Conditions of Employment

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are employed on zero-hour contracts in his Department. [141545]

Mr Hoban: I can confirm that there are no people employed by the Department for Work and Pensions on a zero-hour contract.

Employment Schemes: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2013, Official Report, columns 645-6W, on employment schemes: disability, what steps are taken by Jobcentre Plus to assess the needs of disabled people before referring them for employment support; and if he will make a statement. [141370]

Mr Hoban: When making a claim to benefit, claimants have a diagnostic interview with a Jobcentre Plus adviser. This is used to set out what is required of the individual and at the same time assesses what support they need. This will include considering any health related support, referrals to a disability employment adviser or employment provision such as Work Choice.

Following this assessment a claimant commitment/jobseekers agreement/action plan is put in place which sets out any work-related requirements. The requirements will vary depending on the benefit claimed and the claimant's individual circumstances, health condition and/or disability.

Advisers and providers must take into account any health-related restrictions when referring a claimant to, or while they are taking part in, an employment programme.

4 Feb 2013 : Column 96W

Food Banks

Mr Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the correlation between changes to working age benefits and increase in demand for food banks. [141376]

Mr Hoban: The Government's radical modernisation of the welfare system is designed to ensure that people have the right support and incentives to move into work and out of poverty.

While we recognise the valuable work undertaken by community organisations in providing food banks for vulnerable people, food banks are not part of the welfare system and we do not hold national statistics about participation in food bank services.

Housing Benefit

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents who are not registered as the main carer of their child claim housing benefit for properties with two or more bedrooms in (a) Liverpool, (b) the North West and (c) the UK. [141235]

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available for either (a) Liverpool, nor (b) the North West.

DWP estimate that in 2010-11 there were 200,000 benefit units in the UK receiving housing benefit for properties with two or more bedrooms, and who had either a child or children aged 19 years or under living outside their household with their other parent. Many of these benefit units will not however be under-occupying because they contain other children. This analysis covers renters in both the private and social rented sectors.

Notes:

1. A benefit unit is defined to be single adult or a married or cohabiting couple and any dependent children; since January 2006 same-sex partners (civil partners and cohabitees) have been included in the same benefit unit.

2. The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is a nationally representative sample of approximately 25,000 private households across the United Kingdom.

3. Data for 2010-11 was collected between April 2010 and March 2011.

4. Figures from the FRS are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the estimates to region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error.

5. The FRS is known to under-record benefit receipt so the estimate presented should be treated with caution. Please see table M6 for more information:

http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/frs/2010_11/chapter9.pdf

6. The figure has been rounded to the nearest 100,000.

Source:

Family Resources Survey 2010-11

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many registered foster carers claim housing benefit for properties with two or more bedrooms in (a) Liverpool, (b) the North West and (c) the UK. [141236]

4 Feb 2013 : Column 97W

Steve Webb: We estimate that nationally the number of foster carers who may be affected by the introduction of the social sector size criteria is fewer than 5,000.

Indicative information from a variety of sources including a survey conducted by the Fostering Network in 2010, Department for Education and devolved Administrations, Family Resources survey.

The information requested is not available.

Incapacity Benefit: Offenders

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of recipients of incapacity benefit who have subsequently received criminal convictions since 1997-98. [140839]

Mr Hoban: The information requested is not available.

Jobcentre Plus

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in respect of which objectives he sets targets for Jobcentre Plus branches. [141369]

Mr Hoban: DWP monitor the effectiveness of Jobcentre Plus via a range of performance mechanisms, including performance against the Cabinet Office Structural Reform Plan and its own internal Performance Environment. The main measure of Jobcentre Plus performance is the rate at which people leave jobseeker's allowance, income support and employment and support allowance and move into employment. The measure supports the Department for Work and Pensions 2011-15 business plan and the coalition Government's structural reform priority to Get Britain Working. The Department provides regular monthly progress and performance reports to the Department and Ministers, and makes performance data available to the public through the DWP website.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/corporate-publications/dwp-business-plan-2011-2015/business-plan-transparency/people-moving-from-key-out-of-work/

Office for National Statistics

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the statement by the Minister of State for Employment on 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 661, if he will place in the Library a copy of his letter to the Office for National Statistics, together with a copy of any reply he received. [141397]

Mr Hoban: Copies of the letter sent to Glen Watson, Director General of the Office for National Statistics, on 9 November 2012, and his reply, dated 26 November, will be placed in the Library

Personal Independence Payment

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2013, Official Report, column 326W, on personal independence payments, which organisations were consulted prior to his statement that his Department does not believe that disability charities will have to manage additional workloads. [141096]

4 Feb 2013 : Column 98W

Esther McVey: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow North West (John Robertson) on 22 January 2013, Official Report, column 161W.

