To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Homebuy providers there are in each region. (316739)

The following table shows the number of providers who have been allocated funding for Homebuy schemes within the 2008-11 National Affordable Housing Programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on the Rent to HomeBuy scheme in each region on the latest date for which figures are available. (316759)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 9 February 2010, Official Report, columns 866-68W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what the average income of a Rent to HomeBuy (a) tenant and (b) purchaser was in each of the last three years; (316760)

Rent to HomeBuy was launched in July 2008. Data on the number of homes rented, active tenancies and the average income of tenants and purchasers are not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Rent to HomeBuy completions there have been in 2009-10; and how many households have purchased a stake in their home under that scheme in 2009-10. (316761)

Provisional data from the Homes and Communities Agency show that there were 1,899 Rent to HomeBuy completions up to end September 2009.

Data are not held centrally on the number of purchases under Rent to HomeBuy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the term Homebuy is monitored as part of (a) his Department’s media monitoring and (b) media monitoring undertaken by a private consultancy on behalf of his Department. (316933)

Yes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many officials in his Department administer the Homebuy scheme. (316968)

The homebuy scheme is administered by the Homes and Communities Agency on behalf of the Department. There are nine full-time equivalent employees working on low cost home ownership policy, including delivery of the homebuy scheme, within the Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many times the eligibility criteria for participation in the Homebuy scheme have changed since the inception of the scheme; and if he will list each such change. (316969)

The homebuy scheme was introduced in 2006. Households with an income of up to £60,000 who were unable to buy a home on the open market without assistance, were eligible to apply for assistance. The basic eligibility criteria has not changed.

From 2006-08 priority for support was given to social tenants, prospective social tenants, key workers in the health, education and community safety sectors in London, the South East and the East of England, and those identified by regional housing boards. Some regional boards set lower income caps for support. From 2008 priority was given, in order, to social tenants, prospective social tenants, key workers in all regions and any other first-time buyers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which programmes are included in the Homebuy scheme; how much has been allocated to each such programme to date; and how many dwellings have been sold under each such programme to date. (316974)

The following products are included in the Homebuy scheme; OpenMarket HomeBuy, NewBuild HomeBuy, Social HomeBuy, HomeBuy Direct, and Rent to HomeBuy.

The allocations and provisional completions for each product are listed in the following tables.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much funding his Department has allocated to the Homebuy scheme in financial year 2009-10 to date; how much such funding it expects to allocate in financial years (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15; and how much such funding it expects to allocate beyond financial year 2014-15; (317007)

From 1 April 2009 to 30 December 2009 the Homes and Communities Agency has allocated £1,082 million for Homebuy and other low cost home ownership products within their Affordable Housing Programme.

Allocations for the Affordable Housing Programme 2008-11 are made as part of the Homes and Communities continuous market engagement process. Future estimated levels of allocations beyond 2010-11 will be dependent upon the outcome of the next spending review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties on the (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic Energy Performance Certificate Register have received more than one inspection in the last three years; and for how many the rating (i) declined and (ii) improved in the last inspection. (316815)

There is no information held centrally about the number of energy assessments that are carried out on individual buildings in either the domestic or non-domestic sectors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on (a) assistance to businesses, (b) staffing, (c) administration and (d) publicity under the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative since its inception; and how many businesses have been assisted by the initiative. (317702)

LEGI is allocated to local authorities to support enterprise in deprived areas, thereby giving them the flexibility to best determine the local needs and use the funding in creative ways to support local priorities. The total programme from 2006-07 to 2010-11 is worth £418 million.

As a locally managed fund, central Government do not hold the information requested.

However, an independent national evaluation of LEGI is scheduled to be published later this year which will help to identify and disseminate good practice.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what factors his Department plans to take into account in awarding the (a) minimum and (b) maximum allocations to each of the eco-town projects, as referred to in the notes for editors of his Department’s press notice of 8 February 2010; (316946)

Details about the programme budgets to support the first wave eco-towns in 200-10 will be set out in the Spring Supplementaries, which are due to be published shortly.

The majority of the £60 million growth fund that I announced last July to support the first wave locations has been allocated to local authorities and will be paid via the HCA. In addition we have provided support for the HCA’s delivery role. DCSF have allocated £2.5 million from their programme budget to support greener schools.

I will decide on the funding allocations to the local authorities for 2010-11, pending further assessment of development agreements with investors. We will also need to take account of a range of factors including progress on delivery of projects, and we and the HCA will be having further discussion with authorities on these matters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of properties in West Lancashire constituency which have been empty for more than (a) two and (b) five years. (317777)

This information for either domestic or non-domestic properties is not held centrally.

Our reforms to empty property relief for non-domestic are principled and right for the long-term. They provide a strong incentive on owners to bring empty property back into use, helping to improve access to premises for businesses and so to exert a downward pressure on commercial rents.

However, we provided owners with real help to manage short-term pressures in a difficult property market by exempting all empty properties with rateable values up to £15,000 from business rates in 2009-10.

