Women and Equalities
Christmas
Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how much her Department spent on (a) Christmas trees and (b) other Christmas decorations in 2011; and if she will make a statement. [91112]
Lynne Featherstone: From 1 April 2011, the Government Equalities Office became part of the Home Office. Information relating to the Government Equalities Office will be included in the reply of the Minister for Immigration, the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green).
Departmental Manpower
Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how many and what proportion of full- time equivalent staff in the Government Equalities Office are engaged in delivering (a) frontline and (b) corporate or back office services; and if she will make a statement. [91111]
Lynne Featherstone: From 1 April 2011, the Government Equalities Office became part of the Home Office. Information relating to the Government Equalities Office will be included in the reply of the Minister for Immigration, the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green).
Work and Pensions
StartHere
20. Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department is working with the Department of Health on the deployment of applications produced by StartHere. [90858]
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Steve Webb: The Department is not currently working with StartHere.
However, the Department is committed to increasing the availability of its services online, and continues to work with partners including the BBC and Digital Unite to enable people to access digital services.
Female Unemployment
21. Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to reduce the rate of female unemployment; and if he will make a statement. [90860]
22. Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to reduce the rate of female unemployment; and if he will make a statement. [90861]
Chris Grayling: The Government's aim is to achieve lasting growth in employment by tackling the deficit, improving competitiveness and encouraging the growth of new businesses.
To ensure those without work—including women—are well placed to take up the new jobs that are created, through the Work programme and universal credit we are reforming the welfare system to offer people the support they need to achieve their full potential and ensure they keep more of what they earn once back in work.
Work Capability Assessments
Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking in conjunction with disability groups to update the handbook and guidance used by Atos in the administration of work capability assessments. [90856]
Chris Grayling: Following a recommendation from Professor Harrington in his second independent review of the work capability assessment the Department and Atos are putting in place a formal procedure for disability groups and their clinical advisers to quality assure the evidence based protocols, condition specific training and the WCA handbook used by Atos.
Carer's Allowance
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost to his Department of continuing to pay carer’s allowance to those carers in receipt of a state pension. [90951]
Steve Webb [holding answer 20 January 2012]: The overlapping benefits rule means that a person cannot be paid carer’s allowance while receiving the same amount or more from an income maintenance benefit such as state pension.
The estimated cost of removing this rule, after adjusting for the offset in pension credit would be around £800 million(1). This estimate does not include additional costs from carers over pension age who would choose to apply for carer’s allowance if the overlapping benefits rule did not apply. These additional costs are likely to be significant but cannot be quantified.
(1) Source:
DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, May 2011.
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Charities
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what grants his Department made to charitable organisations in each of the last five years. [79083]
Chris Grayling: The only grant payments made to a charitable organisation by the Department for Work and Pensions are those made to Motability. It is largely self-financed and the only funding the Department for Work and Pensions gives the scheme relates to the Specialised Vehicles Fund, which Motability administers on our behalf. More information about Motability can be found at:
www.motability.co.uk
Information on the amount of funding allocated to Motability in respect of the Specialised Vehicles Fund and its administration in each of the last five years is contained in the following table.
| £000 | ||
| Specialised vehicle fund | Administration costs | |
| (1) The budget for the full year 2011-12 is £17,036,000 and we expect Motability to fully utilise this, although only £13,600,000 of grants have been made to date. | ||
Child Maintenance
John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many child support cases the Child Support Agency held for Carlisle in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11. [89165]
Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to my hon. Friend with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many child support cases the Child Support Agency held for Carlisle in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11. [89165]
The table shows the number of cases where a parent with care or non-resident parent resides in Carlisle parliamentary constituency.
| As at March each year : | Caseload by parent with care in Carlisle constituency | Caseload by non-resident parent Carlisle constituency |
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| Notes: 1. Both the parent with care and the non-resident parent in the same case may reside in Carlisle constituency therefore the figures in the two columns should be viewed separately. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Areas are provided by matching the residential postcode of the parent with care or non-resident parent to the Office for National Statistics Postcode Directory. 4. Caseload refers to the live and assessed caseload which includes open cases with an ongoing child maintenance liability, cases which have been assessed as nil liability and cases where arrears of maintenance have been requested. 5. Caseload is reported at a point in time, these figures show the caseload as at the end of March each year. |
Christmas
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) Christmas trees and (b) other Christmas decorations in 2011; and if he will make a statement. [91084]
Chris Grayling: Since 1998, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) occupies the majority of its accommodation under a private finance initiative (PFI) known as the PRIME contract. Under the terms of this PFI, the Department leases back fully serviced accommodation from its private sector partner Telereal Trillium, for which it pays an all-inclusive unitary charge. While this unitary charge does not cover Christmas trees and decorations, Telereal Trillium does provide a decorated tree at some headquarters sites such as Caxton house and Quarry house at their expense as a goodwill gesture. Therefore, the Department did not spend money on Christmas trees or other Christmas decorations in 2011.
Co-operatives
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps (a) his Department and (b) those bodies for which his Department is responsible are taking to mark UN International Year of Co-operatives 2012; and if he will make a statement. [88602]
Chris Grayling: Departments will work closely with Cabinet Office, the Mutuals Taskforce and with Co-operatives UK to develop and take full advantage of opportunities to celebrate the achievements of co-operative organisations during the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives.
