Hansard - United Kingdom Parliament

115W
Written Answers
20 JUNE 2011
Written Answers
116W
Mr Prisk: Details of bids from round 1 of the Regional
Growth Fund and conditional offers made, remain
commercially confidential until the process of due diligence
is completed.
Departmental Procurement
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for
Business, Innovation and Skills what progress his
Department has made in encouraging small businesses
to bid for Government contracts. [60179]
Mr Prisk: The Department is committed to supporting
the Government-wide initiatives set out at the small and
medium enterprises (SME) strategic supplier summit
on 11 February 2011, notably the launch of Contracts
Finder the Government portal for tendering opportunities
over £10,000. The portal is entirely free, online service
enabling small businesses to search for, and receive free
email alerts of public sector contract opportunities. The
full list of measures can be found on the Cabinet Office
website at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news/government-openscontracts-small-business.
In addition to working to implement these initiatives,
BIS has agreed with Cabinet Office a further set of
actions - such as providing notification of its tendering
requirements in advance by use of a Prior Information
Notice for Official Journal of the European Union
procurements or similar to provide a greater degree of
notice to the market, enabling SMEs to be better placed
to bid for government contracts. Full details are available at:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/about/procurement
To help small businesses build skills and capacity and
support SMEs access public procurement opportunities,
BIS has designed (with input from across both the
public and private sectors) a free on-line public procurement
training course ‘Winning the Contract’ available on the
businesslink website at:
www.businesslink.gov.uk/winningthecontract.
Additionally, following the closure of the previous
Government procurement portal “Supply2.gov”, and
to enable small businesses to freely download, analyse
and gain a better understanding of what, and how
Government buys, BIS has made available all Government
historical contract data (published on the site, from
2006 to 2011), on its transparency page at:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/transparency/supply2gov.
Education: Carers
Dr Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for
Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions
he has had with carers organisations on steps to ensure
that carers receive equal opportunities to access further
or higher education by (a) part-time and (b) full-time
mode; and if he will make a statement. [58988]
Mr Hayes: This Government have been very clear
about the importance of widening participation and
improving access to further and higher education. Adult
carers have been given consideration as part of the
enhancements to adult learner support for students in
further education. Representative bodies were invited to
discussions earlier this year to help formulate the policy.
Carers are eligible to apply for learner support funds as
appropriate and this will remain the case for 2011-12.
In higher education we are establishing a new framework,
with increased responsibility on universities to widen
participation. Higher education institutions will be
encouraged to identify candidates with the ability and
potential to succeed, offering those that might need
extra support the appropriate assistance. For full-time
students in higher education a comprehensive package
of grants and loans is available through the student
finance system, with extra support for students with
adult or child dependants in the form of an Adult
Dependants’ Grant, Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning
Allowance. From 2012/13 eligible new part-time students
will not pay upfront tuition charges and will be able to
access loans in order to pay for their tuition, as is the
case for full-time students.
EU Law
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business,
Innovation and Skills for what EU directives in force on
1 April 2010 his Department is responsible; and what
EU directives for which his Department is responsible
have come into force since 1 April 2010. [60729]
Mr Prisk [holding answer 17 June 2011]: The stock
of EU legislation in force is set out in the Eur-Lex
database:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm
It would be of disproportionate cost to review the entire
stock to establish which pieces of legislation were currently
the responsibility of BIS or its predecessor Departments.
There are a number of directives, which have come
into force since 1 April 2010, for which the Department
has responsibility. The directives are of varying natures
and implications and I will write separately providing a
detailed list.
EU Law: Economic Growth
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business,
Innovation and Skills what criteria he plans to use to
assess any recommendations resulting from the work
with Government undertaken by GSK, Balfour Beatty,
Kingfisher and Tribeka Limited to consider the effect of
EU legislation on UK growth opportunities. [59525]
Mr Prisk: As announced in Budget 2011, the
Government are working with four companies, Balfour
Beatty, GSK, Kingfisher and Tribeka Ltd, to find ways
to improve European growth opportunities for UK
businesses. All four companies will have the opportunity
to contribute equally to this work and each company
will be given equal weight.
Central to the Government’s assessment of specific
contributions will be the extent to which they illustrate
opportunities and problems for the wider sector from
which they are drawn so that the evidence provided can
be used for the broadest possible positive impact on the
UK economy.
Fees and Charges: Students
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business,
Innovation and Skills if he will place in the Library a
copy of the legal advice his Department has received on
the entitlements of EU students to (a) fee waivers,
(b) fee discounts and (c) the National Scholarship
Programme; and if he will make a statement. [60868]