Entry Clearances

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to assist applicants for Home Office travel documents who are unable to obtain or retain a job because all their papers are with their application in her Department; and if she will make a statement. [159316]

Mr Harper [holding answer 12 June 2013]:As part of the process of preventing illegal working we have been providing those lawfully present with secure evidence of their status in the UK in the form of Biometric Residence Permits. All travel document applicants not in possession of a valid Biometric Residence Permit confirming their current immigration status have, since February 2012 had to simultaneously apply for a Biometric Residence Permit. As part of the application process applicants are required to submit their current immigration status document with their application. Where the application is approved their immigration status document will be replaced with a Biometric Residence Permit.

Where an applicant has submitted their immigration status document and their employer or prospective employer requires confirmation of their status, the employer should contact the Employer's Helpline details are available on our website. The Employer's Helpline will check Home Office records and confirm the employee or prospective employee's status.

In cases where the employer is not willing to accept this confirmation the Travel Document Section can provide certified copies of the applicant's immigration

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status document. Providing certified copies avoids returning the original immigration status document and then asking for it back so that it can be replaced with a Biometric Residence Permit.

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to improve the issuing of business visas. [164347]

Mr Harper [holding answer 9 July 2013]:We have a target of processing 90% of business visas within 15 working days and we have exceeded that in the last three years; and many were decided in considerably less time. We continue to review our processes to identify ways to simplify the process for visa customers. We are piloting a Super Priority—same day—service in India, and continue to extend the availability of the Priority service (3-5 day turnaround). During periods of high demand, we have extended opening hours at our key Visa Application Centres, allowing us to offer primetime (evening and weekend) appointments. We continue to build relationships with key UK and foreign businesses and groups to better understand their needs, and deliver against them.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the level of abuse in applications for the student visitor visas. [165629]

Mr Harper: A Home Office study, published on 6 June, showed that the level of abuse of the student visitor route is low. It is used by both visitors who require a visa and those who apply to enter the UK at the border, to study mainly on short courses in English Language or university summer schools. Most attend courses at universities and colleges that hold a Tier 4 sponsor licence or are accredited by a Home Office-approved body. Key measures of abuse for those who entered on a student visitor visa are very low.

Human Trafficking

Mr Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many victims of trafficking have been returned to their countries of origin (a) within and (b) outside the EU in each of the last three years; and at what cost. [165566]

Mr Harper: Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2012, nine confirmed victims of trafficking have been returned to countries of origin outside of the EU through voluntary or enforced arrangements. As EU nationals have freedom of movement their return is not routinely tracked by the Home Office.

An analysis of the costs associated with returning a migrant to their country of origin can be found in the National Audit Office report:

http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/0809124_accenture_rept.pdf

Notes:

1. The figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

2. Figures relate to main applicants only.

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Illegal Immigrants

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the current size of the Migration Refusal Pool is. [164524]

Mr Harper: Figures on the current size of the Migration Refusal Pool were supplied to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 10 July 2013, in a letter from Mr David Wood, interim director general for immigration enforcement.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the non-compliance notifications received in Q4 2012 were followed up with further action within that quarter. [164527]

Mr Harper: During Q4 2012, we received 6,610 tier 2 and 5 notifications and 28,962 tier 4 notifications; we provided this information previously to the Home Affairs Select Committee.

We take follow-up action where we identify non-compliance, but the data on the follow-up action are held on multiple IT systems; as a result, we cannot track the outcomes of notifications we received in a specific time period as requested except at a disproportionate cost.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people in the Migration Refusal Pool contacted by Capita since October 2012 were subsequently found to have the right to remain in the UK; [164581]

(3) how many people in the Migration Refusal Pool Capita have contacted since October 2012; [164594]

(2) how many people in the Migration Refusal Pool have (a) left the UK voluntarily and (b) been removed from the UK since October 2012; [164593]

(4) how many complaints have been received about the Capita contract to contact persons in the Migration Refusal Pool since October 2012. [164587]

Mr Harper [holding answer 11 July 2013]: The specific information requested—in relation to the number of people in the Migration Refusal Pool contacted by Capita since October 2012 who were subsequently found to have the right to remain in the UK—is not captured in the required format on departmental IT systems. Capita only contact people where Home Office records indicate they are here without valid leave. There have been a very small number of complaints from people who claim that they have the right to remain in the UK. All complaints are investigated.

Capita had received 60 complaints up to the end of quarter 1 of 2013, from 34,100 people put into the contact process at that time.

The Home Office has verified Capita's reported key performance indicators for up to the end of quarter 1 2013. These show 8,300 (to the nearest 100) confirmed departures. We have not recorded separately how many of these have been removed or have departed voluntarily.

By the end of quarter 1 2013, Capita had put 34,100 (to the nearest 100) cases into the contact process, and 5,300 (to the nearest 100) people had responded. This figure has been taken from Capita's internal management information.

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We continue to work with Capita to source updated contact information and to encourage people to either work with Capita to assist their departure or seek to regularise their stay.

Immigrants: English Language

Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to review the guidance on the standard of English language required by spousal visa applicants. [163601]

Mr Harper: We have no plans to amend the level of English language required to qualify for leave to enter or remain as a spouse or partner of a British or settled person under the Immigration Rules. In April 2013 we successfully defended a legal challenge to this requirement in the Court of Appeal in Bibi & Anor, R (on the application of) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Rev 1) [2013] EWCA Civ 322.

