Written Answers to Questions
Monday 15 January 2007
Constitutional Affairs
Advertising
For the period April 2005-March 2006 my Department has placed five recruitment advertisements within The Guardian, costs are broken down in the following table.
Project Expenditure on advertising (£) 2005 Public Appointment 7,752 2005 Magistrates recruitment 7,150 2006 Job recruitment (DCA) 4,612 2006 Job recruitment (PGO) 4,500 2006 Judicial appointment 6,953 Total 30,967
Clementi Report
Sir David Clementi published his final report in December 2004. At that time, the Government confirmed that they broadly accepted Sir David’s recommendations. In October 2005, the Government published their White Paper “The Future of Legal Services: Putting Consumers First”, which was essentially a substantive response to Sir David’s final report. The Government subsequently introduced the Legal Services Bill to Parliament on 23 November 2006. While the Bill contains much more detail when compared with Sir David’s original report, the proposals for the most part are based on his blueprint for reform.
As part of reforming the regulatory framework for legal services in England and Wales, the Bill will make it possible for lawyers to provide their services in new ways. This will include lawyers forming partnerships or other business structures with other types of lawyers (eg solicitors and barristers) and with non-lawyers. External investment will also be possible. This will provide an opportunity for all firms to change their business structures to enable them to draw more effectively on non-legal expertise and external financing to modernise and improve their business systems and infrastructure. It could also provide smaller firms with new ways of reaching a wider consumer base, which could act as a means for those operating at the margins to become more efficient and compete more effectively with larger or more well established firms.
Correspondence
(2) how many letters were received by her Department from hon. Members in each of the last 12 months; how many such letters were responded to within (a) 10 and (b) 20 days of receipt; how many were answered after 20 days from the date of receipt; and if she will make a statement.
The information is not readily available in the format requested. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to the correspondence of Members/Peers. The report for 2005 was published on 30 March 2006, Official Report, columns 75-78ws. Information relating to 2006 is currently being collated and will be published as soon as it is ready.
Court Televisions
The information available to my Department on the number of courts that have television displays available in the courtrooms for video imagery and evidence to be viewed is a follows:
All 78 main Crown court centres and 259 of the 344 magistrates courthouses have television displays available in the courtrooms that are capable of displaying video imagery and evidence. In addition, by the end of the financial year, all main Crown court centres and at least 260 magistrates courthouses will have the facilities to play DVDs in court.
Video display equipment in civil courts is typically not centrally provided but purchased locally. The majority of large trial centres have video playback facilities and these are also usually available in family centres.
Departmental Hospitality
(2) what her Department's expenditure was on hospitality and entertainment in 2005-06.
For figures for ministerial expenditure on hospitality and entertainment in 1996-97, I refer the hon. Member to the Prime Minister's answer of 9 February 1998 to my right hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham, (Mr. MacShane) Official Report, column 17W, which provides the global figure for Government expenditure on ministerial entertaining and hospitality for official purposes in 1996-97.
Information is not readily available for civil servants for 1996-97 as the Department updated its accounting system in the summer of 1998 and the cost of retrieval from archive would be at disproportionate cost.
Total expenditure (ministerial and civil servants) on hospitality and entertainment for the Department (formerly known as Lord Chancellor's Department), which covers costs for Her Majesty's Courts Service, the Public Guardianship Office and DCA headquarters in 2005-06 is £113,972.
All expenditure on official entertainment is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety that is based on principles set out in Government Accounting.
Departmental Publications: Translation
The Department for Constitutional Affairs does not collect the information centrally and it could be given only at disproportionate cost. The Department is giving consideration to the routine collection of data relating to translating departmental publications into languages other than English.
Election Officials
There is no set upper age limit for being employed to work in a polling station or at an election count, and the Government have no plans either to review this, or to introduce any limit.
The employment of election staff is a matter for individual returning officers.
Employment Law
The Government have no plan to restrict to members of the legal profession the ability to provide advice on employment law matters.
Employment Tribunals
I have been asked to reply.
The Government have no plans to restrict representatives at employment tribunals to members of the legal profession.
The Government have no plans to make a statement beyond this.
Freedom of Information Act Fees
On 14 December 2006, the Government launched a public consultation on draft Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2007. The consultation closes on 8 March 2007.
Representations made to my Department in response to the plans to change the regulations governing Freedom of Information Act fees will be published following the conclusion of the consultation.
Jury Service
Information is not held in the format requested. However, to be summoned for jury service one must be registered to vote in parliamentary or local elections. This includes Commonwealth and European Union citizens. To be qualified for jury service one must also have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for any period of at least five years since attaining the age of 13.
Legal Aid
Lord Carter considered a range of remuneration systems for both civil and criminal legal aid in his report on the procurement of legal aid, “Legal Aid: A market-based approach to reform”, published in July 2006. Following the public consultation on Lord Carter’s proposals, the Government has accepted his recommendation that graduated fees should be used to remunerate Crown court litigation and advocacy, and will consider whether such a scheme should be introduced for magistrates court work prior to the introduction of best value tendering.
Early in 2007, the Legal Services Commission will re-consult on a revised care proceedings graduated fee scheme, with a view to implementing the new scheme—apart from for advocacy—in October 2007. At the same time, the LSC will re-consult on a revised scheme for family help—Private, with a view to implementation in October 2007. Regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) will be drawn up for the new schemes.
The Department and the LSC recently published “Legal Aid Reform: the way ahead”, which sets out our commitment to ensure a sustainable legal aid market is in place, with a quality assured service at the heart of our procurement strategy. It was accompanied by a regulatory impact assessment (RIA) that made a full assessment of the impact of the introduction of fixed fees for criminal legal aid in the magistrates court. It also covers the tailored fixed fee (TFF) replacement scheme for civil legal aid work excluding family and mental health. Copies of both these documents can be found in the Library and on both the DCA and LSC websites.
The LSC will shortly be releasing a further consultation paper regarding the introduction of fixed fees for work in the police station. This will be accompanied by a draft RIA, which will be finalised following the publication of the LSC’s response to consultation and will again make a full assessment of the impact of fixed fees in this area.
The information for the year 2006 is not yet available. However, my Department and the LSC are currently working on compiling the information for 2005-06, which will then be placed on my Department’s website.
Magistrates
We do not record whether magistrates live in the local justice area to which they are allocated. There are 471 magistrates in the six local justice areas in Cheshire.
52 magistrates live in the constituency of the City of Chester
27 magistrates live in the constituency of Ellesmere Port and Neston
49 magistrates live in the constituency of Eddisbury
54 magistrates live in the constituency of Warrington South
two magistrates live in the constituency of Wirral South
seven magistrates live in the constituency of Alyn and Deeside
three magistrates live in the constituency of Wallasey
42 magistrates live in the constituency of Crewe and Nantwich
one magistrate lives in the constituency of Wrexham
three magistrates live in the constituency of Clwyd South
39 magistrates live in the constituency of Tatton
34 magistrates live in the constituency of Macclesfield
33 magistrates live in the constituency of Congleton
one magistrate lives in the constituency of Cheadle
one magistrate lives in the constituency of Altrincham and Sale West
33 magistrates live in the constituency of Weaver Vale
one magistrate lives in the constituency of Salford
one magistrate lives in the constituency of Knowsley South
40 magistrates live in the constituency of Halton
41 magistrates live in the constituency of Warrington North
two magistrates live in the constituency of St. Helens North
one magistrate lives in the constituency of St. Helens South
two magistrates live in the constituency of Liverpool, Garsten
one magistrate lives in the constituency of Leigh
one is unknown due to incorrect postcode being recorded.
Advisory committees on justices of the peace follow the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor’s directions when making recommendations for appointment to the magistracy. This provides guidance that each local justice area should broadly reflect the community it serves including geographical spread.
(2) what her objective justification is under the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 for refusing to appoint magistrates aged over 65 years.
The new age regulations provide that discrimination will not be unlawful if it is undertaken in order to comply with a requirement of any statutory provision. The retirement age for magistrates is set at 70 by section 13(l) of the Courts Act 2003. Therefore, moving magistrates on to the supplemental list at age 70 does not constitute unlawful age discrimination under the regulations.
Magistrates sit in a part-time capacity and generally have little previous experience of the court system, so will require training, mentoring and the opportunity to gain experience. The Lord Chancellor would normally expect that part-time magistrates will be able to sit for at least five years before retirement, and he will therefore not normally appoint anyone over the age of 65.
There has been no central collection of data on the average travel times of prospective users of magistrates courts. However in deciding where magistrates courts may sit, there is a duty to have regard to ensure that courthouses are accessible to persons resident in each local justice area.
Departmental guidance provides for site selection on new builds to be located within 10-15 minutes walk of more than one form of public transport.
The following table details the number of magistrates courts in England and Wales since 1997. All magistrates courts are capable of undertaking criminal proceedings in cases that would require imprisonment upon conviction.
Number of magistrates courts 1997 492 1998 472 1999 436 2000 443 2001 426 2002 396 2003 389 2004 381 2005 373 2006 369
The following table details the number of magistrates courts in England and Wales since 1997. All magistrates courts are capable of undertaking family proceedings.
Number of magistrates courts 1997 492 1998 472 1999 436 2000 443 2001 426 2002 396 2003 389 2004 381 2005 373 2006 369
The only significant change to magistrates’ training in the last 12 months is that in April 2006 the Lord Chief Justice assumed responsibility from the Lord Chancellor for magistrates’ training.
In 1997 each of the 42 Magistrates Courts Committees (MCC) in England and Wales were responsible for the training of magistrates in their area, subject to guidance from the Judicial Studies Board (JSB).
In 1999 the “Magistrates’ New Training Initiative” introduced a competence framework and appraisal scheme for all magistrates.
In 2002 Bench Training and Development Committees (BTDC), were introduced by the “Justices of the Peace (Size and Chairmanship of Bench) Rules 2002” to replace the Bench Chairmanship Committee, with statutory responsibility for overseeing the training and appraisal of court chairmen plus a number of other training responsibilities.
In 2003 the “Magistrates National Training Initiative” was introduced. This refined the competence framework for magistrates, set a training syllabus for magistrates in all their jurisdictions, recommended a standard national practice for the mentoring and appraisal of magistrates, and provided guidance to BTDCs on their training functions.
In 2005 training became compulsory for magistrates before they were permitted to undertake certain functions, the Lord Chancellor was required to provide training material for those compulsory courses and the JSB assumed a strengthened role in magistrate training.
The 2005 Rules also created Magistrates’ Area Training Committees (MATC). MATCs are responsible for agreeing the annual training plan for magistrates in their area and monitoring and evaluating its implementation.
In 2005 the JSB and Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS) agreed a “Minimum Protocol for The Provision of Magistrates’ Training”. This ensures that HMCS provides sufficient resources to allow magistrates to fulfil their minimum training requirements. That Protocol is renegotiated annually.
Before being allowed to sit in court the newly appointed magistrate undertakes an initial training session of three hours to introduce him/her to the bench and its organisation. This is followed by a minimum of three days training covering such topics as the jurisdiction of magistrates; judicial decision making; case management and preliminary decisions; summary trial; evidence and determining guilt or innocence; sentencing, and enforcement of court orders. This training input is supplemented by court observations. In addition newly appointed magistrates are required to visit penal establishments and these visits are normally completed within the first year of sitting. The newly appointed magistrate’s learning and development is supported by a mentor scheme. Approximately 12 months after beginning to sit in court he/she will attend a further 12 hours consolidation training. Following this an appraisal will take place to identify if the magistrate has any outstanding training needs.
Although training provision varies across different court areas in England and Wales in response to local training needs, all sitting magistrates are required to undertake a minimum of six hours training every three years. In addition magistrates are provided with extra initial and continuation training if they hold additional responsibilities, for example if they sit in the Youth Court or Family Proceedings Court. Additional training is also provided if there is major legislative change, for example to support the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. On an annual basis Her Majesty’s Court Service and the Judicial Studies Board agree a national minimum training provision for all magistrates to ensure that appropriate resources are available to support magistrates training.
Mental Health Guidance
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has withdrawn the Mental Health ‘Improving Your Quality’ guide following feedback from the profession. This is an independent guide, written by the mental health peer review panel. The LSC has facilitated the development, but is not a contributor. The LSC is working with the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and peer reviewers to provide more appropriate wording. The LSC hopes to reissue an amended mental health guide in the near future.
Public Defender Service
In the last 12 months my Department has received two requests for publication of the final report of the monitoring and evaluation study of the PDS and the Legal Services Commission has received three.
The final report of the monitoring and evaluation study into the PDS was published on Monday 8 January 2007. The publication of the report was delayed for various reasons including the consideration of the interim findings of Lord Carter.
The costs of the Public Defender Service, the number of cases handled, the number of lawyers and other staff are given in the following table. Figures on average case costs for each of the years since the inception of the PDS are not available. However, average case costs for 2001-02 to 2003-04 are available in the independent report, “Evaluation of the Public Defender Services in England and Wales” (Table 5.7a p216). A copy of this report is available on the commission’s website at the following address:
http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/docs/pds/Public_Defenders _Report_PDFVersion6.pdf
2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 2002-03 2001-02 Cost (£) 4,329,567 4,122,211 3,784,156 3,478,243 2,824,531 Number of lawyers 50 48 52 39 27 Other staff 28 27 23.4 23 15 Number of cases opened in year 5,886 4,634 4,291 3,849 1,710
Public Records
This instrument, which covers a wide range of records, was issued in 1996. It is not normal practice for whole instruments to be reviewed. The instrument itself gives the dates when retentions of particular records are due to be reviewed.
The transfer of the 1911 census records to the Public Record Office took place in 1966. Access to specific information in this census was subject to an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Information Commissioner’s decision was published on 12 December 2006. The chief executive of the National Archives is making arrangements to provide access to non-personally sensitive information.
Solicitor Firms
I understand from the Law Society that 5,657 firms of solicitors have closed in the last three years. No information is available on the reasons for closure. The type of practices that have closed in the period include: partnerships; sole practitioners; multi national practices; incorporated limited liability partnerships; and foreign law practices.
However, this figure should be balanced against the number of new firms that have been established in the last three years, which is 6,093.
Special Advisers
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Department for Transport on 7 November 2006, Official Report, column 1063W.
Supreme Court
Plans for the renovation of the Middlesex Guildhall on Parliament Square have been developed by renowned conservation architects Feilden and Mawson in consultation with the existing Law Lords, Westminster city council and English Heritage. The city and planning committee of Westminster city council unanimously agreed to grant planning and listed building consent, which was granted in full on 21 November 2006. We are in final negotiations with Kier Group Plc, our preferred bidder to carry out the renovations.
Substantial progress is also being made on the creation of the court as a new and independent organisation such as streamlining business processes, developing a finance structure and supporting the Law Lords consultation on the supreme court rules.
The DCA is on target to deliver the supreme court in October 2009.
Trade Union Funding
My Department has not provided any funding to individual trade unions in the last three years. We do however, in line with statutory rights and along with other civil service Departments, provide reasonable time off for carrying out trade union duties.
Voting Rights
I have not made such an estimate. I understand that the Electoral Commission has undertaken work with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to help raise awareness among British citizens living abroad of their voting rights in the UK and how to maintain them.
Work and Pensions
Access to Work Scheme
Access to work advisers are required to look at each case individually and identify the most suitable and cost effective solution in agreement with the customer and their employer. Advisers use a number of standard questions to determine both the number of British sign language interpreters required and what their minimum qualification level should be.
[holding answer 18 December 2006]: For appointments lasting between two and three hours, advisers are asked to look at the structure and length of the meeting, including any breaks, to decide whether the provision of one or two interpreters is most appropriate. Policy guidance has recently been strengthened and it is now standard practice to provide two interpreters for meetings over three hours in length.
[holding answer 18 December 2006]: There are no formal qualification requirements for access to work advisers. Any adviser posts are filled through a competency based system in line with any other Department for Work and Pensions vacancies.
New access to work advisers are required to undertake a training programme consisting of a four-day course specifically about access to work and a two-day module covering general disability awareness and how to work with customers with specific disabilities and health conditions.
Administration Costs
The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001 from the Department of Social Security and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment including the Employment Service. The first departmental report produced for the Department was in 2002 (Cm 5424). The earliest year included was 1998-99. Therefore data are not available in the format requested for all years from 1996-97.
Table 1 summarises administration costs for the areas requested for the years 2000-01 to 2007-08.
Table 2 summarises administration costs for the areas requested for the years 1998-99 and 1999-2000.
The information has been extracted from the latest available departmental report for each year.
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Outturn Outturn Outturn Outturn Outturn Estimated outturn Plans Plans Children 248 250 293 249 256 394 408 402 Working age 3,819 2,668 2,339 2,387 2,501 2,721 2,588 2,598 Pensioners — 219 419 484 571 623 641 507 Disability — 1 — 172 167 198 219 198 Corporate and Shared Services 280 1,692 2,556 2,657 2,493 2,000 1,975 2,089 Total administration 4,347 4,830 5,607 5,949 5,988 5,936 5,831 5,794
Outturn 1998-99 1999-2000 Children 225 225 Working Age 1,695 1,694 Pensions 255 255 Disability 137 137 Corporate and Shared Services 1,780 1,779 Total administration 4,092 4,090 Notes: 1. The administration costs for previous years have been adjusted to take into account the restructuring of the Department. 2. It is important to note that the analysis of the administration budget for children, working age, pensioners and disabled people in Table 5 excludes the cost of corporate and shared services, these are shown separately in the same table. All figures provided for years prior to the formation of The Department for Work and Pensions were determined on the basis of the expenditure incurred by each of the various business areas brought together by the machinery of Government changes in 2001. Analysis of administration data in this format is not available prior to 1998-99. 3. Table 5 from the Departmental report for 2005 (Cm 6539) contains the most recent analysis of administration costs for the year 1999-2000, and Table 5 from the departmental report for 2004 (Cm 6221) contains the most recent analysis of administration costs for 1998-99. As these analyses will only have been adjusted for the structure of the Department that existed at the time the relevant departmental report was issued, they will not be directly comparable with Table 5 in the departmental report for 2006. Sources: Department Report 2006 (Cm 6829) Department Report 2005 (Cm 6539) Departmental Report 2004 (Cm 6221)
Care Homes
I have been asked to reply.
Information about the sale of property to pay for residential care is not collected centrally. Local authorities also may not know if this has happened, for example where a person sells a property and arranges their care privately without involving social services. It is not, therefore, possible to estimate the number of homes that may have been sold for this purpose.
However, the Government have taken steps to help people avoid having to sell their homes during their lifetime to pay for residential care. Since October 2001 councils have been able to enter into a deferred payments agreement. The aim is to allow people with property, but without income and other assets sufficient to meet their assessed financial contribution to the cost of residential care, to have a legal charge placed on their property to meet any shortfall. This gives people more options for meeting care home fees.
Carers
The information is in the following tables.
£ million Status (a) Carer's allowance (b) Income support—received by carers (c) Income support / pension credit—carer premium over-60s (d) Income support—carer premiums received by other income support recipients under-60s Total expenditure on carers 1990-91 outturn 208 9 1 4 222 1991-92 outturn 285 18 3 9 315 1992-93 outturn 345 50 5 19 419 1993-94 outturn 442 57 7 29 535 1994-95 outturn 526 73 11 43 653 1995-96 outturn 617 97 14 56 784 1996-97 outturn 736 111 17 67 931 1997-98 outturn 746 118 20 66 950 1998-99 outturn 782 116 21 69 988 1999-2000 outturn 835 118 24 72 1,049 2000-01 outturn 867 126 26 76 1,095 2001-02 outturn 932 172 51 106 1,261 2002-03 outturn 993 182 63 118 1,356 2003-04 outturn 1,054 201 81 128 1,464 2004-05 outturn 1,096 202 130 132 1,560 2005-06 estimated outturn 1,149 173 178 132 1,632 2006-07 plans 1,201 180 205 145 1,731 Note: Totals may not sum due to rounding.
£ million Status (a) Carer's allowance (b) Income support—received by carers (c) Income support / pension credit—carer premium over-60s (d) Income support—carer premiums received by other income support recipients under-60s Total expenditure on carers 1990-91 outturn 308 13 1 6 329 1991-92 outturn 398 25 4 13 440 1992-93 outturn 467 68 7 26 567 1993-94 outturn 583 75 9 38 705 1994-95 outturn 683 95 14 56 848 1995-96 outturn 778 122 18 71 988 1996-97 outturn 897 135 21 82 1,135 1997-98 outturn 884 140 24 78 1,125 1998-99 outturn 903 134 24 80 1,141 1999-2000 outturn 946 134 27 82 1,188 2000-01 outturn 968 141 29 85 1,223 2001-02 outturn 1,017 188 56 116 1,376 2002-03 outturn 1,051 193 67 125 1,435 2003-04 outturn 1,083 207 83 132 1,504 2004-05 outturn 1,096 202 130 132 1,560 2005-06 estimated outturn 1,128 170 175 130 1,602 2006-07 plans 1,148 172 196 139 1,654 Notes: 1. Expenditure on carers has been interpreted to include the following: a. total carer's allowance expenditure; b. total income support expenditure who are entitled to income support by virtue of being a carer. People who are unemployed, lone parents or disabled and who also receive a carer premium are counted in column d. The figures quoted include people who were unemployed and entitled to income support prior to the introduction of income based jobseeker's allowance in October 1996; c. carer premium entitlement for people in receipt of income support (for people over 60 years of age) and pension credit; d. expenditure on the carer premium for carers who are on income support by virtue of being unemployed, lone parents or disabled. 2. Income support carer expenditure [(b) in the tables] has been estimated using caseload and average weekly amount data. 3. Pension credit and income support expenditure [(c) and (d) in the tables] has been estimated using caseloads and carer premium rates. 4. Carer premium expenditure has been quoted in full. It has not been reduced, or offset, by any income received by the beneficiary of the benefit. 5. The income support carer premium was introduced in October 1990. The first caseload information was collected in May 1991, so the income support expenditure quoted in the tables has been estimated using administration data for 1991-92. 6. All figures have been rounded to the nearest million pounds. 7. Expenditure is consistent with the 2006 pre-Budget report. 8. Carer's allowance replaced invalid care allowance on 1 April 2003. 9. Pension credit replaced income support, for people over 60 years of age, on 5 October 2003. 10. DWP expenditure tables, which will soon be updated to be consistent with the 2006 pre-Budget report, can be viewed at the following web address: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp 11. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Source: DWP expenditure tables, departmental accounting systems, 5 per cent. samples of departmental administrative records and the Department's expenditure forecasting models.
Carson Case
Proceedings are still ongoing but, to date, the non-departmental legal cost of defending the case in the European Court of Human Rights is less than £10,000.
Child Support Agency
The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 15 January 2007:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many DNA tests were carried out on behalf of the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years.
This information is provided in the following table:
Number 2001-02 2,346 2002-03 4,146 2003-04 2,444 2004-05 2,888 2005-06 2,244
I hope this information is helpful.
(2) how many Child Support Agency cases in (a) Somerset and (b) Yeovil constituency were (i) outstanding and (ii) unprocessed in each year from 1997 to 2006.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 15 January 12006:
In reply to your recent parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions two related questions:
How many Child Support Agency cases were (a) outstanding and (b) unprocessed in (i) Yeovil and (ii) Somerset in each year since 1997.
How many Child Support Agency cases were (a) outstanding and (b) unprocessed in each year from 1997 to 2006 in (i) Somerset and (ii) Yeovil constituency.
The agency begins to process new applications as soon as they are received and continues until they have been cleared. Any applications that have not yet been cleared can be regarded as outstanding. The amount of work required to achieve clearance and the elapsed time it involves varies considerably depending on, amongst other things, the circumstances of the parents and how readily they cooperate with the agency.
As such, the agency holds only a negligible number of completely unprocessed cases and it is not possible to allocate these to individual constituencies.
With regard to part (a), the agency can only provide the information requested for applications (both new and old scheme) operating on the new computer system (CS2). Therefore this is not representative of the overall trend and volumes of the total amount of uncleared applications at the geographical level requested. Please see the attached table.
It should be noted that there are always applications for which the agency cannot assign a county or a constituency, either because they had been received directly via Jobcentre Plus and had not reached the point in the process at which details on the constituency of the parent with care can be identified, or because the application is on the old computer system from which it is not possible to provide robust estimates at the geographical level requested. In September 2006, there were around 70,000 such applications.
For future reference, it should be noted that information relating to the number of uncleared applications on the new computer system in September 2006 in each parliamentary constituency is publicly available, and can be found in table 27 of the September 2006 Child Support Agency ‘Quarterly Summary of Statistics’, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library, or on the internet via the following link: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/child_ support/CSA_quarterly_sep06 .asp
Although the total volume of uncleared applications nationally across both schemes, 247,500 in September 2006, is the lowest since comparable records began, the agency recognises that this remains unacceptably high. The agency therefore has a 2006-07 target to ensure that, by march 2007, the volume of new scheme uncleared applications outstanding at March 2006 is reduced by 25 per cent. and our challenge, as set down in our operational improvement plan, is that the agency should not have a backlog in this area by March 2009. I hope you find this answer helpful.
Yeovil Number September 2003 70 September 2004 230 September 2005 260 September 2006 210
Local Authority September 2003 September 2004 September 2005 September 2006 Mendip 90 190 260 220 Sedgemoor 100 270 410 230 South Somerset 100 310 340 280 Taunton Deane 90 240 250 230 West Somerset 20 70 70 70 Total 4000 1,070 1,330 1,030
Departmental Equipment
The following table shows the number of (a) computers and (b) laptops that were recorded as stolen in each of the last nine years from April 1998 to date. Information prior to 1998 is not readily available.
Number of computers stolen Number of laptops stolen 1998 0 3 1999 12 5 2000 4 3 2001 5 16 2002 34 23 2003 5 35 2004 27 40 2005 10 27 2006 2 10 Note: The total value is not available.
Departmental Publications: Translations
This information is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Economic Migration
There appears to be little evidence of any impact on wages as a result of migration. We have been unable to find any discernible effect of A8 migration upon changes in the unemployment claimant count or in the rate of growth of wages. Our overall assessment is that the effect on growth has been largely positive.
Henshaw Review
(2) what discussions he has had with the (a) Department for Constitutional Affairs, (b) Home Office and (c) Treasury on additional costs arising from the increased use of court settlements to resolve child support claims proposed in Sir David Henshaw’s report Recovering Child Support: Routes to Responsibility.
Officials have been involved in extensive discussions with the Department for Constitutional Affairs, the Scottish Executive and the Treasury in assessing the impact on the Court Service of all aspects of Sir David Henshaw’s recommendations and wider child support reform.
Having considered Sir David Henshaw’s recommendation that the 12-month rule be removed to prevent parents from being able to approach the new organisation to overturn consent orders, we have decided that the 12-month rule should remain. This rule has a positive impact on the level of child maintenance in consent orders as it ensures maintenance is generally set at a substantial level that broadly reflects the child maintenance formula. It also ensures that parents will avoid being locked into the Court system indefinitely however their circumstances change. However the removal of the requirement for parents with care to be treated as applying to the Child Support Agency if they make a claim for benefit will ensure that fewer maintenance agreements are unnecessarily overturned against the wishes of both parents.
Housing Benefit
The information requested is not currently available.
Health and Safety Executive
The reply is in the following table. The number of inspectors HSE expects to employ in 2007-08 and 2008-09 is an estimate depending on turnover and recruitment.
At 1 April Number of inspectors1 1996 1,466 1997 1,442 1998 1,437 1999 1,497 2000 1,507 2001 1,534 2002 1,625 2003 1,651 2004 1,605 2005 1,530 2006 21,444 20073 1,438 20083 1,417 20094 5— 1 All figures are for full-time equivalents, rounded to the nearest whole number. 2 The number excludes 95 inspectors (full-time equivalents) that moved from HSE to the Office of Rail Regulation when responsibility for rail regulation health and safety matters transferred on 1 April 2006. 3 Estimated number based on HSE’s staffing plan at November 2006. 4 HSE’s staffing plan covers the period to March 2008. The Department for Work and Pensions will be discussing budget allocations for 2008-2011 with HSE over the coming weeks. An estimate of the number of inspectors at 1 April 2009 cannot therefore be provided at this time. 5 Not applicable.
(2) what the total cost was of the recent Health and Safety Executive campaign to manage work-related stress.
The Health and Safety Executive’s initiatives on back pain, slips and trips and work-related stress are designed to contribute to the revitalising health and safety targets to reduce work-related ill health and sickness absence.
The “Better Backs” marketing campaign cost £2.5 million overall. This included the cost of advertising—in the national and trade press, on radio, online and outdoor—plus the funding of “Better Backs” publicity events, production of information packs, and research and evaluation costs.
The “Watch Your Step” campaign, aimed at raising awareness of the causes and costs of slips and trips accidents at work, cost £1.7 million on advertising and event organisation.
For work-related stress, the current series of “Healthy Workplace Solutions” workshops has a predicted final cost of £627,000. This includes the cost of sending invitations to employers, processing responses, venue hire and speaker costs.
The “Fit Out” campaign in October 2005, involved targeted national inspections looking specifically at the issues of low falls and housekeeping at construction projects that were approaching completion. This activity was supported by the production of a campaign poster and campaign infosheet.
Inspections were carried out largely within normal working hours incurring few additional staff costs.
Production and distribution of posters and infosheets cost £5,000.
The number of accidents for the years requested are set out in the following table. The Health and Safety Commission has no premises separately from HSE.
Number of RIDDOR accidents1 on HSE premises 1997-982 3n/a 1998-99 n/a 1999-2000 n/a 2000-01 n/a 2001-02 n/a 2002-03 n/a 2003-04 10 2004-05 17 2005-06 13 2006 to present (December 2006) 6 1 This includes all accidents HSE is required to report under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. 2 For years 1997-2004 the primary source of information is the HSE annual health and safety report. The amount and substance of incident data in this report varies from year to year. After 2004-05 the data come from records held in HSE’s human resources department. 3 For 1997-98 to 2002-03 it has not been possible to identify the number of accidents causing injury occurring on HSE premises, as the report forms used did not always indicate the location of the accident.
The number of accidents to Health and Safety Executive staff for the years requested are set out in the following table.
I am not aware of any accidents to members of the Health and Safety Commission while engaged on HSC business. The health and safety incident rates are low when compared with other organisations engaged in the type of work that HSE is involved in.
Number of RIDDOR accidents1 to HSE staff 1997-982 13 1998-99 7 1999-2000 5 2000-01 11 2001-02 10 2002-03 10 2003-04 10 2004-05 16 2005-06 9 2006 to present (December 2006) 5 1 This includes all accidents HSE is required to report under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. 2 For years 1997-2004 the primary source of information is the HSE annual health and safety report. The amount and substance of incident data in this report varies from year to year. After 2004-05 the data comes from records held in HSE’s Human Resources department.
Incapacity Benefit
The available information is in the following table.
As at May: Female Male 2000 18-29 102,250 131,860 30-39 165,070 232,510 40-49 231,940 287,370 50-59 367,230 474,440 60-65 970 353,280 2001 18-29 103,130 137,910 30-39 172,040 245,710 40-49 243,270 298,040 50-59 386,210 482,180 60-65 620 345,950 2002 18-29 112,200 149,470 30-39 175,370 250,790 40-49 252,820 304,470 50-59 398,060 478,010 60-65 540 337,260 2003 18-29 116,740 154,790 30-39 177,700 254,300 40-49 262,200 311,850 50-59 407,240 472,030 60-65 440 326,490 2004 18-29 121,260 159,380 30-39 177,910 253,320 40-49 270,900 318,040 50-59 415,520 463,370 60-65 310 318,170 2005 18-29 124,500 159,720 30-39 173,450 245,610 40-49 276,620 320,770 50-59 418,990 451,930 60-65 260 309,390 2006 18-29 124,860 157,810 30-39 167,360 233,700 40-49 279,320 319,770 50-59 418,990 439,540 60-65 150 300,750 Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10; some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 2. Although in general incapacity benefit applies to people of working age a small number of claimants are over state pension age. 3. Claimants’ include all IB claimants, including credits only cases. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study
The information is in the following table.
Number All IB/SDA 4,400 Up to one year 660 One to two years 390 Two to five years 1,000 Five years and over 2,350 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Source: DWP Information Directorate 100 per cent. WPLS
Jobcentre Plus
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 15 January 2007:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many Jobcentre Plus offices have had their opening hours reduced in each of the last eight quarters for which figures are available; and which offices had such reductions in the last 6, 12, 24, and 48 months, broken down by parliamentary constituency. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
A total of 97 Jobcentre Plus sites have had a reduction in opening hours in the last eight quarters to September 2006. A total of 123 Jobcentre Plus sites have had a reduction in opening hours in the four years to September 2006. It is not possible to provide information broken down by parliamentary constituency, as it is gathered at a Jobcentre Plus District level. The information available is set out in the attached table, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
Jobcentre Plus—offices operating reduced opening hours Months Region District 0 to six seven to 12 13 to 24 25 to 48 London — 0 0 0 0 Scotland — 0 0 0 0 North East — 0 0 0 0 East of England Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 0 1 1 0 Cambridge and Suffolk 6 0 0 0 Essex 0 0 1 0 Norfolk 1 1 1 Yorkshire and the Humber North East Yorkshire and the Humber 0 0 3 0 South Yorkshire 0 0 0 1 West Yorkshire 0 0 1 4 West Midlands Staffordshire 0 0 0 1 Marches 0 0 2 0 North West Greater Manchester East and West 0 0 1 0 Greater Mersey 0 0 0 1 Cheshire and Warrington 0 0 0 4 East Midlands Derbyshire 1 0 0 2 Nottinghamshire 2 3 1 0 Leicestershire and Northampton 1 0 0 0 South East Berks, Bucks and Oxfordshire 0 15 0 0 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 0 0 19 6 Kent 0 0 2 0 South West Devon and Cornwall 0 2 9 3 Dorset and Somerset 0 2 6 0 Wales South East Wales 1 0 1 1 South West Wales 0 3 0 0 South Wales Valleys 0 0 4 2 North and Mid Wales 0 0 6 1 Total — 12 27 58 26
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 15 January 2007:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what checks are made by Jobcentre Plus on the immigration status of applicants and claimants. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
When a customer contacts Jobcentre Plus we ask he or she to provide their national insurance number. If a customer does not know their national insurance number or they do not have one, and we cannot match their personal details against an existing record the customer is asked to obtain a national insurance number for their benefit claim to proceed. The national insurance number application process involves an evidence of identity interview where the customer is asked to prove their identity. He or she is also asked questions about nationality, residence, and details of their journey to the UK.
Even if an applicant for benefit already has a national insurance number, he or she will be expected to provide confirmation of their identity as part of the claims process.
At the initial interview the Financial Assessor will establish the customer's identity and, if applicable, their partner's identity. If the Financial Assessor has any concerns, they will request evidence to be provided to verify the identity of the customer, and would not allow the claim to proceed until they are satisfied of the customer's identity.
Anyone who has arrived in the UK in the two years prior to making a benefit claim must prove they have a right to reside in the UK, as well as being habitually resident, before any claim is processed or payment made.
In addition, a "right to work" condition has been introduced into the National Insurance Number allocation and decision-making process for employment-related applications. This was implemented in July and guidance has been issued to all Jobcentre Plus staff
To support this, changes to Regulation 9 of the Social Security (Crediting and Treatment of Contributions and National Insurance Numbers) Regulations 2001 were laid before Parliament on 7 November 2006.
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what role was played by Mind in the development by his Department of the two-day learning event for advisers on working with customers with a mental illness referred to in the Answer of 31st October 2006, Official Report, columns 263-4W, on Jobcentre Plus. This is something that falls within my responsibilities as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus works with a range of partners including MIND in the development of training materials to support the implementation of the Jobcentre Plus Incapacity Benefit Adviser role. The ‘Working with Customers with a Health Condition or Disability’ training product was developed for staff and sent to MIND for their quality assurance prior to release.
Maternity Allowance
(2) how many women in the UK received maternity allowance in each year since 2001-02; and what estimate he has made of the likely number in each year from 2006-07 to 2009-10.
The available information is in the table.
Number 2001-02 51,000 2002-03 51,000 2003-04 57,000 2004-05 63,000 2005-06 66,000 2006-07 70,000 2007-08 74,000 Notes: 1. The figures for maternity allowance up to 2003-04 are based on a 5 per cent. sample of the maternity allowance computer system. The figures from 2004-05 onwards are forecasts. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000. 3. In line with HM Treasury expenditure planning cycles, forecasts of benefit case load and expenditure are not currently available beyond 2007-08.
The information is in the following table.
£ million (nominal terms) 2001-02 636 2002-03 724 2003-04 1,233 2004-05 1,291 2005-06 1,243 2006-07 1,268 2007-08 1,595 Notes: 1. Figures are consistent with pre-Budget report 2006, which shows total managed expenditure to 2007-08, and are for Great Britain. 2. Figures are out-turn to 2005-06 are estimated out-turn for 2006-07 and are plans for 2007-08. 3. Benefit expenditure in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Office. Source: DWP benefit expenditure tables. The DWP expenditure tables can be viewed on the DWP website at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp
The available information is in the following table.
Number 2001-02 344,000 2002-03 361,000 2003-04 375,000 2004-05 412,000 2005-06 409,000 2006-07 411,000 2007-08 414,000 Notes 1. Statutory maternity pay is paid and administered by employers. The figures from 2004-05 onwards are forecasts. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000. Source: Figures up to 2003-04 are based on a 1 per cent. sample of national insurance records.
Benefit case load and expenditure forecasts are currently not made available publicly past 2007-08. Expenditure plans and case load forecasts for 2008-09 and 2009-10 will be released as part of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review.
Occupational Pensions
The information requested on the number of occupational pension schemes which have collapsed in the past two years is not available.
Oil and Gas Industry
The information requested is set out in the following table and is taken from Health and Safety Executive’s published health and safety statistics.
