Official Hospitality
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what receptions and events have been hosted by his Department since May 2010, including those sponsored by a third party. [84180]
Mr Davey: During the period 1 May 2010 to 30 November 2011 there were 3,973 events held by the Department in the Department’s Conference Centre at its headquarters building 1 Victoria street, London. These events will include internal events with only BIS staff attending and external events where external stakeholders are invited.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to ensure social value is included when services are commissioned by (a) his Department and (b) its public bodies; and if he will make a statement. [85669]
Mr Davey: UK public procurement policy is to award contracts on the basis of value for money, which means the optimum combination of cost and quality over the lifetime of the project. Public sector procurers are required to assess value for money from the perspective of the contracting authority using criteria linked to the subject matter of the contract, including compliance with the published specification.
Wider socio-economic benefits that do not accrue to the contracting authority cannot be taken into account at tender evaluation stage if they do not relate to the subject matter of a contract from the point of view of the contracting authority.
Details of the steps being taken by the Department’s non-departmental public bodies are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
8 Dec 2011 : Column 452W
Higher Education
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the British Council on the effect on the international reputation of British higher education of Government proposals to give degree awarding powers to institutions which do not carry out teaching or research. [80733]
Mr Willetts: I meet representatives of the British Council regularly to discuss higher education issues, including at the International Education Advisory Forum. I have not had any discussions with the British Council on this specific issue nor have I received any representations from them in response to the recent technical consultation "A New, Fit-for-purpose Regulatory Framework for the Higher Education Sector" which discussed these proposals.
Higher Education: Admissions
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to alter the AAB and above threshold for unrestricted recruitment of university places following the 2012-13 academic year. [85522]
Mr Willetts: The Department stated in the White Paper, “Students at the Heart of the System” that AAB represented a starting point and that it was our ambition to increase the proportion of new entrant places freed from student number controls by the end of this Parliament. We will set out our plans in due course and have asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to consult on future funding arrangements, including liberalising student number controls, in their forthcoming consultation on teaching funding for 2013/14 and beyond.
Insolvency: Legislation
Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has any plans to review insolvency laws. [85389]
Mr Davey: We keep our insolvency laws under review and liaise regularly with interested parties on how they are working in practice and suggestions for reform.
The Government have recently published a consultation proposing reforms to the application processes for entry into bankruptcy and compulsory winding-up. Measures are also being considered that might strengthen the regulatory regime under which licensed insolvency practitioners operate.
Additionally, work is under way to modernise the procedural insolvency rules. As well as a proposed new set of those rules, amendments are being considered in a number of areas to improve clarity, transparency and accountability for creditors and other stakeholders.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to answer the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton of 6 October 2011 with regard to Mr P Wightman. [85145]
8 Dec 2011 : Column 453W
Mr Davey: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 November 2011, Official Report, column 1007W.
National Savings and Investments: Post Offices
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with representatives of National Savings and Investments on its decision to stop selling its products through the post office network. [85156]
Mr Davey: National Savings and Investments (NS&I) is an executive agency of Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT). As such, I have had discussions with both NS&I and HMT on the provision of NS&I products through the post office network. I would also point out that Premium Bonds, by far the most popular NS&I product at post offices and accounting for 75% of all NS&I sales there, will continue to be available to buy and redeem at any post office.
Overseas Students
Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his most recent estimate is of the number of lone European Economic Area students studying in the UK. [84936]
Mr Willetts: There were 128,675 European Economic Area students(1) enrolled on postgraduate and undergraduate courses at UK higher education institutions in the 2009/10 academic year. The Department does not hold information on how many of these students were lone students. Information for the 2010/11 academic year will become available from January 2012.
(1) Covers full-time and part-time students domiciled in European Union countries (other than the United Kingdom) and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Domicile refers to the country of a student's permanent or home address prior to entry to their course.
Planning: Sculpture
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he will review the effectiveness of the operation of legislation enshrining an artist's moral rights pertaining to site specific sculpture; and if he will make a statement. [85680]
Mr Davey: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, has no plans to conduct a review of this issue.
Postcodes
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department uses postcodes for purposes other than the postage of mail. [84179]
Mr Davey:
The Department does not publish statistical information at postcode level, but uses postcode information to derive geographical data, such as region, county, local authority and parliamentary constituency, and to produce statistical maps. Postcode information is also
8 Dec 2011 : Column 454W
used in the process of linking statistical datasets and is supplied to contractors for use in surveys to obtain phone numbers through data matching.