We have listened to the continued concerns of owners and we are extending the temporary measure for a further 12 months—to cover the whole of 2010-11—and we are uprating the threshold to £18,000 in line with the general movement of property values at revaluation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 26 January 2010, Official Report, column 770W, on local government and fire services: pensions, what the timetable is for the review of whether to restrict the employer contributions made to the firefighters' pension scheme. (317877)

The Firefighters Pension Committee has begun to consider the application of cap and share arrangements for the firefighters’ pension schemes. Further meetings of the Committee have been arranged and the next one takes place on 15 March 2010. Consultations with stakeholders will follow once the arrangements have been drafted.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which programme budgets are administered for each Government Department by the Government Offices for the Regions. (317369)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by the Secretary of State on 10 February 2010, Official Report, column 1029W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 3 February 2010, Official Report, columns 359-60W, on home information packs, if he will place in the Library a copy of the final report by the Working Group on Condition Information in the Home Buying and Selling Process; on what date the report was submitted to his Department; and what steps he plans to take in response to that report. (316781)

The final report of the Working Group on Condition Information was submitted to the Department in late December. We are looking carefully at the recommendations and will set out our response in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) rough sleepers and (b) homeless people there were in Torbay constituency in (i) 1997 and (ii) the latest period for which figures are available. (314612)

Data on rough sleeping and local housing authorities’ activities under homelessness legislation are collected at local authority rather than constituency level. Torbay constituency falls within Torbay unitary authority.

Information on rough sleeping has been collected since 1998. In Torbay in 1998 there were 31 rough sleepers. The last street count in 2007 found nine rough sleepers.

We have reduced rough sleeping by 75 per cent. since 1998. Our national baseline was 1,850 in 1998 and the latest headline figure based on local authority rough sleeper counts was 464 for 2009.

The numbers of households accepted as statutory homeless in Torbay unitary authority in 1997-98 and 2007-08 are 253 and 119 respectively. The number of households accommodated by the Torbay unitary authority in temporary accommodation as at 30 March 1997 is 25 and as at 30 September 2009 is 163.

In 2002, we put stronger legislation in place by ensuring that more vulnerable people who face homelessness are provided with help and accommodation by extending the categories of people who have a 'priority need for accommodation" under the homelessness legislation—hence why more people were placed in temporary accommodation.

We know we need to do more to help people into settled homes. That's why our strategy includes the challenging target of halving the number of people living in temporary accommodation to 50,500 by 2010.

We have allocated a total of £220 million to local authorities and voluntary organisations over the three years 2008-09 to 2010-11 to support their strategies for tackling and preventing homelessness in their area.

The Government continue to demonstrate a long-term commitment to affordable housing, which is why between June and November we approved more than £2.4 billion towards 41,000 new affordable homes in England. Of this funding over £3 million has been allocated to schemes for Torbay.

This includes the largest council house-building programme for nearly two decades and funding for housing associations to build more homes for affordable sale or rent, and thousands of first time buyers have also managed to get a foothold on the property ladder thanks to our homebuy schemes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much (a) the Homes and Communities Agency, (b) the Homes and Communities Agency Academy and (c) the Tenant Services Authority spent on (i) advertising and (ii) marketing in (A) 2008-09 and (B) 2009-10 to date; and how much has been budgeted for such expenditure in 2009-10. (316431)

The following table provides information on advertising and marketing spend by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the Homes and Communities Agency Academy and the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) in 2008-09. Full details of spend for 2009-10 will be available once the Annual Report and Accounts are published later this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by the (a) Finance and Corporate Services, (b) Strategy, Performance and Research, (c) Investment and Regeneration, (d) Land and Development, (e) New Ventures and Partnerships and (f) Skills and Knowledge division of the Homes and Communities Agency in 2008-09; how much has been budgeted for each division in 2009-10; and what proportion of each figure is attributable to staff costs. (316432)

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) was launched on 1 December 2008 but some time passed before its directorates were fully established, and for this reason it is not possible to provide a break-down of costs by division for 2008-09.

For 2009-10, the planned budgets for 2009-10 for these directorates, including how much is attributable to staff costs, is set out as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2010, Official Report, column 361W, on Homes and Communities Agency and Tenant Services Authority loans, what rate of interest was applied to loans to staff; and for what reason the loans were made. (316737)

The Homes and Communities Agency and Tenant Services Authority staff loans break down as follows:

The season tickets, bicycle loans and salary advances are interest free and are to be repaid within 12 months of receipt.

The interest rate for the car loans which are available to those designated as an “essential user” varies according to the five years National Loan Funds rate which is compounded half yearly and converted into the annual percentage rate before being fixed for the term of the loan. The maximum term for car loans is five years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many housing associations have been assigned to grade (a) 3 and (b) 4 following a Tenant Services Authority review of their financial position; and if he will make a statement. (316806)

At present the Tenant Services Authority has two organisations whose judgment level (J) for viability is graded at J3. None are currently graded at J4.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much his Department plans to spend on improving the supply and quality of housing in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12 in (i) cash terms and (ii) 2008-09 prices; (316807)

Information on departmental plans to spend on improving the supply and quality of housing in 2009-10 and 2010-11 was published in the 2009 departmental annual report, at:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/annualreport09

including programmes delivered by the Homes and Communities Agency. Although given timing of publication the 2009 report was not able to reflect budget changes made to support the £1.5 billion Housing Pledge covering 2009-11 announced in Building Britain's Future on 29 June 2009, planned spending figures resulting from the Housing Pledge were subsequently specifically identified in the Homes and Communities Agency's corporate plan 2009-11 (see section on Housing Pledge in table 3 on page 28) published in September 2009, at:

http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/publications

For conversion to 2008-09 prices, Government use the GDP deflator to allow for the effects of changes in prices. This can be found on HM Treasury's website at:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/data_gdp_index.htm

Plans on spending on the supply and quality of housing for 2011-12 will be determined through the next spending review.

