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1 Nov 2006 : Column 528W—continued
The number of agency staff in the Department fluctuates throughout the year and they were not categorised as such until mid-2004. The following figures are as at 1 October of each year:
| 1 October | Number of agency temps |
The number of staff seconded into the Department, again as at 1 October of each year, was as follows:
| 1 October | Number of secondees into DTI |
Departmental Staff
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of vacancies in his Department in the last 12 months required candidates to have at least a grade C in (a) English and (b) mathematics GCSE. [96738]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Recruitment to the DTI is competence based focusing on skills and experience rather than formal qualifications, and there may not be a specific requirement for new recruits to hold a particular type of qualification. These data are therefore not collected centrally.
Energy Technologies Institute
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the new energy and environmental research institute that he announced in Budget 2006 is planned to be established; and how much the Government plan to grant to the institute in the first year of its existence. [97966]
Jim Fitzpatrick: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry published the prospectus for the Energy Technologies Institute on 14 September. It envisaged that the institute would be legally established and fully operational in 2008, with 50:50 public/private sector funding. The prospectus also envisaged the following funding profile, if there are worthwhile projects available. The Government are committed to providing 50 per cent. of these funds.
| Cost per annum (£ million) | |
| (1 )Assumes £50 million p.a. is secured from private sector partners. | |
Energy Policy
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the feasibility of using thorium-powered nuclear reactors to help meet UK electricity demand. [96768]
Mr. Darling: It is for industry to decide what type of fuel to use in any future reactor systems. Industry proposals for a commercial thorium-fuelled reactor would seem unlikely while there are ample supplies of uranium.
IT Projects
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which information technology projects are being undertaken by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies; what the (i) start date, (ii) original planned completion date, (iii) expected completion date, (iv) originally planned costs and (v) estimated costs are of each; and if he will make a statement. [95863]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is as follows:
‘Core’ DTI information technology projects:
Matrix2 (Electronic Document Records Management) (i) January 2006; (ii) April 2007; (iii) April 2007; (iv) £3.5 million; (v) £3.5million.
Flexible Computing (Provision of appropriate business tools for mobile workers) (i) September 2004; (ii) January 2007; (iii) March 2007; (iv) £9 million; (v) £9.5 million.
HR (Oracle based personnel system) (i) March 2006; (ii) Q3 2007; (iii) Q3 2007; (iv) £4.2 million; (v) £4.2 million.
Companies House information technology projects:
CHIPS (Mainframe replacement) (i) February 2001; (ii) April 2005; (iii) January 2007; (iv) £22.7 million; (v) £43 million.
Insolvency Service information technology projects:
ISolv (web based self-service capability that allows citizens to enter petitions directly. Part-funded by an Invest to Save Budget (ISB)) (i) November 2003; (ii) July 2006 (Support period ending June 2007); (iii) April 2008 (Support period ending March 2009); (iv) £2.4 million (inc. £1.8 million HM Treasury ISB funding); (v) £3.1 million (inc. £1.8 million HM Treasury ISB funding).
ISCIS (replacement of LOIS and Central Index applications, providing process management efficiencies) (i) July 2004; (ii) June 2006; (iii) December 2007; (iv) £8 million; (v) £3 million.
CHAMP (replacement for CHIRPS Redundancy Payment system, funded by HMRC) (i) September 2005; (ii) August 2007; (iii) April 2008; (iv) £1.6 million; (v) £1.3 million.
Corporate Reporting (enterprise-wide management reporting tool across all applications, providing improved management information and scorecard) (i) June 2006; (ii) December 2008; (iii) March 2009; (iv) £1.35 million; (v) £1.35 million.
ICM (integrated electronic document and records management environment and scanning service) (i) February 2006; (ii) September 2008; (iii) September 2008; (iv) £1.7 million (plus migration costs); (v) £2.3 million (now for running costs for a scanning bureau which are £630,000 p.a.).
Technology Refresh (replacement of the technology infrastructure) (i) October 2005; (ii) June 2008; (iii) June 2008; (iv) £5 million to £7 million (estimated costs to complete); (v) £5 million to £7 million (estimated costs to complete).
