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30 Mar 2010 : Column WA371
Pensions: NEST
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much is expected to be loaned to the National Employment Savings Trust in each of the years 2010-11 to 2014-15; when it is expected that the loans will be repaid; and what rates of interest will be charged. [HL2933]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): My department continues to work with the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority to refine cost estimates for NEST, which will ultimately depend on a number of factors including the size and nature of its membership, and the outcomes of a number of outstanding procurements.
However, based on our current estimates, we envisage that the loans made to the NEST Corporation each year will be of the order of:
| Year | |
* Amounts for 2010/11 include amounts lent to PADA in 2010/11 prior to NEST Corporation being established
The period in which the loan to NEST Corporation will be repaid will also depend on a variety of factors, including the final costs of NEST and the size and nature of its membership. We anticipate that the total loan period, including the years in which NEST borrows from Government and the subsequent repayments, will last in the region of 20 years.
The terms and conditions of the loan agreement between my department and the NEST Corporation will not be finalised until after the NEST Corporation has been established. We anticipate, however, that the loan will be given at a commercial rate of interest in accordance with government-lending rules and that, in recognition of the extra costs NEST faces in fulfilling its public service obligation to accept all those employers who wish to use the scheme, NEST will be provided with interest relief to reduce the finance costs its members will bear to the Government's own cost of borrowing.
Ports and Harbours
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to limit the financial support available to assist employee share ownership schemes in preparing any bid under proposals by the private sector under the Ports Act 1991. [HL3170]
30 Mar 2010 : Column WA372
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will support the Dover Harbour Board's intention to establish a community fund by allowing the proposed Port of Dover Community Trust to receive a percentage of the proceeds of any sale of the assets of the Dover Harbour Board. [HL3171]
The Secretary of State for Transport (Lord Adonis): I will take full account of the representations received, including any on employee share ownership or the proposed Port of Dover Community Trust, before considering whether or not to approve the transfer scheme put forward by Dover Harbour Board. The statutory period for representations ended on 25 March 2010.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether proposals by trust ports defined as public corporations to sell their undertakings will be subject to the same conditions as apply to all public corporations. [HL3172]
Lord Adonis: Any proposals by trust ports to sell their undertakings would be carried out in accordance with the Ports Act 1991.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, before issuing guidance on the procedure for selling trust ports, they considered classifying the revenue and assets of trust ports defined as public corporations in accordance with guidance notes published by the Office for National Statistics. [HL3173]
Lord Adonis: Classification of expenditure was not considered a relevant matter for inclusion in the department's guidance on the sale of trust ports.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the six trust ports in England and Wales defined as public corporations are included in the Department for Transport's resource accounts.[HL3174]
Lord Adonis: Trust ports are not consolidated within the Department for Transport's accounts.
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, David Jamieson, on 13 July 2004 (HC Deb, col 1018W), what are the latest figures for the net worth of the six trust ports in England and Wales defined as public corporations. [HL3175]
Lord Adonis: The latest published accounts we have received from the major trust ports defined as public corporations show on the balance sheets values of net assets of each port as follows:
| £ million | |
30 Mar 2010 : Column WA373
All account information is at 31 December 2008 except Poole which is as at 31 March 2009.
Public Bodies: Websites
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many websites of central public bodies were found to be in operation by the Central Office of Information in its departmental websites reviews. [HL2624]
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon): I have asked the chief executive of the Central Office of Information to write to the noble Lord.
Public Libraries: Internet
Question
Asked by Lord Smith of Finsbury
To ask Her Majesty's Government in the light of the figures provided in the analysis of the People's Network in the recent Policy Statement on the Modernisation Review of Public Libraries, what information is available on the numbers of visits made to public libraries to use the internet in each year since 2003. [HL3127]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The three-yearly public library user survey found that 25 per cent of library users surveyed in 2006-07 intended to use a computer during their visit to the library.
In December 2009, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) commissioned Ipsos MORI to carry out research into public library usage. This involved face-to-face surveys with a representative sample of 5,000 people aged 15-plus in England. This omnibus survey found that 16 per cent of library users had used a library computer when visiting the library. From 2011, the omnibus survey questions on use of library computers will be included in the DCMS Taking Part survey.
DCMS does not hold centrally the number of visits made to public libraries to use the internet in each year since 2003.
State Pension: Weekly Age Addition
Question
Asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the additional State Pension for those over 80 years old; when that sum was fixed; and what is its purpose. [HL3152]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): The weekly age addition for those getting the state pension at the age of 80 and over is worth 25p. When it was introduced in 1971 it was intended to recognise, albeit in a small way, the special claims of very elderly people who on the whole need help rather more than others.
Unemployment
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government which agencies in the north east of England receive funding for providing training for young people not in education, employment or training; and how much each agency received in 2009. [HL2748]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): In 2009-10, the DWP allocated £36 million in the north-east region to provide employment-related support delivered through contracts with training providers. Through the DWP's Executive Agency-Jobcentre Plus-eligible customers, including young people not in education, employment or training, are referred to these training providers for help with securing employment. Additionally a range of measures has been introduced in response to the recession such as the Young Person's Guarantee. This includes £1.4 million contracted through the Learning and Skills Council for 2009-10 with three training providers in the north-east. It is not possible to disaggregate any of this spend to young people not in education, employment or training.
In 2009-10, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) made £360 million available to the Learning and Skills Council in the north-east to provide education and work-based learning for 16 to 19 year-olds. This funding is not specifically for those not in education, employment or training, but provides for any 16 to 19 year-old who wishes to follow these learning routes. In addition, a further £1.8 million has been provided to meet the January guarantee of an offer of an Entry to Employment place for 16 and 17 year-olds who were not in education, employment or training in January 2010.
Through DCSF and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the National Apprenticeship Service allocated £64 million in 2009-10 to training providers contracted in the north-east region to supply apprenticeship training to young people aged 16 to 25, of which £47 million was for those aged 16 to 18. Again it is not possible to identify the proportion of this funding that went towards supporting young people not in education, employment or training.
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