The current guidance reflects the existing rules, which require the visa applicant to pass an acceptable test at a minimum level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) with an approved provider; or be a national of a majority English speaking country; or have an academic qualification equivalent to a bachelor's or master's degree or PhD in the UK, which was taught in English or fall under an exemption category.

However, the English language requirements for applicants seeking indefinite leave to remain in the UK and to naturalise as a British citizen are changing. From October 2013, applicants will have to pass the new Life in the UK test and demonstrate that they have English speaking and listening skills equivalent to ESOL entry level 3. This policy will affect spouses and other relevant migrants applying for indefinite leave to remain in the UK or to naturalise as a British citizen.

The Home Office announced further details of the changes in a Statement of Intent which is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/knowledge-of-language-and-life-in-the-uk-for-settlement-and-naturalisation-statement-of-intent

Further guidance on the revised language requirements for those seeking indefinite leave to remain in the UK or to naturalise as a British citizen will be published in due course.

Immigration

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many staff are employed at each immigration enforcement intelligence unit; [162742]

(2) what the budget for each immigration enforcement intelligence unit is; [162746]

(3) how many immigration enforcement intelligence units are in operation; and where they are located. [162748]

Mr Harper [holding answer 1 July 2013]:Home Office Immigration Enforcement has intelligence staff in 26 locations around the country. These offices are linked to our nationwide network of Immigration Compliance and Enforcement teams (ICE) and range in size and budget according to the arrest team resource

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they support. Some are satellite offices, reflecting the wide geographical areas some of the ICE teams are responsible for, and need to have a field intelligence capability to cover those areas. The list of these 26 locations along with the number of staff and the staffing budget for each is contained within a document that has been made available. The non-pay costs are managed regionally and are not broken down to individual units. In addition to the units and locations listed, there are other offices providing support and specialist functions.

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures will be included in the Government's Immigration Bill which will require the legislative consent of the devolved authorities in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland. [165348]

Mr Harper: The Immigration Bill is being prepared for introduction in accordance with established procedures for Government legislation. Immigration is a reserved matter. As part of the normal procedures to prepare legislation, Home Department Ministers and officials have engaged the Territorial Offices and the devolved authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss a range of issues, including identifying any areas where legislative consent might be required.

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with the devolved authorities on her Department's proposals to (a) change immigrants' access to NHS services and (b) require landlords to conduct immigration checks across the UK (i) prior to the Queen's Speech on 8 May 2013 and (ii) prior to the publication of her consultation on these measures on 3 July 2013. [165349]

Mr Harper: The devolved Administrations were made aware of the Government's intention to take forward action in these areas both prior to the Queen's Speech on 8 May and prior to publication of the consultation documents on 3 July.

Khat

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she plans to proscribe Catha edulis as an illegal substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. [155931]

Mr Jeremy Browne: I refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement of 3 July 2013, Official Report, column 56WS, which informed the House of the Government's decision to control catha edulis (khat) as a class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

The Government will lay the draft legislation at the earliest possible opportunity.

Overseas Visitors

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been found to have over-stayed in the UK when departing from the UK in each of the last three years. [162421]

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Mr Harper: The requested figures on the number of people found to have overstayed when departing from the UK is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Passports: Inspections

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice she has given to officials inspecting British passports where the surnames of children differ from that of the mother. [165127]

Mr Harper: Checks are conducted on passengers arriving in the UK in accordance with the Border Force Operating Mandate, regardless of nationality. Border Force staff also undergo mandatory training to ensure

16 July 2013 : Column 606W

they are aware of their statutory duty to safeguard the welfare of children. Where a child is encountered at the border and it is not immediately apparent that the accompanying adult is a parent or guardian, officers will ask questions to satisfy themselves as to the child's welfare and to discharge their statutory duty. This will be done as quickly and as sensitively as possible to avoid unnecessary delay to the passengers' journey.

Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of each type of offence has been taken into consideration in each of the last five years. [165415]

Mr Jeremy Browne: The information requested is shown in the following table:

Vetting

Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for which classes of young people who are (a) UK citizens and (b) EU nationals resident temporarily in the UK are those looking after them not liable for Disclosure and Barring Service checks; and what differences there are based on the nationality of the young people concerned. [164622]

James Brokenshire: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 July 2013, Official Report, columns 486-7W.

Transport

Accountancy

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on contracts with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008. [164962]

Norman Baker: The information requested can be found in the table below:

Driving Under Influence: Drugs

Mrs Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the new drug driving offence on the role of health professionals; and if he will make a statement. [165354]

Stephen Hammond: Health care professionals will need to understand the potential effect the new drug driving offence will have when prescribing and supplying medicines that have been proposed for inclusion in the new drug driving offence.

The Government have sought to limit any potential impact on health care professionals and patients as much as possible by proposing limits at a road safety risk level for those controlled drugs most associated with medical uses. In most cases this will be higher than normal therapeutic levels.

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However, for the much less common occasions when high doses of medicines are prescribed, which exceed the proposed specified limits, it will be important for health care professionals to communicate to their patients that if their driving is not impaired by the medicine they should recommend the patient carries evidence when driving that they are using medication. They will then be able to use this evidence for the statutory medical defence if stopped by the police.

