Medical Treatments
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many applications were made by clinicians to North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust's (PCT) Exceptions Panel for treatment or drugs which are not normally commissioned or paid for by the PCT in the last year for which figures are available; and how many of those applications were (a) accepted without qualification, (b) accepted in part or with qualification and (c) rejected. [89444]
Mr Simon Burns: The information requested is not centrally held. The Department does not collect information on individual funding requests made to primary care trusts (PCTs). The hon. Member may wish to write to North Yorkshire and York PCT, which may hold some relevant information.
NHS
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the relationship is between his Department and NHS Shared Business Services. [89911]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department owns 50% of NHS Shared Business Services, with a senior departmental official on the board of directors.
NHS: Negligence
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many clinical negligence proceedings have been brought against the NHS in the last 12 months; and to which types of adverse incident each relate. [89720]
17 Jan 2012 : Column 775W
Mr Simon Burns: The information requested is in the following table:
| Number of clinical negligence claims where proceedings were issued during 2011 | |||
| Claim notified to NHS litigation authority | |||
| Injury | Before 2011 | During 2011 | Total |
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| Source: NHS Litigation Authority. | |||
NHS: Redundancy Pay
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on gagging clauses imposed on NHS employees as part of severance agreements; and if he will make a statement. [89856]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not routinely monitor the use of confidentiality clauses in compromise agreements. The Department's guidance, contained within the health circulars HSC 2004/001 for national health service managers and HSC 1999/198 for all employees, does not prevent the use of confidentiality clauses per se.
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However, the guidance does state that NHS employers must consider with their legal advisers whether such a clause is necessary in the circumstances of each case and that if such a clause is included within a particular agreement that it complies with their various statutory obligations regarding the treatment of confidential information, including the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. Sir David Nicholson the NHS Chief Executive, wrote on 11 January 2012 to NHS chief executives and HR managers reminding them of their obligations under HSC 1999/198.
Before an employee considers signing a compromise agreement, which may or may not contain a confidentiality clause, the employer is required to pay for the employee to have independent legal advice on the terms of the agreement.
NHS: Reorganisation
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to place a cap on the liabilities of all private health providers under his proposals for the future of the NHS. [89542]
Mr Simon Burns: We have no plans for such a cap. The Government's aim is for equivalent safeguards to be in place for patients irrespective of who provides their NHS services. The national health service standard contract would require all providers of NHS services to provide equivalent indemnities in relation to clinical negligence and other potential losses.
The Department will therefore be asking the NHS Litigation Authority for advice on options for modifying the existing Clinical Negligence Scheme for trusts to enable all providers of NHS services to be members.
NHS: Standards
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on how quickly a bed bound hospital patient should receive assistance to clear up a burst stoma bag that could infect a wound from a recent operation. [90442]
Anne Milton: All care staff should ensure that the comfort, dignity and safety of their patients is maintained at all times.
Nurses
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many patients a nurse on an adult acute (a) medical and (b) surgical hospital ward should be responsible for checking each hour; [89998]
(2) what assessment he has made of which (a) administration procedures, (b) targets and (c) form filling should be discontinued from the duties of an acute hospital nurse; [89999]
(3) what his policy is on the nurse to patient ratio on acute adult hospital wards. [90000]
Anne Milton:
Encouraging nurses to carry out hourly ward rounds is about showing staff what is already working in some places and what the rest can do to achieve the level of the best. The newly established independent Nursing and Care Quality Forum will be
17 Jan 2012 : Column 778W
tasked with ensuring the best nursing practice, including hourly nursing rounds, is spread throughout the national health service and social care.
Rolling out the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement's Productive Series ‘Releasing Time to Care' initiative will help free nurses from non-essential paperwork and excessive bureaucracy, that add little or no value to patient care, enabling them to spend more time with their patients. This has already helped staff in more than half of acute trusts to spend extra time with patients. A “red-tape challenge” will be introduced to identify barriers to preventing nurses from doing their job properly and remove them.
