National Lottery: Tickets
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (1) what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of the health lottery ticket price that goes to (a) good causes, (b) administration costs, (c) tax and (d) profit; and what proportion of ticket prices for (i) traditional society lotteries and (ii) the national lottery goes to such categories; [79052]
(2) what discussions his Department has had with the Treasury on the tax regimes applying to different types of lottery; and if he will make a statement. [79053]
7 Nov 2011 : Column 88W
John Penrose: My Department does not hold the breakdown as requested. The Gambling Act 2005 requires that as a minimum a society lottery needs to apply 20% of the proceeds of each lottery to their good cause. We understand that the health lottery has publicly stated that it expects 20.3% of proceeds will be allocated to health related causes with the remaining proceeds being split between prizes and expenses. Society lotteries are not subject to lottery duty, and DCMS Ministers have not discussed this issue with Treasury Ministers. Decisions in this area are, of course, for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), and the Treasury keeps taxation policy under constant review.
The Gambling Commission's “Industry statistics, 2009/10”
http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/pdf/Gambling%20 Industry%20Statistics%202009%202010%20update%20-%20July%202011.pdf
show that in the period October 2009 to September 2010 total proceeds (ticket sales) in society lotteries (both lotteries run by external lottery managers and directly by the societies) were £200 million. This represents an increase of 9% on the previous 12 months. The ticket sales were apportioned as follows: 18% to prizes; 51% to purposes of promoting society, and 31% to expenses. The National Lottery Commission advise that the national lottery, on average, is apportioned as follows: 50% to prizes; 28% to good causes; 12% to lottery duty; 5% to retailers; 4.5% to expenses and up to 0.5% profit to the operator depending on performance.
National Planning Policy Framework
Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many representations his Department received on the draft National Planning Policy Framework; and if he will list any such representations. [77791]
John Penrose: This Department has received a number of representations from a range of groups on the draft National Planning Policy Framework. We have encouraged all of these bodies to contribute to the consultation exercise being run by the Department for Communities and Local Government which closed on 17 October 2011.
Radio Frequencies
Mr Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will ensure that universal broadband access at a minimum of 2 Mbps is a priority following the sale of 800, 700 and 600 MHz spectrum. [78481]
Mr Vaizey:
Ofcom's current coverage proposal for the combined auction of the spectrum at 800 MHz and 2600 MHz includes providing a service of not less than 2 Mbps to 95% of the population. It is the Government’s stated aim to ensure that broadband for all would be available at 2 Mbps by 2015. Consideration of the future of the 700 MHz band is at a very early stage. Ofcom published a call for input into the future of the band earlier this year and intends to consult on this in the near future. Ofcom is currently considering how and when to make spectrum at 600 MHz available, although
7 Nov 2011 : Column 89W
this spectrum could be used for broadcast rather than telecommunications services.
Radio Licensing
Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Ofcom licence application process for radio stations. [78203]
Mr Vaizey: Ofcom works independently of Government, and Ministers do not make assessments of the effectiveness of their licensing process for radio stations. However, all of Ofcom's licensing processes are conducted in line with the relevant statutory provisions.
Sign Language
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the number of sign language users in the UK who use (i) British Sign Language and (ii) an alternative form of sign language as their primary means of communication. [78588]
Mr Vaizey: This Department (DCMS) has not commissioned any research into the number of users of British Sign Language (BSL), or other alternative forms of sign language, in the UK. DCMS understands that the number of users is not formally recorded. In undertaking its review of relay service provision in the UK, Ofcom, the independent national telecoms regulator, has drawn on a number of sources of data and quotes the figure of 50,000 BSL users (source: Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People, now known as Signature). The Council does not indicate how many of these people use BSL as their primary means of communication.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the potential growth in the number of British Sign Language interpreters as a result of the introduction of (i) restricted and (ii) unrestricted video relay services. [78589]
Mr Vaizey: This Department has not commissioned any research into the potential growth in the numbers of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters which might arise as a consequence of the introduction of commercially available video relay services, restricted or otherwise, in the UK. According to the UK register of Sign Language Interpreters there are 682 interpreters qualified at the appropriate level for commercial video relay provision (‘Member of the Register’ level), which is up from 519 since Ofcom, the independent national telecoms regulator, published its consultation on relay service provision in the UK at the end of July. The register is a public document available at:
http://portal.nrcpd.org.uk/search/
Independent contributions submitted in response to Ofcom's consultation estimate the number of interpreters needed to deliver an unrestricted video relay service was 2,053 full-time equivalents. However, it is good practice
7 Nov 2011 : Column 90W
for interpreters to move between the video relay studio and field interpreting, so the figure required is likely to be significantly higher.
School Sport
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what progress his Department made in recruiting School Games Organisers; how many are in post; and if he will make a statement. [78415]
Hugh Robertson: Sport England has now awarded grant funding to 424 of the 450 schools which will host the School Games organisers. We expect all organisers to be in post by the end of December 2011.
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many schools are currently participating in the School Games; how many will participate in competitions at each level prior to the London 2012 Olympics; and if he will make a statement. [78416]
Hugh Robertson: On 1 November 2011, a total of 8,541 schools had registered to be part of the School Games during the school year 2011-12. Schools will report back on their participation in the School Games at the end of the school year.
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what plans he has to continue funding for School Games beyond the end of 2012-13; and if he will make a statement. [78417]
Hugh Robertson: My Department is funding School Games until 2014-15. Over the period 2010-11 to 2014-15, £130.9 million Exchequer and lottery funding will be invested to support the programme.
Ticket Touting
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what plans he has to tackle ticket touting for sporting events. [78567]
Hugh Robertson: The Government have no current plans to extend existing legislation, covering the resale of tickets.
UK Sport: Sport England
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the performance of UK Sport in the preparation of elite athletes for the London 2012 Olympics; and if he will make a statement. [78409]
Hugh Robertson:
I will place copies of the Department's 2011-12 funding agreement with UK Sport in the House Libraries. This sets out the key performance indicators against which UK Sport's performance will be judged at the end of the financial year. During the year my officials conduct quarterly performance review meetings to determine progress towards these performance indicators and at the end of the reporting year I will conduct an annual performance review. Nevertheless, at this stage
7 Nov 2011 : Column 91W
of the London cycle, both ourselves and UK Sport are confident that our Olympic and Paralympic teams will meet their London 2012 target of top four and second respectively in the medal tables at London 2012, winning more medals in more sports.
