Academies: School Meals
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish the results of research commissioned from the School Food Trust on nutritional standards in academies. [81137]
Mr Gibb: Results of the work commissioned from the School Food Trust are expected to be published in spring 2012.
Education: Rural Areas
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what consideration he has given to providing additional grants to rural areas for the purposes of access to educational services. [83994]
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Mr Gibb: Our recent consultation on reforming the school funding system looked carefully at how rural schools should be supported. The Department for Education is considering responses to the consultation and discussing options with interested parties, including those who represent rural areas, before we decide how to proceed. We aim to consult on more detailed proposals in the spring.
Free Schools
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the selection (a) criteria and (b) process were for the recent grant awarded by his Department for free school pre-application support. [84544]
Mr Gibb: The selection criteria and process were described in the public guidance for applicants for the grant. This has been placed in the House Libraries.
GCSE: North-west England
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of (a) looked after children and (b) other children gained five GCSEs or equivalent at grades A* to C in each of the last five years for (i) the borough of Wirral and (ii) the North West region; and how many of those included GCSEs or equivalent in English and mathematics. [85810]
Tim Loughton: This information will be published shortly. I will write to the hon. Member in due course and place a copy of the letter in the House Libraries.
New Schools Network
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what agreement the New Schools Network concluded with the Appointments Commission to enable it to recruit for staff to launch free schools. [84728]
Mr Gibb: Consistent with similar grant agreements, the Department for Education did not require New Schools Network (NSN) to agree staff appointments with the Appointments Commission. NSN's staff do not launch free schools; they advise and support groups who are seeking to establish free schools.
Pupil Exclusions
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children in each secondary school year group were permanently excluded from (a) academies, (b) free schools and (c) other schools in (i) the 2011-12 academic year to date and (ii) each of the previous three academic years. [82906]
Mr Gibb: Information on the number of permanent exclusions in academies and other state-funded secondary schools from 2007/08 to 2009/10 is shown in the table. Information for 2010/11 and 2011/12 has not yet been collected, and as a result there is no available information on free schools.
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| Academies and other sta te-funded secondary schools (1,2) — Number and percentage of permanent exclusions by secondary school national curriculum year group (3,4) , England, 2007/08 to 2009/10 | ||||||||||||
| 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | ||||||||||
| Academies | Other state-funded secondary schools (1,2) | Academies | Other state-funded secondary schools (1,2) | Academies | Other state-funded secondary schools (1,2) | |||||||
| National c urriculum y ear g roup | No | % | No | % | No | % | No | % | No | % | No | % |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges. (3) Figures relating to permanent exclusions are estimates based on incomplete pupil-level data. (4) Secondary school National Curriculum Year Groups are classed as years 7 and above. (5 )The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of all pupils in academies and other state-funded secondary schools by National Curriculum Year Group as at January each year. (6) Less than 5 exclusions or a percentage based on less than 5 exclusions. (7) Total includes some permanent exclusions where National Curriculum Year Group is below year 7 or not known. (8 )Not applicable. Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census. | ||||||||||||
Pupil Premium
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of his Department's budget for the pupil premium has been spent on students in Pendle constituency since April 2011. [84730]
Mr Gibb: Schools in the Pendle constituency have been allocated £1.096 million for the pupil premium in 2011-12. This is equivalent to 0.176% of the £625 million budget for the pupil premium in 2011-2012. To date, £483,115 has been paid to Lancashire county council for schools in Pendle. The remaining £612,885 will be paid in two instalments in December 2011 and March 2012.
School Meals
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to ensure healthy school meal standards. [84478]
Sarah Teather: New standards for school food in maintained schools were introduced, through legislation, in 2007. The regulations set out a combination of food-based and nutrient-based standards.
Governing bodies of maintained schools and local authorities are legally responsible for meeting the school food standards. If they do not, any person may complain, through the normal local routes and ultimately to the Secretary of State, who can then issue a direction to the school if necessary.
Parents play an important role in monitoring the quality of food at their children's school. We expect maintained schools, as a minimum, to have arrangements in place to meet the standards. The School Food Trust will be able to offer help and share examples of good practice.
School Standards
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to seek to ensure that schools which did not meet the Government's GCSE targets in 2011 do so in future years. [83145]
Mr Gibb: Sponsored academies are seen as the central solution for dealing with serious, long-term underperformance in all schools.
When the 2011 secondary school performance tables containing data fully checked and agreed by schools are published in January, we will be looking at those schools that fall below the floor standard and, working with the school and their LA, we will seek to achieve the best possible solution to improve their performance. In most cases that solution will be to secure an academy sponsor to provide the necessary support and challenge for the school.