At present neither the Department nor its non-departmental public bodies have any plans to mark the UN Year of the Co-operative 2012.
The Mutuals Taskforce has recently indicated it will play a co-ordinating role for Departments to support the International Year of Co-operatives, with Co-operatives UK leading the Taskforce's work in this area.
Disability Living Allowance: Appeals
Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average backdated claim was which was awarded in disability living allowance appeals in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [90767]
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Maria Miller: We are unable to provide a response on the average backdated claim awarded in disability living allowance appeals because the information requested is not routinely reported and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost to the Department.
EU Law
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department holds information on the EU regulations in its policy area which have not been implemented in (a) France and (b) Germany and the dates on which those regulations became EU law; and if he will make a statement. [90703]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not held by Her Majesty’s Government. Providing an answer would impose a disproportionate cost.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which EU regulations his Department has not implemented; on what date the regulations became EU law; and if he will make a statement. [90718]
Chris Grayling: The EU directives yet to be implemented by the Department for Work and Pensions are as follows:
Directive 2010/41/EU of 7 July 2010 on the application of the principle of equal treatment between men and women engaged in an activity in a self employed capacity. This repeals council directive 86/613/EEC. It came into force on 4 August 2010. We are considering the date for implementation.
Council Directive 2010/32/EU of 10 May 2010 implementing the Framework Agreement on prevention from sharp injuries in the hospital and health care sector concluded by HOSPEEM and EPSU. This directive came into force on 21 June 2010 and will be implemented by the transposition deadline of May 2013.
Future Jobs Fund
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had on the effects on unemployment of closure of the future jobs fund. [90847]
Chris Grayling: The future jobs fund was a very expensive programme which did not lead to enough young people entering sustained employment.
We believe the support we are offering through the Work programme, an expanded work experience scheme and the youth contract will deliver better sustained outcome for young people.
Pensions
Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to protect the interests of people with small pension pots. [90844]
Steve Webb: The problem associated with small pension pots can include higher charges, losing track of a pension or facing barriers to moving a pension and getting a decent annuity.
That is why we published a paper in December that sets out some radical options for some form of automated transfer system to make it easy for people to build up one large pension pot.
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Social Security Benefits: Disability
Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect on living standards of people (a) with disabilities and (b) diagnosed with cancer of his proposals in the Welfare Reform Bill. [91320]
Chris Grayling: The Government have published both impact and equality impact assessments on the Welfare Reform Bill, including employment and support allowance and disability living allowance reform.
These can be found on the DWP website at the following link:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/legislation-and-key-documents/welfare-reform-bill-2011/
Unemployment: Older People
John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department's recent unemployment figures include those people aged over 60 but under 65 who no longer need to make further national insurance contributions to qualify for a state pension. [91410]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
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 Parliamentary Question asking whether unemployment estimates include those people aged between 60 and 65 who no longer need to make further national insurance contributions to qualify for a state pension (91410).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces estimates of unemployment in accordance with international guidelines specified by the International Labour Organisation. The definition of unemployment is contained in a resolution adopted by the Thirteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians in October 1982.
In accordance with this resolution, people in the UK aged 16 or over are recorded as being unemployed if:
they are without a job, have actively sought work in the last four weeks and are available to start work in the next two weeks or;
are out of work, have found a job and are waiting to start it in the next two weeks.
There is no upper age limit on unemployment and whether or not a person needs to make further national insurance contributions to qualify for a state pension is not a relevant factor in determining whether a person is unemployed or not.
The ONS also produces estimates for the claimant count which measures the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA).
Universal Credit
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what date he expects to publish programme plans for universal credit. [91306]
Chris Grayling: There is curently no intention to publish universal credit programme plans.
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Job Vacancies
Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what sources of information his Department bases its calculations of the number of job vacancies that are available to people seeking employment. [91246]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
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 Parliamentary Question asking what sources of information are used to produce estimates of job vacancies (91246).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces estimates of vacancies for the whole economy excluding agriculture, forestry and fishing (due to the practical difficulties of producing estimates for this sector). The estimates are sourced from the ONS Vacancy Survey, a survey of employers. ONS surveys around 6,000 organisations per month and they are asked to record the number of vacancies for which they are actively seeking to recruit staff from outside their own organisation. These estimates are only available for the UK as a whole; there is no regional data available from this survey.
The Department for Work & Pensions produces estimates of JobCentre Plus vacancies sourced from JobCentre Plus administrative systems. These estimates measure those vacancies notified by employers to JobCentre Plus, and are available at regional and local area level as well as at UK level.
Welfare State: Reform
Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much he expects to save from the reform of the welfare system in each of the next three years; and what assessment he has made of the cost of reforming the welfare system in each of the next three years. [91375]
Chris Grayling: The Spending Review 2010 announced fundamental reforms to simplify the welfare system, which were estimated to deliver net welfare savings of £7 billion per year by 2014-15.
