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8 Nov 2006 : Column 1604W—continued
| East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) | |
| £ | |
| Note: The Corporate Plan for the other years has been produced entirely in-house and a version for general circulation is not published. It is publicised on the website and copies produced when requested. | |
| London Development Agency (LDA) | |
| £ | |
| (1) Provisional figure — to be confirmed. Note: Prior to 2002 no Corporate Plan was designed and published for general circulation, therefore no costs were involved. The LDA produces a three-year Corporate Plan on an annual basis to inform the Mayor of London’s consolidated budget setting process for the Greater London Authority. The higher cost of producing the LDA’s plan is due to a number of factors. These include the cost of outsourcing to a production company rather than in-house production, higher costs of production in London, improving its accessibility to those with disabilities, accommodating extra input from the Mayor’s office, and producing hard copies rather than website versions only. | |
| Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) | |
| £ | |
| Note: Previous Corporate Plans were not printed and distributed, but posted on the Agency’s website. Therefore NWDA does not have any recorded costs in respect of those documents. | |
| ONE NorthEast | |
| £ | |
| Note: Prior to 2004 One NorthEast did not produce a corporate plan as such and it was not printed or distributed as it is presently. Consequently One NorthEast does not hold any financial or costing information for this period. | |
South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)
SEEDA has only printed a Corporate Plan in 2005 (summary only). 1000 copies were printed at a cost of £1,390. In all other years, the Corporate Plan is produced entirely in-house and a version for general circulation is not published. It is publicised on the website and copies produced when requested.
| South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) | |
| £ | |
The Corporate Plan is produced entirely in-house and a version for general circulation is not published. It is publicised on the website and copies produced when requested.
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses in each region received financial assistance from the regional development agencies in each year since 1999. [94095]
Margaret Hodge: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to extend further the powers and responsibilities of regional development agencies; and if he will make a statement. [99680]
Margaret Hodge: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Research and Development
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been spent on research and development (a) in the West Midlands and (b) nationally. [96838]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 26 October 2006]: The amount spent on R&D in the West Midlands and nationally can be seen in the following tables.
| R&D performed in the UK in the private and public sectors in 2003 | |||
| £ million | |||
| Business expenditure R&D (BERD) | Government R&D (GOVERD) | Higher education R&D (HERD) | |
| Notes: 1. These figures may be subject to revisions. 2. The table shows the performers of R&D, not the funders. Source: GERD, 2003; Economics Trends 621. | |||
| Business expenditure on R&D, 2004 | |
| £ million | |
| Note: Government and Higher Education Expenditure for 2004 not yet available. Source: Business Monitor, MA 14, 2004 | |
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of his Department's research and development budget has been spent on research establishments based in (a) Wales, (b) England, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [89988]
Jim Fitzpatrick: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
River Tyne
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to receive the joint North Tyneside Metropolitan District Council, Newcastle City Council and One North East study on future land use on the river front north of the River Tyne. [98311]
Margaret Hodge: It has not proved possible to respond to my right hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Road Traffic Accidents
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with automobile (a) manufacturers and (b) insurers on (i) vehicle design and passenger safety and (ii) the costs of vehicle repairs and personal injury claims arising out of road traffic accidents. [98309]
Margaret Hodge: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport (DfT) has lead responsibility for policy relating to road transport and the regulation of vehicle safety. DfT has numerous formal and informal discussions with interested parties, including manufacturers and insurers, about road and vehicle safety. The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) works collaboratively with the automotive manufacture and distribution industry to investigate reports of design or construction deficiency. The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) has regular discussions with its automobile manufacturer customers in order to understand the new technologies that they wish to use, and to type approve their designs against statutory safety standards.
Department of Trade and Industry has regular dialogue with the automotive industry on a wide range of issues, working closely with DfT and other relevant Government departments and agencies. In particular, the Vehicle Industry Policy and European Regulation (VIPER) group, which is attended by Government officials including DTI, DfT and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs along with industry representatives, discuses regulatory issues that
affect the automotive sector, including the development of technical regulations, which are mainly concerned with the environmental or safety performance of vehicles.