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the performance of Sport England in increasing participation in sport; and if he will make a statement. [78410]
Hugh Robertson: I will place copies of the Department's 2011-12 funding agreement with Sport England in the House Libraries. This sets out the key performance indicators against which Sport England's performance will be judged at the end of the financial year. During the year my officials conduct quarterly performance review meetings to determine progress towards these performance indicators and at the end of the reporting year I will conduct an annual performance review.
We are determined to get more people playing sport as a legacy from London 2012 and we will continue to hold national governing bodies to account for the delivery of their whole sport plans. I am confident that with the inspiration of the games in 2012, and a new approach with a clearer expectation of concrete results in return for Government investment, we will see the benefit at grassroots level.
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what savings to the public purse he expects to achieve from the merger of UK Sport and Sport England; and if he will make a statement. [78411]
Hugh Robertson: We are currently considering the merger of UK Sport and Sport England. Final decisions, including on the structure and governance of the new organisation, have not yet been taken. As such, precise figures on savings cannot be provided at this stage.
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how spending on participation in sport and elite sports performance will be monitored following the merger of UK Sport and Sport England; and if he will make a statement. [78412]
Hugh Robertson: This is still under consideration but we expect that the monitoring of spending will be broadly similar to the current arrangements. However, as part of the comphrensive spending review settlement, both UK Sport and Sport England were told to reduce their expenditure on administration by 50%.
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how the performance of the body formed from the merger of UK Sport and Sport England will be measured against the performance of its predecessors; and if he will make a statement. [78413]
Hugh Robertson: This is still under consideration. In general, the Department manages the performance of its public bodies through funding agreements, containing key performance indicators.
7 Nov 2011 : Column 92W
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what plans he has to ensure that support for elite athletes in preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympics continues following the merger of UK Sport and Sport England; and if he will make a statement. [78414]
Hugh Robertson: It is anticipated that performance support functions currently undertaken by UK Sport will be maintained in any new structure. This will ensure no loss of momentum in performance support through to Rio. In addition, UK Sport intends to make funding awards to Olympic and Paralympic sports for the Rio cycle in December 2012, before any changes take place.
Treasury
Banks: Finance
Mr Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he made of the value of (a) RBS and (b) Lloyds Banking Group on (i) 7 May 2010 and (ii) 1 November 2011. [78861]
Mr Hoban: The Government does not routinely value either RBS or Lloyds Banking Group (LBG). This information is already publicly available from a wide variety of sources.
The Government does, however, estimate the value of its shareholdings in these banks. The most recent official estimate of the value of the Government's shareholdings in RBS and LBG is contained in the Treasury's resource accounts for 2010-11, which show the value of these holdings as at the end of March 2011 was £55.3 billion.
The OBR also publish the estimate of the expected net overall cost of the financial sector interventions, which includes details of the value of the Government's shareholdings in RBS and Lloyds. The next publication of this estimate will be on 29 November as part of their Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
Biofuels
Caroline Nokes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what fiscal steps he is taking to support the growth of the sustainable biodiesel industry. [78552]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Government support biofuels, including biodiesel, through the renewable transport fuel obligation administered by the Department for Transport. As part of its consultation on implementing the transport elements of the renewable energy directive, the Department for Transport has proposed providing twice the financial support to sustainable waste-derived biofuels as will be provided to conventional biofuels. Under this double certification arrangement a litre of biofuel from wastes would currently yield around 40 pence per litre.
Business: Loans
Owen Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on lending of the recent increase in the London Interbank Offered Rate. [79017]
7 Nov 2011 : Column 93W
Mr Hoban: Money market rates have seen some upward pressure in recent months, reflecting concerns regarding the euro area crisis. Banks in the UK have gone into this period of market difficulty in a much better position than the previous crisis on both capital and liquidity. The Bank of England has reported that credit availability in Q3 2011 remained broadly unchanged for businesses and increased slightly for households. We will continue to monitor this closely as market volatility persists.
Child Benefit
Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of child benefit recipients with (a) one, (b) two and (c) three or more children who are resident outside the UK. [78330]
Mr Gauke: The main purpose of child benefit is to support families living in the UK. Consequently, the general rules for this benefit do not provide for it to be paid in respect of children who are resident outside this country.
However, child benefit is a family benefit under EC Regulation 883/2004 on social security co-ordination and I therefore refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 6 September 2011, Official Report, columns 400-401W, to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr Jackson). Information about the number of children each claimant receives child benefit for would be available only at disproportionate cost.
Commodity Markets: Food
Dr Huppert: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the conclusion in the OECD Agricultural Outlook 2011-20 report on the relationship between speculative activity in futures markets and the price of agricultural goods. [78943]
Mr Hoban: The analysis presented in the OECD Agricultural Outlook 2011-20 report is consistent with the Government's view that speculation in agricultural futures and options markets is unlikely to have been a significant causal factor in recent agricultural price spikes.
Council Tax: Swindon
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many properties in Swindon were in each council tax band in the latest period for which figures are available. [78391]
Mr Gauke: The number of dwellings in each council tax band in Swindon unitary authority, as at 30 September 2011, are shown in the following table:
| Council tax band | Number of dwellings |
| Note: Totals may not sum due to rounding. | |
7 Nov 2011 : Column 94W
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) publishes counts of dwellings by council tax band for each local authority in England and Wales on a quarterly basis. Figures for the end of September 2011 can be found on the VOA website in the following location:
http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/statisticalReleases/131011 _CouncilTaxValuationListSummary.html
This publication will next be updated in January 2012 to include statistics for end December 2011.
Departmental Billing
Mike Freer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average cost to his Department was of processing the payment of an invoice in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of invoices settled in that period his Department paid (a) electronically and (b) by cheque. [74980]
Miss Chloe Smith: The average cost of processing an invoice for the Treasury Group in 2010-11 was £6.00. Of the 11,920 invoices settled in that period, 99.7% were settled electronically and 0.3% by cheque.
Departmental Buildings
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) building and (b) refurbishment projects his Department plans in the (i) current and (ii) next financial year; and what the cost of each such project will be. [74374]
Miss Chloe Smith: HM Treasury is currently taking forward a space consolidation project in 1 Horse Guards road to halve the amount of space the Treasury uses. The project will increase the occupancy of the building and provide a modern, efficient and effective workplace. I will write to the hon. Member with costs for the project once a contract is awarded and deposit a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.