The detailed underlying costings for policies announced at Spending Review 2010 are published in the document Spending Review 2010 policy costings:
http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sr2010_policycostings.pdf
and the estimated fiscal impact of these policies is updated in Table 2.2 of the Budget 2011 report:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ukgwacnf.html?url=http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/2011budget_complete.pdf
DWP funding to implement the welfare reforms announced in the June 2010 Budget and the Spending Review 2010 for which DWP has responsibility is included within the overall departmental expenditure limit (DEL). This includes £2 billion over 2011-12 to 2014-15 for the introduction of universal credit. The DWP funding settlement from 2010-11 to 2014-15 is published in Spending Review 2010:
http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sr2010_completereport.pdf
23 Jan 2012 : Column 103W
The DWP Business Plan 2011-15 sets out the detailed actions to reform the welfare system. This is an annual publication last updated in May 2011. Indicative figures of planned expenditure for 2011-12 were published alongside the Business Plan:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/indicative-data-2011-12.xls
Work Programme
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many off-benefit checks his Department has performed in relation to the Work programme since its inception. [91239]
Chris Grayling: The Department will begin conducting off-benefit checks in relation to the Work programme in April 2012.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by what means he will assess the extent to which Work Programme prime providers' funding arrangements meet the Merlin Standard for equitable transfer of financial and other risks for small, specialist and third sector providers. [91311]
Chris Grayling: The Department has appointed an independent organisation to undertake the assessment of prime contractors against the Merlin Standard. Supporting products and guidance will be available in due course on the Merlin web portal:
http://www.merlinstandard.co.uk
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 8 November 2011, Official Report, column 217W, on the Work programme, whether claimant starts for the period June to November 2011 were in line with estimated volumes in each Work programme contract package area. [91369]
Chris Grayling: The Department intends to publish official statistics on referrals and attachments to the Work programme from spring 2012. This is in line with guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure published statistics meet the required high quality standards.
Business, Innovation and Skills
ACAS
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with ACAS on changes to early conciliation and the resources to support such changes. [91324]
Mr Davey: Officials in the Department are having regular discussions with ACAS colleagues to develop the detail of the early conciliation process and to establish what additional resourcing requirements are needed to support it.
Ian Murray:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the additional resources required by ACAS to
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implement the Government's early conciliation proposals; and what additional resources his Department will provide to ACAS in each of the next three years. [91325]
Mr Davey: Officials in the Department are working closely with ACAS colleagues to develop the detail of the early conciliation process. Once this has been determined, we will be able to determine the additional resourcing requirements needed to ensure that ACAS can deliver the new service. Any additional funding will be provided through the normal grant in aid process. Early conciliation will require primary legislation and implementation is subject to the parliamentary process.
ACAS: Finance
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department provided to ACAS in each year between 2008 and 2011; and how much his Department plans to provide in the next three years. [91323]
Mr Davey: The information is as follows:
In 2011-12 ACAS' total budget allocation is £47,839,000.00.
In 2010-11 ACAS' total budget allocation was £51,874,000.00.
In 2009-10 ACAS' total budget allocation was £55,787,000.00.
In 2008-09 ACAS' total budget allocation was £51,212,600.00.
ACAS's budget allocations for the next three years have yet to be confirmed.
Bankruptcy
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the average debt of those entering bankruptcy in each year since 2001; and what the average debt was, excluding mortgages and secured loans, of those who entered bankruptcy in each year since 2011. [89033]
Mr Davey: The Insolvency Service ("The Service") is able to provide details of the average debt of those entering bankruptcy in each year since 2001. The Service does not collate a total figure for the average debt excluding mortgages and secured loans.
The following figures include those entering bankruptcy by both debtor and creditor petitions.
The mean average can be skewed by a small number of large values in the total amount, so both the mean average and median average figures are provided for comparison purposes.
| £ | ||
| Median average amount of debt | Average amount of debt | |
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Business: Investment
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of average levels of cash on companies' balance sheets; and what discussions he has had with companies on the use of such cash levels to invest in (a) enhancing UK competitiveness, (b) improving UK economic productivity and (c) increasing access to alternative sources of funding for UK businesses. [90760]
Mr Davey: Total cash and short-term deposits held by UK private, non-financial corporations amounted to £681 billion in 2010.(1)
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable) regularly meets businesses of all sizes to discuss a wide range of issues. Cash is retained for a variety of reasons and investment decisions are commercial choices for businesses themselves. Government, however, has a vital role in creating the right incentives and framework for business investment by, for example, reducing the rate of corporation tax from 26% to 23% by 2014, reforming the planning regime, and improving R&D tax credits.
Cash surpluses are not evenly distributed, and many businesses who want to invest have to rely on external sources of finance. We want to boost the finance options for business to include a wider range of non-bank sources. That is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has announced the establishment of an industry-led taskforce headed by Tim Breedon. The taskforce is working with businesses, investors and others to establish what steps need to be taken to remove structural and behavioural barriers to raising non-bank finance. Part of the work will include a look at ways to help businesses provide financing support to their supply chains.
(1) Source: ONS Blue Book 2011.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which EU regulations his Department has not implemented; on what date the regulations became EU law; and if he will make a statement. [90761]
Mr Davey: At present, this Department has six EU regulations that have not as yet been fully implemented. The following table shows a list of these regulations which includes the date of which these became EU law.
