Foreign Investment in UK: Pakistan
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the level of foreign direct investment in the UK from Pakistani investors in each of the last five years. [108986]
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Mr Prisk: Estimates of foreign direct investment in the UK are produced by the Office for National Statistics. Data for the last five years are shown below. Data for 2011 are due for publication in February 2013.
Investment from Pakistan in the UK, 2006-10 | |||||
£ million | |||||
2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
n/a = Not available Source: BIS analysis of ONS data |
Four Seasons Health Care
Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department had any communication with Terra Firma representatives about the company's short and long-term plans for the care and nursing home group, Four Seasons, prior to its recent takeover of Four Seasons; and if he will make a statement. [108415]
Norman Lamb: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills received correspondence from Terra Firma following its takeover of Four Seasons Health Care. Responsibility for the regulation and oversight of the residential care sector rests with the Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley). I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 460W, by the Minister of State, Department of Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow).
Officials in the Shareholder Executive have been providing professional advice to the Department of Health to assist it in its work.
Intellectual Property and Growth Review
Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what timetable he has set for the introduction of legislative proposals resulting from the consultation on the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property (HRoIP); whether these will be in the form of primary or secondary legislation; whether Option 5 in the consultation document on the HRoIP relating to educational exceptions is still under consideration by his Department; if he will publish (a) the responses to the consultation and (b) the results of the research his Department has undertaken on the costs and benefits of the various options in the consultation; what assessment he has made of the merits of undertaking consultation with collecting societies prior to the consultation on the HRoIP; and if he will make a statement. [107943]
Norman Lamb: The Government responded to the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth in August 2011, and committed to bringing forward proposals for the opening up of the UK's copyright exceptions regime. The Government then ran a consultation on copyright from 14 December 2011 to 21 March 2012. The collecting societies were active participants in that process. The Government is currently considering responses and the way forward.
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Lost Property
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many items of equipment valued at £10,000 or more his Department lost in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [108920]
Norman Lamb: No items of equipment valued at £10,000 or more were lost by the Department in (a) 2010-11 or (b) 2011-12.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on what dates (a) he, (b) Ministers and (c) senior officials in his Department have met representatives of (i) the Institute for Public Policy Research, (ii) the Taxpayers' Alliance, (iii) the Institute of Economic Affairs, (iv) ResPublica, (v) the Centre for Social Justice and (vi) Policy Exchange; and if he will publish the minutes and agendas of these meetings. [108978]
Norman Lamb: Information about Ministers' meetings is now published quarterly and can be accessed via the following link. Details of meetings which occurred prior to publication in October 2009 and meetings with officials, which are not recorded centrally, could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
http://www.bis.gov.uk/transparency/staff
Offshore Industry: Trade Unions
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) trade union membership levels and (b) trade union organising in the offshore energy sector of the practical difficulties for trade unions of gaining access to workplaces on offshore installations. [108817]
Norman Lamb: I have made no such assessment and am not aware of any evidence that one is necessary.
Regional officers for both UNITE and RMT trade unions are located in Aberdeen and have easy access to the offshore workforce via the heliport in Aberdeen through which the majority of offshore workers will pass during the course of a fortnight. In addition, most offshore installations will have shop steward representation and there are also good email facilities on platforms.
Overseas Trade: BRIC Countries
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the recommendations of the British Chamber of Commerce's report, Exporting is Good for Britain but Market Barriers Stifle Opportunities, if he will take steps to assist small and medium-sized businesses to access markets in Brazil, Russia, India and China. [108850]
Mr Prisk: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) focuses on 20 high growth and emerging markets, including Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). UK exports to these markets have been growing particularly strongly. Over the past year, for instance, UK goods exports to India grew by 31% and to China by 15%.
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UKTI is encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to increase exports to these markets by:
Raising awareness among UK businesses of these markets through a series of outreach events like “Doing Business in Asia” and “Journey through Latin America”. Set-piece activities focused on the last and the next hosts of the Olympic games (i.e. China and Brazil) will take place at the British Business Embassy during the Olympic games.