Freedom of Information Requests
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 his Department has received in each month since May 2010; how many responses given in each such month disclosed (a) the full information requested, (b) part of the information requested, with some information withheld under exemptions in the Act and (c) none of the information requested; and in respect of how many requests received in each such month (i) (A) substantive and (B) holding responses were issued within 20 working days of the date of receipt, (ii) no substantive response was issued within 40 working days of the date of receipt and (iii) no substantive response has yet been issued. [78918]
Miss Chloe Smith: Statistics on the Treasury’s performance under the Freedom of Information Act are published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice, with annual reports being placed in the House Library. These publications are available at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/foi/implementation-editions.htm
7 Nov 2011 : Column 95W
The data published comply with the reporting requirements for central Government Departments which were agreed by Parliament. The figures are available both as quarterly and annual statistics. Information has been published up to the second quarter of 2011. Future publications will be made by the Ministry of Justice.
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in respect of how many responses to requests for information received by his Department under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the reason of (a) commercially sensitive information, (b) information not held, (c) information too costly to provide and (d) vexatious or repeated requests has been given in response since January 2010. [78919]
Miss Chloe Smith: Statistics on the Treasury’s performance under the Freedom of Information Act are published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice, with annual reports being placed in the House Library. These publications are available at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/foi/implementation-editions.htm
The data published complies with the reporting requirements for central government departments which were agreed by Parliament, and the figures are available as quarterly or annual statistics. Information has been published up to the second quarter of 2011. The reports contain the data sought in parts a), b), c) and d) of the question.
NDBPs
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officials were (a) directly and (b) otherwise employed by non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible (i) in 2000, (ii) in 2005, (iii) in 2007, (iv) in 2010 and (v) on the most recent date for which figures are available. [78116]
Miss Chloe Smith: HM Treasury currently has two NDPBs. The Royal Mint Advisory Committee became the Treasury's responsibility in January 2010 and does not employ any civil servants. The Office of Budget Responsibility was established in April 2011 and employed 17 civil servants at the end of September 2011. HM Treasury has not been responsible for any other NDPBs since 2000.
Public Sector: Pay
Mr Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the total monetary value of London weightings and London living allowances for staff in his Department. [74918]
Miss Chloe Smith: HM Treasury pays members of senior civil service payband 1 a London allowance of £2,000 per annum. The total cost of the allowance in 2010-11 was £151,000. Staff below the senior civil service do not receive a London allowance. These payments reflect the need to compete with other London-based organisations to attract suitable senior staff.
7 Nov 2011 : Column 96W
No additional London living allowances or weightings are paid although the Department does have a London rate of basic pay which is higher than the rate paid to staff employed outside London.
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officials in his Department received a pay rise other than by promotion in the last two years; and what the average increase was in each such year. [78127]
Miss Chloe Smith: The two year public sector pay freeze announced in the emergency Budget on 21 June 2010 applied to HM Treasury in 2010 and 2011. Under the terms of the freeze, those earning a full-time equivalent salary of less than £21,000 were to receive an annual salary increase of at least £250. This was the only basis for civil servants in HM Treasury to receive a pay rise other than promotion in the last two years. The number of staff affected and the average increase is shown in the following table.
|
|
Number of staff | Average increase (percentage) |
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officials in his Department received a bonus in each year since 2007. [78135]
Miss Chloe Smith: Non-consolidated bonus payments are made to staff who have performed exceptionally well in two circumstances in their role. These are:
1. Non-consolidated bonus payments linked to the annual staff appraisal report;
2. Special bonuses paid to staff in year to recognise specific contributions or pieces of work.
Non-consolidated bonus payments are paid in the year following the year for which performance is appraised. So, payments made in 2011-12 are made in respect of the 2010-11 appraisal year.
The number of civil servants receiving a non-consolidated bonus under either of the categories above in the years since 2007 is shown in the following table:
| Performance year | Payment year | Number of staff |
Internships
Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many unpaid and expenses-only internships (a) his Department and (b) each public body for which he is responsible employed in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [78366]
Miss Chloe Smith: In the last 12 months there have been fewer than five unpaid and expense-only interns employed by HMT and arm’s length bodies.
7 Nov 2011 : Column 97W
Diesel Fuel: Agriculture
Mr Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will examine the merits of an exemption for the use of red diesel in farm vehicles belonging to farmers who are requested by county and parish councils to volunteer to assist with gritting rural roads; [78698]
(2) what discussions he has had with HM Revenue and Customs on its review of enforcement policies in respect of the unpaid one-off use of red diesel in farm vehicles for the purposes solely for the benefit of the community. [78699]
Miss Chloe Smith: Ministers have asked HMRC to conduct an internal review of policy on the use of rebated fuel in agricultural vehicles. As part of that review, HMRC will consider instances of unremunerated voluntary work.
Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation
Michael Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many payments have been made under the Equitable Life Payment Scheme up to 31 October 2011. [78639]
Mr Hoban: The scheme will be publishing a report in due course on the volumes and values of payments made.
Michael Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) officials in his Department and (b) other staff are employed in administering the Equitable Life Payment scheme. [78640]
Mr Hoban: The Equitable Life Payment scheme is being delivered by NS&I on the Treasury's behalf and there are 186 people currently administering the scheme.
Excise Duties: Fuels
Mr MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date he plans to implement the rural fuel duty discount scheme. [78616]
Miss Chloe Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 October 2011, Official Report, column 20W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (Simon Hart). The Government plan to implement the rural fuel discount scheme as soon as possible following EU level agreement.
Excise Duties: National Lottery
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the health lottery on lottery duty receipts; and if he will make a statement. [79054]
Miss Chloe Smith: The health lottery was launched on 29 September 2011. Several months of data would be required to determine the effect of the health lottery on lottery duty receipts.
7 Nov 2011 : Column 98W
Green Investment Bank
Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 27 October 2011, Official Report, column 308W, on the Green Investment Bank, in the event that the £2 billion target is not reached from the sale of assets whether the Government plan to fund the shortfall from general taxation. [78788]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Government's plan is to provide £2 billion from asset sales towards the Green Investment Bank. They are confident that the sales they are considering will be sufficient.
Individual Savings Accounts: Stocks and Shares
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to allow shares listed on the Alternative Investment Market to be held within an individual savings account. [79012]
Mr Hoban: ISAs are the Government's main non-pensions savings incentive, and act as a mainstream savings product held by over 23 million people. The Government believes that ISAs are a trusted brand, and that it is important that this is maintained.
