Broadband
Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received from businesses on the time taken by broadband suppliers to provide a broadband connection; and what discussions he has had with broadband suppliers on that subject. [137171]
Mr Vaizey: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
No such representations have been received. I have regular discussions with broadband suppliers on a range of issues.
Business: Billing
Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to prevent FTSE350 companies from extending their payment terms and then claiming to have met with the requirements of the Prompt Payment Code. [138255]
Michael Fallon:
I have written to the chief executives of the FTSE 350 companies urging them to sign up to the Prompt Payment Code. Any retrospective extension of payment terms or significant change of payment terms to smaller companies would be a clear breach of the Code. Officials are working with the Institute for
22 Jan 2013 : Column 244W
Credit Management which administers the Code on behalf of Government to encourage and make it easier to raise concerns about the behaviour of signatories.
Business: Commonwealth
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his objectives are for the next Commonwealth Business Forum to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. [138299]
Michael Fallon: The Commonwealth Business Forum will draw attention to opportunities for UK business to be found in Sri Lanka, the region and the wider Commonwealth.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which Government minister will attend the 2013 Commonwealth Business Forum in Colombo, Sri Lanka. [138300]
Michael Fallon: It is too early to confirm UK attendance at the Commonwealth Business Forum.
Business: Liverpool
Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many companies have re-located and invested in Liverpool (a) in the last year, (b) in the last five years and (c) in the last 10 years. [137858]
Michael Fallon [holding answer 18 January 2013]: The most accurate figures available locally indicate that there were 11 projects relocating to the area Liverpool city council in 2011/12, 58 in the last five financial years and 106 in the last 10 financial years.
Business: Loans
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if the conclusions of the National Audit Office's investigation into the Regional Growth Fund will be used in the creation of the application processing operations of the Government's Business Bank. [138185]
Michael Fallon: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will take into account both private and public sector best practice when developing appropriate processes for the Government's Business Bank, including best practice from the application processing operations of the Regional Growth Fund.
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will expedite the implementation of the Government's Business Bank. [138186]
Michael Fallon: The written ministerial statement published on 20 December 2012 set out key milestones for the bank's implementation.
Detailed design of the bank's activities will need to reflect the requirement to ensure our proposals are fully consistent with state aid rules. We have already started a dialogue with the European Commission about our proposals.
In order to act swiftly, we propose to use £300 million of the bank's new £1 billion funding over the next two years, to co-invest alongside the private sector in sources of finance that help diversify the business finance market.
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We are currently engaging with market participants on how this funding will be made available and will provide further detail at Budget 2013.
Business: Young People
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2013, Official Report, column 577W, on business: young people, what the (a) total, (b) average, (c) lowest and (d) highest amount lent under the start-up loans for young people programme has been in each region of the UK to date. [138196]
Michael Fallon: The regional breakdown for lending under the Start-Up Loans scheme (as of 4 January 2013) is as follows:
| Total amount lent per region (£) | |
| Average loan per region (£) | |
| Lowest loan per region (£) | |
| Highest loan per region (£) | |
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Citizens Advice and Consumer Focus
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on which dates since January 2012 he has met the (a) Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, (b) Chair of Citizens Advice, (c) Chief Executive of Consumer Focus and (d) Chair of Consumer Focus. [138449]
Jo Swinson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not met with either the Chief Executive or Chair of Consumer Focus in the last year. He met briefly with the Chief Executive and Chair of Citizens Advice ahead of delivering the keynote speech at Citizens Advice's annual conference at Exeter University on 12 September 2012. He has not met with the Chair or Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Scotland.
I and my predecessors have met at regular intervals with Consumer Focus, Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland.
Construction: Fines
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on which occasions the Office of Fair Trading imposed penalties on construction companies in each of the last five years; what penalty was imposed in each such case; on which company and for what reasons in each such case; to what purpose the fines received have been put; and if he will make a statement. [133086]
Jo Swinson: In the last five years (2007-12) the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) imposed financial penalties on construction companies on one occasion: a large number of construction companies were fined in the OFT's 2009 infringement decision in the ‘Bid rigging in the construction industry in England’ case.
In that case the OFT found that the infringing parties had engaged in illegal anti-competitive bid-rigging activities on a large number of tenders for building contracts from 2000 to 2006, mostly in the form of ‘cover pricing’. Cover pricing is where one or more bidders in a tender process obtains an artificially high price from a competitor. Such cover bids are priced so as not to win the contract but are submitted as genuine bids, which gives a misleading impression to clients as to the real extent of competition. This distorts the tender process and makes it less likely that other potentially cheaper firms are invited to tender.
Details of the financial penalties imposed by the OFT in the case can be found in the published version of the infringement decision, which is available on the public register of decisions under the Competition Act 1998 at:
http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/competition-act-and-cartels/ca98/decisions/bid_rigging_construction
A number of the companies fined appealed the OFT's decision to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the CAT). In 2011 the CAT issued judgments upholding the overwhelming majority of the OFT's findings on liability but reducing the level of fines the OFT had imposed on the appealing parties. The relevant judgments are available on the CAT website at:
www.catribunal.org
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Financial penalties imposed by the OFT are paid into the UK central Government's Consolidated Fund and administered by Her Majesty's Treasury.