Figures for departmental spending on housing supply and demand for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07, are shown in each of the annual departmental reports covering those years. The 2008 departmental annual report provided data on 2007-08 spend on public service agreement target 5 (to achieve a better balance between housing availability and the demand for housing) on housing supply. In line with Treasury guidance, 2008 was the last report on public service agreements which had an end date later than 2008 but were subsumed within our CSR07 public service agreements and departmental strategic objectives. The 2008-09 departmental annual report showed forecast out-turn spend figures for 2008-09 against the new departmental strategic objective on improving the supply and quality of housing.

Expenditure can be converted to 2009-10 prices using the GDP deflator as published by HMT. This deflator is calculated from ONS data for seasonally adjusted current and constant price GDP for years up to 2008-09. The 2009-10 deflator is derived from HM Treasury forecasts for GDP deflator increases at the pre-Budget report 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average Homes and Communities Agency grant per unit was for a new (a) affordable home and (b) home for social rent in each region in (i) each of the last three years and (ii) 2009-10 to date. (316812)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley, North (Mr. Austin) on 15 July 2009, Official Report, column 495W.

The following table shows the average grant per unit for social rent and low cost home ownership for 2009-10 to end September 2009 for each region.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by his Department on the English House Condition Survey in 2008-09. (316816)

Expenditure on the English Housing Survey in 2008-09 was £4,737,821 which includes the cost of household interviews, surveyor training, property inspections and the Department’s expenditure on the Survey.

Further information about the EHCS, including annual reports, can be found at:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/ehcs

Further information about the EHS can be found at:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/englishhousingsurvey

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate his Department has made of the area of farmland of grade (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3a, (d) 3b, (e) 4 and (f) 5 taken for development in each of the last five years. (317138)

Annual information on the estimated area of agricultural land in hectares changing to a developed use in England for the most recent five years available is given in the following table:

Information on how much of the above changes were from each grade of agricultural land could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 16 October 2009, Official Report, column 1129W, on local government: Barnet, if he will place in the Library a copy of the final report on the pilot study. (317600)

The London borough of Barnet has received an evaluation of its Behaviour Change Pilot Projects and is considering publishing the findings. As the pilot projects were directly commissioned by the London borough of Barnet, a decision on whether to publish a report rests with the council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to the public purse has been of the structural review of local government in Norfolk, Suffolk and Devon. (316214)

The Department does not hold information about the costs incurred by local authorities of participating in the Boundary Committee’s structural reviews in Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk. In the normal course of their business, local authorities respond to many consultation exercises and requests for information, and consequently, budget for this as part of their business planning.

The Boundary Committee estimate of their total costs, to date, of the three structural reviews is over £1.4 million.

Within the Department, there are currently some 10 full time-equivalent staff working on the structure of local government including work on unitary council restructuring—supporting those new unitaries that were created on 1 April 2009 and taking forward the reviews in Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk—and on improving the operation of two-tier local government. The anticipated expenditure in 2009-10 is some £590,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to respond to the letter of 5 January 2010 from the hon. Member for Billericay on his constituent Mr. M. Beiley. (317547)

A reply was sent to this letter on 9 February 2010.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will begin the proposed consultation on reforms to the Mobile Homes Act 1983 within the next two months. (317279)

We remain committed to introducing reforms that improve transparency in relation to the Mobile Homes Act 1983. We intend to consult on initial proposals with key stakeholder groups in April before carrying out a public consultation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on publicising the (a) Mortgage Rescue Scheme and (b) Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme. (316747)

No money has been spent specifically on advertising MRS and HMS.

In September 2009, the Government launched a national campaign to help struggling homeowners take control of their finances and make the most of the support available for them to avoid repossessions and stay in their homes. Press, radio, online and billboard advertisements point people to an advice line and a new website illustrating the practical steps they can take to resolve their mortgage repayment worries, as well as contacts for the wide range of support available, including targeted schemes such as Mortgage Rescue and Homeowners Mortgage Support.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households received an offer on their property under the Mortgage Rescue Scheme in each local authority area in each of the last 12 months; and how many such offers were subsequently accepted by the homeowner. (316821)

We have acted rapidly to put in place a range of help and support for households struggling with their mortgage at every stage, and launched a campaign to ensure households have clear information about the help available.

Mortgage rescue scheme summary monitoring statistics are published on a quarterly basis on the Department’s website. Figures can be accessed using the following link:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/mortgagerescuestatistics

Quarterly figures reported by local authorities from January to December 2009 are provided in a table which has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Mortgage Rescue Scheme monitoring statistics published by his Department on 12 November 2009, how many of the 92 offers accepted under the scheme have been completed. (316943)

Ninety two.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent by the New Deal for Communities programme since its inception; and what estimate he has made of the number of people assisted by the programme. [Official Report, 12 March 2010, Vol. 507, c. 14MC.] (317910)

Between 2000-01 and 2007-08 (the last year for which audited accounts are available) NDC Partnerships reported that they have spent £1,559 million in grant funding. The latest figures available estimate that there were 797,100 people living in NDC areas in 2007.

Note:

Population figures from: Sheffield Hallam University’s Centre for Regional and Economic and Social Research.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment has been made of the merits of extending the current empty property rate relief scheme beyond April 2010. (317078)

An impact assessment will be published shortly alongside the statutory instrument that will extend the empty property rate relief exemption threshold.