Students: Finance
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many learners aged 19 years at the start of their course claimed Care to Learn in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011 to date; [85360]
(2) what the total expenditure was on learners claiming Care to Learn who were aged 19 years at the start of their course in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011 to date; and what the average expenditure per individual claimant was in each year. [85361]
Mr Gibb:
These are matters for the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) who operate the Care to Learn scheme for the Department for Education. Peter
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Lauener, the YPLA's chief executive, will write to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Libraries.
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to publish the outcome of his consultation on Care to Learn; and how many responses the consultation has received. [85377]
Mr Gibb: The DFE consultation on options for the future of the Care to Learn scheme received 329 responses. We plan to publish the full consultation response on the DFE website shortly.
Teenage Pregnancy
Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teenage pregnancies there were in England in each year since 1997; and how many there were in each local authority in the most recent period for which figures are available. [84881]
Sarah Teather: England has declining teenage pregnancy rates. Between 1998 and 2009 (the latest data available), under-18 conceptions have fallen by 18.1% to the lowest rate in almost 30 years. Over the same period, 95% (142 out of 150) of local authorities have seen a decline in their under-18 conception rates. However, this varies significantly with some areas achieving reductions of over 30%.
The England latest quarterly rates for 2010 continue to fall. Annual under-18 conception data for 2010 will be published in February 2012.
I have set out the specific information requested on teenage pregnancies in the following tables.
| Table A: Conceptions to girls under 18, 1997 to 2009 | ||
|
|
Number of conceptions to under-18s | Rate per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 17 |
| Table B: Conceptions to under-18s by top-tier local authority, 2009 | ||
|
|
Number of conceptions to under-18s | Rate per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 17 |
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Cabinet Office
Big Lottery Fund: Public Appointments
Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what remuneration the Chair of the Big Lottery Fund is receiving; how many days a week he works for the Fund; for how long he has been appointed; and whether he has been given ministerial guidance on the performance of his duties. [85907]
Mr Hurd: The Big Lottery Fund UK Board chair is remunerated £21,600 per annum, with a time commitment of six days per month. The appointment is for a term of four years which commenced on the 1 June 2011 to 31 May 2015. The chair has been given ministerial guidance on the performance of his duties.
Charity Commission: Public Appointments
Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he proposes to start recruitment for the next Chair of the Charity Commission; what recruitment process will be followed; and if he will make a statement. [85906]
Mr Hurd: The current Chair of the Charity Commission's term of office is due to end in July 2012. The recruitment of a successor will begin in the new year. As a public appointment, the recruitment process will be conducted in line with the requirements of the Commissioner Public Appointments.
Departmental Audit
Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what criteria (a) his Department and (b) its public bodies use when deciding whether and when to hold an internal audit; and if he will make a statement. [85632]
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Mr Maude: Details of the Cabinet Office's internal audit work and that of the Civil Service Commission, its sponsored executive non-departmental body, are contained in their respective Statements of Internal Control. The statements are included in their annual reports and accounts 2010-11. These publications are available in the House of Commons Library and on the following websites:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/resource-accounts-2010-11.pdf
http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/downloads/annual-report/cs-annual-report10-11.pdf
Procurement
Gordon Henderson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the cost of employing civil servants to undertake procurement for his Department in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11; and what estimate he has made of the cost of (i) employing civil servants and (ii) engaging consultants to undertake procurement for his Department in 2011-12. [73192]
Mr Maude: The estimated cost of employing civil servants to undertake procurement is as follows:
|
|
£ million |
Consultants are only engaged to provide specialist commercial advice on particular projects where this is not available in-house, and may also be used in the procurement process itself where suitable expertise is not available in-house. The use of these consultants, regardless of value, is subject to a strict set of approval procedures, and prior approval must be sought in all cases. The work involved in researching the finance systems to identify this expenditure in past years, and in consulting all business units to analyse and forecast expenditure for 2011-12 would incur disproportionate costs.