For completeness, it should be noted that in a separate case the OFT also imposed financial penalties on certain companies engaged in the supply of recruitment services to the construction industry, but not any construction companies themselves. Details of the case can be found in the published version of the infringement decision at:
http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/competition-act-and-cartels/ca98/decisions/Construction-recruitment-forum
Certain of the parties appealed the OFT's judgment to the CAT and the CAT's appeal judgment (Eden Brown and Others v. The Office of Fair Trading [2011] CAT 8) can be found at:
http://www.catribunal.org/238/all/6/Judgments.html
Dell
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many contracts were awarded by his Department to DELL CSC in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [138034]
Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its agencies do not hold a central contracts database from which this information can be obtained. An exercise is under way to create a central database and in the interim we have provided the following information relating to spend with Dell in the years requested:
| Spend with Dell (£) | |
This information is also available on the Government website in accordance with the guidelines supporting the transparency spend initiatives.
Departmental Responsibilities
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his Department's top three policy implementation (a) successes and (b) failures have been since May 2010. [138366]
Jo Swinson: The policy implementation priorities of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills can be found in the Department's Structural Reform Plan, progress against which is reported on the Government's Business Plan website:
http://transparency.number10.gov.uk/business-plan
A broader look at implementation progress can be found in the Government's Mid-Term Review document:
http://midtermreview.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/
published on 7 January 2013 and the Programme for Government Update:
http://midtermreview.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/proqramme-for-government-update/
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Export Credit Guarantees: Kenya
Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the communications sector exports are that account for 11 per cent of Kenya's sovereign debt owed to UK Export Finance; when these exports were made; and what proportion of these exports were to the (a) government and (b) private companies. [138229]
Michael Fallon: UK Export Finance, formally the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), recently published information, available in the Libraries of the House, about sovereign debts payable to ECGD. This analysis was done in order to provide a sectoral split. Paragraph 10 of the explanatory note draws the attention of the reader to the limitations of the exercise due to its size and the age and quality of some of the records.
Further detailed investigation of the relevant files show that the exports that account for the proportion of Kenya's original debt that relate to the communications sector are in respect of radio communications equipment, test equipment and spares for defence purposes. The exports were made in 1987 and 1989, and were to the Government.
Film
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to ensure that the competitiveness and attractiveness of the UK as a location to do business in the film industry is maintained and enhanced. [137831]
Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport are both scheduled to attend a forthcoming Creative Industries Council meeting at which the film industry will be represented and issues of mutual concern will be discussed.
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many contracts were awarded by his Department to Google in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [138058]
Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its agencies do not hold a central contracts database from which this information can be obtained. An exercise is under way to create a central database and in the interim we have provided the following information relating to spend with Google in the years requested:
| £ | |
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This information is also available on the Government website in accordance with the guidelines supporting the transparency spend initiatives.
Higher Education: Admissions
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many students applied for entry to a university in England and Wales in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14 (i) by the region of the institution, (ii) by their region of domicile and (iii) in total; and if he will make a statement; [138800]
(2) how many students domiciled in England and Wales applied for entry to a university based within London in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14, (i) in total and (ii) by university; and if he will make a statement. [138801]
Mr Willetts: The information is not available centrally. The latest applicant figures for 2013 entry were published by UCAS on 3 January 2013, but these did not include separate figures for applicants by region of domicile or region of institution. UCAS is an independent organisation and is unable to provide this information at this time.
Offshore Industry
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to support the offshore oil manufacturing sector. [138534]
Michael Fallon: As part of the Industrial Strategy we will publish a specific strategy on oil and gas which is due to be published in late March. This strategy aims to create an environment where UK supply chains will be encouraged to grow and thrive, thus ensuring UK firms are in the best shape possible to compete for global business. We also work closely with the Department of Energy and Climate Change to promote UK capability and capacity in the offshore fabrication sector.
Oracle Corporation UK
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many contracts were awarded by his Department to Oracle in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [138018]
Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its agencies do not hold a central contracts database from which this information can be obtained. An exercise is under way to create a central database and in the interim we have provided the following information relating to spend with Oracle in the years requested:
(a) 2010/11: £139,602
(b) 2011/12: £234,518
(c) 2012/13: £528,020
This information is also available on the Government website in accordance with the guidelines supporting the transparency spend initiatives.
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Overseas Trade
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of companies requesting overseas market reports are (a) large, (b) medium-sized and (c) small companies. [137985]
Michael Fallon: UKTI delivers approximately 6,000 Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) reports per year. The latest Performance Impact Monitoring Survey (PIMS) shows the proportion of (a) large companies using OMIS was 15% (b) medium-sized was 56% and (c) small was 27%.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department earns per year from the Overseas Market Introduction Service reports. [137986]
Michael Fallon: The Overseas Market Introduction Service remains a subsidised service and revenue earned for last financial year (2011-12) was £7.3 million as reported in UKTI's audited annual report and accounts (HC 47). All revenue earned is re-invested into providing UKTI support to UK businesses.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average amount of time needed to produce an Overseas Market Introduction Service report is. [137988]
Michael Fallon: The Overseas Market Introduction Service is a bespoke service tailored to the customers particular requirements, from market research, programme arranging, organising product launch events to a variety of support over a longer period. The average order takes 35 hours (FY 2011-12).
