Insolvency
Mr Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on HM Revenue and Customs' role as a repeat unsecured creditor in insolvency cases; and if he will make a statement. [66192]
Mr Davey: I have not had any discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on this issue.
BIS officials have held discussions with their counterparts in HM Revenue and Customs with a view to exploring ways in which that Department can use its role as a large repeat creditor in corporate insolvencies to influence the level of fees charged by insolvency practitioners. Those discussions are ongoing.
Mr Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the average cost to insolvent estates of fee review complaints arising from reforms to the regulation of insolvency practitioners; and if he will make a statement. [66193]
Mr Davey: The Department is currently reviewing responses to the consultation on the regulation of insolvency practitioners. Whether to add a fee review mechanism formed a significant part of that consultation. The potential impact of any such mechanism on insolvent estates is being considered as part of the review process.
Mr Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to take steps to ensure that any fee review in insolvency cases arising from reform of the regulation of insolvency practitioners will limit losses to the insolvent estate; and if he will make a statement. [66194]
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Mr Davey: The Department is currently reviewing responses to the consultation on the regulation of insolvency practitioners. Whether to add a fee review mechanism formed a significant part of that consultation, and the question raises an important issue that is being considered as part of the review process.
Local Enterprise Partnerships: Yorkshire and the Humber
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent meetings he has had with the chairs of local enterprise partnerships in Yorkshire and the Humber. [67286]
Mr Prisk: Over the last three months there have been no meetings between my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the chairs of the local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) in Yorkshire and the Humber.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is visiting the Humber on 20 July 2011 and will meet with John Clugston, the interim chair of the Humber LEP, as part of that visit.
During my visit to Leeds and York on the 28 April 2011 I met with both Neil McLean, the Leeds City Region LEP chair and Barry Dodd, the York and North Yorkshire LEP chair. I also met with James Newman, Sheffield City Region LEP chair, when he attended the partnerships launch event on 12 May 2011.
Manufacturing Industries: Training
Mr Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what support his Department is providing to the train manufacturing sector in the UK. [65973]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 13 July 2011]: Further to the launch of the economic response task force, which will look at understanding and mitigating the economic impact of job losses at Bombardier and it’s supply chain, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Secretary of State for Transport, have asked their officials to work together with the sector and key delivery partners, such as UKTI, to support the train manufacturing sector and the wider rail supply chain in securing more sustainable UK jobs through clearly identified business opportunities.
New Businesses
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to increase entrepreneurial activity among (a) black, Asian and minority ethnic people, (b) service leavers and (c) women. [65898]
Mr Prisk: The information is as follows:
The Government have provided endowment funding totalling £5 million for the ‘Be the Boss' initiative to provide recent ex-service personnel with funding, training and mentoring support to help them start to grow a
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business. ‘Be the Boss' is delivered by the Royal British Legion and experienced partners across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland:
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/can-we-help/help-with-starting-a-business
Ethnic minority groups and women
The evidence with regard to entrepreneurial activity among black, Asian and other minority ethnic people is complex. Many minority ethnic groups are more enterprising than white ethnic groups, and for other ethnic groups the barriers to enterprise are imperfectly understood. We know, for example, that young black males have a higher rate of start-up than white ethnic groups, but a much bigger gap between levels of ambition to start an enterprise and actual start-up.
The evidence with regard to women and enterprise is also complex. While it remains the case that significantly fewer businesses are majority-led by women than by men (with only one in seven of all small and medium-sized business employers being women-led), and that rates of enterprise ambition are lower among women than among men (in 2009, 2.9% of women not already engaged in enterprise said they intended to start up in business in the next three years, compared with 6.1% of men), start-up data indicate that in the recent past women have often been starting up in business at a faster rate than men.
Postal Services
Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has received any representations about the quality of the postal service in the City of Chester constituency. [66679]
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Mr Davey: This Department has not received any representations about the quality of the postal service in the City of Chester constituency.
Quality of service is an operational matter for Royal Mail.