Plastic Surgery
Mr MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what powers he has to compel private clinics to contact women patients concerned about implants manufactured by Poly Implant Prothese to offer them screening and advice free of charge. [89282]
Mr Simon Burns: We expect all providers of health care to comply with their ethical and legal obligations towards the patients in their charge, including offering advice in the event of actual or potential adverse reactions to treatment. In addition, all doctors working for such clinics have specific ethical duties under the General Medical Council's ethical code “Good medical practice”.
Mr MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of women who have had breast implants manufactured by Poly Implant Prothese implanted in (a) NHS or (b) private hospitals. [89283]
Mr Simon Burns: Based on the information so far available to the Department, our best estimate is that 40,000 women in the United Kingdom received Poly Implant Prothese silicone breast implants, of whom no more than 3,000 were treated in the national health service. We are seeking more robust information from NHS hospitals and private clinics and will update these estimates if necessary.
Suicide
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the merits of (a) applied suicide intervention skills training and (b) trauma risk management; and if he will make a statement. [89377]
Anne Milton: The Department has made no such assessment; the content and standard of health care training is the responsibility of the independent regulatory bodies for the health care professions.
Through their role as the custodians of quality standards in education and practice, the profession regulators are committed to ensuring high quality patient care delivered by high quality health professionals and that health care professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to deal with the problems and conditions they will encounter in practice.
The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), has not made any formal assessment of
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Trauma Risk Management (TRiM). The TRiM concept is that of a peer-developed support programme for personnel who have experienced a traumatic event. It does not in itself constitute a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder or any other mental health problem. Instead, it is used to identify the signs and symptoms of stress at an early stage. The ultimate aim is to detect that small percentage of personnel who require additional help and advise them of where they can get the help they need.
TRiM is widely used by the Ministry of Defence to help identify stress-related issues which personnel may have encountered while on operations. It is also now widely implemented across other public and private sector employers whose personnel may encounter traumatic situations at work.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Apprentices: Ashfield
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many companies in Ashfield constituency will receive additional incentive payments to take on 18 to 24 year olds in apprenticeships. [89472]
Mr Hayes [holding answer 16 January 2012]: The Apprenticeship programme is demand led and take-up of apprenticeships by area depends on employer demand. We are therefore unable to provide estimates of the geographical distribution of those companies which will benefit from the incentive payments which the Government announced in November.
Nationally we plan to make 40,000 incentive payments available for small companies who are not currently engaged in the Apprenticeships programme who take on their first apprentices aged 16-24. The National Apprenticeship Service is currently working up a detailed delivery plan and companies will be able to benefit by April this year.
Pub Companies
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what timetable he has set for the introduction of measures to improve competition in the pub and hospitality industry. [90201]
Mr Davey: The Government have not introduced any measures to improve competition in the pub and hospitality industry. The Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) final decision on CAMRA's super-complaint, published in October 2010, found no evidence of competition problems that are having a significant adverse impact on consumers in the pub industry.
The timetable for the introduction of the Government's reforms to improve transparency, fairness and dispute resolution for licensees is set out in the Government's response to the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee's report on Pub Companies.
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm82/8222/8222.pdf
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Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) self-regulation on beer ties and (b) competition in the pub and hospitality industry. [90203]
Mr Davey: The Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) final decision on CAMRA's super-complaint, published in October 2010, found no evidence of competition problems that are having a significant adverse impact on consumers in the pub industry.
The Government consider that the previous system of self-regulation in the pub industry was inadequate. That is why they have introduced a tough new self-regulatory system, including strengthening the Industry Framework Code, making it legally binding and establishing an independent conciliation and arbitration service to resolve disputes between pubcos and licensees.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects of beer ties on competition in the hospitality industry. [90204]
Mr Davey: The Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) final decision on CAMRA's super-complaint, published in October 2010, found no evidence of competition problems that are having a significant adverse impact on consumers in the pub industry.