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what guidance UK Trade and Investment provides to the UK Border Agency on issuing visas to businessmen on inward trade missions to the UK. [137991]
Michael Fallon: UKTI works closely with UK Border Agency (UKBA) in design and implementation of all aspects of the visa regime affecting business visitors, for example, co-authoring a leaflet with UKBA highlighting recent changes made to speed up the process for issuing business visas in Turkey and a priority service for business visitors in Thailand. When organising Inward trade missions to the UK, the local UKTI team is in regular contact with their UKBA counterparts to minimise difficulties in processing visa applications from missioners.
Overseas Trade: Commonwealth
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how his Department informs UK small and medium-sized enterprises about trade opportunities in the Commonwealth. [138407]
Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) publishes business opportunities in overseas markets on the UKTI website:
www.ukti.gov.uk/businessopportunities
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In addition UKTI website users can set up alerts to receive notification of when opportunities are published in their countries and sectors of interest.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps the Government are taking to help small and medium-sized enterprises trade with other Commonwealth nations. [138412]
Michael Fallon: The UKTI Strategy 'Open for Business' puts a particular focus on helping small and medium-sized enterprises to export. UKTI is currently rolling out a major new approach to e-connectivity and programmes to link small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to trade finance, credit insurance and venture capital. These will help SMEs to develop their exports to Commonwealth and other markets.
In addition UKTI has built on leveraging partnerships with its private sector partners and a range of other stakeholders to raise awareness of its services particularly to SMEs. UKTI organised an export week in early November with over 100 events across the UK attended by more than 4,000 companies.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will consider the merits of the creation of the role of a Minister for Commonwealth Trade. [138497]
Michael Fallon: Ministerial appointments and responsibilities are a matter for the Prime Minister.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to promote trade with Commonwealth countries. [138498]
Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment, both in the UK and through posts overseas, promotes trade with other Commonwealth countries where there are significant opportunities for UK companies. Ministers regularly visit Commonwealth markets to promote trade and investment.
BIS also works to support EU negotiations of Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with several Commonwealth countries. For example, 2012 saw political agreement of an FTA with Singapore and I am hopeful of significant progress in early 2013 towards liberalising trade with Canada.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UK Trade delegations have visited Commonwealth nations since 2010. [138302]
Michael Fallon: Since 2010, there have been 270 UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) sponsored/administered trade missions to 20 Commonwealth nations in which UKTI has a presence. Many of these have been led by BIS/FCO Ministers.
Pay
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent meetings (a) he has and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with businesses and business organisations to discuss the living wage. [137844]
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Jo Swinson: Neither my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills nor BIS Ministers have recently had meetings with businesses or business organisations specifically to discuss the living wage.
The Government support the living wage and encourage businesses to take it up where possible. However, the decision on what wages to set are for employers and workers.
For the lowest paid workers, the Government's aim is to have a minimum wage rate that helps as many low-paid workers as possible, while making sure that we do not damage their employment prospects by setting it too high. In addition to the minimum wage, the Government are doing everything we can to help all working people on low pay with the cost of living. That is why we are cutting income tax for the low paid and taking 2.2 million people out of tax altogether.
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether (a) he has and (b) Ministers in his Department have met Citizens UK to discuss the living wage; and what plans he has to do so in the future. [137846]
Jo Swinson: No Ministers have met Citizens UK to discuss the living wage and none have any plans to do so currently.
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will consider bringing forward proposals to amend companies' legislation to require listed companies to report as part of their annual reporting requirements whether their remuneration policy includes paying the living wage to all employees. [138550]
Jo Swinson: The Government support the Living Wage and encourage businesses to take it up where possible. However, the decision on what wages to set is for employers and workers.
The Government also want to encourage companies to consider wider employee pay when deciding on the remuneration of directors. As part of comprehensive reforms to improve the governance of directors' remuneration, the Government have published proposals on the additional information which must be included in the annual remuneration reports published by listed companies. Although this does not require reference to the Living Wage, companies will in future have to explain how they have taken into account the pay and conditions of the wider workforce when deciding directors' remuneration; whether, and if so, how, employees have been consulted when deciding directors' pay; and the annual percentage increase in employee pay compared to the annual percentage increase in chief executive pay. The Government expect these reforms to come into force on 1 October 2013.
Postgraduate Education
Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that the UK remains competitive in attracting foreign students to postgraduate courses. [137599]
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Mr Willetts [holding answer 21 January 2013]: It is for individual higher education (HE) institutions to decide the key elements of their offer and tuition fees to attract students to their post graduate programmes. As autonomous bodies our institutions are also responsible for the academic standards of their awards, learning opportunities and quality of research.
Government support foreign student recruitment by promoting the UK HE abroad and activity to assure the UK's world class reputation for education and research.
Quality in higher education is assured through the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) which reviews and reports on how well UK HE institutions maintain quality and standards in accordance with the UK Quality Code for Higher Education. This system has a global reputation for success and has influenced parallel developments overseas.
Our research funding regime supports activity of the highest quality and impact. Government funding for research has been protected in the current challenging economic climate, which gives our institutions confidence to continue post graduate research and related international student recruitment.
We have also introduced a number of measures to promote recruitment of post graduate students. For example, all international students that complete a PhD from 2013 will have up to a year to find a graduate level
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job and move on to Tier 2 of the visa system or move on to the graduate entrepreneur or exceptional talent schemes in Tier 1 Visa.