Officials have already been considering how the necessary information will be provided to health care professionals in time for the commencement of the new offence expected in summer 2014.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if his Department will implement improvements to the medical information given to patients taking prescribed drugs that increase driving risk. [165506]

Stephen Hammond: Officials have already been in discussions with the Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), an agency of the Department of Health. The MHRA has a communication role through the provision of accurate, timely and authoritative information to health care professionals, patients and the public. Departmental officials are continuing to liaise with the MHRA to ensure that the necessary information is provided in time for the commencement of the new offence expected in summer 2014.

Grant Thornton

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on contracts with Grant Thornton in each year since 2008. [165699]

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport has spent the following on contracts with Grant Thornton in each of the financial years since 2008:

Motorcycles

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what the effect on motorcycle testing and training will be of the merger of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency and the Driving Standards Agency; [165708]

(2) if he will review the governance of motorcycle testing and training following the merger of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency and the Driving Standards Agency; and if he will make a statement. [165720]

Stephen Hammond: There are no immediate plans to change the provision of the existing service as a result of the move to a single agency. There will be a review of how best to deliver services as a single agency, which will be undertaken by the transition programme.

16 July 2013 : Column 608W

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of whether the implementation in the UK of the EU legislation requiring certain higher speed exercises in the motorcycle test to be conducted on a limited range of off-road testing areas has caused practical difficulties; and if he will make a statement. [165721]

Stephen Hammond: After introducing the new, two-part, motorcycle test the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has implemented a range of improvements to service provision in order to address the concerns of industry groups and maximise the new test's road safety benefits. The DSA has opened three additional sites for module one tests and is introducing module two tests at an additional eight driving test centres. More motorcycle examiners have been made available following a successful recruitment campaign and improvements to the booking system has resulted in more test bookings being made available at times and dates that provide better access for motorcycle trainers and candidates.

The recent motorcycle test review considered alternative ways of providing a single event practical motorcycle test that could be carried out on the road in a way that would maintain riding standards, protect safety, increase the accessibility of the test and meet the requirements of the European legislation.

Research concluded that an on-road test:

would result in a substantial increase in the number of incidents during tests;

increased the duration of the test, which would result in higher costs for both candidates and the DSA; and

resulted in significantly more faults than the off-road test.

I have decided that a single event on-road motorcycle test would not be in the interests of motorcycle test candidates or their trainers and examiners.

Motorcycles: Licensing

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to repatriate motorcycle rider licensing powers from the European Union. [165703]

Stephen Hammond: There are no plans to repatriate motorcycle rider licensing powers from the European Union. In line with all other member states, the United Kingdom's driver licensing forms part of the European Community's driver licensing system. These harmonised standards provide for the mutual recognition of driving licences between member states of the European Union and the European economic area.

Northcote House

Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department used the facilities at Northcote House, Sunningdale Park, Berkshire in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement. [164829]

Norman Baker: To the best of my knowledge, no officials or Ministers in the Department for Transport have made use of the facilities at Northcote House, Sunningdale Park, Berkshire in 2010-11, 2011-12 or

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2012-13. Staff on training courses organised by the National School of Government may have used the rooms at Northcote House but the Department does not record this information.

Pedestrian Crossings

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of the availability of lollipop people to assist children to cross roads, by local authority area; and what change there has been in the numbers of lollipop people since 2010. [165129]

Stephen Hammond: The Department for Transport does not publish criteria for determining when school crossing patrols should be implemented by local authorities. This is a matter for local authorities to determine.

Roads: Safety

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of local authorities have reduced their expenditure on road safety since 2010. [164798]

Stephen Hammond: The following link can be used to download expenditure by individual local authority on road safety since 2010:

http://road-collisions.dft.gov.uk

Shipping

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which events (a) Ministers and (b) officials

16 July 2013 : Column 610W

in his Department have (i) been invited to and (ii) plan to attend as part of London International Shipping Week from 9 to 13 September 2013. [165751]

Stephen Hammond: We are pleased to take every opportunity to promote the maritime sector. For this reason we are proud to actively support the London International Shipping Week from 9-13 September, which will showcase all that London can offer across the maritime sector. I, together with my ministerial colleagues and with officials from across Government, will be involved with a wide range of events that are taking place over the week which is shaping up to be a really exciting opportunity.

Tonnage Tax

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vessels that qualified for the tonnage tax scheme in each year since 2001-02 were crewed entirely by (a) non-UK and (b) non-EU seafarers. [165753]

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not collect this information. However, we do have information on the total number of vessels in tonnage tax, and a breakdown by nationality—UK, other EEA and other (non-EEA)—of the numbers of seafarers employed on those vessels, as reported to us by companies and groups as at the beginning of each tonnage tax training commitment year, as follows:

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with (i) trades unions and (ii) the UK Chamber of Shipping on the creation of a mandatory link to training UK seafarer ratings in the tonnage tax scheme; and what his policy is on the creation of such a link. [165755]

Stephen Hammond: Ministers and officials have had no recent discussions on this subject with either the trade unions or the UK Chamber of Shipping. We do not currently have plans to create a mandatory link to training UK seafarer ratings in the tonnage tax scheme, but we are aware that such ideas are being discussed and we will consider any proposals as part of our ongoing dialogue with the trade unions and the Chamber of Shipping.

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency: Driving Standards Agency

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many properties will become part of the new agency arising from the merger of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency and the Driving Standards Agency; and what estimate he has made of the savings that will be realised from that merger. [165102]

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Stephen Hammond: All of the current VOSA and DSA property comes under the new Agency. That totals some 348 offices and testing centre properties (as well as other smaller sites). A high level assessment was made to assure ourselves that the costs of moving to a single agency would easily be outweighed by the benefits. A detailed quantification of the benefits, and costs, will form part of the transition programme.