Biofuels: Research
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to support research and development in the biogas sector. [86193]
Mr Paice: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The Government support a range of research and development relevant to biogas, and publish this through the Biogas portal website:
http://www.biogas-info.co.uk/index.php/find-ad-reports.html
In April 2011, DEFRA published an assessment of research on anaerobic digestion (AD) and the evidence gaps that remain:
http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/documents/wr1311-ad-gapanalysis.pdf
In addition, DEFRA's AD strategy and action plan sets out how the Government and industry are working together to address these gaps and other barriers to increasing production of biogas from waste. In particular, DEFRA has launched an Innovation Fund to optimise anaerobic digestion plants and reduce the costs and complexity of small scale AD plants.
Breathalysers
Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage Germany to adopt specifications agreed by the Organisation of Legal Metrology on breath alcohol analysis equipment, including a breath temperature correction feature. [87437]
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Mr Willetts: I have not taken any steps to encourage Germany to adopt specifications agreed by the International Organisation of Legal Metrology in relation to breath alcohol analysis equipment. Although the Department, through the National Measurement Office, is responsible for dealings with the International Organisation of Legal Metrology, Government policy on breath alcohol analysers is the responsibility of the Home Office and they have not asked either for advice or for any representations to be made on this matter.
Business: Government Assistance
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the total support for industry by his Department was in each parliamentary constituency in 2011. [88820]
Mr Prisk: The Department does not hold these data in the format requested.
However, each year HM Treasury carries out an annual exercise (country and regional analysis) to collate country and regional spending information by Government Departments, devolved Administrations, local authorities and by public corporations using a combination of actual regional spending and statistical methodologies. These data include details of expenditure on enterprise and economic development broken down to each of the nine English regions as well as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and overseas. The most recent country and regional analysis covers the 2010/11 financial year and is available at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pespb_natstats_oct2011.htm
Business: Regulation
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to increase awareness of the regulatory process for businesses among (a) businesses and (b) the general public. [89898]
Mr Prisk: The Government Statement of Regulation provides an overview to business and the public of the net costs and benefits to business and an update on the Government's regulatory ‘One-in, One-out’ policy in action. The second statement can be found at:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/bre/better-regulation-framework/one-in-one-out/statement
More widely, through the Red Tape Challenge, the Government invite the public and business to give their views, comments and ideas on what regulations should stay, be improved, or be scrapped. The Red Tape Challenge website can be accessed at:
http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
In addition, the Government have simplified the regulatory guidance that they provide through:
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk
and this supports the citizen-facing material which is provided through:
http://www.direct.gov.uk
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the findings of the British Chamber of Commerce's report entitled “Red Tape Challenged”. [89899]
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Mr Prisk: I have noted the findings set out in the British Chambers of Commerce report and welcome their support for the changes that the Government have already introduced to strengthen the system for regulatory scrutiny and accountability across Departments. The report highlights a number of areas where Departments can take further action to improve the transparency of their current activities, including the timely and consistent publication of impact assessments, which we will continue to address over the coming months.
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he plans to take to ensure that his Department's proposals for the deregulation of businesses are informed by the views of the business community. [89900]
Mr Prisk: The Government Red Tape Challenge website gives businesses, voluntary organisations and members of the public the opportunity to comment on all regulations which affect them. These comments directly inform its decisions as to which regulations will be removed or improved.
In its plans on transforming regulatory enforcement the Government has also committed to examine the performance of every regulator including using a web-based tool to enable businesses and individuals to provide a challenge function and real time feedback on their experience of regulators.
In addition, Departments regularly conduct thematic reviews of regulation, such as the recent review of health and safety, which include thorough consultation with business and other interested parties.
Charities: West Midlands
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of (a) paid jobs and (b) volunteering opportunities in charity shops in the West Midlands. [89297]
Mr Davey: No information about the number of paid jobs or volunteering opportunities in charity shops is held centrally.
Debt Recovery
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many times his Department has used the services of debt recovery companies since May 2010; which companies were used; and if he will make a statement. [88364]
Mr Davey: The core Department has not used the services of debt recovery companies since May 2010.