The Government recognise the contribution that international students make to the UK's economy and to making our education system one of the best in the world. We welcome all genuine students to the UK. There is no cap on the number of genuine students who can come here to study and we have no plans to introduce one.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many first-year postgraduate students enrolled on higher education courses in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12 (i) by the region of the institution, (ii) by their region of domicile and (iii) in total; and if he will make a statement. [138799]
Mr Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on student enrolments at UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Information on the number of UK domiciled first year postgraduate enrolments by region of domicile and institution at English HEIs for the academic years 2010/11 and 2011/12 is provided in the following tables.
Information for the 2012/13 academic year will become available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in January 2014.
| UK domiciled(1) first year postgraduate enrolments(2) by region of domicile and institution | ||||||||||
| English higher education institutions: Academic year 2010/11 | ||||||||||
| Region of institution | ||||||||||
| Region of domicile | North East | North West | Yorks and Humber | East Midlands | West Midlands | East | London | South East | South West | Total |
| (1) Domicile refers to a student's permanent or home address prior to entry to their course. (2) Covers students in all years of study. Note: Figures are based on a MESA 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 | ||||||||||
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| English higher education institutions: Academic year 2011/12 | ||||||||||
| Region of institution | ||||||||||
| Region of domicile | North East | North West | Yorks and Humber | East Midlands | West Midlands | East | London | South East | South West | Total |
| (1) Domicile refers to a student's permanent or home address prior to entry to their course. (2) Covers students in all years of study. Note: 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 | ||||||||||
Regional Growth Fund
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will offer additional support to unsuccessful applicants to the Regional Growth Fund in their subsequent applications. [138184]
Michael Fallon: On 17 January, the Deputy Prime Minister announced the opening of a fourth competitive round of the Regional Growth Fund (RGF). A total of £350 million is available for applicants.
As with previous rounds, the RGF Secretariat will be running a series of 'Expression of Interest' (EOI) meetings for potential applicants throughout the round. We know from feedback that bidders have found these meetings particularly helpful and worthwhile. Where previous bidders have not been selected and are considering re-applying, we would urge them to attend an early EOI meeting to ensure that they get timely advice on preparing the best quality bid. Any unsuccessful bidder from the previous round of RGF was also able to receive feedback on their bid which should assist with preparing future applications.
Regional Growth Fund: Yorkshire and the Humber
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much monetary support allocated to businesses in Hull and the East Riding under the Regional Growth Fund is yet to be paid to those businesses. [138725]
Michael Fallon: A total of £33,700,000 has been awarded to programmes based in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire under Rounds 1 and 2. £28,200,000 had been paid to the two programmes at 1 January 2013.
Under Round 3 of the Regional Growth Fund, funding has also been conditionally allocated for a project based in Hull and a programme that has the potential to support beneficiaries, including SMEs, in the wider Hull, East Riding and North East Lincolnshire area.
Regulated Industries Unit
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to announce the membership of the Board of the Regulated Industries Unit. [138450]
Jo Swinson: We continue to develop governance plans for the Regulated Industries Unit (RIU), working with our delivery partners, Consumer Focus, Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland (the Citizens Advice Service). Consumer Focus will re-form into the RIU in April 2013 and, until transition to the Citizens Advice Service in 2014, its work will be overseen by the Consumer Focus Board.
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what budget his Department has allocated to the Regulated Industries Unit, by funding stream, from April 2013. [138451]
Jo Swinson:
We have not yet allocated partner body budgets for 2013-14. We have, however, indicated that levy contributions from the regulated energy and postal
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services sectors are expected to be set at the same levels as 2012-13 (£5.771 million for energy; £3.111 million for post). BIS's contribution to funding has yet to be determined.
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff currently employed by Consumer Focus will transfer to the new Regulated Industries Unit, in April 2013; and how many such staff will be subject to TUPE regulations. [138452]
Jo Swinson: Consumer Focus will reform into the Regulated Industries Unit (RIU) in April 2013. Restructuring is likely to take place in 2013-14 ahead of transfer to the Citizens Advice services in 2014.
The final operating model for the RIU is still being developed in conjunction with Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland. Final staffing numbers are not yet known, but we expect the final transfer to be made on a statutory basis.
Shops
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the UK's high street retail sector. [138619]
Michael Fallon: Office for National Statistics figures show that year-on-year retail sales were estimated to have increased by 0.3% in December 2012 compared with December 2011.
We hold regular discussions with industry through our Retail Policy Forum and representative organisations such as the British Retail Consortium about the state of the retail sector.
Symantec
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many contracts were awarded by his Department to Symantec in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [138042]
Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its agencies do not hold a central contracts database from which this information can be obtained. An exercise is underway to create a central database and in the interim we have provided the following information relating to spend with Symantec in the years requested:
| Spend with Symantec (£) | |
This information is also available on the Government website in accordance with the guidelines supporting the transparency spend initiatives.