Education

Academies

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what training is provided to academy brokers on their responsibility to have regard for the Civil Service Code. [165738]

Mr Timpson: During academy brokers' induction, it is made clear that, while working for the Department,

16 July 2013 : Column 612W

all academy brokers are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the principles of the Civil Service Code.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on the provision of departmental e-mail accounts to academy brokers employed as contractors. [165739]

Mr Timpson: All academy brokers are issued with a departmental e-mail account, which they are required to use when conducting their departmental business.

Accountancy

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department spent on contracts with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008. [164948]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has spent the following amounts on contracts with each of the organisations as follows:

The figures quoted for financial years prior to 2012-13 are for the Department only. Executive Agencies were set up from April 2012 and are included in the figures thereafter.

Since January 2011, central Government Departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the contracts they award⁽¹⁾. In addition, Departments publish details of spend in excess of £25,000.

⁽¹⁾Note:

www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/

Children: Detention Centres

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether (a) Campsfield House, (b) Tinsley House and (c) the Cedars pre-departure accommodation are regulated by the Children Act 1989 and the guidance and regulations which his Department issues on children's welfare. [165627]

Mr Harper: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.

The Campsfield and Tinsley House immigration removal centres and the Cedars pre-departure accommodation do not carry out activities or provide services under the Children Act 1989, and do not fall to be regulated on that basis. These facilities are, however, inspected by HM Inspector of Prisons, and monitored by the Independent Monitoring Boards. In addition, the Children's Commissioner has powers of entry and inspection for the Tinsley family unit and for Cedars. A Detention Service Order on safeguarding is in place and staff are issued with details of the safeguarding policy for each facility. In addition, all staff are required to undergo Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

Grant Thornton

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department has spent on contracts with Grant Thornton in each year since 2008. [165689]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has not spent any monies with Grant Thornton since 2008.

Since January 2011, central Government Departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder⁽¹⁾, information on the contracts they award. In addition, Departments publish details of spend in excess of £25,000.

⁽¹⁾www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk

Northcote House

Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department used the facilities at Northcote House, Sunningdale Park, Berkshire in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement. [164808]

Elizabeth Truss: Following a review of learning and development across Government, the National School of Government, which delivered training on the

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Sunningdale Park site, closed on 31 March 2012. Data on which individuals may have used the site were not retained.

Primary Education: Class Sizes

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average number of pupils per class in primary schools was in academic years (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13. [165764]

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Mr Laws: Based on the January school census, data on average class sizes in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England for the academic years 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 are included in table 6(c) in the Statistical First Release ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2013'. A copy of this table has been placed in the House Library.

Public Opinion

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department has spent on (a) focus groups and (b) opinion polls in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement. [165302]

Elizabeth Truss: There has been no centrally co-ordinated or funded focus group or opinion poll activity since May 2010. To establish whether other areas of the Department have undertaken activity in this area would incur disproportionate cost.

Between 2006 and 2010 public opinion research totalled £579,263.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what per capita spending on primary school pupils in England was as a proportion of such spending on secondary school pupils in each year from 2010. [165303]

Mr Laws: Average per pupil funding figures for primary school pupils compared to secondary school pupils in England in financial years 2010 to 2014 are shown in the following table.

The ratios are derived from Section 251 Budget statements for 2010 to 2013 and Schools Block proforma data for 2013 to 2014. The figures are not directly comparable between 2013 to 2014 and the previous years as changes in the funding system mean figures for that year are Schools Block only and exclude pupils in SEN units and resourced provision. Also the 2013 to 2014 figures cover recoupment academies as well as maintained schools, where previous year figures cover maintained schools only.

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Schools: Nottinghamshire

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent estimate he has made of the number of temporary classrooms in Nottinghamshire Local Education Authority. [165707]

Mr Laws: As a result of the last Government's decision to stop collecting information on the condition of the school estate since 2005, the Department for Education does not at present hold data on the number of pupils educated in temporary classrooms in Nottinghamshire. We believe this decision was flawed, which is why the Department has been collecting up-to-date information on the school estate via the Property Data Survey Programme (PDSP), including the number of temporary classrooms across England.

The survey programme is scheduled for completion in early autumn. The data gathered will then be subject to a rigorous quality assurance process. When this process has been finalised, the Department will use this information to inform future maintenance allocations.

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Sure Start Programme

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many Sure Start schemes there are in (a) rural and (b) urban areas. [165339]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department does not hold the information in the format requested.

Teachers: West Midlands

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) teachers and (b) classroom assistants were employed in maintained schools in (i) the West Midlands, (ii) Birmingham and (iii) Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency in each of the last five academic years. [165069]

Mr Laws: The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teachers and teaching assistants who were in service in publicly funded schools in each of the last two academic years in the West Midlands, Birmingham and Birmingham Selly Oak constituency. The numbers reflect the position as at November of each year.

