Free Schools: Teachers
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether teaching staff in free schools will be required to have qualified teacher status; and if he will make a statement. [54972]
Mr Gibb: Innovation, diversity and flexibility are at the heart of the free schools policy. In that spirit we will not be setting overly prescriptive requirements in relation to qualifications, although a free school's special educational needs co-ordinator and designated teacher for children in care will still require qualified teacher status.
We will expect applications to demonstrate how each free school's governing body intends to guarantee the highest quality of teaching and leadership in their school. No school will be allowed to proceed unless its proposals for high quality teaching are soundly based.
International Baccalaureate
Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) state schools and (b) sixth form colleges offer the international baccalaureate. [53671]
Mr Gibb: There are 42 maintained (state) schools and 12 sixth form colleges offering the international baccalaureate.
These figures have been based on students entered for the international baccalaureate in maintained (state) schools and sixth form colleges for 2010. We do not hold information regarding the actual number of maintained (state) schools and sixth form colleges offering the international baccalaureate.
Learning Disability: Parents
Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assistance his Department provides to parents with learning difficulties. [53149]
Sarah Teather: The Government appreciate that some parents need extra help because they experience a multitude of problems, which can include learning difficulties. There is a great deal of evidence that parenting and intensive family intervention services are cost effective and can provide much-needed help for these families. In December 2010, the Prime Minister announced a new national campaign to support and help turn around the lives of all families with multiple problems. All parents of young children, including those with learning difficulties, are also able to use their local Sure Start children's centre to gain access to early years services.
These activities are funded through the early intervention grant of £2,222 million in 2011-12. The Government want to retain the national network of Sure Start children's centres with a core universal offer, while also ensuring they deliver proven early intervention programmes to support those families in greatest need. The grant is intended to fund universal programmes and activities available to all children, young people and families, as well as specialist services where intensive support is needed.
18 May 2011 : Column 255W
All parents, including those with learning difficulties, are able to access the online and telephone family support services funded by the Department. The online services have to meet the Department's accessibility specifications and the telephone services use trained staff who are able to support all service users effectively.
Music: English Baccalaureate
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will review the decision to exclude music from the English baccalaureate in light of the conclusions and recommendations of the independent Henley review of music education in England. [55604]
Mr Gibb: The English baccalaureate is not intended as a list of the only valuable or rigorous subjects.
We recognise the importance of music which is why we commissioned Darren Henley's review of music education. We will respond to his recommendations with a new national plan for music education in the summer.
Physics: Teachers
Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received on the number of physics teachers in schools. [55588]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 16 May 2011]: We have routine discussions with representatives of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics community and other subject associations which help inform policy development. We have also received letters recently from both the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society, in which teacher recruitment has been raised. Raising the number of specialist science teachers in schools is a high priority for the Government and we have already confirmed that trainees starting postgraduate teacher training courses in physics will be offered the highest bursary rate of £9,000 in the academic year 2011/12.
The Department will shortly publish a discussion document on the funding of initial teacher training, including financial incentives for trainees in physics, from the academic year 2012/13. The document will provide the opportunity for those who have an interest in, or are directly involved with, the training of teachers to provide comments on our proposals.
Figures from the school workforce census published by the Department on 20 April showed that in November 2010 the headcount of teachers teaching physics in all publicly funded secondary schools was 5,600. Of this number, 68.6% held a relevant post A-level qualification.
Pupils: Disadvantaged
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to improve the educational achievement of disadvantaged children in (a) Pendle and (b) England. [55598]
Mr Gibb:
In line with the coalition Government's commitment to raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in under-performing schools we have invested £125 million in the education endowment fund. This fund, administered by the Sutton Trust, in partnership
18 May 2011 : Column 256W
with the Impetus Trust, has been established to fund bold and innovative approaches to raising the attainment of these pupils.
We have also introduced the pupil premium, which guarantees additional funding for schools with deprived children and ensures that the poorest children, wherever they live, are able to receive the right support. Total funding will be £625 million in 2011-12 and will rise to £2,5 billion a year by 2014-15.
The pupil premium—£430 per pupil—will be allocated to schools, including those in Pendle, in June based on the number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM) and those pupils who have been looked after continuously for at least six months in each school. It will be for schools to decide how to spend their pupil premium allocation in order to achieve the best results for their disadvantaged pupils.
Pupils: Dyslexia
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many people have been assessed as having dyslexia in each local education authority area in each of the last three years. [54230]
Sarah Teather: Information on pupils with dyslexia is not available.