UK Trade and Investment
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to provide greater incentive to UK Trade and Investment employees to seek and develop more trade for British companies. [137955]
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Michael Fallon: 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) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
UKTI utilises the performance management and reward arrangements of the relevant Departments in order to recognise achievement. There are no plans to provide additional incentives to individuals working on its behalf to seek and develop more trade for British companies.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how his Department measures the performance of each UK Trade and Investment employee in (a) regional offices and (b) postings abroad. [137948]
Michael Fallon: 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) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
Individuals working on behalf of UKTI undergo yearly performance appraisals in line with procedures set out by their parent Department (BIS or FCO). Typically individuals are assessed across a range of objectives linked to the delivery of business outcomes for their team.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what support is given to British companies by UK Trade and Investment embassy teams that are competing in unfair markets due to corruption. [137949]
Michael Fallon: UKTI trade teams overseas provide guidance and practical assistance to UK companies on managing the risks of overseas bribery and corruption. UKTI also contributes to the Overseas Business Risk website
www.ukti.gov.uk/overseasbusinessrisk
a service run by the FCO which offers country specific advice to British companies to help them manage risks such as bribery when operating overseas. The website contains information on over 90 markets and links through to advice provided by other organisation such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) also contributes to the Business Anti-Corruption Portal
http://www.business-anti-corruption.com/
which is a comprehensive and practical tool tailored to meet the corruption risk management needs of small and medium sized companies operating in or considering doing business in emerging markets and developing countries.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the pay scales are for UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) employees in (a) UKTI regional offices, (b) London and (c) embassies abroad. [137953]
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Michael Fallon: 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) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
Individuals working for UKTI are paid by their parent Department (BIS or FCO). Their pay scales are as follows:
Annex A—BIS London based
Annex B—BIS National based (regions)
Annex C—FCO (for FCO individuals and staff in embassies)
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how UK Trade and Investment employees are incentivised to seek and develop more trade for British companies. [137954]
Michael Fallon: 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) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
UKTI utilises the performance management and reward arrangements of the relevant Departments in order to set individual objectives and recognise achievement.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how UK Trade and Investment indentifies business opportunities in foreign markets. [137989]
Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment staff based in British embassies, high commissions and consulates in over 100 countries identify business opportunities through a number of routes including:
making calls on local business and government contacts
visiting trade fairs and exhibitions
reading local newspapers and publications
scanning press releases and tender notices produced by national/local Governments and multilateral aid agencies
web searches
receiving ad-hoc requests received from local businesses
Over 5,000 opportunities were identified and published on the UK Trade and Investment website:
www.ukti.gov.uk/businessopportunities
Xerox Corporation
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many contracts were awarded by his Department to Xerox in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [138026]
Jo Swinson:
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its agencies do not hold a central contracts
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database from which this information can be obtained. An exercise is under way to create a central database and in the interim we have provided the following information relating to spend with the Xerox group of companies in the years requested:
| Spend with the Xerox Group (£) | |
This information is also available on the Government website in accordance with the guidelines supporting the transparency spend initiatives.
Health
Ambulance Services
Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has provided to clinical commissioning groups on the commissioning of ambulance services. [137726]
Anna Soubry: From April 2013, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will assume statutory responsibility for commissioning the majority of healthcare services, including the commissioning of ambulance services. It will be for the NHS Commissioning Board to support CCGs and hold them to account. This support may include providing supportive commissioning resources, tools or guidance.
Ambulance Services: East of England
Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the East of England Ambulance Service. [137727]
Anna Soubry: Ambulance trust performance is assessed against three standards relating to response times. Each trust should perform above all three standards over the year. The latest published data covers November 2012 and shows East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust performing appropriately against one of the three standards. The Department monitors ambulance trust performance closely, and will ensure the relevant strategic health authority takes appropriate action to improve performance where a trust is operating below standard.
Appendicitis
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many appendectomies have been performed in each of the last five years. [137534]
Anna Soubry: A count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)(1) with a primary or secondary procedure(2) of appendectomy(3) 2007-08 to 2011-12(4) is shown in the following table.
| FCEs | |
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| (1 )Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. (2 )Number of episodes with a (named) main or secondary procedure This denotes the number of episodes where the procedure (or intervention) was recorded in any of the 24 (12 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and four prior to 2002-03) procedure fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. A record is only included once in each count, even if the procedure is recorded in more than one procedure field of the record. Note that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure. For example, patients undergoing a 'cataract operation' would tend to have at least two procedures—removal of the faulty lens and the fitting of a new one—counted in a single episode. (3 )OPCS-4.4 codes for appendicectomies: H01.1 Emergency excision of abnormal appendix and drainage HFQ HOI.2 Emergency excision of abnormal appendix NEC HOI.3 Emergency excision of normal appendix HOI.8 Other specified emergency excision of appendix HOI.9 Unspecified emergency excision of appendix H02.1 Interval appendicectomy H02.2 Planned delayed appendicectomy NEC H02.3 Prophylactic appendicectomy NEC H02.4 Incidental appendicectomy H02.8 Other specified other excision of appendix H02.9 Unspecified other excision of appendix (4 )Assessing growth through time (Inpatients) HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. | |
Beef: Horse Meat
Mr Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether inspections by the UK Food Safety and Food Standards Authorities routinely involve DNA testing to identify the contamination of foodstuffs. [138441]
Anna Soubry [holding answer 21 January 2013]: The analysis of food products using DNA-based methodology is an established technique and used routinely by United Kingdom official control laboratories and commercial laboratories. These tests are used most often to determine fish species in food products, and presence of genetically modified organisms. Six UK official control laboratories are able to analyse meat to determine whether it contains horse DNA using DNA-based methodology.
