Staff
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) which grades in each of her Department's bargaining units outside London have more than (a) 50% and (b) 60% of women in them, as measured as staff in post; [115174]
(2) which grades in each of her Department's bargaining units outside London have more than (a) 50% and (b) 60% of men in them, as measured as staff in post. [115175]
Norman Baker: Annual Equality and Monitoring Reports for each of the Department's bargaining units outside London can be accessed through the following link:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/dft-compliance-with-the-equality-duty/
Table 1.6 in each of the annexes in XLS format provides a breakdown of the proportion of female to male employees in each grade below senior servant level.
Thameslink Railway Line
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the effect of the introduction of the Thameslink contract on existing train maintenance work at Hornsey depot. [R] [114259]
Mrs Villiers: The new fleet of trains being procured for Thameslink will be maintained at a new train maintenance facility to be constructed on Coronation Sidings adjacent to the existing train maintenance facility at Hornsey. The existing Hornsey depot will continue to be used to maintain non-Thameslink mainline and other Great Northern commuter and suburban services following the introduction of the Thameslink contract.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether Hornsey depot will continue to be responsible for train maintenance work for (a) mainline and (b) other Great Northern services operated by First Capital Connect following the introduction of the Thameslink contract. [R] [114260]
4 July 2012 : Column 677W
Mrs Villiers: The existing Hornsey depot will continue to be used to maintain non-Thameslink mainline and other Great Northern commuter and suburban services following the introduction of the Thameslink contract.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes to train maintenance work at Hornsey depot she expects to see over the next five years as the result of the Thameslink Rolling stock contract and new franchise agreements. [R] [114261]
Mrs Villiers: Subject to contract award, the fleet of trains being procured for Thameslink will be maintained at a new train maintenance facility to be constructed on Coronation Sidings adjacent to the existing train maintenance facility at Hornsey. The existing Hornsey depot will continue to be used to maintain non-Thameslink mainline and other Great Northern commuter and suburban services following the introduction of the Thameslink contract.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions (a) she, (b) Ministers in her Department and (c) officials in her Department have had with train operating companies in respect of future workloads at Hornsey depot as a result of the Thameslink Rolling stock contract and new franchise agreements; and what the outcome was of such discussions. [R] [114262]
Mrs Villiers: Managing workloads at depots to deliver the train service is the responsibility of the train operating companies. The Department is currently consulting on the train service specification for the new Thameslink franchise. The existing Hornsey depot will continue to be required to maintain non-Thameslink mainline and other Great Northern commuter and suburban services following the introduction of the Thameslink contract.
Justice
Members: Correspondence
Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle of 28 November 2011 concerning a constituent, Alan Mackinder of Hessle. [114460]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: A reply to the letter was sent to the right hon. Member on 28 June. The first copy of the letter was mislaid. I apologise for the late response.
Mental Health
John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to promote good mental health and well-being within his Department. [114619]
Mr Kenneth Clarke:
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) recognises the importance of mental health and well-being for all MOJ staff. Managers monitor our absence data so that they can identify trends such as increases in mental health issues and target action appropriately. Individuals and managers have access to a range of support to help them with issues that could affect
4 July 2012 : Column 678W
mental health. This includes occupational health professionals who, in prisons, are based on site, and an employee assistance programme which provides advice on issues such as debt management and bereavement.
Managers and staff share responsibility for assessing and managing stress at work. The MOJ provides detailed guidance on how these actions should be carried out and the arrangements which should be followed; this also applies with regard to staff who are exposed to potentially traumatising incidents.
Defence
Armed Forces: Housing
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how he plans to allocate the £100 million announced in Budget 2011 for service accommodation. [114565]
Mr Robathan: As announced in March 2012, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will receive an additional £100 million from April 2013. The MOD will target the extra investment to generate maximum impact for defence and for the benefit of service personnel and their families.
We will bring around 550 service family accommodation (SFA) properties up to the highest standard for condition and refurbish around 600 single living accommodation rooms. The extra investment will also mean that in areas of high demand 100 vacant SFA properties will be made ready for occupation and new homes purchased.