Data for November 2012 will be available on 17 July 2013 from the Statistical First Release ‘School Workforce in England, November 2012’:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2012

Tables 19 and 26 at the following link provide the time series of local authority figures for teacher and teaching assistant numbers who were in service in local authority maintained schools in England. The time series includes the position at January 2008 and 2009. Constituency level data could be provided only at disproportionate cost. These data do not include teachers working in academies as numbers at this time were too small to be significant. These tables have been placed in the House Library.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/xls/sfr232009t19t27v2xls.xls

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many answers by his Department to parliamentary questions involving tables of statistics fewer than four pages in length were (a) printed in full and (b) provided via a link to a website in the last year; [165466]

(2) what guidance his Department follows in determining whether statistics in answers to parliamentary questions are (a) provided in full, (b) provided via a link to a website and (c) deposited in the Library. [165485]

Elizabeth Truss: The Department follows guidance and advice from the Leader of the House of Commons⁽¹⁾ about how to provide statistics when answering parliamentary questions. As advised in the guidance, where tables, reports or other documents are placed in the Library (and where answers refer to information on the internet), our policy is to provide a paper copy to the Member, wherever practical.

The Department does not hold a central record of how many tables were printed in full or provided via a weblink in the last year. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

⁽¹⁾ www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary -work

Note:

A copy has already been placed in the Library.

Treasury

Accountancy

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on contracts with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008. [164963]

Sajid Javid: The Department has spent a total of £35,457,959.71 in relation to contracts with Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and Ernst and Young in each year since January 2008 to December 2012, a breakdown of these costs can be found in the following table.

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16 July 2013 : Column 618W

The main spend with these companies have been in connection with financial stability, Equitable Life and OSCAR.

Since January 2011, central Government Departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the contracts they award

www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/

In addition, Departments publish details of spend in excess of £25,000.

Charitable Donations

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any plans to incentivise philanthropic giving outside of London; and if he will make a statement. [165760]

Sajid Javid: This Government recognise the hugely important contribution charities and philanthropists make to our society. That is why we have introduced a package of measures to incentivise charitable giving. These include the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme; the Cultural Gifts Scheme that gives a tax reduction to those giving items of cultural value to the nation; a lower rate of inheritance tax for estates that leave money to charity; and current consultation processes on improving Payroll Giving, Gift Aid on digital donations and a new social investment relief. These measures all build on the very successful Gift Aid scheme that is worth over £1 billion a year to charities.

The Government want to see the charity and philanthropy sector thrive across the UK and is therefore not currently intending to introduce a new tax in all areas to promote philanthropy in specific geographic areas.

Cheques

Lyn Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the Prudential Regulation Authority will successfully oversee the continuity of the management of paying and drawing cheques. [164884]

Sajid Javid: The Payments Council has made a clear statement that cheque facilities will continue to be available until the alternatives that would be put in place, including a paper based system, are available, acceptable and widely adopted.

The Government also expect cheque facilities to fall within the powers of the new Payments Regulator.

Financial Services

Alun Cairns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress his Department has made in supporting the development of simplified financial retail products. [164338]

Sajid Javid: In 2011, the Government asked Carol Sergeant to chair an independent Simple Financial Products Steering Group, tasked with developing a suite of financial products which are straightforward and easy to understand. The recommendations of this group, along with their recommended suite of simple financial products, were published in the Sergeant Review on 13^{( )}March this year. This is an opportunity for industry to proactively take steps to improve competition in savings and protection, by helping consumers to compare products and actively engage with the market as well as building consumer trust in the industry. The Government fully expect that the financial services industry will recognise these benefits, and look to industry to make the recommendations in the final Sergeant Review report a reality.

Interest Rate Swap Transactions

Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 4 July 2013, Official Report, columns 715-6W, on interest rate swap transactions, if he will assess the economic effect and loss of jobs within the economy as a consequence of the mis-selling of interest rate hedging products. [164890]

Sajid Javid: The Financial Conduct Authority's review into the mis-selling of interest rate hedging products is now under way and the Government want the process to be concluded as quickly and as fairly as possible. The Government's priority is that those businesses affected receive redress in a timely manner.

Revenue and Customs

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any adverse impacts on HM Revenue and Customs' customers and staff with protected characteristics have been identified in the equality assessment for the Needs Enhanced Support pilot; and what measures it has put in place to minimise these. [164891]

Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs is committed to meeting all its obligations under the Equality Act 2010, stipulated under the public sector duty within the Act, both in relation to its staff and customers.

The Department completed an initial ‘impact assessment' to ensure it mitigated any adverse impacts that might arise from the new model.

Additional independent research identified the most vulnerable groups who needed extra help. Their research included observations and interviews across a number of organisations, including HMRC and the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and data analysis from several existing large-scale, robust government surveys.

16 July 2013 : Column 619W

From these findings, HMRC concluded that a more flexible and accessible service is needed for customers who need extra help.

HMRC conducted a public consultation from March to May and is now running a pilot in the North East until October. This will help to explore if there is more HMRC can do to ensure they fulfil their obligations. All of this evidence will be used to help HMRC make a decision in January 2014 on whether to rollout the new model nationally.

Revenue and Customs: Wales

Paul Murphy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will meet his counterpart in the Welsh Government to discuss the closure of HM Revenue and Customs enquiry centres in Wales; [164918]

(2) what plans he has to replace HM Revenue and Customs enquiry centres in Wales; [164919]

(3) when he last met his counterpart in the Welsh Government to discuss the proposed closure of HM Revenue and Customs enquiry centres in Wales; [164920]

(4) what representations he has received from people in Wales regarding the closure of HM Revenue and Customs enquiry centres in Wales. [165254]

Mr Gauke: HMRC has advised that no decision has been made regarding the future of its enquiry centres in Wales.

HMRC will evaluate the feedback from the public consultation, which closed on 24 May together with the information gathered from the pilot currently running in the North East.

HMRC plans to announce its decision on the way forward in January 2014.

