Written Answers to Questions
Monday 23 July 2007
Health
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
The information is not available in the format requested. Estimates of the proportion of adults (aged 16 and over) in Great Britain, who have discussed drinking with their general practitioner or another medical person, are available from the Office for National Statistics Omnibus Survey. Estimated proportions are based on all drinkers. Questions on alcohol are included in the Omnibus Survey biennially and the data is provided in table 1 for 2004 and 2006.
The number of alcohol related illnesses is not available in the format requested. Data are available providing the number of adults, aged 16 and over, admitted to national health service hospitals in England with a primary or secondary diagnosis that is specifically related to alcohol consumption. These figures are presented in table 2 and are published in “Statistics on Alcohol: England 2007” produced by The Information Centre for health and social care, available at: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/alcohol07. Numbers of those admitted with a diagnosis of an accident, illness or disease that does not specifically relate to alcohol but can be attributed to alcohol consumption are not currently available.
Table 1 Discussion of drinking in the last year, by gender, 2004 and 2006—Great BritainPercentage1Discussed drinking with:20042006Men2GP811Someone else at the surgery12Doctor elsewhere11Other medical person elsewhere12Not discussed drinking8986Women2GP55Someone else at the surgery11Doctor elsewhere11Other medical person elsewhere11Not discussed drinking9292BasesMen1,3841,017Women1,6451,156 1 Percentages may sum to more than 100 per cent. as respondents could give more than one answer2 Aged 16 and over3 Percentages are based on respondents who drink alcoholSource: Drinking: Adults’ behaviour and knowledge in 2006. Office for National Statistics
Number 2004-05 2005-06 Primary diagnosis 48,082 52,271 Primary or secondary diagnosis 164,787 187,643 1 The data include private patients in NHS hospitals (but not private patients in private hospitals) 2 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 data year. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year 3 Aged 16 and over 4 The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital 5 The figures for primary or secondary diagnosis represent a count of all finished in-year admissions where the diagnosis was mentioned in any of the 14 diagnosis fields in a HES record 6 Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data 7 Figures do not include hospital admissions for accidents, illnesses or diseases that do not directly relate to alcohol consumption but can be attributed to alcohol consumption Source: Hospital Episode Statistics. The Information Centre, 2007
Barnet Primary Care Trust: Pay
(2) how many employees of Barnet primary care trust experienced payroll errors in each of the last six months; and if he will make a statement.
This is a local matter and is the responsibility of Barnet primary care trust.
Cancer: Medical Treatments
(2) whether his Department plans to extend the use and availability of photodynamic therapy cancer treatments;
(3) what the median cost per patient was of photodynamic therapy cancer treatment in comparison to other cancer treatments in the latest period for which figures are available;
(4) what obstacles exist to widening the use and availability of photodynamic therapy cancer treatments within the NHS;
(5) what representations he has received from (a) medical bodies and (b) cancer charities on photodynamic therapy cancer treatment;
(6) how many NHS patients with relevant conditions were offered photodynamic therapy cancer treatments in the latest period for which figures are available;
(7) what assessment his Department has made of the impact of photodynamic therapy cancer treatments within the NHS on (a) patient throughput, (b) bed use and (c) patient recovery times.
The Department has made no assessment of the impact of photodynamic therapy (PDT) cancer treatments within the national health service on patient throughput, bed use and patient recovery times. The department has not made a cost-benefit analysis of the use of photodynamic therapy cancer treatments compared with other cancer treatments in respect of patient care and NHS finances.
Information on the number of patients offered photodynamic therapy cancer treatment or the cost per patient of photodynamic therapy cancer treatment is not collected by the Department.
As part of its programme of work on interventional procedures, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued guidance on the use of PDT in the treatment of several cancers.
NICE has stated that PDT for the treatment of Barrett's oesophagus, advanced bronchial carcinoma, endobronchial carcinoma, bile duct cancer and skin tumours is safe and works well enough for use in the NHS, provided normal arrangements are in place for consent, audit and clinical governance.
NICE has also issued guidance on the use of PDT for early stage oesophageal cancer, stating that current evidence on PDT for the treatment of this disease is not adequate to support its use without special arrangements for consent, audit and clinical governance.
It will be for the NHS locally to decide whether to offer this treatment to patients. Where a local decision is made to do so, it will be for the relevant primary care trust to plan how to make PDT available to patients and identify any obstacles which might need to be overcome.
The Department has received a number of written representations about photodynamic therapy cancer treatment from the charity Killing Cancer.
Chemicals: Health Hazards
In 1997, the Department together with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) commissioned a joint research programme on the effects on health of exposure to air pollutants and damp in the home. This programme focused on indoor air pollution and its effects on health. In particular, the health effects on sensitive individuals within the population and the interactions between indoor air pollutants and health effects of damp in the domestic environment. There were 13 projects in total, seven of which were funded directly by the Department. Further details of these projects can be found at table three of “Air Pollution Research Funded” which is available on the Department’s website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/07/06/08/04070608.pdf.
Copies are available in the Library.
Air freshening products contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and in 1997, the Department’s Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) was asked to consider the health effects of exposure to VOCs in the home. As part of this, COMEAP considered data collected by the Buildings Research Establishment on behalf of the DETR and had published a statement in their 1997-98 annual report which is available at
www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/comeap/pdfs/comeap9798.pdf.
Copies are available in the Library.
COMEAP has published a document “Guidance on the Effects on Health of Indoor Air Pollutants” on its website
www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/comeap/pdfs/guidanceindoorairqualityDec04.pdf.
Copies have been placed in the Library.
This contains a brief section on volatile organic compounds and on household products. It advises that ensuring good ventilation in homes is the best way to reduce exposure.
Clostridium: Disease Control
In addition to the answer given to the hon. Member on 19 March 2007, Official Report, column 725W, we issued a revised version of “Saving Lives: a delivery programme to reduce healthcare associated infections including MRSA” on 21 June 2007. This includes an updated high impact intervention on Clostridium difficile (C.difficile) and “Antimicrobial prescribing—A summary of good practice”. The latter is relevant because improved prescribing helps to prevent C.difficile infection.
Dehydration
The Government have not assessed the effect of mild dehydration on mental performance.
The Government do, however, advise that 6-8 glasses (about 1.2 litres) of water, or other fluids, should be consumed every day to prevent dehydration. This is based on physiological studies and this amount should be increased when the weather is warm or when exercising.