The DNA analysis method is only one of the analytical methods available to determine whether substitution of meat has taken place. Other analytical methods include ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immuno-absorbent Assays) testing kits that match proteins present in a food product with proteins present in known meat species.
Each year, local authorities carry out a substantial amount of sampling of meat identification to ensure that the meat species in meat products match the expectations of the label description. In 2012, at least 796 samples were tested for meat identification (testing for other meat species in meat products) as part of local authority risk-based sampling programmes. While some of the samples were found unsatisfactory, none had been tested for presence of horse meat.
Mr Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he was informed about the sale of beef burgers on sale in Britain which were possibly contaminated with horse and pork meat; and what steps he has taken in response to this information. [138442]
Anna Soubry [holding answer 21 January 2013]: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) was notified by Food Safety Authority Ireland on 14 January that they were proposing to report on the analysis carried out into a number of meat products; including beef burgers, which revealed that some contained horse and pig DNA.
The FSA has launched an urgent investigation into this issue and are working closely with the Department for Environment; Food and Rural Affairs on this. A four-point plan has been published on the FSA website at:
www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2013/jan/horse-update
Mr Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take against those retailers who have sold inaccurately labelled meat products. [138473]
Anna Soubry [holding answer 21 January 2013]: The food businesses which the Food Safety Authority Ireland survey named as having sold inaccurately labelled products, are under investigation by local authority officers who are responsible for enforcing food composition and safety legislation. These investigations may lead to formal action.
Blood Transfusion Services
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will publish the information collected through the quality dashboard for blood and marrow transplantation. [138202]
Anna Soubry: As part of broader work to promote and assure the quality of commissioned services the NHS Commissioning Board has established a pilot to test the value and viability of quality dashboards for specialised services. Draft dashboards have been developed in a number of service areas, encompassing a selected range of measures covering, clinical outcomes, patient safety and patient experience. This includes a draft dashboard for blood and marrow transplantation.
This first set of dashboards are currently going through an initial phase of testing, with providers assisting commissioners to evaluate a range of factors, including
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the validity and consistency of individual, measures and comparators, and the value to local and national clinical and commissioning teams in identifying and sharing good practice.
If the pilot proves successful, and is ultimately approved by the Board, the intention would be to make dashboard information available publicly.
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the 10 local area teams with responsibility for commissioning prescribed specialised services to begin commissioning according to the new commissioning specification for blood and marrow transplantation. [138204]
Anna Soubry: Staff appointed to the 10 future area teams of the NHS Commissioning Board who will have a lead role in respect of the direct commissioning of specialised services are already working with providers and other local stakeholders to secure care for patients in line with the proposed new national commissioning requirements from April 2013. These requirements will be enshrined in formal NHS contracts between the NHS Commissioning Board and relevant providers.
This preparatory work includes local discussions on any differences between current service provision and the new national requirements from April 2013 (as set out in the draft service specifications, which will be subject to formal adoption by the board following the conclusion of the current consultation process). Where differences are identified, action plans will be drawn up with the board's area teams to achieve convergence as soon as possible, engaging with local stakeholders in the process.
Blood: Donors
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage blood platelet donation. [138225]
Anna Soubry: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for the provision of a reliable, efficient supply of blood to hospitals in England and North Wales.
NHSBT runs regular campaigns to encourage new and existing donors to donate platelets. In March 2012 NHSBT launched a platelet donation website. To provide further information on platelet donation, making it easier for those wishing to donate to check basic eligibility, find information on local donor sessions and book appointments. The website can be found at:
http://www.blood.co.uk/platelets/
NHSBT also uses social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter to recruit donors through campaigns such as National Blood Week. As platelet donation requires a greater time commitment than whole blood donation, NHSBT focuses campaigns towards encouraging existing loyal whole blood donors to give a blood sample to test their eligibility to donate platelets.
These campaigns are part of a dedicated strategy developed by NHSBT to secure the safety and sufficiency of platelet supply. The strategy seeks to accommodate growth in demand for platelets by improving productivity, making more efficient use of capacity in existing centres, and implementing key performance measures, including
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satisfaction with the service NHSBT provides to these committed individuals, who are asked to donate at least eight to 10 times a year.
Breasts: Plastic Surgery
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with companies that carried out PIP implants that are now contemplating bankruptcy to prevent them being held legally accountable; and what protection has been put in place to support those who received these implants. [138238]
Anna Soubry: Departmental officials held two meetings with the major providers of cosmetic surgery, in January and February 2012, to impress on them the need to provide compassionate aftercare for women who had received PIP implants. Many of these providers have done so. Where a provider has gone out of business, or is unwilling to meet its legal and moral obligations to its patients, the national health service will meet their health care needs.
The broader question of ensuring that patients of cosmetic surgery providers can have access to appropriate aftercare, even in the event that the provider goes out of business, is being addressed as part of the review of cosmetic interventions led by Sir Bruce Keogh. The review will report in March.
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the UK have had faulty breast implants and are waiting for them to be replaced. [138239]
Anna Soubry: As at the end of December 2012, 77 women who had received PIP implants as a result of national health service treatment, and 219 women who had received PIP implants from private providers, had decided to have their implants removed by the NHS in England but had not yet undergone the operation. Further information is available at:
http://mediacentre.dh.gov.uk/2013/01/18/statistical-press-notice-pip-breast-implants-13/
No information is available centrally on the number of women who are waiting for removal or replacement of their implants by private providers.