Our reforms to empty property relief are principled and right for the long-term. They provide a strong incentive on owners to bring empty property back into use, helping to improve access to premises for businesses and so to exert a downward pressure on commercial rents.

However, we provided owners with real help to manage short-term pressures in a difficult property market by exempting all empty properties with rateable values up to £15,000 from business rates in 2009-10.

We have listened to the continued concerns of owners and we are extending the temporary measure for a further 12 months—to cover the whole of 2010-11—and we are uprating the threshold to £18,000 in line with the general movement of property values at revaluation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much empty property rate relief has cost the Exchequer since 2007; (317112)

The amounts of empty property relief granted in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 and the amount forecast to be granted in 2009-10 are as follows:

Data are as reported to Communities and Local Government by all billing authorities in England on the annual National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) returns.

The figures given are the net empty property relief granted in that year irrespective of the year to which the empty property relief related. It can also include the repayment of non-domestic rates where empty property relief should have been granted in previous years but was not.

In 2008-09, the rules governing empty and partly occupied property relief were reformed by the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007 and further reforms were introduced for 2009-10.

Our reforms to empty property relief are principled and right for the long-term. They provide a strong incentive on owners to bring empty property back into use, helping to improve access to premises for businesses and so to exert a downward pressure on commercial rents.

However, we provided owners with real help to manage short-term pressures in a difficult property market by exempting all empty properties with rateable values up to £15,000 from business rates in 2009-10.

We have listened to the continued concerns of owners and we are extending the temporary measure for a further 12 months—to cover the whole of 2010-11—and we are uprating the threshold to £18,000 in line with the general movement of property values at revaluation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of vulnerable people in each vulnerability group who lived in decent private sector homes in each year since 2002. (316811)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright) gave him on 27 March 2009, Official Report, column 789W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many private sector properties were leased by (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations in order to house homeless households in 2008-09. (315678)

Use of accommodation with shared facilities has declined over recent years, largely through reduced bed and breakfast usage. Within the last 10 years, bed and breakfast style accommodation use peaked during 2002, when 16 per cent. of households were in this form of temporary accommodation, compared to 4 per cent. at the end of March 2009. The proportion of self-contained accommodation has increased over this period; in particular private sector accommodation leased short-term by local authorities or registered social landlords, which rose from under 30 per cent. during 2002 to 59 per cent. at the end of March 2009. On 30 March 2009, there were 37,450 households in private sector temporary accommodation leased short-term by local authorities and registered social landlords, of which 25,750 households were in accommodation leased by a local authority and 11,700 households were in accommodation leased or managed by a registered social landlord.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on (a) programmes, (b) staffing, (c) administration and (d) publicity by the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund; and what estimate he has made of the number of people assisted by the fund. (317841)

The Safer and Stronger Communities Fund is allocated to local authorities through area-based grant. For the current spending period, £51.967 million was allocated in 2008-09 and £30.909 million in 2009-10, with an indicative allocation of £4.893 million in 2010-11. The SSCF is a non ring-fenced fund and local authorities have flexibility over how it is spent. It is therefore not possible to break down spend into programmes, staffing, administration and publicity.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on (a) staffing, (b) administration and (c) publicity for the Supporting People programme. (317212)

Communities and Local Government provide local authorities with administration grant as a contribution towards the costs of managing the programme at a local level but do not require authorities to provide details of actual expenditure on staffing, administration or publicity for the Supporting People programme.

It is possible that some local authorities do not record these sorts of expenditure for their Supporting People grants specifically. Communities and Local Government would not be able to provide this information without a disproportionate amount of effort, and for those local authorities who do not record this type of expenditure even a disproportionate amount of effort would not yield any results.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on the Supporting People programme; and how many people have received assistance under the programme since its inception. (317213)

The information requested is as follows:

The household unit figures provided represent a snapshot of the capacity of Supporting People services (measured in households) at a particular point in time; in this instance as at 31 March each year, to correspond with the collection of spend data. It should be noted that household unit information is not representative of the number of households who have actually received support during the quarter or year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on (a) staffing, (b) administration and (c) publicity for the Working Neighbourhoods Fund. (317211)

As a locally managed fund, central Government do not hold this information.

£1.52 billion has been allocated to the Working Neighbourhoods Fund for the period 2008-11. It is allocated to local authorities with high rates of worklessness, thereby giving them the flexibility to respond to local circumstances when tackling worklessness and promoting enterprise.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on the Working Neighbourhoods Fund; and how many people have received assistance from the funds. (317214)

£1.52 billion has been allocated to the Working Neighbourhoods Fund for the period 2008-11. It is allocated to local authorities with high rates of worklessness, thereby giving them the flexibility to respond to local circumstances when tackling worklessness and promoting enterprise.

As a locally managed fund, central Government do not hold information on the number of people assisted.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many small and medium-sized businesses in (a) Lewes constituency and (b) East Sussex are employing apprentices. (315760)

Record numbers of people are taking up and achieving an apprenticeship. Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship starts in Lewes parliamentary constituency, East Sussex and Brighton and Hove local authorities.