The total cost of consultancy is published in the Cabinet Office Annual Reports and Accounts, available in the House of Commons Library and on the Cabinet Office website:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/cabinet-office-annual-reports-and-accounts
| £000 | |||
|
|
2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr Byrne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much his Department spent in (a) Birmingham, (b) Newcastle, (c) Wakefield, (d) Manchester, (e) Leeds, (f) Liverpool, (g) Coventry, (h) Bristol, (i) Sheffield, (j) Bradford, (k) Leicester and (l) Nottingham in the latest financial year for which figures are available. [85450]
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Mr Maude: The information is not held in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Publications
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) leaflets, (b) posters and (c) reports his Department has published since May 2010; how much each cost; and which company (i) published and (ii) designed each. [83007]
Mr Maude: The Cabinet Office uses a number of channels and suppliers to publish leaflets, posters and reports such as the Central Office of Information (COI), The Stationery Office (TSO)—for the production and publication of Command and House papers—and existing internal resources such as our in-house reprographics team.
Cabinet Office only keeps records centrally of leaflets, posters and reports that incur external costs. Information on these are detailed as follows:
The Cabinet Office published seven reports through COI between May 2010 and the end of March 2011 at a total cost of £90,695. (i) Each report was published under Crown Copyright, (ii) no design costs were incurred.
No leaflets or posters were published by COI during this period.
The Cabinet Office published one report through TSO between May 2010 and the end of March 2011 at a total cost of £640. This does not include reports published in the name of the Deputy Prime Minister detailed in his PQ answered on 30 November 2011, Official Report, column 1000W.
No leaflets or posters were published by TSO during this period.
Unemployment: Households
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of households in each parliamentary constituency have (a) any adult and (b) all adults who have never worked. [86350]
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 December 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of households in each parliamentary constituency has a) any adult and b) all adults who have never worked [86350].
The table shows estimates for part a) and relate to the period January-December 2010. The estimates are derived from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and are not seasonally adjusted. An asterisk indicates that sample sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates for a particular parliamentary constituency. The table will be placed in the Library of the House.
For part b) it is not possible to provide reliable estimates for parliamentary constituencies because the sample sizes are not sufficiently large enough.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty as different samples give different results.
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Government Procurement
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will estimate the number of government contracts which have not been awarded to UK companies due to EU procurement rules in each of the last five years. [86036]
Mr Maude: UK Government contracts are awarded on the basis of value for money. Statistics from the European Commission indicate that 97% of UK Government contracts are awarded to UK-based firms.
Immigrants: EU Nationals
Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 22 November 2011, Official Report, columns 333-4W, on immigrants: EU nationals, what the original countries of birth were of those EU nationals who have entered the UK in each of the last five years. [86327]
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 December 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2011, Official Report, columns 333-4W, on immigrants: EU nationals, if he will provide a breakdown of what the original countries of birth were of those EU nationals who have entered the UK in each of the last five years (86327).
The Office for National Statistics produces estimates of long-term international migration, primarily based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS). The IPS is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics.
The answer of 22 November 2011 provided long-term immigration estimates of all EU citizens who were not born in the EU for each of the last five years. It is not possible to provide a reliable breakdown of what the individual countries of birth were of EU nationals coming to the UK for each of the last five years, due to the large standard errors associated with the estimates. A migration estimate with a standard error percentage of more than 25 per cent is not considered to be reliable.
Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 22 November 2011, Official Report, columns 333-4W, on immigrants: EU nationals, how many EU nationals whose original country of origin is outside the EU have settled in the UK in each of the last five years. [86328]
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 December 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2011, Official Report, columns 333-4W, on immigrants: EU nationals, how many EU nationals whose country of origin is outside the EU have settled in the UK in each of the last five years (86328).
The Office for National Statistics produces estimates of long-term international migration, primarily based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS). The IPS is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics. The latest
12 Dec 2011 : Column 524W
figures available are for 2010 and these are shown in the following table. These latest estimates were published on 24 November 2011.
| Long-term immigration to the UK of people who are EU citizens but whose country of last residence is not an EU state | ||
|
|
Estimate | SE% |
| Note: SE% = Standard error percentage Source: International Passenger Survey (IPS), ONS | ||
Standard error percentages (SE%) indicate the robustness of each estimate. A migration figure with a standard error percentage greater than 25% is not considered to be reliable for practical purposes.
Population: Babies
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate has been made of the number of children in each constituent part of the UK who are aged under one. [86364]
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 December 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking for an estimate of the number of children in each constituent part of the UK who are aged under one year old (86364).