Pay
Priti Patel:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was paid to officials in his Department and its non-departmental public bodies in (a) bonuses, (b) allowances and (c) other payments additional to basic salary in each of the last two years for which figures are available; what categories of payment may be made to officials in addition to basic salary; what the monetary value is of
17 Jan 2012 : Column 783W
each category of payment; and what the monetary value was of the 20 largest such payments made in each of the last two years. [89678]
Mr Davey: BIS was formed through a Machinery of Government change that occurred in June 2009. The Department was created by merging The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).
Based on information available, the following table also provides details for both the former departments that were merged to create BIS. To provide details of other additional payments and allowances for 2009-10 and the 20 largest payments would involve checking various data sources and entail disproportionate costs.
17 Jan 2012 : Column 784W
| £ | ||
| Financial year | Performance related payments (inc SCS) | Allowances |
BIS operates the following working pattern allowances:-
Overtime, travelling time, meal allowance, night duty allowance and night duty officer's allowance, off shore allowance, on call allowance, standby allowance, weekend duty senior press officers allowance, overseas allowances, emergency preparedness volunteers and the following pay arrangements for specialists.
| Former BERR | ||||
| Specialist area | Specialism | Grade | London (£) | National (£) |
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17 Jan 2012 : Column 786W
Former DIUS Specialist Pay Scales
Staff on former DIUS terms and conditions have specialist pay rates rather than a separate allowance. The following table shows how much their specialist pay rates differ from generalist pay rates on the basis of their specialism and qualification level.
| Specialist area | Grade | London | National |
| (1) All posts are in London. (2) No EO/HEO posts outside London. | |||
Travel and subsistence payments are also available.
To provide further breakdown would incur disproportionate costs as would obtaining the information for BIS's non-departmental public bodies. Details of BIS partner organisations can be found at:
www.bis.gov.uk/partners/by/atoz
Employment Tribunals Service
Alun Cairns:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the written statement of 23 November 2011, Official Report,
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columns 26-8W, on employment law review, when he expects reform of the employment tribunal system to be completed. [89231]
Mr Davey: We are working to reform the employment tribunal system as soon as possible during this Parliament.
The measures announced on 23 November requiring secondary legislation (witness statements being taken as read, the removal of witness expenses, judges sitting alone in unfair dismissal cases and changes to limits for cost awards and deposit orders) will come into force on 6 April 2012, subject to parliamentary approval. Measures requiring primary legislation, including early conciliation, financial penalties, judges sitting alone in the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the formula for uprating tribunal awards and redundancy payments will be implemented when parliamentary time allows.
The Fundamental Review of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure is expected to recommend a revised procedural code for employment tribunals that would come into force in 2013, following public consultation and subject to parliamentary approval.
EU External Trade: India
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect on the livelihoods of the rural poor in India of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement; and what representations he has received from non-governmental organisations on the agreement. [89573]
Mr Davey: The European Union's sustainability impact assessment (SIA):
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2009/june/tradoc_143372.pdf
concluded that the EU-India Free Trade Agreement would lead to an overall reduction in both rural and urban poverty, and that an ambitious agreement would deliver the greatest benefits. A wide range of civil society organisations, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs), were consulted in the preparation of the SIA, and BIS officials regularly discuss our approach to trade negotiations with NGOs.
EU Law
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many of the regulations his Department brought into force through (a) primary legislation, (b) secondary legislation and (c) other means originated from proposals by the European Commission in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2011. [88960]
Mr Davey: The information requested is not held centrally and is currently being researched. I will write to the hon. Member as soon the information is available and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Foreign Trade
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the export figures for countries outside the EU in the balance of trade figures published on 11 January 2012; and if he will make a statement. [90287]
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Mr Prisk: The latest figures produced by the Office for National Statistics show that UK exports of goods to countries outside the EU totalled £12.2 billion in November 2011. This was £0.4 billion down on October 2011 which was a record month since the series began in 1998. The fall in exports was driven by a fall in the export of silver to non-EU countries, including India, down £0.3 billion. Exports of intermediate goods and consumer goods other than cars, were each down £0.2 billion. These falls were offset by higher exports of oil and cars, both up £0.1 billion.