Dental Services: Gloucestershire
Numbers of national health service dentists in England as at 31 March 1997 to 2006 are available in the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006”. Information at parliamentary constituency area is available in Annex G. Annex E also contains information at strategic health authority (SHA) and primary care trust (PCT) area. This information is based on the old contractual arrangements. This report is available in the Library and is also available at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-activity-and-workforce-report-england-31-March-2006
Numbers of NHS dentists in England as at 30 June, 30 September, 31 December 2006 and 31 March 2007 are available in Table G of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England Q4: 31 March 2007 report. These data are not provided at constituency level.
This report is available in the Library and is also available at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalq4
The figures for quarter 4 and the earlier quarters in the year are provisional and are subject to revision. The final work force figure for 2006-07 will not be available until August 2007 when the information centre for health and social care will publish an end year report on the first 12 months of the new contractual arrangements.
This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements and is not directly comparable with earlier information.
In both sets of figures, no account is taken of the level of service, if any, that each dentist provides.
Dental Services: Lancashire
Registration data no longer forms part of the data available under the new national health service dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006. The new measure is patients seen in the previous 24 months and is not comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
The numbers of patients seen as a percentage of the population in the previous 24 months are available in table F2 of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England Q4: 31 March 2007” report. Information is for the previous 24 months ending 31 March, 30 June, 30 September, 31 December 2006 and 31 March 2007 and is available at strategic health authority and primary care trust (PCT) area in England.
This report is available in the Library. It is also available at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalq4.
As from 1 October 2006, Morecambe Bay PCT has been integrated into Cumbria PCT and North Lancashire PCT. Information for Cumbria PCT and North Lancashire PCT is included in the report.
Information on private dentists is not collected centrally.
The numbers of dentists on open national health service contracts are available in Table G of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England Q4: 31 March 2007 report. Information is as at 30 June, 30 September, 31 December 2006 and 31 March 2007 and is available at strategic health authority and primary care trust (PCT) area in England.
This report is available in the Library. It is also available at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalq4.
The figures for quarter 4 and the earlier quarters in the year are provisional and are subject to revision. The final workforce figure for 2006-07 will not be available until August 2007 when the Information Centre for health and social care will publish an end year report on the first 12 months of the new contractual arrangements.
In the figures in the report, no account is taken of the level of service, if any, that each dentist provides.
As from 1 October 2006, Morecambe Bay PCT has been integrated into Cumbria PCT and North Lancashire PCT. Information for Cumbria PCT and North Lancashire PCT is included in the above report.
Departments: Finance
No. Publishing Spending Review papers would be prejudicial to the conduct of public affairs.
Departments: Flint Bishop Solicitors
After looking into both of our financial databases which cover financial years 2001-02 to date, we can find no evidence that the firm in question was ever entered on to our systems to received payments from the Department.
Departments: Visits Abroad
This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis, a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Library. Information for 2006-07 is currently being compiled and will be published before the summer recess. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the “Civil Service Management Code” and the “Ministerial Code”.
Doctors: Training
The Department has received representations concerning the Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) programme.
The Department has also met with many stakeholders. In the light of the widespread concern an independent review of the MMC recruitment and selection process was set up; led by Professor Neil Douglas, vice chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Members of the review group included representatives of the Royal Colleges, the British Medical Association, the four United Kingdom Health Departments and NHS Employers.
Epilepsy
We have had no discussions with the Welsh Assembly Health Minister on this matter.
Exercise: Children
The Department and the national health service promote the benefits of physical activity in many ways to professionals, the public and other stakeholders. This complements investment across government to encourage and enable healthy active lifestyles, for example through the physical educations, schools sport and club links programme.
In particular, primary care trusts are required to have systematic and managed health promotion programmes, including action on exercise, that are responsive to local needs. Spending on the promotion of sport and physical recreation by the NHS is not recorded centrally.
Alongside spending by the NHS to support local delivery of physical activity programmes for adults and children, the Department has funded pilot work to inform interventions. This has included:
the local exercise action pilot scheme (LEAP), which has been jointly funded by the Department, Sport England and the Countryside Agency with an overall cost of £2.5 million between 2003 and 2006. The LEAP pilots included interventions targeted towards children, adults and older people.
a joint Department of Health, Department for Education and Skills, and Youth Sport Trust pilot programme Schools on the Move, which includes resource materials for schools, teachers and young people to help integrate pedometers into the life of the school. The Department has invested £100,000 in the pilot during 2005 and 2006.
National programmes to promote physical activity arising out of this pilot work include a £494,000 school pedometer programme, distributing 40,000 pedometers to 250 schools in deprived areas to encourage children to become more active, and enabling all schools to access resources to support increased physical activity.
The Public Health White Paper “Choosing Health” included a commitment to develop continuing professional programmes for schools to support physical activity and we have invested £160,000 in a schools physical activity guide as part of the healthy schools toolkit.
The Secretary of State for Health, through the Section 64 General Scheme of Grants (S64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968), has power to make grants to voluntary organisations in England whose activities support the Department of Health’s policy priorities.
The Department has provided funding to physical activity based programmes under the Section 64 Scheme to the following organisations:
Sustrans;
Amateur Swimming Association;
English Federation of Disability Sport;
National Heart Forum; and
British Trust for Conservation Volunteers.
Delivery of programmes to encourage children and young people to lead healthy active lifestyles extends beyond the remit of any single government department.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport share a public service agreement (PSA) target to increase the percentage of 5 to 16-year-olds spending at least two hours a week on high quality PE and school sport.
The Government are investing £1.5 billion, including lottery funding, in the five years to 2008 in support of this target and on 13 July the Prime Minister announced a £100 million campaign to give every child the chance of five hours of sport every week in the run up to 2012.
The Government are also investing in walking and cycling to school. DCSF and the Department for Transport are providing £7.5 million to fund a network of school travel advisers to develop and implement school travel plans. By March 2005 more than 10,000 schools had developed approved travel plans, and £55 million in capital grants has been given to schools to spend on items such as secure bike shelters and new entrances.
In March 2006 the BIG Lottery fund launched the £155 million Children’s Play initiative in England.
Family Planning
(2) what steps he plans to take to implement the recommendations of the baseline review of contraceptive services.
