In October 2012 Pendle borough council reported there were 13,678 dwellings subject to the 25% single person discount for council tax purposes in their area.

These data were published on Tuesday 20 November 2012 and are available on the gov.uk website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government/series/council-taxbase-statistics

No information is available of those that are entitled to claim the single person discount.

Single person discount is a long-standing feature of the council tax system, and reflects the fact that single adult households make less use of municipal services than larger households.

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Education.

Information on the percentage of pupils in maintained schools in Pendle constituency achieving five or more GCSEs (including equivalents) at grades (a) A*-C and (b) A*-G for 1996/97 and from 2004/05 to 2010/11 is provided in the following table. Figures for the years 1997/98 to 2003/04 can be provided only at a disproportionate cost. Figures for pupils achieving five or more A* to E grades are not routinely produced and would be available only at a disproportionate cost.

We want to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and for the next decade to be the most entrepreneurial and dynamic in Britain's history. That is why, in January, the Prime Minister launched ‘Business in You’, a major campaign, to inspire people to realise their business ambitions and to highlight the range of support available for start-ups and growing businesses.

We have introduced a range of measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK:

Ensuring SMES can access the support and advice they need to start and grow

We have changed the way that we help people access the information, guidance and advice they need to start and grow a business. We have put in place a range of services including:

All Government support and advice available on

www.businesslink.gov.uk

Later this month, we will transfer this to a new website:

www.gov.uk

which will provide users with simpler information that is easier and faster to access. To help those that cannot use internet service, we will continue to offer support through the Business Link helpline on 0845 600 9006.

A mentoring portal www.mentorsme.co.uk providing an easy route to find experienced business mentors.

A new three year Growth Accelerator programme which will provide high quality coaching support for up to 26,000 SMEs with high growth potential.

Ensuring businesses can access the finance they need

In July, the Government and Bank of England launched the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS), which allows banks and building societies to borrow at cheaper rates from the Bank of England for periods of up to four years. The FLS creates strong incentives for banks to increase lending to UK households and businesses by lowering interest rates and increasing access to credit.

Launched a new £10 million Start-Up Loan Scheme aimed at 18 to 24-year-olds.

Increased the funds available to invest through the Business Finance Partnership (BFP) to £1.2 billion. Government will allocate £100 million of the BFP to invest through non-traditional lending channels that can reach smaller businesses.

Continuation of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme until 2014/15, providing, subject to demand, over£2 billion of additional lending.

Announced a new £50 million Business Angel Co-Investment Fund to encourage Business Angel investment.

Continuation of the Government's Enterprise Capital Funds programme, increasing our commitment by £200 million, providing for more than £300 million of venture capital investment to address the equity gap for early stage innovative SMEs.

Welcomed the report of the industry review of non-bank lending chaired by Tim Breedon and will take forward its recommendations, including encouraging prompt payment by larger firms.

A £2.4 billion Regional Growth Fund operating across England from 2011 to 2015 which supports projects and programmes that lever private sector investment creating economic growth and sustainable employment.

Ensuring that regulation supports business growth

Introduced a ‘one-in, one-out’ rule whereby no new regulations which impose costs on businesses can be brought in without regulation of an equivalent value being removed.

In April 2011 the Government introduced a three-year moratorium on new domestic regulation affecting micro businesses and genuine start-ups.

The Red Tape Challenge is tackling the stock of regulation via a comprehensive thematic review which aims to identify regulations that could be removed, simplified or done in a different way.

Addressing the way in which regulation is enforced at the front line through a series of sector-based reviews of enforcement to examine whether national and local regulatory enforcement was being undertaken and placing the minimum necessary burden on business.

To reduce barriers to businesses taking on new staff Government has announced significant deregulation of employment law, including increasing the unfair dismissal qualifying period from one to two years from 6 April 2012.

Encouraging exporting SMEs

Government will spend £35 million to double, from 25,000 to 50,000, the number of SMEs that UKTI supports a year by 2015. Many components of the UKTI product are aimed at SMEs:

Passport to Export is a trade development programme offering new and inexperienced exporters help and support to build the capability to start exporting proactively and make their first visit to an export market. Launched in 2001, it has helped around 14,000 SMEs as of January 2012.

Gateway to Global Growth offers experienced SME exporters the opportunity to increase their exporting skills and awareness of what is on offer from UKTI and private sector suppliers. The aim is to help them enter more difficult markets or expand in existing ones.

Market Visit Support provides assistance to new to export and/or new to market SMEs visiting overseas markets, individually or in groups as part of their trade development process.

Budget 2012 set out an ambition to more than double annual UK exports to £1 trillion by 2020 through additional measures including expanding the overseas role of UK Export Finance to enable it to develop finance packages that could help UK exporters secure opportunities identified through UK Trade and Investment's High Value Opportunities programme.