Armed Forces: Pay
Simon Reevell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2012, Official Report, column 192W, on armed forces: pay, whether monies due to bereaved families are adjusted to claim back salaries automatically paid to service personnel in respect of the period after their death and before the month end. [114818]
Mr Robathan: We never ask families of those killed in service to pay money back. Our aim is to ensure families receive the right amount of money as quickly as possible and to conduct a reconciliation of their pay accounts as soon as all the information becomes available to us. We do not collect any money from the families of deceased service personnel, but we do adjust future payments to ensure families are paid all monies to which they are entitled.
Armed Forces: Redundancy
Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of HM Armed Forces who have been issued with compulsory redundant notes for discharge are within one year of reaching the full qualifying date for an immediate Ministry of Defence pension. [113645]
Mr Robathan:
Because of the complexity of pensions calculations, the exact number of service personnel within one year of reaching the full qualifying date for an immediate pension could be determined only by a
4 July 2012 : Column 679W
manual analysis of the records of those selected for redundancy, which could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However early analysis indicates approximately 80 (roughly 1.2%) of the 6,660 armed forces personnel selected for redundancy in tranches 1 and 2 are non-applicants who will now, following a reduction in the qualifying period, be within one year of qualifying for an immediate pension or equivalent on their redundancy exit date. Selection for redundancy was based on clearly defined criteria; proximity to pension point was not one of these.
The Armed Forces Redundancy schemes pay significantly larger tax free redundancy compensation lump sums to those who narrowly miss out on immediate incomes. Any pension rights that have been earned will also be preserved, meaning that an index linked pension and a further tax-free lump sum will become payable at age 60 or 65, depending on pension scheme.
Whereas the majority of other ranks normally have to serve for 22 years before receiving an immediate income, the Armed Forces Redundancy schemes reduce this requirement to 18 years. This is a concession of four years, which will enable many redundees to receive an immediate income for which they would otherwise not have qualified.
Armed Forces: Uniforms
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what budget was allocated to ceremonial uniforms for the (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) RAF in the last year. [114578]
Peter Luff [holding answer 2 July 2012]:Budgets for ceremonial uniforms are not held in the format requested, as they form part of the three services’ overall clothing budgets, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Cyprus: Military Bases
Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of the long-term future for the sovereign base areas in Cyprus. [114687]
Nick Harvey: I refer the hon. Member to the statement given by the Secretary of State for Defence, the right hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) on 15 December 2011, Official Report, column 115WS.
Iran
George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what preparations his Department has made for war with Iran; and what estimate he has made of the likely cost in (a) personnel and (b) materiel. [114114]
Nick Harvey: We are not advocating military action against Iran. We continue to believe that the dual-track process of pressure and engagement led by the E3+3, comprising the UK, US, France, Germany, China and Russia, offers the best hope of resolving international concerns about Iran's nuclear programme.
However, we do not believe it is sensible to rule out any option; we have therefore made it clear that all
4 July 2012 : Column 680W
options remain on the table. Parliamentarians backed the Government's approach in a vote in the House of Commons on 20 February 2012, with a majority of 285.
Sovereignty: Scotland
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department will allocate resources to considering the effect on UK military capabilities of Scotland voting in favour of separation in the 2014 referendum. [114489]
Mr Philip Hammond [holding answer 2 July 2012]: The UK Government position is clear: Scotland benefits from being part of the UK and the UK benefits from having Scotland within it. The UK Government are not making plans for independence as we are confident that people in Scotland will continue to support Scotland remaining within the UK in any referendum.
In the run-up to the referendum the UK Government will produce detailed evidence and analysis to assess the benefits that Scotland gains from being part of the UK and the contribution that Scotland makes to the UK. As one of the major reserved areas, Defence will feature significantly in this work.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department will discuss the future of HMNB Clyde with the Scottish Government before the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence. [114490]
Mr Philip Hammond [holding answer 2 July 2012]: The UK Government position is clear: Scotland benefits from being part of the UK and the UK benefits from having Scotland within it. The UK Government are not making plans for independence as we are confident that people in Scotland will continue to support Scotland remaining within the UK in any referendum. Therefore I have no plans to discuss the future of Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde with the Scottish Government.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what estimate his Department has made of the cost of replicating the facilities at Faslane and Coulport at another site in the UK; [114491]
(2) what contingency arrangements his Department has put in place for the operation of Vanguard class submarines should HMNB Clyde become inoperable. [114492]
Mr Philip Hammond [holding answer 2 July 2012]: The UK Government position is clear: Scotland benefits from being part of the UK and the UK benefits from having Scotland within it. The UK Government are not making plans for independence as we are confident that people in Scotland will continue to support Scotland remaining within the UK in any referendum.