We have undertaken a Baseline Review of Contraceptive Services 2005 (Contraceptive Services Audit) and published the findings on the 17 May 2007. We are developing best practice guidance on reproductive health care which will address the key issues arising from the review later this year.
A copy of the findings of the review has been placed in the Library. The findings are also available on the Department's website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_074794.pdf
Fluoride: Drinking Water
The fluoridation of water has the potential to reduce inequalities in oral health. We are aware of three strategic health authorities that are undertaking feasibility studies on fluoridation schemes. They will make formal announcements if they decide to proceed with local consultations.
Genito-urinary Medicine: Finance
This information is not collected centrally.
Genito-urinary Medicine: Waiting Lists
Sexual health services are provided in a variety of settings including acute national health service trusts, community services and general practice.
Currently data on waiting times are only collected from genito-urinary medicine clinics. Data from the genito-urinary medicine monthly monitoring return showed that in May 2007 85 per cent. of first attendances were offered an appointment to be seen within 48 hours of contacting a service.
Health: Schools
I have been asked to reply.
The 2005/06 School Sport Survey found that overall, 80 per cent. of pupils in schools within a school sport partnership took part in at least two hours of high quality PE and school sport in a typical week—exceeding the 2006 PSA target of 75 per cent.
Hepatitis
The latest available information, which is by quarter and calendar year, is shown in the tables.
Quarter 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 January-March 1 239 260 303 224 129 April-June 2 195 335 247 137 123 July-September 3 186 365 260 142 135 October-December 4 176 397 218 168 73 Total 796 1,357 1,028 671 460
Quarter 2001 2002 2003 January-March 1 160 204 219 April-June 2 140 240 193 July-September 3 159 221 178 October-December 4 142 257 162 Total 601 922 752 1 In England and Wales acute hepatitis B cases are reported to the Health Protection Agency. In 2004, there was a substantial deterioration in the quality of acute hepatitis B reporting and since 2004 data have not been available. The Health Protection Agency is working to improve the quality of information on acute hepatitis B reporting and provisional data should be available from the start of 2007 later this year.
Quarter 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 January-March 1 36 27 42 41 42 61 April-June 2 42 43 77 57 65 55 July-September 3 59 42 49 56 52 83 October-December 4 43 34 35 53 73 49 Total 180 146 203 207 232 248 Source: Health Protection Agency (HPA)
Home Care Services: Oxygen
The new domiciliary oxygen service started on 1 February 2006. The first full year operational costs relate to 2006-07. These details are set out in the following table.
Total expenditure (£000) England 71,786,157 Strategic health authority (SHA) North East SHA 7,135,372 North West SHA 9,606,498 Yorkshire And The Humber SHA 6,561,058 East Midlands SHA 5,518,053 West Midlands SHA 7,767,896 East of England SHA 10,762,053 London SHA 7,265,996 South East Coast SHA 4,873,611 South Central SHA 4,361,402 South West SHA 7,934,217 Primary care trust Ashton, Leigh and Wigan 422,298 Barking and Dagenham 364,217 Barnet 346,003 Barnsley 406,828 Bassetlaw 168,147 Bath and North East Somerset 264,958 Bedfordshire 654,732 Berkshire East 303,405 Berkshire West 358,290 Bexley Care Trust 232,273 Birmingham East and North 601,560 Blackburn with Darwen 214,496 Blackpool 266,665 Bolton 207,863 Bournemouth and Poole 310,160 Bradford and Airedale 798,600 Brent Teaching 160,359 Brighton and Hove City 275,036 Bristol 853,220 Bromley 271,009 Buckinghamshire 493,795 Bury 184,817 Calderdale 202,524 Cambridgeshire 849,513 Camden 205,759 Central and Eastern Cheshire 588,313 Central Lancashire 597,722 City and Hackney Teaching 232,961 Cornwall and Isles Of Scilly 1,223,929 County Durham 1,381,047 Coventry Teaching 507,622 Croydon 296,231 Cumbria 472,985 Darlington 256,502 Derby City 215,937 Derbyshire County 825,763 Devon 1,012,912 Doncaster 431,860 Dorset 629,215 Dudley 66,017 Ealing 210,866 East and North Hertfordshire 1,032,617 East Lancashire 408,320 East Riding of Yorkshire 479,246 East Sussex Downs and Weald 317,323 Eastern and Coastal Kent 1,014,547 Enfield 241,238 Gateshead 360,123 Gloucestershire 643,545 Great Yarmouth and Waveney 577,213 Greenwich Teaching 209,171 Halton and St. Helens 519,985 Hammersmith and Fulham 143,767 Hampshire 1,486,888 Haringey 163,915 Harrow 283,697 Hartlepool 259,252 Hastings and Rother 294,640 Havering 440,512 Heart of Birmingham 255,156 Herefordshire 211,270 Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale 225,334 Hillingdon 261,562 Hounslow 189,195 Hull 670,595 Isle of Wight Healthcare 142,901 Islington 204,372 Kensington and Chelsea 142,565 Kingston 138,149 Kirklees 367,750 Knowsley 305,047 Lambeth 293,549 Leeds 813,336 Leicester City 418,884 Leicestershire County and Rutland 730,593 Lewisham 203,040 Lincolnshire 1,032,190 Liverpool 946,459 Luton 265,912 Manchester 781,331 Medway 231,405 Mid Essex 723,096 Middlesbrough 656,756 Milton Keynes 320,505 Newcastle 576,821 Newham 310,662 Norfolk 1,319,045 North East Essex 802,791 North East Lincolnshire 188,626 North Lancashire 413,032 North Lincolnshire 237,132 North Somerset 317,200 North Staffordshire 285,311 North Tees 346,791 North Tyneside 491,900 North Yorkshire and York 719,473 Northamptonshire 819,829 Northumberland Care Trust 972,049 Nottingham City 445,944 Nottinghamshire County 860,764 Oldham 219,860 Oxfordshire 637,583 Peterborough 442,028 Plymouth 377,135 Portsmouth City Teaching 211,986 Redbridge 229,610 Redcar and Cleveland 341,494 Richmond and Twickenham 150,039 Rotherham 343,028 Salford 526,063 Sandwell 398,363 Sefton 458,618 Sheffield 587,294 Shropshire County 532,528 Solihull 322,866 Somerset 830,212 South Birmingham 304,853 South East Essex 661,386 South Gloucestershire 327,960 South Staffordshire 1,024,489 South Tyneside 450,484 South West Essex 866,779 Southampton City 406,048 Southwark 263,048 Stockport 279,328 Stoke on Trent 488,753 Suffolk 920,331 Sunderland Teaching 1,042,152 Surrey 1,109,438 Sutton and Merton 239,371 Swindon 308,848 Tameside and Glossop 246,710 Telford and Wrekin 181,840 Torbay Care Trust 197,726 Tower Hamlets 263,986 Trafford 225,639 Wakefield District 314,766 Walsall Teaching 503,569 Waltham Forest 319,260 Wandsworth 110,625 Warrington 193,822 Warwickshire 494,350 West Essex 669,703 West Hertfordshire 976,908 West Kent 833,283 West Sussex 797,939 Western Cheshire 294,387 Westminster 144,986 Wiltshire 637,197 Wirral 607,406 Wolverhampton City 510,865 Worcestershire 578,485 Source: NHS Business Services Authority
The Department does not hold information on the number of people using the home oxygen service in England prior to 2006-07, as the information collected was based on the number of oxygen cylinders dispensed, not the number of patients using the service. However, information was available on the number of patients using the oxygen concentrator service under contracts with specialist suppliers. The 2004 estimate used to support procurement of the new service was that around 60,000 patients used the service (of which 20,000 used concentrators).