Since monthly trade data is volatile, the ONS advise that quarterly data should be used for analysis and assessment of trends. Data for the three months ending November 2012 showed that non-EU exports totalled £36.1 billion, a record for any three-month period since the series began in 1998. This was an increase of £1.9 billion (5.7%) on the previous three months, and an increase of £3.8 billion (11.8%) on the three months ending November 2010.
Further Education: Higher Education
Mr Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of students in each age group were studying a higher education qualification in a further education college funded (a) directly by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, (b) via a university and (c) via the Skills Funding Agency in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [88304]
Mr Willetts: The answer to the question is shown in the following tables. These are the official figures provided by each funding body and are not comparable due to differing methodologies.
Figures from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) are shown on a full person equivalent basis and the age group refers to the age reported at the start of the course while figures from the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) are shown on a learner basis and the age group refers to the age reported at the start of the academic year. As the figures are not comparable, figures on the proportion of students funded by each category are not shown.
Table 1 shows the numbers of students studying for a higher education qualification in a further education college that are (i) HEFCE funded, (ii) indirectly funded by HEFCE (via a university), (iii) by another funding stream (for prescribed higher education courses) and (iv) by another funding stream (for franchised higher education courses). Detail on prescribed courses of higher education (HE) can be found on the HEFCE website:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/circlets/2008/cl22_08/
| Table 1: Learner participation (full person equivalent) in further education colleges for higher education courses funded by HEFCE and other funding streams, 2007/08 to 2009/10 | |||
| (i) HEFCE funded | |||
| Age at start of course | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 |
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| (ii) HEFCE indirectly funded | |||
| Age at start of course | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 |
| (iii) Other funding stream (prescribed HE) | |||
| Age at start of course | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 |
| (iv) Other funding stream (franchised HE) | |||
| Age at start of course | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 |
| Notes: 1. Students are counted if they are included in the standard registration population. 2. A student, studying at the same level, mode, subject and institution will be counted only once. 3. De-duplicating between the ILR and HESA record has been carried out. 4. Age groups refer to the age reported at the start of the course. 5. Some records have been removed from the ILR as they were returned incorrectly. Source: Individualised Learner Record (ILR) Data for HEFCE funded and HESA data record for HEFCE indirectly funded. | |||
Information on the number of students studying higher education courses in further education and funded via the Skills Funding Agency is shown in Table 2.
| Table 2: Learner participation in further education on level 4 and above courses funded by the Skills Funding Agency or Young People's Learning Agency | |||
| Age at start of academic year | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 |
| (1) Indicates a base value of less than 50. Notes: 1. Figures include learners in further education on level 4 or above courses that were funded by the Learning and Skills Council and/or are now funded by the Skills Funding Agency or Young People's Learning Agency. 2. Age groups refer to the age reported as at 31 August of the academic year, i.e. academic age. 3. Figures have been rounded up or down to the nearest hundred, so components may not sum to totals. 4. Figures do not include any learners returned in ILR collections for higher education institutions. Source: Individualised Learner Record (ILR) Data. | |||
Information on the number of learners participating in further education is published in a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 27 October 2011:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
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Higher Education: North East
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UCAS applications had 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 by 19 December 2011; and how many such applications had been submitted on the same date in the 2010-11 admissions cycle. [89167]
Mr Willetts: The latest information is in the following tables and has been provided by the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS).
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 second table includes only those applicants who applied to courses with a deadline of 15 October. The main deadline for the majority of UCAS courses is 15 January.