A table showing the number of pupils with statements of special educational needs or at School Action Plus whose primary need has been identified as specific learning difficulty (SLD) by local authority area for 2008 to 2010 has been placed in the House Libraries. Pupils with dyslexia as their primary need are included in the SLD category.
This information has been published in the series of statistical first releases entitled “Special Educational Needs in England”:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000939/index.shtml
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000852/index.shtml
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000794/index.shtml
School Leaving
Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has for the future of the September guarantee in the comprehensive spending review period. [54400]
Mr Gibb
[holding answer 9 May 2011]: My noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Schools, wrote to all local authorities on 17 February to clarify that the process of offering 16 and 17-year-olds a suitable place in education or training by the end of September, which has been known as the ‘September guarantee’, will continue. This will help to ensure that more young people have the opportunity to continue their education
18 May 2011 : Column 257W
as we move towards full participation of 16 and 17-year-olds by 2015. A copy of this letter is available on the Department's website at:
www.education.gov.uk/offersofeducationandtraining
Data from local authorities show that in 2009, 95.9% of 16-year-olds and 89.5% of 17-year-olds received an offer of a place in education or training. In 2010, 96.6% of 16-year-olds and 91.3% of 17-year-olds received an offer of a place.
Schools: Admissions
Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that commissioners are able to assess the effectiveness of the placement of pupils in (a) non-maintained and (b) maintained special schools. [55540]
Sarah Teather: Local authorities place children with statements of special educational needs (SEN) in non-maintained and maintained special schools. Local authorities are under a duty to arrange appropriate provision for such children so that their SEN are met and to review the statement at least annually to ensure that the provision continues to meet the child's SEN.
Local authorities have Ofsted inspection reports available to help them assess a special school's overall effectiveness. The annual report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of schools in 2009/10 found on assessment of overall effectiveness that 35% of maintained special schools were outstanding, 43% were good, 17% were satisfactory
18 May 2011 : Column 258W
and 5% were inadequate. The report also noted that “one of the successes reported this year is the effectiveness of many [non-maintained] residential special schools, often outstanding at helping children achieve and enjoy what they do”.
The schools White Paper, ‘The Importance of Teaching’, and the Green Paper, ‘Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability’, set out a strong strategic role for local authorities acting as the champions for parents and families, vulnerable children, and educational excellence. For disabled children and those with SEN, the Green Paper sees one of the core features of the local authority role as working collaboratively with providers to commission a range of high quality provision, and to identify and challenge services that are letting down families.
Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils there are in (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) all schools in each local education authority area. [55583]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 13 May 2011]:The requested data are shown in the following table.
Information on pupil numbers by school type and local authority is published as part of the statistical first release ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics: January 2010', available at
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000925/index.shtml
| Number and percentage of pupils by type of school (1, 2, 3) . As at January 2010. In England, by local authority area and region | |||||
| Maintained primary (1) | State-funded secondary (1, 2) | All schools (4, 5) | |||
|
|
Number of pupils (3) | Percentage of pupils | Number of pupils (3) | Percentage of pupils | Number of pupils (3) |
18 May 2011 : Column 259W
18 May 2011 : Column 260W
18 May 2011 : Column 261W
18 May 2011 : Column 262W
18 May 2011 : Column 263W
18 May 2011 : Column 264W
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges and academies. (3) Excludes dual registrations. In Pupil Referral Units, also includes pupils registered with other providers and further education colleges. (4 )Includes maintained and direct grant nursery schools, maintained primary and secondary schools, city technology colleges, academies, maintained and non-maintained special schools, pupil referral units and independent schools. (5) National and regional totals and totals across school categories have been rounded to the nearest 5. There may be discrepancies between the sum of constituent items and totals as shown. (6) Not applicable, no schools of this type. Source: School Census | |||||
Schools: Coventry
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children in Coventry are being taught in temporary classrooms. [54952]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 12 May 2011]:Local authorities are not asked to report on the number of children being taught in temporary classrooms, and this information is not held by the Department.
Schools: Nurses
Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Walsall South constituency employed a school nurse in the latest period for which figures are available. [55009]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 11 May 2011]:Neither the Department for Education, nor the Department of Health, collects this information.
Schools: Standards
Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his letter of 10 March 2011 to local education authorities, how many local authorities have submitted plans to raise the performance of schools above minimum standards. [55916]
Mr Gibb: Of the 152 local authorities in England, 147 have submitted plans to raise the performance of their maintained schools above the floor standards. The remaining five local authorities do not have schools below the floor standards and, therefore, did not need to submit a plan.