Data available from the new integrated service contract implemented from 1 February 2006 show that there are some 79,000 patients using oxygen at home.
Prior to the introduction of the new home oxygen service on 1 February 2006, there were no explicit requirements on those providing an oxygen cylinder service or an oxygen concentrator service to deliver a service urgently or within another specified period. Therefore, no data are available to assess average delivery time prior to that date.
The new service contract requires the service provider to meet specific response times for each oxygen service provided under the contract. These are:
emergency or urgent supply of oxygen to be delivered within four hours of receipt of an order from a healthcare professional;
an order supporting the discharge of a patient from hospital to be delivered on the day following receipt of the order or on a date specified by the healthcare professional in the order; and
an order for short burst oxygen therapy, long-term oxygen therapy, or an ambulatory oxygen service to be provided within three working days of receipt of an order either from a health care professional or from the patient directly (for re-supply).
Each supplier must meet these service requirements under the terms of the contract and delivery times are a key indicator used in monitoring supplier performance. There is no average delivery time. A supplier will either pass or fail in meeting these requirements. Current data show that suppliers are achieving around 99 per cent. compliance with this service requirement.
Hospitals: Admissions
Information has been placed in the Library.
Hospitals: Finance
Financial close on the Pembury hospital private finance initiative scheme for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospital NHS trust is expected by the end of March 2008.
Hospitals: West Sussex
Proposals for service change and consultation on those proposals is a matter for the national health service locally.
We would expect any local proposals brought forward for consultation to have taken into account variety of issues and to be both financially and clinically viable.
The disposal of land at Southlands hospital site is a matter for the local national health service.
Influenza: Disease Control
A copy of the paper on pre-pandemic and pandemic influenza vaccines: summary of the evidence has been placed in the Library from the meeting of Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations on 14 February 2007.
Lung Diseases
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 23 July 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people have been diagnosed with mesothelioma in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (150556)
The most recent available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer registered in England are for the year 2004. Figures for patients diagnosed with mesothelioma in Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside county district, North East government office region (GOR) and England, from 1997, are given in the table below.
Jarrow constituency South Tyneside county district North East GOR England 1997 3 8 110 1,287 1998 5 19 120 1,476 1999 2 9 127 1,564 2000 2 20 147 1,612 2001 3 14 145 1,800 2002 3 10 140 1,788 2003 5 10 128 1,828 2004 5 14 151 1,834 1 Figures selected using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD10) C45.
Members: Correspondence
A reply was issued on 19 July 2007.
Mesothelioma
While we do collect figures on the number of people treated for mesothelioma, we do collect figures on finished consultant episodes where the primary diagnosis was mesothelioma.
The requested information is detailed in the following table, these figures relate only to admitted patients and do not include any patients who are treated for mesothelioma in accident and emergency but not admitted, patients treated in an out-patient setting or patients treated in the community. The figures are not for patients, as one patient may have had more than one episode.
Finished consultant episodes North east strategic health authorities South Tyneside primary care trust (5KG) as PCT of residence Northumberland, Tyne and Wear strategic health authority (Q09) as SHA of residence County Durham and Tees Valley strategic health authority (Q10) as SHA of residence England 2005-06 40 316 303 6,436 2004-05 28 348 242 5,671 2003-04 56 443 230 5,697 2002-03 53 267 173 4,685 2001-02 59 321 129 4,663 2000-01 57 315 122 4,442 1999-2000 58 401 121 4,155 1998-99 39 373 98 3,773 1997-98 11 186 69 3,075 1 The ICD-10 codes used in this analysis were as follows: C45 Mesothelioma D19 Benign neoplasm of mesothelial tissue Notes: 1. Finished Consultant Episode (FCE): An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care 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. 2. Ungrossed Data: Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). 3. 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. 4. Assessing growth through time: HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. During the years that these records have been collected the NHS there have been ongoing improvements in quality and coverage. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example a number of procedures may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and may no longer be accounted in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time. 5. PCT and 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 practitioners 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. Source: HES, The Information Centre for health and social care
MRSA
(2) if he will make it his policy to adopt the recommendations of the (a) World Health Organisation and (b) Office of National Statistics and allow MRSA to be cited on a death certificate as a contributory factor.
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 23 July 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your questions asking why MRSA is not a recognised cause of death and whether it will be policy to adopt the recommendations of the (a) World Health Organisation and (b) Office of National Statistics and allow MRSA to be cited on a death certificate as a contributory factor. I am replying in her absence. (150539, 150538)
Diseases caused by infection with Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria (eg MRSA septicaemia, MRSA pneumonia, MRSA wound infection etc) are recognised as causes of death and can be cited on death certificates. The Office for National Statistics publishes annual statistics on deaths certified as due to or contributed to by MRSA.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) makes recommendations, in the International Classification of Diseases, currently in its tenth revision (ICD-10), on certification of cause of death by doctors, coding and classification of diseases, and selection of a single cause for each death for statistical purposes. The General Register Office and ONS follow ICD-10 recommendations and go further, as explained below.