No work has been undertaken to estimate the cost of replicating the facilities at Faslane and Coulport at another site in the UK. It is clear from first principles, however, that the cost of relocating such facilities from Scotland would be extremely high.
I am withholding information relating to contingency planning arrangements should Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde become inoperable for the purpose of safeguarding national security.
4 July 2012 : Column 681W
Warships
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what assessment he has made of the extent to which the Co-operative Engagement Capability system will contribute to a recognised air picture; [110046]
(2) whether the Co-operative Engagement Capability system (a) increases interoperability with the US Navy and (b) reduces the possibility of friendly fire incidents; [110047]
(3) what role the Co-operative Engagement Capability system will have in protecting Queen Elizabeth Class carriers. [110048]
(4) what estimate he has made of the amount spent on the Co-operative Engagement Capability system for Royal Navy vessels to date. [109770]
Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the oral answer of 11 June 2012, Official Report, column 4, on new equipment (expenditure), whether the co-operative engagement capability has been (a) permanently cancelled and (b) not committed to at this stage. [113052]
Peter Luff: Co-operative Engagement Capability (CEC) has not been cut; it was never in the committed core equipment programme. The CEC programme entered the assessment phase in 2000. The previous Government then deferred the programme by five years in 2005 and by a further four years in 2010. The Ministry of Defence (MOD)'s expenditure to date on the assessment phase over this whole period is £45.5 million inclusive of non-recoverable VAT.
The MOD carried out a comprehensive study into investing in this capability, however during the three month exercise we concluded that it was not necessary to commit funding to CEC at this stage.
The MOD now manages the Equipment programme on the basis of committing only when funding for the full procurement and sustainment cost of a new project is available and when a commitment needs to be made in order to meet the required in-service date.
The decision not to commit to this project at the moment does not rule out a future commitment to the capability.
Decisions on future commitments will be taken on the advice of the Armed Forces Committee, which makes the budget available and decides what the priorities should be.
The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), made clear last month, the MOD budget has headroom of £8 billion over the next 10 years for potential programmes.
The Armed Forces Committee will prioritise projects for commitment when necessary, and not before.
Without CEC, the T45 Destroyer remains a world leading, state-of-the-art anti-air warfare platform with a range of capabilities for defeating complex threats.
World War II: Military Decorations
Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received on awarding a Service Medal to former members of Bomber Command; and if he will make a statement. [115072]
4 July 2012 : Column 682W
Mr Robathan: Defence Ministers and their officials have received a number of representations in respect of awarding a Service Medal to Bomber Command veterans.
There is widespread admiration for the major contribution that the crews of Bomber Command made to the Allied victory in World War II and their commitment in the face of significant losses.
The coalition Government have agreed that there should be a fresh review of the rules governing the award of military medals. This is currently being undertaken by an independent lead, Sir John Holmes, in full consultation with interested parties. The independent review will make use of all the work undertaken as part of an earlier Ministry of Defence review, but will have a broader scope. It is anticipated that it will be completed by the end of the summer.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Animal Welfare: Circuses
Mr Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to lay regulations before Parliament to restrict the use of wild animals in travelling circuses. [115125]
Mr Paice: My written ministerial statement on 1 March 2012, Official Report, columns 41-42W, confirmed that we intend to introduce legislation to ban the use of such animals on ethical grounds. A ban will be implemented as soon as parliamentary time allows. In the meantime, we will introduce a new licensing scheme to protect the welfare of wild animals in travelling circuses via regulations. We hope to lay those regulations before Parliament before summer recess.
Gangmasters
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) following the debate in Westminster Hall on 20 June 2012 on gangmasters, what steps her Department is taking to investigate the use of repayment orders for gangmaster-related offences; and by what date she expects this to take place; [115123]
(2) following the debate in Westminster Hall on 20 June 2012 on gangmasters, by what date she expects to have referred the development of sentencing guidelines for gangmaster-related offences to the Ministry of Justice. [115124]
Mr Paice: On 24 May 2012, Official Report, columns 83-85WS, I announced the outcome of the Government's Red Tape Challenge in respect of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA). This included bringing forward proposals for consultation on the introduction of fines and penalties for low level technical and minor offences, including a measure similar to a Repayment Order. Detailed proposals will be published later this year.
