To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of merging the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to form his Department. (280648)

The Machinery of Government changes of 5 June 2009 announced the creation of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) through the merger of the former Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).

It is not possible at this stage to give an estimate of the costs involved in establishing the new Department; however, all costs will be covered from the existing budgets of the two former Departments. There will be no new money available.

There will be costs covering re-branding, and some limited cost as senior officials and Ministers move to the former BERR building at 1 Victoria Street.

Some staff from the former DIUS already share a building managed by the former BERR, and the two have the same IT supplier. Over the longer term there will be opportunities to rationalise the estate and make savings.

The processes of setting up the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are ongoing and will take some time to complete.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of re-branding the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform as the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. (280785)

The costs of setting up the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are ongoing and the processes will take some time to complete. The costs will be met from within existing resources. The costs of establishing the new Department will be published as a note to the Annual Report and Accounts in 2010.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what expenditure was incurred by his Department's predecessors on the establishment of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. (280788)

The cost of setting up the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in June 2007 was met within the existing departmental budgets of the former Department for Education and Skills (now Department for Children, Schools and Families) and the former Department for Trade and Industry.