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Business: Third Sector
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the opportunity to develop and increase Business in the Community's Business Connector programme; and if he will make a statement. [91421]
Mr Davey: Business in the Community's Business Connector programme is a good example of a business-led initiative to support community empowerment using the expertise of business. The Office of Civil Society is contributing to the funding of a pilot of the first 20 Business Connectors in which leading businesses including BT, Greggs, Fujitsu and Sainsbury's have seconded senior staff to build business expertise and delivery capacity in local community organisations. Fujitsu has also developed a supporting online resource network.
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The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is pleased to promote the Business Connectors programme as a good example of business working with civil society to the benefit of their communities under Every Business Commits.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what steps he is taking to encourage companies to offer opportunities and assistance to help their staff volunteer; and if he will make a statement; [91428]
(2) what steps he is taking to encourage companies to establish a (a) volunteering and (b) giving scheme; and if he will make a statement. [91429]
Mr Davey: Under Every Business Commits we have challenged businesses to take action in five priority areas: investing in skills and jobs; promoting employee well-being; supporting enterprise; engaging with communities; and reducing carbon emissions. And the Government have committed to remove barriers to business engagement in these areas.
Working with business representatives on the Every Business Commits Forum, we are promoting and sharing examples of good practice, including payroll giving schemes and staff volunteering. A new business-led digital service—Trading for Good—is in development and will offer good practice sharing to small enterprises as well as toolkits offering guidance on how to take up these activities.
Consumers: Credit
Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the EU Consumer Credit Sweep (1) what steps he plans to take to ensure that UK regulatory and enforcement bodies have sufficient resources to monitor the compliance of consumer credit providers with legislative requirements; [90768]
(2) what steps he plans to take to ensure providers of consumer credit comply with legislative requirements. [90769]
Mr Davey: The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) participated in a sweep of websites that advertise consumer credit as part of an EU-wide investigation to check whether consumers are given the information to which they are entitled under EU consumer law.
The OFT will use the findings from the sweep to target those companies that do not meet their legal obligations. It will inform the European Commission of the actions it has taken by autumn 2012 and the Commission will report on the results from across the EC thereafter.
The OFT will also be launching a comprehensive compliance review of its Irresponsible Lending Guidance shortly. The review will focus on identifying those practices that are the cause of most harm to consumers and the findings will be used to take further enforcement action and drive up standards.
The Government’s aim is to ensure a proportionate approach to regulation and enforcement whereby consumers are protected without placing unnecessary burdens on business. The Government are currently considering the
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future of the consumer credit regime, including future resourcing, and will make an announcement in due course.
Dementia: Research
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the (a) Medical Research Council and (b) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council spent on dementia research in 2010-11. [91373]
Mr Willetts: The Medical Research Council (MRC) spent £15.6 million in 2009/10. Precise figures for MRC expenditure in 2010/11 are not yet available. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council estimate that they spent £3.5 million in 2010/11.
Departmental Manpower
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of full-time equivalent staff in his Department engaged in delivering (a) frontline and (b) corporate or back office services; and if he will make a statement. [91099]
Mr Davey: The following table shows the number/headcount and proportion of full-time equivalent staff currently employed in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), engaged in delivering (a) frontline and (b) corporate or back office services. These figures are based on staff on payroll and do not include UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).
| Number/headcount | Full-time equivalent | |
The figure for corporate/back office services includes staff in legal, human resources (HR), communications, finance, shared services, internal audit, information and communications technology (ICT) services and commercial. Some of these areas also provide corporate support to BIS agencies.
Regulation
Conor Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will publish a list of (a) all new regulations introduced and (b) all regulations abolished under his Department’s one-in one-out policy since May 2010. [91121]
Mr Prisk: The “One-in, One-out: Statement of New Regulation” (published April 2011) and the departmental statements accompanying the “One-in, One-out: Second Statement of New Regulation” (published September 2011) list new measures, including deregulatory measures, introduced under one-in, one-out between January 2011 (the effective date of the policy) and December 2011.
Copies of all of these publications were placed in the Libraries of the House and can be found at:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/bre/better-regulation-framework/one-in-one-out/statement
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EU Law
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department holds information on the EU regulations in its policy areas of responsibility which have not been implemented in (a) France and (b) Germany; on which dates those regulations became EU law; and if he will make a statement. [90689]
Mr Davey: The information requested is not held by Her Majesty's Government. Providing an answer would pose a disproportionate cost.
Exports
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions his Department has had with the (a) CBI, (b) Institute of Directors and (c) Federation of Small Businesses on steps to support small and medium-sized businesses to export to international markets. [90180]
Mr Prisk: As a Department, we engage regularly with key business multipliers to include the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Institute of Directors (IoD) and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) on steps to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to export to international markets. Regular meetings take place with these organisations at both ministerial and working level to discuss key issues regarding international trade and how we can boost the number of SMEs who export.
We have developed partnership relationships with all three organisations, and work with them to promote the benefits of trade to their SME audience via their existing channels. For example in the last 12 months we have delivered a series of breakfast round table discussions on export opportunities for SMEs in Russia, China and India and have an additional programme planned with them in the coming six months. Similarly we recently led FSB's export seminars as part of their extensive programme at the Business Start-Up Show.