Local Business Support

Regenerate Pennine Lancashire (REGEN) is using £7.5 million regional growth fund funding to help SME's create 3,000 jobs within an array of industries across Lancashire. They are calling the programme the Accelerating Business Growth programme which is a competitive grant scheme that helps fund business growth projects across Lancashire including Pendle. Currently 100 companies in Lancashire have expressed an interest in the programme. The current figures for Pendle are:

11 Expressions of Interest, seven successful at EOI stage and progressed to Full Application, one awaiting assessment.

12% of all Expressions of Interest come from Pendle companies.

Lancashire Business Hub has been created to ensure that businesses across Lancashire have access to the full range of national and local support. Co-ordinated by the LEP who act as the accountable body, the Growth Hub offers access to funding, mentoring and other business advice.

The Government is actively working to help all construction firms including those in Pendle.

Returning the UK to sustainable and balanced growth is a key priority for the Government and construction has a central role to play in this. Working closely with the construction industry, we are therefore:

Removing barriers to growth by tackling the planning system, the burden of regulation and access to finance. The Government

is also looking at a number of other issues which may constrain the industry's ability to respond to future growth such as a lack of skills.

Stimulating infrastructure development and improvement. The National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) sets out the overarching view of our forthcoming infrastructure needs. It contains major spending commitments to improve our transport and broadband networks as well as steps to attract major new private sector investment. It has identified a pipeline of over 500 projects, including the top 40 priority infrastructure investments that are critical for growth.

Ensuring Government plays a full role as a key customer of the industry. The public sector accounts for about 30% of the construction industry's output.

Looking for new opportunities and identifying how they can best be exploited including; realising the opportunities of the developing green economy, overseas markets and more effective use of ICT through Building Information Management (BIM).

Stimulating the house building industry. We are committed to seeing a major increase in the supply of new homes where they are needed and wanted. Our housing strategy, ‘Laying the Foundations—A Housing Strategy for England’, published last November, announced an ambitious package of measures to increase significantly the supply of affordable homes. This includes £1.34 billion to support developers and local partners in investing in new homes and infrastructure through the £570 million Get Britain Building investment fund which will unlock stalled housing sites and enable the building of up to 16,000 new homes and the £770 million Growing Places Fund which is allowing local enterprise partnerships to invest in infrastructure that will help to create new homes and jobs.

On 6 September we announced a further major housing and planning package which includes £780 million to unlock 70,000 new homes and create 140,000 new jobs plus a £10 billion guarantee to support investment in new homes.

In 2011, orders for new construction work in Lancashire (excluding Blackpool and Blackpool with Darwen) amounted to £456 million. Latest figures show that in the first half of 2012, new orders totalled £262 million.

Figures are not compiled for areas below local authority/county level.

We are committed to taking action now to put the whole economy on a low-carbon, resource efficient path. In doing so we need to maintain UK competitiveness and lay the foundations for strong and sustainable growth in the future.

The Government is making rapid progress towards establishment of the UK Green Investment Bank, which will be a key component of the transition to a green economy. UK Green Investment Bank plc has now been formed with funding of £3 billion; it will complement other green policies to help accelerate additional capital in green infrastructure. It is expected to be fully operational in the autumn, following state aid approval. In the interim, the Government's UK Green Investments team (UKGI) is making Government investments in green infrastructure.

Following competitive processes, UKGI has committed £180 million to specialist fund mangers to co invest equity in smaller waste infrastructure, energy from waste, and non domestic energy efficiency projects. A pipeline of further projects is under development. All these investments will be made on market terms or meet the requirements for existing state aid exemptions or approvals.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has a number of programmes that are relevant to the development of the UK's green economy. Government initiatives, such as the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) and the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain (AMSC) fund encourage investment across sectors and regions, including green or low carbon sectors in the North West. The RGF allocated £7.5 million to the Accelerating Business Growth Programme, a competitive grant scheme that helps fund business growth projects across Lancashire including Pendle, and includes green projects.

In addition, last year the Government published 'Enabling the Transition to a Green Economy' which will help inform the continuing dialogue between

Government, business and communities. It sets out the range of policies we are using to support the transition to a green economy, the opportunities that are created and the implications for the way in which businesses operate.

This information is not collected centrally.

Information on those who have been in receipt of out of work benefits for at least nine of the last 10 years is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated May 2012:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office to estimate the average earnings of full-time employees in Pendle constituency for April of each year since 2000. (108982)

Average levels of earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for all employees on adult rates of pay whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. The ASHE, carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom.

The following table shows the median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in Pendle constituency for April of each year from 2000 until 2011, the latest period for which figures are available.