of Adult Continuing Education
British Telecom
Apprenticeship Ambassador Network
Proposals have also been discussed with HMRC chaired Employer Student Loans Reference Group.
We have announced that further education fee loans will be introduced for those aged 24 and over undertaking provision at Level 3 and above. There are no plans to introduce fee loans for those undertaking provision below Level 3.
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills for what reasons the proposed consultation document on the introduction of loans for further education students has not been published. [54055]
Mr Hayes [holding answer 4 May 2011]: In November 2010, we announced in “Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth” that further education fee loans will be repaid on an income contingent basis in line with the recently announced approach for higher education fee loans. Further education fee loans will share key features with higher education fee loans, we plan to publish proposals for implementing further education fee loans following the publication of the Higher Education White Paper. Since November 2010, we have consulted with a wide range of organisations about the implementation of further education fee loans.
Further Education: Loans
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will commission an equality impact assessment of his proposals for the introduction of loans for further education students over the age of 24 years at Level 3 and the age of 25 years at Level 2. [54050]
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Mr Hayes [holding answer 4 May 2011]: We have announced that further education fee loans will be introduced for those aged 24 and over undertaking provision at Level 3 and above. There are no plans to introduce fee loans for those undertaking provision below Level 3.
We plan to publish proposals for implementing further education fee loans following the publication of the Higher Education White Paper. An equality impact assessment will be published alongside the proposals.
Green Investment Bank
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects to announce the proposed location of the headquarters of the Green Investment Bank. [51922]
Mr Prisk: We expect to make an announcement about the Green Investment Bank (GIB) later this month. However, it is unlikely to include the precise location of the GIB.
Medicine: Education
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that people wishing to undertake medical degrees are not deterred from doing so by changes to arrangements for student finance; and if he will make a statement. [55006]
Mr Willetts: No eligible student in England, entering higher education for the first time in 2012, including those studying for medicine, will have to pay their fees up front. In addition there will be a more generous package of support for living costs, comprising loans and non repayable grants for those students from households with incomes of up to £42,600.
Students from families with an income no greater than £25,000 per annum may also be eligible for support from the National Scholarship Programme. Universities will determine their own eligibility criteria for the programme.
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department provides financial assistance to students wishing to undertake medical degrees; and if he will make a statement. [55007]
Mr Willetts: The Department provides financial support for students in England studying for a first degree, including those studying medicine who can apply for support for the first four years of their course. Support for subsequent years of a medical course is provided jointly by my Department, which provides a maintenance loan at a reduced level, and the Department of Health, which currently provides support for tuition fees and NHS bursaries.
Overseas Trade: Australasia
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the primary (a) imported and (b) exported goods and services are between the UK and (i) Australia and (ii) New Zealand. [53912]
10 May 2011 : Column 1198W
Mr Prisk: According to HM Revenue and Customs Overseas Trade Statistics, trade in goods in 2010 with Australia and New Zealand included the following commodities, using the 2-digit Standard International Trade Classification.
| Australia | |
|
|
£ million |
| New Zealand | |
|
|
£ million |
According to the Office for National Statistics Balance of Payments Pink Book, trade in services in 2009 with Australia included the following sectors:
| Australia | |
|
|
£ million |
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A breakdown of services trade with New Zealand is not available. Total UK imports of services from New Zealand were worth about £284 million in 2009 and UK exports of services to New Zealand £439 million.
Parental Leave
Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on how many occasions his Department has discussed shared parental leave with the Childhood and Families Taskforce. [53589]
Mr Davey: It is longstanding Government practice not to disclose information relating to ministerial meetings, including the proceedings of Cabinet and Cabinet committees, as to do so would put at risk the public interest in the full and frank discussion of policy by Ministers.
Post Offices
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how levels of compensation received by sub-post offices upon being made a Post Office Local will be determined; [53579]
(2) what compensation sub-post offices will receive upon being made a Post Office Local. [53580]
Mr Davey: The level of compensation and financial support for sub post offices converting to the Post Office Local model will be determined by Post Office Ltd who are working closely with the National Federation of SubPostmasters on this as part of the overall planning of the Post Office Local implementation. The details are yet to be decided.
Power Line Technology Devices
Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the security of power line technology devices following concerns expressed by GCHQ. [52884]
Mr Prisk: Power line technology (PLT) apparatus is required to comply with the Electro-Magnetic Compatibility Regulations 2006. The Regulations do not set specific levels of interference but set objectives to ensure that properly designed radio systems will operate when other electrical equipment, such as PLT apparatus, is operated. Enforcement is carried out by Office of Communications (OFCOM)
The concerns expressed by Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) you make reference to were contained in a statement that has been withdrawn by GCHQ. Following further investigation, GCHQ have advised this Department that they have concluded that PLT technology is not currently impacting GCHQ's capability. GCHQ and OFCOM are due to meet in mid-May as part of a wider consultative process. I therefore have made no assessment.