Care Homes: Birmingham
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care homes have been deemed as failing to meet standard 15 of the National Minimum Standards in (a) Birmingham Hall Green constituency and (b) the Birmingham metropolitan area since 2010. [138159]
Norman Lamb: Care homes were inspected against the National Minimum Standards (NMS) until 2010 under the previous regulatory regime, under the Care Standards Act (CSA) 2000. From 1 October 2010, providers of adult social care services, including care homes, were required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. At the same time, the NMS were replaced by CQC's Essential Standards of Quality and Safety.
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The CQC has provided the following information.
Table 1 shows the number of care homes in the Birmingham local authority area that were deemed to be failing to meet standard 15—Meals and Mealtimes—of the NMS under the CSA between January 2010 and 30 September 2010. Information is not available by parliamentary constituency area for this period.
| Table 1 | |
| Local authority area | Total number of care homes deemed to be non-compliant with NMS 15(1) |
| (1 )The figure refers to services that are currently registered and those that may have since deregistered. Source: CQC database | |
To comply with regulation 14 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 and meet Outcome 5—Meeting Nutritional Needs—of the Essential Standards, care providers must ensure that service users are protected from the risk of inadequate nutrition and dehydration. This is the regulation in the current legislation that aligns most closely with NMS 15.
Table 2 shows the total number of care homes that were deemed to be not compliant with outcome 5—Meeting Nutritional Needs—from inspections that took place in each fiscal year between 1 October 2010 and 15 January 2012, the latest available data, in Birmingham Hall Green constituency and the Birmingham metropolitan area.
| Table 2 | |
| Area | Total number of care homes deemed to be non compliant with outcome 5(1) |
| (1 )The figures refer to services that are currently registered and those that may have since deregistered. Source: CQC database, 15 January 2012 | |
Care Homes: Fees and Charges
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made to bring the issue of fees for long-term residential and nursing care to a conclusion. [137958]
Norman Lamb: The Government have committed to bring forward detailed proposals to cap the costs of long-term care, giving people the certainty they need to plan for their long-term care needs. An announcement will be made in due course.
Continuing Care
Mrs Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department plans to take to improve awareness of the commitment in the NHS mandate that everyone with a long-term condition will be offered a care plan. [138130]
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Norman Lamb: The mandate sets out the Government's ambitions for the health service for the next two years, which includes an objective around offering care plans for those with long-term conditions. The NHS Commissioning Board is legally required to seek to achieve the objectives in this document.
It is for the Board to decide how it will deliver its objectives, including by raising awareness. The Government will hold the Board to account for progress.
Dalepak
Mr Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Dalepak Hambleton plant in Yorkshire was last inspected; and what the nature of that inspection was. [138680]
Anna Soubry: Food law enforcement responsibility for the Dalepak plant in Hambleton Yorkshire rests with two local authorities. Hambleton district council is responsible for enforcement of food safety legislation, and North Yorkshire district council is responsible for enforcement of food composition and labelling legislation. The two authorities work closely to share information and carry out joint inspections where appropriate.
Hambleton district council inspected these premises on 25 June 2012 to check compliance with food hygiene legislation, this comprised an inspection of the premises, documentary and traceability checks.
North Yorkshire Trading Standards Officers inspected the premises on 6 March 2012 to check compliance with meat composition and labelling requirements.
The Environment Agency last visited the site on 3 March 2012, where their audit focused on the site's preventative maintenance regime, environmental management procedures and ensuring that the outlets for wastes generated during food production complied with the relevant waste management regulations. During their audit the Environment Agency did not identify any areas where the operator was not complying with the conditions of their environmental permit.
Diabetes
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in (a) Gillingham and Rainham constituency, (b) Medway and (c) England have been (i) diagnosed with and (ii) predicted to have diabetes. [137670]
Anna Soubry: Information is not available in the format requested.
The number of people recorded on practice disease registers is available in the “Quality and Outcomes Framework”, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. The numbers of diagnoses are not available but the number of people on the diabetes register as at 31 March 2012 are given as follows.
Information is only available at primary care trust (PCT), strategic health authority and at England level.
| Prevalence of diabetes in specified areas as at 31 March 2012 | |||||
| Number of GP practices | List size | Estimated list size aged 17+ | Number of patients aged 17+ on diabetes register | Prevalence (Percentage) | |
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| Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre | |||||
The numbers relate to patients aged 17 or over who have been diagnosed with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes and do not measure current or predicted risk. Evidence suggests that 800,000 people in England currently have diabetes but have not been diagnosed, and that the total number of people with diabetes will rise to over four million by 2025 in England.
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the (a) number of obese people with undiagnosed diabetes and (b) the cost to the national health service of treating type 2 diabetes. [137841]
Anna Soubry: Evidence suggests that 3.3 million people in England currently have diabetes, of which 800,000 have yet to be diagnosed.
No estimate has been made on the number of obese people with undiagnosed diabetes.
We do not collate centrally the cost to the national health service of treating type 2 diabetes. The National Audit Office, in its report the “Management of adult diabetes services in the NHS” estimated that NHS spending on diabetes services for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in 2009-10 was at least £3.9 billion, or 4% of the NHS budget. Diabetes UK have suggested that indirect costs to the NHS would inflate this figure considerably. Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, soft tissue infection, and cellular damage.