Special Educational Needs
Mrs Hodgson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister of State for Children and Families of 30 March 2011, Official Report, column 92WH, on
18 May 2011 : Column 265W
children with special educational needs, what mechanisms he plans to put in place to ensure
(a)
(i) planning, (ii) consistency and (iii) quality of local provision and
(b)
continuation of shared services for schools, including training of the schools workforce by speech and language therapists under his proposals that speech and language therapy services may be provided for under personal budgets. [53322]
Sarah Teather: The Green Paper on special educational needs and disability, “Support and aspiration; A new approach to special educational needs and disability”, sets out how personal budgets could be used to enhance the control parents have over the support services they receive for their child. We are piloting the personal budget approach to ensure that local authorities properly understand how they and their partners should commission services to ensure all children can access high quality provision, whether or not their parents take up the option of a personal budget The pilots will look at how we can best ensure effective commissioning and high- quality services in the new system.
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what provision he expects non-maintained special schools to make for children with special educational needs or disabilities; and if he will make a statement. [55153]
Sarah Teather: Non-maintained special schools (NMSS) provide an important contribution to the range of provision available for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), especially for those pupils with the most complex and severe needs. The majority of pupils in NMSSs are placed by local authorities, who are responsible for an individual pupil's statement of SEN. It is for the local authority to ensure that the provision made by the school continues to be appropriate to meet the needs of an individual pupil as set out in their statement.
Sports: Clubs
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment he has made of the role of sports clubs in the delivery of physical education. [55654]
Tim Loughton: It would be for head teachers' to decide on the extent to which they involve sports clubs in the delivery of physical education in their schools. The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has made no recent assessment of the extent to which they do so.
Supplementary Schools
Angie Bray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has for future support for supplementary schools. [55036]
Mr Gibb:
We recognise the contribution that supplementary schools can play in providing out-of-hours educational opportunities for children. In partnership with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the Department
18 May 2011 : Column 266W
established the National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education in 2006 to support their development. Funding was provided by both parties on the understanding that the centre would become financially self-sustaining from 2012.
Teachers: Manpower
Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the likely number of teaching posts in England in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14. [53115]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 3 May 2011]: Based on the school funding settlement for 2011-15, and assuming current spending and salary patterns remain constant, our estimates are:
|
|
Number (full-time equivalents) |
These figures are an estimate to inform the Department's planning. The number of teachers that each school employs in future years will, as now, be a matter for them to decide, according to local needs and subject to statutory requirements on class sizes where appropriate.
Teachers: Merseyside
Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many unfilled vacancies there are for school teachers in Merseyside. [55454]
Mr Gibb: Latest figures from the November 2010 school workforce census show there were six unfilled teacher vacancies in the former Merseyside metropolitan district area in November 2010.
A vacancy is defined as an advertised post for a full-time permanent appointment, or an appointment of at least one term's duration, and includes posts being filled by a teacher with a contract of less than one term.
Teachers: Training
Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received on the proposals in his Department's schools White Paper to trial and evaluate assessments of aptitude, personality and resilience as part of the candidate selection process for teacher training. [55564]
Mr Gibb: We have regular discussions with representatives from within the teacher training sector to discuss a range of aspects of teacher training policy. We are currently considering the detail of the implementation of our teacher training reforms set out in the White Paper, including the proposals on assessments of aptitude, personality and resilience. We intend to publish shortly for discussion an initial teacher training strategy document with further detail.
18 May 2011 : Column 267W
Teachers: West Midlands
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the likely number of teaching posts in the West Midlands in 2011-12. [54953]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 12 May 2011]: The Department has made no such estimate. The number of teachers that each school in the West Midlands employs during 2011-12 will, as now, be a matter for them to decide, according to local needs and subject to statutory requirements on class sizes where appropriate.
Teenage Pregnancy
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson) of 17 March 2011, Official Report, column 614W, on the teenage pregnancy scheme: finance, at what point after conception the term pregnancy applies in respect of the scheme. [55637]
Sarah Teather [holding answer 13 May 2011]: Teenage pregnancy is monitored using conception statistics published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). All conceptions to under-18s that result in either one or more live or still births, or a legal abortion under the Abortion Act 1967, are included in the under-18 conception statistics.
Conception statistics are produced to high professional standards and released according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority. Conception statistics are compiled by ONS by combining information from birth registrations processed by ONS and abortion notifications from the Department of Health.
West London Free School
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he expects to publish the funding agreement for the West London free school. [55444]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 13 May 2011]: The funding agreement for the West London free school will be published around the time that the school opens.