Fatalities Lost-time injuries 1995-96 5 417 1996-97 2 346 1997-98 3 365 1998-99 1 319 1999-2000 2 246 2000-01 3 330 2001-02 3 234 2002-03 0 184 2003-04 3 151 2004-05 0 152 2005-061 2 175 1 2005-06 figures are provisional.
Pension Credit
The information is not available in the format requested. Estimates of eligibility, and therefore of take-up, are not available below the level of Great Britain.
The latest estimates of the number of pensioners in Great Britain entitled to pension credit were published in “Pension Credit Estimates of Take-Up in 2004/2005”. A copy of the report is available in the Library.
Actual figures for receipt of pension credit at constituency level are available. As at August 2006 2,280 households in Wimbledon were receiving pension credit.
Notes:
1. The figure provided is an early estimate. The preferred data source for figures supplied by DWP is the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). However, the figure provided is the latest available figure which is taken from the GMS scan at 1 September 2006. These are adjusted using the historical relationship between WPLS and GMS data to give an estimate of the final WPLS figure.
2. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 10.
3. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the 2005 postcode directory.
4. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household.
Source:
DWP 100 per cent. data from the Generalised Matching Service (CMS) Pension Credit scan taken as at 1 September 2006.
The information requested is not available.
On 7 December 2006 I announced the proposed benefit rates for 2007. The full list of provisional benefit rates were set out in the Secretary of State's written statement on 11 December 2006. The 2007 rates will remain provisional until the Social Security Up-rating Order 2007 has been cleared by Parliament.
The provisional savings credit threshold figures from April 2007 are £87.30 for single people and £139.60 for couples. The provisional rates will allow for single people to have up to around £167 and couples to have up to around £245 and still qualify for pension credit savings credit. If someone is severely disabled or a carer or has certain housing costs they may have higher levels of income and still qualify for pension credit.
Pensions
As at March 2006, there were 2,545,600 pensioners in Great Britain in receipt of the age addition, and of those 8,500 were in the Eastbourne parliamentary constituency.
Note:
The figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
Source:
DWP, Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample, rated to caseload in Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 December 2006, Official Report, columns 1997-98W.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 19 December 2006, Official Report, columns 1998-2000W.
(2) if he will estimate the proportion of pensioner benefit units, including those with sufficient income not to qualify for pension credit, that would face in 2050 an average rate of pension credit withdrawal on any income from sources other than the basic state pension that is (a) 40 per cent., (b) 41 to 50 per cent., (c) 51 to 60 per cent., (d) 61 to 70 per cent., (e) 71 to 80 per cent., (f) 81 to 90 per cent., (g) 91 to 99 per cent. and (h) 100 per cent., if current uprating policies are continued indefinitely.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 19 December 2006, Official Report, columns 2001-02W.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 2002W.
I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1997W.
Post Office Card Account
(2) how the new Post Office card account will differ from the existing scheme.
The current Post Office card account contract ends in March 2010. The Government have decided that there will be a new service after 2010. This will have similar features to the Post Office card account. It will be available nationally and customers will be eligible for the account on the same basis as they are now for the Post Office card account. The detailed design for the product, including the name, will be decided as part of the tendering and contractual process. We will set out the timetable for the tendering process in due course.
Poverty
Our first priority on taking office was dealing with the situation we inherited of pensioners already living in poverty. Since 1997 1 million pensioners have been lifted out of relative poverty thanks to measures like pension credit.
The White Paper “Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system” announced our commitment to secure these gains into the future by uprating both the basic state pension and the standard minimum guarantee in pension credit in line with earnings over the long-term.
Pension credit ensures that no pensioner need live on less than £114.05 a week (£174.05 for couples). The Department has a public service agreement performance target to: by 2008, be paying pension credit to at least 3.2 million pensioner households, while maintaining a focus on the most disadvantaged by ensuring that at least 2.2 million of these households are in receipt of the guarantee credit.
In the report “A Sure Start to Later Life: Ending Inequalities for Older People”, published in January 2006, the Department committed to look at wider definitions and indicators of pensioner poverty in the wake of recently commissioned research, and to consider with the Treasury how and whether these should feed into PSA targets as part of the 2007 comprehensive spending review.
We have set a public service agreement target to halve the number of children in relative low-income households between 1998-99 and 2010-11 on the way to eradicating child poverty by 2020. This latter is defined as:
Halve the number of children in relative low income (below 60 per cent. of median income before housing costs); and
Halve the number of children suffering a combination of material deprivation and relative low income (below 70 per cent. median income before housing costs)
We have also announced that we aim to make further progress so that there are fewer than 1 million children in absolute low income.
There are no explicit departmental targets regarding poverty among working age adults without children based on the 60 per cent. of median earnings definition. However we have set ourselves the ambitious target of achieving a 70 per cent. employment rate for lone parents by 2010. This is part of our overall aim of achieving 80 per cent. employment across the country. Hitting these targets will contribute towards reducing working age poverty.
Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in “Households Below Average Income 1994-95 to 2004-05”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. The threshold of below 60 per cent. contemporary median income is the most commonly used in reporting trends in low income.
The data source does not allow us to provide robust numbers for estimates below a regional level. Therefore estimates for Coventry are not available. Instead, information on the numbers of pensioners and children in households with low incomes, in Great Britain in 1996-97 and 2004-05 and the Government Office for west midlands region in 1995-96 to 1997-98 and 2002-03 to 2004-05, are presented in tables 1 and 2. Estimates are shown both before and after housing costs.
Great Britain West midlands After housing costs 1996-97 2.78 — 2004-05 1.77 — Change in number in low income -1.01 — After housing costs 1995-96 to 1997-98 — 0.25 2002-03 to 2004-05 — 0.21 Change in number in low income — -0.04 Notes: 1. Numbers, for the west midlands region, are presented using a three-year moving average, as single-year estimates do not provide a robust guide to year-on-year changes. Hence, figures are not consistent with any previously published single-year estimates and there may be differences in changes over time. In circumstances such as a change in trend, moving averages will show less variation than single-year estimates. 2. The Great Britain figure is for a single year. 3. The table shows number of pensioners in millions, rounded to nearest 10,000. 4. In this answer low income is determined for pensioners as living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of the GB median. 5. Figures may not sum, due to rounding. Source: Family Resources Survey
Great Britain West midlands Before housing costs 1996-97 3.17 — 2004-05 2.44 — Change in number in low income -0.72 — After housing costs 1996-97 4.23 — 2004-05 3.42 — Change in number in low income -0.81 — Before housing costs 1995-96 to 1997-98 — 0.33 2002-03 to 2004-05 — 0.28 Change in number in low income — -0.04 After housing costs 1995-96 to 1997-98 — 0.40 2002-03 to 2004-05 — 0.36 Change in number in low income — -0.05 Notes: 1. Numbers, for the west midlands region, are presented using a three-year moving average, as single-year estimates do not provide a robust guide to year-on-year changes. Hence, figures are not consistent with any previously published single-year estimates and there may be differences in changes over time. In circumstances such as a change in trend, moving averages will show less variation than single-year estimates. 2. The Great Britain figure is for a single year. 3. The table shows number of children in millions, rounded to the nearest 10,000. 4. In this answer low income is determined for pensioners as living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of the GB median. 5. Figures may not sum, due to rounding. Source: Family Resources Survey
Predictive Dialling Technology
[holding answer 20 November 2006]: Within DWP the only business area that uses predictive dialling is debt management. The following debt collection agencies have been contracted to debt management: Eversheds, Commercial Collections Services Ltd. (CCSL), Legal and Trade and the Lewis Group.
Please see the following table, which includes available data:
Calls abandoned1 as a result of predictive dialling Name of contractor Number of calls using predictive dialling Number Percentage Eversheds 27,476 336 1.2 Commercial Collections Services Ltd. (CCSL) 9,530 156 1.6 Legal and Trade 132,858 4,002 3.0 The Lewis Group2 n/a n/a n/a n/a = not available 1 Abandoned calls refers to those calls where a customer hears a so-called ‘silent call’ as no agent is available to take that call. 2 The Lewis Group are unable to provide figures for DWP alone as they only record combined information about all clients.
Public Finance Contracts
The Department has a single private finance initiative contract entered into in 1998 with Land Securities Trillium (LST) for the supply of serviced accommodation. This contract, known as the Private Sector Resource Initiative for the Management of Estate (PRIME), was expanded in 2003 to include the former Employment Service estate.
The Expanded PRIME Contract provides for the termination of the contract during the 20-year operating period, by either the PRIME contractor or voluntarily by the Department. The contract provides the Department with safeguards in respect of the accommodation it occupies and services it is receiving at the time of termination. The Department does not have any direct liability if termination is by the PRIME contractor. However, should the termination by the PRIME contractor be as a result of the Department allegedly being in breach of contract, a compensation payment might be sought by LST.
If the Department voluntarily terminates the contract it will incur a number of liabilities, including potential redundancy payments for LST’s sub-contractors, the unitary payments for a prescribed period and compensation for early termination. The level of liability would be calculated at the time of contract termination and be subject to negotiation and financial analysis of the Department’s liability.
The Department has no public/private partnerships.
Refreshments
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was formed in June 2001 from the Department of Social Security (DSS), the Employment Service (ES) and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment (DfEE).
Information on expenditure for refreshments is only available from 2002-03 as the predecessor Departments accounted for this type of expenditure in different ways.
The information is shown in the following table.
All expenditure on refreshments is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Government Accounting.
Working lunches Teas and coffees 2002-03 722 613 2003-04 867 905 2004-05 825 959 2005-06 937 781
State Pension: NI Contributions
Approximately 300,000 UK women aged 60 in 2005-06 had some entitlement to basic state pension. Around 150,000 of these women had the number of qualifying years needed to earn a full basic state pension reduced by the operation of home responsibilities protection.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 50,000.
2. Figures refer to entitlement based on women’s own contribution record.
3. Some women who reach state pension age in 2005-06 with some entitlement to basic state pension defer their entitlement and claim in a later year.
Source:
Lifetime Labour Market Database 2, 2003-04
The estimated net cost of reducing the number of qualifying years required for a full basic state pension to 30 for people reaching state pension age from 2010 is shown in the following table:
Estimated net cost 2010 0.0 2011 0.1 2012 0.1 2013 0.2 2014 0.2 2015 0.3 2016 0.3 2017 0.3 2018 0.4 2019 0.4 2020 0.5 2030 1.2 2040 1.7 2050 2.0 Notes: 1. Estimates are presented in £ billion, 2006-07 price terms. 2. Estimates of additional expenditure are consistent with the policy detail set out in the regulatory impact assessment accompanying the Pensions Bill. Net costs include savings seen from reduced expenditure on other income related benefits (pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit). They do not include any change in income tax revenue or national insurance. 3. Net costs assume the pension credit standard minimum guarantee is uprated by earnings from 2008. Net costs do not include the effect of direct reforms to the savings credit. 4. Costs or savings presented in the table are based on long-term projections of United Kingdom benefit spend, consistent with the pre-Budget report 2006. 5. Figures exclude the effect of raising state pension age. 6. Figures exclude the effect of personal accounts.
The estimates shown do not include any other reforms proposed in the Pensions Bill. For example, costs of uprating the basic state pension by earnings, or of the other reforms to improve the coverage of basic state pension, are not included.
The information is available only at disproportionate cost.
(2) what the net cost to the public purse would be of changing the number of years of national insurance contributions required to receive a full basic state pension for men to (a) 42 up to April 2010, (b) 38 up to April 2011, (c) 34 up to April 2012 and (d) 30 thereafter;
(3) what the net cost to the public purse would be of reducing the number of years of national insurance contributions required to receive a full basic state pension for women by three up to April 2007 and by one in each subsequent year until April 2013.
A key part of the Government’s package of proposed reforms is to make the state pension fairer and available to more people as soon as is practicable. This means addressing women’s lower state pension outcomes as soon as possible and is why we are planning to introduce the reduction in qualifying years for all those reaching state pension age from 2010. The effect of this is to ensure around three quarters of women reaching state pension age in 2010 would achieve a full basic state pension, compared to just 30 per cent. today.
This approach does however mean that two people with similar contribution histories reaching state pension age either side of 6 April 2010 will have their state pension entitlement calculated differently and this could produce different outcomes.
Changes could be made more gradually to avoid this situation, for example, by phasing in the reduction in years needed for a full basic state pension and we have explored different way to do this.
Smoothing the reduction of qualifying years from 2010 would delay the substantial improvement in women’s basic state pension outcomes for some years beyond 2010. Phasing the reduction in qualifying years before 2010 would give some women the advantage of both a lower state pension age of 60 and the benefit of these reforms. However the reforms are introduced there will be some people who reach state pension age on the wrong side of the chosen date or the series of dates chosen to phase in the reduction of qualifying years.
It is a difficult balance. Our intention in opting for a 2010 introduction is to improve the pension position of as many women and carers as possible and as quickly as possible while keeping the reforms within the fiscal envelope.
We are unable to provide the information in respect of the particular phasing options you have set out in the time available.
Workless Households
A workless household is a household containing someone claiming either income support, jobseeker’s allowance, incapacity benefit/severe disability allowance, or pension credit.
The 50 wards that have the highest proportion of children living in workless households are listed as follows:
Barlanark
Benchill
Beswick and Clayton
Bidston
Birkenhead
Blackfriars
Bradford
Breckfield
Bridgeton/Dalmarnock
Butetown
Cantril Farm
Central
Church Street
Craigmillar
Craigneuk
Everton
Glenwood
Granby
Grangetown
Gurnos
Harpurhey
Hulme
Hutchesontown
Ibrox
Kensington
Keppochhill
Lawrence Hill
Linacre
Longview
Maerdy
Moss Side
Northumberland Park
Orchard Park and Greenwood
Parkhead
Penderry
Pendleton
Pen-y-waun
Princess
Queenslie
Royston
Smithdown
Speke
St. James
Summerhill
Thorntree
Townhill
Tylorstown
Vauxhall
Walker
West City
Information about the 50 wards that have the highest proportion of workless households is not available. This is because this is measured using data from the Household Labour Force Survey but this is only available at Government office region level.
Notes:
1. All data represent a snapshot in time of claimants on the computer system, and will therefore exclude a very small number of cases that are held clerically.
2. Geo-referencing tools, obtained from the Office for National Statistics, have been used to assign claimants to geographies.
3. Data represents children dependent on a parent/guardian claiming one or more of IS, JSA, IB/SDA or PC.
4. Due to the introduction of child tax credits in April 2003, information on child dependents is not reliably completed on the benefit computer system. Therefore children have been merged onto IS/JSA/IB/SDA/PC claims from child benefit records with permission of HMRC.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate
Health
Accident and Emergency Departments
This information is not held centrally. However, there may be a number of service reviews, where proposals are either subject to ongoing consultation or subject to consultation in the future, and these may involve some changes to accident and emergency (A and E) facilities.
The national health service has told us that there are no plans to consult on changes to A and E in 12 of the NHS trusts from the list of 29 that the hon. Member claimed were under threat of closure or downgrading in his letter of 30 November to the NHS chief executive, David Nicholson.
The Government will support the NHS on service reconfigurations where clear and compelling cases for change are made. Professor Sir George Alberti’s report “Emergency Access”, published on 5 December 2006, set out that how emergency care is delivered needs to change to ensure that patients get the best care in the right place. The report is available in the Library and can be found at www.dh.gov.uk/publications
No substantial changes to A and E facilities will take place without full and proper consultation with patients and the public locally.
Advertising
The following tables set out how much the Department has spent on television and radio advertising in each year since 2000-05 in real and nominal terms.
Financial information on television and radio advertising is only available for the last five years. Figures pre-2001 are no longer accessible due to the switch-over to a new financial management system.
£ million Nominal Real 2001-02 8.7 8.3 2002-03 9.05 8.60 2003-04 18.75 18.36 2004-05 17.77 17.59 2005-06 13.82 13.82
£ million Nominal Real 2001-02 2.10 2.42 2002-03 2.03 2.22 2003-04 2.12 2.26 2004-05 3.74 3.78 2005-06 3.90 3.90
Bank Nurses
This information is not collected centrally.
Birthing Units
A combination of local unavoidable costs affecting the cost of providing activity, such as staff, land and building costs, and the relative efficiencies of the organisations providing the activity lead to variations in the cost of the deliveries referred to. The information used to produce these average costs, national health service reference costs, is collected at an aggregate level so currently no further assessment can be made as to what parts of providing these services are contributing what costs.
Breast Screening
All local national health service breast screening programmes are now inviting women aged 65 to 70, and an estimated over 600,000 more women have accepted their invitation and been screened since the extension began in April 2001.
Cataract Operations
The information for the Sir Robert Peel Hospital is not collected centrally. However, data relating to the Good Hope Hospital National Health Service Trust have been set out in the table.
The table shows the number of cataract operations undertaken at Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust each year since 1999. Prior to this date no cataract operations were performed at the trust.
Number 2005-06 362 2004-05 352 2003-04 321 2002-03 309 2001-02 348 2000-01 395 1999-2000 223 Notes: 1. Main operation The main operation is the first recorded operation in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, eg time waited, but the figures for “all operations count of episodes” give a more complete count of episodes with an operation. 2. OPCS codes: C71 Extracapsular extraction of lens C72 Intracapsular extraction of lens C74 Other extraction of lens C75 Prosthesis of lens Primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA) data quality PCT and SHA data were added to historic data-years in the HES database using 2002-03 boundaries, as a one-off exercise in 2004. The quality of the data on PCT of Treatment and SHA of Treatment is poor in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99, with over a third of all finished episodes having missing values in these years. Data quality of PCT of general practitioner (GP) practice and SHA of GP practice in 1997-98 and 1998-99 is also poor, with a high proportion missing values where practices changed or ceased to exist. There is less change in completeness of the residence-based fields over time, where the majority of unknown values are due to missing postcodes on birth episodes. Users of time series analysis including these years need to be aware of these issues in their interpretation of the data. 3. Finished in-year admissions A finished in-year admission is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider, excluding admissions beginning before 1 April at the start of the datayear. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care.
Cheese Industry
The Government’s manifesto includes a commitment to help parents by restricting further the advertising and promotion to children of those foods and drinks that are high in fat, salt and sugar. There has been no assessment of the possible impact that proposed television restrictions on food and drink advertising to children will have on the cheese industry.
The Department believes that the nutrient profiling model, developed by the Food Standards Agency for use by Ofcom, provides a scientific and objective base for underpinning regulatory intervention in relation to television advertising to children. The restrictions that Ofcom has announced apply to programming aimed at or of particular appeal to children.
Choose and Book System
At the end of November 2006, the cost to date of the development and operation of the choose and book computer system was £33.0 million under a contract with Atos Origin worth £64.5 million over five years.
In the week ending 3 December 2006, 32 per cent. of all national health service referrals to see a specialist went through choose and book and 77 per cent. of General Practitioners practices made at least one choose and book referral. All 170 eligible NHS acute trusts and a number of independent sector providers, are receiving choose and book referrals.
Cirencester Hospital
The proposed provision of elective surgery at Cirencester hospital is part of a wider scheme for the provision of services by an independent sector provider across the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire area. United Kingdom Specialist Hospitals (UKSH) was appointed as the preferred bidder for the scheme in August 2006. Commercial negotiations with UKSH have continued since that time. Contract signature is anticipated in spring 2007 and services are expected to commence in summer 2008.
Proceedings for permission to bring a Judicial Review claim in relation to this contract have been served. The permission proceedings are being opposed. Until the outcome of these proceedings is known, it is not possible to know whether the timetable to sign this contract will need to be delayed.
Gloucestershire Partnership national health service trust plans to continue providing community-based specialist mental health services in Cirencester, including out-patient services and assessment and treatment. However, the Memorial Centre is not fit for providing modern mental health services and the trust needs to ensure that it discharges its responsibilities in relation to health and safety at work and disabled persons’ access.
The trust is therefore seeking an alternative location in Cirencester. The trust will share any relocation proposals with patients and the public locally before a final decision is taken and has confirmed that there will be no gaps in service provision during relocation.
Until an alternative location is found, the Memorial Centre will continue to be used by staff to provide a range of services, including primary care assessment treatment, recovery and crisis teams, psychological therapy, substance misuse and eating disorder services.
Decisions about local services are taken by local national health service organisations. NHS South West has advised officials that there are no accident and emergency services at Cirencester memorial day hospital. I understand that there is a minor injuries unit service at Cirencester hospital, and that there are no changes planned to that service.
Community Service Volunteers
The amounts budgeted for and paid to the Community Service Volunteers (CSV) organisation by the Department of Health is given in the following table.
£ 2005-06 2006-07 Budgeted Paid Budgeted Paid Capital volunteering 2,640,000 2,640,000 3,746,000 3,746,000 Opportunities for volunteering 250,000 250,000 243,000 243,000 Section 64 grant 12,300 12,300 30,000 22,500 Total 2,902,300 2,902,300 4,019,000 265,500
Correspondence
I understand that a reply was sent to my right hon. Friend on 22 December 2006.
Dentistry
The Department has no plans to introduce a national requirement that dentists report on numbers of missed appointments.
The new contractual arrangements do not specify any minimum number of units of dental activity for children. Under the new contracts, dentists are required to provide the care and treatment that they judge clinically necessary and that the patient or, in the case of children, the parent or carer agrees to have provided. Dentists are also required to take into account the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's guidelines in recommending the interval at which a patient should return for a further examination and assessment, having completed a course of treatment.
Primary care trusts (PCTs) did not receive primary care dental allocations in 2005-06. The bulk of primary dental care continued to be provided through the centrally funded general dental services, with spending levels determined primarily by where dentists chose to practise and how much NHS work they chose to undertake. PCTs assumed full responsibility for local commissioning of primary care dentistry and received devolved budgets with effect from 1 April 2006. PCTs’ 2006-07 primary care dental allocations reflected levels of dental activity in each PCT area during the 12-month reference period October 2004 to September 2005, together with adjustments for contracts that opened during the reference period, funding plans agreed between PCTs and the Department for expanding personal dental services pilots or establishing new services, and upratings to 2006-07 prices.
The resources allocated to PCTs assumed overall gross expenditure (including income from dental patient charges) of around £2.4 billion, compared with gross expenditure of around £2.2 billion nationally in 2005-06.
The in-year management of devolved primary dental care allocations is the responsibility of primary care trusts, overseen by strategic health authorities. Full year expenditure data will not be available until after the year end.
The information is not available in the form requested. Under the new dental system, which came into effect from 1 April 2006, information is available on the number of patients who receive care or treatment from a national health service dentist in the most recent 24-month period. The Information Centre for Health and Social Care publishes this information, known as patients seen, each quarter. This is not yet available broken down into adult and child categories but is expected to be available in this format later this year.
The latest information available covering the 24-month periods ending March, June and September 2006 is set out by primary care trust in the table which has been placed in the Library. It is also available in the NHS Dental Statistics for England Quarter Two: 30 September 2006 publication at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/nhsdentq2.
Welsh data are available from the Welsh Assembly Government.
The information requested is not held centrally.
Diabetes
Funding for diabetes is included in the proposed bundle for 2007-08. A service level agreement is being prepared for discussion and agreement between the Department and the 10 strategic health authorities (SHAs). This is planned to be finalised in the next few weeks. The 10 SHAs will then agree how individual budget funding is to be deployed in 2007-08 and the criteria to be used for decision-making.
The value of the 2007-08 bundle has been finalised at £6.9 billion and the Department is currently preparing a service level agreement for discussion and agreement between the Department and the 10 strategic health authorities (SHAs). This is expected to be finalised in the next few weeks. The SHAs will then agree how funding for individual programme budgets (such as for diabetes) will be deployed for 2007-08.
The table shows how much funding has gone to the National Diabetes Support Team (NDST) since its establishment in 2003
£ 2003-04 2,700,000 2004-05 4,000,000 2005-06 4,694,000 2006-07 4,490,000 Note: In 2006-2007 there was a change in the funding arrangements. Up until that point funding for the NDST was on the basis of a service level agreement (SLA) directly with Bradford primary care trust(PCT). From 2006-2007 onwards funding for the NDST has formed part of the bundle of national health service programme money passed to the new strategic health authorities (SHAs) to cover the cost of various centrally provided NHS activities such as national support teams.
Bradford PCT acted as host agency for the NDST and channelled funding to the team on the basis of a SLA held with the Department
Gershon Review
The Gershon report required Departments to calculate operating efficiencies recurrent beyond March 2008. We were not required to calculate non-recurrent investment costs incurred up to this date. Any recurrent additional operating costs that may offset specific efficiency gains are however included.
Both our initial target and subsequent reported progress are calculated on this basis. We do not therefore hold a comprehensive central record of non- recurrent costs. Deducted recurrent costs at September 2006, relating to community nursing to enable reduced hospital emergency bed days, amount to £60 million.
Full details of how gains have been calculated are set out in the efficiency technical note published in December 2005 and available on the Department's website.
Health Protection Agency
The joint Health Protection Agency (HPA) and Home Office review of port health and medical inspection under the Immigration Act 1971 identified an action plan, which is currently being implemented. The HPA has initiated work to ensure that arrangements at each port of entry are robust, understood and fit for purpose, which allow the HPA to assume full responsibility for the medical input to these services from April 2007. The Home Office has also set up standing arrangements for the healthcare of immigration detainees at ports of entry.
Hospital Beds
Table 1 shows the average daily number of available intensive care beds, England, 2001-02 to 2005-06.
Intensive care beds 2001-02 4,938 2002-03 5,022 2003-04 5,013 2004-05 5,223 2005-06 5,463
Table 2 shows the number of available adult high dependency beds on the census dates, England, 2001 to 2006.
Census date Adult high dependency beds 15 January 2001 1,208 16 July 2001 1,270 15 January 2002 1,319 16 July 2002 1,352 15 January 2003 1,351 16 July 2003 1,397 15 January 2004 1,374 15 July 2004 1,414 13 January 2005 1,440 14 July 2005 1,429 16 January 2006 1,485 13 July 2006 1,443
Data on the number of high observation beds are not held centrally.
Hospital Parking
The average (median) hourly cost of hospital parking for staff and visitors in 2005-06 is in the table.
Average fee charges per hour for patient visitor parking (£) England 0.83 Midlands (as defined by Birmingham and Black Country, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland, Shropshire and Staffordshire, Trent and West Midlands Strategic Health Authority (SHA) boundaries). 1.00 Staffordshire (Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA) 0.59 Note: The information is based on data provided voluntarily by the national health service and has not been amended centrally. NHS trusts that have provided no data or made a zero return were excluded from the calculation.
In-patient Waiting Times
The figures are shown in the table
Number 1989-90 260,503 1990-91 306,899 1991-92 387,980 1992-93 412,299 1993-94 451,559 1994-95 521,320 1995-96 547,863 1996-97 551,999 1997-98 558,242 1998-99 672,432 1999-2000 622,787 2000-01 613,931 2001-02 581,534 2002-03 601,353 2003-04 621,345 2004-05 612,004 2005-06 613,626 Note: Removals can be made for the following reasons: —patient no longer requires treatment; —patient has removed themselves from the list; —patient admitted as an emergency; and —patient transferred to another trust. Source: KH06 NHS Trust-based figures.
Institute for Innovation and Improvement
The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement will be carrying out a tender exercise for some elements of the project and therefore data relating to costings for the project are commercially sensitive. Staffing levels for the project have not yet been fixed.
Lesbian and Gay History
The Department of Health has not previously sponsored Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) History Month. We did not provide funding in 2005 or 2006 and there are currently no plans to fund LGBT history month in 2007.
We are working with LGBT History Month to develop a resource detailing the implications for healthcare organisations of the forthcoming regulations on prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services.
Local Involvement Networks
Following discussions between the Department of Health and the Department for Communities and Local Government, it has been agreed that the resources to provide support to local involvement networks (LINks) will be allocated as a targeted specific grant. The specific grant for LINks will be separately identified and paid to local authorities.
The authorities will be under a statutory duty to establish LINks to specified standards, with guidance to ensure consistency between authorities. We will encourage overview and scrutiny committees to scrutinise this duty to assess whether the local authority made use of all of its allocation effectively in the support of LINks. The use of the grant will also come under the scrutiny of the Audit Commission.
Long-term Care
The Government’s framework document for supporting people with long term conditions is set out in “Supporting People with Long Term Conditions—An NHS and Social Care Model to support local innovation and integration”. This has been supplemented by “Supporting People with Long Term Conditions to Self Care—a guide to developing local strategies and good practice” and chapter 5 of “Our Health Our Care Our Say—a new direction for community services” support for people with longer-term needs. Copies of all three documents have been placed in the Library.
Mental Health
Gloucestershire Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) wrote to the Secretary of State on 20 November referring the decision by Gloucestershire Partnership National Health Service Trust to centralise older people’s mental health in-patient services at Charlton Lane, Cheltenham.
The Department is currently considering the information relevant to the case and a reply will be sent to the OSC in due course.
Milton Keynes Primary Care Trust
The population figure used to calculate funding for the Milton Keynes primary care trust (PCT) was 228,793 in 2006-07 and 231,410 in 2007-08. For both years the number of prisoners used was 218, but this figure is subtracted from the population totals. Prisoners are regarded as usually resident in a prison if they have served six months or more of a custodial sentence. This data is provided to the Department by the Office for National Statistics, which receives it from the Home Office.
Funding for health care within prisons is currently calculated and provided separately from general PCT allocations. The phased transfer of funding from HM Prison Service to PCTs was accompanied by a growth in revenue—meaning that whereas £118 million was transferred in 2002-03, by 2006-07 investment reached nearly £200 million.
Throughout this period of staged budget increases, allocations to those PCTs which have a prison in their area were calculated using a fair shares formula, constructed independently to tackle funding anomalies and take into account the type of prison, its size, the number of receptions, market forces factors and baseline budget. From 2006-07, simple percentage increases to these allocations will apply. For 2007-08, Milton Keynes will receive £3.264 million to fund prison health services, in addition to its general allocation of £277.9 million.
Myasthenia Gravis
None in the financial year 2005-06.
National Partnership for Obesity
The obesity stakeholder engagement work, being undertaken by the Department, represents a national partnership for obesity by engaging representatives from across central and local government, together with non-Government organisations and industry, to develop a social marketing approach in the prevention of obesity. In addition, the governance arrangements for the cross-Government obesity programme account for partnership working between the national health service and other Departments, agencies, primary care trusts, NHS organisations, health professionals, local authorities, schools, early years settings and industry. All of this work is under way.
NHS: Barnet
The information requested was only collected from 2006-07 and is shown in the following tables.
Number of patients waiting Weeks Month Test 0<1 1<2 2<3 3<4 4<5 5<6 March Magnetic resonance imaging 37 47 61 49 42 34 October Magnetic resonance imaging 56 71 62 65 56 43 March Computed tomography 40 37 35 38 39 29 October Computed tomography 79 67 65 36 41 42
Month Test 6<7 7<8 8<9 9<10 10<11 March Magnetic resonance imaging 42 51 42 48 39 October Magnetic resonance imaging 48 42 39 52 39 March Computed tomography 23 21 3 5 3 October Computed tomography 33 21 14 5 12
Month Test l1<12 12<13 13<14 14<15 15<16 16<17 March Magnetic resonance imaging 41 35 23 19 17 27 October Magnetic resonance imaging 40 32 26 25 15 20 March Computed tomography 3 2 2 1 0 1 October Computed tomography 6 5 3 3 1 3
Month Test 17<18 18<19 19<20 20<21 21<22 March Magnetic resonance imaging 23 22 24 1 0 October Magnetic resonance imaging 17 15 11 9 4 March Computed tomography 1 1 0 0 0 October Computed tomography 0 0 0 0 0
Month Test 22<23 23<24 24<25 25<26 26<27 27<28 March Magnetic Resonance Imaging 0 1 0 0 0 0 October Magnetic resonance imaging 1 3 1 4 0 0 March Computed tomography 0 0 0 0 0 0 October Computed tomography 0 0 0 0 0 0
Month Test 28<29 29<30 30<31 31<32 32<33 March Magnetic Resonance Imaging 0 0 0 0 1 October Magnetic resonance imaging 0 0 0 0 0 March Computed tomography 0 0 0 0 0 October Computed tomography 0 0 0 0 0 Note: Weekly timeband data are collected up to 52+ weeks, however, as there were no patients waiting beyond 33 weeks for this dataset, only timebands up to 33 weeks are provided. Source: Department of Health, DMO1
Month Test Total number of patients waiting Median wait (weeks) March Magnetic resonance imaging 728 8.0 October Magnetic resonance imaging 795 6.9 March Computed tomography 284 3.8 October Computed tomography 437 3.2 Source: Department of Health, DMO1
NHS: Fast Food Outlets
The information requested is not collected centrally.
National health service trusts are locally responsible for decisions relating to the provision of all food to patients, staff and visitors. NHS trusts are encouraged to generate income by making best use of their assets and this can include the provision of retail services of the type to which the question refers. The precise contractual arrangements will depend on the individual scheme and the local situation.
NHS Finance
We do not maintain figures by individual national health service body prior to 1996-97, we cannot provide gross deficits and gross surpluses for the earliest years.
The following table provides the NHS gross financial position for the years 1996-97 to 2005-06 and the net financial position of the NHS for years 1990-91 to 2005-06.
National health service (NHS) gross deficits and gross surpluses are not available in years 1990-91 to 1995-96.
Total NHS gross surplus Total NHS gross (deficit) Total NHS net (deficit)/surplus 1990-91 n/a n/a (125) 1991-92 n/a n/a 103 1992-93 n/a n/a 53 1993-94 n/a n/a 130 1994-95 n/a n/a 25 1995-96 n/a n/a (250) 1996-97 134 (593) (459) 1997-98 119 (240) (121) 1998-99 145 (163) (18) 1999-2000 144 (273) (129) 2000-01 153 (41) 112 2001-02 141 (69) 71 2002-03 302 (206) 96 2003-04 338 (265) 73 2004-05 504 (725) (221) 2005-06 765 (1,312) (547) Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest million 2. Figures exclude foundation trusts
NHS Funding: Prisoners
The general principle underlying the provision of healthcare in prisons is that it should be equivalent to that provided to the general population. Prisoners are therefore entitled to a full national health service. This principle did not change in April 2006.
North Bristol NHS Trust
North Bristol NHS Trust first reported a cumulative deficit of £4.2 million in 2001-02, which increased to £48.8 million in 2002-03. In the subsequent three financial years the trust has recovered £3.9 million, and therefore the cumulative deficit remaining to be recovered at the end of 2005-06 is £44.9 million.
The timescale for the recovery of deficits by NHS trusts is determined by the statutory breakeven duty, which states that a cumulative deficit must be recovered in the subsequent two years following the first year in which a cumulative deficit position is reported. It is the responsibility of the strategic health authorities (SHA) to work with NHS organisations in their local health economies and agree a recovery plan that phases the recovery of deficits over a number of years. By exception, the SHA can agree an extension to the recovery period to four years in line with an agreed recovery plan. At the end of 2005-06 North Bristol NHS Trust had been in a cumulative deficit position for five years and is therefore in breach of its statutory duty.
The Department cannot simply write off historical deficits. The Department, and, consequently, the NHS, have to live within an agreed level of resources in each financial year. This level is set by HM Treasury and voted by Parliament. In order for the system as a whole to balance, a deficit in one organisation has to be matched by a surplus elsewhere. Deficits therefore must be repaid so that the resources can be returned to the organisations that generated the offsetting surpluses.
We anticipate that officials will make an announcement on the progress of this scheme shortly.
All proposals for private finance initiative schemes are assessed against a variety of criteria in order to ascertain their affordability and fit with the needs of the communities they are to serve. The financial position of the trust concerned and whether it is in deficit or surplus forms part of these considerations.
Nurses
The hospital and community health services (HCHS) pay bill per head (FTE) for employing a qualified nurse in 1997-98 and 2004-05 which is the latest available year was:
£ 1997-08 22,975 2004-05 32,791 Notes: 1. Figures cover all staff and salary costs, including employers’ NI and pension contributions. 2. Pay bill per head (FTE) is derived using full-time equivalent staff numbers. Pay bill figures include the “on-costs” of employment. On-costs are estimated using figures in financial returns (these are not broken down by staff group or grade). 3. 2004-05 figures include estimates for foundation trusts. 4. 2004-05 figures include £334 “other” provision, assumed to be for Agenda for Change. 5. Part of the increase between the two years is due to the transfer of responsibility for funding pensions indexation costs to NHS employers, under which employer pensions contributions rose from 7 per cent. to 14 per cent. Source: These costs are estimated on the basis of data from the national health service trust, primary care trust and strategic health authority financial returns and foundation trust annual reports, together with staff numbers (excluding the cost of agency staff) from the work force census.
Paediatrics
Individual strategic health authorities and deaneries are responsible for planning the medical training posts at local level, taking into account the analysis and recommendations of the work force review team.
Patient and Public Participation
The decision to abolish the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) was part of the arm's length bodies (ALB) review about reducing bureaucracy and getting more funds to the frontline. Therefore, no assessment was made on existing patient and public participation at that point.
The Department undertook a major review of patient and public involvement (PPI) during 2005-06. The PPI review was prompted by “Commissioning a Patient-led NHS” and the White Paper “Our health, our care, our say” consultation. The review indicated that the current arrangements were no longer fit for purpose in view of the major structural changes accruing across health and social care.
Public Information Campaigns
Improving the quality and provision of public services and information is a key Government priority.
For obesity, the Healthy Living Social Marketing Programme will focus on supporting parents and carers in their role as the primary influences of healthy eating habits in children. The programme was launched at a mass stakeholder event in December 2006 with public facing activity planned for early 2007.
New campaigns to motivate and support smokers to quit will be launched in the new year and we will be continuing the second-hand smoke education campaign in March 2007.
A new sexual health campaign, “Condom Essential Wear” was launched on 9 November 2006, targeting 18-24 year olds, and aiming to inform them about the prevalence and invisibility of sexually transmitted infections, and to reduce instances of teenage pregnancies. This is additional to our targeted HIV campaigns for gay men and African communities. The Department also works with the Department for Education and Skills on the “Want Respect? Use a Condom” and “RU Thinking” campaigns for young people and teenagers.