Most recently, the CBI, IoD and FSB have been involved in the national ‘Export for Growth' initiative which was launched by the Prime Minister on 10 November last year. The initiative offers a series of programmes and coordinated help from professional advisers to business, to include banks, accountants, lawyers and trade associations to boost SME awareness of overseas opportunities. All three organisations helped to shape the programme for the national event and have been involved in the 12 regional events which are taking place over the next three months.
Flexible Working
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department and its predecessors have taken to promote flexible working in the last 30 years. [90931]
Mr Davey: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was formed on 5 June 2009. Our predecessors have promoted flexible working over a number of years, (records do not go back further than March 2000). Since 2000 activities include:
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In March 2000, the Government launched the Work-Life Balance Campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of work-life balance policies. The campaign targeted employers, encouraging them to develop policies that would enable employees to effectively balance their work with their life outside of work.
In April 2003, the Government introduced the right to request flexible working for employed parents of young and disabled children via regulations under the Employment Act 2002.
The Work and Families Bill 2006 widened the scope of the existing law on flexible working to enable more people (carers of adults and parents of children under 18) with caring responsibilities to request to work flexibly.
The Flexible Working (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 widen the scope of the right to request flexible working to carers of certain adults from April 2007
In 2008 all flexible working guidance was converged onto Businesslink.gov.uk and direct.gov.uk as part of Employment Law Guidance Programme. This programme aimed to support businesses in complying with their employment obligations.
In May 2008 the Government published the independent Walsh Review "How to Extend the Right to Request Flexible Working to Parents of Older Children".
The Flexible Working (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 extended the scope of flexible working law to Parents to children under 17 from April 2009.
In the run up to the April 2009 extension of the right to request to parents of children under 17, the Government:
Contacted over 890,000 small and medium sized enterprises to highlight the change in the law and to publicise the guidance available at businesslink.gov.uk to ensure businesses knew where to find the free help available;
Ran a campaign via Directgov encompassing magazine advertorials, radio slots and television advertising, and highlighting the guidance and advice available on
www.direct.gov.uk
Engaged with key stakeholders to promote the flexible working messages to employees;
Launched a series of activities spread over 12 months encompassing media opportunities, ministerial events and using publication s to reach the various target audiences.
In September 2009 Government stepped up their action to raise awareness of flexible working rights for carers with the publication of a new survey showing that millions were unaware of flexible working rights for parents and carers.
The Department worked with the Family Friendly Working Hours Taskforce to help develop their recommendations, the taskforce was established by the Department of Work and Pensions. The taskforce published the Flexible Working: working for families, working for business report in 2009 setting out recommendations for what more can be done to both encourage and support employers to realise the benefits of flexible working in their organisation.
On 18 February 2010 Government launched a month long "Dads at Work campaign—raising awareness of paternity rights" and raising awareness among dads of their rights at work to help them care for their child.
In response to the Government’s coalition commitment to extend the right to flexible working to all employees, we are currently reviewing the flexible working regulations with the aim of introducing an extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees by 2014.
High Street Support Scheme
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 14 September 2011, Official Report, column 1211W, on the High Street Support scheme, what the underspend was which was diverted to fund the High Street Support scheme relating to the West Midlands. [87793]
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Mr Prisk: The underspend from the regional development agencies, including Advantage West Midlands, is subject to the remaining months de-commissioning so a precise figure is not available. However, current forecasts across all of the regional development agencies indicate that it is adequate to fund the £7 million contribution towards the High Street Support scheme.
Higher Education: Finance
Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to issue guidance to universities on donations from countries with a poor record on human rights. [89541]
Mr Willetts: It is important that universities diversify their income sources, and philanthropic donations are important in this context. It is a central principle of our successful higher education system that universities are autonomous institutions. It is for university governing bodies to assess the appropriateness of those donations they choose to accept, including the potential impact of those donations on their reputation.
However, the Financial Memorandum between the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the institutions that they fund advises that to fulfil their duty to be accountable to all their stakeholders, higher education institutions (HEIs) should operate in an open and transparent way. This memorandum is available on the HEFCE website at:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2010/10_19/
Those HEIs that are registered charities are regulated by the Charities Commission who offer advice on donations in their Compliance Toolkit which can be accessed online at:
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Our_regulatory_activity/Compliance_work/default.aspx
Higher Education: Yorkshire and Humber
Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2011, Official Report, column 145W, on higher education: admissions, following the 15 January deadline how many UCAS applications were submitted by residents of (a) Sheffield Central constituency, (b) Sheffield, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) Yorkshire and the Humber in the 2011-12 admissions cycle; and how many such applications had been submitted at the January deadline in the 2010-11 admissions cycle. [90947]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 20 January 2012]: The information is not available. UCAS will release figures showing the number of applicants who applied by 15 January on 30 January.
Insolvency
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when the Insolvency Service intends to release information on personal insolvencies in each parliamentary constituency for 2010. [89032]
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Mr Davey: The Insolvency Service does not publish personal insolvency statistics by parliamentary constituency. Regional statistics are published by Government office region, county, unitary authority and county district, and can be downloaded here:
http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/otherinformation/statistics/regionalstatisticsmenu.htm
Local Enterprise Partnerships
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what role local economic partnerships will play in delivering services previously provided by UK Trade & Investment. [90231]
Mr Prisk: Local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) will not be delivering any services previously provided by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). However, LEPs will be key partners for UKTI in supporting foreign direct investment and international trade at the local level.
