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Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with the Attorney-General in Northern Ireland on ending prosecutions for conflict-related murders in Northern Ireland. [177208]

Mr Vara: The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), has not had any such discussions, as the Government have no plans to legislate for an amnesty of crimes relating to the troubles.

Tickets: Touting

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been prosecuted for using ticket bots under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. [179378]

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not all the specific circumstances of each case. This centrally held information does not allow us to separately identity whether, under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, a ticket was sold through the use of illegal computer software (botnet). This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MOJ. As such, the information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Young Offenders

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) Vietnamese and (b) Afghan nationals under 18 were accommodated in the youth secure estate in each year between 2009 and 2012. [177623]

Jeremy Wright: It is not possible to provide information on the number of Vietnamese, and Afghan nationals under 18, who were accommodated in the youth secure estate in each year between 2009 and 2012 because it would require the manual inspection of each individual's record, which could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Information on the management of foreign national offenders who are under the age of 18 is available at the following link:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/modernised/criminality-and-detention/child-fnos?view=Binary

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many consultations into young offending his Department has launched since 2010. [179307]

Jeremy Wright: All Government consultations are published on the website:

www.gov.uk

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Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many youth cautions have been given in the last year. [179309]

Jeremy Wright: The Government introduced a rationalised youth out-of-court framework in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. This replaced the previous system of reprimands and final warnings and, in some areas, youth conditional cautions with a new system comprising only the new youth caution and the youth conditional caution. This came into effect for offences committed from 8 April 2013. We therefore do not yet have a full year's worth of data on the number of youth cautions given.

Data in respect of 10 to 17-year-olds in the 12 months ending June 2013 who were given a reprimand, final warning, youth conditional caution and, since 8 April 2013, a youth caution can be viewed through the enclosed link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/260305/out-of-court-disposals-0613.xls#‘TableQ2e’!A1

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what comparative assessment he has made of remedial action and early intervention as ways of tackling young offending. [179310]

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice is fully committed to reducing reoffending as well as preventing young people from committing offences in the first place.

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has co-funded a programme of research by the Social Research Unit (SRU)-an independent charity-on the effectiveness of a wide range of interventions to prevent and reduce youth offending and reoffending. This research, ‘Investing in Children: Youth Justice', includes consideration of interventions aimed at preventing and reducing offending. Findings, published in 2012, can be found online:

http://dartington.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Youth-Justice-2-November-2012.pdf

The Youth Justice Board has used the results of this work to inform the delivery of effective interventions by youth justice practitioners.

The Ministry of Justice is also committed to supporting cross-Government initiatives to prevent young people from entering the youth justice system, including through the Troubled Families programme which aims to turn around the lives of 120,000 of the country’s most troubled families by 2015.

Business, Innovation and Skills

Access to Learning Hardship Fund

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for the future of the Access to Learning Hardship Fund. [179488]

Mr Willetts: Any decisions on the Access to Learning Hardship Fund will be announced in the new year.

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Apprentices

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of companies participating in his Department's Trailblazers initiative are small and medium-sized enterprises. [179366]

Matthew Hancock: We published a list of the employers and professional bodies involved in the first phase of Trailblazers on 28 November 2013. There are 12 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the list—20% of the employers involved.

Many of the Trailblazers are working with organisations such as EEF, the manufacturers' organisation, to engage with and incorporate the views of a much wider group of smaller businesses; others are already testing their standards as they develop through their supply chains, which will include SMEs. We have been clear that the standards developed must be relevant for all businesses within a sector, including smaller businesses, and this is one of our published criteria for approving the standards.

EU Internal Trade: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the value of exports to the EU from firms based in (a) Cumbria and (b) Barrow and Furness constituency. [179311]

Michael Fallon: In the first half of 2013 (latest data available), businesses based in the north-west exported £6.2 billion worth of goods to the European Union. The corresponding figure for 2012 as a whole was £13.4 billion. Figures are not compiled for areas below Government office region level.¹

Regional data on trade in services, broken down by EU and non-EU markets, are not available.

¹Source:

HMRC Regional Trade Statistics

https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/RTS/Pages/default.aspx

Higher Education: Finance

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding will be allocated to the higher education teaching budget for the next financial year. [179487]

Mr Willetts: Budget allocations for the higher education teaching grant will be set out in the 2014-15 grant letter to HEFCE.

Higher Education: Private Sector

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of providing financial support to students enrolled at private colleges in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17. [179479]

Mr Willetts: Estimates of expenditure will be available later this year; estimates for 2015-16 onwards are subject to final decisions on spending review allocations.