In addition, the Department is running a national hepatitis C awareness campaign for healthcare professionals and the public in support of the “Hepatitis C Action Plan for England”. Information about the prevention and control of hepatitis A and B has been provided to healthcare professionals and the public.
Special Exception Committees
Primary care trusts (PCTs) must determine how to use the funding allocated to them to commission services to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations. Each PCT must establish a professional executive committee to exercise particular functions, including to provide advice and assistance to medical practitioners. PCTs are also able to appoint other committees of the trust, but there is no requirement for a special exception committee or other committee to approve national health service treatments.
The Department does not collect data on how many primary care trusts have such committees and has issued no national guidance on their operation.
Talking Treatments
The Government are committed to improving mental health services and this is why we support increasing the availability of evidence-based psychological therapies through our programme Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), which was launched in May 2006.
This programme will initially focus on adults of working age in order to establish the links between the provision of evidence-based psychological interventions and retaining and maintaining people in employment. We will also be addressing the benefit of extending these services to people of all ages as part of the regional psychological therapies programmes led by the Care Services Improvement Partnership, which will complement the two national improving access to psychological therapy (IAPT) demonstration sites.
The IAPT demonstration sites will provide evidence of the effectiveness of stepped improvements in access to psychological therapies and of the resultant benefits to people’s health and well-being, to the efficiency and effectiveness of mental health systems and to the economy as a whole. Building on these foundations over the longer term will be to the benefit of everyone who needs these therapies, whatever their age or circumstances.
Translation Services
During 2005-06 the Department spent £186,765.28 translating publications into other languages.
Primary care trusts (PCTs) are not required to report their planned or actual spending on interpretation and translation services to the Department. When planning such services, PCTs should take due account of their legal duties, the composition of the communities they serve, and the needs and circumstances of their patients, service users and local populations.
The Government have established the independent Commission on Integration and Cohesion to look at Government policies and public services and to report in 2007. As part of its brief, the Commission will look at the provision of language services across Government. The Department will fully support the Commission in its work.
Trust Funding Allocations
In 2005-06, the Department allocated £3,587 million to the national health service through the multi-professional education and training (MPET) budget. In 2006-07, the Department allocated £3,766 million in the same way.
MPET allocations are made to strategic health authorities (SHAs) rather than directly to NHS trusts. In 2006-07, the SHAs have received the MPET allocation as part of their overall funding allocation and have managed the investment in education and training according to local priorities.
Turnaround Programme
The spend on the turnaround programme is shown as follows:
Baseline assessment phase one—£1,493,500 (excluding VAT and expenses)
Baseline assessment phase two—£1,092,400 (excluding VAT and expenses)
National programme office—average cost of £177,000 per month since February 2006 (excluding VAT and expenses)
Following the baseline assessment of some of the most financially challenged organisations, 98 were identified and categorised 1 to 4, with category 1 being an immediate priority—urgent intervention required to drive turnaround. The Department contributed £93,000 towards the cost of support in these 26 organisations; and
Strategic health authority turnaround directors—average cost of £390,000 per month since February 2006 (excluding VAT and expenses).
Volunteer Retention
We expect that existing groups, especially patient and public involvement (PPI) forums, should form the basis of local involvement networks (LINks) membership and the starting point for further recruitment. We are very keen that we do not lose the experience and expertise of forum members and members of other established patient, service user and public involvement groups.
Central guidance will be made available after the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill receives Royal Assent in 2007. This guidance will include advice on LINks membership, but will not be prescriptive. Essentially, the decision to recruit members will remain local. However, we would encourage current patient forum members to transfer their experience and knowledge to LINks and would like them to be a major part in the formation of them.
Waiting Times
The number of patients at the end of November 2006 waiting more than 26 weeks for admission to an English national health service trust was 892.
War Pensioners
The Department does not monitor the workload of the Health Services Commissioner, who is entirely independent of the Department, and questions should therefore be addressed directly to the Commissioner.
World Cancer Research Fund
(2) what (a) submissions, (b) papers and (c) correspondence have been received by her Department from the World Cancer Research Fund Ltd.
No departmental grants have been allocated to the World Cancer Research Fund International. The Department received one item of correspondence from their United Kingdom headquarters in September 2006. There is no central record of any other correspondence, submissions or papers having been received from this organisation.
Northern Ireland
A26
The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
Letter from Dr. D M McKibbin, dated 15 January 2007:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a parliamentary question regarding what is the most recent average volume of vehicles per day using the A26 between Coleraine and Ballymoney. As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
By way of background, I should explain that Roads Service collects traffic volume data by means of 270 automatic census points strategically located throughout the Northern Ireland road network. The information is recorded for one week in each quarter during the year and an annual average calculated. The results are published in Roads Service's annual Traffic and Travel Information Report, which presents the traffic volumes in a variety of formats for each site.
The latest data on the average daily number of vehicles using the A26 between Coleraine and Ballymena is shown in the following table.
Number A26 Ballymena to Ballymoney, north of M2 19,430 A26 Ballymena to Ballymoney, south-east of Ballymoney 12,740 A26 Ballymoney Bypass 15,480 A26 south-east of Coleraine Ring Road 15,600
Advisers
(2) whether additional advisers appointed to the main political parties are eligible for (a) support from officials in, (b) accommodation in property used by and (c) office facilities provided by the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister.
The four main political parties represented on the Assembly’s Programme for Government Committee have been offered additional support under the Financial Assistance to Political Parties Act (NI) 2000 specifically in connection with the substantial work of that Committee. The Assembly scheme determined under the Act provides that those additional advisers shall act in accordance with any guidance issued by the Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. Guidance is presently being prepared which will cover the issue of political activity during the Assembly election period.
I am arranging to place in the Library of the House the letters sent by the Secretary of State to the leaders of the four main parties, which set out details of the facilities that have been offered to them.
Alzheimer's Disease
Reminyl is available on prescription in Northern Ireland following examination and recommendation by a consultant, taking account of evidence-based practice and the needs of the patient. Consultants generally apply a test known as the Mini Mental State Examination which, together with functional and behavioural assessment of the patient, helps inform their decision on the prescription of drugs in individual cases.
The availability of drugs to treat people with Alzheimer’s disease, including Reminyl, is currently being reviewed by my Department in light of the recent NICE technology appraisal on drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and the institute’s broader clinical guideline on the management of dementia.
ASBOs
The relevant authorities have notified the Northern Ireland Office of 29 antisocial behaviour orders being granted in Northern Ireland. The relevant authorities have reported that eight of these orders were made in 2005 and 21 in 2006.
Area Number of orders Ards borough council 1 Ballymena borough council 9 Belfast city council 4 Coleraine borough council 2 Craigavon borough council 1 Derry city council 2 Dungannon district council 1 Larne district council 3 Magherafelt district council 1 Newry and Mourne city council 1 Newtownabbey borough council 2 North Down borough council 2
We do not collect data by parliamentary constituency.
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is recognised as an issue for all Northern Ireland Departments. They are all currently striving to meet the recommendations of the NI Biodiversity Strategy which include some of the priorities set out in the recent EU Communication on “Halting the loss of Biodiversity by 2010—and beyond” issued in May 2006. Further work is ongoing to incorporate the EU Communication targets into Departmental Biodiversity Action Plans which are being developed as part of the sustainable development strategy implementation plan launched on 26 November.
Biodiversity is a key aspect of sustainable development and is an integral part of the sustainable development strategy and its implementation plan.
The Department of the Environment has made substantial progress in meeting the objectives of the Northern Ireland Biodiversity Strategy, which incorporates many of the EU Communication’s priorities. For example, the Environment and Heritage Service has been delivering action plans for species and habitats which have declined or suffered biodiversity loss and require conservation action. This includes the designation and management of statutory designated sites such as Natura 2000 and Areas of Special Scientific Interest.
The Department of the Environment has recently employed a biodiversity officer to assist Departments to devise biodiversity action plans which will incorporate relevant targets set out in the EU Communication “Halting the Loss of Biodiversity by 2010—and beyond”. This officer will also offer practical assistance to Departments to embrace nature conservation aspects when undertaking their functions. This stance builds on the continued resourcing for biodiversity elsewhere in Government. This notably includes work being undertaken by the Environment and Heritage Service in designating and managing statutory nature conservation sites, as well as funding a broad range of biodiversity projects and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development funding of agri-environment schemes.
The DOE, in line with other Departments, will review its current commitments to consider what additional aspects of the EU Communication can be undertaken.
The Department of the Environment is committed to reviewing the policies and recommendations of the Northern Ireland biodiversity strategy to incorporate the targets included in the EU Communication “Halting the loss of Biodiversity by 2010—and beyond”. This review will influence, and be a key component of, the implementation of the priority area of “natural resource protection” identified in the sustainable development strategy.
The ongoing development and revision of planning policies will continue to contribute to halting the loss of biodiversity.
Progress in achieving the recommendations of the Northern Ireland biodiversity strategy is regularly monitored and an independent progress report is submitted to Government every three years. Any relevant additional targets to be incorporated into this process that flow from the EU Communication “Halting the loss of Biodiversity by 2010—and beyond” will be included in the next progress report, scheduled for September 2008.
In addition, the EU Communication sets out to develop a small set of “biodiversity headline indicators” by 2007. These indicators, which are currently being considered by devolved administrations within the UK, are intended to inform member states of the effectiveness of key policies and pressures affecting the trends of biodiversity within the EC.
Car Parks
The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 15 January 2007:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding, how many new pay and display machines were installed in car parks run by the Department for Regional Development in Northern Ireland between 1 September 2006 and 31 December 2006; and at what cost to the public purse.
As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
I can advise that between 1 September 2006 and 31 December 2006 a total of 70 new pay and display machines were installed in Roads Service car parks at a cost to the public purse of approximately £270,000.
Child Abuse
I have been advised by the Police Service of Northern Ireland that the information sought is not available in the requested format. The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Daisy Hill Hospital
The Department is currently consulting on the recommendations of a review of clinical pathology laboratory services in Northern Ireland. The report of the review makes 23 recommendations, which aim to ensure the sustainability of high quality laboratory services across Northern Ireland. The recommendations include proposals for reconfiguration of the current service delivery profile. If the recommendations are accepted and implemented, Daisy Hill hospital would provide site-essential, rapid response clinical biochemistry and haematology services 12-hours daily. Out of hours urgent samples would be transferred to the nearest large acute hospital, 24-hour blood transfusion services would be maintained, with out of hours cover from the nearest large acute hospital laboratory, and with electronic release of blood for patients who have previously been cross-matched.
The consultation period runs until 28 February 2007, following which the responses will be considered and decisions on the future profile of hospital pathology services finalised.
Derry City Centre: Car Parking
The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 15 January 2007:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question, if he will introduce a permit scheme to exempt residents of Derry City Centre from new car-parking restrictions introduced under the Northern Ireland Department for Regional Development’s contract with NCP.
As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply
I can advise that currently there is no scheme which allows Roads Service to exempt residents in Derry City Centre from the normal requirements to comply with current parking regulations, other than those that exist within the Pedestrian Zone, to which residents’ access is permitted by permit. I can also advise that Roads Service has no plans at present to introduce such a scheme.
I am sure you will appreciate that waiting restrictions are introduced either to facilitate the safe movement of traffic, or for traffic progression reasons and that permitting residents to park at these locations, during periods when restrictions are in force, would reduce the likelihood of these objectives being achieved.
Following the recent transfer for parking enforcement from the PSNI to Roads Service, our priority is to use resources to ensure effective and consistent enforcement of current waiting restrictions. In advance of the transfer, a review of waiting restrictions was carried out throughout the city. As a consequence, amendments to some waiting restrictions were introduced to facilitate residents where the restriction was deemed no longer appropriate or necessary. I can also advise that we are considering further changes in the Strand Road area with a view to providing additional space for short term parking. If there is any particular location where you would wish Roads Service to undertake a review of the current restrictions, I would ask you to contact the local traffic engineer, Keith Cradden, telephone 028 7132 1653, who will consider the issue.
Draft Street Works Order
(2) whether the Water Service will be subject to the requirements of the Draft Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order.
The Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 itself will not have any direct cost implications and so it has no impact on either the New Targeting Social Need policy or the Lifetime Opportunities Strategy launched by the Secretary of State on 13 November 2006.
When the Department is developing future subordinate legislation under the Order, the requirements of the Lifetime Opportunities Strategy will be fully integrated into its considerations.
With regard to the second question, I can confirm that the provisions of the Order will apply to Northern Ireland Water Ltd. and that, by virtue of Article 269 (2) of the Water and Sewerage Services (NI) Order 2006, it will not be regarded as the servant or agent of the Crown and will not have any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown.
Education Boards
Guiding Principles on Voluntary Severance Arrangements for all RPA affected staff are currently being considered by Government, the Public Services Commission, trade union side and the RPA affected organisations. No discussions have taken place to specifically identify severance packages for chief executives of Education and Library Boards. The senior management structure of the Education and Skills Authority has yet to be determined.
Educational Psychology
Educational psychologists assessed the following numbers of children in the Foyle constituency in the last five years:
Number 2001-02 965 2002-03 1,240 2003-04 1,151 2004-05 1,107 2005-06 1,111
The numbers quoted are in respect of the relevant financial years.
Elderly People: Falls
The information requested is not available.
Under current legislation, which commenced in April 2005, all nursing homes are required to be inspected a minimum of twice in every 12 month period. Prior to this, only voluntary and independent homes were statutorily required to be inspected on the same basis, whilst homes run by Health and Social Services trusts were similarly inspected as a matter of good practice.
The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority has reported a total of 621 inspections of 172 nursing homes in 2005-06.
Information on the previous two years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
There is no legislative provision requiring inspections of hospital units.
Older people who are already within the care of the Health and Personal Social Services have their care needs regularly re-assessed in the light of changing circumstances. Older people not known to the HPSS may be referred, following a fall, to have a multi-disciplinary assessment of their continuing care needs. In addition, there are many schemes across Northern Ireland aimed at preventing falls by older people, through risk assessment and the use of adaptations and equipment.
Environmental Building Standards
The Government’s vision is to see improved standards of building in Northern Ireland which will lead to a reduction in greenhouse gases by encouraging energy efficiency and increasing the use of renewable energy technologies. An amendment to the relevant part of the Northern Ireland Building Regulations came into operation on 30 November requiring all building, whether public or private, to demonstrate improved energy performance and reduced carbon dioxide emissions. These requirements, which are continually under review, will be enhanced by implementing provisions of the EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings, which, under new regulations to be introduced next year to promote greater awareness of energy performance, will require the production of an energy performance certificate whenever a building is constructed, sold or rented out.
The Sustainable Development Strategy for Northern Ireland, which the Secretary of State launched in May 2006, requires the Government estate to be carbon neutral by 2015. Progress towards this objective will be supported by the Achieving Excellence in Construction Initiative, which requires procurement and investment decisions to be based on whole lifecycle costing underpinned by sustainability assessments. Further, from 31 March 2007 all Departments and district councils will be under a statutory duty to act in the way best calculated to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in Northern Ireland.
From 2007-08, part of the Government office estate will be managed by a private sector partner under the Workplace 2010 programme. The contract governing this arrangement will stipulate that the buildings involved must meet appropriate standards of energy and environmental management. This will produce a better use of space and increased energy efficiency, resulting in a significant reduction in our carbon footprint.
Equality Commission
The Equality Commission, since its establishment, has been committed to the importance of having a workforce which reflects the community which it serves. The Commission recognises that there is currently an imbalance and therefore has in place an affirmative action plan with a range of initiatives to improve the representation of Protestants within its staff. These include the use of a statement in all job advertisements welcoming members of the Protestant community; contact with schools and third-level educational establishments; contact with and forwarding job vacancy information to community organisations servicing the Protestant community; engagement with representatives and people with influence in the Protestant community. The Commission keeps these measures under review, and will continue to work to reduce all imbalances.
EU Funding
The following table provides details of the EU allocations and the value of claims submitted in euro—with the percentage of the allocation claimed for each Structural Fund Programme and Community Initiative in Northern Ireland up to the end of December 2006. No amounts have been returned to or decommitted by the European Commission to date. All 2000-06 programmes can continue to spend until December 2008.
Programme/Community Initiative Total EU allocation (€) Total EU element declared (€) Percentage declared Total EU element returned (€) Percentage returned Building Sustainable Prosperity 929,115,400 712,900,222 76.73 0.00 0 Peace II (N.I only) 467,000,000 409,549,085 87.70 0.00 0 Urban II 10,784,515 6,420,456 59.53 0.00 0 Equal 11,896,437 6,966,048 58.56 0.00 0 Leader + 15,689,259 10,469,346 66.73 0.00 0 Interreg IIIA 82,213,093 46,255,818 56.26 0.00 0 Overall total 1,516,698,704 1,192,580,975 78.63 0.00 0
Fertility Counselling
The additional £50,000 per annum was allocated specifically towards improving access to fertility counselling services in Northern Ireland and will be distributed to each of the four Health and Social Services Boards under the agreed capitation formula. Under that formula £8,575 will be allocated to the Western Board.
The Department has not previously identified specific funding for counselling. Counselling for people attending the regional fertility centre is provided as part of the total funding for fertility services in Northern Ireland.
Fire and Rescue Service
The number of student training days delivered at NIFRS divisional level in 2005-06 was 9,273.
The number of training days delivered at Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Training Centres in 2005-06 is as follows:
Days Boucher Crescent 9,170 Westland Road 1,757 Total 10,927
The following table and associated explanatory notes provides the information requested by the hon. Gentleman.
On-duty injuries to operational personnel Incident-related injuries Burn injuries at incidents Total 2000-01 427 230 14 671 2001-02 402 176 9 587 2002-03 354 140 3 497 2003-04 291 157 7 455 2004-05 239 120 8 367 2005-06 194 70 1 265 Notes: 1. On-duty injuries to operational personnel include the total number of injuries sustained by whole-time or retained personnel. The majority of these fall within the categories of manual handling or slips/trips/falls. 2. Incident-related injuries include injuries that have occurred during the time that an appliance is en-route to an emergency incident, while the appliance is at the incident or while it is returning from the incident. 3. Burn injuries at incidents include burns or scalds that have occurred at emergency incidents.
Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service firefighters are rigorously trained in accordance with UK Fire Service standards at Boucher Crescent Training Centre, Northland Fire Station in Londonderry and Westland Fire Station in Belfast, where NIFRS continues to conduct real fire and breathing apparatus training. In addition, all firefighters are given on-going training throughout their careers. The service is implementing the national integrated personal development system (IPDS) which is a competency-based training programme designed to provide firefighters with the skills required for specific roles.
NIFRS continually assesses firefighter safety and monitors any reported injury to identify whether lack of training has been a contributory factor.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has also mitigated the shortfall in training reported by the NI Audit Office by implementing other training methods such as simulation training and practical training at local fire station level. NIFRS confidence in the success of these measures is reflected in the year-on-year reduction in firefighter injuries.
GCSEs
The requested information is as follows:
Less than 5 GCSEs A*-G No formal qualifications Less than 5 GCSEs A*-G No formal qualifications 2004-05 1,665 462 1,769 411 2003-04 1,945 701 1,687 567 2002-03 l n/a n/a n/a n/a 2001-02 1,805 679 1,855 629 2000-01 1,907 657 1,733 563 1999-2000 1,896 493 1,726 406 1998-99 1,908 386 1,766 297 1997-98 2,104 488 1,771 309 1996-97 2,313 529 2,001 400 1995-96 2 2,152 248 1,776 149 1994-95 2,304 510 1,831 313 1 There was no school leavers’ survey in 2002-03 because of problems in the software of the schools’ Management Information System. 2 Qualifications data are missing for 3 per cent. of the school leavers in 1995-96. The apparent dip in the figures between 1994-95 and 1996-97 needs to be seen in this context.
Gender Equality
(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that private organisations contracted to work (a) in his Department and (b) for non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies for which his Department is responsible are aware of their duties under gender equality legislation when exercising public functions on behalf of public bodies;
(3) what plans he has to carry out gender impact assessments of his Department’s major policy developments and new legislation;
(4) what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies for which he is responsible are taking steps to meet the requirements of the forthcoming duty on public bodies (i) to end unlawful discrimination and harassment and (ii) to promote equality between women and men.
In Northern Ireland section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 requires public authorities to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity and regard to the desirability of promoting good relations. These duties ensure that equality issues, including gender, are integral to the whole range of public policy decision making. Public authorities, such as the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), are required to submit Equality Schemes to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and to carry out impact assessments of their policies in certain circumstances.
The NIO is fully committed to the fulfilment of the section 75 obligations on the promotion of equality of opportunity and good relations. The NIO Equality Scheme, approved by the Northern Ireland Equality Commission in November 2001, sets out how the Department proposed to fulfil those duties with regard to all of its policies and functions. In 2006 the NIO conducted a comprehensive review of the operation of the scheme during its first five years and this report was submitted to the Equality Commission in July 2006.
Copies of the NIO Equality Scheme and 5 Year Review Report may be found on the Northern Ireland Office website:
www.nio.gov.uk.
George Bruce Kelso
When the Eastern Health and Social Services Board (EHSSB) became aware of concerns about dentist George Bruce Kelso in late 1998 it instigated investigations on two fronts:
1. The Central Services Agency (CSA) was asked by the Board to profile Mr. Kelso’s pattern of treatment claims. This included calling in and checking patient records.
2. The Referral Dental Service, based in the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, was asked to undertake post treatment examinations on a large number of patients for which Mr. Kelso had submitted claims for health service dental treatment.
The EHSSB assimilated these findings into a case report.
Gershon Review
Sir Peter Gershon’s independent report into public sector efficiency did not require that efficiencies be recorded net of upfront investment costs and the Northern Ireland Office has followed this advice. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Health Service
At the assimilation stage Health and Personal Social Services payroll departments notify staff of their Agenda for Change pay bands and when they can expect to receive payment. At December 2006, (a) 48.7 per cent. of health staff affected by Agenda for Change, and (b) 13.3 per cent. of social services staff, have been notified and assimilated to the new Agenda for Change rates of pay.
The implementation of the Agenda for Change agreement is being taken forward in partnership with Health and Personal Social Services (HPSS) employers and recognised trade unions. My Department’s officials and representatives from HPSS employers meet on a monthly basis with regional officers from the main health trade unions. I would expect any concerns about the implication of Agenda for Change to be brought to that forum.
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, wrote to the trade unions and to the Health and Personal Social Services on 14 November 2006 setting out proposals on how the nursing and midwifery functions at the Department and the Health and Social Care Authority could be secured as part of the implementation of the review of public administration.
A discussion paper is to be issued shortly and no final decision will be made without taking the views of stakeholders fully into account.
Home Carers
While home care may be available from a variety of sources, the Department holds information only on those staff employed within the Northern Ireland health and social services. The number of home care staff employed by trusts in the western health and social services board area is detailed in the following table.
Grade Home carer/home care assistant Home help Headcount 386 1,274 Whole-time equivalent 177.80 457.45 Notes: 1. Altnagelvin trust, as an acute trust, do not employ home helps. 2. Sperrin Lakeland trust stated that as part of the Home Care Reform Programme a number of home care assistants have been signed up and are awaiting deployment. 3. Figures include staff employed on an “as and when required” basis. Source: Western Health and Social Services Board Area Trusts
The number of occasions patients in the Western Health and Social Services Board area have been detained in hospital because no home carers were available in each of the last 12 months is not available. However, the number of patients who have had their discharge delayed due to “no place or package being available” and who were recorded as being resident in the Western Board area in each of the last 12 months are detailed in the following table.
Month Number of delayed discharges due to no available place or package 2005 November 12 December 10 2006 January 9 February 8 March 8 April 6 May <5 June 6 July1 <5 August1 <5 September 1 10 October1 7 1Information is currently provisional and subject to change. Notes: 1. Figures are presented in respect of the position at the last day of each month 2. Please note that cell sizes that have a value of less than 5 have been masked in order to help protect confidentiality. Source: Departmental Return, DDL.
Hospital Waiting Times
Official waiting lists are produced on a quarterly basis. Information on the number of patients waiting more than six months for in-patient treatment in Northern Ireland hospitals is provided in the following table for the quarters ending December 2005, March 2006, June 2006 and September 2006.
Quarter ending Number of patients waiting six months and over December 2005 10,403 March 2006 6,580 June 2006 5,144 September 2006 3,786 Source: Departmental Information return CH1
There is a ministerial commitment that by March 2007 no one will have to wait more than six months for in-patient or daycase treatment.
Since the end of September 2006 continued progress has been made towards this target and based on provisional performance monitoring information, 2,681 patients were waiting more than six months for in-patient treatment at the end of December 2006—a reduction of approximately 29 per cent. on the position at the end of September 2006.
Official waiting list figures for in-patient/daycase admission for quarter ending December 2006 will be published on 1 March 2007 and will be available at:
http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/stats_research/stats-pubs/stats-hospital_community_statistics.htm#waitinglists.
A copy of the next waiting list bulletin will be available in the House of Commons Library.
Housing
The value limits which apply to the co-ownership scheme were increased in April 2006, and again at the beginning of October, to reflect house price inflation. The Northern Ireland Co-ownership Housing Association has also been given the flexibility to operate outside the value limits in cases, subject to departmental approval, where there are valid reasons for doing so. The issue of price limits will be considered again in the spring in the context of the annual price limits review and the recommendations of the Independent Review into Housing Affordability.
Legislation: Public Consultation
My Department seeks to consult the public on Northern Ireland legislation wherever possible. Of the Acts and Orders in Council made since I became the Secretary of State, prior public consultation was carried out on the following:
Acts
Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006
(in respect of electoral registration, political donations and the devolution of policing and justice functions, which make up the majority of the Act)
Orders in Council
Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order 2005
Drainage (Amendment) (NI) Order 2005
Company Directors Disqualification (Amendment) (NI) Order 2005
Insolvency (NI) Order 2005
Unauthorised Encampments (NI) Order 2005
Colleges of Education (NI) Order 2005
Traffic Management (NI) Order 2005
The Criminal Justice (NI) Order 2005
The Firearms (Amendment) (NI) Order 2005
Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) (NI) Order 2005
Local Government (NI) Order 2005
Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order 2005
Disability Discrimination (NI) Order 2006
Safety at Sports Grounds (NI) Order 2006
Industrial and Provident Societies (NI) Order 2006
Rates (Capital Values) (NI) Order 2006
Stormont Estate (NI) Order 2006
Planning Reform (NI) Order 2006
Fire and Rescue Services (NI) Order 2006
Private Tenancies (NI) Order 2006
Education (NI) Order 2006
Recovery of Health Services Charges (NI) Order 2006
Water and Sewerage Services (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order 2006
Victims and Survivors (NI) Order 2006
Rates (Amendment) (NI) Order 2006
Smoking (NI) Order 2006
In the same period for a variety of reasons, prior public consultation was not carried out on the following Northern Ireland Acts and Orders in Council:
Acts
Electoral Registration (NI) Act 2005
Northern Ireland Act 2006
Northern Ireland (St. Andrews Agreement) Act 2006
Terrorism (NI) Act 2006
Orders in Council
Budget (No.2) (NI) Order 2005
Budget (NI) Order 2006
Budget (No.2) (NI) Order 2006
Local Government Boundaries (NI) Order 2006
Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order 2006
Work and Families (NI) Order 2006
Electricity Consents (Planning) (NI) Order 2006
The information sought in respect of the remaining three and a half years of the five year period, is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Local Government Boundary Commissioners
The selection of Assistant Local Government Boundaries Commissioners for Northern Ireland followed the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.
Medical Professional Vacancies
Vacancies are monitored through the Department's on-going workforce planning mechanism, which includes a review of the medical workforce. Within that review, allowance is made for a net loss of doctors at the early stages of training.
While the group of doctors referred to may choose not to seek further employment following completion of the foundation programme, there remains a likelihood that opportunities will arise that are not taken up by European economic area doctors. These can be taken up by the group of doctors referred to or by others from outside the EEA.
Ministerial Travel
The NIO is a participant in the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund.
All carbon emissions from central Government ministerial and official air travel are being offset from 1 April 2006. Departmental aviation emissions are calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset through payments to a central fund. The fund purchases Certified Emissions Reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with sustainable development benefits, located in developing countries.
NCP Contract
The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
Letter from Dr. D M McKibbin dated 15 January 2007
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a parliamentary question regarding how much was paid by the Department for Regional Development Roads Service to National Car Parks (NCP) under the contract to enforce car parking restrictions in the most recent period for which figures are available; what performance indicators apply under that contract; how those indicators are (a) measured and (b) monitored; and what the maximum annual amount payable w NCP is under the terms of the contract.
As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
I can advise that to date, no payment has been made by Roads Service to National Car Parks Ltd (NCP) in relation to the contract for the operation of parking and enforcement services as no invoice has been submitted.
Performance measurement and monitoring is on the basis of 31 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which relate to the quality of the service being provided (see Annex A). These KPIs relate to all aspects of work covered by the contract and are not solely related to the enforcement of parking restrictions. They cover such items as the level of deployment of traffic attendants, training, quality of information recorded, car park management and cash collection. There are no KPIs related to the number of penalty charge notices (PCNs) issued.
Given the wide scope of the KPIs, different methods are required to measure and monitor performance. For example, deployment levels are measured through payroll records and can be independently monitored from reports produced by Roads Service. Quality of information recorded will be analysed by examining the number of PCNs cancelled due to traffic attendant (TA) error.
The contract includes for the management of Roads Service's off-street charged car parks and the enforcement of parking restrictions. If NCP provides the appropriate level of service as measured against the KPIs, under the terms of the contract, the maximum annual amount payable to them will be £8,848,698.38. This sum includes the maximum performance related payment, and refers to the full service to be provided by NCP, not just enforcement of parking restrictions.
Key Performance Indicators
A. Effective Parking Enforcement
1. Number of TAs deployed.
2. Number of Supervisors deployed.
3. Coverage of Patrol requirements,
4. The availability and responsiveness of the rapid response unit.
B. Good quality, motivated and informed TAs
5. Initial TA training and accreditation.
6. Regular assessments and delivery of on-going training.
7. The Standard of TA appearance, courtesy and helpfulness.
8. The level of complaints and complaints handling,
9. Level of Absenteeism and staff turnover amongst all TA staff and car park staff.
C. Issue of Good Quality PCNs
10. Number of cancellations due to TA error.
11. Number of Void PCNs.
12. Good quality information.
13. Control of Pocket Books.
14. Linkage of good quality digital images to PCNs.
D. Clamping and Removal Operations
15. Availability of resources during hours of operation.
16. Adherence to removals/clamps criteria.
17. Good quality condition reports including digital images.
18. Timeliness of releasing clamps handling of requests for priority de-clamping.
E. Car Pound Operations
19. Banking of cash via the car pound.
20. The availability of staff at the car pound.
21. Customer Service,
22. Inventory.
F. Full and timely reporting of all defective/missing lines and signs
23. The prompt reporting of all defects in lines, signs and relevant street furniture.
G. Car Park Management
24. Car Park Management.
25. Enforcement and Compliance in kiosk car parks.
26. Car Park Cleanliness and Flower beds and surrounds.
27. Signs, lines and bay markings are in good condition.
H. Procurement, Reporting and Maintenance of Equipment
28. Maintain all pay and display machines in working condition.
29. Car park equipment will be maintained and all faults swiftly rectified.
I. Cash Collection, Counting and Banking
30. Cash must be regularly collected, counted and banked from all pay and display machines, 31. Cash must be collected, counted and banked from off street car parks (kiosk and pay on foot) at regular intervals.
31. Cash must be collected, counted and banked from off street car parks (kiosk and pay on foot) at regular intervals.
Northern Ireland Children's Commissioner
There were 46 applicants for the post of Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland.
Police Recruitment
I am advised that, as at 17 November 2006, of the 35,819 applications from a Protestant background, 5,459 reached the pool of suitably qualified candidates; of this number 1,202 have been appointed.
For the same period, of the 20,326 applications from the Catholic community, 1,967 reached the pool of suitably qualified candidates, 1,219 of which were duly appointed.
Of the 1,303 applicants for whom community background could not be determined, 71 candidates reached the pool of suitably qualified candidates; of this number 20 applicants were appointed.
This information includes figures up to campaign 10. Appointments for campaign 11 have not yet commenced.
Prescriptions
The following actions are taken in cases where persons who claim to be entitled to free prescriptions are subsequently found not to be:
(i) A letter is issued to the person requesting payment of the health charge within 14 days if they accept they were not entitled to a free prescription;
(ii) If payment is not made within 14 days then a further letter is issued requiring payment of the health charge within 28 days to include a penalty charge of five times the health charge up to a maximum of £100;
(iii) Where no response is received within 28 days a further letter is issued requiring payment to include the original health charge plus the penalty and a further surcharge of 50 per cent. of the penalty;
(iv) People who still fail to respond are taken to the Small Claims Court.
During the 2005-06 financial year, from the sample of claims examined by the Counter Fraud Unit, some 3,202 individuals who had claimed to be entitled to free prescriptions were subsequently found not to be so entitled. Restitution was made in all of these cases.
The following payments were made by the individuals concerned:
2,601 paid the relevant statutory prescription charge;
405 paid the relevant statutory prescription charge and a fixed penalty charge;
196 paid the relevant statutory prescription charge, a fixed penalty charge and a surcharge.
During the same period, in addition to the above, 179 cases were referred through the Small Claims Court and the appropriate Court Decree obtained.
As a result of these and other actions, the overall level of prescription exemption fraud in Northern Ireland has fallen from an estimated £14.7 million in 1999-2000 to £7.6 million in 2005-06. Over the same period, the estimated fraud rate has reduced from 8.14 per cent. to 4.63 per cent. While the level of fraud continues to fall it is still a significant loss, which we intend to reduce further. The introduction of a major IT system, which will provide prescription information (including exemptions claimed by patients) in electronic format, will assist in this task. The new system will enable greater levels of checking and action against those who claim but are not entitled to free prescriptions.
Road Safety
I have been advised by the PSNI that only figures in respect of injury collisions are recorded. Information regarding the number of such traffic collisions is set out in the following table.
Figures for non injury collisions are not held. Current policy does not require police attendance at non injury or damage only collisions.
The PSNI have also advised they are unable to provide figures for injury collisions involving drivers resident outside the UK but have provided figures for injury collisions involving a driver who is resident outside Northern Ireland.
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Injury road traffic collisions in Northern Ireland: 1996 to 2005 Fatal collision 130 136 139 129 149 137 136 128 128 127 Serious collision 1,155 1,137 1,107 1,085 1,275 1,241 1,105 964 895 835 Slight collision 5,808 5,919 6,241 6,348 6,964 6,069 5,543 4,957 4,610 3,985 Total 7,093 7,192 7,487 7,562 8,388 7,447 6,784 6,049 5,633 4,947 Injury road traffic collisions involving a driver not resident in Northern Ireland: 2001 to 20051 Fatal collision n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 9 12 7 11 9 Serious collision n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 41 49 40 28 39 Slight collision n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 192 221 153 175 132 Total n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 242 282 200 214 180 n/a – not available 1 2001 is the first full year where data are available for drivers who reside outside Northern Ireland Note: 2006 statistics are unavailable at present as the figures are currently being collated.
Special Needs
Services are commissioned by the health boards and provided by the trusts to meet the needs of their populations. Health and social services trusts provide a range of services for adults with special needs, including diagnostic and assessment services, family support services, respite services, day care services, befriending schemes, wheelchair services, mental health services, learning disability services and training for staff in collaboration with specialist voluntary organisations.
As the boundaries controlled by each of the trusts will be changing, an inventory of services available for adults with special needs in each health trust area may be undertaken at a later date.
Statutory Designated Sites
Environment and Heritage Service seeks to secure appropriate land management regimes that will promote favourable conservation of features in Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) through the use of management agreements with owners or occupiers of designated lands. A budget of £550,000 has been allocated for the current financial year for management agreement payments,
A programme of monitoring that is intended to determine the condition of ASSI features will not be completed until 2008. Consequently, given the lack of comprehensive data, it is not possible to provide the exact information requested.
I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 27 November 2006, Official Report, column 324W.
Valuation and Rating
In Northern Ireland the presence of (a) a wind turbine and (b) solar panels has not had any effect on the assessed capital value of domestic properties for rating purposes in the recent revaluation.
There is currently a total of 717,767 domestic properties listed in the valuation list which includes 2,165 caravans.
The Rate Collection Agency (RCA) is currently implementing an IT replacement billing and revenue collection system. Implementation difficulties currently restrict full access to the information necessary to provide the information requested. An estimate (based on the actual figures just prior to going live in October 2006 and the total for 2005-06) is that 589,000 domestic properties have been assessed as liable for the payment of rates during 2006-07. This excludes those properties where the award of housing benefit covers full rate liability. Actual totals will be available at the end of the financial year.
Liability to pay rates for 2007-08 will not be assessed until mid-March 2007. I have asked the Agency’s chief executive to write to you with the detailed information when it becomes available.
The Valuation and Lands Agency’s Automated Valuation Model uses Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (a) techniques and (b) technology.
Wind Farms
The wind farm businesses successful in their planning applications and their planned locations are described in the following table.
Company Location WFD1 Altahullion, County Londonderry WFD1 Lough Hill, County Tyrone WFD1,2 Callagheen, County Fermanagh Airtricity Tappaghan, County Fermanagh Airtricity Bessy Bell 2, County Tyrone WFD1 Wolf Bog, Ballymena Owenreagh Power Partners Owenreagh 2, Strabane Airtricity Bin Mountain, Strabane WFD1 Lough Hill, Omagh WFD1 Ext to Altahullion, Limavady Quinn Group Slieve Rushen, County Fermanagh 1 WFD = Wind Farm Developments Ltd. (formerly Known as B9 Energy Ltd.). 2 Permission granted on appeal by the Planning Appeals Commission.