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that the needs of people suffering from Parkinson's disease are taken into account by the new personal independence payment assessment. [141386]

Esther McVey: We have engaged extensively with disabled people and their organisations on the development of the PIP assessment, including with Parkinson's UK. We have made a number of changes to the assessment as a result of the feedback we received. I believe we now have a set of criteria which will accurately and consistently take account of all types of disabilities, including physical, sensory, mental, intellectual, cognitive and neurological impairments. Entitlement is not based on having a particular health condition or impairment; rather the assessment considers the claimant's individual circumstances and the impact of their health condition or impairment on their ability to carry out key everyday activities.

Parkinson's UK recently wrote to me expressing its concern that the regulations for PIP did not make clear that the assessment should consider whether individuals can carry out activities safely, reliably, repeatedly and in a timely manner. This has always been a key part of our proposals for the assessment but I am pleased to say that we will amend the regulations to make this clear.

To ensure that the criteria are applied consistently, we have given assessment providers a clear set of requirements and guidance on carrying out assessments, the areas they must cover in their training as well as the competencies the health professionals must demonstrate before they carry out an assessment. Any professional not meeting our requirements will not be given approval to carry out assessments.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy that people with long-term conditions are not subject to costly and stressful reassessments for personal independence payments when their condition is not likely to improve; and if he will make a statement. [141428]

Esther McVey: Personal independence payment is designed to assess people as individuals and ensure that decisions on entitlement, award lengths and timing of reviews are appropriate and evidence-based. While in some cases short-term awards of one or two years may be appropriate, we have been clear that longer term awards will be made in cases where the claimant's needs are expected to remain relatively stable or change slowly. Ongoing awards will be made in some cases where significant change in the claimant's needs is very unlikely.

All awards, regardless of duration, will be reviewed periodically to ensure that the individual continues to receive the correct amount of benefit. Awards will be reviewed in a proportionate way with consideration given to the circumstances of the individual.

While face-to-face consultations will be an important part of the assessment for most individuals, allowing an in-depth look at their circumstances, they will not be appropriate in every case. Where there is sufficient and

4 Feb 2013 : Column 99W

robust factual information about the claimant and the impacts of their health condition or impairment on which to make a paper-based assessment, it would be inappropriate to require individuals to attend a consultation. However, these decisions need to be taken on a case-by-case basis, as impairments can affect people in very different ways.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that people with fluctuating conditions are properly and accurately assessed for personal independence payments. [141436]

Esther McVey: The assessment for personal independence payment will take full account of the impact of fluctuating conditions by considering an individual's circumstances and the impact of their health condition or disability over a 12-month period. It will take into account where their ability to carry out activities is affected on a majority of days in the year, at any point on those days. This is a more generous approach than disability living allowance, which requires a need to be present for the majority of time before it is taken into account.

A key consideration when assessing individuals is not just whether they can complete the activities but can do so safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period. This helps ensure that we take the proper account of conditions which have fluctuating effects. We will make this matter clear in the regulations for PIP.

We have set clear requirements on the competencies that heath professionals must demonstrate before they can carry out assessments for personal independence payment and the areas that assessment providers must cover in their training, which includes the assessment of claimants with a fluctuating condition. Any professional not meeting our requirements will not be given approval to carry out assessments.

Plants

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since his appointment. [139953]

Mr Hoban: DWP pays an all inclusive unitary charge for fully serviced accommodation. This means that the Department does not directly spend anything on the supply of indoor/outdoor plants or trees.

Social Security Benefits

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the value is of any benefits that have been (a) overpaid and (b) underpaid in each parliamentary constituency in each financial year between 1997-98 and 2009-10; and whether his Department has been required to pay any compensation as a consequence. [140838]

Mr Hoban: The information is not available in the format requested.

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Social Security Benefits: Disability

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that people claiming disability benefits have the right to use evidence provided by a medical consultant, rather than be assessed by Atos; and if he will make a statement. [141308]

Mr Hoban: Whereas GPs and specialists are trained in diagnosis and treatment, Healthcare Professionals employed by Atos are trained in disability assessment.

For employment and support allowance (ESA) claims, this involves assessing the functional effects of a person's condition or disability and for disability living allowance (DLA) claims; this involves assessing the effect that the disability or condition has on the person's care and/or mobility needs.

The Department's decision makers consider all the available information including any evidence provided by a customer, their GP or consultant before making a decision on benefit entitlement.

GPs and specialists are unlikely to have the knowledge of the benefit system, legislation or disability analysis to provide decision makers with the information they require to make benefit entitlement decisions. Therefore while people claiming disability benefits are encouraged to provide additional medical evidence this will not replace the independent assessment.

Social Security Benefits: Polygamy

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many polygamous families are claiming benefits; [138728]

(2) what estimate his Department has made of the number of second and subsequent partners in polygamous relationships who are making separate claims from the principal man and wife in the household; [138742]

(3) how many reduced individual income support payments are being made in cases where the applicant's partner lives in the same household with both them and their first legal spouse. [138720]

Mr Hoban: The information requested is not available.