The Government therefore does not intend to allow shares listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM)-which generally carry a higher level of investment risk, and can be less liquid - to be qualifying investments for ISAs.
The Government agrees that it is important that small and growing companies are supported, and companies listed on AIM can benefit from other incentive schemes, such as investments made through the Enterprise Investment scheme and Venture Capital Trusts.
Learning Disability
Mr Leech: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will meet representatives of the learning disability sector to discuss implementation of the steps to provide services for people with a learning disability following the outcome of the Dilnot Commission. [78324]
Miss Chloe Smith: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with and receive representations from a wide range of stakeholders including the learning disability sector as part of the usual policymaking process.
The Government welcome the work of the Commission on the Funding of Care and Support, chaired by Andrew Dilnot, and its final report. The Government are currently considering these proposals, and plan to publish a response to the Commission's report alongside a social care White Paper in the spring.
To inform that response, the Department of Health has launched “Caring for our future: shared ambitions for care and support”, and plans to engage with people who use care and support services, carers, local councils, care providers and the voluntary sector about the priorities for improving care and support. Representatives of the learning disability sector are actively contributing to these discussions.
7 Nov 2011 : Column 99W
Personal Savings
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will discuss with financial institutions the competitiveness of their savings products and the incentives which they offer to savers. [78621]
Mr Hoban: The Government understand the difficulties faced by savers in the current climate, and recognise the importance of a competitive market for savings products. Treasury Ministers regularly meet with representatives of financial institutions, and discuss the products offered to savers where it is appropriate to do so.
Private Sector: Pay
Mr Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on high salaries, bonuses and pension arrangements paid to prominent figures in the private sector. [78731]
Mr Davey: I have been asked to reply
The Government believe that executive remuneration that is well structured and rewards senior executives who contribute to long-term success is an important way of promoting sustainability and growth. However, there are concerns about the disconnect between how our largest listed companies perform and the rewards that are on offer and this is not sustainable.
On 19 September, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published a discussion paper on executive remuneration. The paper explores the link between executive pay and company performance and invites views on how this link can be strengthened. Submissions are being sought by 25 November, after which the Government will consider their response.
Taxation
Mr Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the effects of each of the tax changes made by his Department for the purpose of reducing the deficit on each income decile since May 2010; and what the average annual effect per capita is of such changes on persons in each of those deciles; [75653]
(2) what proportion of planned reductions in (a) public expenditure and (b) benefits he estimates will be borne by each income decile; and what the minimum annual income is of each decile group. [75695]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 20 October 2011]:It is the impact of the tax and benefit system as a whole that is important for households. Over the last three fiscal events the Government have published detailed analysis of the distributional impacts of reforms for tax, tax credit and benefit changes, and has shown the cumulative impacts of these reforms on households. Charts A.2 and A.3 of Budget 2011 show the most recent analysis by income decile, and present estimates in cash terms and as a percentage of net income. This analysis shows that, when looking at the cumulative impact of reforms introduced by this Government, it is clear that the top decile contributes the most to the fiscal consolidation, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of net income.
7 Nov 2011 : Column 100W
Chart A.6 of Budget 2011 shows the Government's best estimate of the overall impact of reforms on households, including changes to public services. Due to data limitations analysis is shown at a quintile level to limit the number of assumptions that have been made.
Income deciles are calculated by ordering households by their income and dividing them into 10 equally sized groups. As households with more individuals require higher levels of household income and expenditure to achieve the same standard of living, an internationally standard process of adjustment called equalisation is used to ensure households are compared on an equal basis. Further details on this can be found in the Data Sources document accompanying Budget 2011. The following table sets out the lower bounds for equivalised income deciles used at Budget 2011. Note these estimates have been rounded to the nearest £1,000.
As this is equivalised income, the ranges below do not show net (or gross) incomes for households within the bands. Rather for a particular decile they contain a wider range of net incomes, some of which will lie outside of the bands themselves. For example, a household with a combined net income of £25,000 containing a couple and two children aged seven and 15 years old would have an equivalised net income of around £16,340. This is calculated as follows:
Factor: 0.67 + 0.33 + 0.20 + 0.33 = 1.53.
Equivalised net income: £25,000/1.53 = £16,340.
Given this, it is not valid to interpret the bands as net (or gross) incomes or make statements on the impacts of policies using that interpretation.
| Income decile | £ |
VAT: Medical Treatments
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on the inability of NHS trusts to recover VAT on medical treatments compared to the ability of dispensing pharmacists to do so; and what representations he has received from patients and pharmacists on collection of prescriptions from their local pharmacists which are taken into hospitals to be administered. [78844]
Mr Gauke: The Government keep all tax matters under review. The general principles are that the provision of free health care and the dispensing of medication by an NHS hospital are not treated as being a "business" activity for VAT purposes. Consequently, the NHS is unable to recover from HMRC the VAT it incurs on drugs. However, the funding that NHS bodies receive from the Department of Health takes account of this irrecoverable VAT.
7 Nov 2011 : Column 101W
The dispensing of drugs by a pharmacist is a business activity for VAT purposes and is zero-rated provided that the drugs are dispensed for the personal use of the patient on the prescription of an appropriate practitioner. In these circumstances the pharmacist will be able to recover from HMRC the VAT they have been charged on the purchase of the drugs.
Working Tax Credit: Older Workers
Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people working (a) between 16 and 29 hours per week and (b) over 30 hours per week in (i) England, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) Dudley borough are in receipt of the working tax credit 50+ return to work payment. [78332]
Mr Gauke: The following table provides the requested information for 2009-10—the latest finalised year for which data are available.
| Average number of households in receipt of the 50+ return to work elements (2009-10) | |||
|
|
Dudley Borough | West Midlands | England |
Business, Innovation and Skills
Adam Werritty
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether (a) he, (b) officials of his Department and (c) special advisers in his Department have met Mr Adam Werritty on official business since May 2010; and how many such meetings took place (i) on his Department's premises and (ii) elsewhere. [78870]
Mr Davey: No Ministers, special advisers or the Permanent Secretary have had any meetings with Mr Adam Werritty. Disproportionate costs would be incurred in checking whether any officials had ever met him but it is considered unlikely.
Basic Skills
Mr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to improve adult literacy and numeracy. [78768]
Mr Hayes: The Government are continuing to fund courses for adults who lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, so that they can get the skills they need to function in society, progress onto further training and employment, and to operate more productively in work.
