here - United Kingdom Parliament

1297W
Written Answers
6 JUNE 2013
Written Answers
1298W
enrolled in publicly-funded training courses in each of
the last five years; what the total cost has been of such
courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10
highest training course fees in each such year. [155433]
Mrs Grant: Budgets for training and education are
devolved and are managed locally by the Ministry’s
different business groups, agencies and non-departmental
public bodies. The Ministry does not record this information
centrally. Therefore to establish the numbers of staff
who have enrolled in publicly-funded training courses
and any costs would require a Ministry-wide survey of
all its local business areas and non-departmental public
bodies. This would incur a disproportionate cost.
BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS
Absenteeism
Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for
Business, Innovation and Skills what the policy of his
Department is on promoting physical activity as a
strategy for reducing workplace absenteeism. [158308]
Jo Swinson: The Secretary of State for Business,
Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member
for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has no locus to promote
physical activity in employees in general.
The Government recognises the important role of
well-being in the workplace in creating an environment
where businesses and individuals can thrive and grow.
Health, Work and Well-being is an important cross-
Government agenda, in which BIS is involved and
works closely with a number of other Departments.
The Government supports a number of initiatives
which impact on well-being such as the Every Business
Commits framework, which was launched by the Prime
Minister in December 2010 that has a specific strand
focusing on improving quality of life and wellbeing for
employees.
In addition Government also commissioned the
independent review of sickness absence undertaken by
Dame Carol Black and David Frost CBE. Their report
″Health at Work″ was published in November 2011.
Officials in the Department for Business, Innovation
and Skills are now working closely with colleagues in
the Department for Work and Pensions, Department of
Health, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and others
to implement measures aimed at reducing sickness absence
in the workplace as set out in the Government’s response
to the Review (″Fitness for Work″) as published in
January 2013.
Apprentices: Kent
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for
Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprenticeships
commenced in each sector in (a) Gillingham and Rainham
constituency and (b) Medway in each of the last three
years. [158701]
Matthew Hancock: Information on the number of
apprenticeship starts by parliamentary constituency,
local education authority and sector subject area are
published in a supplementary table to a quarterly Statistical
First Release (SFR).
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/65659B53-
3E92-4E0E-AB62-E106C41B5277/0/
Mar2012_Apprenticeships_SSA_Geography_Starts.xls
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/Statistics/fe_data_library/
Apprenticeships/
Copyright: EU Law
Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for
Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on
the reopening of Directive 2001/29/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of May 2001
on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright
and related rights in the information society. [158172]
Jo Swinson: Any decision to review the directive is a
matter for the European Commission who have already
outlined several areas of work on copyright, including a
review of directive 2001/29/EC as provided for in the
directive itself. The Government believes that the time is
right for such a review to take place, in order to consider
the copyright issues that have stemmed from technological
change.
The Government wants to engage with interested
parties on this issue and the Intellectual Property Office
will be approaching stakeholders to help flesh out
Government thinking so that the UK can develop a
clear position and respond if any proposals are tabled.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for
Business, Innovation and Skills for how many days
each week the Minister of State for Business and
Enterprise is based at (a) his Department and (b) the
Department of Energy and Climate Change; and how
many members of staff are employed in the Minister’s
office at each department. [158443]
Michael Fallon: Most days I work in both Departments.
Across the two I have a number of portfolio areas, but
common to them all are removing barriers to growth,
encouraging investment, and accelerating enterprise.
There are 4.0 FTE in my office in the Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills, and 3.5 FTE employed
in my office at the Department of Energy and Climate
Change.
Exports: South East Asia
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for
Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the
answer of 6 November 2012, Official Report, column
594W, on exports: South East Asia, if he will publish
an evaluation of the Headstart initiative six month
pilot; and if he will place a copy of this evaluation in
the Library. [157044]
Michael Fallon: The Headstart pilot, intended for
small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) new to the
market, provides access to office space and locallyestablished
UK expertise in three South East Asian
markets: Indonesia; Singapore; and Thailand. The scheme
is offered by the local British Chambers of Commerce
in association with UK Trade & Investment and the
UK-ASEAN Business Council.