Royal Society International Fellowships
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department plans to allocate to the Royal Society international fellowship scheme in each of the next five years. [99907]
Jim Fitzpatrick: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many foreign scientists he expects to take part in the Royal Society international fellowship scheme. [99908]
Jim Fitzpatrick: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which areas of science will be covered by the Royal Society International Fellowship Scheme. [99909]
Jim Fitzpatrick: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Savings Companies
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures are in place to protect savers who invest in savings companies which go into closure. [98694]
Mr. McCartney: Many firms that offer savings and investment products to the public, such as banks, building societies and insurance companies, are required by legislation to be authorised by the Financial Services Authority. If an authorised firm fails and is unable to pay claims against it, compensation is often available to savers and investors (subject to certain limitations) from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Consumers can find out whether a firm is authorised by checking the FSA Register either on-line (www.fsa.gov.uk/register) or by telephone (0845 606 1234).
The legislation does not require companies which operate pre-payment schemes for goods and services, such a Christmas hampers, to be authorised by the FSA.
Scottish Regulatory Bodies
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive on the operation of regulatory bodies under the Scottish legal system. [95131]
Malcolm Wicks: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Seal Skins
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many seal skins were imported into the UK in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [99121]
Mr. McCartney: The importation of listed products of ‘whitecoat’ pups of harp seals and ‘blueback’ pups of hooded seals has been prohibited in this country and throughout the European Union for some 20 years. We are actively looking into the possibility of imposing a ban on the import of listed products of all harp and hooded seals.
Figures are not available for numbers of other seal skins which are imported. The Overseas Trade Statistics suggest impost in 2005 of about 4.1 tonnes of whole seal fur skins and pieces or cuttings.
Secondments
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many BP employees are on secondment to his Department; what areas they are working on; on what terms; and how many BP employees have been on secondment to his Department in each year since January 2002. [99209]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 6 November 2006]: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Skill Shortages
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to address skills shortages in the process industries in the north east of England. [98943]
Margaret Hodge: The Regional Development Agency, One North East, has just completed work on its Regional Economic Strategy for 2006-2016. This gives prominence to work on skills, ensuring we meet our priorities in a regional context through initiative such as Regional Skills Partnerships and the Regional Skills Action Plan. For example, One North East, working in conjunction with the Learning and Skills Council and other regional partners, has developed three initiatives to address skills shortages. These are:
Science City—this is an inclusive approach being taken in the region to promote science as an exciting and rewarding career opportunity. The activity underpins process sector requirements for the future in providing a supply of talented labour. We are investing heavily into this project which covers five key strand areas.
Partnership working—following an assessment of apprenticeship supply and demand in the region, One North East is working closely with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to increase the capacity to deliver process industry training. This links to the above activities and directly addresses the identified shortage of 100 process operators and subsequent increase in demand to meet the projected shortfall of 210 in 2007-08, rising to 600 in 2010-11.
Higher Level Skills Pathfinder project—the North East was one of three regions invited by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to submit proposals for a Pathfinder project aimed at helping the Higher Education system to make a step change in the way in which it works with partners to tackle the region's skills needs. The pathfinder will add value to the existing contribution of institutions to workforce development in the region by adding capacity and capability into the region's skills infrastructure. The proposal has been approved by HEFCE's Strategic Development Framework panel and is being submitted to the HEFCE Board for final approval on 2 November 2006.
The North East will also benefit from national work. Cogent, the employer lead Sector Skills Council for the process industries has identified the skills needed for the sector via the Sector Skills Agreement. Cogent ha recently been asked, by Department for Education and Skills, to develop a business plan for a National Skills Academy for the Process Industries National Skills Academy (PINS A). PINS A is a sector based national centre of excellence that will build on existing training provision infrastructure and will look at novel ways to deliver training into the workplace.
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