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 16 January 2007
Leader of the House
Political Party Finance
(2) if he will introduce a statutory cap on (a) individual, (b) trade union and (c) corporate donations to political parties.
Sir Hayden Phillips is currently undertaking an independent review of the funding of political parties. He has been asked to aim to produce recommendations that are as much as possible agreed between the political parties with a view to legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.
When Sir Hayden Phillips has issued his final report, the Government will carefully consider his conclusions and respond in due course.
Sir Hayden Phillips
I have had regular meetings with Sir Hayden Phillips since I took over responsibility for reform of party funding arrangements in May 2006.
Transport
Bicycle Thefts
This information is not held by the Department for Transport but by the British Transport Police who can be contacted at: British Transport Police, 25 Camden Road, London NW1 9LN, E-mail:
general.enquiries@btp.pnn.police.uk.
Channel Tunnel Rail Link
In previous years the following sums have been spent by London and Continental Railways on the construction of sections one and two of the Channel Tunnel rail link (now known as High Speed 1), and the new Eurostar depot at Temple Mills:
£ million 2002 960 2003 932 2004 665 2005 637
Expenditure in 2006 is currently being finalised and will be subject to audit prior to being made public later this year.
Anticipated expenditure for this and future years is commercially sensitive to London and Continental Railways Limited as a private company, and therefore cannot be made public at this time.
Local Transport Plan
The £3 billion funding announced in the written ministerial statement of 18 December 2006 is part of the total planned investment of £8 billion over the five years of the local transport plan period (2006-07 to 2010-11). The £3 billion is composed of integrated transport allocations for the four years from 2007-08 to 2010-11 and maintenance allocations for 2007-08.
These allocations for individual local transport plan areas of the £3 billion have not been announced before. However, planning guidelines distributing most of the integrated transport and maintenance funding to local transport plan areas on an indicative basis had been published previously in order to allow councils to formulate effective and realistic transport strategies.
The Department for Transport's guidance on local transport plans (dated December 2004 and published on the DfT website) pointed out that the eventual allocations for individual local transport plans would be adjusted for performance and so might differ significantly from these indicative planning guidelines. The guidance, however, indicated an intention (now delivered) that each plan area would receive at least three quarters of its planning guidelines.
Private Finance Initiative
The Department for Transport has not paid any success fees to contractors on public private partnership or private finance initiative projects.
Rail Services
Improving rail performance is a key objective for the Department for Transport. However, managing rail network performance is the responsibility of Network Rail and joint action plans are in place between Network Rail and c2c to address performance issues. These are monitored monthly.
Decisions on whether to install ticket vending machines, the type of machines to be procured, and the detailed way in which the machines will work, are a matter for train operators.
All operators who charge penalty fares must comply with the Penalty Fares Rules 2002 and the provisions of their own penalty fares scheme. Every penalty fares scheme must be approved by the Department for Transport. The Penalty Fares Rules ensure consistency between operators in terms of when a penalty fare may and may not be charged, the wording and design of penalty fare warning notices, criteria for accepting or declining appeals, and the use of discretion by staff.
Operators are required to comply with the National Rail Conditions of Carriage by their Passenger Licence, which is enforced by the Office of Rail Regulation. Compliance with the National Rail Conditions of Carriage is also a requirement of franchise agreements, which are enforced by the Department for Transport.
Street Lighting
The Department endorses the recommendation in ‘Well-lit Highways’, the UK Lighting Board code of practice for highways lighting management (TSO, 2004), that local authorities should clearly and publicly state their public lighting service policy, and local highway authorities have been encouraged to prepare transport asset management plans drawing together the information required to execute policies effectively. The plans will include a description of the transport assets held, their existing condition, and proposed service levels. They will also provide an opportunity to set out the authority's asset management policies, including those relevant to the energy efficiency of assets.
Good inventory records are a necessary foundation for effective management of highway assets, and DfT officials have been working with the UK Lighting Board to encourage local authorities to improve their street lighting inventories.
Trade Union Funding
The Department for Transport, including its agencies, has given no funding to individual trade unions in the last three years.
International Development
Actis
CDC Group plc, as a Government-owned fund of funds, provides capital for investment in sustainable and responsibly managed private sector businesses in poorer countries through funds managed by Actis and others. CDC is responsible for assessing the outcome of fund managers' investments against the objectives and business principles which I agreed with it in 2004. Results are published in CDC's annual report.
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
DFID has provided approximately £4.5 million to date to support countries wishing to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The majority of this has been channelled through the EITI Multi-Donor Trust Fund administered by the World Bank, which DFID helped set up to provide support to developing countries seeking to implement EITI. In addition, DFID staff in their role as EITI Secretariat, have produced guidance to countries seeking to implement EITI, which is contained in the EITI Source Book and Validation Guide.
Iraq
DFID is very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Iraq and we are in close contact with the United Nations and Red Cross to discuss what more the UK can do. UN agencies estimate that some 1.7 million Iraqis are currently displaced internally and up to two million others have fled to nearby countries. We are currently discussing with UN agencies and the international Red Cross where funds can be most effectively placed to deliver assistance on the ground. No decision has yet been taken over whether we will be contributing to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees appeal.
DFID is already supporting humanitarian agencies in Iraq. Since 2003 we have contributed over £100 million of assistance to the UN and Red Cross. This includes £85 million to UN humanitarian appeals and £32 million to the international Red Cross—we made a contribution of £4 million to the 2006 Red Cross appeal. Additionally, DFID provided £70 million to the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI), which provides support to IDPs or internaly displaced persons through UN trust funds cluster F (which is identified for humanitarian needs).
Parliamentary Questions
DFID does hold this information in the format requested, but it is obtainable from the Hansard Official Report.
Five parliamentary questions in the 2005-06 session were answered with such replies. In all cases, I wrote letters with the answers to those Members who had tabled the questions.
School Partnerships
The DFID Global School Partnerships (DGSP) programme does not set up partnerships between schools in the UK and schools in developing countries. It works with schools that already have partnerships and are looking for advice and guidance and/or grants to support their links. The DGSP has awarded a total of 576 grants from January 2003 to December 2006.
Reciprocal visit grants Global curriculum project grants Total 2003 47 29 76 2004 106 37 143 2005 95 32 127 2006 183 47 230 Total 431 145 576
The DFID Global School Partnerships programme commenced on 1 January 2003.
The increased budget of £7.5 million runs from April 2006 for three years. However, the current contract for the management of the programme ends in December 2007 so we can only provide figures for £4.4 million, the amount to be spent by that date.
(a)—£2,743,914
(b)—£1,657,148
The following figures relate to the period January 2003 to December 2006:
(a) 438 schools have received reciprocal visit grants
(b) 147 schools have received Global Curriculum Project (GCP) grants
(c) Travel grants for students of secondary school age are available in addition to the Global Curriculum Project grants—59 of the 147 GCP grants have included student travel.
£2,369,119 of grants have been awarded between January 2003 and December 2006.
The following schools have received more than £2,000 under the DFID Global School Partnerships programme for the period January 2003 to December 2006.
Schools Area Alderbrook Primary School London Allfarthing London Alwoodley Primary School Leeds Anderson High School Shetland Islands Ann Cam CE Primary School Gloucestershire Ansford Community School Somerset Ash Lea Nottingham Ashcombe School Surrey Ashcott Primary School Somerset Avon Primary School Bristol Aylesbury High School Bucks Bedwas High School Caerphilly Benhall Infant School Cheltenham Bentley St Paul's C of E Primary Essex Brentry Primary School Bristol Brixham CE Infant School Devon Brook Acre Primary School Cheshire Bruntcliffe High Leeds Bruton Primary School Somerset Byrness First / Otterburn Newcastle Upon Tyne Cassop Durham Castlemorton Primary Worcestershire Central Technology College Gloucester Chewton Mendip London Cirencester Kingshill School Gloucestershire Comberton Village College Cambridgeshire Countess Gytha Somerset Crispin School Somerset Crowcombe Cof E First School Somerset Culverhay Somerset Currie Community High School Currie Dallam School Cumbria Dene Magna Gloucestershire Dorton House School Kent Drybrook Primary Gloucestershire Durants School London Eastfield Primary School Enfield Edinburgh Primary School Walthamstow Elgin Academy Elgin Faringdon Community College Oxon Fortrose Academy Ross-Shire Galliard Primary School London George Stephenson High Newcastle upon Tyne Ghyllside Primary School Cumbria Greentrees Primary School Wiltshire Gumley House Convent School Middlesex Hagley First School West Midlands Hamstead Hall School Birmingham Harlington Upper School Beds Hartcliffe Engineering Community College Bristol Hartside Primary School Co. Durham Henbury Secondary School Bristol Hendon School London Hengrove Community Arts College Bristol Henry Box School Oxon High School for Girls, Gloucester Gloucester Hillcrest Primary School Bristol Horfield CEVC Primary School Bristol Hotwells Primary School Bristol Impington Village College Cambridge Ingleton Middle Lancashire Inkberrow First School Worcestershire John Bentley School Wiltshire John O'Gaunt School Berkshire Juniper Green Primary School Edinburgh Kimberley Comprehensive School Notts King Alfred School London Kingsley St. John's Aided Primary School Cheshire Kingsmead Community School Somerset Lakers School Gloucestershire Lancaster Girls Grammar School Lancaster Lord Scudamore Primary School Hereford Meare Village Primary Somerset Moseley School Birmingham Mossbank Shetland Newent Community School Newent Ocklynge Junior School Eastbourne Ormesby School Middlesborough Our Lady and St. Thomas RCVA Primary School Co. Durham Ousedale School Buckinghamshire Paget Primary School Birmingham Peatmoor Community Primary School Swindon Penrice Community College Cornwall Plymouth High School for Girls Plymouth Polesworth High Tamworth Ponteland Community High Newcastle upon Tyne Prince of Wales Primary School Middlesex Ravensbourne School Bromley Raynham Primary School London Richard Bonington Primary and Nursery School Nottingham Richard Taylor CE Primary School Harrogate Ruardean C of E Primary Gloucestershire Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School Cheshire Salisbury High School (formerly Westwood St Thomas Salisbury Seaton Burn Community College North Tyneside Solway Community Cumbria South Street Primary School Bristol Southroyd Primary and Nursery School Leeds St. Aidans CE High North Yorks St. Barnabas CEVC Primary School Bristol St. Bede's RC Comprehensive Durham St. Benedict's RC High School Warwickshire St. Bonaventures Primary Bristol St. Briavels C of E Primary School Gloucestershire St. Cenydd Comprehensive School Caerphilly St. Cleer Primary School Cornwall St. Edmund's Catholic Primary School Oxon St. Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School West Midlands St. Hubert's Catholic Primary School Oldbury St. Luke's High Exeter St. Mary's C of E Primary School (East Grinstead) West Sussex St. Marys R.C. Primary School Newcastle Upon Tyne St. Michael's CE Primary School Leeds St. Nicholas CE Middle School Worcestershire St. Peters CE Primary School Leeds Stantonbury Campus Milton Keynes Stanwix Primary School Carlisle Steam Mills Gloucestershire Stramongate School Cumbria Stutton CEVC Primary Ipswich Tavistock College Devon Thorner CE Primary School Leeds Timothy Hackworth Primary School County Durham Uckfield Community Technology College East Sussex Ulverston Victoria High School Cumbria Warden Park West Sussex Weald of Kent Girls Grammar School Kent Westwood St. Thomas School Salisbury Whitecross School Gloucestershire Whitefield School London Whitstone School Somerset Wilbury Primary School London Willington CE Primary School Crook Willowtown Community Primary School Ebbw Vale Wribbenhall First School Worcestershire Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch Sir Ddinbych Ysgol Gymuned y Gors Swansea Ysgol Gynradd Llanddewi Brefi Ceredigion Ysgol Gynradd Nantgaredig Carmarthenshire Ysgol Llannefydd Sir Conwy Ysgol Trewen Ceredigion Ysgol y Llys Gogledd Cymru
Schools in the UK have been linked with the following countries under the DFID Global School Partnerships programme for the period January 2003 to December 2006.
Argentina
Anguilla
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Botswana
Brazil
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Cayman Islands
Chile
Columbia
Cuba
Egypt
Ethiopia
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guinea
India
Jamaica
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Malawi
Mexico
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Nepal
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Peru
Peru
Philippines
Rwanda
Rwanda
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
South Africa
Sri Lanka
St. Lucia
Tanzania
Thailand
Trinidad and Tobago
Uganda
Vietnam
Zambia
Zimbabwe
World Classroom Publication
The cost for (a) the production and design of The World Classroom (including payments to Cog Design) was £13,203.53. There is a Welsh language version of this publication in production; costs are yet to be finalised.
(b) DFID does not distribute publications directly to schools as per the Department for Education and Skills (DFES) guidelines. The document has been distributed to Development Education Centres and other partner organisations and this has come to £451.07 to date.
20,000 copies of the World Classroom were printed and distribution began on 8 January 2007. It is too early to say how many copies have yet been received by schools.
Copies were sent to DFID’s regional education co-ordinators across the UK and they are taking responsibility for local distribution. DFID has also promoted the publication on its website and has closely collaborated with DfES, the Welsh Assembly Government, Scottish Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly for their assistance with distribution.
Two DFID staff members worked on this publication in November and December, while also performing other wider ranging tasks required of them in their posts. A grade 8 (A3) staff member managed and produced the publication, overseen by a grade 6 (A1) line manager.
Preparation of World Classroom began following an initial meeting between DFID and Treasury officials on 20 November 2006.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Abandoned Vehicles
The number of abandoned vehicles has significantly reduced over the last few years. DEFRA’s Waste Data Flow survey shows that there has been a 58 per cent. reduction from 294,000 in 2002-03 to an estimated 126,000 in 2005-06.
The end-of-life vehicle directive (ELV) sets out measures to recycle and reuse end-of-life vehicles and their components to reduce the amount of waste sent for disposal. The producer responsibility obligations mean that, since 1 January 2007, vehicle producers have been required to make available an adequate network of facilities where last owners can receive free take-back for their vehicles.
Best Value Performance Indicator 218 was introduced to record the percentage of vehicles investigated within 24 hours of the report being received and the percentage of vehicles being removed within 24 hours of being legally entitled to do so. This will encourage local authorities to clear vehicles from the road as quickly as possible and therefore reduce the probability of arson and associated antisocial behaviour. This is a mandatory local area agreement indicator for all local authorities in receipt of Neighbourhood Renewal funding.
The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 gives local authorities more powers to deal with abandoned cars. All vehicles abandoned on a road can now be removed as soon as they are identified. The definition of ‘road’ has been widened, so abandoned vehicles can be removed immediately from any road. Rules on disposing of abandoned vehicles have been simplified. Abandoned vehicles that are only fit for destruction, or those that do not display a license or number plate, can now be destroyed immediately. If local authorities are unable to find the owner of a vehicle, or if the owner does not collect the vehicle within seven days of being contacted, the vehicle can be disposed of. Also, local authorities can impose fixed penalties of £200, in lieu of prosecution, if the owner of an abandoned vehicle can be identified.
DEFRA is also working closely with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to increase the percentage of vehicles that are registered. The introduction of continuous registration and the statutory off-road notice have made it easier to provide a clear picture of vehicle ownership through the vehicle register. 93 local authorities have received training and devolved powers from the DVLA to remove unlicensed vehicles from the road. It is often unlicensed vehicles that end up abandoned and/or are involved in criminal activity and therefore the quicker they are identified and removed the better. It is likely that the number of abandoned vehicles will continue to decrease as the percentage of unlicensed vehicles is reduced.
Agricultural Land
In 2005, 75 per cent. of land in England, including common land, was on an agricultural holding. The proportion across the whole of the UK is 77 per cent.
EU-wide figures are available excluding common land. These are shown in the table as follows:
Member state Land on agricultural holdings (excluding common land) as a proportion of total land, 2005 Austria 80 United Kingdom 69 Czech Republic 66 Denmark 66 Ireland 66 Hungary 66 Spain 65 Slovakia 64 Netherlands 60 Italy 59 Poland 56 Germany 53 Luxembourg 53 Portugal 52 Lithuania 50 Latvia 48 Belgium 46 France 46 Slovenia 46 Malta 37 Greece 33 Cyprus 33 Estonia 26 Finland 21 Sweden 17 Bulgaria — Romania — Notes: 1. The area of land on agricultural holdings is collected through the EU Farm Structure Survey. Common land is not included as part of this survey. Although the data is largely collected on a comparable basis in each member state, the threshold for the smallest agricultural holding to be included in the survey does vary. 2. The total land area figures are for 2003. 3. The area of land on agricultural holdings is not available on a comparable basis for Bulgaria and Romania. Sources: Agricultural land area—EU Farm Structure Survey, 2005; Total land area—OECD Statistical Year Book, 2006
Agricultural Waste Regulations
The Environment Sensitive Farming programme, funded by Defra, holds workshops, seminars and farm walks for farmers and growers across all regions. The programme covers the Waste Management (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 (Agricultural Waste Regulations), advising farmers what they are required to do and helping them to minimise waste.
The Environment Agency (EA) has published information and guidance to farmers on their obligations with regards to dealing with agricultural waste, including the document “Waste—you can handle it. New rules on agricultural waste”. This is available from the EA's website at the following address:
http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/GEHO1005BJPD-e-e.pdf.
The EA has also set up a dedicated helpline for farmers and growers to offer advice and support on the new regulations.
Animal Welfare Act
During the passage of the Animal Welfare Act through Parliament, the noble Lord Rooker and I made a number of commitments for the introduction of secondary legislation. The following table outlines in full our intended timetable for the introduction of secondary legislation:
Issue Proposed timetable Mutilations Regulations by April 2007 (to be introduced at same time as Act comes into force) Tail Docking Regulations by April 2007 (to be introduced at same time as Act comes into force) Racing Greyhounds Regulations by 2008 Pet Fairs Regulations by 2008 Primates as Pets Code of Practice by 2008 Wild Animals in Circuses Regulations by 2008 Cat Code Code of Practice by 2008 Dog Code Code of Practice by 2008 Pet shops Regulations and possible Code of Practice by 2008 Game Birds Draft code of practice by end 2008 Coming into force 2009 Animal (dog and cat) Boarding No commitment1 Tethering of horses No commitment1 Riding Schools No commitment1 Livery Yards No commitment1 Animal Sanctuaries No commitment1 Performing Animals No commitment1 1 These regulations and codes will be introduced as soon as possible in line with available resources. Bringing any other issues forward may have a detrimental effect where commitments have already been given.
Bovine TB
The Randomised Badger Culling Trial and the Seven Counties Road Traffic Accident Survey both finished in 2005. This meant there were no post-mortem examinations of badgers from these sources in 2006. However, a number of research projects were undertaken in 2006, which mainly involved sampling under anaesthesia and the culturing of samples taken for bovine TB from badgers that were released back to their setts. In addition, badgers found dead in an area surrounding a new diagnosis of TB in cattle (a “Potential Hotspot”) in England were post-mortemed in 2006.
In total, 973 tests were carried out on 589 badgers in England in 2006.
Carbon Emissions
In 2004, UK domestic aviation reported in the UK inventory was about 0.64 million tonnes of carbon equivalent (MtCe) and international aviation reported as an information item was about 9.1 MtCe, representing a 77 per cent. and a 111 per cent. increase from 1990 levels, respectively.
The impact of aviation on climate change is not limited to CO2 emissions. Although there is need for further research, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that the total climate change impact of aviation is between two and four times greater than that of its CO2 emissions alone. This is due to some of the other emissions released, including nitrous oxides, particulates and water vapour, and their specific effects at altitude.
Correspondence
DEFRA has no unanswered letters received from hon. Members in 2005.
For 2006, the information requested is set out in the table as follows:
Number of months old Number of unanswered letters Percentage unanswered of the total received 1 117 8.1 2 39 2.9 3 13 1.7 4 8 0.4 >6 10 0.1
During 2006, DEFRA received 13,777 letters from hon. Members. On 12 January 2007, 187 of these were unanswered and over a month old.
Dangerous Dogs
We constantly review our legislation and will always consider suggestions for amending our laws. We work closely with the police, who are responsible for the enforcement of laws aimed at protecting the public from dogs that present a risk.
Devolved Administration Funding
The Department’s budget re-allocations in 2006-07 did not impact on funding streams between DEFRA and the devolved Administrations.
Energy Efficiency
No reliable information is available about the percentage of UK households that use energy saving (compact fluorescent) light bulbs. However, the Government’s Market Transformation Programme (MTP) estimates that the number of compact fluorescent light bulbs in use in UK homes rose from around 27 million in 2000 (5 per cent. of the total number of bulbs) to around 98 million (nearly 18 per cent. of the total) in 2005. This is equivalent to three energy saving bulbs per household.
The Government recognises the need to further accelerate take-up of energy saving light bulbs and have a range of policies which aim to achieve this. These include:
(i) mandatory energy labelling, endorsement and promotion of the most efficient bulbs via the Energy Saving Trust’s Energy Saving Recommended scheme
(ii) provision of a significant number of energy saving light bulbs to households by energy suppliers through the Energy Efficiency Commitment.
Energy saving bulbs are also provided to eligible households through the Government’s Warm Front Scheme.
Further information on this Scheme can be found at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/energy/hees/index.htm.
Fisheries
I am considering, with colleagues in the devolved Administrations, whether additional provisions are required in the quota management rules to deal with the recovery of quota following overfishing of pelagic stocks between 2001 and 2005. We will issue the quota management rules for 2007 as soon as this issue is resolved. In the meantime, we have informed the industry that the rules for 2006 will continue to apply until further notice.
Freshwater Fish Directive
No estimate has been made of the net change in the amount of energy likely to result from the Freshwater Fish Directive. Therefore no assessment has been made of the environmental impact of the change in energy usage as a result of the implementation of the directive.
Fuel Poverty
The Government’s Fourth Annual Progress Report, published in June 2006, shows the latest available figures. This report indicated that, in 2004, around 2 million households were in fuel poverty in the UK with 1.5 million being classified as vulnerable, compared with around 6.5 and 5 million respectively in 1996. The report is available on the Defra website at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/energy/fuelpov/index.htm
We are aware of the challenges presented by rising energy prices and the fact that the impact of price rises over the last two years on the number of households in fuel poverty has yet to be reflected in the official statistics. The Government remain committed to work in this area to deliver our targets to eradicate fuel poverty.
Greenhouse Gases
The report requested is available via the DEFRA website at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/topics/batteries/pdf/erm-lcareport0610.pdf
As the document is of substantial length, in the interests of waste minimisation, I have not arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Greyhounds
The British Greyhound Racing Board guidance, on which Defra was consulted, provides a level of detail above that contained in the European Union Welfare in transport Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005. It is therefore welcomed as a practical guide to the provision of good welfare. However, it is not a substitute for the rules set in the regulation, but a supplementary tool to aid compliance. Ultimately, the welfare in transport regulation must take precedence. This requires that the cage must be of an appropriate size to match the size of the dog.
Illegal Timber Imports
During 2007, the Government will continue to work, through bilateral and multi-lateral processes, to develop restrictions on the import of illegally harvested timber.
The Government are working to implement the EU Forestry Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation which was adopted in 2005. This allows the EU to enter into Voluntary Partnership Agreements with timber producing countries, and will include a licensing system to identify legal products for export to the EU.
A number of countries will be negotiating partnership agreements during 2007. Malaysia, Ghana and Indonesia have announced their intentions to proceed with formal negotiations, and several more countries are expected to confirm their intention to negotiate by the summer. The Department for International Development (DFID) is engaged in the negotiations together with the European Commission and other member states. DFID is also providing financial support to put in place reforms. The length of negotiations will vary, but we expect the first partnership agreement to be signed by the end of 2007.
The EU FLEGT Action Plan required the assessment of potential additional legislative options to tackle imports of illegal timber into the EU. On 20 December 2006, the Commission launched a public consultation on this. The Government will review the applicability of the options presented, including their compatibility with World Trade Organisation rules, before deciding what, if any, additional measures to pursue at a national or EU level.
Collaboration continues with other major consumer countries in the G8, China and the private sector. In particular, the UK Government’s timber procurement policy, which requires all timber supplied to have derived from legally harvested trees, has become a beacon for other governments to tackle illegal logging through voluntary consumer action.
Livestock Identification
European Council Regulation 21/2004 requires the introduction of electronic identification (EID) of sheep and goats from 1 January 2008. The European Commission is required to publish a report on the implementation of EID and proposals to confirm or amend the 2008 mandatory date. Their report has been delayed but is expected shortly.
In England, we have produced a partial Regulatory Impact Assessment on the introduction of electronic identification (EID) for sheep and goats. This document is a work in progress. However, current estimates are set out in the following table:
Annual cost of EID: Breeding sheep only All sheep Markets 0.51 1.22 Slaughterhouses1 0.63 0.62 1 Excludes recovery costs of transponders.
These costs are based on current prices and it is expected that they will reduce considerably as technology improves and economies of scale are exploited.
We do not hold information on the costs to average-sized markets and slaughterhouses.
Council Regulation 21/2004 provides a derogation from the need to electronically identify animals, where the total numbers of sheep and goats is less than 600,000 or where the total number of goats is less than 160,000. In the UK, as the number of sheep is above the threshold, we cannot take advantage of this derogation. We can, however, take advantage of the derogation for goats and will be consulting the industry on this.
England has produced a partial Regulatory Impact Assessment on the introduction of electronic identification (EID) for sheep and goats. This document is a work in progress. However, current estimates of the cost of implementing the regulation are set out in the following table:
Severely disadvantaged area (SDA) farm (1,000 ewes) Lowland farm (500 ewes) Small lowland farm (200 ewes) EID—all sheep 1,909 1,277 1,002 EID—breeding sheep only 1,313 736 619
These costs are based on current prices and there is an expectation that they will reduce considerably as technology improves and economies of scale are exploited.
In the UK in 2005, a total of just under 24 million sheep and lambs were farmed on 88,990 holdings, giving an average flock size of 270.
Due to the varying levels of sheep meat production across the European Union, and the fact that several member states farm sheep at a barely commercial level, there are no readily available records of average flock sizes for all member states.
Figures are available for total sheep populations for each country and these are as follows:
Member state 2005 sheep population Belgium 146,000 Czech Republic 189,000 Denmark 84,000 Germany 2,036,000 Estonia 49,000 Greece 9,176,000 Spain 22,514,000 France 8,760,000 Irish Republic 4,257,000 Italy 7,954,000 Cyprus 268,000 Latvia 42,000 Lithuania 29,000 Luxembourg 9,000 Hungary 1,405,000 Malta 15,000 Netherlands 1,725,000 Austria 326,000 Poland 318,000 Portugal 3,580,000 Slovenia 129,000 Slovakia 320,000 Finland 84,000 Sweden 480,000 United Kingdom 23,933,000 EU 25 total 87,828,000
Nappy Waste
Officials from my Department met with representatives from the Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacture Association on 18 January and 21 November 2006. No recent meetings have been held with representatives from the disposable nappy industry.
Pollution
Ofwat is the economic regulator of the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales. It collects information from companies on internal sewer flooding each year. Ofwat began collecting information on external sewer flooding in 2003-04.
Table one sets out the number of properties affected by internal sewer flooding in each of the last five years. This includes both household and non-household properties.
Table two sets out the number of areas experiencing external flooding in each year since 2003-04. This includes highways, curtilages (i.e. gardens, outbuildings, driveways, garages, pathways etc.) and other areas such as car parks and public open spaces. Ofwat does not collect information which specifically relates to the number of gardens experiencing sewer flooding.
Number of properties 2001-02 4,957 2002-03 5,327 2003-04 3,358 2004-05 4,942 2005-06 4,922
Number of areas 2003-04 20,571 2004-05 24,370 2005-06 24,561
Producer Responsibility
At present, DEFRA has no plans to extend existing producer responsibility schemes specifically to producers of single use products. However, the existing producer responsibility schemes (which cover products such as vehicles, packaging, electrical and electronic equipment, newspapers, magazines and direct mail) do already, in many cases, cover single use products.
Rabies
Council Regulation 998/2003, on the non-commercial movement of pet animals, requires the European Commission to submit a report based on experience gained and risk evaluation. The report must be submitted to the European Parliament and Council, together with proposals for the future rabies regime for pets, by February 2007. The UK has submitted scientific and field information to contribute to the European Union review. The UK’s own review of national rabies import controls is nearing completion and I expect to consider its conclusions shortly.
Rat Population
The most recent estimate of the common rat (Rattus norvegicus) population in England and Wales was a minimum of 5,240,000 individuals in England and 680,000 in Wales. These figures were established by a review that assessed the population and conservation status of all British mammals, published in 1995 and is also quoted in the UK Mammals Species Status and Population Trends report by the Tracking Mammals Partnership in 2005. A copy of the report can be found at the following weblink:
http://www.jncc.gov.uk/pdf/pub05_ukmammals _speciesstatusText_final.pdf
The only recent objective national survey of rat presence in England is within the English House Condition Survey (EHCS). The 2001 survey revealed that 0.3 per cent. of properties had rats indoors and 2.9 per cent. had rats present outside. A copy of the report can be found at the following weblink:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/vertebrates/reports/English-house-survey-rodent-report.pdf
Under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that their districts are kept, as far as is practicable, free of rats and mice. To enable them to do so, the Act empowers local authorities to serve a notice on landowners or occupiers requiring them to take such steps as may be specified in the notice to destroy rodents on their land.
The local authority has the power to enforce the duties of the owner or occupier and can use default powers to take those steps specified in a notice and recover any expenses reasonably incurred in doing so.
Recycling
The Department does not provide specific incentives for manufacturers to switch from virgin pulp to recovered paper. However, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is working to create stable and efficient markets for recycled materials and products by removing the barriers to waste minimisation, re-use and recycling. WRAP'S recycled paper advocacy team is also working to increase demand for recycled paper which will help encourage manufacturing companies to move towards using recovered paper.
It is likely that WRAP will prioritise additional work on paper in its 2007-08 work plans and their future business plan.
(2) what assessment he has made of the impact of increased export of UK recovered paper to China on companies who have already switched from using virgin pulp to recovered fibre;
(3) what steps are being taken to encourage the collection of high grade recovered paper from (a) offices and (b) schools and universities.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is commissioning a risk assessment report on the future of paper exports, which will outline the opportunities and risks associated with the export of paper, as well as future predictions and recommendations. This report will help inform WRAP’s future work in this area. However, increased exports of recovered paper to China are unlikely to have a significant impact on WRAP’s 2008 target to increase the use of all recyclates by the UK manufacturing sector by an additional 220,000 tonnes a year.
In 2005, paper manufacturers within the UK used 4.5 million tonnes of recovered paper, while 1.5 million tonnes were exported to China. Since 2001, work by the WRAP has led to an extra 3 million tonnes of new recycling capacity, with at least another 1 million in the pipeline. It is also increasing demand for recycled materials across the public and private sectors. Capital funding from WRAP has provided an additional 320,000 tonnes of newsprint reprocessing capacity at the UPM Shotton paper mill—enough to recycle the newspapers and magazines from an extra 4 million households in the UK. In addition, manufactured newsprint in the UK is now made from 100 per cent. recycled fibre.
WRAP’s Recycled Paper Advocacy Team, launched in September 2006, is already working with a number of large companies and Government Departments to help them switch to using high quality recycled paper for their office requirements and printed publications. This includes work with a large number of blue chip companies with the potential to increase the use of recycled paper by up to 2,000 tonnes per week.
WRAP is working to increase the levels of paper and other recyclates recovered from all sources (including businesses, schools and universities) and is due to launch the Schools Recycling Awareness Programme on 23 January.
The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) recently held a consultation on a sustainable schools strategy and Defra will be working with DfES and other partners, including WRAP, following the consultation to help schools minimise, reuse, recycle and compost their waste. It is our intention as part of this work to issue guidance to schools to include issues around the definition of waste from schools and ‘top ten tips’.
The data requested are not available.
Since recovered paper is classed as non-hazardous waste, or ‘green material’, it is not subject to the prior written notification and consent procedures which apply to exports of hazardous waste. Therefore the UK competent authorities, who are responsible for the controls that apply to exports of waste, do not have access to specific data on the tonnage of green materials exported from the UK.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is piloting portable waste battery collection schemes by working in partnership with a range of local authorities and not-for-profit organisations that already run recycling collection services. WRAP began trials of kerbside collection schemes in April 2006, initially covering over 350,000 households in a mixture of high-rise, urban and rural areas across the UK.
A second set of collection trials started at the end of October 2006, where householders in two trial areas are now able to return their unwanted batteries to a range of participating retailers, where special collection containers have been provided.
Further trials, including a postal return scheme for remote rural areas, and a number of community drop-off/bring schemes, should be started shortly.
To date, it is estimated that the trials have collected over three to four million batteries (18.6 tonnes). Initial results from the trials can be found on the WRAP website at:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/local_authorities/batteries/kerbside_trial/index.html.
An independent, DEFRA-funded research study, carried out by Enviros Consulting and Cranfield University in 2006, concluded that there was no evidence of rises in rat populations resulting from alternate weekly collection of household refuse designed to increase levels of recycling.
The study found that the influence of domestic waste management arrangements on rats is likely to be insignificant in comparison to other factors, such as the age of the property, the area (urban or rural), and the adequate upkeep of drains.
The winter interim report for phase one of the study has been published and is available from DEFRA’s Local Authority Support website at:
http://lasupport.defra.gov.uk/ViewDocument_Image.aspx?Doc_ID=362
Proper design of an alternate weekly collection (AWC) service should avoid any increase in nuisance to householders. The Waste and Resources Action Programme has published guidance for local authorities on the design and implementation of alternate weekly collection services, in order to minimise nuisance and health risks. This includes, for example, hygiene measures for bins.
This is an important issue and DEFRA is supporting further research into this area. A report covering the summer period is currently under way and will be published soon.
Recycling and Reuse Credits
The updated guidance on the recycling credits scheme, issued in April 2006, reinforced that the Government expect all waste authorities to be predisposed to the payment of credits to third parties for recycling and reuse activity. The guidance was updated following a review of the existing arrangements and consultation on future options.
No formal assessment has been made by my Department of the willingness of local authorities to pay recycling credits to third parties, or the proportion of such applications which are refused by local authorities. The revised guidance for the scheme made clear that all waste authorities should properly assess applications they receive, considering the social, environmental and economic benefits of the recycling/reuse activity. In addition, the guidance set out the circumstances whereby an application for credits may reasonably be refused. Under best practice guidelines, the local authority should also provide an explanation if an application for credits is refused.
Reservoirs
In England and Wales, overall reservoir storage is now normal or above normal for the time of year in the majority of the Environment Agency’s regions. In the south west and Midlands regions, levels are slightly below normal. Many reservoirs are now full.
The overall percentage full figures as of 10 January 2007 are given in the following table:
Region Reservoir levels Percentage full figures North East All key reservoirs or reservoir groups are at a normal level for the time of year 95 North West Two key reservoirs or reservoir groups are now full. One reservoir is slightly below normal for the time of year 98 Midlands One key reservoir is slightly below normal for the time of year 92 Anglian All key reservoirs are normal or above for the time of year 92 Thames All key reservoirs or reservoir groups are normal or above for the time of year 94 Southern All key reservoirs are at a normal level for the time of year 92 South West Two key reservoirs are below normal, one notably low 77 EA Wales All key reservoirs or reservoir groups are normal or above for the time of year 99
Overall storage for England and Wales is 94 per cent.
Reservoirs, however, provide only around 30 per cent. of water supply in the south east: around 70 per cent. is from groundwater. Groundwater levels are showing a more variable response to recent rainfall and are generally below those expected for the time of year; continued rain will be needed to restore groundwater to normal levels across the south east.
Shetland Fisheries
The Commission is currently investigating payments made to the Shetland fisheries sector under four schemes:
Modernisation of Fishing Vessels;
Fish Factory Improvement;
First Time Shareholders (in fishing vessel ownership); and
Loan Assistance (for salmon farming and fish processing).
The total payment through these schemes is £5.07 million.
South East Plan
The first River Basin Management Plans will not be published until December 2009. The significant issues reports for the south east and Thames River Basin Districts, which precede these plans, are due to go out to consultation in July 2007. These reports will identify the main pressures, risks and impacts in the river basin and will include the consideration of water resources.
In assessing available water resources and future demands, the Environment Agency, as the competent authority for the implementation of the directive, will be using the same data source (with some updating) that was used for the South East Plan exercise.
Statistics
In accordance with the National Statistics code of practice (2002), the head of profession for statistics in DEFRA has sole responsibility for determining, pre-announcing and, if necessary, altering the dates of publication of ‘National Statistics’ and other relevant statistics produced by the Department.
Any decision to change a pre-announced publication date will be based on a range of professional considerations such as the completeness of the underlying data, their fitness for purpose, the need for consistency and coherence, the need to promote widespread access and informed debate, or any earlier accidental or wrongful release. In reaching their decision, the head of profession will also take into consideration the detailed procedural guidance given in the ‘National Statistics Protocol on Release Practices’. The code and its 12 supporting protocols are available in the Library of the House, and can also be accessed using the following address:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/national_statistics/cop/default.asp
This Department has no comprehensive historical record of the occasions on which the head of profession changed a pre-announced publication date in the last five years.
Warm Front
There have been 689 pensioners assisted in Hendon since the Warm Front Scheme commenced in June 2000.
Waste Resources Action Programme
(2) what volume of nappy waste was diverted from landfill (a) by the 25 local authorities schemes taking part in the Real Nappy Programme and (b) the Real Nappy Programme as a whole including the awareness-raising initiatives.
The target of the Waste and Resources Action Programme's (WRAP) Real Nappy Programme, set out in its business plan 2003-06, was to divert 35,000 tonnes of disposable nappy waste from landfill. No separate target was set for the 25 local authority schemes.
WRAP'S Achievement Report, published on 4 October 2006, states that the programme diverted 23,000 tonnes of biodegradable nappy waste from landfill in England. This figure related to directly funded diversion schemes. No estimate was made for the amount that may have been diverted by the awareness raising and promotional aspects of the scheme.