EAS (replacement banking system) (i) June 2001; (ii) April 2004; (iii) June 2008; (iv) £l8.5 million; (v) £18.5 million.
National Weights and Measures Laboratory information technology projects:
NWML’s total IT budget for 2006-07 is £171,000 running costs and £100,000 capital expenditure. A major project to improve website and internal communications is being considered, but is currently still at the planning stage.
The Patent Office information technology projects:
Patent Electronic Case File System Phase 4 (i) June 2006; (ii) March 2007; (iii) March 2007; (iv) £1.13 million; (v) £1.13 million.
Trade Mark Modernisation Programme Definition Phase (i) June 2005; (ii) October 2006; (iii) February 2007; (iv) £2.93 million; (v) £3.56 million.
Joint Telescope Agreement
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the UK will withdraw from the joint telescope agreement with Australia; and what the annual savings will be to his Department. [98210]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The agreements between the Governments of the UK and Australia concerning the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) will terminate with effect from 1 July 2010.
The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is responsible for the funding of astronomical research. In financial year 2005-06, the
UK's contribution to the costs of operation of the AAT, paid by PPARC, was £1.58 million. The reductions in annual financial contributions, as a result of the phased withdrawal from the Anglo-Australian Telescope, will be approximately as follows:
| £ million | |
Light Bulbs
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of light bulbs purchased by his Department in 2005 were of the compact fluorescent type. [98261]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department installs energy efficient lighting throughout its estate as a part of its strategy to achieve the energy targets set out in the framework for sustainable development in Government.
The percentage of compact fluorescent type lights purchased on the DTI estate represented 27 per cent. for the calendar year 2005.
Ministerial Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he plans to visit Northern Ireland. [97258]
Mr. Darling: I have no immediate plans to visit Northern Ireland.
Polar Research
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of an independent UK polar research capability, with particular reference to (a) future funding, (b) planned projects and (c) pooling of resources. [95369]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). BAS undertakes the majority of Britain's scientific research on and around the Antarctic continent. In addition, NERC supports the Antarctic Funding Initiative (AFI) which provides access to Antarctica for scientists from NERC and the UK's university community.
NERC supports environmental research in the Arctic at UK universities and research institutes. NERC also leases buildings at the International Science Facility at Ny Ã...lesund in Svalbard for the NERC Arctic Research Station, which BAS manages.
(a) and (b) The BAS research programme is planned and funded on a five-year timetable and the current programme ‘Global Science in the Antarctic Context', ends on 31 March 2010, further details of which are available at www.antarctica.ac.uk. BAS has also received additional funding to construct a new
research station at Halley, which will be operational for the 2009-10 Antarctic season.
Details of the funding allocation to BAS are in the table:
| £ million | |||
| Resource Budget | Capital Budget | Total Budget | |
(c) Co-operation within Antarctica on logistical matters is standard operational practice, and BAS has formal agreements with Chile, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands and the USA.
Transport
Blue Badges
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether car drivers are entitled to display a blue badge only when a person with disabilities is in the car; and if he will make a statement. [94150]
Gillian Merron: When a vehicle is being driven by someone other than the badge holder, a blue badge may be displayed for the purposes of entering or leaving an area, which is accessible only to vehicles displaying a blue badge, in order to pick up or drop off the badge holder.
Buses
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bus (a) routes and (b) vehicles on such routes there were in (i) Beverley and Holderness and (ii) East Riding of Yorkshire in each of the last nine years; and if he will make a statement. [93437]
Gillian Merron: The information requested is in some cases not available and in others could be obtained only at disproportionate expense.
Driving Licences
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many driving licences were reported (a) lost and (b) stolen in each of the last five years. [97297]
Dr. Ladyman: The DVLA does not keep records of the specific reasons why duplicate driving licences are requested. Duplicate licences are supplied to replace lost, stolen and damaged licences. The total number of duplicate driving licences issued in each of the last five financial years is as follows:
| Number | |
This supersedes my answer of 19 October 2006, Official Report, column 1340W, to the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard).
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