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with his Northern Ireland counterparts on the taskforce for diabetes and the 5-10 year strategy; and what goals and recommendations have been achieved so far. [138237]
Anna Soubry: There have been no recent discussions. Health in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and therefore is outside the scope of the Department's responsibility. Last year the Minister for Health in Northern Ireland initiated a review of diabetes care in Northern Ireland and the report is planned for publication later this year.
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will have discussions with health ministers in each of the devolved administrations to ensure best practice is being carried out across the UK in dealing with the range of rates of increase in diabetes in each territory. [138566]
Anna Soubry [holding answer 21 January 2013]:Health is a devolved issue for Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland and no discussions about diabetes incidence are currently planned with the devolved Administrations. The Department does, however, represent the United Kingdom as a whole in discussions about diabetes at international level and shares the results of that engagement with colleagues across the UK.
The incidence of type 2 diabetes is rising globally and it is essential that all health leaders look to identify best practice and share knowledge and skills to ensure that appropriate measures are being taken to prevent the rise in type 2 diabetes nationally.
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS organisations in (a) South Yorkshire and (b) England met or exceeded the expected levels of care outlined in the National Service Framework for Diabetes in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; [138798]
(2) what proportion of people in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England diagnosed with diabetes are receiving all nine basic monitoring tests. [138802]
Anna Soubry: Data for Barnsley Central constituency are not provided as data are not collated at this level. Data for 2011-12 are not yet available.
The following table shows the data for England and primary care trusts (PCTs) in South Yorkshire for those people with diabetes who had all nine care processes and achieved all levels required as outlined in the National Service Framework for Diabetes. The figures are taken from the National Diabetes Audit (NDA) for 2010-11. Participation in the NDA, which audits diabetes registrations in primary and secondary care, is not mandatory.
| Percentage | ||
| All care processes completed(1) | All targets achieved(2) | |
| (1) Care Processes: What percentage of people registered with diabetes received the nine key processes of diabetes care? These include five risk factors (weight (Body Mass Index), blood pressure, smoking, glucose levels (HbAlc), and serum cholesterol) and four tests for early complications (digital eye photography, laboratory urine microalbumin: creatinine ratio, serum creatinine and foot nerve and circulation examination). (2) Treatment Targets: What percentage of people registered with diabetes achieved National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) defined treatment targets for glucose control, blood pressure and blood cholesterol? | ||
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on the treatment of diabetes in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12. [138803]
Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 100W.
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Dietary Supplements
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether, at his next meeting with the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, he will raise the Government's objective of ensuring that consumers continue to have access to a wide range of safe and popular higher potency vitamin and mineral supplements; [137744]
(2) what steps he plans to take to ensure that the European Commission is made aware of the potential effect on employment and the viability of the specialist health food retail sector of the setting of restrictive maximum levels for nutrients in food supplements under the provisions of Article 5 of the EU Food Supplements Directive. [137745]
Anna Soubry: I wrote to the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy on 10 January 2013 raising the issue of setting maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements, as one of concern among United Kingdom citizens. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health met with the Commissioner on 17 January 2013, emphasising the importance that any future proposals should be based on science and safety, to allow for the highest safe maximum levels. The nature of the UK market and potential impact on availability of thousands of products was underlined.
Doctors: Foreign Workers
Stephen Barclay:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 1 November 2010, Official Report, column 635W, on doctors: foreign workers and the speech by the then Secretary of State for Health to the Conservative Party Conference on 4 October 2011, by what date the first language tests for non-UK European Economic Area qualified
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doctors will be administered; and what further stages need to be completed before the first tests are administered. [138562]
Dr Poulter [holding answer 21 January 2013]: Language checks including tests can already be administered to European Economic Area qualified doctors by employers and contracting bodies. However, as announced in 2011 the Government is seeking to strengthen language checking by amending the Responsible Officer Regulations so that Responsible Officers are explicitly required to ensure that doctors in England have sufficient knowledge of English language to perform their work when they are appointed to an organisation. Subject to parliamentary approval the amended regulation should be brought into force on 1 April 2013.
We are also exploring amending the Medical Act to strengthen the General Medical Council's (GMC) powers so that the GMC can undertake checks on language knowledge where legitimate concerns arise during the registration process about a doctor's ability to communicate effectively, and before there is evidence of malpractice. The Department is working constructively with the GMC, and we envisage that shortly we will be announcing further steps to develop the policy.
Domestic Visits
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department visited (i) a dental practice, (ii) an optometrist, (iii) a GP surgery, (iv) a pharmacy and (v) an NHS walk-in centre in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [137867]
Dr Poulter: The following list provides details of the visits undertaken by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his ministerial team in an official capacity between 16 January 2012 and 16 January 2013:
| The Secretary of State (Mr Jeremy Hunt) | |||
| Date | Visit | Type of organisation | Location |
| The then Secretary of State (Mr Andrew Lansley) | |||
| Date | Visit | Type of organisation | Location |
| The then Minister of State (Mr Simon Burns) | |||
| Date | Visit | Type of organisation | Location |
| The then Minister of State (Mr Paul Burstow) | |||
| Date | Visit | Type of organisation | Location |
| The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Dr Daniel Poulter) | |||
| Date | Visit | Type of organisation | Location |
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