Postgraduate Education: Finance
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many student places on (a) taught Masters' courses, (b) other Masters' studies, (c) PhD studies and (d) other doctoral studies received funding from the (i) Arts and Humanities Research Council, (ii) Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, (iii) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, (iv) Economic and Social Research Council, (v) Medical Research Council, (vi) Natural Environment Research Council and (vii) Science and Technology Facilities Council in each of the last three years; and what estimate he has made of the equivalent figures in each of the next three years. [66114]
Mr Willetts: The following tables show the available data for the research councils, with explanatory notes. These abbreviations are used:
AHRC is the Arts and Humanities Research Council
BBSRC is the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
EPSRC is the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
ESRC is the Economic and Social Research Council
MRC is the Medical Research Council
NERC is the Natural Environment Research Council
STFC is the Science and Technology Facilities Council
In each of the last three years:
| (a) Taught Masters | (b) Other Masters | (c) PhD | (d) Other doctoral studies | |||||||||
|
|
2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 |
Estimates of the equivalent figures for each of the next three years:
| (a) Taught Masters | (b) Other Masters | (c) PhD | (d) Other doctoral studies | |||||||||
|
|
2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 |
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| (1) Notes on MRC data: 1. The data presented for (b) other Masters exclude any studentships where a Masters has been funded as part of doctoral study. 2. The data presented under (c) other doctoral training were clinically trained students funded as Clinical Research Training Fellows. 3. All of the data presented above exclude studentships at MRC funded Centres. In 2008/09 there were a total of 226 students undergoing doctoral training in MRC -funded centres. This figure includes existing and new students. The MRC does not have data available for any other years. 4. Data for 2010/11 are not yet available. 5. The number of studentship places funded by the MRC is subject to annual review, hence there are no figures given in the second table. At present MRC has no plans to significantly increase or decrease funding for PhD or Research Masters Studentships. Note on BBSRC data: All Masters students are included in “Other Masters”. Separate figures are not available for Taught and Research Masters. PhD studentship numbers for the last three years are estimates from data based on returns provided by awarded institutions. Note on EPSRC data: EPSRC supports Masters level training only when it aligns with its broader strategy. For this reason, in 2009 it decided to focus most of its support in this area on activities which employ Masters-level training as a means of developing highly skilled doctoral—level researchers, rather than those which view the provision of Masters graduates as an end in itself. As a result, their current support for Maste-s level training is delivered via the Centres for Doctoral Training, Doctoral Training Accounts and some courses in Mathematical Sciences (e.g. Statistics). Not all of these routes provide students with a formal Masters qualification, so it would be difficult to be definitive about numbers over a specific period. Note on ESRC data: ESRC funds a mix of 3 year PhD and 1 year + 3 years Masters + PhD awards. The total amount of these awards is included under section (c) PhD for the previous and next three years. ESRC is unable to disaggregate these figures further in the time available without use of disproportionate resources. However it estimates that 60% of the awards are of the 1+3 type. Under section (b) Other Masters, it has included a strategic initiative where we fund standalone Masters to build research capacity in Demography. Note on NERC data: NERC does not differentiate between MSc and MRes, so all places listed as other masters. Notes: 1. The year presented relates to an academic year i.e. 2008/09 relates to students starting in October 2008. 2. The data do not take in to account any funds leveraged by HEIs to increase the total number of studentship places available. 3. Figures for the next three years are estimates and hence the actual numbers may vary from those given above. If universities choose to support part-time students and fees-only students, and/or match research council funding with that from other sources, then more students will be able to be supported; PhD students may also be supported by larger research grants from some councils. | ||||||||||||
Research: Finance
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received on future funding for research capital in each of the last six months; and if he will make a statement. [67112]
Mr Willetts: Following proposals made by the research councils, an extra £100 million of science capital was announced in the 2011 Budget. This will help drive innovation and growth and reflects our commitment to cutting-edge research. The projects announced were as follows:
£26 million to develop the Norwich research park;
£44 million to develop the Babraham research campus;
£10 million to develop the national science and innovation Campus at Daresbury;
£10 million for three further instruments at the ISIS neutron source in Harwell; and
£10 million to start a national space technology programme.
Science Capital Development Fund
Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what projects are to be funded from his science capital development fund; and where each such project is to be located. [66767]
Mr Willetts: The following capital projects were identified by the research councils as their highest scientific priorities and currently receive funding from the BIS large facilities capital fund (LFCF):
| Project | Location |
|
European Life-Science Infrastructure for Biological Information (ELIXIR) |
|
| Note: LFCF funding earmarked, subject to approval of the business case. | |
Spaceflight
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with European organisations on plans for manned space flight and exploration. [66659]
Mr Willetts: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Mr Brine) on Thursday 14 July 2011, Official Report, columns 454-55.
Students: Finance
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect on conservatoires of his proposals for core and marginal funding of student places. [66692]
Mr Willetts:
The Government see an important role for small and specialist institutions like conservatoires. In our December 2010 grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), we asked the council to treat such institutions as a priority in allocating its teaching grant. We repeated that message in our
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recent White Paper and the letter we wrote to the council on its publication. In that letter, we also asked the council to consult on how best to implement our proposals to free up student number controls in order to allow student choice to drive competition, quality and efficiency across the sector. Those proposals have two elements: the unrestrained recruitment of high-achieving students, scoring the equivalent of AAB+ or above at A level; and the creation of a flexible margin of about 20,000 places.
Early indications are that some conservatoires may be able to recruit additional students scoring the equivalent of AAB+ or above at A level. It is for the council to take decisions on the details of the mechanisms used to implement this approach.
Students: Loans
Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of medical students who take out commercial loans during their studies. [66449]
Mr Willetts:
The Student Income and Expenditure Survey 2007/08, published in April 2009, is a comprehensive study of student income, expenditure, borrowing and debt. It showed that 61% of English-domiciled, full-time undergraduate medical or dental students(1) (across all years of study) expected to have borrowings from
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commercial sources, including commercial credit and overdrafts, by the end of the academic year.
(1) Base sample = 170 respondents.
Technology Strategy Board: Finance
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the answer of 26 April 2011, Official Report, column 269W, on the Technology Strategy Board: finance, when he expects to announce the final budget of the Technology Strategy Board for 2012-13 and 2013-14. [67360]
Mr Willetts: We plan to notify the Technology Strategy Board of its allocation for 2012-13 and 2013-14 in March 2012 and March 2013 respectively.
Thameslink: Rolling Stock
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessments were carried out when awarding the bid to build Thameslink trains on the impact of (a) loss of revenues to supply chain companies to bidders and (b) potential loss of jobs at those supply chain companies. [65974]
Mrs Villiers [holding answer 13 July 2011]: I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Lady to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr Denham) today (UIN 63731).