WEEE Directive
I have been asked to reply.
We do not anticipate that the introduction of the WEEE regulations will have a negative impact on the sales of energy efficient light bulbs. Ultimately however it will be for the lamp industry to ensure that they remain priced at a level which does not adversely affect sales.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Trade Promotion
UK Trade and Investment’s new strategy maintains investor and export support for small and medium enterprises, inexperienced exporters and mature markets.
Its new focus is on emerging economies. New services will include business access to Foreign and Commonwealth Office reporting.
We will expand our Security Information Service for Businesses Overseas information service, negotiate new investment agreements and promote responsible and sustainable business.
Furthermore the North Eastern Regional Development Agency currently offers services from its offices in Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Brussels, Illinois, Atlanta and California.
Kashmir
We are aware of media speculation, but the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan tells us that the claims of child trafficking have not been verified.
Since December 2005 we have been working with the Government of Pakistan to build the capacity of their anti-trafficking units.
We have received no other reports on child trafficking in Kashmir in the aftermath of the October 2005 earthquake.
In November 2006, my right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade (Mr. McCartney) visited a UK-supported centre in Calcutta which supports the rehabilitation of women and trafficked children from South Asia.
Democratic Republic of Congo
We have worked closely with Congolese leaders throughout the peace process leading to last year’s elections. We have been clear that Opposition politicians and Parliament have a vital role to play in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) democratic future. President Kabila has promised to create the political and legal space for the democratic opposition. We are offering UK advice and expertise to help build that capacity.
It is important that we stay involved in the DRC. Getting the DRC right will have a huge impact on not only its 60 million inhabitants but also on the peace and security of the whole central African region. That’s why we supported the election process to the tune of £35 million. We were the biggest bilateral donor—supporting the massive logistics effort, Congolese policing, the voter education and a free media.
Turkey
The Government believe that Turkey’s accession is of strategic importance to the UK and to the EU. We were therefore pleased that the December 2006 General Affairs and External Relations Council agreed that the accession negotiations should continue and the chapters for which technical preparations have been completed will be opened.
Venezuela
We continue to engage actively with the Government of Venezuela. It is in the interests of both our Governments to work together on issues such as police reform and combating the illegal drugs trade. The UK also continues to highlight the importance we accord to issues such as media freedom.
During his recent inauguration speech, President Chavez set out plans to do more to tackle corruption in Venezuela. Any such effort would provide a good basis for strengthening our cooperation on counter-narcotics.
Syria
UK relations with Syria have not changed recently. Through our embassy in Damascus, and with the Syrian embassy in London, we continue to urge Syria to play a constructive role in the Middle East. The visit to Syria by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s foreign policy adviser, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, in October 2006, was part of this.
Drugs Trade: Latin America
The UK has regular contact with Latin American partners on drugs issues.
Last October, I visited Colombia where I had meetings with the Vice President, and the Foreign and Defence Ministers. On the same trip, I also met with the Minister of Interior and the Head of the National Drugs Agency in Venezuela. These discussions focused on combating the flow of cocaine, and emphasised the importance we place on working with regional partners to tackle the illegal drugs trade. In November I met Vice President Santos at the Colombian Government’s Shared Responsibility event in London. I also met with the Head of the Peruvian anti-drugs agency in November.
Horn of Africa
Tension in the Horn of Africa stems from the situation in Somalia. After years of lawlessness and little effective government, a historic opportunity now exists for a sustainable solution to Somalia’s difficulties. We fully support Somalia’s Transitional Federal government and Institutions in their efforts to find a lasting and inclusive political settlement, and to become an effective governing authority. The Transitional Federal Charter sets out a roadmap for a constitutional process and eventual transition to a democratically elected government. This is the framework within which the Transitional government should pursue a political process in Mogadishu. We are working with the Transitional government and Institutions, and our international partners, to help stabilise Somalia through the early deployment of a regional security force, restore governance through an inclusive political process, and rebuild Somalia through increased international assistance.
Somalia
After years of lawlessness and little effective government, a historic opportunity now exists for a sustainable solution to Somalia’s difficulties. We fully support Somalia’s Transitional Federal government and Institutions in their efforts to find a lasting and inclusive political settlement, and to become an effective governing authority. The Transitional Federal Charter sets out a roadmap for a constitutional process and eventual transition to a democratically elected government. This is the framework within which the Transitional government should pursue a political process in Mogadishu. We are working with the Transitional government and Institutions, and our international partners, to help stabilise Somalia through the early deployment of a regional security force, restore governance through an inclusive political process, and rebuild Somalia through increased international assistance.
The African Union (AU) is playing a pro-active role in considering how to take forward the question of a possible international mission in Somalia. Uganda has already offered to contribute 1,000 to 1,500 personnel and we understand the AU is consulting other AU members who might contribute personnel. The Peace and Security council of the AU agreed on 8 January to reconvene shortly to finalise plans for the deployment of an international mission to Somalia working closely with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the Transitional Federal government and other stakeholders. We are awaiting further details of their plans.
The UK is a member of the Somalia International Contact Group (ICG) and participated in the meeting in Nairobi. The group issued a communiqué, the main points of which included:
that this was a historic opportunity for the Somali people to reach sustainable political solutions for Somalia, based on the Transitional Federal Charter;
there was an urgent need to facilitate the deployment of a stabilisation force in Somalia based on UN Security Council Resolution 1725. It welcomed Uganda’s offer to be part of this force;
full support for the Transitional Federal Institutions/government in their efforts to lead an inclusive and representative political process in Somalia, as envisaged in the Transitional Charter, and to become an effective governing authority; and
reaffirming the ICG’s commitment to provide humanitarian assistance.
I refer my hon. Friend to the response my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn) on 10 January 2007, Official Report, columns 281-82.
We are aware of the media reports that British citizens have been detained following the recent fighting in Somalia. We are urgently seeking to corroborate those reports, including through our high commission in Nairobi and our embassy in Addis Ababa. We will consider next steps in the light of the information we receive.
Cuba
Recent changes in the leadership in Cuba have not so far led to evidence of change in Cuban government policy.
The UK remains committed to the 1996 EU Common Position, which aims to encourage a process of peaceful transition to pluralist democracy and respect for human rights in Cuba
The UK will continue to pursue constructive engagement with both the Cuban government and all other sectors of Cuban society.
Convention on the Rights of the Child
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified of the core human rights instruments. The UK continues to promote further signatures, ratification and implementation of the Convention and its two Optional Protocols both bilaterally and in multilateral fora. The UK works with EU partners and the Office of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights to increase compliance with the Convention.
The UK has signed and ratified the Optional Protocol on Children and Armed Conflict. The UK has signed the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and is now in a position to ratify it. We are taking steps to complete ratification at the earliest opportunity.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has developed a strategy to guide our work on child rights. We will focus our work on promoting universal signature and ratification of relevant international instruments, working to eliminate violence against children and the worst forms of child labour.
The FCO has revived our Child Rights panel of experts. The panel will meet quarterly to help inform policy decisions and advise on how to implement our strategy.
The UK supports the aims of the “Call for Action” by child rights non-governmental organisations, calling for a child rights focus at the Human Rights Council.
Iraq
The political situation remains challenging, with sectarian violence threatening to undermine the Iraqi Government’s efforts to achieve security and national reconciliation.
I welcome Prime Minister Maliki’s commitment to restoring security in Baghdad, which is a vital step in improving the situation in the rest of the country. I also welcome revised US plans to support the Iraqi government, security forces and the reconstruction effort. UK continues to provide its full support.
Neither my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary nor I have made any representations to the British Academy on the work of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq.
Neither my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary nor I have received any representations on behalf of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq (BSAI).
I value the work of the BSAI to maintain links with Iraqi institutions working to secure Iraq’s ancient sites and antiquities. The BSAI is currently devoting its resources to assisting in the rebuilding of Iraq’s heritage. The Government takes very seriously the need to respect and preserve Iraq’s cultural heritage.
Since the Iraqi Interim government re-introduced the death penalty with effect from 7 August 2004, the United Kingdom, together with the European Union, has regularly raised our policy of opposition to the death penalty at the highest level, including with the Iraqi President and Prime Minister. We repeated our view on a number of occasions immediately before and after Saddam Hussein’s execution.
The nature of the security challenge is complex and varies across the country. In some areas, in particular in and around the capital, the security situation is grave, with an unacceptably high level of violence. 80 per cent. of the attacks in Iraq happen within a 30 mile radius of Baghdad. Improving security is the highest priority for both the Iraqi Government and the Coalition. Prime Minister Maliki has recognised that a large part of the solution lies in promoting national reconciliation as well as in military action. We strongly welcome his commitment in this area.
As my right hon. Friends the Foreign and Defence Secretaries have made clear we welcomed the Iraq Study Group’s (ISG) report and broadly agree with its analysis of the security situation in Iraq. However the ISO’s recommendations largely reflect our own strategy for our areas of responsibility and, throughout Iraq, our fundamental objectives remain the same—to boost capacity to deliver security and basic services to the Iraqi people.
It is important to remember that this report was commissioned by and for the US government. Many of its detailed recommendations are particular to US foreign policy and/or conditions in US areas of responsibility in Iraq.
We are not aware of any new production-sharing agreements in Iraq, other than those that the Kurdish Regional Government has signed.
A new national Hydrocarbons Law is in the process of being drafted in Iraq, which will determine what types of oil development contracts may be available in the future.
European Constitution
We are in discussion with all our EU partners, including the German Presidency, regarding the future of the Constitutional Treaty. At present there is no consensus. The German Presidency has been asked by EU leaders to present a report to the European Council in June on possible next steps following consultation with all EU Governments. I set out the Government's approach in my written ministerial statement of 5 December 2006, Official Report, columns 10-11WS.
Middle East
The UK worked hard at the UN to bring about UN Security Council Resolution 1701. This places an embargo on the unauthorised supply of arms to Lebanon. The UK is providing 47 Land Rovers to help the Lebanese Army implement Resolution 1701, including by patrolling the Syrian border more effectively. The UK also contributes funds to UN Interim Force in Lebanon, which is helping the Lebanese create a weapons-free zone in south Lebanon.
My right. hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary is in regular contact with her EU counterparts to discuss the Middle East Peace Process.
We engage closely with Arab governments to advance the middle east peace process (MEPP). We have expressed our concerns to Palestinian President Abbas about Qassam rocket fire. The launching of rockets against Israeli civilian targets and all forms of violence must stop. Violence serves only to undermine the prospects for peace in the region.
My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary, as well as myself, have recently made trips to the region to discuss the MEPP with Arab governments.
Azerbaijan
We have discussed with the Azerbaijani authorities on a number of occasions the investigations involving Farhad Aliyev and others. We are concerned to hear of the continuing health problems experienced by Farhad Aliyev.
We remind the authorities of the importance of handling these investigations and any subsequent trials transparently, promptly and fully in accordance with the law and with Azerbaijan’s international commitments. We also remind the authorities of the need to ensure that the defendants’ right of access to appropriate medical care is respected.
International organisations including the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Council of Europe have identified a number of shortcomings in the judicial system in Azerbaijan. The Ministry of Justice in Azerbaijan is taking important steps to improve the training of judges, but we assess that there is still much room for improvement in the conduct of the legal system.
The political opposition faces significant impediments to its ability to operate freely in Azerbaijan. We have made our concerns known to the Government of Azerbaijan on a number of occasions, including during and after the 2005 parliamentary elections and during 2006.
Democracy and the rule of law are highlighted as priority areas for reforms in an EU European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan for Azerbaijan, which was agreed and adopted in November 2006.
Bangladesh
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made a statement on the elections in Bangladesh on 11 January before the State of Emergency was declared. This is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029391629&a=KArticle&aid=1168349738843
It is unfortunate that circumstances have subsequently arisen in which a State of Emergency has been declared. We urge that the full processes of democracy and civil rights be restored to the Bangladeshi people promptly. We broadly welcome the potential opportunity for conditions to be established which are conducive to credible and participative elections. We are monitoring developments closely.
Bermuda
Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have contacted the Bermuda Regiment directly and the Regiment has provided the following information: There are 13 female soldiers in the Bermuda Regiment:
Number Colour Sergeants 2 Sergeants 3 Corporals 3 Lance Corporals 3 Privates 2
Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have contacted the Bermuda Regiment directly and the Regiment has provided the following information.
The Government of Bermuda is currently considering a proposal for a comprehensive equipment replacement programme submitted by the Bermuda Regiment.
Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have contacted the Bermuda Regiment directly and the regiment has provided the following information:
There are no members of the Bermuda Regiment currently in detention.
Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have contacted the Bermuda Regiment directly and the Regiment has provided the following information: The establishment strength is:
Number Total established strength 609 Officers full time 17 Soldiers full time 221 Officers part time 22 Soldiers part time 559 1 1 x Loan Service Personnel. 2 2 x Loan Service Personnel.
There is no distinction made in the establishment between male conscripts and volunteers.
Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have contacted the Bermuda Regiment directly and the Regiment has provided the following information.
Thirteen women are currently serving in the Bermuda Regiment. There is no conscription for women.
Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have contacted the Bermuda Regiment directly and the Regiment has provided the following information: The proportion for the years in question are:
Percentage 2000 16 2001 30 2002 8 2003 39 2004 16 2005 16 2006 11
EU Acquis Communautaire
The acquis communautaire consists of the principles, practices, policies, obligations, objectives and legal and other acts that have been agreed or have developed over the years by the EU and the European Communities. These include, in particular, the EU treaties in their entirety, as well as all existing EU legislation and Court of Justice judgments.
Given that the acquis inevitably evolves over time, it is not possible to give the exact figures requested. However, within the ongoing accession negotiations with Turkey, the acquis consists of 35 chapters covering the key topics.
EU Institutions and Agencies
According to the draft budget for 2007 published by the Council Secretariat the number of employees in each EU institution in 2006 is as follows:
Institution Permanent posts Temporary posts European Parliament 4,883 918 Council 3,393 47 Commission 23,910 486 Court of Justice 1,346 411 Court of Auditors 657 134 European Economic and Social Committee 642 29 Committee of the Regions 425 34 European Ombudsman 13 44 European Data-protection Supervisor 24 0
The Government do not hold any information on the number of employees in each EU agency. This information is held by Eurostat.
European External Action Service
The Commission and the Council Secretariat have confirmed to us that neither has done any preparatory work on the External Action Service since the opening of the ‘period of reflection’ in June 2005.
During the UK presidency (July-December 2005), and at the request of some member states, we held informal bilateral discussions at a working level on the External Action Service. However, no work was taken forward because of a lack of consensus on how and whether to proceed and on whether there was any legal basis for such work. There has since been no attempt to reopen the issue among the member states.
The External Action Service is an element of the constitutional treaty. At present there is no consensus among EU Governments on the future of the constitutional treaty. The German presidency has been asked by EU leaders to present a report to the European Council in June on possible next steps following consultation with all EU Governments. I set out the Government’s approach in my written ministerial statement of 5 December 2006, Official Report, columns 10-11WS.
Gibraltar
Gibraltar’s new Constitution, which came into effect on 2 January 2007, represents several years of dialogue between the Government and the Government of Gibraltar on these and a wide range of other issues. Section 14.3 of the new Constitution covers all forms of discrimination.
The Equal Opportunities Ordinance 2006 was passed by the Gibraltar House of Assembly on 8 December 2006. The Ordinance repeals and re-enacts the Equal Opportunities Ordinance 2004 to transpose into the law of Gibraltar Council Directive 2002/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 amending Council Directive 76/207/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions, and to transpose into the law of Gibraltar the provisions on age and disability discrimination in Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation.
This legislation strengthens existing provisions on race, disability and sexual orientation. Furthermore, the Citizen’s Advice Bureau was, on 11 May 2006, given responsibility for the promotion of equal treatment on the grounds of sex and race by Legal Notice 58 of 2006.
Iran
Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes are of serious concern. Iran has continued its uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities in defiance of the United Nations Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors. As successive reports by the IAEA's Director-General have made clear, Iran's co-operation with the IAEA remains inadequate. Iran has not yet chosen to engage seriously with the generous proposals made by the E3+3 (France, Germany, UK + China, Russia, US) for a negotiated solution.
Iran's failure to address international concerns, and to take the steps that would enable negotiations to begin on a long-term solution, left the Security Council no choice but to adopt a further Resolution on 23 December 2006. This imposes targeted and proportionate measures against Iran's most sensitive nuclear and missile activities. The Director-General of the IAEA will report by 21 February on Iran's compliance. If Iran has not by then complied, the Security Council has agreed to impose further measures; the Council has also said that it will suspend the implementation of measures if and for as long as Iran suspends all uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities.
Malawi
Justice Mclean Kamwambe of the High Court of Malawi ruled on 9 January that it would not be in the interest of justice to let Vice-President Chilumpha travel to the UK. Chilumpha is currently on bail. Bail conditions are a matter for the Malawian courts. We are aware that there is the possibility of an appeal and continue to monitor the situation closely.
Non-proliferation Treaty
The Government are strongly committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which is the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The UK is determined to make every effort to ensure that this review cycle results in a positive and substantive final document. We will work with allies and EU partners at the May 2007 NPT Preparatory Committee to lay the groundwork for this. We have already made a contribution by announcing, in the White Paper on the Future of the UK's Nuclear Deterrent, a further 20 per cent. cut in our warhead stockpile.
Overseas Convictions/Arrests
[holding answer 15 January 2007]: The following table provides a figure for the number of new detentions of British nationals overseas each year for the past 10 years which consular officials have dealt with. Details of those in detention who are subsequently convicted of an offence are held on individual case files but we do not maintain central statistics. As at 30 September 2006, we were aware of 2,421 British nationals in detention overseas, either on remand or serving a custodial sentence.
Number 1996 5,639 1997 6,039 1998 6,159 1999 6,501 2000 8,758 2001 7,861 2002 6,501 2003-04 6,744 2004-05 5,227 2005-06 4,814
We are able to provide a breakdown by country of those detainees contacted by consular staff for the financial years 2004-05 and 2005-06.
Country 2004-05 2005-06 Afghanistan 9 3 Albania 1 0 Algeria 0 0 Angola 0 0 Antigua and Barbuda 17 11 Argentina 2 8 Armenia 0 0 Australia 39 41 Austria 8 9 Azerbaijan 3 1 Bahamas 10 2 Bahrain 0 0 Bangladesh 10 12 Barbados 3 15 Belarus 1 1 Belgium 61 35 Belize 4 1 Bolivia 3 4 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 2 Botswana 0 2 Brazil 13 7 Brunei 0 1 Bulgaria 4 15 Burma 0 0 Cambodia 17 5 Cameroon 0 1 Canada 29 60 Cayman Islands 0 3 Chile 0 0 China 86 42 Colombia 3 1 Congo (Democratic Republic) 0 0 Costa Rica 4 2 Croatia 15 6 Cuba 2 0 Cyprus 194 180 Czech Republic 42 22 Denmark 12 31 Djibouti 0 0 Dominican Republic 7 3 East Timor 0 0 Ecuador 11 2 Egypt 33 38 Eritrea 0 0 Estonia 0 4 Ethiopia 3 3 Fiji 0 0 Finland 6 3 France 118 103 Gambia 11 7 Georgia 0 0 Germany 156 188 Ghana 8 3 Greece 133 200 Grenada 6 6 Guatemala 0 1 Guinea 0 0 Guyana 3 1 Hungary 5 3 Iceland 1 1 India 25 24 Indonesia 9 14 Iran 0 0 Iraq 12 29 Ireland 26 46 Israel 10 5 Italy 20 23 Jamaica 132 117 Japan 71 79 Jerusalem 16 12 Jordan 7 9 Kazakhstan 0 0 Kenya 29 21 Kuwait 17 14 Laos 1 0 Latvia 3 4 Lebanon 7 11 Lesotho 0 0 Libya 1 2 Lithuania 5 1 Luxembourg 4 2 Macedonia 0 0 Madagascar 0 0 Malawi 1 0 Malaysia 9 10 Mali 0 0 Malta 1 3 Mauritius 3 6 Mexico 41 22 Moldova 0 1 Mongolia 0 0 Morocco 17 8 Mozambique 4 0 Namibia 1 0 Nepal 4 1 Netherlands 76 32 New Zealand 5 5 Nigeria 7 2 North Korea 0 0 Norway 21 9 Oman 22 24 Pakistan 15 22 Panama 8 2 Papua New Guinea 0 2 Paraguay 3 0 Peru 4 2 Philippines 15 22 Poland 15 31 Portugal 72 18 Qatar 21 26 Romania 1 2 Russia 4 1 Rwanda 0 0 Saudi Arabia 7 3 Senegal 2 1 Serbia 1 5 Seychelles 0 1 Sierra Leone 3 2 Singapore 44 27 Slovakia 5 3 Slovenia 0 3 Solomon Islands 0 0 South Africa 8 17 South Korea 10 9 Spain 1,647 1,293 Sri Lanka 1 5 St. Lucia 7 4 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1 1 Sudan 0 5 Swaziland 0 0 Sweden 36 32 Switzerland 4 20 Syria 0 0 Tajikistan 0 0 Tanzania 5 2 Thailand 87 98 Tonga 0 0 Trinidad and Tobago 16 10 Tunisia 3 2 Turkey 58 49 Turkmenistan 0 0 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 0 Uganda 0 1 Ukraine 0 1 United Arab Emirates 113 143 Uruguay 1 1 USA 1,272 1,305 Uzbekistan 0 4 Vanuatu 0 0 Venezuela 10 5 Vietnam 3 3 Yemen 3 1 Zambia 1 2 Zimbabwe 20 3 Total 5,227 4,814
From 2003-04, our information systems were brought in line with our financial systems based on the financial year, April to March. Until 2002, the calendar year was used.
Overseas Territories
There is no annual calendar of planned Orders in Council for the British Overseas Territories. Orders in Council are made on a case-by-case basis as necessary and appropriate, and usually after consultation with the Governments of the Overseas Territories. An example of this is the Anguilla Constitution (Amendment) Order 2007 which will amend the current Anguilla Constitution so as to give effect to police reforms requested by the Government of Anguilla. We intend to submit that Order in Council to the Privy Council at its meeting on 7 February 2007. Orders in Council implementing UN sanctions in the Overseas Territories are made pursuant to UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) and we expect a number of these over the coming months. For example, it is intended that an Order under the UN Act 1946 will be made at the 7 February meeting of the Privy Council to give effect in the Overseas Territories to the sanctions measures in UNSCR 1737 on Iran.
Pakistan
The UK recognises the efforts being made by Pakistan to curb cross-border infiltration on the Afghan-Pakistani border and its commitment to continue this work. The UK position on the use of landmines is well-known and we urge Pakistan to find solutions with less destructive long-term humanitarian consequences. We have not yet made an assessment of the potential effect of this proposal.
The subject was discussed when my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister met President Musharraf in Pakistan on 19 November 2006. The UK recognises the efforts being made by Pakistan to curb cross-border infiltration on the Afghan-Pakistani border and its commitment to continue this work. The UK position on the use of landmines is well known and we urge Pakistan to find solutions with less destructive long-term humanitarian consequences.
Officials remain in regular contact with both the Afghan and Pakistan governments about Taliban activity on their mutual border and border management issues. As part of a common effort to counter terrorism, the Government are providing training and capacity-building to the Pakistan authorities in their efforts to counter Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan. The Government are also considering how they might help both the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to manage border issues more effectively, in an effort to further reduce the Taliban threat.
Russia
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I regularly discuss aspects of the EU-Russia relationship with EU partners. EU Foreign Ministers together discussed EU-Russia relations at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) on 13 November 2006. EU Foreign Ministers will discuss external energy relations, including with Russia, at the GAERC on 22-23 January.
Scotland
By virtue of the United Kingdom's EU membership, Scotland is part of the EU. If Scotland were to leave the UK, it would not automatically assume membership of the EU. The terms under which an independent Scotland might become a member of the EU would have to be negotiated.
Sri Lanka
In December 2006, I met with representatives of the Tamil community together with my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, Gareth Thomas. I am due to represent my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary at a meeting with my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) and concerned members of the Tamil community in the House on 17 January. In addition, I receive and reply to many written representations made by hon. Members on behalf of their constituents.
Sudan
The UK supports the actions of the UN Secretary-General to implement a 'zero-tolerance' approach to sexual exploitation and abuse in all UN Missions. The UN has launched an investigation into the recent allegations of rape and sexual abuse of children by peacekeepers in southern Sudan. The UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peace Keeping Operations, Jane Holl Lute, intends that this will be a thorough exercise. A team of investigators is already working in Sudan. We await the team's conclusions.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
I was grateful to Hans Blix and the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission for their thoughtful work in producing this report. Some of the Commission's recommendations on non-proliferation and disarmament have great merit, e.g. on Comprehensive Safeguards and the Additional Protocol. But not all remain relevant (e.g. on North Korea and Iran where recent UN Security Council Resolutions have changed priorities for action). I do not believe that a change in Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty institutional arrangements will bring about substantive change in the positions of states party to the treaty. Political will drives change in these areas. The UK continues to support early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Ratification by the remaining Annex II states is key.
Defence
Armed Forces Officers
The following table provides strength figures for both untrained and trained Naval personnel at the paid rank of Lieutenant Commander.
Number 1 October 1997 2,170 1 October 2006 2,060 Notes: 1. These figures include UK regular Naval personnel, including nursing services, but exclude full-time reserve personnel and activated reservists. 2. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. 3. The latest available figures are for October 2006 and to compare like with like the 1997-98 figure as been taken as at October 1997.
Armed Forces: Special Dietary Requirements
[holding answer 15 January 2007]: The armed forces make every effort to cater for the special religious and medical dietary requirements of all personnel:
(a) halal, kosher and vegetarian meals can be provided by armed forces messes and are available in the form of operational ration packs for operations and exercises;
(b) the armed forces aim to meet, as far as possible, the needs of those personnel who, during their service, develop medical conditions such as coeliac disease or diabetes which require careful dietary management.
Child Care
The Ministry of Defence has four salary plus child care voucher schemes, which are open to qualifying civilian employees who work at the Army Pay Centre, Glasgow, the Defence Bills Agency, Liverpool, the War Ship Support Agency, Rosyth and the Defence Science Technology Laboratory. The introduction of salary sacrifice child care voucher schemes for all civilian and military staff is dependent on the full introduction of the Department’s new pay systems scheduled for late autumn this year.
Consultants
[holding answer 15 January 2007]: Information is not held centrally on how many security passes have been issued in each year since 1997 and it would incur disproportionate cost to collate this data.
Electoral Registration
Provisions in the Electoral Administration Act 2006 allow all Service personnel and their spouses or civil partners who choose to register as Service voters to remain on the register for three years, without having to renew their registration. This helps Service personnel abroad in particular as it is covers the typical length of an overseas tour. In addition, Service declaration forms are distributed each year, as part of a combined information leaflet, to all military units in the UK and abroad, at the same time as the annual household canvass.
The MOD works closely with the Electoral Commission and the DCA and runs an annual information campaign each autumn, culminating in a "Service Electoral Registration Day" which is held within military units. These activities are designed to encourage Service personnel and their families to register and to vote.
Gurkhas
[holding answer 15 January 2007]: Ministers have not yet reached a decision. An announcement will be made in due course.
Nuclear Submarines
(2) what assessment he has made of (a) whether Vanguard submarines have typically operated (i) at a higher level of intensity and (ii) for longer periods at sea than United States Ohio-class Trident submarines and (b) the effect of those factors upon the differential in-service lives of those submarines.
[holding answer 11 December 2006]: I refer the hon. Member to paragraphs 1-4, 5-6 and 6-5 of the White Paper, ‘The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent’ (Cm 6994), published on 4 December 2006.
When detailed concept work begins on a new class of SSBNs, we will take into account relevant lessons from the submarine-building experience of other countries, including the United States, as we would normally do on a programme of this kind.
[holding answer 11 December 2006]: As the Government stated in the White Paper, ‘The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent’ (Cm 6994), published on 4 December 2006, we expect that continuous deterrent patrols could no longer be assured from around 2024 if the first of the new submarines were not in place by then.
The White Paper made clear that we are not yet in a position to make a firm judgment about how many submarines we require in future. It is too early to determine subsequent in-service dates.
RAF Aircraft
[holding answer 9 January 2007]: The following table shows the number of RAF aircraft that were planned to be in service at the end of March of each year.
March 1997 March 2006 Fighterl 356 3794 Training2 473 4075 Tanker and Transport 1023 87 Reconnaissance 19 206 Maritime Patrol Aircraft 26 217 Helicopters 167 1328 1 Increase in numbers from 1997 due to change in accounting methodology. 2 Includes trainer variants of Fighter aircraft. 3 Actual numbers were 100. The planned figure does not reflect the retirement of two BAe 125 aircraft. 4 Actual numbers were 372. The planned figure does not reflect the reduction of four Typhoon aircraft as a result of the contractual re-alignment of the Typhoon aircraft delivery schedule; a Tornado F3 that crashed in 2005; the reduction in two Harrier GR7s; one following a crash and one re-categorised as a test-bed aircraft by BAe systems. 5 Actual numbers were 395. The planned figure does not reflect the reduction of one Harrier as a result of the upgrade programme from Harrier T10 to T12, the fact that four Harrier T8s went out of service, the reduction of four Tucano aircraft and a reduction of three in overall glider numbers. 6 Actual numbers were 17. The Sentinel aircraft have not yet been delivered. 7 Actual numbers were 16. The planned figure does not reflect the fact that four Nimrod MR2 were retired for the MRA4 programme and for spares and one was retired as a result of the Medium Term Work Strands. 8 For JHC assets, figures shown are total operating fleet.
Royal Mail
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Service Accommodation
Financial information on expenditure on Service families accommodation and elements of the single living accommodation programme since 2001-02 are held by Defence Estates and is currently being collated. Information about earlier years was not collected centrally or consistently and would not be reliable. I will write to the hon. Member when the information available has been collated and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Service Personnel
The Ministry of Defence does not usually subsidise telephone, television or internet for Service personnel while serving in Great Britain. Televisions in communal areas on bases are free but these are usually provided by non-public funds. Televisions in private and Service-provided accommodation have to be licensed and provided by the individuals (except in substitute single service accommodation). New single accommodation facilities are wired for satellite and internet but individuals pays their own subscriptions. Telephones in all accommodation are privately funded except in substitute single service accommodation where the line rental and any telephone equipment rental costs are reimbursed to the occupant.
Service personnel overseas, either permanently based abroad or on operations, are entitled, where practical, to receive at no cost British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) radio and television. Internet and telephones are privately funded.
While deployed on operations overseas the provision of welfare facilities is dependent on location. The MOD operational welfare package includes the provision of welfare telephones and 30 minutes of free calls per person per week to anywhere in the world. In addition free e-mail and internet access as well as British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) television and radio broadcasts may be provided. Furthermore, televisions, radios, DVD players, DVDs and video games may be available at no cost to the individual.
Free internet and e-mail access during working hours is available at family centres to keep families in contact with their spouses when serving away from home. Some units also have funded an internet cafe where PCs, or access to WiFi, are non-publicly funded but usage has to be paid for by the individual.
Treasury
Asset Recovery
I have been asked to reply.
The 2006-07 budget for the Assets Recovery Agency is £15.5 million. The Agency’s receipts for the period 1 April to 31 December total £14.4 million. The Agency has also been awarded final orders and settlements in a number of cases, and will be endeavouring to convert these into receipts before the end of the financial year. In addition, to date during this financial year the Agency has disrupted 65 criminal enterprises involving assets of £33.2 million. The Agency remains committed to all the targets listed in its Business Plan.
These figures illustrate how the Agency’s impact on the proceeds of crime has grown since it was set up in 2003, with an increasing number of its cases reaching conclusion.
Child Benefit
[holding answer 11 January 2007]: The estimated cost of the extension of child benefit to mothers-to-be from week 29 of their pregnancy from April 2009 is £120 million per year.
Child Trust Funds
The figures published in Annex C of the HM Revenue and Customs Annual Report show the cost in pence of each pound of child benefit and Child Trust Fund. These figures are produced by commissioning analysis of costs across the Department, under the tax and benefit categories that have been reported in the Annex. It is not possible to analyse any of these costs further without commissioning additional work across the Department. As a result a detailed answer to this question can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 July 2006 to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws), Official Report, column 1344W.
Annual charges on stakeholder accounts are limited to 1.5 per cent. of the value of the account. Charges on non-stakeholder share accounts are not capped, and will vary. HMRC do not keep records of the different charges levied by providers, but do urge parents to ask about such charges when choosing an account.
Up to the end of September 2006, HMRC had opened a total of just over 0.5 million accounts for children. These are stakeholder accounts allocated on a rotational basis among 14 providers. HMRC does not have access to information on the religious beliefs of parents. Parents have 12 months from the receipt of their voucher to open an account of their choice and Sharia and ethical accounts are available. They may also move any Government allocated account at any time. The CTF information booklet and website detail Shari’a compliant and ethical CTF accounts available.
Civil Servants
I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry) on 19 December, Official Report, column 1739W.
Clostridium Difficile
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 January 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many death certificates mentioning clostridium difficile as a (a) primary and (b) secondary cause of death there have been in each year since 1997. (115026)
Special analyses of deaths involving Clostridium difficile are undertaken annually by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for England and Wales. These are published in Health Statistics Quarterly. The latest year for which such figures are available is 2004. Information on the numbers of deaths between 1999 and 2004 involving C. difficile was published in Health Statistics Quarterly 30 in May 2006.1
This report presents data for the number of death certificates which (a) mention C. difficile and (b) list C. difficile as the underlying cause of death. The table below is extracted from this report:
(i) Certificates mentioning C. difficile (ii) Certificates where C. difficile was the underlying cause of death 1999 975 531 2001 1,214 691 2002 1,428 756 2003 1,788 958 2004 2,247 1,245 1 Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics (2005) Report: Deaths involving Clostridium difficile: England and Wales, 1999-2004. “Health Statistics Quarterly” 30, 56-60. 2 Excludes neonatal deaths. 3 Deaths registered in 1999, deaths occurring in 2001-04.
All deaths in England and Wales are coded by the ONS according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The Tenth revision (ICD-10) has been used by the ONS since 2001. In the Ninth revision of the ICD (ICD-9) there are no specific codes that would allow deaths mentioning C. diff to be easily identified. Identifying these deaths in ICD-9 would require extensive text searching of a very large number of death certificates. This could only be done at disproportionate cost. Data for 1997, 1998 and 2000 are therefore not available as ICD-9 was used in these years.
Deaths registered in 1999 in England and Wales were coded to both ICD-9 and ICD-10 as part of a special study to compare the two ICD revisions, and have therefore been used to give an additional year of data on deaths involving C. diff.
Correspondence
The Treasury has four letters remaining unanswered from the 2005-06 session. They were received in November 2006.
Debt
The following table sets out ECGD claims balances, including debts that have been rescheduled in the Paris Club for low and lower middle income countries as at end November 2006. These debts arose from defaulted exported contracts that were insured or guaranteed by ECGD. There are no debts outstanding specifically to the Treasury.
Income category/market Total (£ million) Low income Burma 23 Congo, Democratic People’s Republic of 89 Cote D’Ivoire 18 Guinea 4 Kenya 20 Korea, Democratic Peoples Republic of 6 Liberia 22 Pakistan 6 Sierra Leone 3 Somalia 27 Sudan 578 Togo 23 Vietnam 9 Zimbabwe 103 Lower middle income Angola 134 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 Congo 188 Cuba 130 Ecuador 44 Egypt 145 Indonesia 765 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 29 Iraq 530 Jordan 352 Macedonia 2 Morocco 5 Peru 55 Philippines 1 Serbia and Montenegro 174
Departmental Staff
As part of their responsibilities, four full-time staff provide support to both the special advisers to the Chef Secretary and to the Chancellor of the Exchequer: one at range E, one at range D, one at range C and one at range B.
Employee Share Ownership
The Government are committed to supporting employee share ownership, which benefits companies, employees and the economy.
The Government encourage employee share ownership through three tax-advantaged share schemes: Save-As-You-Earn (SAYE), the Share Incentive Plan (SIP), and the Company Share Option Plan (CSOP).
The Government also introduced the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI), designed to help small higher-risk companies recruit and retain employees who have the skills that will help the company to grow and succeed. EMI as a share option incentive also facilitates employee share ownership.
Details on all the tax-advantaged share schemes, including the National Statistics on their usage, can be found at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/shareschemes/
The Government have not made any estimate regarding how many companies operate non-tax-advantaged employee share schemes.
Employment
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 January 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the numbers of men and women who are unemployed and economically inactive (i) wanting a job and (ii) not wanting a job by age in each year since 1997. (114626)
The eight tables attached give estimates of the numbers of men and women resident in the United Kingdom who are unemployed and economically inactive by gender and age. This includes inactive people who (i) want a job and (ii) do not want a job for the three months ending June each year since 1997. Comparable estimates are not available for 1998 and 2000.
Estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
Thousand Unemployed Inactive Total Total Wants job Does not want job All persons Total 16+ 2,013 17,009 2,560 14,449 50-54 147 781 206 574 55-59 121 1,080 227 853 60-64 62 1,688 208 1,481 65+ 12 8,344 80 8,264 Men Total 16+ 1,248 6,199 1,017 5,181 50-54 93 264 95 168 55-59 84 373 110 263 60-64 55 650 135 515 65+ 9 3,397 80 3,317 Women Total 16+ 765 10,811 1,543 9,268 50-54 54 517 111 406 55-59 37 707 117 590 60-64 7 1,038 73 965 65+ 3 4,947 1— 4,947 1 Estimates are taken from the LFS. Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Thousand Unemployed Inactive Total Total Wants job Does not want job All persons Total 16+ 1,695 17,108 2,458 14,650 50-54 124 822 229 592 55-59 98 1,075 225 850 60-64 53 1,779 204 1,574 65+ 10 8,364 64 8,300 Men Total 16+ 1,034 6,315 1,006 5,309 50-54 79 275 102 173 55-59 66 386 119 267 60-64 44 687 140 547 65+ 9 3,434 64 3,370 Women Total 16+ 661 10,793 1,453 9,340 50-54 45 546 127 419 55-59 32 689 105 583 60-64 9 1,092 64 1,028 65+ 1 4,930 1— 4,929 1 Estimates are taken from the LFS. Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Thousand Unemployed Inactive Total Total Wants job Does not want job All persons Total 16+ 1,408 17,337 2,341 14,996 50-54 93 808 218 590 55-59 73 1,115 215 901 60-64 40 1,749 180 1,569 65+ 9 8,482 58 8,423 Men Total 16+ 849 6,548 982 5,566 50-54 61 268 101 167 55-59 52 410 114 296 60-64 35 686 118 568 65+ 7 3,528 58 3,470 Women Total 16+ 559 10,789 1,359 9,430 50-54 32 540 116 423 55-59 21 705 101 604 60-64 5 1,063 62 1,002 65+ 2 4,954 1— 4,954 1 Estimates are taken from the LFS. Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Thousand Unemployed Inactive Total Total Wants job Does not want job All persons Total 16+ 1,456 17,365 2,402 14,963 50-54 104 762 202 560 55-59 83 1,148 248 900 60-64 42 1,741 180 1,561 65+ 13 8,491 72 8,419 Men Total 16+ 877 6,617 1,020 5,597 50-54 62 266 92 174 55-59 56 420 132 287 60-64 33 687 118 569 65+ 10 3,555 71 3,484 Women Total 16+ 578 10,748 1,382 9,366 50-54 42 495 109 386 55-59 26 728 116 612 60-64 9 1,054 62 992 65+ 3 4,936 1— 4,935 1 Estimates are taken from the LFS. Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Thousand Unemployed Inactive Total Total Wants job Does not want job All persons Total 16+ 1,401 17,400 2,288 15,112 50-54 98 699 190 509 55-59 90 1,119 227 892 60-64 28 1,707 179 1,529 65+ 12 8,506 60 8,446 Men Total 16+ 850 6,580 981 5,599 50-54 58 239 89 150 55-59 66 404 111 293 60-64 23 632 106 526 65+ 9 3,566 59 3,507 Women Total 16+ 551 10,821 1,307 9,513 50-54 40 460 100 359 55-59 24 715 115 599 60-64 5 1,075 73 1,002 65+ 3 4,940 1— 4,939 1 Estimates are taken from the LFS. Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Thousand Unemployed Inactive Total Total Wants job Does not want job All persons Total 16+ 1,368 17,519 2,137 15,381 50-54 81 700 170 529 55-59 82 1,161 204 957 60-64 36 1,712 152 1,560 65+ 10 8,534 57 8,477 Men Total 16+ 803 6,737 917 5,820 50-54 51 245 84 161 55-59 58 421 98 323 60-64 30 650 101 549 65+ 8 3,605 57 3,549 Women Total 16+ 565 10,782 1,220 9,562 50-54 30 454 86 368 55-59 24 741 107 634 60-64 6 1,062 51 1,011 65+ 2 4,928 1— 4,928 1 Estimates are taken from the LFS. Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Thousand Unemployed Inactive Total Total Wants job Does not want job All persons Total 16+ 1,364 17,600 2,195 15,405 50-54 87 666 171 495 55-59 76 1,145 196 949 60-64 31 1,764 140 1,624 65+ 10 8,560 60 8,499 Men Total 16+ 792 6,826 903 5,923 50-54 50 224 72 151 55-59 51 427 93 334 60-64 25 673 88 585 65+ 7 3,639 60 3,579 Women Total 16+ 573 10,774 1,292 9,482 50-54 37 442 99 343 55-59 25 718 103 615 60-64 5 1,091 53 1,039 65+ 3 4,920 1— 4,920 1 Estimates are taken from the LFS. Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Thousand Unemployed Inactive Total Total Wants job Does not want job All persons Total 16+ 1,604 17,466 2,206 15,261 50-54 96 640 168 472 55-59 84 1,122 202 920 60-64 38 1,786 184 1,602 65+ 14 8,548 62 8,486 Men Total 16+ 924 6,787 954 5,833 50-54 57 213 70 143 55-59 53 416 99 317 60-64 26 689 115 574 65+ 11 3,635 62 3,573 Women Total 16+ 680 10,679 1,251 9,428 50-54 39 427 98 329 55-59 31 706 103 603 60-64 12 1,096 68 1,028 65+ 3 4,913 1— 4,912 1 Estimates are taken from the LFS. Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Energy Prices
HM Treasury has regular discussions with the Department of Trade and Industry on a wide range of topics, including energy costs.
Financial Services Review
(2) whether the scope of the Financial Services Authority training and competence review will include an impact assessment of examination requirements introduced in relation to mortgage sales in October 2004.
Following consultation, the FSA announced in March 2006 its intention that detailed rules on training and competence will not apply to those individuals in financial firms who deal only with wholesale customers.
As part of its review of the training and competence regime, the FSA is now looking at the general role of examination requirements within the regime. The FSA will publish a consultation paper in February 2007.
This will include an assessment of the costs and benefits of examinations as a means of assessing competence, as compared with other potential assessment methods. The consultation will include mortgage firms, but will not include a detailed analysis of the impact of specific examination requirements on particular sectors.
The review will take account of the impact of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID) due to be implemented in the UK in November 2007. The intention is that the removal of detailed training and competence rules for wholesale business, together with any further changes resulting from the wider review, will be made at the time MIFID is implemented.
Gender Equality
Guidance to Departments for the 2007 comprehensive spending review has emphasised the Government’s commitment to our long-term goal of ensuring fairness and opportunity for all. This commitment will be reflected in both the allocation of resources and the Public Service Agreements that will be announced in the Spending Review White Paper. In addition, Departments’ spending plans for the years 2008-09 to 2010-11 will reflect existing and forthcoming legislation relating to race, age, disability and gender.
Gershon Review
Sir Peter Gershon’s Independent Review on Public Sector Efficiency identified scope to achieve efficiency annual gains of over £20 billion by 2007-08. Over 60 per cent. of these efficiency gains are expected to be cashable.
Global Schools Partnership
In April 2006 the Secretary of State for International Development announced that funding to DFID’s Global School Partnership programme would more than double to £7.5 million over the next three years. The Department for International Development allocated this additional funding from its departmental budget.
HM Revenue and Customs
The only early retirement scheme that has been in operation since the formation of HM Revenue and Customs is Approved Early Retirement. No staff have left under Compulsory Early Retirement or Flexible Early Retirement. The number of people who have retired under the scheme is 3,187. The breakdown by grade is given in the following table:
Grade Number Administrative Assistant 236 Assistant Officer 465 Officer 1,003 Higher Officer 695 Senior Officer 399 Grade 7 213 Grade 6 138 Senior Civil Service 38 Total 3,187
HM Revenue and Customs was introduced in April 2006 replacing the former separate departments of HM Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue. The relevant figures for expenditure on consultancy services, excluding the Valuation Office Agency, are given in the following table:
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 HM Customs and Excise 36,238 65,343 — Inland Revenue 58,928 70,465 — HM Revenue and Customs — — 105,981 Total 95,166 135,808 105,981
The Department does not set any formal national targets for the duration of telephone calls to HM Revenue and Customs contact centres.
For redialled calls, data are not maintained in the format requested.
HMRC is currently conducting a consultation exercise, which will end on 21 February, on its initial proposals for reducing its use of accommodation in outer London. Subject to ministerial approval decisions will be announced in the spring and implementation will begin in the summer, continuing through to 2010.
(2) what estimate his Department has made (a) in respect of the HM Revenue and Customs regional review programme of the proportion of the headcount reduction and (b) the savings which will result from the reduction by (i) 2008 and (ii) 2010 which will fall within each of the six areas which make up the Outer London cluster; and if he will make a statement.
Although HMRC offices within Outer London have been grouped into six areas, for most planning purposes Outer London is taken as a whole.
The total number of HMRC staff working in Outer London at 1 October 2006 was 4,374, with the numbers estimated to fall to 3,800 by 2008 and to 3,300 by 2010.
The proposed rationalisation of the HMRC estate in Outer London is estimated to create estate savings of approximately £5.7 million a year.
Information Supplements
The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Inward Investment
No direct estimates of FDI inflows by the categories specified are available. However, there are sources, such as the UK Inward Investment Report 2005-06 by UK Trade and Investment, which highlight details of UK inward investment.
NI Surpluses
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on 8 January 2007, Official Report, column 423W.
Olympics
Most meetings of the steering group were attended by at least one member of the Devolved Countries and Regions team.
Parliamentary Questions
In the 2005-06 parliamentary Session, 74.9 per cent. of the 1,029 named day questions which were tabled to the Treasury were answered on the day specified by the questioner and 80.1 per cent. of the 5,408 ordinary written questions were answered within a working week of tabling (as provided for in Erskine May). The corresponding figures for the 2006-07 Session up to 31 December 2006 were 101 (60.4 per cent.) and 619 (75.8 per cent.), respectively.
Pensions
Research Report 395: “Self-employment and retirement” was a small-scale qualitative research report with around 40 individuals to improve our understanding of the spectrum of views about planning and saving for retirement among (lower income) self-employed people, and what influences those views. My Department has not made any assessment of the conclusions of this report regarding general perceptions of investing in bricks and mortar as opposed to financial products, nor of its implications for pensions and pension reform.
Planning Gain Supplement
The information requested falls within the responsibilities of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 January 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking whether the Office for National Statistics (ONS) intends to classify Planning Gain Supplement as a tax. (114821)
ONS classifies transactions between sectors of the economy for the purposes of the national accounts. As yet ONS has not been asked to classify the proposed planning gain supplement. I anticipate that ONS will be asked to classify this proposal when it has been finalised.
Pre-release Statistics
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 January 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking who is given pre-release access to (a) market-sensitive and (b) non-market-sensitive final statistics. (114832)
Every Department which is responsible for producing National Statistics has published a ‘Statement of Compliance’ with the National Statistics Code of Practice and its supporting Protocols. In each case, their Statement incorporates either (i) a link to, or (ii) guidance on how to obtain, a list which, in accordance with Section 4(b) of the ‘National Statistics Code of Practice: Protocol on Release Practices’, sets out ‘for each statistical release, who is entitled to have privileged early access and for how long’. Annex A of the same Protocol lists which National Statistics have been categorised as ‘market-sensitive’—all of them published by the Office for National Statistics. Copies of the Code and Protocols are available in the Library of the House. The Compliance Statements for all Departments, as well as the list of all those individuals who receive pre-release access to the Office for National Statistics’ releases, can be accessed using the following URL:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about_ns/cop/compliance.asp
Prudential Borrowing Scheme
The Prudential Borrowing regime that came into effect on 1 April 2004 introduced greater freedom for individual local authorities to borrow for capital investment. Local authorities are now free to borrow for capital purposes subject to that borrowing being assessed against local prudential indicators that determine affordable and sustainable levels of debt. The Prudential Borrowing regime does not enable departments to undertake borrowing.
Revenue and Customs: Northern Ireland
HMRC is undertaking a series of regional planning reviews of its accommodation to bring it into line with future operational requirements. Each review will include a consultation exercise. No decisions will be taken on the future of any individual office until after the completion of the consultation period in each region. More information on the programme is available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/local/transforming-hmrc.htm
Royal Mail
The Treasury’s spending on postage was £46,000 in 2004-05 and £40,000 in 2005-06. For earlier years I refer to the answer given by the then Financial Secretary to the hon. Member for Tatton (Mr. Osborne) on 21 February 2005, Official Report, column 75W. This spending is primarily the franking of letters and packages for delivery by the Royal Mail, and delivery of ministerial pouches, also by the Royal Mail.
Sports Club Subscriptions
The extension of Gift Aid to junior subscriptions is one of a number of issues sports representative bodies have raised. Representations have been passed on to HM Treasury from DCMS and have been made to HMRC and DCMS officials as part of the Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) Development Forum. We keep all policy issues under review and discussions between officials and sports club representative bodies are ongoing.
The World Classroom
(2) how many civil servants from his Department worked full-time to produce the World Classroom publication published on 4 January 2007, broken down by pay band.
The cost of publishing the World Classroom pamphlet was met in full by the Department for International Development.
Valuation Office Agency
In Scotland the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which is an Executive Agency of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), carries out property valuations and property-related services as set out in section 10 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.
No, it does not.
There are 25 million records for business and domestic properties, and there are 2.2 million photographs as at 20 November 2006.
A factor for the higher maintenance cost for 2005-06 was the servicing cycle of a number of pool cars nearing the end of their two-year lease and works required to meet the leasing obligations prior to handback of the cars to the leasing company.
Home Department
Antisocial Behaviour
The Home Department is in regular discussion with officials in the Department for Communities and Local Government about a range of matters including antisocial behaviour.
The Respect Task Force is driving forward the delivery of cross-government commitments set out in the Respect Action Plan, to tackle antisocial behaviour and the causes of antisocial behaviour. The Department for Communities and Local Government is a significant partner in this.
The Respect drive is being delivered nationally but the Respect Task Force is also focusing support in a number of key areas. In November, we announced additional funding for parenting support in 77 areas across the country, including Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Stoke on Trent and Walsall in the West Midlands.
Where assessment indicates this is in the interests of preventing a repetition of antisocial behaviour by children and young people up to the age of 17, Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) can apply for a parenting order under section 26 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. A parenting order can also be made under section eight of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 on conviction of a juvenile or where an antisocial behaviour order, child safety order or parental compensation order is made. A parenting order requires the parent/s to attend a parenting programme and to comply with specific requirements in the interests of preventing a repetition of the kind of behaviour that led to the order being made. Breach of a parenting order is a criminal offence and can result in a fine of up to £1,000 and/or a community sentence.
YOTs also have statutory power, under section 25 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, to enter into parenting contracts, with parents whose child has engaged in, or is likely to engage in, criminal conduct or antisocial behaviour. The contract would include specific ways in which the parents agree to exercise control over the child and to attend a parenting programme. If parents refuse to enter into a contract or fail to comply with one, the YOT may apply for a parenting order.
Parenting orders can also be made under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 following prosecution of parents for their child's non-attendance at school. Section 19 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 provides local authorities and schools with the power to enter into parenting contracts to help address children's behaviour and attendance at school. Section 20 of the Act provides that local authorities can also apply to the courts for a parenting order where a pupil has been excluded permanently or for more than one fixed period as a result of serious misbehaviour.
These powers will be enhanced by the measures introduced in the Education and Inspections Act 2006 which from 1 September 2007 will: allow parenting contracts to be used as an earlier intervention (without the need for exclusion); enable parenting orders to be applied for by schools; and permit orders to be applied for where there has been serious misbehaviour but without the necessity of excluding the pupil.
The Education and Inspections Act also introduces a new duty on schools to arrange reintegration interviews following a pupil’s fixed period exclusion from school. This duty will apply to all fixed period exclusions of primary-aged pupils and those of more than five days of secondary-aged pupils. These interviews will enable the school to engage formally with the parent and so assist the pupil's reintegration and improvement in his or her behaviour. It will be mandatory for parents to attend these interviews and failure to do so will be a factor which a court may take into account in any future application for a parenting order. Parents will also be required to ensure that their child is not present in a public place, without reasonable justification, during school hours in the first five days of any exclusion from school. If parents fail to be responsible for their child’s whereabouts during this time, they will commit an offence. They may discharge liability for the offence by paying a penalty notice; however, failure to pay could result in prosecution for the original offence.
The Police and Justice Act 2006 enables a wider range of agencies, including local authorities and registered social landlords, to apply for parenting orders where children or young people have engaged in antisocial behaviour or to enter into parenting contracts where they have engaged in, or are likely to engage in, criminal conduct or antisocial behaviour. The Police and Justice Act 2006 will be commenced later this year.
Parental Compensation Order (PCO) powers were commenced in 10 local authority areas on 20 July. The PCO is a civil order designed to reinforce the responsibilities of parents of children under the age of 10. It requires parents to provide compensation if a child under 10 takes or damages property in the course of anti-social behaviour or behaviour which, if he were over 10, would have constituted an offence, and where it would be desirable in the interests of preventing a repetition of the behaviour in question. Compensation is limited to £5,000. The PCO is made in the adult magistrates court on application by the local authority. The court has the same powers to enforce payment as it does for fines.
Data Protection
I have been asked to reply.
The Government’s information-sharing vision statement, published on 13 September 2006, set out our commitment to share information to expand opportunities for the most disadvantaged, fight crime and provide better public services for citizens and business, and in other instances where it is in the public interest. A copy of the statement may be found in the House Library.
The safeguards to protect the privacy of the individual are provided by the Data Protection Act, the Human Rights Act and the law relating to breach of confidence, which balance individuals’ privacy rights with the need for organisations to use personal information for legitimate purposes.
The Government have consulted on a possible amendment to the Data Protection Act to increase the penalties for those who deliberately and wilfully misuse personal data. The consultation ended on 31 October and the Government’s response will be published in due course.
Exhaust Noise
Available information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform shows that in 2004 (latest available) there were 2,048 prosecutions for noise offences under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, Regs. 54-58, 97-99 combined.
2005 data will be available later in 2007.
Injured Young Offenders
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Interpreters: Deaf People
The Office for Criminal Justice Reform consulted representative bodies throughout its review of the National Guidance. Views of bodies representing deaf people and language services professionals were also sought on the draft guidance. The new agreement will reflect the input received from both groups.
The information requested is not held centrally; data held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on police and court remands does not include information on the reasons for bail being granted or refused.
Mini-motorbikes
The Home Office does not collect this information centrally.
Operation Safeguard
The agreed protocol allows forces to submit their invoices in arrears during the period that Operation Safeguard is activated. Since only a small number of invoices have been received, we are unable to calculate the exact cost of the operation. At the present time it is estimated that the cost will be around £2.6 million a month. Operation Safeguard was implemented on 12 October.
Parliamentary Questions
The information is not held in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the information regarding individually answered parliamentary questions is a matter of public record and can be located within the Official Report.
The Department answered 64 questions with the reply
“It has not been possible to reply before prorogation.”
Each of these questions was tabled on either 3, 6 or 7 November.
The Department aims to answer parliamentary questions within the time scales specified by Parliament. It publishes its performance statistics on answering PQs within its annual report. Copies of these reports can be found in the House Library.
Personal Files
If a terrorist or spy is told the Security Service holds personal data on him or her—so revealing a covert investigation of them—the individual could change their behaviour to thwart that investigation. Alternatively, if told that there is no data held he or she could continue their activities confident in the knowledge that his or her activities had escaped detection. A neither-confirm-nor-deny response avoids both these risks.
PNDs
(2) how many penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) have been issued to 10 to 15-year-olds in each of the six pilot police force areas in respect of (a) behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to others or using threatening words or behaviour, (b) drunk and disorderly behaviour in a public place, (c) destroying or damaging property up to the value of £500, (d) retail theft under £200, (e) sale of alcohol to a person under 18 years of age, (f) selling alcohol to a drunken person, (g) breach of a fireworks curfew, (h) being drunk in a highway or consuming alcohol in a designated place and (i) other offences; and how many such PNDs were (i) paid within 21 days, (ii) contested in court and (iii) registered as fines against the parent of the recipient.
The evaluation of the pilots is currently under way. The final evaluation report will contain full details about the number of Penalty Notices for Disorder issued during the pilots. No decisions about extending the pilot areas will be taken until the results of the evaluation have been considered.
The Office for Criminal Justice Reform does not hold information on the proportion of people who, having received a penalty notice for disorder, committed a further offence within a period of 12 months. Data are not collected to that level of detail.
The penalty notice for disorder (PND) Scheme was set up under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. Under the scheme, the police may issue a fixed penalty notice of either £50 or £80 for a range of minor disorder offences. Details of PND recipients are initially recorded on a database kept by the Central Ticket Office of an individual police force. Each force is responsible for maintaining their own local database; there is currently no national system for recording PNDs. However the Government do intend to establish a single national penalty notice processing system for all PNDs and road traffic tickets by September 2009.
Where the PND is issued for a recordable offence, a record of the offender is also created on the Police National Computer (PNC) within 24 hours and updated within seven days: the PNC is available to officers 24 hours a day. Repeat offenders should be identified using PNC if they have committed recordable offences. For all other offences, while the current local database could also be interrogated to check if a PND has already been issued, it is normally only available during office hours and to those officers local to the force.
A list of all PND offences is given in Table one, showing which are recordable.
PND offence code CCCJS code Act Description Notifiable/recordable Upper Tier £80 DA01 CL67008 s 5, Criminal Law Act 1967 Causing wasteful use of police time/wasting police time, Giving false report Recordable DA021 CA03007 s 127(2) of the Communications Act 2003 Send false message/persistently use a public electronic communications network in order to cause annoyance inconvenience or needless anxiety Recordable DA032 FS04009 s 49 of the Fire and Rescue Services At 2004 Knowingly give a false alarm to a person acting on behalf of a fire and rescue authority Recordable DA043 PU86107 s 5, Public Order Act 1986 Use words/conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress Notifiable and recordable DA05 EP75005 s 80, Explosives Act 1875 Fire/throw firework(s) Non-recordable DA06 CJ67002 s 91, Criminal Justice Act 1967 Drunk and disorderly in a public place Recordable DA07 — — — — DA08 — — — — DA09 — — — — DA10 — — — — DA114 CD71040 s1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 Destroying or damaging property (under £500) Notifiable and recordable DA124 TH68010 s1 of the Theft Act 1968 Theft (retail under £200) Notifiable and recordable DA135 FW04003 Fireworks Regulations 2004 under s11 of the Fireworks Act 2003 Breach of fireworks curfew (11pm-7am) Recordable DA145 FW04002 Fireworks Regulations 2004 under s11 of the Fireworks Act 2003 Possession of a category 4 firework Recordable DA155 FW04001 Fireworks Regulations 2004 under s11 of the Fireworks Act 2003 Possession by a person under 18 of an adult firework Recordable DA166 LG03036 Section 141 of the Licensing Act 2003 (c.17)7 Sells or attempts to sell alcohol to a person who is drunk Recordable (1 December 2005) DA17 LG03067 s 146(3) of the Licensing Act 20037 Supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club to a person aged under 18 Recordable (1 December 2005) DA184 LG03064 s 146(1) of the Licensing Act 20037 Sale of alcohol anywhere to a person under 18 Recordable (1 December 2005) DA194 LG03081 s 149(3) of the licensing Act 20037 Buys or attempts to buy alcohol on behalf of person under 18 Recordable (1 December 2005) DA20 LG03083 s 149(4) of the licensing Act 20037 Buys or attempts to buy alcohol for consumption on relevant premises by person under 18 Recordable (1 December 2005) DA214 LG03088 s 151 of the licensing Act 20037 Delivery of alcohol to person under 18 or allowing such delivery Recordable (1 December 2005) Lower Tier £50 DB01 — — — — DB02 — — — — DB03 BT49005 s 55, British Transport Commission Act 1949 Trespass on a railway Non-recordable DB04 BT49006 s 56, British Transport Commission Act 1949 Throwing stones/matter/thing at a train Non-recordable DB05 LG72008 s 12, Licensing Act 1872 Drunk in highway Recordable DB06 — — — — DB07 CJ01002 s 12, Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 Consume alcohol in designated public place, contrary to requirement by constable not to do so. Non-recordable DB084 EP90046 s 87(1) and (5) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 Depositing and leave litter Non-recordable DB09 — — — — DB10 — — — — DB11 — — — — DB124 LG03085 s 150(1) of the Licensing Act 20037 Consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 on relevant premises Recordable (1 December 2005) DB134 LG03086 s 150(2) of the Licensing Act 20037 Allowing consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 on relevant premises Recordable (1 December 2005) DB146 LG03079 Section 149(1) of the Licensing Act 2003 (c. 17)7 Buying or attempting to buy alcohol by a person under 18 Recordable (1 December 2005) 1 Offence repealed by Communications Act 2003 with effect from 5 March 2004. 2 Offence repealed by Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 with effect from 1 October 2004. 3 Offence added with effect from 8 August 2002. 4 Offence added with effect from 1 November 2004. 5 Offence added with effect from 11 October 2004. 6 Offence added with effect from 4 April 2005. 7 New legislative reference with effect from 2 November 2005 on implementation of Licensing Act 2003.
Police
The information requested where available is set out in the following table.
£ million Devon and Cornwall Gross average expenditure England and Wales 1995-96 1,2 147,147,000 150,560,976 1996-97 154,430,000 160,630,186 1997-98 160,181,000 166,828,249 1998-99 177,528,000 173,255,348 1999-2000 180,189,000 181,402,162 2000-01 187,709,000 193,255,441 2001-02 208,734,000 208,624,186 2002-03 226,575,000 218,568,813 2003-04 231,085,000 236,697,395 2004-05 264,664,000 267,763,069 2005-06 3 265,734,000 272,717,651 2006-07 3 269,011,000 286,918,348 1 Figures before 1995-96 were not reliable due to changes in police authority structures 2 Essex not included 3 Figures are estimates Source: Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy
Police Response Times
Data on police response times is not collected centrally. This is essentially an operational matter for the chief constable of each force.
Police Stations
The provision of police stations is a matter for the police authority and the chief constable.
Prison Service
The pension benefits and associated costs falling to the Department, and reasons for leaving in individual early retirement cases, is information considered personal and would therefore not be provided. The decision to consider and authorise early retirement, taken in this case by the Home Office Board, was in accordance with the rules and criteria set out in the Civil Service Compensation Scheme governing early retirement.
Probation Service Recidivism
The most recent re-offending information for adults living in England and Wales was published in November 2006 as: “Re-offending of Adults: results from the 2003 cohort”, Home Office Statistical Bulletin 20/06. The report is available online at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb2006.pdf
The two year re-offending rate for the 2003 cohort was 57.6 per cent. Among offenders discharged from custody the re-offending rate was 66 per cent. and for offenders commencing a community sentence the re-offending rate was 53.4 per cent.
School Summit: New South Wales
No Home Office Minister, in their official capacity, attended the recent school summit held by the Government of the State of New South Wales.
Single Non-emergency Phone Number
The outcome of the evaluation and assessment of the introduction of the single non-emergency number, 101, in the initial five wave-one areas, to be completed by the autumn of 2007, will inform plans for future development of the service.
Trade and Industry
Astra
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no recent estimate of the financial losses suffered by individuals in relation to Astra Holdings plc.
Energy Security
[holding answer 15 January 2007]: The Department set up the Joint Energy Security of Supply Working Group (JESS) with Ofgem in July 2001. Its first full report was published in July 2002 and it has subsequently published a further six reports, the most recent being in December 2006. The Secretary of State's first report to Parliament on the security of gas and electricity supply was also laid before the House in July 2005.
In 1997 the best assessment of the UK's energy security position was published in the energy projections embodied in Energy Paper 65, published in March 1995.
Farepak
[holding answer 11 January 2007]: The investigation is progressing satisfactorily. It will be completed as soon as possible consistent with the need for a thorough inquiry into the matters of concern. As my right hon. Friend knows, as soon as administrators were appointed for Farepak the Secretary of State announced an immediate investigation instead of waiting months for the administrators to report so that the facts could be established as soon as possible as a basis for further action.
Miners' Compensation
No contractors have refused to discuss liability. Negotiations continue with co-contractors and their representatives over the appropriate level of their contribution in some claims.
There are around 3,000 respiratory disease claims outstanding in which co-defendants are involved and 465 claims concerning pension loss. Of about 4,500 outstanding VWF general damages claims, nearly 4,000 involve co-defendants.
It would be inappropriate to place the requested papers in the Library of the House. The claim file is confidential and may contain personal data and material that are subject to Legal Professional Privilege.
Minutes of those meetings are not readily available. In any case, it is likely to be inappropriate to place the requested papers in the Library of the House. The minutes may be confidential and may contain personal data and material that are subject to Legal Professional Privilege.
Minimum Wage
The information requested is not available and no such assessment has been made.
The information requested is not available and no such assessment has been made.
Personal Debt
The following table records the numbers of individual bankruptcy orders in the London Region classified according to the Official Receivers’ Office from 1999-2000 to 2005-06. Figures are not separately available for each London borough.
Financial year totals Bankruptcy Orders 1999-2000 1,290 2000-01 1,298 2001-02 1,421 2002-03 1,562 2003-04 2,132 2004-051 4,910 2005-061 6,699 1 From 2004-05 Croydon Official Receiver’s Office is classified under London Region.
Post Office Network
No decisions have been made on individual closures in any particular area of the UK.
Post Office will develop specific proposals for post office closures and other changes to service provision after the national public consultation has ended and Government have reached their final decisions on future strategy for the post office network.
The Government intend to provide up to £1.7 billion, subject to state aid clearance, between now and 2011 in support of the post office network.
A detailed breakdown of our funding is not yet available and will be dependent, following the conclusion of Government's national consultation, on how Post Office Ltd. intends to implement the necessary restructuring of the network to meet the framework set by Government's proposals.
No decisions have been made on individual closures in any particular area of the UK.
Post Office Ltd. will develop specific proposals for post office closures and other changes to service provision after the national public consultation has ended and Government have reached their final decisions on future strategy for the post office network.
Royal Mail: Delivery Targets
This is an operational matter for Royal Mail. I have therefore asked Adam Crozier, the chief executive of Royal Mail, to provide a direct reply to the hon. Member.
Supermarkets
Competition in the grocery sector is a matter for the independent competition authorities and not the DTI. The effect of the Enterprise Act 2002 was to remove Ministers from decisions on competition issues. Since the Act came into force in 2004, Ministers have had no formal role in the supermarket question and therefore have not made representations to the Competition Commission (CC).
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has asked the CC to investigate if any features of this market prevent, restrict or distort competition and if so, what action might be taken to remedy these. The CC has a statutory requirement to report within two years of a reference to it by the OFT. It is required to publish its final report by 8 May 2008, but is aiming to do so by October 2007. The current timetable for the inquiry can be found at
www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/ref2006/grocery/core_timetable.htm
World Trade Organisation
I am replying as the Minister responsible for issues concerning WTO accession negotiations. On 14 September 2006 I met Deputy Minister Maxim Medvedkov of the Ministry of Economic Development and Russia's chief negotiator on WTO accession, to discuss Russia's progress towards their accession to the WTO. In addition, during 2006 DTI Ministers had a number of contacts with officials, UK business, EU ministerial colleagues and other contacts at which issues related to Russian or Ukrainian WTO accession would have been raised together with a range of other issues relevant to the business of the Department.
House of Commons Commission
Advertising
The House of Commons uses The Guardian, to advertise some vacancies. For the financial year 2005-06 a total of £84,951.34 was spent with The Guardian on placing advertisements, including online advertisements.
Private Dining Facilities
Clauses 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 of the terms and conditions of booking for the private dining rooms in the House of Commons were introduced, as currently worded, in December 2000.
There are no agreed exceptions or exemptions to clause 6.1, which requires any publicity, invitation, circular, literature or announcement in connection with a function to prominently bear the event sponsor's name, and for such material to be submitted to the banqueting office for approval prior to publication. It is the responsibility of the sponsor to ensure compliance with this requirement. Clause 6.2 requires any media interest in the event to be notified in writing to the banqueting office. In practice inquiries from the media now tend to come by telephone and the banqueting office does not insist on written notification from the media. Such inquiries are referred to the event organiser.
Culture, Media and Sport
Consultants
In relation to private finance initiatives in 2005-06;
(a) DCMS has not undertaken any such projects
(b) The Royal Parks undertook the following projects;
Richmond Park Golf Course
£33,000—Bucknall Austin—Project Management
£24,799—Humberts Leisure—Marketing
£1,500—Hawtree—Golf Course Design advice
Regent’s Park New Sports Facility
£33,000—Bucknall Austin—Project Management
£5,682—Turley Associates—Planning Advice
£1,183—David Morley Architects—Design work
£5,400—John Chapman—Leisure Consultant
All figures exclude VAT.
Digital Switchover
[holding answer 8 January 2007]: The Digital Switchover Help Scheme will cover:
all households with one person aged 75 or over
all households with one person with a significant disability in the relevant qualification period. This will be defined as being eligible for the following social security benefits: disability living allowance (including where the qualifying person is a child), attendance allowance, constant attendance allowance (CAA) under the industrial injuries disablement benefit scheme and CAA and war pensioners mobility supplement under the pre-2005 war pensions scheme.
all households where one person is registered severely sight impaired/blind or where one person is registered sight impaired/partially sighted.
The definition of household will follow the DWP definition of a “benefit unit”: a couple and any dependent children (aged under 16 or in full-time education). Non-dependent adults will be able to claim assistance in their own right.
The Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill would enable the scheme operator to target eligible individuals making it easier for them to claim and so help to increase take-up. The scheme will be supported by targeted communications and will benefit from more generic switchover-related communications, which Digital UK is producing and which will increase as switchover nears.
Digital UK will ensure, as part of its communications activities, that those hard-to-reach groups, particularly those who do not qualify for support from the Help Scheme, have adequate information available to support them through switchover.
Flags
The St. George’s Cross is flown on Government buildings with two or more flag poles on 23 April alongside the Union Flag to mark St. George’s day.
During Trooping the Colour, only flags of Commonwealth countries are flown in Horse Guards Road. As explained in the answer of 8 January 2007, Official Report, column 263W, the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories are not member states of the Commonwealth so their flags are not flown.
The Union Flag is flown on Government buildings to mark specific national events including Remembrance day, Europe day, St. George’s day, Her Majesty’s Accession and Wedding day and birthdays of members of the royal family undertaking official duties.
There are currently no plans to change this.
Heritage White Paper
England and Wales will jointly publish a White Paper on heritage protection reform shortly. The White Paper will set out our proposals for a new heritage protection system that is simpler, more open and more flexible.
Licensing Act
DCMS received the final report of the Independent Licensing Fees Review Panel on 12 December 2006. The Panel’s conclusions and recommendations are being considered and assessed. Copies of the report will be placed in the Library of the House shortly.
The Independent Fees Review Panel’s final report was received by DCMS on 12 December. We are currently making an assessment of all their conclusions and recommendations and we will place copies of the report in the Library of the House shortly. Should any changes to the fees regime and related issues be required, there will be a full public consultation in order to help inform future policy.
Mallin Report
The Mallin Review Group has consulted the Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA) during the preparation of the Mallin Basketball Review.
FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, is an independent association formed by 213 national federations of basketball throughout the world.
The Mallin Basketball Report is now in draft stage and is due to be published in February.
The total cost of the review so far is £86,060.64 excluding VAT. This funding is from the Sport England Whole Sport Plan modernisation budget.
A full list of consultees will be published alongside the review, although I understand that around 85 people from a wide range of basketball organisations have been consulted so far.
The Mallin Review Group is responsible for the information on the Basketball Review website, members of which are listed on the site. The Mallin Review Group is led by Tony Mallin and comprises the following members: Stephen Redwood, Michael Sorkin, Martin Henlan, John Eady, Dr. Neil Tunnicliffe, David Henwood and Lisa Wainwright
Olympic Games
The Olympic Village is expected to provide in the order of 4,400 homes, subject to final International Olympic Committee requirements for the London 2012 Games themselves and subject to detailed planning. The final number of homes to be developed across the whole of the Olympic Park will be much larger, but will be determined at a later stage and will be subject to planning policies and guidance. The ODA’s Sustainable Development Strategy will be published later this month, and will be providing information on the ODA’s proposals for carbon reduction.
Parliamentary Questions
A total of 2,173 written parliamentary questions were tabled to the Department in 2006, 1,731 of which were ordinary written and 442 were named day.
A total of 75.1 per cent. (1,300) of ordinary written questions were answered within 10 working days and, 71.3 per cent. (315) of named day questions were answered by the specific date.
Information is derived from the DCMS parliamentary questions database.
DCMS aims to ensure that Members receive a substantive response to their named day question on the named day and endeavours to answer ordinary written questions within a working week of being tabled. Unfortunately, this is not always possible but this Department makes every effort to achieve these timescales.
Royal Mail
In each of the last five years the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has spent the amounts listed as follows using Royal Mail.
£ 2002 56,262 2003 55,871 2004 55,733 2005 44,963 2006 36,187
Statistics
The National Statistics Code of Practice (2002)—which serves as a model for all public sector statistical work—established the principle that
“final responsibility for the content, format and timing of release of National Statistics”
rests with the Head of Profession for Statistics in each department. In reaching their decisions, Heads of Profession take into consideration the detailed procedural guidance given in the “National Statistics Protocol on Release Practices”.
Copies of the Code and its 12 supporting Protocols are available in the Library of the House and can also be accessed using the following address:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/national_statistics/cop/default.asp
In accordance with the National Statistics Code of Practice (2002), the Head of Profession for Statistics in DCMS has sole responsibility for determining, pre-announcing and, if necessary, altering the dates of publication of “National Statistics” and other relevant statistics produced by the Department.
Any decision to change a pre-announced publication date will be based on a range of professional considerations such as the completeness of the underlying data, their fitness for purpose, the need for consistency and coherence, the need to promote widespread access and informed debate, or any earlier accidental or wrongful release. In reaching their decision, the Head of Profession will also take into consideration the detailed procedural guidance given in the “National Statistics Protocol on Release Practices”. The Code and its 12 supporting Protocols are available in the Library of the House, and can also be accessed using the following address:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/national_statistics/cop/default.asp
This Department has no historical record of the occasions on which the Head of Profession changed a pre-announced publication date in the last five years.
Tourism
During the calendar year 2005 (the last full year for which consolidated figures are available from the Office for National Statistics’s International Passenger Survey), 30 million inbound visitors to the UK spent £14.2 billion in this country. Visitor numbers and spending for that year were up by 8 per cent. and 9 per cent. respectively, when compared to 2004.
The latest available estimates from the survey are for the three months to November 2006. During this time 7.9 million inbound visitors spent £3.9 billion—both figures being significant increases on the 2005 figures for the same quarter.