Table 1 shows the number of children aged under one year old in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for mid-2010. This is the latest year for which population estimates are available.
| Table 1: Estimated resident population aged under one year old, mid-2010 | |
| Country | Thousand |
| Sources: Office for National Statistics. National Records for Scotland. Northern Ireland Statistics Research Agency. | |
Public Sector: Mutual Societies
Richard Graham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment his Department has made of the performance of the mutuals pathfinders; and if he will make a statement. [85462]
Mr Maude: The Cabinet Office has recently reviewed the progress of the Mutual Pathfinders, and has released a “Mutual Pathfinder Progress Report”, which is available at the following link:
http://mutuals.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/documents/mutual-pathfinder-progress-report
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Public Sector: Pay
Bill Esterson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate has been made of the real level of pay for staff working in the public sector in (a) Sefton and (b) the UK in each of the next five years. [86057]
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 December 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of the real level of pay for staff working in the public sector in (a) Sefton and (b) the UK in each of the next five years. (86057)
ONS does not make estimates of earnings levels for future periods, so no estimates have been made of real levels of pay for staff working in the public sector in Sefton and the UK in each of the next five years.
Public Sector: Pensions
Steve Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps his Department is taking to ensure that non-unionised public sector workers are represented in pension negotiations. [85676]
Mr Maude: The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), and I have been jointly leading discussions with a TUC delegation, as representatives of public sector workers, since February 2011. Formal consultations, as the usual method for non-union members to comment on Government proposals, have already taken place on proposed increases to employee contributions from April 2012 in the civil service, teachers and NHS pension schemes. There were 13,834 responses from individuals.
Steria
Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 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. [85480]
Mr Maude: The Cabinet Office has not awarded any contracts to Steria since May 2010.
Voluntary Work: Young People
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps his Department has taken to ensure that young people in the North East have access to National Citizen Service programmes. [85565]
Mr Hurd:
We are committed to ensuring that as many young people as possible have access to National Citizen Service regardless of background or location. When commissioning providers for 2011 and 2012, we therefore worked to ensure a good geographical spread of National Citizen Service pilots across England. In 2011, Catch 22, Princes Trust, Safe in Tees Valley and v/Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust all offered places on National Citizen Service pilots to young people in the north east.
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In 2012, there will be a number of opportunities for 16-year-olds in the north east to take part in a National Citizen Service pilot. The organisations providing these places are Academy of Youth, Catch 22, Future Foundations, Safe in Tees Valley and v/Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust who are now actively recruiting in the area.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Aviation: Treaties
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 May 2011, Official Report, column 149W, on aviation: treaties, what recent progress has been made on the ratification of the Cape Town convention. [85585]
Mr Prisk: Since my answer of 17 May, the Department’s officials have continued to work closely with industry representatives to discuss the benefits of UK ratification and this has resulted in additional evidence being submitted. Officials are now considering all the evidence that has been provided to the Department. A Government Response to the Call for Evidence will be published in the new year.
Business
Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of mentors available to support small businesses in (a) Sefton and (b) nationally. [86349]
Mr Prisk: There are 70 mentoring organisations now accessible via:
www.mentorsme.co.uk
and through them 11,000 mentors. This initiative is led by business, not by Government, and the British Bankers Association (BBA) is co-ordinating and sponsoring the work. The website does not contain data on mentors at regional or constituency level but the search facility on the website allows visitors to easily find a mentoring organisation in their locality.
Our aim is to develop a network of over 40,000 business mentors and the BBA is currently screening applications from other mentoring organisations who wish to be listed on the portal.
The banks themselves are also contributing practical mentoring support alongside the other contributing organisations: the banks have made a commitment to have 1,000 bank mentors trained and deployed in not-for-profit mentoring organisations by the end of June 2012.
Additionally, new grant funding of £1.2 million was announced by BIS on 16 November to recruit and train 10,000 volunteer business mentors from the small business community via the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI). This is on top of funding of £700,000 for 5,000 mentors announced by the Secretary of State for the Home Department as part of the package of support for female entrepreneurs on 4 November.
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SFEDI (the sector skills body for enterprise) is working with a range of trade associations and business representative bodies who will be recruiting from among local business communities and the volunteer business mentors will be accessible through
www.mentorsme.co.uk
Business: Entry Clearances
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 10 November 2011, Official Report, columns 459-60W, on business: entry clearances, if he will place in the Library the representations he has received on forward planning and Tier 2 visas. [82533]
Mr Prisk: I will place representations the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Minister for Trade and Investment have received on forward planning and Tier 2 visas in the Libraries of the House. The company names will be redacted to protect commercial confidentiality.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many applications from employees to run services for which his Department is directly responsible he has received since May 2010; and if he will make a statement. [77614]
Mr Davey: There have been no applications, to our knowledge, that have progressed through to procurement.