Following the publication of “Skills for Sustainable Growth”, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has been undertaking a review of literacy and numeracy provision for adults in order to improve economic and personal returns through making this provision more effective.
7 Nov 2011 : Column 102W
Business: Employment Tribunals
Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the findings of the British Chambers of Commerce Workforce Survey: Small Businesses, on the frequency with which small businesses face the prospect of employment tribunals. [78497]
Mr Davey: We are aware from the Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications 2008, published by the Department, that 36% of employment tribunal claims related to organisations with less than 50 employees.
The Government understand that small businesses are likely to feel the impact of employment laws more than larger businesses, so we are considering whether more needs to be done to discourage unmeritorious claims, as part of proposals to encourage employers and employees to settle disputes before they get to tribunal. We will publish the Government response to the recent consultation on Resolving Workplace Disputes in the coming weeks. Discussions with key stakeholders, including business organisations, were ongoing throughout the consultation period.
Business: Entry Clearances
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 15 September 2011, Official Report, column 1343W, on business: entry clearances, from which organisations he has received representations about the impact of the tier 2 limit on business forward planning. [78288]
Mr Prisk: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has ongoing contact with business representatives from across all sectors on a range of issues including migration.
Since June 2011 we have had representations about the impact of the tier 2 limit on business forward planning from one company in the IT industry and one company in the manufacturing sector.
Business: Surveys
Mr Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has made an assessment of the findings of the British Chambers of Commerce report entitled, ‘Workforce Survey—Small Businesses' relating to small business owners' perception of the flexibility of the UK labour market compared to that of other EU member states and the US. [79022]
Mr Davey: We have examined as far as possible all of the comparable international evidence on labour market flexibility. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Jobs Study Review of 2006 summarises most of this evidence in ‘Boosting jobs and income—policy lessons from reassessing the OECD Jobs Strategy’ and I draw attention to some of the following conclusions in it:
“The experience over the past two decades shows that there is no single combination of policies and institutions to achieve and maintain good labour market performance. For example, it is not necessary that all individual policies are aimed at strong labour market performance, provided that adverse stances in some policy areas are more than compensated for by favourable settings in
7 Nov 2011 : Column 103W
other areas, e.g. by exploiting policy interactions. This allows some scope to tailor policy packages to suit national preferences with respect to equity, risk-taking and other objectives. However, in practice there are few feasible policy combinations to achieve satisfactory employment outcomes.”
The study also identified the UK as a ‘successful employment performer’ and suggested that it fell into a group of countries that are ‘market reliant’ which include light employment protection in its policy package. Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United States are the other countries identified in this group by the OECD.
The OECD also identified another group of countries as ‘successful performers’ with different but successful policy packages. These include Austria, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
The Government, through their employment law and growth reviews, aim to build upon this and foster greater employment and growth.
Common and Leasehold Reform Act 2002
Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if his Department has any plans to review the operation of the Common and Leasehold Reform Act 2002. [77723]
Mr Djanogly: I have been asked to reply.
Part 1 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 created commonhold as a freehold alternative to long leasehold ownership for flats and other interdependent properties. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for this Part of the Act. Part 2 of the Act introduced new rights and protections for residential leaseholders and is the responsibility of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The Government have no plans to review the Act but existing regulations in the leasehold sector are being scrutinised as part of the major cross-government exercise known as the ‘Red Tape Challenge'.
Construction
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to support the construction industry. [78358]
Mr Prisk: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 31 October 2011, Official Report, column 463W.
Counterfeit Manufacturing: Trade Agreements
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his proposed timetable is for signing and ratifying the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement. [78606]
Mr Davey: The Government are considering their position following the recent parliamentary scrutiny clearance of the European Commission's proposals for the signing and agreement of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
7 Nov 2011 : Column 104W
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for scrutiny of the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement. [78607]
Mr Davey: The European Commission's proposals for the signing and agreement of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement were submitted to the House of Commons and House of Lords EU Select Committees for parliamentary scrutiny on 14 July 2011. The proposals cleared scrutiny in the House of Commons on 9 September 2011 and in the House of Lords on 14 October 2011.
Advertising: Job Vacancies
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent on advertising job vacancies since May 2010. [75647]
Mr Davey: Since May 2010, the Department has recorded spend of £11,819 against the specific ledger code for the direct advertising of job vacancies.
The Department does not separately identify advertising costs which form part of a departmental or cross-Government recruitment campaign and, therefore, cannot provide any additional response without incurring disproportionate costs.
Data Protection
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2011, Official Report, columns 221-22W, on departmental data protection, for what reasons a bookkeeper was provided with access to a Minister's diary; and if he will name the Minister and bookkeeper concerned. [78613]
Vince Cable: The Minister's diary contains both their official and personal engagements. Sending it to the Minister's bookkeeper retrospectively enables them to keep track of the Minister's affairs.
Lost Property
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has lost any (a) computers, (b) mobile telephones, (c) BlackBerrys and (d) other IT equipment since May 2010; and if he will make a statement. [77352]
Mr Davey: Central records show the following items lost or stolen since May 2010:
(a) Computers: seven
(b) Mobiles: No central records available
(c) BlackBerrys: 49
(d) Other IT: three (3G cards).
Public Sector: Pay
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will estimate the total monetary value of London weightings and London living allowances for staff in his Department. [74912]
7 Nov 2011 : Column 105W
Mr Davey: The total monetary value of London weightings and London living allowances is approximately £10,581,415 per annum, based on current staff numbers.
This figure is an estimate based on the current weighting element of £3,500 which is included in our London pay rates and pension and employer-related national insurance contributions. To obtain an accurate figure for pension and national insurance costs would involve checking individual records and would entail disproportionate costs.
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many civil servants in his Department received a pay rise other than by promotion in the last two years; and what the average increase was in each such year. [76592]
Mr Davey: The following table shows the number of civil servants in the Department of Business, Innovation of Skills (BIS) who received an increase in salary other than by promotion in 2010 and 2011.
| Average increase | |||
|
|
Number of staff receiving a salary increase | Percentage | Amount (£) |
| (1) The figures above include civil servants working for BIS who received the annual pay award as of 1 August. There may be other instances where individuals may have received a pay increase at different times in the each of the above years due to completion of their probationary period or a late payment of the annual pay award due to a return to BIS payroll from absence. This information is not held centrally so to provide this additional information would entail disproportionate cost. (2) This is not the final figure for 2011-12 as there as a small number of outstanding payments due to be processed this year. | |||
BIS entered the two-year pay freeze for civil service staff in 2010. Under the pay freeze guidance staff on full-time equivalent earnings of under £21,000 a year are eligible for a pay increase of at least £250.