Unemployed People: Travel

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of out-of-work benefits successfully claimed an allowance to travel to an interview for work between 1997 and 2010; where each such individual was travelling from and to; and what the cost to the Exchequer was for (a) travel and (b) accommodation in each such year. [140842]

Mr Hoban: The information you have requested is not available in full.

The information that is available is set out in the following table:

Financial yearTotal expenditure (£)

2005-06

2,264,870

2006-07

2,315,111

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2007-08

2,198,166

2008-09

3,054,728

2009-10

6,841,116

2010-11

5,670,712

Financial information prior to 2005-06 is not available.

Although the expenditure does include payments for overnight accommodation costs where these have been approved, this is not accounted for separately from the travel costs.

With regards to the question on individual journeys, this information is not collated centrally and could be provided only by examining individual transactions which would incur disproportionate costs.

Unemployment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 5 November 2012, Official Report, column 591, to what change of policy or procedure he was referring when he stated that the Government had changed the recording of unemployment statistics and ended the former practice of deliberately and falsely capping the figures. [141447]

Mr Hoban: Under the last Government's new deal programme, young people who remained on jobseeker's allowance for 10 months were required to take up a period of full-time activity which ended the claim. They remained out of work and dependent on financial support, but were paid a training allowance and recorded separately

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from JSA. This meant they could spend a long period continuously out of work and receiving financial support without ever appearing in the published JSA figures as unemployed for over 12 months. The introduction of the Work programme has ended this practice, as participants continue to receive financial support through JSA while being supported to move into work.

Unemployment Benefits

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of households in which no-one has ever worked which were claiming out-of-work benefits in each parliamentary constituency in each financial year since 1997; what the cost to the Exchequer was of such payments; and how many children were living in each household. [140830]

Mr Hoban: Information on the number of households in which no-one has ever worked is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Unemployment Benefits: West Midlands

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Birmingham, Erdington constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands who have been in receipt of out-of-work benefits for (i) one year, (ii) two and (iii) three years and over. [140923]

Mr Hoban: The information is as follows:

Out-of-work benefit claimants by statistical group and duration of oldest claim in West Midlands, Birmingham local authority, and Birmingham Erdington parliamentary constituency: February 2012
 AllUp to one yearOne to two yearsTwo to three yearsThree years and over

Total for West Midlands

482,300

214,210

61,420

29,790

176,880

Jobseeker’s allowance

171,720

130,430

29,060

7,350

4,870

Incapacity benefits

232,340

60,990

18,530

12,960

139,860

Lone parents

59,230

16,040

11,190

7,850

24,170

Carers

13,480

3,180

2,080

1,430

6,790

Other income related benefits

5,520

3,570

550

200

1,190

      

Total for Birmingham local authority

127,080

57,870

18,140

7,590

43,490

Jobseeker’s allowance

51,510

37,850

9,840

2,170

1,650

Incapacity benefits

53,130

14,330

4,540

2,780

31,490

Lone parents

17,050

3,900

2,980

2,200

7,970

Carers

3,810

870

590

390

1,960

Other income related benefits

1,580

920

180

60

420

      

Total for Birmingham Erdington parliamentary constituency

14,540

6,150

2,070

830

5,500

Jobseeker’s Allowance

5,550

4,010

1,090

220

230

Incapacity benefits

6,520

1,480

560

330

4,150

Lone parents

1,950

470

350

240

900

Carers

380

90

50

30

200

Other income related benefits

140

100

10

10

20

Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

4 Feb 2013 : Column 103W

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions further to his answer of 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 659W, on the Work programme, whether he will publish his response to the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education report The Work Programme: What is the role of skills? [141573]

Mr Hoban: We currently have no plans to publish a response.

Business, Innovation and Skills

Apprentices

Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Fifth Special Report from the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, Apprenticeships: Government Response to the Committee's Fifth Report of Session 2012-13 (HC899), what the results were of the Diversity in Apprenticeship pilots; and what steps he plans to take following the independent evaluation of the pilots. [141112]

Matthew Hancock [holding answer 1 February 2013]: The Committee recognised the value of the work undertaken by the National Apprenticeship Service to encourage greater diversity within apprenticeships, but it is clear that there is more to be done. An independent evaluation of the Diversity in Apprenticeships Pilots was published in September and work is under way to take forward the lessons learned.


Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Fifth Special Report from the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, Apprenticeships: Government Response to the Committee's Fifth Report of Session 2012-13 (HC899), what analysis his Department has commissioned to investigate levels of additionality in the Apprenticeship scheme. [141113]

Matthew Hancock [holding answer 1 February 2013]: Research published by the Department last year compared the training undertaken in similar firms who do and do not employ apprentices. This suggested that in the absence of any publicly-funded apprenticeships, 72% of apprentices would not have undertaken any training. This full report—‘Assessing the Deadweight Loss Associated with Public Investment in Further Education and Skills’—can be accessed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32281/12-767-assessing-deadweight-loss-with-investment-further-education.pdf

Further work is currently under way to build on this study and will be published later this year. This will assess how estimates of additionality can be improved using evidence which has become available since this study, and what further data should be collected to improve the robustness of the estimates going forward.

Last year, the Department also published a survey of apprenticeship employers, which asked about the impact on their engagement in the programme if they had to pay higher fees. This suggested that the total number of

4 Feb 2013 : Column 104W

apprentices aged 19+ would fall by 85% if public funding was removed. The full report—‘Evaluation of Apprenticeships: Employers’—can be accessed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32305/12-813-evaluation-of-apprenticeships-employers.pdf

Apprentices: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprenticeships have been created in (a) Pendle constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West since the start of the Government's apprenticeship programme. [140500]

Matthew Hancock: Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by geography are published in Supplementary Tables to a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR), last published on 11 October 2012:

http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/87E140BF-810D-4C48-A5C1-9C8B84B46117/0/October2012_Apprenticeship Starts.xls

http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/Statistics/fe_data_library/Apprenticeships/

Business: Government Assistance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will simplify the administrative aspects of Government-backed loan schemes. [140407]

Michael Fallon: The Government have in place a range of support to assist small and medium-sized businesses access loans. Government have sought to balance the need to maintain adequate records to ensure propriety and value for money, while at the same time minimising the burden on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). For example, the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme was specifically designed to be a simple add on to lenders' own commercial loan application process that borrowers must undertake before EFG is considered. The EFG process is highly automated and places minimal additional requirements on borrowers. We have no plans to change the application process.

The Funding for Lending scheme, established by the Bank of England working with Government, which also exists to improve the availability and price of finance, supports banks' funding costs directly and involves no administrative burden at all for borrowers.

There are also a range of programmes that are delivered locally through local enterprise partnerships, universities, local authorities and other selected bidders as part of the Regional Growth Fund. The Government have significantly reduced the administrative burden for applicants once they have been selected including reducing the contracting process to six months.

Citizens Advice Bureaux

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many Citizens Advice Bureau offices closed in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and how many he estimates will close in 2012-13. [141000]

4 Feb 2013 : Column 105W

Jo Swinson: In 2010-11 a total of three bureaux closed (a call centre in Stevenage, City of London and Wyre District). In 2011-12, a total of five bureaux closed (Cardiff, Islington, Melton, Netherley and West Lancashire). In 2012-13 a total of two bureaux have closed (Newark and Huntingdonshire). In each case Citizens Advice and the bureaux have worked together and established or are trying to establish an alternative service(s) to deliver local residents.

Citizens Advice is unable to supply figures for anticipated closures in 2013-14 but there are a number of bureaux at risk and they are working together to look at options, maintain relations with local authorities, and discussing alternative service models.

Copyright

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his Department's publication, Modernising Copyright: a modern, robust and flexible framework, what definition his Department uses of fair dealing. [140319]

Jo Swinson: “Fair dealing” has been a feature of British copyright legislation since 1911. It allows people to use copyright works for specific purposes such as private study and news reporting as long as the use is fair. Whether a specific use is fair will be considered by a court on a case-by-case basis. The court will consider how a fair-minded and honest person would deal with the work, taking into account factors such as the amount of the work copied and whether or not it competes with commercial exploitation. “Fair dealing” exists in many other common law countries, such as Canada and Australia, and is in line with international copyright standards such as the Berne “three-step test”.

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure small businesses are aware of cyber-security issues. [141566]

Mr Willetts: From spring 2013 the Government will be rolling out a programme of public awareness drives on the issue of cyber-security, building on the work of:

www.GetSafeOnline.org

and the National Fraud Authority. This programme will be delivered in partnership with the private sector and will aim to increase cyber confidence and measurably improve the online safety of small businesses and consumers. My Department is also producing practical cyber security guidance for small businesses, and will continue to incorporate cyber security advice into ‘Business in You’, the awareness campaign and online resource website providing advice and practical support for micro and growing businesses, and into other interactions that the Government have with small businesses across all sectors of UK industry. This year we will be supporting regional initiatives to raise awareness of cyber security issues, such as delivering a practical cyber security awareness-raising event for SMEs in partnership with selected universities. In October, my Department will again partner with Get Safe Online to support their cyber security awareness-raising week, which will have a specific small business element this year.