Overseas Trade
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps the Strategic Relations Unit has taken to ensure there is a coherent trade policy across all Government Departments. [90232]
Mr Prisk: The Strategic Relations team is focused on ensuring effective relationship management of major investors in the UK, many of whom are also exporters. Building the necessary relationship management structures across Government will result in the improved communication of trade related issues from the relationship managed sectors to the rest of Government. However, any engagement or communication will be within the Government's existing strategy for trade policy.
Any feedback or suggestions for improving the UK's trade policy from the Strategic Relations team will be passed to the Europe and International Trade Directorate in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills who are responsible for developing the overarching strategy for UK trade policy.
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the Third Special Report from the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, HC 1545, paragraph 14, if he will publish the stock-take of international market access undertaken jointly by his Department, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UK Trade & Investment. [90246]
Mr Prisk: Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), officials met on 13 September for a stock take of how market access issues are handled across Government, with the aim of ensuring an integrated Whitehall-wide approach to addressing market access barriers.
The Departments are keen to ensure any overhaul of the current mechanisms does not add a layer of bureaucracy; any changes must result in direct benefits
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for business or improve Government efficiency. A light touch approach has been agreed to include the identification of areas where Departments need to work together and ensure information is shared appropriately. Accordingly, a stock-take report was not produced.
Good progress has been made in delivering the UKTI strategy and implementing the FCO Charter for Business. HMG recognises the importance of fully utilising the UK's diplomatic network overseas and ministerial visits to assist in delivering value to UK business. Ministerial visits briefings have a strong focus on the UK's top commercial priorities including key market access issues, ensuring Ministers, and our diplomatic network overseas, are lobbying host Governments on the commercial and trade issues of most importance to British business interests.
Further close working across Government, and in consultation with business, is also being taken forward on a number of other fronts. For instance, we have consulted with business on our top market access issues in regards to China, building our joint understanding of the issues with a view to addressing these through a combination of our commercial diplomacy work and in influencing the European Commission to address UK priorities in bilateral trade discussions.
In addition, DEFRA, as part of a joint Government/industry agri-food export action plan to be published later this month, will be working with industry experts and colleagues in BIS, UKTI and FCO to build up the HMG assessment of barriers to trade facing UK agri-food companies in key markets. This will raise cross-Government awareness of the obstacles facing this sector, and help build a co-ordinated lobbying effort.
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the UK's global ranking is for (a) exports and (b) inward investment in the (i) marine, (ii) security, (iii) aerospace and airport, (iv) automotive, (v) business support services, (vi) education and training, (vii) environment, (viii) food and drink, (ix) health care and bioscience and (x) information and communication technologies sector. [90253]
Mr Prisk: Overall, the UK is ranked 10th for goods exports by value, and 3rd for (non-government) service exports by value in 2010, according to the World Trade Organisation. The UK is also ranked 3rd for inward investment stock by value in 2010, according to the UN conference on Trade and Development.
Data on an industry sector level are limited due to the need for international comparability, and export data are more readily available for goods (commodities) and services rather than by industry sectors. Available rankings for the value of goods and services exports (plus some related commodities) and inward investment stock value are shown in the following tables. Some data used here are collated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and therefore do not cover all countries but cover where available, all 34 OECD member countries, plus the Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs), South Africa and Indonesia.
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| (b) Inward investment | ||||
| Sector | Data available | UK ranking | Year | Source |
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|
5000: Sale, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles; retail sale of automotive fuel |
||||
Overseas Trade: India
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of changes in the levels of (a) exports and (b) inward investment arising from UK Trade & Investment's work in Mumbai, India, in each year between 1997 and 2011. [90250]
Mr Prisk: It is not possible to quantify the impact specifically of UK Trade & Investment's Mumbai office on overall bilateral trade and investment levels for the period in question. Between 1997 and 2010 (the last year for which full statistics are available), the value of trade in goods and services rose from £4.19 billion to £14.23 billion. No records for inward investment from India were published in 1997 and the last year for which complete figures are available is 2009. During this (1998-2009) period inward investment flows increased from £94 million to £1.84 billion.
Science: Finance
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department spent from its funding for science and research programmes in each region in each year for which figures are available. [88097]
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Mr Willetts: The October 2011 National Statistics Public Expenditure Outturn provided details of regional expenditure.
According to the Chapter 3 CRA database, which analyses expenditure by Department, region and function, the expenditure on science and technology by BIS was as follows:
| £ million | |||||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
Science and Research spending follows the Haldane Principle which means that decisions on individual research proposals are best taken by researchers themselves through peer review and not Ministers. The coalition Government support this principle as vital for the protection of academic independence and excellence. Research Council funding is dedicated to supporting excellent research, irrespective of its geographical location. That approach maintains the UK's position against international competition.
The overall profile of expenditure shows a sharp increase in expenditure for 2009-10 and a reduction in 2010-11. This was caused primarily by the previous Government's policy to accelerate capital expenditure, while maintaining the planned budget envelope.
For the new spending review period which started in 2011-12 funding for science and research programmes has been protected in cash terms demonstrating the Government's commitment to rebalancing the economy and promoting economic growth.