| All applicants to UCAS as at 19 December by parliamentary constituency/region | ||
| Application cycle | ||
| Area of domicile | 2010-11 (1) | 2011-12 (2) |
| (1) Applicants applying to enter courses starting in autumn 2011, including those who applied for deferred entry in 2012. (2) Applicants applying to enter courses starting in autumn 2012, including those who applied for deferred entry in 2013. | ||
| On time applicants to courses with a 15 October deadline (1) by parliamentary constituency/region | ||
| Application cycle | ||
| Area of domicile | 2010-11 (2) | 2011-12 (3) |
| (1) These are courses in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science, and courses at Oxbridge. (2) Applicants applying to enter courses starting in autumn 2011, including those who applied for deferred entry in 2012. (3) Applicants applying to enter courses starting in autumn 2012, including those who applied for deferred entry in 2013. (4) Revised figures. These correct the figures provided in PQ 84160 (254 for 2010-11 and 227 for 2011-12). The figures for the Tees Valley include the constituencies of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Stockton North, Stockton South, Darlington, and Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. | ||
Land Registry
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to improve access to the records of land ownership held by the Land Registry; and if he will make a statement. [89566]
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Mr Davey: The Land Register is open to public inspection to assist the buying and selling of property and land, as well as to provide publicly available information about property and land. We have had an open register since 1990.
The information is made available online to both citizens and professionals by means of two separate web-based services. This allows anyone upon payment of a small fee to access the Land Registry’s records. These services are very popular with property professionals and the public alike. Our online service for the general public was launched in January 2005. It helped the Land Registry to meet Government targets of making all publicly available information accessible electronically and proved very successful, amply demonstrated by the fact that today ‘Find a Property’ receives up to 20,000 downloads a week.
However, we are aware of the fact that this means of easy access has the potential to facilitate fraud. We take the issue of fraud very seriously and work closely with stakeholders including the Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority, Council of Licensed Conveyancers, National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, National Fraud Authority and Financial Services Authority as well as land registries in other countries to do all we can to reduce the opportunities for fraud and identify when it has happened.
This means that we do insist upon registration requirements in order to use these web-based services, and the Land Registry has no plans to reduce or remove these requirements.
The Land Registry is always looking for ways to maximise the publication of the data it holds. As the Government have already announced, the Land Registry together with Ordnance Survey, Met Office and Companies House, is now one of the four founder members of the Public Data Group (PDG) of Trading Funds. As part of its commitment to the Government’s growth and transparency agenda, the Land Registry will be releasing detailed customer transaction and property price information free of charge via a new dedicated webpage. The housing market forms a key component of economic growth which is why the Land Registry will be releasing the residential property sales and transaction information free of charge, helping the market to be better informed about trends in price and volume.
As part of this, by the end of January 2012, the Land Registry will make available for free, downloadable for reuse in an accessible and reuseable format under the Open Government Licence (OGL) the following data, updated monthly:
i. number and types of applications by customer by month
ii. number and types of transactions for value by customer by month
iii. number of applications in England and Wales, by region and local authority district (or equivalent) by month
iv. number of searches by month (which can be a leading indicator of housing market movements).
Furthermore, from March 2012, the Land Registry will make available ‘Price Paid information’ showing all residential property sales in England and Wales at address level. This will be downloadable for reuse, in a reuseable format under the OGL, and updated monthly.
Mr Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has
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made of the total amount of land in England which is unregistered
(a)
in hectares and
(b)
as a proportion of the total land mass; and if he will make a statement. [89568]
Mr Davey: The total amount of land in England that is unregistered is 2,711,622 hectares. The total percentage of unregistered land in England is 20.4%.
New Businesses
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will consider the use of the New York City Economic Development Corporation's Sunshine Bronx Business Incubator as a model in the UK to encourage entrepreneurialism and business start-ups with high potential for growth. [89890]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 16 January 2012]: There are many positive examples of good practice abroad of which the Bronx Business Incubator centre is one. The work of incubators is important and in this context it is worth mentioning the Business Coaching for Growth (BCG) initiative which is due to go live at the end of January 2012.
The programme, which will be delivered by the private sector, will help up to 10,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a year to overcome the barriers to high growth. It will provide coaches to work face to face with senior management teams to help them to develop and implement their strategies and develop the skills, expertise and techniques to overcome the barriers they face to growing. BCG will be highly networked and will connect high growth potential businesses to other forms of support such as business incubators, technology and innovation centres, and science parks. BCG will also forge excellent relationships with Business Angels and the venture capital industry to showcase businesses seeking equity investment.