The Department provides the online BIS Assisted Area Postcode Checker which can be used to provide an indication of whether a postcode in Great Britain is an Assisted Area as defined for the 2007-13 Assisted Area Map.
Public Expenditure
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Autumn Statement 2011, column 8231, page 46, table 2.1, what spending decisions are represented by the figures of £30 million for (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15 in line 29: Science of the table. [84768]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 5 December 2011]: This budget is allocated to support the commercialisation of new biomedical technologies, and will fund research, development and testing activities, and leverage additional private sector investment. This will seek to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative technologies from the research base to the market, for the benefit of patients. This budget will be managed by the Technology Strategy Board.
Regional Growth Fund: EU Grants and Loans
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2011, Official Report, column 852W, on regional growth fund: EU grants and loans, how many of the bids to the second round of the regional growth fund (RGF) which mentioned funding from European regional development fund sources were successful in obtaining RGF funding in each region. [85310]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 6 December 2011]:Regional breakdown of the successful bids to the second round of Regional Growth Fund which mentioned funding from European regional development fund sources is as given as follows:
|
|
Number |
Space Technology
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage sales of remote sensing services by businesses in the UK space sector. [85394]
8 Dec 2011 : Column 455W
Mr Willetts: The UK Space Agency, under my direction, is developing a UK data service to support businesses in developing new remote sensing products and services and to support their uptake by users in the public and private sectors. In addition, the agency in partnership with the Technology Strategy Board, invests in programmes supporting development of new remote sensing technologies, services and applications. The International Space Innovation Centre at Harwell, Oxfordshire provides a focus for much of this support.
The UK Space Agency is partnering with Lancaster city council and the Inshore Fisheries Authority to develop Remote Sensing applications specifically to support activities in Morecambe bay. These include monitoring the movement of channels within Morecambe bay and identifying habitats most likely to sustain shellfish beds. These are supported through the Government Information from the Space Sector (GIFTSS) programme.
Steria
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many contracts his Department has awarded to Steria since May 2010; and what the (a) purpose, (b) monetary value and (c) net worth was of each contract. [85479]
Mr Davey: The Department has awarded no contracts to Steria since May 2010.
Third Sector
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has received representations concerning (a) the Big Society Bank, (b) the Work programme and (c) volunteering since June 2011; and if he will make a statement. [75066]
Mr Davey: As far as I am aware the Department has not received any formal representations concerning the Big Society Bank or the Work programme since June 2011. The Department has received a small number of representations related to volunteering in that time. We welcome the creation of Big Society Capital (formerly known as the Big Society Bank) which will provide new support for organisations which invest in the social sector.
Third Sector: Finance
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding over £100,000 his Department's Finance and Commercial Directorate allocated to (a) the voluntary sector, (b) charities and (c) other third sector organisations in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [85688]
Mr Davey: The Department does not separately identify funding made to the voluntary sector, charities or other third sector organisations and the information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Trade Unions
Huw Irranca-Davies:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will commission an independent assessment of the contribution of union
8 Dec 2011 : Column 456W
representatives to business performance in the public sector to include the effect of such representation on
(a)
numbers of employment tribunal cases,
(b)
the number of working days lost due to workplace injury and
(c)
the incidence of work-related illness. [85613]
Mr Davey: I have no current plans to commission an assessment of the contribution of union representatives to business performance. The following recent documents give information on the benefits to employers and for industrial relations of having workplace union representatives.
‘Reps in Action'—how workplaces can gain from modern union representatives (URN 09/931) 2009
Workplace Representatives: a review of their facilities and facility time (URN 07/1464) 2010
Interships
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) whether he has estimated the average cost incurred per week by a person undertaking an unpaid internship in London; [84595]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of people currently undertaking an internship in (a) the south-west, (b) the south-east, (c) London, (d) the east of England, (e) the east midlands, (f) the west midlands, (g) the north-west, (h) Yorkshire and the Humber, (i) the north-east, (j) Scotland, (k) Wales and (l) Northern Ireland. [84596]
Mr Willetts: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 December 2011, Official Report, column 174W.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Departmental Pay
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any senior staff in (a) his Department and (b) its Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies are paid by means of payments to a limited company in lieu of a salary; and if he will publish his policy on such payments. [85078]
Mr Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth office, its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies do not make payments to individuals as a limited company in lieu of salary. All senior staff are directly employed, are paid through payroll and have deductions for income tax and national insurance contributions made at source through standard PAYE arrangements.