4 Feb 2013 : Column 106W

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the level of awareness of cyber security issues among small and medium-sized enterprises. [141568]

Mr Willetts: In 2012 the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) worked together with Get Safe Online and the National Fraud Authority to deliver two pieces of research into small and medium-sized enterprises’ awareness, behaviours and attitudes around cyber security. BIS also supported PwC's Cyber Security Breach Survey, which surveyed SMEs as well as large businesses, and will be repeated this year. This research has provided Government with an understanding of the different levels of awareness of cyber security issues among SMEs, and together with insight from key stakeholders such as the cyber security sector and the Federation of Small Businesses, has helped inform the evidence base for all communications work with SMEs. BIS has also worked with the National Fraud Authority on development of their National Cyber Confidence Tracker, which has a specific set of questions on cyber security for small and medium-sized enterprises. This survey is now in field to provide a benchmark of cyber security awareness and behaviours, and will be repeated on a bi-monthly basis.

Higher Education: Admissions

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the data recently published by UCAS relating to acceptance rates for the 2012-13 academic year by region. [140427]

Mr Willetts: Final applicant and acceptance figures for the 2012/13 academic year have been published on the UCAS website at:

http://www.ucas.com/about_us/stat_services/stats_online/data_tables/residence/ukregion

but these do not include acceptance rates by region.

The latest figures for the 2013/14 academic year showing applicants by region were published on 30 January and are available at:

http://www.ucas.com/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2013/jan13applicantfigures

Higher Education: Finance

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the Higher Education Funding Council for England will continue the core and margin student number control exercise in the 2014-15 academic year. [140488]

Mr Willetts: We expect to confirm the detailed arrangements for the operation of student number controls in the academic year 2014/15, in the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) 2014-15 grant letter. Places awarded through the 2012/13 and 2013/14 core and margin exercises will, in any case, still be in the system in 2014/15 allowing students to continue to benefit from high quality, value for money higher education.

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Medicine: Research

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to page three of his Department's publication Strategy for UK Life Sciences, published in December 2011, how many investment and policy events to promote UK life sciences were held during (a) 2012 and (b) the London 2012 Olympics. [140559]

Mr Willetts: In the December 2011 “Strategy for UK Life Sciences”, the Government made a commitment to

‘hold a series of investment and policy events to promote the UK's world-leading position in healthcare and life sciences in advance of the London 2012 Olympics’.

Four healthcare and life sciences events were held during the Olympics and Paralympics. These events attracted some of the largest global corporate and institutional investors, senior representatives from the healthcare and life sciences sector, business leaders, clinicians, researchers and policy makers. The four events were:

The Global Investment Conference (26 July 2012).

The Global Health Policy Summit (1 August 2012) organised by The Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College.

The Healthcare and Life Sciences Global Business Summit (2 August 2012).

The Assistive Medical Technologies Global Business Summit (3 September 2012).

These four events complemented UK Trade & Investment's presence promoting UK life sciences at other trade events overseas.

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department plans to allocate to the Biomedical Catalyst Fund in each year to 2015. [140601]

Mr Willetts: Autumn statement 2011 provided £90 million new funding to the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), aligned with £90 million from the budget of the Medical Research Council (MRC) to deliver £180 million over three years for the Biomedical Catalyst.

TSB has been allocated £30 million p.a. in 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15. The TSB's spend profile is currently under discussion, but we anticipate the majority of spend will fall in 2013/14 and 2014/15. The MRC's spend profile will be around £30 million for each of the three years.

Funding commitments from the first round of the programme were announced in November 2012. £49 million of funding was committed to 64 projects, which will leverage at least £25 million of private sector funding. 40 projects will be led by small and medium-sized enterprises, and 24 by universities. Projects funded by the Catalyst will be completed over a number of years.

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent on supporting the discovery, development and commercialisation of research in life sciences since December 2011. [140602]

Mr Willetts: BIS' budget for the discovery, development and commercialisation of research in life sciences is spent through its sponsored bodies. The figures provided

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as follows are for the most recent financial year (FY) (April 2011 to March 2012). Audited figures for expenditure for the current FY (April 2012 to March 2013) will be available from April 2013.

The Technology Strategy Board has spent a total of £16.1 million on life sciences through its biosciences and healthcare portfolio activities. In total research councils have spent an estimated £1.6 billion on research related to life science. This is broken down by research council as follows:

CouncilSpend (£)

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

542,500,000

Economic and Social Research Council

6,425,000

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

122,307,778

Medical Research Council

759,400,000

Natural Environment Research Council

133,000,000

Science and Technology Facilities Council

20,342,932

Total

1,583,812,778

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people have enrolled on higher level apprenticeships in relation to life sciences since December 2011; where such apprenticeships are located; and what assessment he has made of the likelihood that his Department will meet its target of 420 such apprenticeships by 2015. [140603]

Matthew Hancock: Cogent has developed the new life sciences higher apprenticeship framework, with investment from the Government's Higher Apprenticeships Fund, and the first apprentices enrolled on it in 2012. As participants on this apprenticeship so far have been funded by their employers, rather than by the Government, they are not currently recorded in the Government's official statistics.