Public Houses
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received from (a) pub landlords and (b) large-companies owning public houses on the tenureship of public houses. [90205]
Mr Davey: I have received numerous representations from both pub landlords and large companies owning public houses. This is set out in more detail in information released under the Freedom of Information Act, which may be found here:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/site/foi/information-released
Public Houses: Closures
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many public houses have closed in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years. [90273]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
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The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated January 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on how many public houses have closed in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years. [90273]
Annual statistics on the number of enterprise deaths are available from 2002 onwards in the ONS release on Business Demography at:
www.statistics.gov.uk
The latest statistics on the number of enterprise deaths for public houses/bars have been provided in the spreadsheet, which show the number of enterprise deaths in the UK for public house/bars by local authority from 2002 to 2010.
Copies of the table have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Public Houses: Mutual Societies
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has considered taking steps to promote mutual models of pub ownership and management. [90199]
Mr Davey: The Government are not minded to intervene in setting the terms of commercial, contractual relationships within the pub industry.
Retail Trade
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will assess the effects of (a) low consumer confidence, (b) reduction in household income, (c) high inflation rates and (d) changes in consumer behaviour on the viability of small independent traders. [89298]
Mr Prisk: The Government are fully aware that in the current economic conditions companies of all sizes and in all sectors are facing a tough time. It is however difficult to assess the causes and effects of the myriad factors that impact on company performance. We keep in close touch with the major retail trade associations, and organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses, and so are alive to the concerns of small retailers.
We take the plight of small businesses, including small retailers, seriously which is why we are supporting small businesses by addressing the challenges they face. We are doing this by ensuring we have a predictable tax system that rewards endeavour; ensuring businesses can access finance; enabling better access to both debt and equity finance; and reducing red tape. We are also ensuring that small and medium-sized enterprises have access to the advice and guidance they need, including through business coaching and mentoring.
Student Finance England: Complaints
Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many complaints Student Finance England received in academic years (a) 2011-12, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2009-10. [89347]
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Mr Willetts: The Student Loans Company (SLC) is responsible for administering the Student Finance England (SFE) service on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable). I am advised by SLC that information to show the number of complaints received by academic years is not readily available. The table shows the number of complaints received by SLC in relation to the SFE service by financial year.
By way of context, the progressive increase in complaints could in part be attributed to the progressive increase in SLC's work since 2009. SLC took on responsibility for student finance assessments from English local authorities over a three year period, starting with new applicants for the 2009/10 academic year, and ending with all applicants for the 2011/12 academic year. For the 2009/10 academic year SLC received 470,000 applications, for the 2010/11 academic year this figure increased to 800,000, and for the 2011/12 academic year SLC has to date received over 1 million applications.
| Number of registered complaints received by SLC in relation to the SFE service | |
| Financial year | Number of complaints |
Student Finance England: Loans
Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what further resources, in addition to the formation of the Resolve Team, have been put in place to deal with delays in the processing of applications by Student Finance England. [89345]
Mr Willetts: The Student Loans Company (SLC) is responsible for administering the Student Finance England service on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable). SLC improved its processing performance for the 2011/12 academic year cycle, fully processing 83% of applications for core tuition fee and maintenance support by the start of term, compared to 73% last year. SLC also improved its average processing time for core applications by more than three weeks from 9.9 weeks for the 2010/11 cycle to 6.8 weeks for the 2011/12 cycle.
SLC continues to implement measures to improve the service it delivers and reduce the time taken to process applications. This year SLC introduced an electronic link with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to verify household income automatically, 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. SLC is also improving staff training, providing simpler web-based information, advice and guidance, and delivering processing improvements, including to ICT-based systems.
Student Finance England: Training
Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what training call centre staff at Student Finance England receive prior to handling calls; and for how long such training lasts. [89348]
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Mr Willetts: The Student Loans Company (SLC) is responsible for administering the Student Finance England service on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable). Student Finance England operates a flexible resource model to meet the demand on its call centre throughout the year, with a core of permanent staff at three locations in the UK supplemented by a variable number of additional temporary staff provided by two specialist companies.