Doctors have a statutory duty, under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, to certify the cause of death to the best of their knowledge and belief. GRO produces books of Medical Certificates of Cause of Death (MCCDs), in the format recommended by WHO, and supplies these to doctors through local registrars of births and deaths. The books include notes to doctors, based on ICD-10, on how to complete the MCCD. These ask the doctor to describe the sequence of illnesses or events that led directly to death in part I of the MCCD, ending on the last used line with the underlying cause of death. The underlying cause is defined by WHO as the disease or (external cause of) injury that initiated the morbid train of events leading directly to death. Certifiers are also asked to write in part II of the certificate any other conditions which contributed to the death but were not part of the direct sequence. WHO makes clear that the certifying doctor must use his/her clinical judgement to decide which of the conditions present at or before death contributed to the death and so should be included on the certificate.
In addition to the notes in the front of every book of MCCDs, the ONS Death Certification Advisory Group (DCAG) published updated guidance to certifiers in ACP News and on the GRO website (www.gro.gov.uk/medcert/) in June 2005. This guidance, which is also supplied to doctors with every new book of MCCDs, includes specific advice about certifying deaths involving health care associated infections (HCAI). The Department of health’s Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, in his ‘CMO Update’ no 42 of July 2005, which is sent to all registered doctors, drew attention to the DCAG guidance in a short article entitled ‘Certifying deaths involving MRSA’ http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/PublicationsAndStatistics/LettersAndCirculars/CMOUpdate/DH__4115663). These publications, from ONS/GRO and the Department of Health, make absolutely clear that doctors should include MRSA and other HCAI on the death certificate in the appropriate place if they believe that the infection was part of the direct causal sequence or contributed to the death.
WHO recommends that the underlying cause of death is tabulated for routine mortality statistics because preventing it would prevent not just the death, but the whole period of illness leading up to death and so result in the greatest health gain. MRSA infection is often associated with health care, and so it will not usually be the underlying cause of death, which may be the disease or injury necessitating the care during which the MRSA infection was acquired. Because of the public, policy, professional and media interest in the subject of MRSA infection, ONS provides more than just routine underlying cause statistics. Using ICD-10 codes and the full text from MCCDs, ONS publishes annual figures on the number of deaths in which MRSA was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, in addition to those where it was selected as the underlying cause of death. Figures for 2001 to 2005 were published in Health Statistics Quarterly no 33, which is available in the House of Commons library, in February 2007. Statistics based on death certificates which cited MRSA have also been quoted in answer to a number of previous Parliamentary questions and published in Hansard. In 2005 there were 1,629 death certificates that cited MRSA in England and Wales and in 29% of these (467 deaths) MRSA was the underlying cause of death.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
Information on the number of people employed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is not held by the Department. NICE is an independent body and should be contacted direct for this information. In 2007-08, NICE'S total budget is £35.05 million, of which £33,349 million was funding direct from the Department.
NHS Foundation Trusts
The Department does not hold this information. Legislation governing national health service foundation trusts allows them to open board of governors meetings to the public. There is no equivalent provision for meetings of the board of directors. The way in which these meetings are conducted is a matter for individual trusts. Directors would need to justify decisions on the conduct of their meetings with governors, who can hold directors to account for the performance of the trust and are responsible for communicating with the membership community information relating to the performance of the organisation.
NHS Trusts: Eastern Region
[holding answer 17 July 2007]: The costs of early retirement and redundancy payments are not collected centrally.
NHS: Cost-effectiveness
(2) what assessment he has made of the likely impact on the NHS of the provision of a range of discounts for erythropoietin in National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) ‘Guide to the methods of technology appraisal’, describes all aspects of appraisal methodology, including the principles and methods of health technology assessment. The Guide states that “estimates of...prices for particular resources should be used consistently across appraisals”, and that the Institute uses the “public list price” of a treatment when conducting its appraisals.
The Guide is published on the NICE website at:
www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=201973
NICE is currently undertaking a review of its ‘Guide to the methods of technology appraisal’, which underpins the technology appraisal programme. NICE expects to commence a three-month public consultation on its findings in November 2007.
NICE’s technology appraisal guidance on the use of erythropoietin analogues in the management of cancer treatment induced anaemia is due to be published in November 2007. The appraisal is being conducted in line with NICE’s published methodology.
NHS: Email
NHSmail first went live October 2004. There are over 260,000 NHSmail users registered for the national health service e-mail and directory service which is increasing every week with an average of one million messages sent or received across the NHSmail platform daily.
Since 2004 the technological and market environment has changed significantly. A number of opportunities for technology refresh were built into the original NHSmail contract. The move to Microsoft Exchange is the first of those. The cost of the transition will not exceed the existing programme budget. Costs have been controlled partly by the licences gained through the renewal of the enterprise agreement with Microsoft and partly through the reuse of existing infrastructure.
The move to Exchange will deliver new functionality and improved usability to NHSmail users. These include full mobile access via an extensive range of wireless devices, facilitating access to the many peripatetic workers in the NHS, full support for shared calendar use between doctors and managers, easier navigation between screens and functions, and the ability to share contacts between users. Exchange will also enable much faster recovery should any event impact one of the two data centres.
NHSmail carries out annual user surveys, and the Exchange-based service meets all of the most common requests for change reflected in survey results.
Other additional features are currently under consideration, such as instant messaging, which we believe will further increase the service appeal to NHS staff. As a result of this and the features described above, early contact with NHS trusts and NHS staff indicates that the transition to Exchange is likely to increase NHSmail user take-up above the current rate of 5,000 new users per month.
NHS: Finance
Revenue allocations to primary care trusts are informed by a fair funding formula. The formula is overseen by an independent body, the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA). ACRA’s role is to ensure equity in resource allocation. In order to achieve this objective, ACRA ensures that the most up-to-date, accurate and robust data available at the time of making allocations are used in the formula.
NHS: ICT
(2) in which NHS hospitals Cerner’s Millennium product is working satisfactorily; and if he will make a statement on the expected roll out programme;
(3) if he will make an evaluation of the effectiveness of Cerner’s Millennium system.
Cerner is the chosen subcontractor of two of the local service providers (LSPs) under the national programme for information technology in the national health service, Fujitsu in the South and BT in London, for the provision of secondary care systems.
In the South, six health communities have to date gone live with the Cerner Millennium system provided through the national programme. Each health community typically comprises an acute NHS trust and the associated primary care trust sites in its area. Details are provided in the following table.