We can provide an estimate of the size of employers, nationally, that offer and have recruited apprentices from the National Employers Skills Survey (NESS). These data are based on repeated surveys of up to 79,000 employers across all business sectors in England. Table 2 shows information from the published 2007 National Employer Skills survey¹ on the number of organisations that had any staff undertaking an apprenticeship in the 12 months prior to interview, by size of employer.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many modern apprenticeships have been started in Feltham and Heston constituency since 1997. (316692)

Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship starts in Feltham and Heston parliamentary constituency from 2003/04 onwards, the earliest year for which comparable data are available.

Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by parliamentary constituency, local authority, Government office region and for England is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 17 December, and re-issued on 21 January to include provisional national estimates of the number of apprenticeship starts and achievements in the first quarter of 2009/10:

http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/sfrdec09

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many modern apprenticeships have been started in Hemsworth since 1997. (316614)

The following table 1 shows the number of Apprenticeship starts in Hemsworth parliamentary constituency from 2003/04 onwards, the earliest year for which comparable data is available.

Information on the number of Apprenticeship starts by parliamentary constituency, local authority, government office region and for England is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 17 December, and re-issued on 21 January to include provisional national estimates of the number of apprenticeship starts and achievements in the first quarter of 2009/10:

http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/sfrdec09

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many bankruptcies of (a) individuals in each age group resident in and (b) businesses based in (i) Lewes constituency and (ii) East Sussex there were in each of the last five years. (317029)

Figures for bankrupts in East Sussex and Lewes constituency by age group for the last five years are shown in Tables 1 and 2 below.

Self-employed traders may be declared bankrupt (or enter into an individual voluntary arrangement [IVA]), however, registered companies are the subject of liquidation (compulsory liquidation or creditors voluntary liquidation (CVL)).

Table 3 shows the number of self employed traders who were declared bankrupt in each of the last five years.

Regional figures for 2009 are not currently available for bankruptcies, as they are compiled on an annual basis. They should be available later in 2010.

Statistics covering corporate insolvencies, including liquidation, are not currently available at a sub-national level within England and Wales.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many applications (a) in total and (b) from businesses registered in Scotland for loans under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme have been (i) made and (ii) granted. (315310)

Under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, as of 27 January 2010, over £1.13 billion of eligible applications from over 10,000 businesses have been granted, are being processed or assessed. Of these, 7,792 businesses have been offered loans totalling £794.71 million.

In Scotland, £86.92 million of eligible applications from 686 businesses have been granted, are being processed or assessed. Of these, 544 businesses have been offered loans totalling £70.69 million.

Businesses may apply for a loan from any of the participating lenders who will assess which form of lending, including the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, is most appropriate. We do not hold figures for those businesses which are instead offered a normal commercial loan, or are rejected for failing to meet the lenders’ normal commercial criteria.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department and its predecessors have taken to support small businesses in Hemsworth since 1997. (316613)

Since 1997 the Government have implemented a wide range of measures to support business, including small and medium-sized businesses. Statistical information on these measures is not available at constituency level. Statistical information has been provided at the Wakefield local authority level where available. The principal measures are as follows.

In 1998, the Government set up the Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward, to deliver a joined-up approach to economic development in the region. In support of its objective of promoting business efficiency, investment and competitiveness Yorkshire Forward has provided grants for businesses through the Selective Finance for Investment (SFI) scheme, which started in April 2004, and its successor the Grants for Business Investment (GBI) scheme, which started in October 2008. Yorkshire Forward has made 27 SFI and GBI grant offers to businesses in Wakefield totalling £3.2 million, creating or safeguarding 355 jobs. Yorkshire Forward has also provided grants to support research and development by small and medium sized businesses, through the SMART scheme and its successor, the Grants for Research and Development scheme. Since 2000, Yorkshire Forward has offered 25 research and development grants totalling £1.5 million to small and medium sized businesses in Wakefield.

Since 2004, Business Link Yorkshire has been the single contact point for all publicly funded support available to businesses in Yorkshire and The Humber. This has made it easier for businesses to access information, advice and support on issues including business regulation, best practice, marketing, innovation, financial support and help with exporting. For example in 2009/10 to date, Business Link Yorkshire has helped 2,578 businesses in the Wakefield area and 913 individuals thinking of starting a business. As part of the Government's Real Help Now package we are providing more help for businesses to survive during the current economic conditions. Since October 2008 this has included a free Business Link health check which can be a useful starting point for identifying further business support tailored to the needs of individual companies. To date Business Link Yorkshire has arranged 548 health checks for small and medium sized businesses in Wakefield. In addition, the Yorkshire Forward funded Financial Health Check, which offers a grant of £2,000 for accountants to carry out a full review, has benefited 63 businesses in Wakefield.

Small and medium sized manufacturing businesses in Wakefield can also benefit from the Yorkshire and Humber Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), which was set up by BERR in 2002 to provide practical hands-on support to business in all aspects of manufacturing. In 2009 the Yorkshire and Humber MAS carried out over 1,000 manufacturing reviews and over 340 improvement projects, creating or safeguarding over 3,100 jobs, with an estimated total potential increase in GVA of £30.3 million. Figures at local level are not available.

Under the European Regional Development Funded Objective 2 programme between 2000 and 2008 over £93 million was provided to support small and medium enterprises in the Objective 2 areas in Yorkshire and the Humber, which included Wakefield. Figures at local level are not available.

Details of the wide range of Government funded support for business available are on the Real Help Now website

www.realhelpnow.gov.uk

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the criteria are for the award of a loan to a company under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme. (316783)

There are three main criteria for a business being offered an EFG loan application:

The business meeting the lender's normal commercial criteria in relation to the viability of the business and serviceability of the loan. This judgment will vary according to the lender concerned.