Trade Promotion
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that (a) small and medium-sized businesses, (b) the creative industries and (c) the food and drink industry are adequately represented on the British Business Ambassadors Network. [90230]
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Mr Prisk: Business ambassadors act as powerful advocates of the UK—they are some of our top business people and academics, many of whom have built successful global businesses from small company beginnings. Their responsibilities go far beyond representing their current business roles or interests and they are expected to represent the sector in which they have built their expertise and knowledge. They have a very clear remit, which includes:
promoting the UK economy and the UK business environment;
lobbying to remove barriers to market access;
leading events for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and
helping UK SMEs to access overseas business opportunities.
The Business Ambassadors Network not only includes a wide range of expertise and experience, but also a new generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders. In the case of the creative industries and food and drink sectors, we have experts in the form of Sir John Sorrell (chairman, London Design Festival) and Sir David Reid (former chairman, Tesco).
Although it is not possible to cover every individual sub-sector, we regularly review the network with the aim of expanding its overall sectoral coverage.
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what mechanism his Department has put in place to assess the effectiveness of the British Business Ambassadors Network. [90243]
Mr Prisk: Given the nature of the business ambassadors' role, it is difficult to measure the specific impact of their involvement in a particular campaign. However in trying to measure their impact, we have chosen to assess the network's effectiveness in communicating core messages about the UK, and promoting UK excellence to as many potential customers and inward investors as possible. This includes where appropriate media coverage and feedback from UKTI trade teams overseas on events; and from discussion with the business ambassadors themselves to ensure we learn from each event and tailor activities to the strengths and interests of each business ambassador.
A summary list of activities undertaken by the Business Ambassadors Network throughout 2011 will be placed in the Libraries of the House. A copy will also be published at:
http://www.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/aboutukti/keypeople/businessambassadors.html
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) name, (b) country of origin and (c) sector expertise is of each member of the Catalyst UK network. [90244]
Mr Prisk: There are currently 128 Catalyst members, of which 76 are UK based and 52 overseas. We have members of many nationalities including British (80), Indian (12), US (eight), Chinese (seven), South African (four) and French (three).
Principal sectors that members represent are ICT (38), health care (21), creative industries (21) and financial services (18). The remaining 30 cover sectors which include aerospace, professional and business services,
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engineering, environment, marine and defence, chemicals, sustainable development, oil and gas, mining, agri-tech and power.
UKTI currently recruits Catalyst members on the basis that their details will be held confidentially. We are considering the development of a public listing.
UK Trade & Investment
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what strategy UK Trade & Investment has put in place to increase its work with small and medium-sized businesses. [90235]
Mr Prisk: UKTI's strategy, “Britain Open for Business”, recognises the need to encourage many more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to export as central to the Government's drive for growth through international trade. The Government's autumn statement allocated increased funding for UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), to help it double its client base to 50,000 SMEs per year by 2015. This will include a new focus on helping 1,500 more mid-sized businesses (MSBs) to export each year and bringing the annual number of MSBs supported to 3,000 each year by 2015.
UKTI will not work in isolation to deliver this ambition. We are developing new delivery partnerships with professional and intermediary organisations such as banks, accountants and lawyers to raise awareness of the benefits of exporting to SME businesses. The Prime Minister launched a national export challenge at a conference in London on 10 November 2011, entitled “Exporting for Growth”, which brought together around 400 intermediaries. At that event the Minister of State for Trade and Investment my noble Friend the Lord Green, launched a national campaign to highlight the valuable role professionals and organisations closest to UK firms can have in encouraging them to pursue growth through exports. Similar events are now being held throughout the UK. Separately, successful partnership marketing agreements, or memorandum of understandings (MOUs), are in place with Alibaba, Entrepreneur Country, Telegraph and Companies House, which are already delivering client marketing opportunities.
In addition to the increased outreach, the additional resources will allow us to increase the level of support for UK companies in the regions and in high growth markets. This will enable us to reach more businesses, providing access to the range of services we have to offer, including: access to a local International Trade Advisor; specialist help with tackling cultural and language issues; advice on how to go about market research; and ongoing support to help businesses continue to develop their export potential and enter new and more sophisticated markets. Once the initial research has been done, UKTI can assist businesses with information, contacts, practical assistance, advice, mentoring and ongoing help before they go overseas and while they are there.
Finally, encouraging more SMEs to trade in high growth markets is central to our strategy. To aid this we are planning high impact events across the UK to raise awareness about high growth and emerging markets. These events will be delivered in partnership with the Asian Task Force, Latin America and Partner Middle East initiatives. While the UK Indian Business Council and the China Britain Business Council will also be undertaking a programme of outreach events.
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Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to attract business leaders into roles in UK Trade & Investment. [90247]
Mr Prisk: UK Trade & Investment's (UKTI) May 2011 Strategy, ‘Britain Open for Business', set out how UKTI will develop a more entrepreneurial culture which makes better use of private sector expertise and talent. Over the last year, UKTI has recruited senior figures with extensive business experience to the posts of head of UKTI's new Strategic Relations Team; CEO of Tech City Investment Organisation; heading up UKTI's operation in the United States; and to lead UKTI's efforts to help 50,000 small and medium-sized enterprises into export markets each year. Further senior vacancies will be advertised in due course.