Export Credits Guarantees: Egypt
Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether any of the debt owed by Egypt to the Export Credits Guarantee Department comes from sales of military equipment. [84122]
Mr Davey: The debt owed to the Export Credits Guarantees Department does not include military hardware i.e. aircraft, helicopters, tanks or missiles. It includes export contracts relating to the supply of communications equipment e.g. telephone and radio sets, to the Egyptian Government for use by the armed forces.
Financial Services: Older People
Rory Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to promote financial inclusion for older people living in rural areas who do not have access to the internet. [75040]
Mr Prisk:
Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK)—a team within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport—delivers the Government's broadband strategy, bringing superfast broadband to all parts of the UK. BDUK’s main role is to allocate and distribute £530 million of funding to bring superfast broadband to the third of UK homes and businesses which will not be provided for by the broadband market. There are currently nine
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procurement programmes operating in Cumbria, the Highlands and Islands, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, Rutland, Surrey and Wales.
The Government have allocated £17.13 million to help stimulate broadband private investment in Cumbria and the Cumbria county council is in procurement procedures to select a supplier, or suppliers, to upgrade infrastructure to support improved broadband services.
Race Online 2012 is the Government-supported organisation led by Martha Lane Fox working to encourage everybody in the UK, including older people living in rural areas, to access the internet. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics estimate that the number of adults in the UK who had never been online fell by 300,000 to 8.43 million in the third quarter of 2011. Race Online 2012 has issued a report “Getting on—a Manifesto for Older People in a Network Nation”. A copy is attached and can be accessed at:
http://raceonline2012.org/sites/default/files/resources/getting_on_august_2011.pdf
Further Education: English Language
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions Ministers in his Department have had with the Association of Colleges on fee remission for English for speakers of other languages courses; and if he will make a statement. [85493]
Mr Hayes: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and I meet regularly with representatives from the further education sector to discuss a wide range of issues.
Learners in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance or employment support allowance (in the work-related activity group) are eligible for full fee remission where English language skills have been identified as a barrier to entering employment. Further education colleges and training organisations also have local discretion to provide fully subsidised courses for people on a wider range of benefits where the training is to help them enter employment. The Government continue to contribute 50% towards English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) course fees for people who are settled here and not eligible for full Government funding. We will no longer fund ESOL courses delivered in the workplace.
Further education (FE) colleges and training providers are responsible for meeting the needs of their local community, and increased freedoms and flexibilities that we have introduced will help them respond and determine within their funding where this is prioritised.
Higher Education
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has plans for further changes to higher education policy in 2013-14. [85583]
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Mr Willetts: We set out our plans for higher education in the White Paper “Students at the Heart of the System” Cm 8122. We have consulted on the White Paper proposals. We have also asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to consult on future funding arrangements, including liberalising student number controls, in its forthcoming consultation on teaching funding for 2013/14 and beyond. We will respond to the White Paper consultation in the new year and a Higher Education Bill will be introduced in 2012, parliamentary time permitting.
Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average cost was of providing a level 3 or higher qualification for adults aged 24 years old and over in the latest period for which figures are available. [86220]
Mr Hayes: Based on information provided by the Skills Funding Agency, the average in year unit cost for level 3 and higher qualifications for adults aged 25 and over for the 2009/10 academic year is estimated as £1,350 for apprenticeship provision and £2,100 for classroom based provision.
The total public funding for individual qualifications will depend on the length of the course, the subject area and whether the individual qualifies for full fee remission or the costs are shared between Government, the individual or the employer.
From the 2013/14 academic year we are introducing a new system of further education (FE) loans, which shifts more of the responsibility for investing in learning to individuals, and maintains support for adults to learn at advanced and higher levels. Sharing the same progressive features as higher education (HE) student finance—no upfront cost to the learner, no repayments until earnings reach £21,000, and outstanding amounts written off after 30 years—FE loans will use much of the delivery infrastructure for HE student loans, creating a more coherent offer to learners. The introduction of loans is an important step, and we will be working closely with colleges, training providers and stakeholders as we implement them for the 2013/14 academic year.
Higher Education: Fees and Charges
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many institutions have set tuition fees below £9,000. [85582]
Mr Willetts: Of the 149 institutions that have submitted access agreements to the Office for Fair Access (OFFA), there are 143 with estimated average tuition fees less than £9,000 (96%) after fee waivers.
Manufacturing Industries: Training
Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding his Department has provided to colleges and training providers to train people for jobs in the manufacturing industry in 2011-12. [84825]
Mr Hayes:
This Government recognise the importance of manufacturing and its key role in rebalancing the economy. Working with industry, this Government are taking action aimed at increasing growth in manufacturing
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output in the UK by encouraging higher levels of innovation, exports, business investment and technical skills, as well as cutting excessive red tape.