Treasury Ministers and officials engage with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to release details of all such meetings.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes were made to the levels of stamp duty from (a) 1997 to 2010 and (b) 2010 to date. [165274]

Mr Gauke: A table of rates and thresholds of stamp duty on property transactions (to 30 November 2003) and stamp duty land tax (from 1 December 2003) is published in H M Revenue and Customs' monthly property transaction statistics: see table 8 at:

16 July 2013 : Column 620W

www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/transactions/val-40000-or-above.xls

Rates of ad valorem stamp duty on transfers of stock and marketable securities during the period in question are as follows:

27 October 1986 to 30 September 1999: 50p per £100 or part of £100

1 October 1999 to date: 0.5% rounded up to the next multiple of £5.

The fixed £5 stamp duty which applied to certain transactions, and ad valorem duty on transactions where the consideration is less than £1,000, were abolished from 13 March 2008.

Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) on agreements to transfer chargeable securities is charged at the same rate (0.5%) as stamp duty. This rate has been unchanged since 1986.

UK Financial Investments

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff at UK Financial Investments have worked at his Department within the last five years. [164913]

Sajid Javid: UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI) is mainly staffed by individuals with private sector and financial services experience. This experience is essential in discharging its core mandate.

There are less than five members of staff who work for UKFI whom have worked at HM Treasury in the past five years. These members of staff work primarily in public policy and governance roles given the competencies which exist within the Department in these areas.

Cabinet Office

Accountancy

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) how much No. 10 Downing Street spent on contracts with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008; [164960]

(2) how much his Department spent on contracts with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008; [164942]

(3) how much the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office spent on contracts with (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008. [164947]

Miss Chloe Smith: The spend figures for (a) Deloitte, (b) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young in each year since 2008 is as follows:

16 July 2013 : Column 621W

These figures should be seen in the context of broader spend on similar firms. By taking stronger control of consulting and temporary labour, this Government saved £1.6 billion in 2012-13. Government expenditure on consultancy is now less than a quarter of the level it was in 2009-10.

Details of expenditure approvals for consultancy controls are published on:

www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk

and on data.gov.uk:

www.data.gov.uk

Additionally, all new contracts over the value of £10,000 and payments of over £25,000 are published on Contracts Finder:

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

Under this Government's reforms, any contract for consultancy the estimated value of which exceeds £20,000 must obtain the approval of the Minister for the Cabinet Office.

Corruption

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the role of the international anti-corruption champion involves; and what work the international anti-corruption champion has undertaken over the last 12 months. [165818]

Mr Kenneth Clarke: The role of the champion is to help ensure a coherent approach to combating international corruption and has recently been expanded to include domestic corruption. In the last 12 months a significant amount of Government attention has been focused on anti-corruption, and the UK's response to the issue has been praised as:

‘highly adequate and in some ways exemplary'

by the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. The prevention of corruption through greater transparency were key themes of the UK's recent G8 presidency. The G8 took action to help establish the beneficial owners of companies, to effectively tackle anti-money laundering and to shed greater light on the extractives industry. The UK will continue this work through our chairmanship of the Open Government Partnership, which aims to secure concrete commitments from Governments to promote transparency and fight corruption.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the level of corruption in the delivery of public services in England and Wales; and whether he plans to respond to Transparency International's report on that subject entitled Global Corruption Barometer 2013. [165820]

Mr Kenneth Clarke: The report provides a helpful contribution to our work in this area and I welcome the continuing input of Transparency International in raising awareness of these issues.

Immigration: Statistics

Mr Hollobone: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if, so as to provide an accurate record, he will request the Office of National Statistics to revise its long-term immigration statistics especially for the

16 July 2013 : Column 622W

period 1997 to 2010 in the light of the results of the 2011 Census. [165742]

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 July 2013:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if, so as to provide an accurate record, he will request the Office of National Statistics to revise its long-term immigration statistics especially for the period 1997 to 2010 in the light of the results of the 2011 Census. 165742.

Revised net migration, immigration and emigration figures have been published as components of change in revised mid-year population estimates from the year to mid-2002 to the year to mid-2010 for England and Wales. These take into account the results from the 2011 Census, and included a revision to the net migration component, focussed primarily on the middle part of the decade before improvements were made to the International Passenger Survey in 2009. This provides a revised series of net migration for the inter-censal period, which is shown in Table 1:

No revisions have been made to either the mid-year population estimates or the international migration estimates for the period from 1997-2001 in light of the results of the 2011 census, and there are no plans to do so.

ONS plans to publish a paper on the quality of international migration estimates from 2001 to 2011 in autumn 2013.

Open Government Partnership

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what (a) staffing and (b) financial resources his Department has dedicated to implementing the UK's 2013 National Action Plan for the Open Government Partnership. [165669]

Mr Hurd: Our final plan is not yet published and commitments are not finalised.

Public Sector: Procurement

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his policy is on taking account of human rights related matters in public procurement of goods and services. [165745]

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Miss Chloe Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 July 2013, Official Report, columns 415-6W.

The Cabinet Office will apply the most appropriate selection criteria to achieve value for money on a case by case basis.