Press Releases
Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2011, Official Report, column 862W, on press releases, what representations his Department has made to those newspapers which broke the embargo by reporting the contents in detail of the speech on intelligence matters on 16 November 2011 before it was delivered. [84769]
8 Dec 2011 : Column 457W
Mr Lidington: The full text of the speech was embargoed and this was not broken.
Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2011, Official Report, column 862W, on departmental press releases, whether a partial text of the speech was given to any media prior to 16 November 2011; whether the publication of detailed extracts from the speech which were published in newspapers on the morning of 16 November were unauthorised; and if he will make a statement. [84770]
Mr Lidington: Some elements of this speech were provided to the media in advance of delivery. As stated in my previous reply, all public statements are handled in accordance with the Ministerial Code and this was no exception.
Embassies: Festivals and Special Occasions
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many embassies and other posts held events to celebrate (a) St George's Day, (b)St Andrew's Day, (c) St Patrick's Day and (d) St David's Day in the last 12 months. [84900]
Mr Lidington: The information is not held centrally and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost. Embassies are free to arrange events to celebrate patron saints' days at their discretion.
EU Law: Czech Republic
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the proposal by the government of the Czech Republic for an amendment of the EU Treaties submitted to the President of the Council of the European Union in September 2011 in accordance with Article 48(2) of the Treaty on European Union. [85005]
Mr Lidington: The content of the draft protocol was agreed by the UK—and all other EU member states—at the October 2009 European Council. Protocol 30 on the application of the charter of fundamental rights to Poland and to the United guarantees and clarifies the way in which the charter applies. The draft Czech protocol is helpful to the UK as it makes clear that that the UK and Polish protocol on the charter of fundamental rights shall also apply to a further member state, the Czech Republic. Parliament will further scrutinise the document as the draft protocol is subject to the scrutiny of the relevant parliamentary committees under the provisions of the European Union Act 2011 before the UK can agree to ratify the protocol.
EU Law: Republic of Ireland
Chris Heaton-Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy
8 Dec 2011 : Column 458W
is on the proposal by the Government of Ireland for an amendment of the EU treaties submitted to the President of the Council of the European Union in July 2011 in accordance with article 48(2) of the treaty on European Union. [85003]
Mr Lidington: The content of the draft protocol was agreed by the UK—and all other EU member states—at the June 2009 European Council. The draft Irish protocol contains clarifications in relation to the right to life, family and education; taxation; and security and defence. It is helpful to the UK as it clarifies the limitations of the Lisbon treaty in a manner which is consistent with our interpretation. Parliament will further scrutinise the document before the UK can agree to ratify the protocol as the draft protocol is subject to the scrutiny of the relevant parliamentary committees under the provisions of the European Union Act 2011.
Israel
Mrs Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to encourage the British Ambassador to Israel to (a) visit Beer Sheva and the Bedouin villages and (b) meet the Negev Coexistence Forum. [85006]
Mr Bellingham: Our ambassador in Tel Aviv has visited the Negev and Beer Sheva on many occasions. He has raised UK concerns about Bedouin rights with the Israeli Government and discussed with Israeli Ministers and officials the Israeli Government's plans for the relocation of the Bedouin community and their concerns.
We remain in close touch with numerous Bedouin leaders and organisations, such as the Negev Institute for Strategies and Peace and Development. The ambassador plans to visit Bedouin villages and the Negev Coexistence Forum in the near future.
Linda Carty
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made representations to his US counterpart on behalf of Linda Carty; and if he will make a statement. [84904]
Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, wrote to US Secretary of State Clinton in July and November 2010 about Ms Carty's case. Since the UK Government became aware of Ms Carty's case in 2002, officials have maintained regular contact with her, her legal team, her family and the UK non-governmental organisation Reprieve. I met with Jovelle Carty, Linda's daughter, last year. The UK Government have also made their concerns known throughout the legal process and have submitted three amicus curiae briefs to the US courts in relation to the case. The decision on Ms Carty's case is a matter for the Texan authorities. We will continue to raise Ms Carty's case, and the UK's wider opposition to the death penalty, with the Texan authorities and Federal Government.