As part of the wider work on the GLA being taken forward as a result of proposals arising from the Red Tape Challenge, and following commitments given during the Westminster Hall Debate on 20 June 2012, Official Report, columns 272-80WH, we will look at whether it would be appropriate to issue sentencing guidelines for gangmaster-related offences. We will make further announcements in due course.
4 July 2012 : Column 683W
Government Procurement Card
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on which dates her Department has published Government procurement card spending over £500 since May 2010. [113355]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA has published information on Government procurement card spending over £500 as follows:
| Period | Date published |
Litter
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many street litter control notices have been issued in (a) England and Wales, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) Ashfield constituency in the last three years; [114849]
4 July 2012 : Column 684W
(2) how many litter clearance notices have been issued in (a) England and Wales, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) Ashfield constituency in the last three years. [114850]
Richard Benyon: Figures on the number of street litter control notices and litter clearance notices issued in England and Wales, Nottinghamshire and Ashfield in the last three years are not held centrally.
Livestock: Exports
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much livestock was exported to be reared outside of the UK in each of the last five years. [114340]
Mr Paice: Prior to 2009, individual animal health offices had responsibility for tracking exports. Therefore, data prior to 2009 is not held centrally. The data for 2010 is limited as the introduction of a centralised team within Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories was gradual.
Data about whether the animal is being exported for rearing before slaughter are not collected, so the figures for slaughter have been included for completeness.
| Animals | Total number of consignments | Number of animals for production/fattening | Total number of consignments | Number of animals for slaughter | Total number of consignments | Number of animals for breeding | |
Meat
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made on the unilateral nature of the ban on desinewed ruminant meat products as of the end of April 2012; and if she will make a statement. [114325]
Mr Paice: On 18 June, I discussed the issue of desinewed meat with Commissioner Dalli (European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy), including the timing of relevant audit visits by the EU Food and Veterinary Office to other member states and the process and timescales for the Commission to submit a mandate for a formal scientific opinion on mechanically separated meat by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The Commission has indicated that this will be sent to EFSA within the next few weeks.
Regulation
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulations her Department introduced between 1 February 2012 and 31 May 2012; and at what cost to the public purse. [113997]
Mr Paice: The Department introduced 22 statutory instruments between 1 February 2012 and 31 May 2012. A list of these instruments is set out in the table.
DEFRA does not capture the cost to the public purse of new statutory instruments (eg including staff time or cost to regulators), but does capture the forecast costs and savings to business, which are set out in individual impact assessments. These are available electronically from the Better Regulation Executive's impact assessment library:
http://www.ialibrary.bis.gov.uk/links/
4 July 2012 : Column 685W
4 July 2012 : Column 686W
|
Water Act 2003 (Commencement No. 11) Order 2012 (SI 2012/264) | |
|
Contaminated Land (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/263) |
Sausages: Lincolnshire
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will reverse her Department's ruling on the protected geographical indication status of the Lincolnshire sausage. [113247]
Mr Paice: The Lincolnshire Sausage Association (LSA) submitted an appeal against the decision to reject the application to protect the name ‘Lincolnshire Sausage’ as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) on 14 June 2012. We are now giving careful consideration to the grounds of that appeal. Any reconsideration of our decision will depend on new evidence and information being provided by the LSA in its appeal.
We will write to the LSA to inform it of the outcome of our consideration of the appeal.
Water Charges
Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate she has made of the average household water bill in each (a) region and (b) nation in each of the last five years. [114134]
Richard Benyon: Ofwat is the economic regulator of water and sewerage companies in England and Wales. It holds average water bill information for each water company in England and Wales and calculates a sector wide average bill.
Ofwat does not hold information on average bills for Scotland or Northern Ireland.