Trust name Total users Peak users Average users Go live date Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust 880 700 450 25 September 2006 Milton Keynes General Hospital NHS Trust 2,000 980 420 24 February 2007 Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust 900 170 130 22 December 2005 Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust 2,875 620 400 20 April 2007 Weston Area Health NHS Trust 1,700 1,400 450 29 July 2006 Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust 1,821 980 360 10 February 2007 Total 10,176 4,850 2,210
To date, 1.4 million patient records have been entered in the systems in use in the South.
Five further systems are planned to go live in the South during 2007, 24 in 2008, and 19 in 2009. In London, three Millennium deployments are planned in 2007, the first, at Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust, due to go live before the end of July, and a further four in 2008. Go live dates in each strategic health authority (SHA) area are determined by agreement with the NHS bodies concerned.
The Millennium system is a robust product built on modern architecture, with greater patient data security and stability than older systems. It is used in many other countries and currently has a worldwide patient base of some 100 million patients. The version of Millennium being deployed through the national programme is based on that purchased in 2005 by two London NHS hospital trusts, the Homerton, and Newham University Hospitals Trusts. This version, release 0, contains the patient administration service functionality, is compliant with Choose and Book, and has the ability to order pathology tests and radiological diagnoses, and receive the reports. Subsequent releases will include ever greater functionality, particularly clinical functionality, bringing increasing benefits to patients and those who treat them.
Current users of the Homerton and Newham systems, who have had two years to become familiar with the system and to make local improvements, have expressed their satisfaction with the system. Further positive feedback has been received from a number of users, especially nurses.
Though the current Millennium release version has less functionality than that of certain advanced alternative systems in some trusts, this limitation is a necessary step in building up a fully integrated secondary care system through subsequent releases. Meanwhile, NHS Connecting for Health and SHAs are working closely with the LSPs and Cerner to further develop and improve the product, its functionality, and its ease of use.
NHS: Manpower
This information is shown in the table. The annual workforce census does not separately identify research staff.
Qualified ambulance staff have been excluded as the East of England Ambulance Service Trust falls within the Suffolk region, but serves a much wider area. Consequently the number of ambulance staff in Suffolk is much higher than would be expected, which also distorts the percentages in the other staff group areas.
England Percentage Of which: Suffolk Percentage All NHS staff1 1,306,622 100.0 13,013 100.0 Frontline Medical Staff2 659,017 50.4 6,324 48.6 of which HCHS Doctors3 90,243 6.9 778 6.0 GMPs4 36,008 2.8 434 3.3 Qualified Nurses (incl. Midwifery, Health Visitors and Practice Nurses) 398,269 30.5 3,820 29.4 Qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 134,497 10.3 1,292 9.9 Qualified ambulance staff — — — — Clerical and administrative staff 219,080 16.8 1,962 15.1 Managers and senior managers 35,309 2.7 293 2.3 Others 393,216 30.1 4,434 34.1 1 The figures for Suffolk are based on 2006 Primary Care Trust and trust boundaries and consists of Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, Suffolk Mental Health Partnership Trust, Suffolk PCT, West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust and East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust. 2 Front line medical staff includes HCHS doctors, general medical practitioners, qualified nurses (including GP practice nurses), qualified scientific, therapeutic & technical staff and Qualified ambulance staff. 3 Excludes medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are general practitioners (GPs) working part time in hospitals. 4 General Medical practitioners includes GP providers, GP others, GP retainers and GP registrars. Source: Annual Workforce Census
The information requested is shown in the following table.
Number (headcount) Of which: England Percentage West Sussex Percentage All NHS staff 1,338,779 100.0 29,263 100.0 Frontline medical staff2 675,260 50.4 15,261 52.2 of which: HCHS doctors3 90,243 6.7 2,075 7.1 GMPs4 36,008 2.7 569 1.9 Qualified nurses (incl. midwifery, health visitors and practice nurses) 398,335 29.8 8,502 29.1 Qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 134,498 10.0 2,558 8.7 Qualified ambulance staff 16,176 1.2 1,557 5.3 Clerical and administrative staff 224,302 16.8 4,925 16.8 Managers and senior managers 36,751 2.7 807 2.8 Others 402,466 30.1 8,270 28.3 1 The figures for West Sussex are based on 2006 primary care trust and trust boundaries and consists of Brighton and Sussex university hospitals NHS trust, Queen Victoria hospital NHS trust, Royal West Sussex NHS trust, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS trust, Sussex Partnership NHS trust, Worthing and Southlands hospitals NHS trust, West Sussex PCT and South East Coast ambulance service NHS trust 2 Front line medical staff includes HCHS doctors, general medical practitioners, qualified nurses (including GP practice nurses), qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff and qualified ambulance staff 3 Excludes medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are GPs working part-time in hospitals 4 General medical practitioners includes GP providers, GP others, GP retainers and GP registrars. Sources: The Information Centre Non-Medical, Medical and Dental and General and Personal Medical Services Censuses
NHS: Parking
The Department has provided advice to the national health service, in Health Technical Memorandum 07-03 Transport management and car parking, about the provision of car parking through the development of transport management plans. A copy is available in the Library.
Specific arrangements for the provision of car parking facilities for NHS staff will ultimately be determined at local level; will be dependent on local authority planning approval; and will be dependent on the needs of staff, patients and visitors alike.
Parking facilities for health care professionals who visit people in their own home are similarly governed by local circumstances and availability.
Obesity
The information is not available in the format requested. The latest data on obesity prevalence is available from the 2005 Health Survey for England (HSE). Table 1 shows the prevalence of obesity among men and women aged 16 and over in England in 2005.
Data on prevalence of obesity is not available for Hampshire. However, from the HSE we can provide the percentages of obesity among adults, aged 16 and over, for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority, for the combined years 2002-04. This information is shown in table 2.
Information on obesity prevalence in Southampton is not available. However estimated prevalence of obesity among adults, aged 16 and over, along with associated confidence intervals are provided for the wards in the Southampton local authority (LA). These estimates, for the combined years 2000-02, are taken from the synthetic estimates of healthy lifestyle behaviours and are shown in table 3.
Data on the percentage of adults, aged 16 and over, who smoke are available from the 2005 general household survey. The data are not available for Hampshire, however they are available by Government office region (GOR). Data are provided on the percentage of adults who smoke in England and in the South East GOR, which incorporates Hampshire, in table 4.