Progression payments have also been made to a proportion of BIS staff outside the senior civil service in both 2010 and 2011 where they have a contractual entitlement.
Press: Subscriptions
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade profession magazines in 2010-11. [74994]
Mr Davey: In 2010-11, the Department spent a total of £60,308 on newspapers, periodicals and trade profession magazines.
Procurement
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of procurement contracts offered by his Department have been advertised on the Contracts Finder website since the website's inception. [67224]
7 Nov 2011 : Column 106W
Mr Davey: BIS, including UK Trade & Investment, has advertised 100% (15 of its 15) Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) contract requirements on Contracts Finder since the website's inception. Of these seven were core-BIS contracts and eight were UKTI contracts.
BIS and UKTI policy is to procure through existing frameworks where they exist. Such advertisements are not required to be published on Contracts Finder.
Further information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to increase the number of small suppliers through its procurement processes. [74637]
Mr Davey: BIS is fully committed to supporting the raft of initiatives announced by the Prime Minister on 11 February 2011 at the Small Business summit. We are currently working with Cabinet Office colleagues on optimising opportunities through procurement processes.
“Value for money” is the deciding factor when we award contracts competitively but, given our wider responsibility, we strongly encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to bid for departmental contracts they believe they could fulfil.
Details of practical actions include:
Ongoing use of the Contracts Finder website launched in February. Contracts Finder is a free facility for SMEs to find online public sector procurement and subcontracting opportunities above £10,000 in a single location.
Prompt payment targets. Prompt payment is vital to businesses and is of particular importance to small businesses and SMEs. To support our suppliers, the Department aims to pay all invoices within five working days. In the period April to September this year, an average of 94.6% of all invoices were paid within this target period.
For suitable contracts, BIS aims going forward to notify its tendering requirements in advance by use of a prior information notice (PIN) for its Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) procurements. This will provide a greater degree of notice to the market, enabling small businesses and SMEs to be better placed to bid as either prime or subcontractors.
BIS is currently running an ‘Open’ OJEU procurement exercise in close co-ordination with the Cabinet Office team responsible for SME issues. The Open procedure does not utilise a pre-qualification stage, reducing the administrative burden for bidders, including SMEs, when bidding for Government opportunities. We are looking to commence another two Open procedures within the next three months.
To help SMEs to build skills and capacity and to help such businesses access public procurement opportunities more generally, BIS has designed, with input from across both the public and private sectors, a free online public procurement training course "Winning the Contract" available on the Businesslink website at:
http://www1.learndirect-business.com/business-courses/winning-the-contract
7 Nov 2011 : Column 107W
The course is a free, nationally available resource which aims to make the public procurement process more transparent and more accessible to small businesses.
Innovation Strategy
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects to publish his Department's strategy for innovation. [75807]
Mr Willetts: The Department intends to publish its Innovation and Research Strategy later this year.
Written Questions
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many questions for written answer on a named day were submitted to his Department between 10 May 2010 and 31 October 2011; and how many were answered within the specified time period. [78794]
Mr Davey: The Department aims to answer named day questions on the date specified by the Member. Where it is not possible to provide a full answer within the usual deadline, the Department believes it will usually be preferable to provide an answer a few days late than to provide an incomplete answer. During the period 10 May 2010-31 October 2011 a total of 1,469 named day parliamentary questions were due for answer of which 969 (66%) received a substantive reply on the date requested by the Member.
The figures have been drawn from the Department's database which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Franchises
Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to promote franchising as a business model. [78269]
Mr Prisk: Detailed guidance on franchising has been published on the following website:
www.businesslink.gov.uk
in partnership with the British Franchising Association. More specific guidance on franchising for new businesses and those thinking of starting a business will appear on the new My New Business area of the site when launched on 14 November 2011. A new syndication offer will also be launched on 25 November that will enable third party organisations to reuse all content on the Business Link website free of charge, including content relating to franchising.
We are transforming the way that we enable people to receive the information, advice and guidance they need to start and grow their business. Our new approach to Government services and advice for business is based on: digital services which provide high quality information and advice, accessible when businesses need them; and face to face advice provided by business people for business people, not by the public sector.
Revamping the Business Link website:
www.businesslink.gov.uk
7 Nov 2011 : Column 108W
introducing two new online services; a dedicated "My New Business" area developed by experts to provide training, tools and checklists for those looking to start a business; and the new Growth and Improvement Service which will provide new tools to help businesses understand the issues they face, plus a business support and an events finder tool so businesses can find out what is available to them locally.
Establishing a national helpline to help people find what they need on the web and for those who cannot access the web.
Encouraging businesses to seek a business mentor to help them develop their business and encouraging mentoring organisations to offer access to their mentors through a mentoring portal:
www.mentorsme.co.uk
Setting up a new Business Coaching for Growth (BCG) Programme to enable small businesses with high growth potential to realise their potential.
Further Education
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what financial support is available to adult learners undertaking non-science, technology, engineering and medical access to higher education courses in further education colleges. [77361]
Mr Hayes: Further education colleges receive discretionary learner support (DLS) funding for the purpose of helping those adult learners who are in most need of financial support to enter and remain in study. In 2011/12, colleges have been allocated DLS funding amounting to approximately £101 million. The responsibility for making awards from DLS funding sits with colleges, who are best placed to assess the needs of their learners.
Higher Education
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that higher education institutions charging in excess of £6,000 per annum for tuition from September 2012 are sharing best practice on widening participation. [77801]
Mr Willetts: Institutions intending to charge more than the £6,000 basic amount for tuition must first demonstrate to the independent Director of Fair Access what more they will do to attract students from disadvantaged backgrounds. These plans are finalised in approved Access Agreements.
The powers of the director of fair access were established by the Higher Education Act 2004 and include a power to identify good practice in connection with access to higher education and to give advice about such practice.
Ministers at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills wrote to the director of fair access on 10 February 2011 setting out the Government's expectations about how he should approach the approval and monitoring of new access agreements. The guidance set out significantly increased expectations for the priority that institutions should give to fair access and widening participation. In particular we identified the effectiveness of collaborative working on widening participation, recognising that many institutions were already doing this and that access agreements should build on that work. We also highlighted that such collaboration also encourages the sharing of good practice. The director mirrored Governments' advice in his own guidance to the sector in March on how to develop access agreements.