As set out in this Department's Skills Investment Statement 2011 to 2014 (1 December 2011), overall investment in adult further education (FE) and skills will be £3.8 billion in the 2012-13 financial year.
The Skills Funding Agency has responsibility for the funding of post-19 FE and skills training and allocates budgets to individual FE colleges and training organisations. It does not allocate funding at the qualification level. From the 2011/12 academic year we introduced a single adult skills budget. This will provide FE colleges and training organisations with the flexibility to offer the range and balance of programmes, from basic skills to higher-level skills, in the mode of delivery that will best meet the needs of learners, employers and communities in line with demand.
Post Offices: Pilot Schemes
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2011, Official Report, column 736W, on post offices, what recent discussions he has had with Consumer Focus on the volume of customer transactions in Post Office Local pilots. [86355]
Mr Davey: Departmental officials and I have regular discussions with Consumer Focus on a range of topics, including matters relating to the post office network. As I explained in my previous answer, the Post Office Local model and the range of services available is currently being piloted across the UK. In May 2011, Consumer Focus published a detailed report, based on independent research, about the Post Office Local model which showed that the model offers over 85% of the range of post office services and that these services account for 97% of total customer transaction volumes across the network.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department spent in (a) Birmingham, (b) Newcastle, (c) Wakefield, (d) Manchester, (e) Leeds, (f) Liverpool, (g) Coventry, (h) Bristol, (i) Sheffield, (j) Bradford, (k) Leicester and (l) Nottingham in the latest financial year for which figures are available. [85444]
Mr Davey: The Department does not maintain records of spend in individual towns and cities and the information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
For information, the Department is committed to transparency and publishes details of monthly expenditure on our website at:
www.bis.gov.uk/transparency/financial
and from August 2011 onwards, this information contained the postcode of the supplier.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department has allocated to Birmingham in (a) ring-fenced and (b) non ring-fenced funding grants for each of the next three years. [85445]
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Mr Prisk: The Birmingham region, through the local enterprise partnership, can access a variety of funding streams from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as set out in my response to the right hon. Member on 23 November 2011, Official Report ,column 452W.
To date the only funding this Department has allocated to the partnership is through the Capacity and Start up which is ring-fenced.
Scholarships
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to support young people leaving kinship care to access the National Scholarship scheme; and if he will make a statement. [85494]
Mr Willetts: The National Scholarship Programme is designed for students whose family income is no greater than £25,000. Participating universities and colleges establish their own eligibility criteria to determine whom to help from among this broad group of people. In most cases, young people leaving kinship care will be deemed independent and only the student’s own income, if any, will be taken into account.
Guidance to institutions about the programme published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) suggested to institutions that they may wish
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to consider if there are particular groups of students they would especially wish to support and encourage. The guidance listed students who were looked after children or care leavers (which includes those leaving kinship care) as one example of such a group.
Institutions charging above £6,000 must agree Access Agreements with the Director of Fair Access setting out the support they will provide to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, information about their outreach and retention activities, and the benchmarks or targets that they will set themselves. 32 institutions included milestones for care leavers in their Access Agreements approved by the Office for Fair Access in July 2011.
Tourism: Regional Development Agencies
Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much each regional development agency spent on promoting tourism in its respective region in each of the last five financial years. [84833]
Mr Prisk: The following figures refer to spending by regional development agencies (RDAs) on core tourism and leisure objectives. RDAs have also spent money on activities related to tourism initiatives such as specific regeneration projects. The cost of these related activities are not included in the table.
| £ million | |||||
| Expenditure on tourism | |||||
| RDA | 2006/07 | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 |
Veterinary Services: Fees and Charges
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will ask the Competition Commission to investigate the pricing structures of the veterinary profession. [85466]
Mr Davey: Where there are concerns relating to pricing structures in a market, responsibility for investigating and referring them to the Competition Commission primarily rests with the Office of Fair Trading as the responsible competition authority.
Treasury
Air Passenger Duty
Mr Donohoe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the public purse was of the consultation on the reform of air passenger duty; and if he will estimate the number of hours officials in his Department have been engaged in the consultation. [85890]
Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (a) how much funding from the public purse and (b) how many official working hours was spent on the consultation on the reform of air passenger duty. [85979]
Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of (a) the cost to the public purse and (b) the number of working hours spent by his officials on the consultation on the reform of air passenger duty. [86184]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Government regularly consult on a wide range of issues. The cost of public consultation is accounted for within annual departmental budgets, which are published and available online. No separate estimates are available for the cost of the air passenger duty consultation.