A table showing average household water bills in each region and in England and Wales, in each of the last five years, is as follows.
| Real (2012-13 prices) average water only bills(1) | ||||||||
| £ | ||||||||
| Confirmed figures | Provisional figures | Forecast Figures | ||||||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
4 July 2012 : Column 687W
4 July 2012 : Column 688W
| (1) Average bills take account of both metered and unmetered bills. (2) Mid Kent Water merged with South East Water in 2008-09. | ||||||||
Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of household earnings of those in the poorest UK decile which was spent on water and sewerage rates in each of the last five years. [114272]
Richard Benyon: Ofwat is the economic regulator of water and sewerage companies in England and Wales. In its publication ‘Affordability and Debt 2009-10 - current evidence’, it estimated that 87% of those in the lowest income decile spent more than 3% of their income on water; and 74% spent more than 5% of their income. This was for the year 2008-09, which is the latest information available.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Adult Education: Devon
Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many residents of (a) Newton Abbot constituency and (b) Teignbridge (i) started and (ii) completed a course at an adult education college in each of the last five years. [113675]
Mr Hayes: Table 1 shows Government-funded further education and skills learner participation and achievements in general further education colleges in Newton Abbot and Central Devon parliamentary constituencies which comprise Teignbridge district, by age, for academic years 2006/07 to 2010/11, the latest full years for which final data are available.
| Table 1: General further education colleges learner participation and achievement by geography and age 2006/07 to 2010/11 | |||||||
| Age | 2006/07 | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | ||
4 July 2012 : Column 689W
4 July 2012 : Column 690W
| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 except for the England Totals which are rounded to the nearest 100. 2. Geography is based upon the home postcode of the learner. Geographic information is based on boundaries of regions as of May 2010. The England Totals include some postcodes which are not known. 3. Teignbridge district is comprised of Newton Abbot and Central Devon parliamentary constituencies. Figures for Teignbridge district are based on the sum of unrounded data for these parliamentary constituencies. Figures may not sum to the total due to rounding. 4. These data include both young people (under 19) and adults (aged 19+) participating in apprenticeships, workplace learning, community learning and education and training provision taken at general further education colleges (including Tertiary) only. 5. Age is based on age at the start of the academic year. Source: Individualised Learner Record | |||||||
Information on further education and skills participation and achievement by geography is published in a supplementary table of a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 29 March 2012:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/
Business
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce the burden of regulation on small and medium-sized businesses. [114658]
Mr Prisk: This Government have taken specific and concrete steps to reduce the burden of regulation on small and medium-sized businesses:
We have already saved SMEs £388 million by not extending the right to request time to train to businesses with fewer than 250 employees;
The display ban on tobacco, which applies to supermarkets and very large stores from April 2012, will not apply to smaller tobacco retailers until April 2015;
We are phasing implementation of pensions auto enrolment, so that small business will not need to comply until June 2015;
We have achieved agreement in Brussels exempting up to 1.4 million UK small businesses from certain EU accounting rules.
More widely, the Government introduced a three year moratorium on new domestic regulation for micro-businesses and start-ups from 1 April 2011 in order to support growth and establish a period of increased regulatory stability for the smallest businesses.
To help reduce the burden of new business regulation we have introduced the one-in, one-out rule, so that if a Department wants to introduce a new rule which generates costs for business, they must first identify a corresponding cut in regulation elsewhere with the same value.
We are running the Red Tape Challenge, a process for scrapping and simplifying existing regulations that are obsolete.
Finally, we recently launched Focus on Enforcement, to improve the impact on business of how regulations are enforced.
Coal Fired Power Stations: Export Credit Guarantees
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent support UK Export Finance has given to unabated coal-fired energy projects. [113883]
Norman Lamb: UK Export Finance has not given support for a coal-fired power station since 2002.
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans UK Export Finance has to support unabated coal-fired energy projects. [113884]
Norman Lamb: UK Export Finance is not currently considering any applications made to it to support exports for coal-fired power stations.
EU Internal Trade
Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the discouragement of anti-competitive state aid to improve the functioning of the single market. [115432]
4 July 2012 : Column 691W
Norman Lamb: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), met with the Competition Commissioner, Vice President Almunia in May 2012 to discuss the UK's support for state aid rules that ensure a level playing field for competition. This is a key objective for the European Commission's State Aid Modernisation agenda which also seeks to facilitate growth across the EU. Positive contacts are also ongoing at official level.
Manufacturing Industries: Motor Vehicles
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed by low emission vehicle manufacturing companies based in the UK. [115094]
Mr Prisk: We have made no recent estimate of the number of people in the UK employed in low emission vehicle manufacturing.