Qualifications and Curriculum Framework
Nadhim Zahawi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what funding the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency received from his Department for the design and implementation of the Qualifications and Curriculum Framework; [52012]
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(2) what estimates his Department made of the cost of designing and implementing the Qualifications and Curriculum Framework prior to commencement on this work. [52013]
Mr Hayes: In November 2008 the then Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills signed off a Final Business Case (FBC) for implementing the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF). The FBC estimated that the total cost of implementing the QCF over the comprehensive spending review (CSR) period to 30 April was £205 million with the bulk of that cost, £122 million, being borne by awarding organisations and learning providers in the private sector. The remaining £83 million was to come from the public purse and be divided between Ofqual (£14 million), QCA (£13 million), the Learning and Skills Council (£45 million), and the Department and the devolved Administrations (£11 million).
The actual public spend over the CSR has been £61 million. The total funding the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency has received from the Department to implement the QCF is £8.4 million.
| Expenditure on the Qualifications and Credit Framework | |||||
| £ million | |||||
|
|
2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | Total |
| (1 )Estimated expenditure | |||||
Red Tape Challenge
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how the default presumption that burdensome regulations will be removed under the Red Tape Challenge will apply in the case where (a) some respondents to the Red Tape Challenge state that regulations are burdensome and should be removed or lessened and an equal or greater number of respondents state that the same regulations should be retained or strengthened and (b) there are no complaints about a regulation listed as part of the Red Tape Challenge; and if he will make a statement. [54117]
Mr Prisk: The Red Tape Challenge aims to remove or simplify regulations which impose unnecessary burdens on businesses, members of the public and voluntary organisations. Ministers will have the opportunity to justify which regulations they want to keep. The comments from the website wilt inform these decisions.
Regional Development Agencies
Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the principal differences in function are between regional development agencies and local enterprise partnerships. [51501]
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Mr Prisk: The purposes of the regional development agencies (RDAs) are set out in part 1, section 4 (a-e) of the RDA Act 1998.
Local enterprise partnerships are locally developed by business and civic leaders who are responsible for setting their own priorities. The partnerships' key focus is to address the barriers to local growth.
Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what consultation process was undertaken prior to the decision to abolish regional development agencies. [54667]
Mr Prisk: The Conservative and Liberal Democrat manifestos set out the intention to reform the delivery of economic development in England, following which the decision to abolish the regional development agencies (RDAs) was included in the coalition agreement. No formal consultation process was therefore undertaken prior to the decision to abolish the RDAs.
Regional Growth Fund
Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria he has set for the assessment of projects in round 2 of the regional growth fund. [54118]
Mr Prisk: The criteria for the second round for assessing projects are the same as the first round. To qualify for support from the Regional Growth Fund, projects should demonstrate that they:
create additional sustainable private sector growth;
rebalance the economy in those areas currently dependent on the public sector;
would not otherwise go ahead without support from the Regional Growth Fund;
offer value for money; and
be state aid compliant.
Skills Funding Agency: Manpower
Mr Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff were employed by the Skills Funding Agency in (a) April 2010 and (b) April 2011; and what his most recent estimate is of the numbers which will be employed by that agency in (i) April 2012, (ii) April 2013 and (iii) April 2014. [54385]
Mr Hayes: The number of staff employed by the Skills Funding Agency in:
April 2010 was 1,904 headcount (full-time equivalent 1846.82);
April 2011 was 1,649 headcount (full-time equivalent 1601.69).
The agency's most recent estimate of the numbers which will be employed by that agency in:
April 2012 is 1,264 posts (headcount may be higher if there are employees job sharing or working part-time);
April 2013 is 1,249 posts (headcount may be higher if there are employees job sharing or working part-time);
April 2014 is 1,249 posts (headcount may be higher if there are employees job sharing or working part-time).
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Small Businesses: Finance
Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects on small businesses of changes in levels of lending charges by banks. [54277]
Mr Prisk: The Government are committed to ensuring that viable small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) are able to access the finance they need, which includes ensuring access to bank finance, equity finance and other sources of finance.