However, we understand that take up of the new framework has got off to a good start and the National Apprenticeship Service expects to meet the target of 428 starts by 2015.

Overseas Students: Syria

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the Government have any plans to offer assistance to Syrian students currently studying at UK universities who are having difficulty accessing funds due to the conflict in Syria similar to that offered to Libyan students. [140662]

Mr Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is doing everything it can to support Syrian students in the UK who are encountering difficulties due to the current situation in Syria.

With regards to the situation in Libya, the UK Government, led by FCO, worked closely with the Libyan National Transitional Council to secure Libyan education funds that were already in the UK. This ensured that Libyan students were able to continue their education in the UK without disruption. No UK funds were used to support Libyan students.

4 Feb 2013 : Column 109W

There is no scope in the existing student support legislation for the Government to provide funding support for Syrian students in the UK who are no longer receiving their funding from the Syrian Government. However, BIS is monitoring the situation and working closely with other Government Departments and its partner in the sector, the International Unit at Universities UK (UUK) and we have identified a number of existing mechanisms to support Syrian students as follows:

The British Council has set up a hardship fund to provide financial assistance to Syrian students with Higher Education Capacity Building Project (HECBP) scholarships to enable them to continue their studies in the UK;

Some UK universities have joined a consortium of higher education institutions, led by the Institute of International Education, to provide scholarships for Syrian students and serve as host campuses for professors and senior scholars. The International Unit at UUK is also a member of this consortium and has publicised it to UK HEIs;

BIS also consulted HM Treasury (HMT) about the difficulty some Syrian students were facing in receiving payment from listed Syrian banks through the Syrian embassy for educational purposes. Prior to the embassy's closure, the Treasury issued licences authorising the receipt of student funding from Syria where those funds originated from or were paid through a Syrian entity subject to the asset freezing measures in Council Regulation (EU) 36/2012. Since the closure of the Syrian embassy, students are advised to apply to HMT for a licence allowing them to receive necessary funds from Syria directly to their personal accounts;

In October last year the Home Office offered a temporary concession for Syrian nationals who are lawfully in the UK to enable them extend their stay in the UK for five months from 15 October 2012 to 15 March 2013;

The Home Office have stated that

"the concessions will be reviewed in March 2013 and we continue to closely monitor the situation in Syria in order to ensure our response balances the need to maintain immigration control with the needs of Syrians currently in the UK. Those who are in fear of return to Syria are of course entitled to apply for asylum".

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if the Government will encourage all UK universities to enable Syrian students to complete their courses without suffering financial hardship caused by the conflict in Syria. [140663]

Mr Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is doing everything it can to support Syrian students in the UK who are encountering difficulties due to the Situation in Syria.

BIS is working closely with other Government Departments and its partner in the sector, the International Unit at Universities UK (UUK), to monitor the situation and to identify ways to enable students from Syria to continue their studies in the UK.

We recommend that universities and scholarship awarding bodies use their own discretion over fees, and, where possible, use their welfare and hardship funds to help support these students. In some cases universities have temporarily suspended fees or provided financial support to students. We would urge students to speak to their university.

4 Feb 2013 : Column 110W

Schools: Vocational Guidance

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to work with the Department for Education to ensure that schools provide the best advice to their students about further study options. [140428]

Matthew Hancock: As Minister for Skills I am responsible for policy on careers guidance in both the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

In April 2012 the Government published ‘National Careers Service: The Right Advice at the Right Time’ setting out the strategy for information, advice and guidance for young people and adults in England. This confirmed the introduction of a new legal duty on schools to secure access to careers guidance, which subsequently came into force in September. The Departments work together to deliver the strategy.

Travel and Subsistence Payments

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many senior officials in his Department's arm's-length bodies (a) have and (b) have had during 2012-13 terms of employment that specify that their main place of employment is their home address and that they are entitled to claim travel and subsistence expenses for visiting the offices of the arm's-length body. [141061]

Jo Swinson: The Department does not hold this information centrally and could obtain it only at disproportionate cost.

I have approached the chief executives of the Insolvency Service, Companies House, the National Measurement Office, the Intellectual Property Office, UK Space Agency, Ordnance Survey, Met Office, Land Registry and the Skills Funding Agency and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.

University Marine Biological Station Millport

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government and University College London on the future of the University Marine Biology Station, Millport. [141430]

Mr Willetts: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has had no discussions about the future of the University Marine Biology Station in Millport. As autonomous institutions, it is for higher education institutions to make the necessary decisions to ensure they are responsive to student choice and can continue to flourish, including how the funding they receive (including public funding via the Higher Education Funding Council for England and from students' loans) is used. The Further and Higher Education Act 1992 prohibits Ministers from involvement in funding decisions made by individual institutions.