Treasury
Departmental Data Protection
Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many contracts his Department holds which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; to which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each such contract is held; and how many people have their data stored overseas under each such contract. [55730]
Justine Greening: HM Treasury does not currently hold any contract that allows contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas.
18 May 2011 : Column 268W
Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the information held by his Department to be used to calculate compensation to be paid to Equitable Life policyholders; and what method is to be used to calculate such compensation. [56122]
Mr Hoban: The data that HM Treasury’s actuaries have used to calculate payments have come from Equitable Life’s policyholder data. The methodology for calculating payments can be found in Annex A to the Equitable Life payment scheme design document that was laid before Parliament on 16 May 2011.
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications for the income tax liabilities of Equitable Life policyholders of the receipt of compensation from the public purse in relation to such policies. [56124]
Mr Hoban: The Chancellor announced at the spending review on 20 October 2010 that authorised payments made through the Equitable Life payment scheme will not affect recipients’ UK income tax liabilities.
Financial Services: Qualifications
Jason McCartney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the pass rate for diploma examinations sat by independent financial advisers has been since their introduction; [55910]
(2) what the cost of sitting diploma examinations is for independent financial advisers; [55911]
(3) how many independent financial advisers have sat the new diploma course examinations since their introduction. [55912]
Mr Hoban: The Financial Services Authority's (FSA) professionalism requirements, as part of the retail distribution review (RDR), require all retail investment advisers to meet a minimum qualification standard.
The FSA's website provides information on the different types of qualifications which meet the required level:
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/smallfirms/your_firm_type/financial/rdr/rdr.shtml
A range of providers offer these qualifications.
Pass rates for such examinations are commercially sensitive to qualification providers and, as such, are not publicly available. Out of the number of students sitting such examinations, the number of those that are independent financial advisers is not tracked by qualification providers. However, research carried out by NMG for the FSA in 2010 showed that over 48% of all investment advisers had already attained an appropriate qualification level. While the cost of examinations varies between providers, the NMG research stated that the median cost of attaining an appropriate qualification level per adviser would be £749.
Financial Services: Voluntary Organisations
Mike Weatherley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has assessed the merits of regulating the provision of savings and loan advice by the voluntary sector. [55765]
18 May 2011 : Column 269W
Mr Hoban: It is vital that financial advice is regulated, where necessary, to protect consumers. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) regulate financial services and consumer credit activities respectively. Generally, advice on deposit savings is not regulated, except where it is covered by the Regulated Activities Order Article 52B, regarding providing advice on stakeholder products. Activities such as debt counselling are regulated by the OFT.
While the same regulatory rules apply to industry as to the voluntary sector, in many cases the kind of advice provided by the voluntary sector would not fall within the scope of FSA regulation. Voluntary sector bodies that meet the relevant exemption criteria are not charged by the OFT for a licence to conduct consumer credit activities.
Palestinians: Agricultural Products
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when HM Revenue and Customs plans to implement the new arrangements under the EU-Palestine trade agreement to give duty-free access to imports of agricultural produce from the West Bank and Gaza. [56137]
Mr Gauke: Procedures in the European Union and Palestine for the conclusion of the agreement are still ongoing. However, when the date of entry into force of the agreement is known HMRC will issue a customs information paper which will provide UK importers with information about the new improved preferential rates of customs duty for Palestinian products.
Taxation: Underpayments
Jason McCartney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many cases involving suspected tax underpayment by individuals which were successfully appealed were due to pension payments being incorrectly overstated in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09, (c) 2009-10 and (d) 2010-11; [55931]
(2) how many cases involving suspected tax underpayment by individuals were successfully appealed in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09, (c) 2009-10 and (d) 2010-11. [55932]
Mr Gauke: When an individual is issued with a notice of an underpayment, this is not an assessment of tax and therefore does not create a legal debt. These notices, known as P800s, simply tell customers what HMRC has calculated as the customer's correct tax position, using the information it holds.
Appeals can only be made when a formal assessment of tax has been made and, on that basis, no appeals have been made. Individuals who think the calculation is incorrect in any way should contact HMRC in the first instance.
Jason McCartney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many underpayment of tax notices were issued to pensioners by HM Revenue and Customs in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09, (c) 2009-10 and (d) 2010-11. [55933]
Mr Gauke: The information requested is available only at disproportionate cost.
18 May 2011 : Column 270W
Women and Equalities
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Maria Eagle: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how much the Government Equalities office spent on special advisers' travel by (a) Government car, (b) private hire car, (c) train, (d) bus, (e) commercial aircraft and (f) private aircraft since May 2010. [56110]
Lynne Featherstone: The Government Equalities Office does not have funding responsibility for any special advisers.