Origin Marking
Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to assess the effect of labelling the country of manufacture or origin on products on the retailing of such products. [114584]
Norman Lamb: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not make assessments or collect commercial data on retail sales of individual product lines, or products with certain characteristics such as origin labelling. We consider this a commercial decision for the retailers concerned.
Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department is working on schemes to accredit products for which the majority of design and manufacture took place in the UK. [114586]
Mr Prisk: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is not working on any such schemes. Our focus is on challenging the myths that “we don't make anything any more”; and to champion the exciting reality of British manufacturing today. We want people in the UK to take a fresh look at manufacturing and to appreciate the scale and excellence of our manufacturing industry.
The Make it in Great Britain (MiiGB) campaign is all about changing the image of manufacturing, among investors and especially young people, too many of whom are missing out on great jobs and careers.
The campaign builds on the already successful See Inside Manufacturing programme, which encourages young people to consider a career in manufacturing by
4 July 2012 : Column 692W
enabling them to go behind the scenes of some of the UK's world-class facilities to learn about modern manufacturing and the jobs available.
Overseas Students: EU Countries
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many British nationals studied in each other EU member state in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement; [114219]
(2) how many students from each other EU member states studied in the UK in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [114220]
Mr Willetts: Estimates of the number of UK-domiciles studying higher education (HE) qualifications in EU member states (other than the UK) are shown in Table 1. These estimates are based on data collections from National Ministries by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat, and refer to the period 2000 to 2009, the latest year for which data are available.
Information on the number of students domiciled in European Union (EU) member states (other than the UK) and enrolled at UK higher education institutions (HEIs) is shown in Table 2. These statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) cover the academic years 2001/02 to 2010/11. Information for the 2011/12 academic year will become available from January 2013.
The counts of outgoing (Table 1) and incoming (Table 2) students are not strictly comparable because they use different coverage rules and differing definitional criteria. The OECD and Eurostat measures of outgoing students, for example, do not include students on exchange programmes or those studying for a qualification with a full-time equivalent duration of less than two years; the HESA statistics on incoming students do include such students.
In addition to those who study abroad for their full degree, there are many schemes to allow students to spend part of their degree abroad. The largest is the Erasmus programme, where students can study in most other European countries including all EU member states. In 2009/10, there were 8,054 outgoing Erasmus study placements undertaken by UK students. The most recent figures available for incoming Erasmus study placements are for 2008/09 when there were 16,051; the outgoing figure for that year was 7,428. It is not possible to say how many of the outgoing and incoming students went to or arrived from the 26 other EU member states as opposed to the six other European countries in the programme.
The Government are dedicated to ensuring students have the opportunity to gain international experience through degree or credit mobility, or work experience, as we recognise the benefits gained from time abroad both for the student, UK HEIs and the wider economy.
4 July 2012 : Column 693W
The movement of students between countries is to be encouraged. It is of mutual benefit. Under EU law, UK students have access to study at universities in other member states of the EU under the same terms that
4 July 2012 : Column 694W
apply to students of those countries. This enables students to experience different cultures, develop foreign language capability and other skills, which can be invaluable in their future working and personal lives.
| Table 1: Estimated number of UK students(1) studying(2) higher education(3) in EU member states (other than the UK) years 200009 | ||||||||||
| EU member state | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| (1) OECD and Eurostat data collections allow countries to report estimates referring to either ‘usual/permanent residence’ or ‘country of prior education’ to define mobile students. (2) Covers students in all years of study. (3) These estimates do not include students on exchange programmes or those studying for a qualification with a full-time equivalent duration of less than two years. (4) Denotes missing. Note: Numbers in italics are internal estimates/adjustments to ‘correct’ for implausible values, missing data and methodological changes. Source: OECD and Eurostat data collections | ||||||||||
| Table 2: EU member state (non-UK) domiciled(1) enrolments(2) at UK higher education institutions: Academic years 2001/01 to 2010/11 | ||||||||||
| EU member state | 2001/02 | 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 |
4 July 2012 : Column 695W
4 July 2012 : Column 696W
| (1) Domicile refers to the country of a student's permanent or home address prior to entry to their course. (2) Covers students in all years of study. Notes: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of five, so components may not sum to totals. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record | ||||||||||