The lender determining that use of EFG, rather than a normal commercial loan, is necessary because of no or insufficient security available on the part of the business.

The business meeting the basic EFG eligibility criteria

Each lender has access to the EFG web portal through which they administer the EFG eligibility criteria. The main EFG eligibility criteria, with respect to the size of loan, purpose of loan, turnover size, business sector etc, is detailed on the BIS website:

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/enterprise/finance/efc/page37607.html

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to business in (a) Chorley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the UK of the adverse weather conditions of December 2009 and January 2010. (314221)

There are no official estimates at this early stage of local, regional or national cost to business as a result of the adverse weather but there are indications that some businesses lost trade due to customers being unable to travel or lost output due to staff being unable to attend work. We will continue to monitor the situation and estimates as these become available.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will (a) commission and (b) evaluate research into the relationship between chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency and multiple sclerosis. (317013)

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support medical and clinical research. The MRC is an independent body which receives its grant in aid from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The MRC spent £3.4 million on research into multiple sclerosis in 2008-09, but is not currently funding any research specifically into chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI).

The MRC provides funding for research through a range of grants and personal awards to scientists in universities, medical schools and other research institutes but does not normally commission research to address specific questions.

Applications are generally submitted by the scientific community in ‘response mode’ and the MRC always welcomes high quality applications for support into any aspect of human health. The primary considerations in funding decisions are research excellence and importance to health; however, high quality proposals in areas of particular strategic importance may be given priority in competition for funds.

The MRC provides opportunities for additional clinical research training fellowships through collaborations with Royal Colleges and charity funders including the MRC/Multiple Sclerosis Society Clinical Research Training Fellowships. One fellowship per year is available under this scheme, aimed at researchers who are involved in treating patients and who wish to pursue research into understanding and treatment of multiple sclerosis.

Details of MRC's currently funded research can be found in the MRC research portfolio which is accessible on the MRC website at:

http://www.mrc.ac.uk/ResearchPortfolio/index.htm

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many mergers of companies have taken place in Birmingham in each of the last three years. (312775)

Information relating to mergers is not collected at this level of detail. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for collecting information involving mergers and acquisitions by UK companies abroad and in the UK, and mergers and acquisitions by foreign companies in the UK. The ONS publishes a quarterly statistical bulletin and a Tri-annual Mini review of mergers and acquisitions.

Its latest Quarterly Bulletin (3rd Quarter 2009) can be found at the following link:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/ma1209.pdf

and its last Tri-annual Mini review published in 2008 can be found at:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_commerce/2008-Mini-Triennial-M-A.pdf

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many construction companies in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point have received Government assistance in the last three years. (316727)

[holding answer 10 February 2010]: Business Link East, which is managed by the East of England Development Agency, has supported (a) 2,623 construction companies in Essex and (b) 136 construction companies in Castle Point in the last three years.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to take steps to increase the level of liquidity in the construction industry; and if he will make a statement. (316728)

[holding answer 10 February 2010]: The Government have been increasing liquidity in construction by helping smaller and medium-sized firms, which dominate the industry, through Real Help for Business. This package of measures aims to facilitate bank lending to smaller and medium-sized firms and will continue to do so into the financial year 2010-11. In addition, in the December 2009 Pre-Budget Report the Government announced the creation of a Growth Capital Fund that will target SMEs for which traditional bank finance is either inappropriate or unavailable.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff in his Department and its agencies (a) have the status of embedded communicators and (b) are members of the Government Communications Network but are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book. (315168)

At the most recent assessment of those embedded, in October 2009, there were 18 embedded communicators in BIS. Embedded communicators are defined as staff employed primarily in a communications role based in policy or delivery units outside of the central communications function.

It is not possible to provide the number of embedded communicators who are members of the Government Communications Network (GCN) but not listed in the White Book as the Department does not hold GCN membership data.

I have approached the Chief Executives of the Insolvency Service, Companies House, the National Measurement Office and the Intellectual Property Office and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.

Letter from Peter Mason, dated 12 February 2010:

I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 29 January 2010, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, asking how many staff (a) have the status of embedded communicators and (b) are members of the Government Communications Network but are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book.

a) The National Measurement Office, following a recent restructure, has one part time member of staff (0.6 FTE) who we believe would be regarded as an “embedded communicator” in that she is employed primarily in a communications role based in the enforcement team of the Agency. This role is based outside of the central communications team.

b) The National Measurement Office has no staff who are members of the Government Communications Network.

Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 12 February 2010:

I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 29 January 2010, UIN 315168 to the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Companies House has five staff who are members of the Government Communication Network, and classed as Government communicators. The two members with responsibility for dealing with press enquiries are listed in the Central Office of Information White Book, the other three are not.

Letter from Sean Dennehey, dated 2 February 2010:

I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 29 January 2010, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The Intellectual Property Office does not have any staff who have the status of embedded communicators.

Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 18 February 2010:

The Minister of State, for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has asked me to reply to your question how many staff in his Department and its agencies (a) have the status of embedded communicators and (b) are members of the Government Communications Network but are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book.