Communicating to SMEs the specific business opportunities in BRIC markets via the UKTI website, and through UKTI's network of teams in the UK and in the BRIC markets.
Campaigning for better access for UK companies in these markets, including engaging in Government to Government trade dialogues and backing plans for ambitious EU free trade agreements. UK trade dialogues with BRIC markets are attended by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable) and take place annually.
Ensuring there are targeted services and advice available for businesses considering these markets. The UKTI website provides free-of-charge guidance for doing business in the BRIC markets. The guidance includes a comprehensive guide on doing business, sectoral briefings, case studies, information on business risk and regular updates on the political and economic situation in the BRIC markets. On top of this free advice, UKTI also provides paid services tailored to the individual needs of UK businesses.
Overseas Trade: China
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of exports were to China in each of the last three years. [109467]
Mr Prisk: Data on exports of goods from the UK to China are available from the UKTradeinfo website. Data are shown in the following table.
In 2011 3.0% of UK exports of goods were to China.
In 2010 2.7% of UK exports of goods were to China.
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In 2009 2.3% of UK exports of goods were to China.
£ million | |||
UK exports to: | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
Source: BIS Analysis of HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics |
Overseas Trade: Libya
Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which companies were represented on the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation mission to Libya from 29 April to 3 May 2012; and if he will make a statement. [108719]
Mr Prisk: The companies which participated in UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation's trade mission to Libya from 29 April to 3 May were BAE Systems, CAE, GD(UK), KBR, NATS, 3SDL, Selex Galileo, and Surrey Satellite Technology.
Patents
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many patents were issued in each sector in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [108890]
Norman Lamb [holding answer 22 May 2012]:The following two tables give the number of UK patents (a) applied for at the Intellectual Property Office and (b) granted by the Intellectual Property Office for the calendar years 2002-11 by technical area.
(a) Number of UK national published patent applications by technical area 2002-11 | ||||||||||
Technical area | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
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(b) Number of UK national patents granted by technical area 2002-11 | ||||||||||
Technical area | 2002 | 200 3 | 200 4 | 200 5 | 200 6 | 200 7 | 200 8 | 200 9 | 201 0 | 201 1 |
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Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many patents were registered in each region of the UK in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and what proportion of such patents were registered by universities. [108891]
Norman Lamb [holding answer 22 May 2012]: Global data on the numbers of patents granted by UK region or by universities are not readily accessible. There are 166 higher education institutions in the UK(1), of which 87 have had UK patent applications published since 2002. As regards patents granted by the Intellectual Property Office, table (a) gives the number of UK national patents granted for each UK region for the calendar years 2002-11. Table (b) shows the number of UK national patents granted held by universities by region for those years.
(a) Number of UK national patents granted by region 2002 to 2011 | ||||||||||
Region | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
(1) Data not available at point of capture. |
(b) Number of UK national patents granted by universities by region 2002 to 2011 | ||||||||||
Region | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
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(1) http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php/component/option.com_hei contacts/ltemid.87
Patents: Higher Education
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many patents were registered by each university in the UK in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [108888]
Norman Lamb [holding answer 22 May 2012]: Global data on the numbers of patents obtained by universities are not readily accessible, especially in relation to those obtained by UK universities in other countries or through routes other than direct to the Intellectual Property Office. There are 166 higher education institutions in the UK(1), of which 87 have had UK patent applications published since 2002. The following two tables show the numbers of (a) published patent applications and (b) granted patents which the Intellectual Property Office has processed for UK universities for each of the calendar years 2002-11.
(1) Note:
http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php/component/option,com_heicontacts/ltemid,87
(a) Published patent applications filed by universities between 2002-11 | ||||||||||||
Rank | Higher Education Institution | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | Total |
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