Departmental Public Transport
Maria Eagle: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities on what date she last travelled by (a) London Underground and (b) public bus in her capacity as Minister for Women and Equalities; and how many times she travelled on each such form of transport whilst on government business in such a capacity since May 2010. [50276]
Lynne Featherstone: Since May 2010, the Minister for Women and Equalities has not made any journeys using the London Underground or via public bus on official Government business.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will bring forward proposals to ratify the Cape Town convention. [55653]
Mr Davey: The UK is committed to its ratification, and issued a call for evidence last year July seeking stakeholder views. Following the call for evidence, officials held several meetings with industry stakeholders to discuss the benefits of UK ratification. A Government response to the call for evidence will be released in the near future.
Departmental Legal Costs
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department and its predecessor paid in (a) damages, (b) claimant costs and (c) defendant costs in respect of all civil claims brought against his Department in which the claimant was successful or the Department settled in each of the last three years. [54641]
Mr Davey: The Department and its predecessor paid the following damages, claimant costs and defendant costs in respect of civil claims brought against the Department in which the claimant was successful or the Department settled:
18 May 2011 : Column 271W
| £ | ||||
| Nature of payment | Financial year | |||
|
|
2010-11 | 2009-10 | 2008-09 | 2007-08 |
The 2007 case was for the Department for Trade and Industry and the 2009 case was for UK Trade and Investment within the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. There have been no civil claims brought against the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
Domestic Service: Conditions of Employment
Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on the proposed International Labour Organisation convention on domestic work. [56489]
Mr Davey: The UK Government support the principle of a new International Labour Organisation convention (and accompanying recommendation) on decent work for domestic workers. We will continue to work to secure a workable convention that can be ratified by as many countries as possible, and consequently protect vulnerable domestic workers worldwide.
Higher Education: Scholarships
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to support university outreach work to wider participation under the national scholarship programme; and if he will make a statement. [56517]
Mr Willetts: The Government have been very clear about the importance of widening participation and improving fair access in higher education. We are establishing a new framework, with increased responsibility on universities to widen participation; and greater Government investment in improving attainment and access for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Higher education institutions (HEIs) will deliver a range of outreach activities as part of their access agreements, agreed with the Office for Fair Access, and their widening participation strategic assessments, agreed with the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Broad details of the national scholarship programme were announced by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister on 10 February and details were placed in the House Libraries.
The programme is designed to help people of all ages whose family income is no greater than £25,000 per annum. HEIs will set their own criteria for determining entitlement to an award from amongst this broad group of people. Institutions will offer a range of support from a menu which includes tuition fee waivers or discounts, subsidised accommodation and other institutional support, and a cash bursary—capped at
18 May 2011 : Column 272W
£1,000. Each eligible full-time student will get a benefit of at least £3,000. All institutions that intend to charge more than the basic rate for tuition from 2012 are required to participate in the programme.
The Government are investing £50 million in the programme in 2012-13, which will rise to £100 million in 2013-14 and £150 million in 2014-15. From 2014-15, with match funding from institutions, we expect that the programme will be supporting up to 100,000 students annually. The programme funding cannot be used by the institution to support outreach activities.
London College of Traditional Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has had discussions with representatives of (a) the University of Portsmouth and (b) the Student Loans Company on the future of the London College of Traditional Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine; and if he will make a statement. [54863]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 9 May 2011]: Neither the Secretary of State nor any other Ministers from this Department have had meetings on this subject in their roles as Ministers.
I have received correspondence on the subject and, in my role as constituency MP, discussed this with the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth.
Research: Finance
Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what monitoring his Department undertakes of the level of investment in (a) research and development and (b) new technologies by the (i) business sector and (ii) regions and nations of the UK. [55847]
Mr Willetts: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects figures on business expenditure on research and development (BERD) within the UK. The most recent data, published in December 2010, showed £15.6 billion was spent in 2009 on research and development (R&D) performed within UK businesses. Total R&D expenditure in 2009 represented 1.1% of GDP, in line with recent years. The regional breakdown for business R&D in 2009 is as follows:
| BERD , 2009 | |
|
|
£ million |
18 May 2011 : Column 273W
The ONS, on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, also collects data on innovation and investment in new technologies through the UK Innovation Survey.
18 May 2011 : Column 274W
The latest figures showed 58% of UK businesses engaged in some innovation activity during the three year period 2006 to 2008 by either developing a new product and/or process, or investing in a future innovation.