The Insolvency Service has 7 embedded communicators, 2 of whom are not direct employees but are Agency staff. There are no staff that are members of the Government Communications Network but are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many receptions he has hosted for representatives of print and broadcast media since 3 October 2008; and how many he plans to host in 2010. (316839)

I have not hosted any such receptions. However, since October 2008:

My Noble Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting hosted a digital Britain summit in April 2009 at the British Library, drawing attendees from the print, broadcast and technology communities. The key note speech was given by the Prime Minister.

My right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property hosted a lunch with educational journalists in November 2008.

There are no current plans to host any such receptions in 2010.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the cost was of the technical support team required to run the videoconferencing and telepresence facilities in Kingsgate House in the last 12 months. (304483)

Technical support for the videoconferencing and telepresence facilities is currently provided to the Department via a shared services agreement with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The costs for ICT and Information Management services are in fact broken down in a way that relates to input categories, for example staff costs, licences, etc rather than products that are supported.

However, for 2009-10 the shared services charges identified against videoconferencing and telepresence from DCSF will be £37,700 and will cover overall delivery of the services and support.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of radio microphones and other programme-making and special events technologies which will need to be replaced with new equipment as a consequence of the clearance of the digital dividend spectrum; and if he will make a statement. (317612)

We have not estimated the proportion of microphones (both channel 69 and interleaved spectrum) or other PMSE equipment which will be affected by the clearance.

However, Ofcom have estimated that 95 per cent. of all radio microphones tune to channel 69 and will therefore be affected by the clearance.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to announce his decision on the (a) criteria for compensation eligibility and (b) allocation of funding to be provided to those in the programme-making and special events sector who are affected by the clearance of the digital dividend spectrum. (317613)

Ofcom are re-evaluating their initial assumptions and eligibility criteria in light of responses to their second consultation on this issue. When this work is completed, Government will agree with Ofcom an appropriate funding allocation.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has made a recent estimate of the number of jobs which depend (a) directly and (b) indirectly on the use of radio microphones and other programme-making and special events technologies. (317614)

No such estimates have been made. However, the Department is aware of the contribution that the programme-making and special events (PMSE) industry makes to the UK economy, and is carefully considering how they will be relocated from channel 69 to channel 38.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what consideration his Department has given to the effect on the nature of ad hoc assignments of temporary workers of the Agency Worker Regulations. (316970)

We carefully considered representations from stakeholders on the issue of ad hoc assignments. However, we concluded that it would be wrong for agency workers to be deprived of equal treatment rights just because they do not comply with ‘standard’ work patterns, particularly since irregular agency assignments are prevalent in lower-paid sectors. We were also concerned about the risk of any special provision on the point would further complicate the regulations, and could be exploited by the unscrupulous in order to deprive workers of equal treatment rights.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has (a) sought and (b) received from representatives of the agency work industry on the drafting of the guidance to the Agency Worker Regulations. (316971)

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 were laid before Parliament on 21 January 2010, coming into force on 1 October 2011. Accompanying guidance will be drawn up and published in advance of the regulations coming into force. The important role this guidance will play has been one of the subjects discussed with not only representatives of the agency work industry but also other stakeholders during recent consultations preceding the laying of the regulations. We will of course wish to have further discussions with interested parties on the drafting of this guidance in due course.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has further to consult representatives of the agency work industry prior to the implementation of the Agency Worker Regulations. (316972)

The last year saw an intensive process of consultation on the Government’s proposals to implement the European Agency Workers Directive. There were more than 300 responses to the original consultation on policy proposals and almost 100 responses to the second on the draft regulations. In addition, Ministers and officials held frequent meetings with a wide variety of interested parties, including those representing the agency work industry.

Accompanying guidance will be drawn up and published in advance of the regulations coming into force. We will seek the views of representatives of the agency work industry and other interested parties on the drafting of this guidance in due course.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what impact assessment his Department has undertaken of the Agency Worker Regulations in relation to the (a) complexity of bonus arrangements, (b) cost of tracking ad hoc assignments and (c) transferral of indemnity from the end-user to the agency. (316975)

We have addressed these issues in the Government responses to the two consultation exercises on implementation of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010—the relevant documents have been placed in the Libraries of the House and are available on the BIS website. These include a comprehensive impact assessment.

On bonuses, we are aware of the concerns of hirers, in particular the implications of integrating agency workers into appraisal systems for permanent staff. The regulations do not require agency workers to be integrated into these systems—hirers can adopt simpler systems such as existing feedback arrangements that many agencies already have in place. It is also by no means the case that all bonus payments will come within the scope of equal treatment rights—they will not do so, for instance, if not directly attributable to the individual worker’s contribution or if they would not have been payable if the same worker had been recruited directly to do the same job (if, say, there is a qualifying period before a bonus is payable). Guidance will address these issues further.

We carefully considered representations from stakeholders on the issue of ad hoc assignments. However, we concluded that it would be wrong for agency workers to be deprived of equal treatment rights just because they do not comply with ‘standard’ work patterns, particularly since irregular agency assignments are prevalent in lower-paid sectors. We were also concerned about the risk of any special provision on the point would further complicate the regulations, and could be exploited by the unscrupulous in order to deprive workers of equal treatment rights.

We considered that it would be inappropriate for the regulations to make provision on the issue of indemnities since to do so would amount to an inappropriate intervention in private commercial arrangements, and the directive includes no requirements in this area.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the monetary value was of UK exports to Morocco in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009. (317990)

UK exports of goods to Morocco were worth £484 million in 2008 and £299 million in 2009 on an Overseas Trade Statistics basis.