4 Feb 2013 : Column 111W

Cabinet Office

Business: East Yorkshire

Mr David Davis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses that were operating in (i) Haltemprice and Howden constituency and (ii) East Yorkshire in each of the last five years. [141380]

Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question

4 Feb 2013 : Column 112W

concerning how many (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses there were in (i) Haltemprice and Howden constituency (ii) East Yorkshire in each of the last five years. [141380]

Annual statistics on the number of businesses –(enterprises) are available from the ONS release – UK Business: Activity, Size and Location at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bus-register/uk-business/index.html

Data on the number of enterprises broken down by parliamentary constituency within region and country by employment size band can be found in table B6.2 of the publication.

The following table contains the count of small and medium sized businesses that were in the constituencies of Haltemprice and Howden and East Yorkshire from 2003 to 2012. Small businesses have been defined as those with an employment between 0 and 49 and medium-sized businesses as those with an employment between 50 and 249.

 20082009201020112012
 SmallMediumSmallMediumSmallMediumSmallMediumSmallMedium

Haltemprice and Howden constituency

3,240

30

3,215

25

3,160

25

3,095

25

3,190

35

East Yorkshire constituency

4,160

45

4,110

45

4,005

45

3,915

45

3,990

50

Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to protect confidentiality. 2. These numbers do not include very small businesses, typically those below the threshold for VAT and PAYE.

Business: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses that were operating in (i) Pendle and (ii) Lancashire in each of the last five years. [141206]

Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses there were in (i) Pendle and (ii) Lancashire in each of the last five years. [141206]

Annual statistics on the number of businesses (enterprises) are available from the ONS release – UK Business: Activity, Size and Location at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bus-register/uk-business/index.html

Data on the number of enterprises broken down by districts, counties and unitary authorities within region and country by employment size band can be found in table B1.2.

The following table contains the count of small and medium sized businesses that were in Pendle and Lancashire county from 2008 to 2012. Small businesses have been defined as those with an employment between 0 and 49 and medium-sized businesses as those with an employment between 50 and 249.

 20082009201020112012
 SmallMediumSmallMediumSmallMediumSmallMediumSmallMedium

Pendle

2,565

45

2,505

40

2,430

45

2,375

45

2,405

45

Lancashire County

39,765

650

39,340

615

37,770

615

36,800

605

36,865

630

Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to protect confidentiality. 2. These numbers do not include very small businesses, typically those below the threshold for VAT and PAYE.

Charities: Fraud

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps his Department is taking to tackle the problem of bogus charity bag collectors. [141384]

Mr Hurd: We are considering Lord Hodgson's recommendations for the future regulation of legitimate public charitable collections following his review of the Charities Act 2006.

However, illegitimate and bogus collections stand outside the law and are matters for the relevant enforcement agencies. The Cabinet Office continues to encourage and support collaborative work between the charity sector, commercial recyclers, licensing and enforcement agencies and government to combat this issue.

Companies

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office who drew up the list of 38 companies that are involved in the strategic relations initiative announced in July 2011; and who was involved with any decisions to extend this list. [141422]

4 Feb 2013 : Column 113W

Michael Fallon: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

UKTI recommended a list of companies which was approved by Ministers across Government.

The Government consider the following set of criteria when considering which companies should be included in the strategic relationship management:

(1) Current and potential investment in the UK;

(2) Capacity or potential capacity to export from the UK; and

(3) The potential for the approach to add value to our relationship.

The autumn statement committed to a doubling of the strategic relations approach by April 2013.

As an intermediate step the list of companies was expanded from 38 to 50 the list of companies is available at:

http://www.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/item/203560.html

Government Departments: Billing

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will introduce electronic invoicing across Government to allow businesses to benefit from invoice discounting platforms. [140406]

Miss Chloe Smith: The Government fully support measures that simplify and streamline the procurement process, including the use of electronic invoicing.

E-invoicing is a core part of the Government's shared services strategy, and some Departments are very advanced in implementing it.

Government Departments: Internet

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many unique users have visited the data.gov.uk website in each of the last 24 months for which figures are available. [141565]

Mr Maude: Data.gov.uk has had 1,562,213 unique visitors (2,037,624 visits) since 31 January 2011.

Before the re-launch of the site on 28 June 2012, the average number of unique visitors per month was 49,000; since the re-launch of the site the average number of unique visitors has risen to 135,185.