Since 2004, tourism’s share of the national economy has been expressed in Gross Value Added, using Tourism Satellite Accounting methodology. The latest available figures for tourism’s share of the total UK economy are for the calendar year 2003. For that year, domestic and inbound tourism receipts totalled £74.2 billion, which was 3.4 per cent. of the UK economy—of which, inbound tourism receipts at £11.9 billion represented 0.55 per cent.
UEFA Cup
I have no current plans to make any representations to the FA as this is a matter between the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and Gibraltar Football Association (GFA). I understand a final decision on GFA’s request is due to be agreed at the UEFA Ordinary Congress in Dusseldorf on 25 and 26 January 2007.
Education and Skills
“Making Good Progress” Document
(2) whether the single level tests envisaged by the “Making Good Progress” consultation document are intended to (a) replace or (b) run alongside existing multi-level tests;
(3) if he will set out the (a) purpose, (b) timetable and (c) other arrangements for the pilot announced in the “Making Good Progress” consultation document; and if he will make a statement;
(4) who will carry out the evaluation of the conclusions of the pilot announced in the “Making Good Progress” consultation document;
(5) if he will ensure that the evaluation of the conclusions of the pilot announced in the “Making Good Progress” consultation document uses a methodology of a standard equivalent to that used in experimental research, including the use of control groups.
The consultation document “Making Good Progress” was published on 8 January 2007 and the consultation runs until 2 April 2007. It proposes a pilot to run for two years in a small number of local authorities (LAs). In some schools in those LAs, single-level “tests for progress” would be piloted, running alongside existing multi-level tests so that the results could be calibrated for consistency. Pupils in the pilot would therefore take both kinds of test. The document suggests that in-year tests might ultimately replace end of key stage arrangements, but this would depend on the experience of the pilot and is not an early prospect. Arrangements for the pilot, including the terms of reference for external evaluation, will be announced after the end of the consultation. The document makes clear that any changes trialled in the pilot, or adopted subsequently, would not be allowed to compromise the accountability delivered by the framework of tests, targets and performance tables which have helped to drive up standards so sharply over the past decade. The current national curriculum assessment arrangements at the end of key stages 1, 2 and 3 will continue to be an important part of our drive to raise standards in schools.
Academy School: (North Copeland)
My officials are working with Cumbria county council to develop proposals to establish an Academy in North Copeland which would replace Wyndham and Ehenside schools.
Building Schools for the Future
(2) how many (a) community schools, (b) voluntary aided schools, (c) voluntary controlled schools and (d) foundation schools have been granted Building Schools for the Future funding; and how many of these are (i) special schools, (ii) specialist schools and (iii) grammar schools.
Building Schools for the Future (BSF) aims to rebuild or refurbish all secondary schools in England in 15 waves of investment which started in 2005-06. Prioritisation is on the educational and social needs of geographical groupings of schools proposed by authorities. The needs of all maintained schools of all types in these areas must be considered by authorities when developing details of their plans. In general, we would not expect school buildings built less than 15 years ago to receive significant investment. Full details of the criteria were published in November 2004 in “BSF Prioritisation and Forward Planning Information”, a copy of which is available in the House Library. Six local authority BSF projects have now reached financial closure. This means that they have been formally granted BSF funding for the schools in their projects. Other local authority BSF projects are finalising their school estate plans. The six projects at financial close are Bradford, Bristol, Lancashire, Manchester, and the London boroughs of Lambeth and Greenwich. In their projects there are in total:
(a) 32 community schools, of which 10 are special schools; two are pupil referral units and one a sixth form college
(b) Four voluntary aided schools;
(c) No voluntary controlled schools;
(d) No foundation schools.
Of the above, 18 are specialist schools and one is a grammar school
A limited amount of BSF funding was also made available to pathfinder and wave one authorities in 2004-05 and 2005-06 for “quick win” projects. These were intended to help develop the early elements of BSF prior to the first formal phase of investment in 2005-06. Of the schools which received this funding:
12 are community schools, including four community special schools;
One is a voluntary controlled school;
Two are foundation schools.
One was a community school at the time it received the funding but is now an Academy;
11 are specialist schools;
None are grammar schools.
Building Schools for the Future Programme
The first phase of Lancashire county council's Building Schools for the Future project reached financial closure on 15 December. As a result the council will receive £94.8 million in PFI credits and £4.185 million in conventional funding.
Centres for Excellence in Teacher Training
The information requested has been placed in the House Library.
Children's Centres
I have received no representations related to the decision not to conduct a separate regulatory impact assessment (RIA) for Sure Start children’s centres. A full RIA was completed for the Childcare Act 2006 that included consideration of the statutory requirement to secure proactive, accessible and integrated services for under fives—the duty that underpins the delivery of high quality services through children’s centres.
Children's Rights Survey
The Department has commissioned a consortium of children organisations to ensure that as many children and young people as possible take part in his Department’s online children’s rights survey. The consortium consists of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, the National Children’s Bureau, UNICEF UK and Save the Children (England).
The survey has featured on children and young people websites including those of the Office of Children’s Commissioner, Children’s Rights Alliance for England, National Children’s Bureau, Save the Children, UNICEF UK, Teen issues, School Councils UK, National Deaf Children’s Society, Participation Works, the Scout Association, Girlguiding UK and “The Site”. It has also been featured on a range of Government sponsored websites including those of DirectGov Young People, Connexions Direct and Every Child Matters.
The survey has been promoted by relevant networks: the UK Youth Parliament; the Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) and citizenship network at the National Children’s Bureau; the Participation Workers Network England; the Children’s Rights Officers and Advocates; 380 member organisations of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England; and to members of the international Children’s Rights Information Network. It has also featured in Children Now and Young People Now magazines.
Competition Managers
Competition managers’ role is to improve the quality and quantity of school competitions for young people aged between five and 16. In the first year of activity, the pilot wave of 20 competition managers created 690 new competitions involving nearly 40,000 young people. We are currently reviewing their impact with a view to agreeing specific targets for the next phase of competition managers.
This information is not held centrally. Grants, based on the number of competition managers and senior competition managers allocated to the area, are passed to the host organisation, and it is for them to decide the level of salary to offer.
Court Information
List 98 is not a list maintained by the Department for Education and Skills. Some educational establishments and authorities have introduced and maintained such lists under local arrangements, but they are not a requirement under education or employment law.
Requests from courts for information about people giving evidence who are on List 99 are not received routinely. Any request or order by a court, or for the purpose of court proceedings, would be considered in accordance with the law on a case by case basis.
Drug Testing
Schools do not have to inform the Department if they wish to introduce random drug testing for pupils. However, we are aware of three maintained schools which have tested pupils for drugs: The Abbey School, Kent, The National School, Nottinghamshire, and Colne Community School, Essex. We understand that the Abbey School was the first to introduce drug testing in the spring term of 2005.
The proportion of 15-year-olds achieving 5+A*-C over the last five years, for which data is available, is given in the following table.
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 The Abbey School, Faversham, Kent 26 26 32 25 40 Colne Community School, Brightlingsea, Essex 50 55 62 59 50 The National School, Huknall, Nottinghamshire. 61 56 53 57 60
Education Funding: North Lincolnshire
[holding answer 19 December 2007]: Capital allocations from the Department to schools in North Lincolnshire in each of the last 10 years are set out in the following table:
Amount (£ million) 1997-98 1.0 1998-99 2.8 1999-2000 2.4 2000-01 6.4 2001-02 10.9 2002-03 11.1 2003-04 6.1 2004-05 10.2 2005-06 5.3 2006-07 6.2
The increase in funding in 2001-02 and 2002-03 is due to large basic need, new deal for schools grant, and targeted capital fund grants. The increase in funding in 2004-05 is due to targeted capital fund grants.
English Language Teaching
Departmental funding is available via the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG). This is a ring-fenced grant which provides a contribution towards support for underachieving ethnic minority pupils and support for those pupils for whom English is an Additional Language. The total grant for 2007-08 is £179 million.
In addition, £435 million of the £24.6 billion Schools Formula Spending Share for 2005-06 was distributed on the basis of numbers of children from underachieving ethnic minority groups and for those pupils for whom English is an Additional Language. The Dedicated Schools Grant allocations for 2007-08 will depend on January 2007 school census data.
In October 2006, we announced that the Department would allocate £400,000 for an English as an Additional Language Excellence Programme. The funding will be spent in 2006-07 and 2007-08 to provide advice, guidance and training for local authorities and schools to provide good quality provision for new arrivals and teaching English as an Additional Language.
Excluded Pupils
From September 2007, the Education and Inspections Act 2006 will require all permanently excluded pupils to be provided with a full time education from the sixth day of exclusion. Local authorities will have a duty to make arrangements for these children to receive suitable alternative education.
Fingerprinting
The Department keeps no records of individual schools which may have commenced or withdrawn schemes for fingerprinting children.
The Department keeps no records of schools which fingerprint or have previously fingerprinted school children for administrative purposes.
Foreign Language Teaching
According to the latest Headspace survey, conducted by Education Guardian and EdComs, 71 per cent. of all English primary schools are either delivering or planning to deliver language learning programmes—a significant increase since 2002 when only 20 per cent. of primary schools were offering opportunities to learn languages. The Department, over the two financial years 2006-08, will have distributed £49.5 million amongst all local authorities through the Standards Fund to support language learning programmes.
To build workforce capacity in English primary schools, the Department funds the cost of initial teacher training for new primary teachers with a languages specialism in French, Spanish, German, Italian or Portuguese. To date 2,000 new teachers with a language specialism have been trained.
In addition, we are funding training for existing primary teachers with language skills so that they too can support language learning programmes in their schools.
Finally, we have published the Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages which offers a practical reference tool for planning, teaching and monitoring the learning process.
Lord Dearing is currently carrying out a review of language learning in secondary schools and is due to submit his final report to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills by the end of February. The Secretary of State will consider Lord Dearing’s recommendations and formally respond to them.
Foundation Degrees
The Association of Colleges, which represents the interests of Further Education Colleges in England and Wales, has welcomed the proposals in Clause 19 (Power to award Foundation Degrees only) of the Further Education and Training Bill. In addition, the Mixed Economy Group and the 157 Group of leading Further Education Colleges have been similarly supportive of the move. Positive feedback has also been received in my Department from individual college principals within the FE sector who feel that the proposals are enabling, and that they will facilitate the sector’s vital role, emphasised by Lord Leitch’s recent report on skills, in providing high-quality training that is flexible and responsive to employers’ and learners’ needs.
French IGCSE
Unlike the GCSE, International GCSEs, including French, have been designed primarily as a qualification for overseas candidates and are not aligned to the national curriculum programmes of study at Key Stage 4. They have not, therefore, been approved by the Secretary of State under Section 96 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 as an external qualification for use with pupils in maintained secondary schools. The GCSE remains the principal means of assessing pupil attainment at the end of compulsory schooling in maintained schools; there are no current plans to change this. The Department recently launched an e- consultation on IGCSEs to seek the views of the wider community on the issues for IGCSEs in the maintained sector. The consultation will run until 23 February 2007. The consultation can be accessed at: www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations.
GCSEs
The following table shows the number and percentage of 15-year-old pupils1 attempting a GCSE at both geography and history in each year since 1996.
Number Percentage 1996 67,834 12.2 1997 64,036 11.6 1998 51,226 9.4 1999 49,408 8.1 2000 47,179 7.8 2001 49,181 7.9 2002 47,461 7.6 2003 46,362 7.4 2004 49,195 7.6 2005 51,191 8.0 20062 54,528 8.4 1 Pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year i.e. 31 August. 2 Data for 2006 are provisional. Data for ail other years are final.
Interpreters
The Department does not collect this information.
Key Stage 3
The following table gives the percentage of pupils achieving level 5 and level 6 in each of the KS3 non-core teacher assessments since 1997. The 2006 data are not yet available.
Design and technology ICT History Geography Modern foreign languages Art Music Physical education 1997 33 32 23 29 21 n/a n/a n/a 1998 35 34 29 29 22 n/a n/a n/a 1999 35 34 29 30 19 n/a n/a n/a 2000 37 36 32 32 26 n/a n/a n/a 2001 38 37 33 32 28 36 38 40 2002 39 39 33 33 29 37 40 43 2003 40 41 34 34 30 39 42 44 2004 41 43 35 35 30 39 43 45 2005 42 45 36 36 31 41 44 47
Design and Technology ICT History Geography Modern foreign languages Art Music Physical education 1997 19 15 14 20 6 n/a n/a n/a 1998 20 18 20 20 7 n/a n/a n/a 1999 17 17 17 18 5 n/a n/a n/a 2000 22 21 21 22 9 n/a n/a n/a 2001 23 21 22 22 14 27 18 22 2002 23 22 22 22 15 26 18 23 2003 24 21 23 23 15 26 19 23 2004 24 20 23 24 16 26 19 23 2005 24 20 24 24 17 25 19 24
Listed School Premises
(2) what steps he is taking to ensure the preservation of listed school premises.
We are committed to improving school buildings so that they are suitable for teaching and learning in the 21st century. In all of our capital programmes, including Building Schools for the Future and the primary capital programme, the Department promotes good design in all its forms, whether in new buildings or adaptations of old buildings.
The listing of buildings is the responsibility of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and English Heritage, while the development control system that protects them is the responsibility of the Department for Communities and Local Government. Decisions under these arrangements relating to listed school buildings are a local matter.
The Department for Education and Skills supports the protection these arrangements give to listed schools. We believe that existing buildings of historic or architectural interest, particularly if listed, should be retained for school use where they can meet modern expectations for teaching and learning. Where this is not possible, the Department shares English Heritage’s view that alternative use should be found rather than the building demolished.
The Department collaborated recently with English Heritage on a publication “The Future of Historic Buildings” which seeks to increase understanding about dealing with historic school buildings in the light of our long-term school building programme.
National Curriculum
There are no plans to make personal, social and health education (PSHE) statutory. Many aspects of PSHE—sex education, drug education and careers education—already have a statutory basis within the curriculum. In addition, there are a number of requirements on schools which support PSHE including the need for policies on bullying, promoting race equality and child protection.
The Department's priority is to improve the effectiveness of what is taught by providing clear guidance, supporting high-quality continuing professional development for teachers, identifying and disseminating good practice, and helping schools to meet the standards for PSHE required by the national healthy schools programme.
Parents in Prison
[holding answer 15 January 2007]: Recent research undertaken by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that approximately 3 per cent. of children and young people’ plans, from a representative sample of 75 local authorities, make specific reference to children with a parent in prison.
Renewable Energy: (Schools)
The Department has adopted “BREEAM Schools”, an adaptation of an internationally recognised environmental assessment method. It is a specific requirement that new school buildings and refurbishment projects above a threshold achieve a BREEAM rating of “very good” or better. This provides a strong incentive for design teams to consider options to reduce carbon emissions through energy efficiency measures and renewable energy systems.
In addition, grant funding for microgeneration technologies, including solar thermal panels, is available to schools via the DTI’s Low Carbon Buildings Programme.
Rural Schools
The available information for Cornwall and England is given in the following table.
For similar information on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland I refer the hon. Member to the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Department for Education.
Cornwall local authority area Primary Secondary Rural4 Urban5 Total Rural4 Urban5 Total Number of schools 169 70 239 12 19 31 Percentage of schools 70.7 29.3 100.0 38.7 61.3 100.0
Primary Secondary Rural4 Urban5 Total Rural4 Urban5 Total Number of schools 5,251 12,253 17,504 524 2,843 3,367 Percentage of schools 30.0 70.0 100.0 15.6 84.4 100.0 1 Includes middle schools as deemed. 2 Urban/rural classification for schools is based on the school's current postcode. 3 Schools have been classified as being in either an urban or rural area by matching their school postcode to the Rural and Urban Area Classification 2004 indicator held within the May 2006 National Statistics Postcode Directory. Areas are classified as urban or rural at the Census Output Area (COA) level, and postcodes are classified according to the status of the COA in which they are located. 4 Includes schools in the following classifications: hamlet and isolated dwelling (sparse and less sparse), town and fringe (sparse and less sparse), village (sparse and less sparse). 5 Includes schools in Urban = 10k (sparse and less sparse) classifications. Source: School Census and Edubase
School Buildings
(2) what the policy of his Department is on (a) rebuilding and (b) refurbishing school premises.
This Government are committed to improving school buildings so that they are suitable for teaching and learning needs in the 21st century. We are supporting record levels of investment in schools: £5.9 billion this year, rising to £8 billion a year by 2010-11. This compares with investment of under £700 million in 1996-97.
This funding is being used to rebuild or refurbish school premises. The option chosen is a local decision, which should be based on a rigorous options appraisal, including the suitability and condition of existing school buildings, value for money, whole-life costs and sustainability.
The primary capital programme starts in 2008-09, and will support investment of £150 million in that year and £500 million in each of the following two years. Subject to future public spending decisions, we expect the programme to continue for around 15 years. The decision whether to rebuild or refurbish a school is best taken locally on the basis of a proper options appraisal.
However, we have said that our long-term objective is to improve at least half of all primary schools. Our planning assumptions are that this will include replacing or taking out of use 5 per cent. of school buildings in the worst physical condition nationally, and replacing or taking out of use the 20 per cent. of the worst condition buildings in our most deprived communities. With strategic and joined-up planning and funding, we hope to exceed this over the life of the programme.
In 2007-08, the final year in the current spending review period, £6.4 billion will be available for capital improvements in primary and secondary schools. In the next spending review period, £6.6 billion will be available in 2008-09, £6.9 billion in 2009-10, and £8 billion in 2010-11. No allocations have been agreed for further years. There is no breakdown of these figures between (a) rebuilding and (b) refurbishing, or between (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools, as expenditure decisions will be made individually by each local authority.
The following construction companies have been considered, as part of consortiums shortlisted for Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects: Amey, Carillion, Skanska, Mill, HBG, Taylor Woodrow, Kier, Mott MacDonald, Alfred McAlpine, VT, Costain, Kajima, Bouygues, Sir Robert McAlpine, Balfour Beatty, Bovis Lend Lease, Bowmore Kirkland, Vinci, Galliford Try, Amec, Miller, Bilfinger Berger, Laing, Laing O’Rourke, Apollo, Wilmott Dixon and Wates.
The following construction companies are part of consortiums which have been selected as preferred bidders or which have signed contracts for BSF projects: Amey, Costain, Skanska, Bovis Lend Lease, Taylor Woodrow, Sir Robert McAlpine, Balfour Beatty, Miller, HBG, Laing O’Rourke, Mott MacDonald, Bouygues and Apollo.
School Food
The School Food Trust will have preliminary findings related to changes in the provision of school food available later this year. Preliminary results on children’s consumption will be available in 2009 (for primary schools) and in 2010 (for secondary schools).
In support of the drive to improve school food, and the commitments made in the Public Health White Paper “Choosing Health”, Ofsted will expect schools to present evidence about their general approach to food and healthy eating (the “whole school” approach) as well as more specifically about the standard of school lunches. Ofsted will routinely comment on the quality of school meals and will report on any issues which arise out of the self assessment or as a result of their inspection visit.
In addition, Ofsted are undertaking a separate programme of visits to a smaller sample of schools. This will allow more detailed reporting on the standard of food provided and consumed in schools.
These arrangements reflect our vision about the importance of healthy eating and our determination to support schools in their efforts to improve the nutritional quality of food and drink.
School Governors
Prospective school governors are not required to provide details of their ethnic origin. However, all schools and local authorities are under a duty to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination and promote equal opportunities.
We encourage all bodies engaged in recruiting new school governors to monitor the ethnic origin of the governors they appoint, but completion of any ethnic monitoring forms is always voluntary.
Many schools will have pupils from black and minority ethnic groups, different faiths, refugees, or children with English as a second language. It is important that governing bodies include people who have the skills and abilities to drive forward school improvement from all racial and cultural backgrounds.
School Places: (Hornsey and Wood Green)
The following table shows the capacity of schools in the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.
School name Number of pupil places Primary schools Alexandra Primary School 260 Bounds Green Infant School 270 Bounds Green Junior School 360 Campsbourne Infant School 178 Campsbourne Junior School 240 Coldfall Primary School 630 Coleridge Primary School 420 Earlham Primary School 409 Highgate Primary School 392 Lordship Lane Primary School 630 Muswell Hill Primary School 420 Nightingale Primary School 420 Noel Park Primary School 567 Our Lady of Muswell RC Primary School 420 Rhodes Avenue Primary School 420 Rokesly Infant School 270 Rokesly Junior School 360 St. Aidan’s VC Primary School 210 St. Gilda’s RC Junior School 240 St. James C of E Primary 210 St. Martin of Porres RC Primary 210 St. Mary’s CE Infant School 180 St. Mary’s CE Junior School 240 St. Michael’s Primary School 420 St. Paul’s RC Primary School 210 St. Peter In Chains RC Infant School 180 St. Michael's CE Primary School 210 Stroud Green Primary School 420 Tetherdown Primary School 210 Weston Park Primary School 210 Total 9,816 Secondary schools Alexandra Park School 1,290 Fortismere School 1,511 Highgate Wood School 1,200 Hornsey School for Girls 1,434 St. Thomas More RC School 1,123 Woodside High School 1,222 Greig Academy 1,250 Total 9,030
School Sites
Data on numbers of schools sharing sites are not held by the Department.
School Travel
We do not collect that information.
School Finance
Of the £5.5 billion allocated for schools capital investment in 2005-06, there is recorded slippage of £0.2 billion in the Department’s accounts. This has been carried forward to use in future financial years.
Schools (Milton Keynes)
The Department does not give approvals for capital expenditure on individual (a) schools and nurseries and (b) secondary schools, as it relies on local authorities to prioritise funds available to them, including funds raised locally. Capital allocations for schools and nurseries from my Department to Milton Keynes have risen substantially since the financial year commencing 1 April 2000, and are set out in the following table:
Amount (£ million) 2000-01 10.6 2001-02 9.9 2002-03 20.3 2003-04 29.1 2004-05 39.1 2005-06 30.8 2006-07 52.5
The allocation of £52.5 million in 2006-07 includes a high basic need allocation of £31.4 million, for expansion, and a targeted capital funding allocation of £11.6 million.
Sign Language Courses
The sector subject areas of approved qualifications on the national qualifications framework are determined by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) as part of the accreditation process. Sign language courses that are currently part of the national qualifications framework are assigned to the language, literature and culture sector subject area.
The sector subject area does not affect the eligibility for funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Sign language courses have not been reclassified for funding purposes and remain eligible for LSC funding.
Special Educational Needs
The Department does not collect data relating to education supervision orders.
Specialised Diplomas
Schools, colleges, work-based learning providers, higher education institutions and employers, through Diploma Development Partnerships, have been involved from the beginning in the design of the new diploma qualifications and will be key to the delivery of them.
The Department has a number of channels through which we disseminate information to these stakeholders, e.g. regular emails, the 14-19 website (www.dfes.gov.uk/14-19), Directgov, and the 14-19 newsletter for which there is a subscription list. The focus so far has been on getting information to providers in preparation for the Gateway process.
We have already received great interest from areas wishing to deliver the diplomas in 2008. A total of 1,121 self assessments were received from consortiums (partnerships comprising local authorities, learning and skills councils, schools, colleges, and employers/work-based learning providers) wishing to go through the Gateway process, which means that nearly every local authority area hopes to offer diplomas in 2008. The Gateway is a process that will assess consortiums and identify those best equipped to secure the necessary awarding body approval to deliver the diplomas in 2008.
On 12 December 2006, the Secretary of State announced our diploma “champions” who will promote the diplomas and wider reforms with their sectors. These are:
Sir Alan Jones, Chairman of Toyota as the diploma champion for employers;
Sir Mike Tomlinson, the former Chief Inspector of Schools and current chair of the Learning Trust in Hackney, as the diploma champion for schools, colleges and work-based learning providers; and
Professors Deian Hopkin, Vice Chancellor of London South Bank University and Michael Arthur, Vice Chancellor of the University of Leeds, as diploma champions for higher education.
In addition, the Department is undertaking the following specific activity to promote the uptake of Diplomas:
(i) nine regional conferences were held in October 2006 for schools and colleges and others involved in Gateway consortia, aimed at sharing information and practically supporting areas in the delivery of the 14-19 education reforms;
(ii) five regional conferences are being held throughout December and January to provide information to higher education on the diplomas and other reforms;
(iii) We are supporting the Association of Colleges to run a series of further education conferences on the 14-19 education reforms from February to March, which will include diploma workshops;
(iv) We are working with the CBI and others to engage employers in diploma delivery. The DDPs will also be promoting the diplomas within their sectors.
We do not expect all areas to be offering diplomas in September 2008. In spring 2007 we will be announcing which areas have passed through the Gateway process and will be offering diplomas for young people to study. We will then be targeting the young people and parents affected regionally with information to help individuals to make the best personal choice.
Teach First Scheme
In addition to London and Manchester, by 2009-10 I expect Teach First to have expanded to recruit trainees in the Midlands (covering Birmingham, Coventry and Nottingham) and in Yorkshire and Humberside (covering Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, Doncaster and Huddersfield), and the existing office in the North West will also recruit for Liverpool.
Truancy
[holding answer 11 January 2007]: The Department focuses on reducing all absences from schools, not just those which are unauthorised. Overall absence rates have been substantially lower than the 1996-97 rate in all but two of the last nine years. In 2005-06, when absence rates were affected by unusually high levels of sickness, absence was still 0.54 per cent. points below the 1996-97 level—equivalent to 37,000 more pupils in school every single day.
We do not have a direct measure of truancy. Unauthorised absence is often used as a proxy for truancy, but it is an imperfect measure because it also includes lateness and some term time holidays. It is also well known that unauthorised absence tends to rise when schools take a tougher line on absence generally, as has happened in recent years, without reflecting any underlying increase in truancy. The latest figures show no increase in unauthorised absence. That is why the Department has moved away from targets focusing narrowly on rates of unauthorised absence.
The vast majority of unauthorised absence is very short term: of the secondary school pupils with unauthorised absence in the autumn and spring terms 2005-06, 55 per cent. missed only one or two days and 75 per cent. missed 5 days or fewer. But we also now know that a small minority of pupils miss significant amounts of their schooling. That is why we are now focusing our efforts on reducing persistent absence, including persistent truancy, in schools where this problem is most acute. This is proving highly effective. Last year, our targeted challenge and support in 198 secondary schools helped to reduce the number of persistent truants in those schools by 27 per cent., to reduce the average rate of absence in those schools by 0.63 per cent. and the average rate of unauthorised absence by 0.89 per cent.
Building on that success, we are now focusing on providing challenge and support to 436 secondary schools with high levels of persistent absence.
Voluntary School Staff
The Government would like to take this opportunity to recognise the important role that the wide range of volunteers play in supporting pupils and teachers in schools. Whether it be parents reading to pupils, learning mentor activities or the participation of undergraduates in schools through our own funded schemes such as the Student Associate Scheme or Undergraduate Ambassadors, they bring with them a wider range of skills, experience and knowledge, which complement the professional pedagogical skills of teachers and trained support staff.
Duchy of Lancaster
Cabinet Office: (Hospitality)
My department spent £649,000 on hospitality and entertainment in 2005-06.
Information on hospitality and entertainment expenditure for 1996-97 is not held on the department's accounting system and is therefore not available.
All Cabinet Office expenditure on official hospitality and entertainment is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in “Government Accounting” and other HM Treasury guidance.
Consultants
The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office and therefore the answer provided is for the whole of the Cabinet Office including the Prime Minister’s Office.
For details of my department’s spend on external consultants (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06; and the estimated costs for 2006-07, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 29 November 2006, Official Report, columns 767-68W.
Duchy Council
As Chancellor, I require the Council to ensure that its members have the experience and expertise to discharge its responsibilities, and the balance of such experience and expertise must be considered when making an appointment of a new member of council.
Ministerial Committees
Information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
Special Advisers and Consultants
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State to him on 7 November 2006, Official Report, column 1063W.
Civil servants, including special advisers, are provided with mobile telephones as necessary for the purposes of undertaking their official duties.
Statistics
In accordance with the National Statistics Code of Practice (2002), the Head of Profession for Statistics in the Cabinet Office has sole responsibility for determining, pre-announcing and, if necessary, altering the dates of publication of “National Statistics” and other relevant statistics produced by the Department.
Any decision to change a pre-announced publication date will be based on a range of professional considerations such as the completeness of the underlying data, their fitness for purpose, the need for consistency and coherence, the need to promote widespread access and informed debate, or any earlier accidental or wrongful release. In reaching their decision, the Head of Profession will also take into consideration the detailed procedural guidance given in the “National Statistics Protocol on Release Practices”. The Code and its 12 supporting Protocols are available in the Library for the reference of Members, and can also be accessed using the following address:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/national_statistics/cop/default.asp
This Department has no historical record of the occasions on which the Head of Profession changed a pre-announced publication date in the last five years.
Trade Union Funding
The Cabinet Office has not provided any funding to individual trade unions in the last three years.
Deputy Prime Minister
Departmental Christmas Party
(2) what the budget is for his Department’s Christmas party.
I hosted a short early-evening reception for some of the civil servants and Ministers who have provided me with support over the past year.
Work and Pensions
16 to 25-year-olds
The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Basildon Jobcentre Plus
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 16 January 2007:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what the backlog is for dealing with new cases at Basildon Jobcentre Plus. This is something that falls within my responsibilities as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Basildon Benefit Delivery Centre (BDC) has recently completed a programme of centralising all Incapacity Benefit, Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance work previously carried out at offices throughout the county. The centralisation has caused some backlogs but we have successfully reduced these and expect to see a continued improvement into the New Year. The volume of claims outstanding has been steadily reducing over recent months and the current position represents a 17 per cent improvement against the position in October 2006.
The latest figures (for week ending 8 December) show that Basildon BDC has a combined total of 3,060 new claims to Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support and Incapacity Benefit outstanding against an expected claim intake figure of 2640. The difference of 420 equates to approximately 1 days intake of claims.
The management team at Basildon are working hard to make significant improvements to their performance. A recovery plan is in place and other BDCs within the network are undertaking work on behalf of Basildon to increase productivity.
Benefit Claims
The available information is in the following tables. The figures are for claims made in each year and do not indicate the number of awards made.
1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 Income support 1— 1— 1,387,384 1,372,849 1,490,281 1,273,061 Jobseeker's allowance 61,308,016 2,919,810 2,990,416 2,873,256 2,671,505 2,530,253 Incapacity benefit 972,075 963,406 886,944 869,490 853,653 777,383 Severe disablement allowance5 60,946 29,643 26,716 28,743 29,619 5,451 Maternity allowance 1— 1— 52,097 47,516 45,751 45,654 Bereavement benefit 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 26,528 Bereavement payment 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 33,857 Widows payment 24,534 24,727 24,220 27,540 21,887 2,545 Widow's benefit 18,095 17,566 19,503 15,613 16,893 1,693 IIDB3 (Industrial accident) 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 5,759 IIDB3 (Prescribed diseases) 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 10,690 IIDB3 (REA) 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1,989 Pension credit 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— State pension 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— Attendance allowance 1— 367,229 369,770 353,337 364,881 344,269 Disability living allowance 491,167 437,531 375,198 370,443 386,815 384,765 Carer's allowance 1— 1— 1— 148,904 142,444 135,975 Community care grant 1,145,572 1,154,428 1,125,836 602,675 547,672 538,443 Budgeting loan 1,386,954 1,442,017 1,410,497 1,633,549 1,672,627 1,712,719 Crisis loan 963,044 1,027,313 1,102,917 1,257,199 1,256,813 1,290,293 Funeral payment 54,557 47,787 47,852 43,918 39,744 39,954 Sure Start maternity 1— 1— 1— 1— 165,615 205,513
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Income support 1,154,940 960,294 861,583 829,154 Jobseeker's allowance 2,536,351 2,314,388 2,122,140 2,201,321 Incapacity benefit 905,613 799,773 754,253 695,919 Severe disablement allowance5 1,089 698 613 555 Maternity allowance 68,548 71,683 72,881 75,798 Bereavement benefit 46,065 50,953 53,324 53,964 Bereavement payment 61,433 68,053 65,917 65,697 Widows payment 539 559 664 1,146 Widow's benefit 5,620 639 305 934 IIDB4 (Industrial accident) 16,933 20,654 19,014 18,937 IIDB4 (Prescribed diseases) 31,053 37,604 25,743 21,704 IIDB4 (REA) 4,661 3,652 2,915 2,176 Pension credit 496,317 1,177,394 802,248 434,924 State pension 696,468 731,319 742,474 786,346 Attendance allowance 1— 422,142 393,889 413,807 Disability living allowance 1— 1— 427,551 432,962 Carer's allowance 1— 232,068 234,804 249,916 Community care grant 570,906 575,547 569,810 577,050 Budgeting loan 1,697,664 1,684,836 1,623,107 1,639,141 Crisis loan 1,348,774 1,378,009 1,348,122 1,373,985 Funeral payment 67,953 71,492 69,599 67,834 Sure Start maternity 278,887 310,538 321,537 325,641 1 No information available. This is because either data was not collected or the data is unreliable. 2 IIDB = Industrial injuries disablement benefit. 3 IIDB figures do not include some claims from overseas. 4 REA = Reduced earnings allowance. 5 No new claims have been accepted for severe disablement allowance since April 2001; figures after this date represent claims which have been rebuilt. 6 Jobseeker's allowance replaced unemployment benefit and income support for unemployed people on 7 October 1996. Therefore the figure for 1996-97 is a part year figure. Source: DWP management information data.
Carers
There are no reliable estimates available for the requested information.
As at 31 May 2006, the latest date for which information is available, over 785,000 carers of severely disabled people were entitled to carer's allowance. Of these, some 454,000 were receiving the allowance, 332,000 were receiving another income maintenance benefit of at least the same amount, and some 410,000 had the carer premium included in the assessment of their income-related benefits, or the additional amount for carers included in the assessment of their pension credit.
Source:
Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study; figures rounded to the nearest thousand.
Child Maintenance Payments
The Commissioner for Child Maintenance will lead C-MEC as part of an independent board. C-MEC will be required to produce annual reports and accounts to lay before Parliament. Further details on governance structures, including lines of accountability, will be brought forward in due course.
Child Support Agency
Child Support legislation will only allow the transfer of an old scheme case to the new scheme where there are prescribed links to a new scheme application. In such cases, the new calculation will be based on the new scheme percentage rates of 15, 20 and 25 per cent. of net income depending on the number of children.
In cases where there is no such link, any reassessment will be carried out under the old rules.
Following Sir David Henshaw’s review we have set out our proposals for the transition from the current to the new arrangements in the White Paper published on 13 December 2006.
No bonus pay awards will be made to senior civil servants at the Child Support Agency this Christmas. The Department will pay no bonus payments to senior civil servants this Christmas.
Crisis Loans
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 16 January 2007:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what proportion of calls to each Crisis Loan helpline (a) were answered, (b) were unanswered and (c) received an engaged tone in the last period for which figures are available. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
We do not have crisis loan helplines. Currently customers can be dealt with in 3 different ways when applying for Crisis Loans through Social Fund:
Regions and Countries that have migrated Social Fund into their regional and national sites and have officially gone live as a Benefit Delivery Centre will have issued an 0800 number for their customers to telephone. These 0800 numbers are specific to their Regions and Countries. Currently we have 4 Benefit Delivery Centres that have recently gone live that have centralised Social Fund—Sheffield, Norwich, Newcastle and Nottingham. Not all districts in these regions have migrated their work into these Benefit Delivery Centres yet. It is therefore too early to have gathered information on numbers of calls and possible delays. Managers have responsibility for ensuring 25% of their staff are available at all times to answer telephone calls.
Offices that have rolled-out into Jobcentre Plus will give their customers the option of using the telephone service. In Regions and Countries that have not yet centralised Social Fund, these numbers will be local numbers (not 0800 numbers). In most cases customers will be ringing their nearest office. Information is not collated on the number of calls to these offices for crisis loans.
Not all offices have rolled out into Jobcentre Plus and customers in these areas will visit their local social security office to make an application for a crisis loan at the office.
Once all Benefit Delivery Centres have rolled out and Social Fund has migrated into the nominated Social Fund sites in the Regions and Countries, then 0800 numbers will be used nationally. Completion of roll-out for all Benefit Delivery Centres is March 2008 when advanced telephony systems will also be in place, enabling us to monitor telephony performance site by site.
Disability Discrimination Act
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 inserted into the 1995 Act the requirement for the Department to carry out certain specific disability equality duties. In particular, it is required to publish, and periodically review, a Disability Equality Scheme which sets out how it intends to carry out its disability equality duties. DWP and its constituent businesses published its first Disability Equality Schemes on 1 December 2006.
Impact assessing the Department’s policies and services and preparation of the Disability Equality Schemes took some months to complete and involved all of the Department’s businesses. Action plans will take some time to deliver. Identifying expenditure on these activities would be disproportionate to the costs. However some costs are clearly identifiable. These amount to £645,000 and include spending on the central team which co-ordinated and planned publication of the Schemes, the costs of publication and liaison with the businesses. This figure also includes the cost involved in producing Gender Equality Schemes and progress reports on Race Equality Schemes which were published with the Disability Equality Schemes.
There will be ongoing implementation costs to the Department in delivering and reviewing action plans every three years and reporting on progress against the plans on an annual basis.
Disability Living Allowance
(2) what estimate he has made of the additional cost to public funds of awarding disability living allowance at the higher rate for mobility to registered blind and visually impaired people now in receipt of the mobility component at the lower rate.
As at May 2006, the latest date for which information is available, 62,140 people whose main disabling condition is recorded as blindness were receiving disability living allowance. Of these, 40,030 people under the age of 65 were receiving the lower-rate mobility component. The estimated additional cost of paying the higher-rate mobility component would be about £56 million per year.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
Forced Labour
The Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force has made no assessment of forced labour in the UK. Responsibility for combating trafficking for labour exploitation lies with the Home Office. However, DWP fully supports policies which set and monitor international labour standards, including the regulation of ‘gang masters’.