Information for Southampton's smoking prevalence is not available. However, estimated prevalence of adult smokers aged 16 and over, along with associated confidence intervals are provided for the wards in the Southampton LA. These estimates are also taken from the Synthetic Estimates of Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours. These estimates are for the combined years 2000-02, and are shown in table 5.
Percentage/Number Men 22.1 Women 24.3 Bases (unweighted) Men 2,930 Women 3,409 Bases (weighted) Men 3,144 Women 3,184 1 Data are weighted for non-response. Source: Health Survey for England 2005—updating of trend tables to include 2005 data. The Information Centre.
Percentage Obese2 (BMI over 30) Unweighted base Adjusted base2 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 21.3 845 1,307 1 Samples have not been weighted for non-response or selection. 2 Figures are adjusted so that each year is given an equal weight. Source: Health Survey for England 2002, 2003. The Department of Health. Health Survey for England 2004. The Information Centre.
Percentage Southampton local authority Estimated prevalence of obesity 95% lower confidence interval 95% upper confidence interval Comparison of estimated prevalence for obesity with national estimate1 Bargate 18.3 12.4 25.7 2 Bassett 18.0 12.4 25.3 2 Bevois 19.3 13.2 26.9 2 Bitterne 26.6 19.0 35.7 2 Bitterne Park 21.3 15.0 29.4 2 Coxford 24.9 17.8 33.8 2 Freemantle 18.4 12.7 25.7 2 Harefield 23.7 16.9 32.3 2 Millbrook 22.9 16.2 31.4 2 Peartree 22.3 15.8 30.5 2 Portswood 17.0 11.6 24.0 2 Redbridge 25.9 18.5 34.9 2 Shirley 20.2 14.2 27.9 2 Sholing 23.1 16.4 31.5 2 Swaythling 20.4 14.0 28.3 2 Woolston 24.3 17.2 32.9 2 1 It should be noted that the scores for comparing the synthetic estimate to the national estimate relate to the data as follows: 1=CI significantly below NE, 2=overlapping, 3=CI significantly above NE. The national estimate is derived directly from the Health Surveys for England 2000-02 (with associated confidence intervals) and therefore is not a model-based estimate. Source: Synthetic Estimates of Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours at ward level, 2000-02. The Information Centre, Neighbourhood Statistics 2005.
Percentage All adults Weighted bases (000s) Unweighted bases South East GOR 22 6,015 3,163 England 24 35,936 18,613 1 Among adults aged 16 and over. 2 2005 data includes last quarter of 2004-05 data due to survey change from financial to calendar year. Source: General Household Survey 2005. Office for National Statistics.
Percentage Southampton local authority Estimated prevalence of smoking 95 per cent. lower confidence interval 95 per cent. upper confidence interval Comparison of estimated prevalence of smoking with national estimate1 Bargate 37.7 24.1 53.3 2 Bassett 20.4 12.0 32.3 2 Bevois 33.4 21.0 48.5 2 Bitterne 38.9 25.4 54.4 2 Bitterne Park 26.3 16.1 39.9 2 Coxford 36.1 23.2 51.4 2 Freemantle 31.8 19.9 46.6 2 Harefield 33.1 20.8 48.1 2 Millbrook 37.1 24.0 52.6 2 Peartree 29.5 18.3 43.7 2 Portswood 28.0 17.1 42.0 2 Redbridge 40.1 26.3 55.5 2 Shirley 24.6 14.9 37.6 2 Sholing 29.0 18.0 43.2 2 Swaythling 37.4 23.9 52.7 2 Woolston 35.2 22.5 50.3 2 1 It should be noted that the scores for comparing the synthetic estimate to the national estimate relate to the data as follows: 1=CI significantly below NE, 2=overlapping, 3=CI significantly above NE. The national estimate is derived directly from the Health Surveys for England 2000-02 (with associated confidence intervals) and therefore is not a model-based estimate. Source: Synthetic Estimates of Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours at ward level, 2000-02, The Information Centre, Neighbourhood Statistics 2007.
Obesity: Children
The information is not available in the exact format requested. Data on children's overweight and obesity prevalence are taken from the Health Survey for England. We can provide the prevalence of children aged two to three who are overweight or obese in England in 2002-04 combined. Data are aggregated over three years, 2002, 2003 and 2004 to achieve a sufficiently large sample for analysis at this level. These data are shown in table 1 and are published in ‘Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, England 2006’. Copies are available in the Library and at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/obesity/statistics-on-obesity-physical-activity-and-diet-england-2006.
We can also provide the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children aged two to 10, from 1997 to 2005. Data for 2005 are the latest data available. These data are shown in table 2 and are published in the ‘Health Survey for England—Updating of trend tables to include 2005 data’, and at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/health-survey-for-england/health-survey-for-england--updating-of-trend-tables-to-include-2005-data.
Percentage Obese 11.6 Overweight including obese 25.2 Base (unweighted) 1,130 Base (weighted) 1,232 1 Data are aggregated over three years, 2002, 2003 and 2004 to achieve a sufficiently large sample for analysis at this level. Source: Health Survey for England 2002, 2003. The Department of Health Health Survey for England 2004. The Information Centre
Percentage Unweighted1 Weighted 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005 Overweight 12.5 13.6 13.8 12.6 14.8 13.2 14.0 14.2 14.3 14.0 14.7 14.2 Obese 10.9 11.6 14.6 12.0 13.1 15.5 13.7 14.3 16.7 13.8 14.5 16.8 Overweight including obese 23.4 25.2 28.4 24.6 27.9 28.7 27.7 28.5 30.9 27.8 29.1 31.0 Bases (weighted) 4,089 2,552 1,262 1,094 2,129 4,654 1,774 759 1,419 1,736 726 1,338 1 From 2003 data were also weighted for non response. Data weighted for child selection only are provided for consistency with previous years. Source: Health Survey for England—Updating of trend tables to include 2005 data
Ovarian Cancer: Medical Treatments
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has issued technology appraisal guidance on the use of paclitaxel for ovarian cancer (updated in January 2003) and on the use of topotecan, pegylated liposomal doxorubicin hydrochloride (PLDH) and paclitaxel for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer (May 2005).
Physiotherapy
Workforce planning is a matter for local determination. It is for local workforce planners to determine the physiotherapy needs of their local population with appropriate support from the workforce review team (WRT), national workforce projects and NHS Employers.