UK exports of services to Morocco were worth £77 million in 2008 on a Balance of Payments basis. Data for 2009 are due to be published at the end of July in the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the monetary value was of UK exports to Saudi Arabia in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009. (317989)

UK exports of goods to Saudi Arabia were worth £2,191 million in 2008 and £2,334 million in 2009 on a Balance of Payments basis.

UK exports of services to Saudi Arabia were worth £2,633 million in 2008 on a Balance of Payments basis. Data for 2009 are due to be published at the end of July in the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many unique visitors there have been to the (a) Graduate Talent Pool and (b) Our future, its in our hands website in each month since each was created. (307769)

The Department do not have monthly figures for the number of unique visits to the Graduate Talent Pool website. But the following information is available:

Total unique visitors between 19 April and 8 December to the Employer site were: 55,012

Total unique visitors between 30th June and 8th December to the Graduate site were: 104,403

In addition the figures for total visits to the employer and graduate sites are as follows:

The “Our future. Its in our hands” website is owned and managed by the Learning and Skills Council. I have asked the Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council to write to the hon. Member separately to provide an answer to that part of the question.

Letter from Geoff Russell, dated 12 February 2010:

The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, has asked me to respond to your Parliamentary Question 627 that asked;

“how many unique visitors there have been (a) to the Graduate Talent Pool and (b) Our future, its in our hands websites in each month since each was created.”

The following table contains web traffic information for the “In Our Hands” website, from 17 May 2009 to 14 December 2009. Unfortunately, due to the time constraints in which the response is required, further historical data cannot be obtained.

The “In Our hands” website was established in summer 2007 to serve a range of audiences interested in increasing their skill levels. The two main audiences are:

Individuals, who are targeted through marketing communications, and

Businesses, which are encouraged to make the Skills Pledge.

The purpose of the site was to act as a central repository for information relevant to the target audiences listed above. The site was promoted to individuals during key times of the year, summer and early spring, which are key enrolment times for post 16 providers. Since the integration of the Careers Advice Service with the Learning and Skills Council in 2008, the Careers Advice Service website and telephone helpline have become the main call to action in promotional materials targeting individuals.

As part of the Transformational Government strategy, this website has been identified by the Cabinet Office for convergence and closure (reference X1668).

Although the deadline for closure is March 2011, the LSC is aiming to have completed the necessary convergence work by the end of March 2010.

Information aimed at individuals has already been relocated in the Careers Advice Service site, which will subsequently become part of the Adult Advancement and Careers Service, in August 2010. Information and services for Business (i.e. Skills Pledge) will become part of the Business Link website.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion on average of the budgets of universities in England was spent on (a) teaching undergraduates, (b) teaching graduates, (c) libraries, (d) student services, (e) non-sponsored research, (f) sponsored research and (g) administration in (i) 2000-01, (ii) 2004-05 and (iii) 2008-09. (315957)

The information is not available in the breakdown requested. Information on higher education income and expenditure is collected in the Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) Finance Record.

Information is provided in the following table. The information provided is the nearest match to the categories outlined above. The table refers to the expenditure of English higher education institutions rather than budget. Further explanations of how the table is broken down are in the footnotes to the table. Figures for 2008/09 are not yet available so the most recent academic year is used (2007/08.)

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of the Higher Education Funding Council for England teaching budget was allocated to (a) full-time and (b) part-time students in the latest year for which information is available. (317090)

The Funding Council’s recurrent grant for teaching in 2009/10 can be split as follows: 77 per cent. for full-time students (including sandwich year out), 16 per cent. for part time and 7 per cent. not allocated according to student numbers. Grant for part-time students is allocated in terms of their full-time equivalence, reflecting their relative level of activity, rather than on a headcount basis.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the likely effects on the economy of an increase in the minimum level qualification for which non-EU students may come to the UK for study. (316973)

In a written ministerial statement on 10 February 2010 my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced the conclusions of a joint UKBA/BIS review of tier 4 of the points-based system (student visas). This includes plans to limit the delivery of National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level 3 courses to the new category of highly-trusted sponsor (HTS). UKBA will develop a full impact assessment on the review's recommendations as part of the process of implementation.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many residents of Salford constituency have attended university in each year since 1997. (317735)

The latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency are shown in the table. Figures for 2009/10 academic year will be available in January 2011. Enrolments cover students on all years of study.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what proportion of 18 to 22 year olds exclusively resident in Stroud constituency were studying at university in (a) 1997 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available; (317084)

The Department does not collect data on the number of residents in a particular constituency who are not in higher education, which would be necessary to calculate a proportion. It is, therefore, not possible to calculate the proportion of 18 to 22 year olds resident in Stroud constituency who were studying at university. The numbers of 18 to 22 year old enrolments at UK Higher Education Institutions, from Stroud Parliamentary Constituency, are provided as an alternative in the table.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students enrolled on their first full-time degree course in the latest year for which figures are available. (317338)

Of the 423,455 full-time degree entrants to UK higher education institutions, 6,815 listed a degree as their highest qualification on entry to their 2008-09 degree. This leaves 416,640 entrants who had other qualifications listed. However, some entrants may have previously completed a degree, followed by a postgraduate course. These entrants would not be picked up as their highest qualification on entry would be listed as a postgraduate course, although they had previously studied a degree.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many residents of Feltham and Heston constituency qualify for paid leave entitlements. (316690)