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Higher Education: Student Numbers

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what estimate his Department made of the number of students studying for higher national diplomas and higher national certificates; what the actual such figure has been; and what the cost to the public purse has been of any difference between these figures; [179214]

(2) how many (a) domestic students studying in public sector colleges, (b) foreign students in public sector colleges, (c) domestic students studying in private sector colleges and (d) foreign students in private sector colleges are studying for higher national diplomas and higher national certificates; and what the annual cost to the public purse is of funding each such group. [179220]

Mr Willetts: The Student Loans Company (SLC) publishes statistics on student support expenditure in its annual publication 'Student Support for Higher Education in England'. Statistics are disaggregated in this publication by domicile (England or EU) and provider type (public or alternative), but not qualification aims. The latest available statistics were published on 28th November 2013 at the following link:

http://www.slc.co.uk/statistics/national-statistics/newnationalstatistics1.aspx

Information on the qualification aims of students receiving financial support is not routinely published as it is not recorded in a standard format. However, estimates of the number of full-time students in receipt of student support and undertaking higher national diplomas (HNDs) and higher national certificates (HNCs), and the cost of supporting these students, are provided in the following table.

We do not make estimates of the number of students studying for specific qualification aims. Alternative providers were however asked to submit data to the Higher Educational Funding Council for England (HEFCE) on their 2013/14 recruitment plans. The Department received those data on 5 November 2013 and concluded that some of these plans were unaffordable, given the need to control public spending. BIS officials have

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therefore written to the 23 alternative providers that are expanding most rapidly to instruct them to recruit no more students, unless those students are studying on degree courses, which remain a priority. All other alternative providers are free to continue to recruit students to all courses designated for student support for the remainder of the 2013/14 academic year provided that the number of students they recruit does not exceed their planned recruitment as notified to HEFCE. This includes HNDs and HNCs.

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what reports he has received on the potential risk that the number of students studying for higher national diplomas and higher national certificates would be higher than expected. [179217]

Mr Willetts: We do not make estimates of the number of students studying for specific qualification aims. Alternative providers were however asked to submit data to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) on their 2013/14 recruitment plans. The Department received those data on 5 November and concluded that some of these plans were unaffordable, given the need to control public spending. My officials have therefore written to the 23 alternative providers that are expanding most rapidly to instruct them to recruit no more students, unless those students are studying on degree courses, which remain a priority. All other alternative providers are free to continue to recruit students to all courses designated for student support for the remainder of the 2013/14 academic year provided that the number of students they recruit does not exceed their planned recruitment as notified to HEFCE. This includes higher national diplomas (HND) and higher national certificates (HNC) which are valuable qualifications.

ICT

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people are employed within centralised IT departments or teams in his Department; and if he will make a statement. [179159]

Jo Swinson: The Department currently employs 47 staff in the core BIS IT strategy and services and IT security teams. However, the Department will be replacing its current IT system from early 2014 and the number of IT staff will reduce to a core intelligent client team in BIS of seven staff by March 2014.

Ministers' Private Offices

Mr Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he (a) has appointed or (b) intends to appoint an enlarged ministerial office. [177507]

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 398W.

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Post Offices

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with local authorities about increasing the range of Government services provided by the Post Office network. [179302]

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to the joint report of this Department, the Local Government Association and the Post Office published in March 2013: ‘The Local Government and Post Office Ltd Pathfinder Programme—An Evaluation of Strategic Engagement’:

http://www.postoffice.co.uk/sites/default/files/Political_ Stakeholder_Pathfinder.PDF

Post Offices: Scotland

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Scottish Government on increasing the range of Government services provided by the Post Office network. [179275]

Jo Swinson: The then Post Office Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), and the Secretary of State for Scotland chaired a meeting in January 2012 that was attended by the Minister for Energy, Economy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing MSP; the chief executive of Post Office Ltd, Paula Vennells; and senior representatives of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP) to discuss how the Post Office network in Scotland could be used to provide access to services on behalf of the Scottish Government and Scottish local authorities.

Following that meeting, Scottish Government officials advised that the Scottish Government were unable to identify any services that they believed could be delivered by the Post Office.

Refineries: Grangemouth

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the implication of recent events at Grangemouth refinery for Northern Ireland. [179119]

Michael Fallon: DECC officials were in touch with the Northern Ireland Executive from the outset, ensuring that suitable contingency plans were in place to safeguard Northern Ireland's fuel supplies despite the threat of disruption at Grangemouth refinery.

Science: Education

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which organisations have received funding for education and outreach in STEM subjects in each of the last three years. [179262]

Mr Willetts: The following organisations have received direct funding during this spending review period for education and outreach in STEM, STEMNET, the British Science Association and Engineering UK. The

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national academies also receive funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), part of which goes on STEM education and outreach projects. In addition, the Science Museum received funding in 2013-14 and the UK Resource Centre for Women in STEM received funding in 2011-12.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) allocates funding to support the teaching of STEM subjects in universities. In addition, it allocates funding to promote widening participation in higher education, some of which supports outreach to students who will go on to study STEM subjects.

BIS partner organisations, for example, the UK Space Agency and the Meteorological Office, also undertake STEM education and outreach.