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Mr Donohoe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely amount of air passenger duty paid per passenger journey to (a) the Caribbean and (b) Hawaii following implementation of his planned reforms to air passenger duty. [85891]
Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether passengers from UK airports flying to the Caribbean or Hawaii will pay more air passenger duty following his reforms to the duty. [85978]
Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he proposes that passengers from UK airports flying to the Caribbean will pay more air passenger duty (APD) than passengers flying to Hawaii following his planned reform of APD. [86336]
Miss Chloe Smith: Air passenger duty (APD) rates for 2012-13, which take effect from 1 April 2012, were published at the Autumn Statement. The rates are set out in Table 1 of the document entitled ‘Tables Confirming Tax and Tax Credit Rates and Thresholds for 2012-13’, which is available on the HM Treasury website at:
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/as2011_documents.htm
Mr Donohoe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when airlines were informed of the new air passenger duty rates applicable from 1 April 2012. [85904]
Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when airlines were informed of the air passenger duty rates applicable from 1 April 2012. [85975]
Miss Chloe Smith: Budget 2011 announced that air passenger duty would be frozen for 2011-12 and the RPI increase assumed in the Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) forecast would be implemented from 1 April 2012. The Autumn Statement of 29 November confirmed the rates for 2012-13. The published rates are available on the HM Treasury website at:
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/as2011_documents.htm
Mr Donohoe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which of the changes to air passenger duty announced in the Government response to the consultation on the reform of air passenger duty are intended to achieve greater simplification of the system. [85905]
Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes to air passenger duty announced in the Government response to the consultation on the reform of air passenger duty are intended to achieve greater simplification of the system. [85977]
Paul Maynard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of whether his planned changes to air passenger duty (APD) will result in greater simplification of the APD system. [86335]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Government consultation on Air Passenger Duty (APD) emphasised a number of objectives, including fairness and the need to maintain revenues from the aviation sector. It is right that the aviation sector makes a fair contribution to the public finances.
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The Government considered changes to the APD banding structure, alongside the base case of no change. A revenue neutral change would have required those flying to band A and band B destinations (91% of passengers) to pay more. The Government therefore decided to retain the existing four APD distance bands.
Business: Loans
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether companies that develop and export low carbon technologies will be eligible to receive support through his proposed National Loan Guarantee Scheme. [85484]
Mr Hoban: All firms in the UK with annual turnover of up to £50 million will be eligible to apply for loans under the National Loan Guarantee Scheme.
Child Benefit: Wales
Jessica Morden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) families and (b) lone parents receive child benefit in Wales; and how many such lone parents are women. [85814]
Mr Gauke: The number of families receiving child benefit in Wales can be found in the HMRC statistical publication ‘Child Benefit Statistics: Geographical Analysis’, available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/child_benefit/chb-geog-aug10.pdf
As of August 2010, there were approximately 373,000 families in Wales receiving child benefit.
Information on the number of lone parents is not available. The child benefit administrative dataset does not contain any information on household composition of claimants.
Departmental Audit
Mr Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria (a) his Department and (b) its public bodies use when deciding whether and when to hold an internal audit; and if he will make a statement. [85646]
Miss Chloe Smith: Internal audit plans for the Treasury and its executive agencies are drawn up annually and reviewed as required through the year. They are based on a review of management risk assessments, discussions with senior managers, previous internal audit work and planned changes and developments, and also linked with the organisations' objectives. The plans are established in consultation with, and subject to approval by, the Accounting Officers, boards and the Audit Committees as appropriate.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 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. [85665]
Miss Chloe Smith:
UK public procurement policy is to award contracts on the basis of value for money, which means the optimum combination of cost and
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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.
Economic Growth
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the levels of economic growth in (a) the UK and (b) other G7 countries over the last 12 months. [85580]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing independent economic and fiscal forecasts. Its “Economic and fiscal outlook” published 29 November 2011 state that
“World activity has slowed since our March forecast, especially in advanced economies. This reflects: the deepening of the euro area sovereign debt crisis and related weakness in the financial sector; the supply chain effects from the Japanese earthquake; sluggish performance in the US labour and housing markets; and higher oil prices, partly related to unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.”
The UK cannot be immune from this series of shocks, which have weakened economic growth in the UK and other G7 countries over the last 12 months.