Permanent SLC staff receive four weeks' induction training, covering student finance products, system use and customer service skills. They are then supported on a one-to-one basis for a further week before taking calls independently. Staff at the external, specialist companies receive a condensed two week training programme covering student finance products and system use with a shorter and more focused section on customer service skills. They are then supported by on-site staff from SLC and a dedicated help-line should they require assistance answering customer queries.
All staff are monitored to ensure quality standards are met, have extensive coaching support from their team manager and are allocated 12 days of additional training through the year.
Third Sector
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department allocated to (a) Centrepoint, (b) Crisis, (c) Skill Force and (d) Shelter in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [90398]
Mr Davey: The Department has not directly funded any of the organisations named above in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Education
Academies
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of each item of correspondence between his Department and Ofsted relating to academies; [87578]
(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of each item of correspondence between his Department and Ofsted relating to Ofsted inspections to be undertaken on future dates. [87579]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 20 December 2011]: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) whether academy trusts are required to notify his Department of the results of their consultations; [89050]
(2) what steps his Department has taken to monitor compliance with the duty to consult placed on academy trusts by section 10 of the Academies Act 2010. [89051]
Mr Gibb: There is a statutory requirement for a school converting to academy status to carry out a consultation but it is up to the school to decide with whom and how to consult.
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Schools do not need to provide the Department with the results of this consultation though the Department will seek confirmation from schools that the consultation has taken place, the dates on which the consultation took place, and that the Academy Trust is content to proceed with conversion to academy status. Schools should also ensure that consultation documentation is available to the Department on request.
Adoption
Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to change the cultural match of children with families requirement during the adoption process. [90004]
Tim Loughton: The Government want to see more children adopted from care, where this is in their best interests. We want local authorities to look very critically at their adoption practice, particularly in respect of children who wait longest to be placed with adoptive parents, such as black children.
I have published revised statutory adoption guidance, which makes clear that the primary consideration for local authorities must be whether the prospective adopters can meet all or most of the child’s needs. It is plainly unacceptable for a child to be denied loving adoptive parents solely on the grounds that the child and prospective adopters do not share the same ethnic or cultural background.
I have asked Martin Narey, who I have appointed as ministerial adviser on adoption, to provide advice on the reasons behind the delays in placing black children for adoption. I have also approved funding for a one-year pilot project, led by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, to gain a better understanding of how the adoption register is being used to help match prospective adopters with children and how matching decisions are made at local level.
Child Support Agency
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what (a) meetings and (b) telephone discussions he has had with Ministers in other Government departments on proposals to introduce (i) up-front charges for using the Child Support Agency (CSA) and (ii) administration fees for the recipients of payments under the CSA. [87442]
Tim Loughton [holding answer 19 December 2011]: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has had no meetings or telephone discussions with Ministers in other Departments on this issue.
Other DfE Ministers have been part of cross-Government discussions about the Child Support Agency and child maintenance reforms. This is part of the normal process of policy development and decision-making, particularly for issues where several Departments have a policy interest.
Children
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has to integrate and monitor subjective well-being as a key outcome within the Positive for Youth strategy. [90141]
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Tim Loughton: The Positive for Youth strategy includes nine outcome measures for young people that will be reported on annually. The first of these measures is a new national measure of young people's subjective well-being that will be recorded as part of the Measuring National Well-being Programme commissioned by the Prime Minister. This programme is being led by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the findings will be published in July 2012.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what methods are used by his Department to measure the effects of its decisions on the subjective well-being of children. [90156]
Tim Loughton: The Department monitors the impacts of its decisions in various ways, including through evaluations. The Department has a particular interest in the impacts of its decisions on attainment as well as other impacts that contribute to higher attainment, including well-being.
Subjective well-being questions have been added to the evaluation of the National Citizen Service (NCS) which brings together 16-year-olds from different backgrounds in a summer programme of challenge, service and learning. The NCS is currently half way through a two-year pilot.
In addition, the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre (CWRC), funded by the Department, has been scoping ways of developing a measure of well-being for use when evaluating children's services. The initial report can be accessed here:
http://www.cwrc.ac.uk/news/documents/Developing_CYPOC_Report_Summary_March_2011.pdf