The individual research councils have received funding from BIS, allocated from the science budget, for the past three years. In line with Government strategy, Research Councils UK (RCUK) is committed to a public engagement strategy, which as one of its three aims encourages links between schools and the UK research community in order to secure and sustain a supply of future UK researchers:

www.rcuk.ac.uk/per

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are in place for organisations which have received funding from his Department for education and outreach in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. [179321]

Mr Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) requires all organisations that receive funding to deliver education and outreach activities in STEM to evaluate their work. The funding agreements contain objectives and performance indicators and require regular progress reporting. In addition, BIS commissions broader work to evaluate impact of its funded initiatives, including independent evaluation and public attitudes surveys. For example, the individual research councils have a number of mechanisms for evaluating activities related to STEM subjects. Over the past three years Research Councils UK (RCUK) has worked with not only the research councils but other research funders to ensure that their programmes are appropriately informed by the work of other funders and that learning from the evaluations is widely disseminated.

In addition RCUK has undertaken a number of evaluations and reviews related to the knowledge exchange and impact of its investments to demonstrate and maximise the impact of the research it funds, highlight areas for improvement and ensure that RCUK continues to be a world leader in impact methodologies. RCUK's impact strategy has also been influenced by a number of external reviews and reports.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many of his Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trade unions in each year since 2010. [177705]

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Jo Swinson: The following table shows the numbers of civil servants who have undertaken secondments out of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (and its predecessors) since 2010.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many secondees from (a) trade unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Department since 2010. [177728]

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 November 2013, Official Report, column 667-8W, which included the information available for 2010.

Students: Disability

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people currently studying at universities in the UK are registered disabled. [179410]

Mr Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students at UK higher education institutions. Information is not collected

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on the number of students who were registered disabled. The performance indicators for higher education use the number of students in receipt of Disabled Students' Allowance as a measure of participation by people with a disability, and these are published on the HESA website:

http://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/2072/141/

The performance indicators show that 72,150 (6% of) UK domiciled full-time undergraduate students were in receipt of Disabled Students' Allowance in the academic year 2011/12. The equivalent figure for part-time students (who studied at least 50% of the time) was 7,475 (3.4%). These figures are sourced from the higher education sector and may understate the number of students who were registered as disabled.

UK Trade & Investment

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what UK Trade & Investment's staffing levels and budget were in the years (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013 for (i) Mexico, (ii) Indonesia, (iii) Turkey, (iv) Poland, (v) Argentina, (vi) South Africa, (vii) Venezuela, (viii) Thailand, (ix) Malaysia, (x) Chile, (xi) the Philippines, (xii) Pakistan, (xiii) Peru, (xiv) Ukraine, (xv) Romania, (xvi) Hungary, (xvii) Bulgaria, (xviii) Lithuania and (xix) Latvia. [179323]

Michael Fallon: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is not an employer in its own right; it draws on civil service staff employed by one or other of its two parent Departments—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

The budgets below represent locally employed staffing costs assigned to each market. UKTI also sets broader programme budgets and we do not hold this information at market or regional level. To provide a breakdown of all UKTI spend by market would require obtaining and analysing all invoices and expense claims, which can be done only at a disproportionate cost.

UKTI's annual programme outturn figures are set out in its annual report and accounts for 2012-13, which is available in the Vote Office and the Libraries of the House (reference: HC 24).

Energy and Climate Change

Energy

Mr Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make it easier for domestic energy consumers to switch supplier. [179234]

Michael Fallon: The Government are providing legislative backing to Ofgem's retail market review measures which will simplify and standardise tariff structures and require suppliers to provide consumers with clearer and better quality information so that it will be easier for all

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consumers to compare tariffs to find a better deal and switch. We are also bringing forward legislation which will require suppliers to include QR codes on bills which link to a customer's data to make the process even easier. The Government are also discussing with energy suppliers how to reduce the time it takes for a switch to be completed.

In addition to legislation, the Government are providing extra help and advice to vulnerable consumers through the Big Energy Saving Network to help them engage with the energy market and to give them the confidence to take decisions that will reduce their bills.

The Government have also been instrumental in providing support to collective switching schemes. Earlier this year the Government kick-started a number of innovative projects through the £5 million Cheaper Energy Together competition. Money was awarded to 31 successful projects that all focused on engaging vulnerable consumers.

Garages and Petrol Stations

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his latest assessment is of the retail fuels market. [177849]

Michael Fallon: DECC published a report from Deloitte LLP in December 2012, which considers long-term changes to the retail market for road fuels in the UK, and the implications of these changes on our energy resilience. This market has changed significantly over the last decade. However, the findings of this report do not suggest that the changes to the size and shape of the retail market for road fuels have had significant impacts on the UK's ability to respond to supply disruptions, or that these have significantly reduced the access of UK motorists to a local supply of fuel.

Garages and Petrol Stations: Northern Ireland

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland petrol retailers on the Government’s plans to support the independent forecourt sector. [177850]

Michael Fallon: I met independent fuel retailers from across the UK at a regeneration forum organised by the Petrol Retailers Association in October to hear their views on the regulatory and other issues affecting the sector.

Ministers' Private Offices

Mr Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he (a) has appointed or (b) intends to appoint an enlarged ministerial office. [177514]

Gregory Barker: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 398W.