Regulation

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the title is of each regulation his Department (a) introduced and (b) revoked in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013 to date; and if he will make a statement. [165905]

Mr Maude: No regulation was introduced or revoked by the Cabinet Office between May and December 2010. The One-in, One-out rule applied to regulations introduced from 1 January 2011. Since January 2011 information regarding the regulations the Cabinet Office has introduced and those it plans to remove has been published on a six-monthly basis in its Statement of New Regulation (SNR). The statements are available on GOV.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-innovation-skills/series/one-in-two-out-statement-of-new-regulation

Third Sector: Finance

Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how the commitment in the 2013 Spending Review of continued funding of £56 million to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations relates to the commitment made in the 2010 Spending Review of £470 million to support capacity building in the voluntary and community sector. [165740]

Mr Hurd: For 2015-16 we have protected our core civil society programmes by providing sustained funding at the 2014-15 level of £56 million (this figure does not include National Citizen Service).

Deputy Prime Minister

Primary Elections

Dame Tessa Jowell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) whether the Government plan to implement the commitment in the coalition agreement to fund 200 all-postal primaries over the present Parliament, targeted at seats which have not changed hands for many years; [165562]

(2) if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of funding 200 all-postal primaries for the selection of parliamentary candidates before the 2015 general election; [165563]

(3) if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of funding a pan-London primary to select mayoral candidates before the 2016 London mayoral election. [165564]

Miss Chloe Smith: There are significant costs associated with funding 200 all-postal primaries. As such the Government are considering how to take forward this

16 July 2013 : Column 624W

measure. However, the political parties can choose to fund all-postal primaries where they want to (including for the London Mayoral elections) without requiring this to be funded by the taxpayer. The Government's commitment relates only to the funding of postal primaries for parliamentary seats.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he plans to bring forward proposals for 200 all-postal primaries following the undertaking to do so in the coalition agreement. [165792]

Miss Chloe Smith: There are significant costs associated with funding 200 all-postal primaries. As such the Government are considering how to take forward this measure. However, the political parties can choose to fund all-postal primaries where they want to without requiring this to be funded by the taxpayer.

Business, Innovation and Skills

Burma

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what guidance his Department gives to companies on investment in Burma on projects which cause displacement; [165674]

(2) what guidance his Department gives to UK companies on trade or investment with the Yuzana group of companies in Burma. [165675]

Michael Fallon: Since the suspension of EU sanctions in April 2012 and subsequent removal, the British Government have committed to promoting responsible trade and investment in support of Burma's democratic reform process.

Where companies have expressed interest in Burma, Ministers have been able to refer them to the UKTI office which opened in Rangoon in July 2012. UKTI can offer practical support and advice to British companies who are interested in the opportunities in Burma. Details, along with a practical Guide for Doing Business in Burma and FCO political and economic updates can be found on the UKTI website.

The British Government urge all UK companies entering Burma to abide by international standards of corporate governance and social and environmental responsibility. In particular, this means adhering to the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises, and the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In recognition of the importance of business activity remaining consistent with human rights, the British Government have committed £600,000 to the Centre for Responsible Investment, which will be equipped to offer advice on responsible investment to any foreign company looking to invest in Burma, including on land issues. We are also providing £150,000 to support the implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, a global standard which promotes revenue transparency and accountability in the extractives sector.

Business: Government Assistance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the Government's policy is on promoting small and medium-sized enterprises and other UK businesses in Government speeches, publications and press releases. [165821]

16 July 2013 : Column 625W

Michael Fallon: Promoting and supporting the work of British business—small, medium and large—forms a key part of Government communication activities, including speeches, publications, digital media, paid-for marketing, and press releases.

Credit: Interest Rates

Mr Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to tackle payday lending. [164923]

Jo Swinson: The Government are deeply concerned about evidence of widespread problems in the payday market. In March we announced, together with the regulators, a tough action plan of immediate and longer term measures to address the key concerns identified. Since then action has been underway to deliver on this.

The current regulator Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is in the midst of tough enforcement and compliance activity. Since March, the OFT has sent compliance letters to the 50 leading payday lenders (accounting for 90% of the market). Of the 28 that have responded so far, 10 have left the payday market. All responses are expected by the end of this month. If the OFT still has concerns, it can take enforcement action, including imposing legal requirements, taking steps to remove the lender's licence or, in extreme cases, immediately suspending the lender's licence. In addition to the 50 lenders, the OFT has revoked the licences of three other payday lenders and another has surrendered its licence since March.

OFT has also just referred the entire payday lending market to the Competition Commission, on the grounds that there are fundamental problems with the way the payday lending market works. The FCA's new competition remit to tackle markets which are not functioning properly means it is well-placed to respond to the outcome of the Competition Commission's review.

The FCA has committed to prioritise action on payday lending right from April 2014. In preparation it is considering:

requiring the payday lending sector to go through the rigorous FCA authorisation process first out of all credit sectors, where firms will need to meet a much higher bar to continue to trade and rogues ejected from the market.

putting much of the current OFT guidance into binding FCA rules, which the FCA will be able to use its enforcement powers to police.

whether new, additional targeted interventions on payday lending are necessary from April 2014.

The FCA will set out their proposals on new rules and interventions in a September consultation.

The Government have just held, on 1 July, a payday lending summit to take stock of where we have got to since March, and to consider what still needs to be done collectively to address outstanding concerns. We also launched two surveys to check how well the payday industry is meeting the standards set out in the voluntary codes. The Government are also supporting the provision of alternatives to payday loans. This includes committing investment of up to £38 million in credit unions to increase access to affordable credit for at least one million more people by 2019.

16 July 2013 : Column 626W

Mr Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have owed more than £500 on a payday loan in each of the last five years. [164992]

Jo Swinson: The Government do not hold these data and are not aware that they exist.