Data collected from the four main banks, which is published and analysed on a quarterly basis by the Bank of England in its Trends in Lending publication, show that despite increase in bank margins, the overall cost of finance remains on average lower than in 2007 due to falls in the base rate. Average margins on variable rate finance have continued fluctuating over the last six months; they are currently higher in February than in the same month in 2008 for both the small and medium segments of SMEs.
Social Services: Regulation
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to paragraph 2.214 of “The Plan for Growth”, which regulations he has identified as having a disproportionate effect on micro-enterprises in the social care sector. [52484]
Mr Prisk: As part of the Growth Review, National Association of Adult Placement Services, the national network for small community service providers, raised the following key regulatory barriers to growth, which they considered to have impacted upon their membership of social care micro-enterprises, disproportionately:
Food Standards Regulations
Private Hire Vehicle Licensing
Criminal Records Bureau Checks
Employment and Taxation Duties
Further details of the actions underway to address these barriers are set out in “The Plan for Growth” see:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ukecon_growth_index.htm
Supermarkets: Competition
Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to publish the timetable for establishing a groceries code adjudicator. [53920]
Mr Davey: The Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill will be published for pre-legislative scrutiny shortly.
Supply Chain Finance
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he plans to take to stimulate the use of supply chain finance. [52824]
Mr Prisk:
This Department is committed to improving the diversity of finance sources available to business. Supply chain finance was identified as a potentially
10 May 2011 : Column 1203W
valuable source of finance for some businesses in the business finance green paper Financing a Private Sector Recovery (published July 2010) and the “Government response Financing Business Growth” (published October 2010).
As set out in “The Plan for Growth”, published alongside the Budget in March 2011, we are working with mid-cap and larger businesses and industry bodies to increase awareness and understanding of how supply chain finance could benefit private sector supply chains.
In the public sector, Government are assessing current pilot schemes to learn lessons and consider the potential for wider public sector use of supply chain finance.
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the supply chains which would benefit from the use of supply chain finance; and what representations he has received from businesses on supply chain finance. [52825]
Mr Prisk: Supply chain finance offers potential benefit to a wide range of supply chains, including in the public sector, and we are approaching it as a cross-sectoral issue.
Some responses to the business finance green paper “Financing a Private Sector Recovery” (published July 2010) included references to supply chain finance, including responses from providers of supply chain finance tools. Ministers and officials have also discussed supply chain finance with industry representatives, major providers, large corporations who have introduced supply chain finance tools and small suppliers who have accessed supply chain finance.
Technology: Greater London
Mr Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Plan for Growth, what assessment he has made of progress in contracting out the marketing of the East London Tech City initiative; and if he will make a statement. [53131]
Mr Prisk: The Government announced last year its blueprint for technology—this includes plans to develop Tech City in East London. The goal is to take Britain on the right path to a high-tech future.
As part of this, UKTI's Tech City Investment Organisation has established a team of entrepreneurs to help East London become a world-leading technology cluster and magnet for technology-led inward investment, talent and innovation.
UK Trade and Investment is leading on the marketing for Tech City with the support of Hill and Knowlton on the international marketing strategy. The Hill and Knowlton team will be based in the heart of Tech City.
10 May 2011 : Column 1204W
Telecommunications
David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had on the future regulation of power line telecommunications devices; and if he will make a statement. [53879]
Mr Prisk: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 27 April 2011, Official Report, column 449W.
TrustMark Scheme
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of firms accredited by the TrustMark scheme; and if he will make a statement. [53973]
Mr Prisk: I understand there are currently 11,864 firms registered as TrustMark members ranging in size from small businesses to major companies. As some of these firms are registered for more than one trade, the number of trades registered with TrustMark (2005) Ltd currently stands at 17,499.
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received on expanding the number of scheme operators under the TrustMark scheme; and if he will make a statement. [53974]
Mr Prisk: The operation of the TrustMark scheme and the recruitment of scheme operators is a matter for TrustMark (2005) Ltd. At the Department's regular meetings with the chief executive of TrustMark (2005) Ltd the Department is kept informed about the number of TrustMark scheme operators.
Working Hours: Doctors
Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the future implementation of the European Working Time Directive for (a) hospital doctors and (b) acute medical staff. [54453]
Mr Davey: I and my officials work very closely with the Department of Health on the application of the Working Time Directive to the UK Healthcare sector, meeting as appropriate. This directive is once again being considered by the European Commission and both Departments agree that we should pursue discussions in Europe with the intention of maintaining the individual’s right to opt-out of the 48 hour working week while seeking greater flexibility particularly in the areas of on-call time and compensatory rest. This strategy is in-keeping with the commitment in the coalition agreement to work to limit the application of the Working Time Directive.