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria UK Trade & Investment uses to calculate its budgets for different international markets. [90248]
Mr Prisk: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) uses various criteria to plan the deployment of resources in international markets. UKTI adopts a two stage approach, which is set out as follows.
(i) The identification of international markets using an assessment of:
the size and potential for growth,
the Government's assessment of their strategic political and economic importance,
the security situation,
the strength of scientific, technical and research base,
the performance of UK businesses relative to competitors,
the market match with UK capability, and
the presence of active local partners keen to strengthen trading links with the UK.
(ii) The allocation of budgets based on:
the resources available,
the relative importance of market and potential for growth,
the need for the Government to help British business interests,
the demand for our services from UK businesses,
an evaluation of the productivity of our teams,
how we can deliver more through private sector partners, and
the network shift of FCO resources to emerging powers announced on 11 May 2011, Official Report, column 1166, by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague).
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what role sector group task forces have within UK Trade & Investment. [90249]
Mr Prisk:
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) has established 18 sector advisory groups consisting of around 200 business representatives from some of the UK's major companies as well as small and medium-sized enterprises with a strong international focus. These groups form an important link to their industries, providing business input, validation and challenge to UKTI's activities. Members give a great deal of their time and energy on a pro-bono basis, advising on UKTI's priorities
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within their sectors; scoping new export opportunities; hosting inward VIP visitors; and contributing towards government-to-government dialogue.
This is distinct from the role of Minister-led geographical task forces, which are focused on a particular area of the world, such as Asia or the middle east. Both the sector advisory groups and geographical task forces are UK bodies, as distinct from the many joint bodies UKTI organises with partner countries around the world, such as the Joint Economic and Trade Committees with China, India and Brazil.
UK Trade & Investment: Manpower
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff UK Trade & Investment employs in each country in which it has a presence. [90252]
Mr Prisk: UKTI is not an employer in its own right; for the majority of its human resource requirements it draws on civil service staff employed by one or other of its two parent Departments—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and staff from its private sector contractors.
The latest figures available for the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) people working to UKTI objectives in each market are set out in the following table:
| Market | Total FTEs |
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UK Trade & Investment: PA Consulting Group
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what services PA Consulting provides through its contract with UK Trade & Investment. [90181]
Mr Prisk: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) contract with PA Consulting for the provision of business specialists to support UK small and medium-sized enterprises to understand and access international trade opportunities.
In addition, UKTI contract with PA Consulting to deploy investment advisers across England (with the exception of London who have their own arrangements) to deliver inward investment support services to business. This delivery contract replaced the inward investment services previously delivered by the network of regional development agencies.
UK Trade & Investment: Work Experience
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many unpaid or expenses-only interns have been employed by UK Trade & Investment since May 2010. [91372]
Mr Davey: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is not an employer in its own right; for the majority of its human resource requirements it draws on civil service staff employed by one or other of its two parent Departments—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Any interns working for UKTI do so under the graduate intern scheme and are fully paid. Our records indicate that we do not have any interns working in UKTI who are either unpaid or paid expenses only.
International Development
Apprentices
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many apprentices were employed by each public body for which his Department is responsible between (a) April 2010 and March 2011 and (b) April and December 2011; and how many apprenticeships he expects each public body to sponsor between (i) January and March 2012 and (ii) April and March 2013. [88721]
Mr Duncan: The public bodies for which the Department for International Development is responsible did not employ any apprentices between April 2010 and December 2011.
The Department does not expect these public bodies to sponsor apprenticeships in the future.
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Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department allocated to sponsor apprenticeships in his Department in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and how much such funding he plans to allocate in 2012-13. [89142]
Mr Duncan: The following funding was allocated to sponsor apprenticeships in the Department for International Development:
| April to March each year | Funding for apprenticeships (£) | |
| (1) Not yet allocated. | ||
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many apprentices were employed by his Department between (a) April 2010 and March 2011 and (b) April and December 2011; and how many apprenticeships his Department will sponsor between (i) January and March 2012 and (ii) April and March 2013. [89211]
Mr Duncan: The Department for International Development did not recruit any apprentices between April 2010 and December 2011. However, it did sponsor an apprenticeship for a current member of staff.
The Department has confirmed sponsorship of two in-service apprenticeships between January and March 2012. Plans for April 2012 to March 2013 will be finalised following end of year personal development reviews.
Departmental Visits Abroad
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the names are of people other than officials and political advisers who have accompanied him and his Ministers on official visits overseas since May 2010. [90392]
Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Department for International Development Ministers are accompanied on official overseas visits by Government officials and special advisers only. This information is published every quarter, in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines. As is standard practice for overseas visits, journalist may sometimes travel with the Minister at their own expense.
Developing Countries: Agriculture
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions officials from his Department have had on the development of new agreement mechanisms for (a) food insecurity and (b) agricultural development in the developing world when the L'Aquila agreement expires in 2013. [90607]
Mr O'Brien: UK officials will hold discussions with their L’Aquila Food Security Initiative and other G20 country counterparts on how best to maintain support for efforts to address food insecurity and promote agriculture sector growth in the run up to the US G8 summit in Chicago in May this year.