The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings she has had with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.
Karen Bradley
As was the case under previous administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful bids from Local Enterprise Partnerships for the Local Growth Fund to date.
Michael Fallon
All 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) submitted their Strategic Economic Plans to Government by 31 March 2014. Given the highly competitive nature of the Local Growth Fund (LGF), it will be over-subscribed and therefore there will be successful and unsuccessful bids to the fund. The assessment process is underway, but it is too early to say how many bids will and will not be successful.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his Department’s estimate is of the latest RAB charge for further education students.
Matthew Hancock
The Department models the proportion of loans which we expect will not be repaid (the RAB charge). The 2012 impact assessment on the introduction of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans stated that we anticipated this RAB charge would be 60% of the total loan amount. Now that we are beginning to receive figures on actual learner numbers, we are reviewing the assumptions within the RAB charge model. This 60% figure may therefore be subject to change in the future.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish the externally audited copies of the last three years’ accounts supplied by alternative learning providers who sought specific course designation under his Department’s financial sustainability, management and governance checks.
Mr David Willetts
The audited accounts of alternative providers submitted to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) as part of the specific designation application process are commercially confidential information. They are only shared with parties involved in the assessment of that application. BIS will not be publishing this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many meetings she has had with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.
Justine Greening
As was the case under previous administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on raising the cap on the amount of student loan accessible by students studying at alternative learning providers.
Mr David Willetts
There currently are no plans to raise the cap on the amount of student loan accessible by students studying at alternative providers. Alternative providers are not subject to the same regulatory conditions as those providers whose students can access fee loans of up to £9000. In particular, the fees that they may charge students are not subject to a cap, nor are these providers required to put in place an Access Agreement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what he expects the RAB charge to be for extra students entering higher education when the present cap on student numbers is removed in 2014-15.
Mr David Willetts
We produce a single RAB charge that is an estimate of the overall cost of issuing loans to students. This charge is currently around 45% for full time students. Similarly, a single RAB charge will be applied to all students entering higher education in 14-15.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what individual student number controls his Department has set for each provider which has been granted specific course designation under his Department’s financial sustainability, management and governance checks.
Mr David Willetts
Provisional student number allocations have been issued to providers. However, those numbers will only be confirmed and where necessary adjusted when the provider has received designation or re-designation for the 2014/15 academic year. For the majority of providers that process is still on-going. We will publish student number control data when that process has been completed for all providers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings he has had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.
Mr Shailesh Vara
As was the case under previous administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-03-31.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any alternative learning providers have not met the standards he recently announced on (a) quality assurance, (b) financial sustainability and (c) management and governance.
Mr David Willetts
To date, 16 alternative providers that applied to have courses designated under the new specific course designation arrangements have not met the standards required. 3 applications were rejected because of quality assurance; 13 applications were rejected because of concerns over financial sustainability.