7 Nov 2011 : Column 109W
The Government have committed through the recent White Paper ‘Students at the Heart of the System' (June 2011) to strengthen the Office for Fair Access (OFFA), so that it can provide more active and energetic challenge and support to universities and colleges. We will want to work with the director on the size and structure of OFFA but will make significantly more resources available, increasing capacity up to around four times its original level. This would equip OFFA to use fully its powers to monitor and review access agreements and identify and promote best, evidence-based practice.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential effects on the international reputation of British universities of his proposal to grant degree awarding powers to institutions which do not provide teaching or research. [78637]
Mr Willetts: The aim of the Government's proposals for higher education reform, including the proposal to decouple degree awarding powers from teaching, is to drive greater diversity and competition to improve the range and quality of provision available to students while safeguarding the strong international reputation of English universities. Any organisation, including non-teaching bodies, wishing to acquire taught degree awarding powers will, as now, have to meet specific criteria to determine if it is fit to exercise the powers being sought. We are currently reviewing the degree awarding powers criteria as part of those reforms but believe that broadly the same principles as set out in the current criteria can and should apply and that the key principles will be applicable to non-teaching bodies as well.
Higher Education Funding Council
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2011, Official Report, columns 215-6W, on the Higher Education Funding Council, when he expects data on future funding for (a) postgraduate research, (b) postgraduate taught masters and (c) PhD student numbers for (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15 to be available; and if he will make a statement. [77508]
Mr Willetts: The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) receives notification from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) of its overall budget allocation in advance of each new financial year. HEFCE will announce its funding allocations, including for postgraduate provision, for the relevant academic year once it has considered any guidance provided by BIS on the use of its annual grant.
Higher Education: Admissions
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UCAS applications have been submitted by residents of (a) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, (b) the borough of Middlesbrough, (c) the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, (d) the Tees Valley and (e) the north-east in the 2011-12 admissions cycle to date; and how many such applications had been submitted on the same date in the 2010-11 admissions cycle. [77543]
7 Nov 2011 : Column 110W
Mr Willetts: The information is in the following table and has been provided by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
| Applicants to UCAS as at October 15 by parliamentary constituency/region | ||
| Admission cycle | ||
| Area of domicile | 2010-11 (2) | 2011-12 (3) |
| (1) Parliamentary constituency has been identified using the home postcode regardless of declared area of permanent residence. (2) Applicants applying to enter courses starting in autumn 2011. (3) Applicants applying to enter courses starting in autumn 2012. | ||
UCAS have stated that year-on-year changes for all courses at this early stage in the cycle are often different from the position later in the cycle, and that it is too early in the cycle to extrapolate applicant volumes forward. The main deadline for the majority of UCAS courses is 15 January.
Insolvency
Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses were (a) liquidated and (b) put into administration in each year between 2000-01 and 2010-11. [78751]
Mr Davey: Official statistics are published around calendar years, and figures for (a) compulsory and creditors' voluntary liquidations and (b) administrations are presented in the Quarterly Insolvency Statistics, the latest publication of which covers 2001 to 2010 and can be found on the Insolvency Service website here:
http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/otherinformation/statistics/201108/index.htm
Tables 1, 4 and 6 cover liquidations in England and Wales (E&W), Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively; tables 3 and 5 cover administrations in E&W and Scotland, respectively. Official statistics for administrations in Northern Ireland are not available.
Annual figures for 2011 will be available from 3 February 2012, and historic data are also published covering years before 2001.
Insolvency Service: Regulation
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to review the regulation of the Insolvency Service. [79256]
Mr Davey:
At present operation of the Insolvency Service is regulated through the requirement to produce, and lay in Parliament, an annual corporate plan, as well as annual fees orders, which set the fees charged by official receivers for their work in dealing with bankruptcy and insolvency case administration. For the Services' work in company investigation and enforcement, and redundancy payments, funding is set through allocations made from BIS and HMRC respectively and the level of
7 Nov 2011 : Column 111W
this allocation is made in response to submissions from the Service to each Department, as part of their wider budget setting.
For all areas of the Service, the corporate plan sets out its vision for delivering services, with particular emphasis on its plans and targets for the coming year. The plan is reviewed by BIS to ensure that its goals are realistic and that targets are achievable within the resources available, and yet are set at a level to stretch the organisation and not allow complacency.
Performance against the targets and budgets thus set is reported to the Minister on a quarterly basis.
There are no plans to make substantive changes to this reporting process.
Nanotechnology
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the status is of the UK Nanotechnologies Strategy published in March 2010. [78387]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 3 November 2011]: The UK Nanotechnologies Strategy of March 2010 has been a useful source of views and input that has informed our thinking on nanotechnology, which has evolved, and is underpinned by the view that nano-scale technologies should be thought of on a case-by-case basis given the wide range of materials and processes with diverse properties, benefits and implications for health and the environment.
Together with Lord Taylor of Holbeach, I recently held a roundtable discussion to inform our thinking on how Government can in the future help industry have confidence to invest in successful and responsible commercialisation and for consumers to be confident that the manufacture, integration, use and subsequent disposal of nano-enabled products will not have adverse impacts on their health or the wider environment.
We are currently reflecting on the outcomes of this discussion, but the Government are committed to enabling the successful and responsible commercialisation of nano-scale technologies, and these technologies remain an important strand of activity across a number of Government Departments and partner bodies such as the Research Councils and the Technology Strategy Board.
Non-governmental Organisations
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much direct funding over £100,000 his Department provided to non-governmental organisations in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; how much funding he plans to provide to such organisations in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15; and if he will make a statement. [78505]
Mr Davey: The information is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Regional Growth Fund
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the monetary value is of the winning bids to the second round of the Regional Growth Fund in each region. [78405]
7 Nov 2011 : Column 112W
Mr Prisk [holding answer 3 November 2011]: It is not possible to provide final information on the monetary value of each winning bids to the second round of the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) in each region as the offer of a grant is conditional and will be finalised once contracts are signed. However, a list of successful second round of RGF bidders by region is available on the BIS website:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/RGF
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) which (a) Ministers and (b) Departments were represented at meetings held by the ministerial group chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister to consider recommended bids for the second round of the Regional Growth Fund put forward by its Independent Advisory Panel; [79282]
(2) how many meetings were held by the Ministerial Group under the chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister to consider recommended bids for the second round of the Regional Growth Fund; and on what dates such meetings took place. [79281]
Mr Prisk: The ministerial group has met a number of times to consider all bids submitted in both rounds and the independent panel recommendations; all the relevant Departments were represented.