Economic Growth: North-west England
Bill Esterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his autumn statement of 29 November 2011, Official Report, column 806, what plans he has for the development of the Atlantic Gateway. [85512]
Danny Alexander [holding answer 8 December 2011]: Returning the UK economy to sustainable economic growth that is more balanced across the UK and sectors is a key priority.
The Government are taking forward an ambitious work programme with the eight core cities outside London to help them maximise their growth potential, including consideration of financial tools and support to drive forward key projects for the area.
We will be working closely with business, city leaders, chief executives and LEP chairs across the country to develop tailored deals to unlock growth, including how to realise the ambitions in the Atlantic Gateway.
Employment
Richard Graham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of new jobs required to be created to maintain employment levels at a time of increasing population growth in the next 20 years. [85482]
Miss Chloe Smith: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Zac Goldsmith) on 7 December 2011, Official Report, column 365W.
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Financial Services: Qualifications
Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the Financial Services Authority as part of the retail distribution review on exempting financial advisers who have reached a certain age from professional requirements. [85435]
Mr Hoban: The Retail Distribution Review (RDR) is a matter for the Financial Services Authority (FSA), an independent body. The FSA has consulted extensively on the RDR since 2006 and, in accordance with the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, has published cost-benefit analyses of the proposals.
The FSA is required under the Equality Act 2010 to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination in the exercise of its functions. This includes discrimination on the basis of age.
National Income
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of domestic consumption on gross domestic product over the last 12 months. [85581]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published gross domestic product (GDP) by expenditure up to the third quarter of 2011. The level of household consumption is 1.4% lower than the same quarter last year and the level of Government consumption is 2.9% higher. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its “Economic and fiscal outlook” on 29 November 2011, setting out its forecasts for 2011. GDP growth in 2011 is forecast to be 0.9% with household consumption forecast to fall by 1.1% in 2011, contributing -0.7 percentage points to growth in GDP overall. Government consumption is forecast to rise by 2.2% in 2011, contributing 0.3 percentage points to GDP growth.
Poverty: Rural Areas
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications of the findings of the Hills Report for his policy on rural poverty. [85965]
Gregory Barker: I have been asked to reply.
Professor Hills published his Interim Report in October 2011, and he is due to present his final report to Government in early 2012. My officials and I will carry out an assessment of his recommendations and their implications at that time.
Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland
Mr Donaldson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether factors other than the application of the Barnett formula were used to determine the block grant to Northern Ireland announced in October 2010. [85894]
Danny Alexander:
In addition to Barnett consequential, the Northern Ireland Executive received £25 million to set up an access fund to ensure a fair and just resolution of issues arising from the collapse of the Presbyterian
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Mutual Society. They were also granted an additional £175 million of borrowing in order to create headroom within NIE's budget for a loan to the PMS administrator to facilitate an orderly disposal of assets.
Public Sector: Pensions
Mr Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2011, Official Report, columns 179-80W, on public sector: pensions, to which individual trades union leaders the Chief Secretary to the Treasury was referring in his BBC TV interview. [85380]
Danny Alexander: As I said during the interview of 6 November 2011 and in my answer to the same parliamentary question on 21 November 2011, most of the unions want to reach an agreement.
Discussions are ongoing and I am very keen that a deal is reached with the trades unions.
Bill Esterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on the level of pensions of the uprating of public sector pensions for (a) current and (b) future pensioners. [85697]
Danny Alexander: Public service pensions in payment (or deferral) are uprated annually according to consumer prices index, through the statutory link to the indexation of the state second pension.
On 6 December 2011, Official Report, columns 163-65, the Minister with responsibility for pensions my hon. Friend the Member for Thornbury and Yate (Steve Webb) confirmed in an oral statement to Parliament that the state second pension will be increased by 5.2% in April 2012. The level of public service pensions for current pensioners will therefore also increase by 5.2%.
David T. C. Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total annual increase in public sector pension payment expenditure arising from the proposed (a) guarantee to protect full existing pension rights for those within 10 years of pension age and (b) change in the accrual rate for public sector schemes. [86237]
Danny Alexander: On 2 November 2011, I announced an enhanced offer on public service pensions. This included:
setting an objective that public service workers who, as of 1 April 2012, have 10 years or less to their pension age see no change in when they can retire, nor any decrease in the amount of pension they receive at their current normal pension age. Schemes have been asked to determine the fairest way of reaching this objective, while ensuring that costs to the taxpayer in each and every year do not exceed the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts of public service pension costs; and
an increase in the accrual rate in the Government’s preferred scheme design for public service pension reform, from 1/65ths to 1/60ths. This is an 8% cost increase.