ICT

Dr Huppert: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) which companies with headquarters in United States jurisdiction have been accepted as providers of G-Cloud computing services which could entail export of the personal data, as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998, of UK citizens outside the EU; [141309]

(2) which UK Government information systems make use of G-Cloud providers; whether the privacy impact assessments of each considered the risks of surveillance for US foreign policy purposes under section 1881a of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendment Act 2008 and the US Patriot Act 2001; and whether the unambiguous consent of UK citizens is sought before data is exported. [141439]

Mr Hurd: Details of all the companies that have been accepted as providers of G-Cloud services can be found on the CloudStore at:

4 Feb 2013 : Column 114W

www.gov.uk/cloudstore

The G-Cloud framework establishes a legal mechanism by which the public sector can set up individual contracts with suppliers should they be selected against a particular set of needs or requirements. A list of the public sector spend through the G-Cloud framework, which includes details of the public sector organisation and supplier, can be found at:

http://gcloud.civilservice.gov.uk/about/sales-information/

As detailed in the Cabinet Office offshoring guidance published in July 2011, it is the responsibility of individual Departments’ Chief Information Officers, Senior Information Risk Owners, Senior Responsible Owners and procurers to consider supplier proposals which include offshore provision options. In considering the storage or access of personal data overseas, there are a number of specific requirements, principally the completion of a privacy impact assessment and adherence to the measures set out in the Data Handling Review (June 2008) and the HMG Information Assurance Standard No. 6.

Minimum Wage

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Liverpool Walton constituency, (b) Liverpool and (c) England and Wales who earn (i) the minimum wage and (ii) less than the minimum wage. [140617]

Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question.

Estimates for the number of people paid at the national minimum wage are not available from the Office for National Statistics. Estimates for the number of jobs paid below the national minimum wage are available, but not below Regional level. These are from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).

The following table shows the number of jobs earning less than the national minimum wage for (a) the North West and (b) England and Wales in April 2012. April 2012 is the latest period for which figures are available.

A guide to measuring low pay and associated articles can be found on the National Statistics website at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/specific/labour-market/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings/low-pay-estimates/index.html

Estimates of jobs paid below the national minimum wage for (a) the North West and (b) England and Wales in April 2012
 2012
 ThousandPercentage of employee jobs

North West (including Merseyside)

*31

*1.1

England and Wales

248

1.1

Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220 Key: CV ≤ 5% * CV >5% and =10% ** CV >10% and =20% CV = Coefficient of Variation Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics

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Pay

Mr David Davis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average annual salary was for (a) men and (b) women in full-time employment in (i) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (ii) East Yorkshire, (iii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iv) England in each of the last five years. [141379]

Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

4 Feb 2013 : Column 116W

Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2013:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question.

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. Annual levels of earnings are estimated from ASHE, and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay, who have been in the same job for more than a year.

The following table shows the median gross annual earnings for all male and all female employees in (i) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (ii) East Yorkshire constituency, (iii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iv) England, for each year from 2008 to 2012.

Median gross annual earnings (£)—for full-time male and full-time female employee jobs(1) in (i) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (ii) East Yorkshire constituency, (iii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iv) England, from 2008 to 2012
 Haltemprice and Howden constituencyEast Yorkshire constituencyYorkshire and the HumberEngland
 MaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemale

2008

**29,654

**23,906

**21,382

**17,368

25,597

19,433

28,023

21,792

2009

**27,744

**23,087

**24,852

**16,090

26,006

20,224

28,657

22,402

2010

*29,016

**24,624

**26,582

**17,122

26,149

20,729

28,552

22,780

2011(2)

*28,557

**23,210

**24,610

**18,993

26,316

20,868

28,833

23,069

2011(3)

*29,420

**23,840

**23,927

**18,756

26,179

20,679

28,817

22,831

2012

**27,405

**23,440

**24,425

**17,620

26,721

20,971

29,102

23,321

(1) Employees on adult rates who have been in the same job for more than one year. (2) 2011 results based on Standard Occupational Classification 2000. (3 )2011 results based on Standard Occupational Classification 2010. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key: CV ≤ 5% * CV >5% and =10% ** CV >10% and =20% CV = Coefficient of Variation Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics.

Procurement

John Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many research contracts commissioned by his Department were not subject to a tendering process in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [135973]

Miss Chloe Smith: The default is that Cabinet Office contracts are competitively tendered. If a contract is to be awarded without competition, prior approval must be sought from either the finance director or deputy finance director (where the value of the contract exceeds £5,000). Since January 2011, details of all contracts with a value of £10,000 or more are published on Contracts Finder at:

https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Public Expenditure

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to ensure that spend data by Government Departments are published promptly in accordance with the timelines published by his Department. [141564]

Mr Maude: Data.gov.uk has a tool that tracks departmental spend data publication, showing conformance and gaps in publication:

http://data.gov.uk/data/openspending-report/index

Voluntary Work

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what steps his Department is taking to promote the (a) physical and (b) psychological benefits of volunteering; and if he will make a statement; [140844]

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the (a) minimal and (b) optimal number of hours spent volunteering before (i) physical and (ii) psychological benefits accrue to the volunteer. [141306]

Mr Hurd: We recognise that volunteering offers people a range of physical and psychological benefits. Following the introduction of a framework to measure well-being in 2011, the Cabinet Office is exploring the link between volunteering and well-being. The evaluation of the 2012 National Citizen Service pilot seeks to measure the well-being of those taking part in NCS.