Henshaw Review
The assumptions underlying Sir David Henshaw’s review of the system of child support are set out in his report “Henshaw D, 2006, Recovering child support: routes to responsibility, CM 6894”.
The further internal analysis referred to in his report was based on publicly available statistics and datasets
Wikely N et al, 2001, National Survey of Child Support Agency Clients, Department for Work and Pensions Research Report No 152
Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics March 2006
2004-05 Family Resources Survey
2003 Families and Children Study
2004 Families and Children Study
These statistics were used to calculate two key components of the Henshaw report: the impact of an increasing emphasis on private maintenance arrangements on the caseload of the administrative system; and the impact of the reforms on child poverty.
As a result of the reforms which Sir David Henshaw put forward he estimated that the number of children receiving maintenance would increase from 1.1 million to 1.75 million, with an increasing proportion of parents making private arrangements. In steady state Sir David Henshaw estimated the long run administrative savings to be in the region of £200 million, based on a caseload of between 0.8 million and 1.1 million in the new organisation. In making these estimates Sir David identified in his report the need to do further research to support the transition of cases and that there is an element of unpredictability about such transitional flows.
The assumptions about increased numbers of children receiving maintenance were used in conjunction with the Family Resources Survey to estimate the potential impact of the redesigned system on child poverty. This suggested that a full disregard of maintenance in benefit calculations could reduce child poverty by 80,000 to 90,000 children. A further 30,000 children could be lifted out of poverty as a result of expected increases in compliance and the number of cases with a positive maintenance liability.
Jobseeker's Allowance
The information has been placed in the Library.
Building on existing criteria, from 19 April 2004, the number of steps a jobseeker is expected to take to look for work increased from two to three per week. Also, after 13 weeks of entitlement to jobseeker’s allowance the amount of travelling time a jobseeker would be expected to undertake between their home and the proposed place of employment in order to find work increases from one hour to one hour and thirty minutes. Additionally, jobseekers who are still unemployed after 13 weeks are required to undertake a weekly, rather than fortnightly, job review for a period of 6 weeks.
Pensions
Details of all commissioned research contributing to the evidence base for pension reform since January 2004 are contained in Annex F of the Government’s White Paper on pension reform (Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system, May 2006).
The following lists all research by outside consultancy firms (rather than research organisations or academics) connected to pension reform that have been commissioned since January 2004. This list includes projects involving the use of specialist academic or expert economic advice as well as research projects involving primary data collection or analysis.
Investment options in personal accounts—CRA Intl (UK)
Competition in personal accounts—CRA Intl (UK)
Research study to develop a counterfactual for private pensions—CRA Intl (UK)
Impact assessment of the NPSS on annuities market—CRA Intl (UK)
Branded choice in personal accounts—CRA Intl (UK)
Review of research relevant to assessing the impact of the proposed National Pensions Savings Scheme on household saving—PWC
Costs of capital and financing the personal accounts scheme—PWC
Research into early policy development for personal accounts—Deloittes
This list has been compiled on the basis that
(a) projects undertaken by GAD, ONS or any other Government department should not be included as they were delivered by civil servants
(b) projects commissioned by the Pensions Commission have not been included as the Commission was an independent body.
Health
Accident and Emergency Departments
Full information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the following tables.
Quarter Type 1 attendances Attendances at all A&E types 1997-98 — — 14,364,146 1998-99 — — 14,280,388 1999-2000 — — 14,629,025 2000-01 — — 14,293,307 2001-02 Q1 — 3,633,823 2001-02 Q2 — 3,685,719 2001-02 Q3 — 3,443,924 2001-02 Q4 — 3,340,876 2002-03 Q1 2,913,291 3,740,076 2002-03 Q2 3,095,650 3,746,866 2002-03 Q3 2,882,500 3,435,018 2002-03 Q4 2,930,874 3,469,562 2003-04 Q1 3,217,931 4,132,497 2003-04 Q2 3,281,186 4,347,584 2003-04 Q3 3,106,667 4,027,622 2003-04 Q4 3,059,698 4,009,142 2004-05 Q1 3,377,850 4,502,578 2004-05 Q2 3,381,219 4,556,695 2004-05 Q3 3,257,398 4,374,927 2004-05 Q4 3,249,353 4,402,980 2005-06 Q1 3,520,931 4,859,578 2005-06 Q2 3,403,089 4,744,255 2005-06 Q3 3,346,995 4,605,971 2005-06 Q4 3,282,671 4,549,360 2006-07 Q1 3,509,769 4,891,724 2006-07 Q2 3,493,340 4,892,547 Notes: 1. Prior to Q1 (April to June) 2001-02, attendance data was collected annually and only as a total for all A&E types. At this time, this did not include walk-in centres. 2. A&E attendances split down into A&E type were first collected in Q1 (April to June) 2002-03. 3. From Q1 (April to June) 2003-04, attendances at walk-in centres were included in attendance information for all types of A&E department. Walk-in centres are considered to be a type 3 A&E service. Source: Department of Health datasets KH09 and QMAE
2001-02 Region 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 England 14,364,146 14,280,388 14,629,025 14,293,307 3,633,823 3,685,719 3,443,924 3,340,876 Northern and Yorkshire 1,908,884 1,900,148 1,940,457 1,884,713 481,648 488,211 456,277 439,494 Trent 1,344,814 1,324,409 1,329,038 1,303,643 344,868 338,374 320,761 309,316 West Midlands 1,690,182 1,689,095 1,740,155 1,682,401 430,965 428,728 404,377 382,004 North West 2,248,105 2,184,748 2,233,799 2,181,244 564,417 555,658 525,782 506,768 Eastern 1,123,343 1,131,896 1,173,271 1,171,833 309,479 315,614 291,993 276,572 London 2,528,522 2,538,380 2,584,316 2,548,166 602,536 619,611 612,470 599,224 South East 2,102,652 2,102,444 2,154,529 2,080,948 539,428 552,400 506,653 491,606 South West 1,417,644 1,409,268 1,473,460 1,440,359 360,482 387,123 325,611 335,892 Notes: 1. Prior to Q1 (April to June) 2001-02, attendance data were collected annually and only as a total for all A&E types. At this time, this did not include walk-in centres. 2. A&E attendances split down into A&E type were not collected until Q1 (April to June) 2002-03. 3. Strategic health authorities were established from 1 April 2002. Prior to this, the national health service in England had regional health authorities. Source: Department of Health dataset KH09
2002-03 2003-04 SHA Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 England 2,913,291 3,095,650 2,882,500 2,930,874 3,217,931 3,281,186 3,106,667 3,249,353 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire HA 92,304 106,095 94,269 93,215 105,942 112,090 100,524 105,011 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire HA 83,741 86,041 80,665 82,643 89,494 90,301 88,953 94,770 Essex HA 77,615 84,375 78,646 78,806 91,336 94,714 92,479 96,373 North West London HA 141,806 160,240 154,179 160,367 162,551 163,301 163,120 183,052 North Central London HA 96,749 101,049 98,802 102,806 119,068 118,186 118,069 117,739 North East London HA 111,890 116,966 114,581 120,902 126,482 130,264 132,542 150,918 South East London HA 118,717 118,576 111,971 117,163 130,333 113,741 126,194 142,415 South West London HA 106,722 91,844 86,184 90,089 97,076 97,482 97,127 105,505 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear HA 85,208 88,259 84,327 83,234 97,706 99,453 93,431 96,746 County Durham and Tees Valley HA 66,814 71,301 68,190 69,748 79,684 82,807 76,919 79,801 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire HA 80,995 87,462 80,176 81,417 90,311 93,785 84,548 87,497 West Yorkshire HA 166,676 176,184 164,462 163,545 178,492 182,325 168,905 158,760 Cumbria and Lancashire HA 112,689 120,115 108,873 108,039 120,160 123,743 111,035 115,051 Greater Manchester HA 202,011 214,486 200,412 203,576 222,596 224,982 213,821 221,015 Cheshire and Merseyside HA 163,902 179,833 170,100 166,403 183,318 187,871 177,613 180,798 Thames Valley HA 92,770 101,727 92,964 93,415 104,763 105,926 99,712 107,873 Hampshire and Isle of Wight HA 71,064 78,699 64,964 64,105 71,060 75,492 67,693 71,028 Kent and Medway HA 85,447 88,867 85,783 83,389 93,476 95,614 87,645 88,428 Surrey and Sussex HA 144,901 155,325 141,358 140,713 155,332 154,647 141,995 157,516 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire HA 101,256 118,453 116,769 119,027 126,560 133,155 122,434 128,721 South West Peninsula HA 68,519 76,484 65,827 69,023 78,434 85,570 73,202 73,969 Dorset and Somerset HA 51,673 57,018 48,330 48,261 58,527 63,911 59,491 51,646 South Yorkshire HA 88,804 95,108 87,961 89,699 98,103 101,153 96,754 98,202 Trent HA 123,389 127,945 114,748 117,548 127,565 133,473 121,091 127,591 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland HA 57,041 59,710 55,662 55,836 60,515 61,742 58,431 63,046 Shropshire and Staffordshire HA 70,526 72,812 66,540 67,376 75,154 74,781 70,205 72,202 Birmingham and the Black Country HA 171,293 176,872 168,783 174,182 186,842 189,470 180,150 183,791 West Midlands South HA 78,769 83,804 76,974 86,347 87,051 91,207 82,584 90,159
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 England 3,377,850 3,381,219 3,257,398 3,249,353 3,520,931 3,403,089 3,346,995 3,282,671 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire HA 113,539 118,005 108,112 105,011 117,281 115,079 109,897 106,542 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire HA 99,269 99,476 94,993 94,770 102,480 100,130 99,180 97,266 Essex HA 100,299 102,795 96,646 96,373 103,076 101,919 100,534 100,260 North West London HA 175,619 174,449 179,382 183,052 194,212 179,064 187,248 190,088 North Central London HA 126,876 125,507 114,777 117,739 118,502 112,430 116,060 118,793 North East London HA 140,594 142,189 145,439 150,918 158,992 148,498 152,719 159,581 South East London HA 142,553 141,904 141,474 142,415 156,325 148,347 150,051 151,192 South West London HA 105,399 103,839 104,694 105,505 107,579 102,877 107,084 106,653 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear HA 100,724 100,360 98,006 96,476 97,867 95,185 93,950 90,801 County Durham and Tees Valley HA 85,987 85,942 81,533 79,801 89,727 85,063 82,027 80,990 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire HA 94,037 94,550 87,957 96,680 98,034 94,308 89,583 97,649 West Yorkshire HA 179,052 176,804 168,046 158,760 174,021 167,784 166,954 163,397 Cumbria and Lancashire HA 123,800 122,168 115,295 115,051 128,370 127,349 121,087 116,795 Greater Manchester HA 227,928 221,756 221,216 221,015 241,235 232,725 235,462 233,230 Cheshire and Merseyside HA 189,137 187,370 182,294 180,798 196,105 189,190 181,124 177,421 Thames Valley HA 112,916 113,684 107,496 107,873 115,952 113,463 110,616 101,567 Hampshire and Isle of Wight HA 75,609 75,358 70,307 71,028 78,425 78,929 75,499 70,740 Kent and Medway HA 98,997 99,854 94,198 88,428 86,682 85,036 83,325 82,338 Surrey and Sussex HA 150,684 154,353 156,633 157,516 171,840 168,510 155,933 145,955 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire HA 134,129 134,919 128,323 128,721 143,317 137,038 130,376 122,838 South West Peninsula HA 81,520 84,797 75,039 73,969 80,335 85,962 76,446 73,362 Dorset and Somerset HA 56,077 57,258 51,901 51.646 57,927 60,299 54,191 51,730 South Yorkshire HA 102,339 100,656 99,014 98,202 107,422 101,808 103,270 101,550 Trent HA 134,971 137,296 128,115 127,591 143,058 137,756 131,989 128,440 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland HA 65,872 65,108 63,098 63,046 70,375 66,826 66,486 65,069 Shropshire and Staffordshire HA 76,514 78,475 72,333 72,202 80,137 76,579 73,996 71,883 Birmingham and the Black Country HA 191,535 190,527 184,497 183,791 202,547 194,555 193,751 195,275 West Midlands South HA 91,874 91,820 86,580 90,159 100,462 96,380 98,157 90,667
Q1 Q2 England 3,509,769 3,493,340 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire HA 118,318 121,025 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire HA 103,207 101,183 Essex HA 106,035 105,340 North West London HA 192,454 187,202 North Central London HA 119,920 118,825 North East London HA 153,101 147,532 South East London HA 155,673 150,151 South West London HA 109,253 107,788 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear HA 98,191 97,384 County Durham and Tees Valley HA 89,623 89,882 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire HA 98,034 97,649 West Yorkshire HA 175,443 172,654 Cumbria and Lancashire HA 129,679 129,662 Greater Manchester HA 251,217 245,735 Cheshire and Merseyside HA 187,683 186,105 Thames Valley HA 109,831 109,564 Hampshire and Isle of Wight HA 78,388 79,631 Kent and Medway HA 87,942 89,622 Surrey and Sussex HA 156,395 157,963 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire HA 137,526 137,602 South West Peninsula HA 86,392 90,923 Dorset and Somerset HA 58,245 61,391 South Yorkshire HA 108,254 107,175 Trent HA 142,585 143,782 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland HA 70,530 69,487 Shropshire and Staffordshire HA 78,814 77,853 Birmingham and the Black Country HA 206,959 206,758 West Midlands South HA 100,077 103,472 Notes: 1. Prior to Q1 (April to June) 2001-02, attendance data was collected annually and only as a total for all A&E types. At this time, this did not include walk-in centres. 2. A&E attendances split down into A&E type were first collected in Q1 (April to June) 2002-03. 3. From Q1 (April to June) 2003-04, attendances at walk-in centres were included in attendance information for all types of A&E department. Walk-in centres are considered to be a type 3 A&E service. 4. Strategic health authorities were established from 1 April 2002. Prior to this, the national health service in England had regional health authorities. Source: Department of Health dataset QMAE
Alzheimer's Disease
There are no specific regulations governing the prescription of drug treatments to people in the early and late stages of Alzheimer's disease. However, the Department expects clinicians to follow current recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) published a clinical guideline on dementia: ‘Supporting people with dementia and their carers in health and social care’ on 22 November 2006. This guideline incorporates NICE's appraisal guidance on the use of drugs for people with Alzheimer's disease and contains supplementary advice to support clinicians on how to accurately diagnose which stage of Alzheimer’s disease an individual has reached.
Ambulances
This information is not collected centrally.
Each ambulance service should plan to provide appropriate resources to meet local demand. This may include resources in addition to traditional ambulance provision, for example in using rapid response vehicles and motorbikes, as well as utilising staff such as community paramedics or emergency care practitioners. Patients who need a traditional ambulance response will continue to receive one. The fleet mix will vary across the country depending on operational and geographical requirements.
The Department does not collect information on the average response times to emergency calls by national health service ambulance trusts. The Department only centrally collects data, from NHS ambulance trusts, which allows response time standards to be monitored. The response time standards are as follows:
Category A—presenting conditions which may be immediately life threatening and which should be responded to within eight minutes irrespective of location in 75 per cent. of cases. A fully equipped ambulance should attend incidents classified as category A within 19 minutes of a request being made for transport, 95 per cent. of the time;
Category B—presenting conditions which though serious are not immediately life threatening and should be responded to within 19 minutes in 95 per cent. of cases;
Category C—presenting conditions which are not immediately serious or life threatening. Since 1 October 2004 local NHS organisations have had responsibility for managing and monitoring the ways in which local services respond to these calls; and
GP Urgent Calls—as specified by a GP—to receive a response at scene within 15 minutes of the time stipulated by the GP, 95 per cent. of the time.
The data that the Department does collect on ambulance response times is published on an annual basis in the statistical bulletin, Ambulance services, England. These documents are available in the Library and on the Department of Health and the Information Centre for Health and Social Care websites:
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/fs/en
Aspartame
Awareness of Medicines
A booklet entitled “Understand your medicines—a Patient Guide to Medicines Use Review” was developed through the medicines partnership. The booklet was distributed to all community pharmacies, when it was first published. This continues to be available for download from the website at www.npc.co.uk/med_partnership Contractors are encouraged to keep stocks of this leaflet in their pharmacies and actively hand it out to patients to raise their awareness.
We are aware of the need to encourage better engagement with medicines use reviews (MUR) by general practitioners (GPs). The form that is used to notify GPs, following a review, is being re-designed to aid communication. We are also aiming to improve GP’s engagement through our wider communications strategy, in particular, when the re-designed forms are launched.
Cold-related Deaths
The Department is taking the following steps to reduce the number of cold-related deaths:
supply of information with national publicity—supply of information with national publicity campaigns to raise awareness of the effects of cold and how to reduce risk. Over two million Keep Well, Keep Warm information booklets have been dispersed this winter, including to primary healthcare settings;
improving good practice—raising awareness and integrating fuel poverty and winter warmth into assessment tools and developing straightforward referral pathways for health and social care workers; and
partnership working—local regional and national levels to ensure a strategic and joined up approach is taken to promoting winter warmth, i.e. local area agreement.
Correspondence
The letter of 15 November 2006 from the hon. Member was responded to on the 15 January 2007.
Domiciliary Oxygen
(2) how many emergency orders for oxygen were made by each primary care trust, in each month since the implementation of the new contract.
Suppliers provide monthly data relating to a range of performance indicators, including the required delivery time for emergency orders. Emergency orders are a priority, as supply is required within four hours where a patient does not have a supply of oxygen at home. Latest information indicates that all suppliers are meeting this requirement for around 98 per cent. of orders, with reasons given where delivery is outside the target time.
Information on the number of emergency orders made by health professionals in each primary care trust area is not held centrally.
We began introduction of the new home oxygen service on 1 February 2006 with a phased transfer of patients, using this service, to new suppliers. Therefore, the new service has yet to complete a full year in operation and part of this time has involved managing the transition to the new arrangements. We are continuing to work with the national health service and all suppliers to monitor service delivery and contract performance.
This information is not held centrally.
Information on individual primary care trust (PCT) budgets for the new oxygen service in 2006-07 is not held centrally. The Department allocated £26.4 million to the national health service in 2006-07 to support the new oxygen service. These funds supplemented those already held in PCT baseline budgets.
Drug Rehabilitation
We do not hold data centrally on the effectiveness of individual treatment providers.
Foetal Alcohol Syndrome
Hospital episode statistics publications contain information on admissions to hospital together with information around the primary and secondary diagnosis of the patient being treated. However, the diagnoses of foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) are rarely recorded in hospital systems as such a diagnosis may not be identified at birth. It requires identification of the facial or other FAS abnormality at this early stage, which can be very difficult and problems that raise the possible diagnosis may only become apparent during schooling. In addition, sensitive information about heavy drinking during pregnancy may not be revealed in that context.
Furniture
The following recorded spend has been made by the Department on furniture made by British firms each year since 2000.
£ 2000-01 1— 2001-02 1— 2002-03 74,000 2003-04 17,500 2004-05 6,000 2005-06 49,400 2006 to date 19,400 1 no record
Healthcare-related Infections
The information requested has been placed in the Library. It is also available on the Health Protection Agencies website at:
www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/hai/mandatory_ report_2006.htm
For methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the annual data relates to the period from April 2001, and for Clostridium difficile, (patients aged 65 and over), for the period from January 2004.
Milton Keynes Primary Care Trust
At the end of quarter two, 2006-07, Milton Keynes primary care trust (PCT) is forecasting a financial year end deficit of £5.8 million.
We are working with strategic health authorities to ensure that all national health service organisations in deficit improve their financial positions. Our performance and turnaround teams continue to work with the most challenged organisations to reduce forecast deficits.
All NHS organisations have a duty to achieve financial balance every year and if possible to create a surplus.
Multi-professional Education and Training Budget
The allocation and management of national health service central budgets for 2006-07, including the multi-professional education and training budget, was discussed and agreed by departmental officials and the chief executives of the strategic health authorities.
NHS: Barnet
This information is not collected centrally.
This information is not available in the format requested. However, the table shows the latest figures available for the count of finished consultant episodes for cataract procedures and heat procedures at Barnet primary care trust (PCT). These figures are not available for cancer operations.
Procedure group Finished consultant episodes Mean waiting time Median waiting time 2005-06 Cataract 1,633 71.28 67 Heart 1,774 109.30 90 1996-97 Cataract 993 142.01 107 Heart 914 81.33 52 Notes: 1. Median figures are a better proxy to the average time waited as mean figures can cloud the real picture if some anomalies (longwaiters) may artificially increase the average. 2. Diagnosis (Primary Diagnosis) The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital. 3. Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year. 4. Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (ie the data are ungrossed). 5. Time waited (days) Time waited statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for Health and Social Care
NHS Finance
The overall budget for nationally commissioned specialised healthcare services in 2007-08 is £346.4 million, of which £233.4 million will be transferred from the Department to the national health service, with the remainder coming from previously agreed transfers from primary care trust allocations. A further transfer in respect of staff who manage the programme is currently being finalised.
NHS Targets
All performance monitoring returns required by the Department are cleared by the review of central returns process. Subsequently, data standards and definitions are developed, with guidance on form completion issued and a central query service provided to the national health service.
NHS trusts and commissioners are responsible for the accuracy of their data returns, which in addition to local audit will be subject to processes such as the Audit Commission spot checks.
Deliberate misreporting of waiting list data is inexcusable and we have made it very clear that serious consequences will follow any individual or trusts that seek to manipulate their performance data.
Pharmaceutical Products
Officials understand that neither company has finalised any changes to their distribution arrangements.
The Department will monitor any new arrangements. If the changes result in shortages, disruptions to supply, any additional costs to the national health service, or has a detrimental affect on funding pharmacy contractors then the Department will seek to ensure the corrective action is taken.
Productivity Top Tips
The document is called “Delivering Quality and Value: Focus on Productivity and Efficiency” and was published by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. It is available at:
www.institute.nhs.uk/Products/ProductivityandEfficiency.htm
A copy has been placed in the Library.
The further set of improvement guides mentioned in the annual report is called “Delivering Quality and Value: Focus on High Volume Care” and is available at:
www.institute.nhs.uk/PriorityProgrammes/DeliveringQualityandValue/focus_on_high_volume_care.htm
Referral-to-treatment Waiting Times
Voluntary collection and reporting of referral to treatment (RTT) data has been under way since autumn 2006. Mandatory national RTT waiting time collection for admitted patients begins this month, and for non-admitted patients in April. Publication will begin as soon as the data are of sufficient quality. For the admitted data this is likely to be in the spring; for the non-admitted data in the summer.
The national health service undertook a baseline data research exercise in summer 2006 involving an estimation methodology that looked at hospital attendance and admission records from earlier in the year. The results, which do not have the status of official or national statistics are available on the 18 weeks website (www.18weeks.nhs.uk) and suggest that, nationally, in early 2006, the pathways of 35 per cent. of admitted and 70-80 per cent. of non-admitted patients were completed within 18 weeks.
Young People's Development Programme
The Young People's Development Programme was set up as a three year pilot. The intention has always been to embed the lessons learned into mainstream activity. The National Youth Agency and Department are supporting the 27 projects in making the case for funding in future years from their local authority areas on the basis that the Young People's Development Programme will form part of the new targeted youth support arrangements being taken forward by the Department for Education and Skills.
Northern Ireland
Adoption Agencies
Yes. All providers of public services, including religious adoption agencies, where they are under a contract with a public authority, will be subject to the Regulations introduced under the Equality Act 2006.
If the services are being provided solely by the religious bodies, then they could be exempted from the Regulations by virtue of Regulation 16.
Altnagelvin Hospital
I have been asked to reply.
The Coroners Service issued a statement on 15 December concerning this matter. I have arranged for a copy of this to be placed in the Library of the House. It is not possible to give a timescale at this stage, but I have been assured that the experts involved in assisting the Senior Coroner’s investigation are conscious of the need to deal with the matter as quickly as possible.
Alzheimer's Disease
Reminyl is available on health service prescription in Northern Ireland following examination and recommendation by a consultant taking into account evidence based practice and the needs of the patient.
The number of patients being treated with Reminyl is not recorded centrally and is therefore not known.
Ambulance Stations
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service provides a 24 hour presence in every ambulance station throughout Northern Ireland with the exception of Castlederg Ambulance Station, which operates one Accident and Emergency resource from Monday to Friday 8 am to 5 pm and 11 pm to 8 am. No cover is provided from this station from 5 pm to 11 pm on a daily basis. Also, there is no day crew in operation on Sundays in Castlederg although night-time cover is provided from 11 pm to 8 am. On those occasions when there is no cover provided from Castlederg ambulance cover is provided by the nearest available ambulance.
Arson
The number of occasions on which the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has been called upon to deal with incidents of arson in the areas specified is set out in the following table.
Lisburn road University and Holyland Total 2002 111 176 287 2003 81 179 260 2004 92 245 337 2005 78 205 283 2006 138 256 394 Total 500 1,061 1,561
Belfast Festival
I am involved in on-going discussions with representatives of the Queen’s University of Belfast on the future of the Belfast Festival at Queen’s.
Careers Guidance Diploma
20 employees of the Department for Employment and Learning completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Careers Guidance (QCG) in the first year of the course (2002-03). Following completion of the course, 12 graduates were recruited directly into the Careers Service in 2004-05. A further six employees completed four modules of the course during 2005-06.
Of a total of 38 employees, one has subsequently been promoted.
Child Poverty
It is too early to determine reliable trends broken down by age and religion from the recently introduced Family Resources Survey. However, by amalgamating two years’ data together it is possible to provide an estimate of the number of Roman Catholic and Protestant children in poverty. The average figures for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are presented as follows in terms of both before housing costs and after housing costs.
2003-04 and 2004-05 BHC AHC Protestant 41,300 40,800 Roman Catholic 58,500 60,600 Other 5,100 5,900
The Government’s anti-poverty and social inclusion strategy ‘Lifetime Opportunities’ sets specific targets for the elimination of child poverty by 2020.
In order to achieve this, resources and efforts will continue to be targeted on the basis of objective need.
Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100.
2. As with any sample survey the numbers quoted in the aforementioned table are subject to sampling error.
3. Data was sourced from Households Below Average Income Northern Ireland (HBAI NI). The HBAI NI is based on information collected from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS was first run in Northern Ireland in 2002-03.
4. The HBAI is the main source of income poverty measures throughout the UK.
5. Poverty is defined as households who have an income less than 60 per cent. of the contemporary GB median income.
6. Children defined as all under 16, or unmarried 16 to 18-year-olds in full-time education.
7. Income before housing costs (BHC) includes the following main components: usual net earnings from employment; profit or loss from self-employment (losses are treated as a negative income); all social security benefits (including housing benefit, social fund, maternity, funeral and community care grants but excluding social fund loans) and tax credits; income from occupational and private pensions; investment income; maintenance payments, if a person receives them directly; income from educational grants and scholarships (including, for students, top-up loans and parental contributions); the cash value of certain forms of income in kind (free school meals, free welfare milk, free school milk and free TV licence for those aged 75 and over).
8. Income is net of the following items: income tax payments; national insurance contributions; domestic rates (this includes water and sewerage charges for Northern Ireland); contributions to occupational pension schemes (including all additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) to occupational pension schemes, and any contributions to personal pensions); all maintenance and child support payments, which are deducted from the income of the person making the payment and parental contributions to students living away from home.
9. Income after housing costs (AHC) is derived by deducting a measure of housing costs from BHC income measure. Housing costs include the following: rent (gross of housing benefit); domestic rates; mortgage interest payments (net of tax relief); structural insurance premiums (for owner occupiers); ground rent and service charges.
10. Religion is based on the religion of the household reference person and therefore takes no account of mixed marriages.
11. As religion is not a grossing control factor for the Family Resources Survey all figures relating to this issue have to be treated with caution.
12. The response rate for the 2002-03 Family Resources Survey was considerably lower than for subsequent years and therefore all results from this year have to treated with caution. For further details please refer to the methodology section in the 2002-03 publication:
http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/publications/households/households_below_average_income_report_2002-2003.htm
13. The following confidence intervals need to be applied to the data to be statistically valid.
BHC AHC Protestant +-4,400 + /-4,900 Catholic +/-5,400 + /-6,100 Other +/-1,500 +/-1,600
Civil Servants
As at 1 January 2007, 240 civil servants who have a work address in one of the four Belfast constituencies have a home address in the Foyle constituency. The figure includes permanent and casual, industrial and non-industrial Northern Ireland civil service staff working within the 11 departments and agencies, the NIO, the PSNI and the NI Assembly. It does not include staff on career break.
No estimate has been made of the number of cars carrying these civil servants which make the return journey between Derry and Belfast on a daily basis.
Dangerous Dogs Legislation
The dangerous dogs legislation is enforced in Northern Ireland by district councils, My officials have written to councils and will over the coming months be liaising with councils and other interested parties to ascertain their views on the current legislation. Following the outcome of these discussions I will consider if further amendments to the legislation are required.
District councils provide statistical information to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development with respect to enforcement of the Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 (as amended), including the number of prosecutions taken for offences under the legislation. However, prior to 2006 these returns did not specifically distinguish prosecutions regarding dangerous dogs from other prosecutions taken under the legislation. The information is included at table 1 as follows.
Minor offences(e.g. fouling, licensing) Serious offences (e.g. attacks by dogs) Dangerous dogs Annual total 2002 160 46 — 206 2003 265 64 — 329 20041 177 51 — 228 20051 139 35 — 174 20062 47 18 35 371 1 Prior to 2006 returns did not specifically distinguish prosecutions with respect to dangerous dogs. 2 Figures only available to the end of June 2006. 3 Figures include six cases pending.
EU Programmes
Invest Northern Ireland expects to build on its previous success through a successful application for funding from the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme to continue and extend current activities in the Innovation Relay Centre and European Information Centre.
Enhanced European integration and engagement with colleagues/potential partners through the British Isles (UK and Ireland) will maintain a trend of increasing returns from the 7th Cordis Framework Programme.
Hillsborough Castle
It is not possible to breakdown the cost of calls made from Hillsborough Castle by individual user.
Street Works
The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman-in response to this question.
Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 16 January 2007:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding, what evidence he has assessed on the effect of road excavation in streets by utility companies on the lifespan of streets.
As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
I should explain that road structures have a limited lifespan and can deteriorate for many reasons, including road openings by utility companies and no matter how well these are reinstated they inevitably weaken the road structure.
Over the last decade there has been extensive research carried out, both here in the UK and North America, into the long-term damage of the road pavement caused by road openings by utility companies. In assessing the effects of road openings, Roads Service like many other road authorities in the UK has considered the outcome of the detailed research carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). The Department of Transport and County Surveyors’ Society jointly funded two reports and these are the most recent and perhaps pertinent publications considered by Roads Service as part of our assessment into the residual life of utility reinstatements. These reports are:
1. Long Term damage Performance of Reinstated Trenches and their Adjacent Pavements. Part (1) Literature Review by M. Zohrabi and MH Burtwell. TRL Report No. TRL 572
2. Long Term damage Performance of Reinstated Trenches and their Adjacent Pavements. Part (2) Long Term Performance of Reinstatements in the Highway by DP Steele, W McMahon and MH Burtwell. TRL Report No. TRL 573
It is worth noting that the need for the premature resurfacing of streets was also highlighted in the Traffic Management Act 2004, with an explanation of concerns covered in the associated Regulatory Impact Assessment.
Further research into long-term damage to road structures is currently being advanced by TRL and Roads Service will consider carefully, the conclusions and recommendations of their report.
(2) what factors were taken into account when deciding that the draft Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order should apply to works undertaken by (a) the Department for Regional Development Roads Service, (b) private developers and (c) other non-utility companies;
(3) if he will undertake a further consultation on the impact of costs arising from the Draft Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order on the utility consumer.
The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 16 January 2007:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland three Parliamentary Questions:
(i) whether the Draft Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order will require a full cost-benefit analysis to be carried out as part of the legislative process;
(ii) what factors were taken into account when deciding that the Draft Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order should take into account works undertaken by (a) the Department for Regional Development Roads Service, (b) private developers and (c) other non-utility companies; and
(iii) if he will undertake a further consultation on the impact of costs arising from the Draft Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order on the utility consumer.
I have been asked to reply as the issues raised fall within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
With regard to the issues raised in your first and third questions, the Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order itself will not have any direct cost implications. However, it is possible that regulations to be made under the Order would have cost implications for the utility companies. As a result, there mil be further consultation and a full Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) completed in relation to each set of draft regulations. A cost benefit analysis is a central analytical component of the RIA, However, it should be noted that the provisions of the Order mil not directly impose any additional costs on utility customers. Whether utilities pass on any element of additional costs to their customers is a matter for the utility in question and its regulator.
Turning to the second of your questions, the Department, at an early stage, considered the application of certain provisions of the Draft Amendment Order to works, other than street works, on roads. Since those issues were outside the legislative scope of the proposed Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order, legal advice was sought on the most appropriate way to proceed. The advice received was that if the Department proposed to apply those measures to other works on wads they should be taken forward through the amendment of the appropriate legislation. I expect we will consider doing so in due course, but we have a high workload and no immediate plans to do so.
Traffic Violations
I have been informed by the police service of Northern Ireland of the following:
Notice type Notices issued November 2005 Notices issued November 20061 Endorsable FPNs 1,374 1,260 Non Endorsable FPNs 3,634 2,478 Parking FPNs 6,777 532 1 Figures for notices issued during November are correct as of 5 December 2006.
From 30 October 2006, the responsibility for on street parking enforcement passed to the Roads Service of the Department for Regional Development. PSNI therefore no longer hold records in respect of those parking offences which fall within the responsibility of the Department for Regional Development. PSNI still enforce a number of specified offences such as obstruction, parking on a pedestrian crossing etc.
Working Tax Credits
Information on working tax credits is not given to new recruits in the Northern Ireland civil service.
The Northern Ireland civil service does not provide advice to employees on their eligibility for working tax credits. On occasion staff can be referred to HM Revenue and Customs for such advice.
Communities and Local Government
Caste Discrimination
I have noted the contents of the report “No Escape: Caste discrimination in the UK”, which my hon. Friend kindly sent me. I have asked my officials in the Cohesion and Faiths Unit to consider, in consultation with stakeholders, what evidence there is of caste based discrimination in the UK and whether any action may be required.
Civil Partnerships
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibilities of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 January 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking for the numbers of gay and lesbian couples who have registered a civil partnership since their inception in (a) the North East, (b) Teesside and (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. (114319)
In England and Wales, National Statistics on civil partnerships are available for Government Office Regions but not for smaller areas. More detailed geographic information will be made available when annual data are published later this year.
By the end of September 2006, 444 couples had formed a civil partnership in the North East. Of these, 227 were male and 217 female. These provisional figures were published on the National Statistics web site on 4 December:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=1685&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=374
Conservation Areas
The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 requires local authorities to designate as conservation areas any areas of special architectural or historic interest the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance. Guidance on the assessment and designation of conservation areas is included in Planning Policy Guidance Note 15 (Planning and the Historic Environment). This says that the prime consideration in identifying conservation areas should be the quality and interest of areas, rather than that of individual buildings. It also says that cancellation of designation should be considered where an area or part of an area is no longer considered to possess the special interest which led to its original designation.
Departmental Expenditure Limit 2006-07
The £1.361 million comprises take up of end year flexibility (EYF) for the Northern Way (£800,000), regional development agencies (RDAs) (£10,000) and the London Development Agency (LDA) (£551,000).
£800,000 was the resource contribution for the 2006-07 financial year from Communities and Local Government to the Northern Way Growth Fund.
The take up of EYF for the RDAs and the LDA was to bring the level of voted provision for these bodies into line with the budgets that had been allocated to them for the year.
Equality and Diversity
Communities and Local Government has already taken significant steps including the creation of a workplace equalities team in October. This has contributed to work on the new race equality and disability equality schemes and the forthcoming gender equality scheme.
In direct response to the capability review we will be drawing on this work and will publish a workplace equality strategy this March. Key themes included will be in line with Whitehall's ten point plan on equality: targets and measurement; leadership and accountability; recruitment and promotion; development, learning culture and working practices, and communications.
We have already introduced practical measures including signing up to become an "exemplar" employee (as recommended by the Women and Work Commission) and opening all new jobs to flexible working wherever possible.
Fire Service College
The information requested is in the following table.
Number Civil servants (permanent) 1202 Seconded officers 44 Casual civil servants 1 Total 247 1 Of whom 22 are part-time
Government Office for London
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 November 2006, Official Report, columns 753-54W.
The only figures to have changed since that answer are the running cost forecast and programme budget figures for 2006-07, which we would expect to change as these figures are regularly updated throughout the financial year. The running cost forecast for 2006-07 has decreased from £18.2 million to £18.0 million, as GOL has been able to cover a large proportion of its accommodation shortfall. The programme budget figure for 2006-07 has increased from £3,074 million to £3,096 million as a result of additional programme budgets which have been delegated to GOL.
Home Information Packs
No financial incentives are being provided specifically to estate agents to participate in the home information pack area trials. Payment for the free and reduced cost home information packs (HIPs) available in these areas will be made directly to the organisation compiling the HIP.
Housing
Affordable housing includes social rented and intermediate housing, provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Affordable housing should:
Meet the needs of eligible households including availability at a cost low enough for them to afford, determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices.
Include provision for the home to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or, if these restrictions are lifted, for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision.
This new definition is provided in “Planning Policy Statement 3—Housing” (CLG, December 2006, page 25), and replaces the definition in “Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: Housing (PPG3)” and “DETR Circular 6/98 Planning and Affordable Housing”.
Reported data on the number of affordable homes in the Chelmsford local authority area show that:
In 1997 there were 1,437 social rented homes provided by RSLs and 7,796 by the local authority.
In 2006 there were 9,141 social rented homes provided by RSLs and none by the local authority.
At least 272 intermediate (low cost home ownership) homes were provided in 1997-98 to 2005-06, of which 199 received Housing Corporation grant.