Regional Growth Fund: Job Creation
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what methodology his Department used to calculate the figures for indirect job creation from the winning bids announced from the second round of the Regional Growth Fund. [78403]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 3 November 2011]: All of the figures for indirect job creation from the winning bids announced from the second round of the Regional Growth Fund on 31 October 2011 were taken directly from the bids submitted from successful bidders. Where direct or indirect jobs were incorrectly classified, jobs were put under the correct heading. Progress towards the Job Target specified in the Grant Offer Letter will be monitored quarterly.
Executive Pay
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 1 November 2011, Official Report, column 590W, on companies, if he will bring forward proposals to encourage active shareholder participation in annual general meetings for the purposes of scrutinising (a) executive remuneration, (b) corporate performance and (c) related shareholder value. [79210]
Mr Davey: On 19 September, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published a discussion paper on executive remuneration in large listed companies. The paper explores the link between executive pay and company performance and invites views on how this link can be strengthened. It includes a range of proposals designed to empower shareholders with the tools and information they need to be active company owners.
Submissions are being sought by 25 November, after which the Government will consider their response.
7 Nov 2011 : Column 113W
Students: Fees and Charges
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has conducted an equality impact assessment of the proposed changes to further education fee structures with regards to access to higher education courses. [79225]
Mr Hayes: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills recently conducted a public consultation on further education (FE) loans, as part of a wider consultation on FE strategy called ‘New Challenges, New Chances’. The consultation on FE loans asked for views on whether the introduction of loans would create any particular barriers to those wanting to access learning. The Department has also commissioned research on the potential impact of FE loans. Responses to the public consultation and the findings of the research will be used to inform an equality impact assessment of the FE loans policy, to be published in April 2012.
Student Loans Company
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions his Department has had with the Student Loans Company on improving its customer service since May 2010. [77615]
Mr Willetts: The Department is committed to supporting the Student Loans Company (SLC) in its efforts to deliver a more successful Student Finance England service and to ensure students and their families get the service they need.
The Department’s officials have regular discussions with SLC to review its performance and efficiency, including the Student Finance England service.
Students: Loans
Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to tackle delays in processing student loan applications experienced by some new students. [76749]
Mr Willetts: The Student Loans Company (SLC) is responsible for administering the student finance service on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable). By 14 October 2011, SLC had received 1,001,000 eligible applications for core financial support from English-domiciled students for the 2011/12 academic year, of which 904,000 (90%) had been prepared for payment to be made once attendance on the course had been confirmed by the university or college.
SLC is committed to continuously improving its performance and is implementing a number of measures to improve the quality of service it delivers. This includes improved training for staff, simpler web-based information, advice and guidance, and processing improvements, including to ICT based systems. This year SLC introduced an electronic link with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to automatically verify household income, meaning that SLC was able to process the majority of new students' applications for means-tested support without asking customers to send in financial evidence.
7 Nov 2011 : Column 114W
Cabinet Office
Charities
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what grants his Department made to charitable organisations in each of the last five years. [79068]
Mr Hurd: The Cabinet Office began its programme of grants to charitable organisations from 2007-08. A list of direct grants to organisations for 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 (not including funds passed to arm’s length bodies to distribute as grant funding on behalf of the Cabinet Office) has been placed in the Library of the House. For grants in 2010-11, I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave on 17 October 2011, Official Report, column 733W.
Civil Servants: European Union
Martin Horwood: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of civil servants in the UK work primarily on EU matters (a) in each Government Department and (b) at civil service grade; and if he will make a statement. [78603]
Mr Maude: Information on the numbers of civil servants in the UK working primarily on EU matters is not held centrally. In the Cabinet Office, 32 staff in the European and Global Issues Secretariat are employed specifically on work that covers both European and wider global affairs which equates to 1.9% of the core Cabinet Office staff complement. This includes staff at the following grades:
1 x Perm Sec
1 x Director (SCS2)
3 x Deputy Director (SCS1)
15 x Band A (Grade 6/7)
4 x Band B2(HEO/SEO)
2 x BandB1 (EO)
6 x Band C (AA/AO)
Death: Pancreatic Cancer
Mr Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) males and (b) females aged (i) between 14 to 16, (ii) between 17 and 21, (iii) between 22 and 24, (iv) between 25 and 30, (v) between 31 and 35, (vi) between 36 and 40 and (vii) over 41 years died from pancreatic cancer in each health authority area in each year since 1990. [78679]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated November 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) males and (b) females aged (i) between 14 to 16, (ii) between 17 and 21, (iii) between 22 and 24, (iv) between 25 and 30, (v) between 31 and 35, (vi) between 36 and 40 and (vii) over 41 years died from pancreatic cancer in each health authority area in each year since 1990, broken down by health authority. (78679)
Tables 1 and 2 provide the number of deaths where pancreatic cancer was the underlying cause of death for (a) males (Table 1) and (b) females (Table 2) aged (i) 14 to 40 years and (ii) 41 years and over, for primary care organisations in England and local
7 Nov 2011 : Column 115W
health boards in Wales, for 1990 to 2010 (the latest year available). Figures for young age groups have been combined due to small numbers of events, in line with the ONS policy on protecting confidentiality within birth and death statistics.
Copies of Tables 1 and 2 have been placed in the House of Commons Library. Table 3 attached provides the number of deaths where pancreatic cancer was the underlying cause of death for (a) males and (b) females aged (i) 14 to 16 years, (ii) 17 to 21 years, (iii) 22 to 24 years, (iv) 25 to 30 years, (v) 31 to -35 years, (vi) 36 to 40 years and (vii) 41 years and over, in England and Wales, for 1990 to 2010.
| Table 3. Number of deaths where the underlying cause was pancreatic cancer: by sex and age group, England and Wales, 1990 to 2010 (1, 2, 3) | |||||||
| Deaths (persons) | |||||||
|
|
14 to 16 | 17 to 21 | 22 to 24 | 25 to 30 | 31 to 35 | 36 to 40 | 41+ |
| (1 )Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 157 and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C25. (2 )Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents. (3 )Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. | |||||||
7 Nov 2011 : Column 116W