Mr Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have received a payday loan in each of the last five years. [165079]

Jo Swinson: The Government do not collect these data. Estimates of the number of households in Great Britain using payday loans varies from over 300,000 according to YouGov (2011) to around 1.5 million (2012) according to the Aviva Family Finances Survey. The following table provides data for each of the last five years.

Mr Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have owed more than £1,000 on a payday loan in each of the last five years. [165080]

Jo Swinson: The Government do not hold these data and are not aware that they exist.

Equality

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been spent by his Department (a) in total and (b) on staff costs on promoting equality and diversity in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many people are employed by his Department for this purpose. [165446]

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills is committed to ensuring its policies and practices secure equality of opportunity for all. To help achieve this, it has spent a total of £689,470.40, including staff costs of £683,970.40, in the last three financial years.

In 2010-11 and 2011-12 the staffing costs were £224,076.90. In 2012-13 this rose slightly to £235816.60 due to additional temporary replacement resource to cover maternity leave.

The total staff working on equality, diversity and inclusion have reduced from 4.7FTE in 2010 to the current 4.0 FTE.

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Graduates: Debts

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect of raising the level of tuition fees and falling levels of entrepreneurialism and company start-up among graduates because of higher indebtedness; and if he will make a statement. [164906]

Mr Willetts: At this stage, it is too early to evaluate the full impact of the recent increases in student tuition fees on graduates' decisions, as the new fee levels were introduced only in 2012. Student loans are different from other types of debt because they are income contingent; borrowers will only repay at a rate of 9% of their income above £21,000. This is higher than the repayment threshold set for those subject to the tuition fee loan regime implemented by the previous Administration in 2006, meaning loan repayments are lower.

No assessment has been made of the impact on entrepreneurialism and company start-up among graduates after the introduction of tuition fee loans in 2006. However, data provided by GEM⁽¹⁾ show that total early stage entrepreneurial activity for graduates aged between 18 and 24 years increased between 2010 and 2011.

GEM⁽²⁾ data also show that total early stage entrepreneurial activity in the UK is now higher than it has been since the series began in 2002 (9.8% in 2012 for the adult population). Numbers of business start-ups have also remained resilient between 2008 and 2012, with around half a million new businesses being created annually in Great Britain, over this period.

The Government are encouraging an entrepreneurial mindset and building ambition in young people through activities in schools, colleges and universities. For example, BIS is funding The National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs in developing and driving forward student enterprise societies across higher and further education institutions.

⁽¹⁾ Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.

⁽²⁾ Total early stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA rate) measures the percentage of adults (aged 18 to 64 years) actively involved in setting up or running a business less than 42-months-old.

Office of Fair Trading: Competition Commission

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of staff of Civil Service equivalent Grade 7 and above have left the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission in the last 18 months. [165808]

Jo Swinson: Turnover at OFT for staff at grade 7 and above in the 18 months 1 January 2012-30 June 2013:

In the last 18 months, 43 employees of civil service equivalent grade 7 and above left the OFT. This is a turn over of 16.6%.

Turnover at the Competition Commission for staff at grade 7 and above in the 18 months 1 January 2012—30 June 2013:

In the last 18 months, 14 employees of civil service equivalent Grade 7 and above left the Competition Commission. This is a turnover of 10.94%.

16 July 2013 : Column 628W

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what procedures are in place for retaining experienced staff at the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission at Civil Service equivalent Grade 7 and above. [165809]

Jo Swinson: Recruiting, attracting and retaining a skilled and talented workforce is essential to the work of the OFT and the Competition Commission (CC).

To achieve this, both organisations offer high quality work that provides interest and development for their staff. They invest heavily in development of staff and offer career development through substantive and temporary promotion opportunities. Both organisations offer flexible working to support work/life balance.

Staff in the OFT and also the CC are given the opportunity to work on high profile and important areas of work.

Some examples of the OFT and CC's retention efforts include: short term secondments, temporary promotions, staff support, promotion of employee assistance programmes promotion of an employee assistance programme, appropriate use of pay and reward policies to recognise the excellent contribution staff are making to the success of the OFT and CC and a review of performance management to ensure it aligns with the need to motivate and retain staff.

Official Cars

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many officials in his Department used Government cars for a business reason in each year since 2009. [165360]

Jo Swinson: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which officials in his Department were entitled to use the Government car pool in each year since 2009. [165361]

Jo Swinson: When the allocated car provided by the Government Car Service is not in use by Ministers it can be used for the transport of other officials.

Pay

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of businesses paying salaries between the value of the minimum wage and the living wage in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16. [165543]

Jo Swinson: There is no universally accepted definition of the living wage. Therefore we have made no such assessment.

Postgraduate Education

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his Department's policy is on the creation of a tuition fee loan system for postgraduate university study. [165403]

16 July 2013 : Column 629W

Mr Willetts: Postgraduate research and taught training is important both to individuals and to developing higher level skills for the economy. The Government provide funding to support eligible individuals undertaking postgraduate qualifications, through Research Councils support for postgraduate research and Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) support towards the costs of postgraduate taught courses and research supervision costs.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) recently announced £25 million for a Postgraduate Support Scheme to be distributed as grants to universities and colleges to test, among other things, different ways of financing postgraduate study. This could involve innovative partnerships and proposals involving employers, universities and/or lenders.

Further details about the HEFCE Postgraduate Support Scheme can be found at:

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2013/cl182013/#d.en.82616