Projected estimates on the future number of physiotherapists are published on the WRT website:
www.healthcareworkforce.nhs.uk/workforce_review_team/
Ritalin
We do not collect that information centrally. Data are, however, available on the number of prescriptions for central nervous system stimulants and drugs used for attention deficit hyperactive disorder including methylphenidate (Ritalin) dispensed to children under 16 years and those aged 16 to 18 years in full-time education.
The following table gives numbers of prescriptions by age.
Financial year Items under 16 Items 16 to 18 in full-time education 1996-97 48,264 2,058 1997-98 86,247 3,388 1998-99 112,294 4,596 1999-2000 144,894 7,698 2000-01 171,244 7,873 2001-02 200,202 9,225 2002-03 247,115 11,935 2003-04 289,009 17,218 2004-05 338,909 24,906 2005-06 379,334 31,694 2006-07 454,797 40,339
Royal Brompton Hospital: Clostridium
The data requested are not available. Mandatory surveillance for Clostridium difficile infection in people aged 65 years and over commenced in January 2004 and covers acute national health service trusts in England rather that individual hospitals.
Reported figures for the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital NHS Trust are shown in the following table.
January to December each year The Royal Brompton and Harefield HospitalNHS Trust 2004 25 2005 21 2006 14 Source: HPA
School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme
An initial evaluation of the school fruit and vegetable scheme was carried out in November 2004. At that stage the children who participated in the evaluation had only been receiving free fruit and vegetables since June 2004. The results provided a useful insight into the initial impact of the scheme but it was recognised that further work would need to be undertaken to measure the impact of the scheme over a longer period. In 2006 we commissioned a further evaluation of the school fruit and vegetable scheme. The report of the further evaluation will be published shortly.
School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme: Expenditure
The lottery provided £16 million towards the original pilots of the National School Fruit Scheme between 2000 and 2002. Lottery funding also provided £42 million to support scaling-up of the original pilots across five Government regions between 2002 and 2004.
The Department spent £0.75 million in 2001-02 and £0.3 million in 2002-03 on administering and evaluating the national school fruit scheme pilots.
The national rollout to all local education authority infant, primary and special schools across England of the scheme was completed at the end of 2004 and in the year 2004-05 the Department spent £28.5 million on the scheme.
From April 2005 the Department has fully funded the school fruit and vegetable. The cost of the scheme in 2005-06 was £37.83 million and £36.77 million in 2006-07.
As the scheme has developed we have been able to achieve efficiencies in the overall administration of the scheme and the supply and distribution of the fruit and vegetables which has resulted in spending on the scheme reducing over the last year.
Simvastatin
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published technology appraisal guidance on “Cardiovascular Disease – Statins” in January 2006. This guidance has been placed in the Library and is available on NICE’s website at www.guidance.nice.org.uk/TA94
Smoking
The information is not available in the format requested. Data on the percentage of adults, aged 16 and over, who smoke are available from the 2005 General Household Survey (GHS), and are available by Government office region (GOR). Data are provided on the percentage of men and women, aged 16 and over, who smoke in the South East GOR which incorporates Hampshire. This information is given in table 1. The sample sizes are too small at GOR level to break down by age.
Data on the percentage of adult smokers, aged 16 and over, in England is also available from the 2005 (GHS). These are broken down by gender and age and are provided in table 2.
Data on smoking prevalence collected from surveys are not available level by religion or by national health service trust.
Information for Southampton’s smoking prevalence is not available. However, the estimated prevalence of adult smokers, aged 16 and over, along with associated confidence intervals are provided for the wards in the Southampton local authority. These estimates are taken from the Synthetic Estimates of Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours and are published on the Neighbourhood Statistics website, available at:
neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/Download1.do
These estimates are for the combined years 2000-02 and are shown in table 3. This information is not available broken down by gender, age, religion or NHS trust.
South East GOR Percentage All adults 22 Men 24 Women 21 Weighted bases (thousand) All adults 6,015 Men 2,849 Women 3,166 Unweighted bases All adults 3,163 Men 1,485 Women 1,678 1 Among adults aged 16 and over 2 2005 data include last quarter of 2004-05 data due to survey change from financial to calendar year Source: General Household Survey 2005. Office for National Statistics
Percentage All adults 16-19 20-24 25-34 35-49 50-59 60 and over All adults 24 25 32 31 27 24 13 Men 25 23 34 33 29 25 14 Women 22 27 29 29 25 23 13 Weighted bases (Thousand) All adults 35,936 1,940 2,607 5,948 9,869 5,897 9,675 Men 16,834 993 1,186 2,843 4,559 2,859 4,394 Women 19,102 947 1,421 3,105 5,311 3,038 5,281 Unweighted bases All adults 18,613 896 1,152 2,957 5,118 3,127 5,363 Men 8,663 449 502 1,367 2,341 1,509 2,495 Women 9,950 447 650 1,590 2,777 1,618 2,868 1 Among Adults aged 16 and over 2 2005 data include last quarter of 2004-05 data due to survey change from financial to calendar year Source: General Household Survey 2005. Office for National Statistics
Percentage Estimated prevalence of smoking 95 per cent. lower confidence interval 95 per cent. upper confidence level Comparison of estimated prevalence for smoking with national estimate Bargate 37.7 24.1 53.3 2 Bassett 20.4 12.0 32.3 2 Bevois 33.4 21.0 48.5 2 Bitterne 38.9 25.4 54.4 2 Bitterne Park 26.3 16.1 39.9 2 Coxford 36.1 23.2 51.4 2 Freemantle 31.8 19.9 46.6 2 Harefield 33.1 20.8 48.1 2 Millbrook 37.1 24.0 52.6 2 Peartree 29.5 18.3 43.7 2 Portswood 28.0 17.1 42.0 2 Redbridge 40.1 26.3 55.5 2 Shirley 24.6 14.9 37.6 2 Sholing 29.0 18.0 43.2 2 Swaythling 37.4 23.9 52.7 2 Woolston 35.2 22.5 50.3 2 1 It should be noted that the scores for comparing the synthetic estimate to the national estimate relate to the data as follows: 1 = CI significantly below NE, 2 = Overlapping, 3 = CI significantly above NE. The national estimate is derived directly from the Health Surveys for England 2000-02 (with associated Confidence Intervals) and therefore is not a model-based estimate. Source: Synthetic Estimates of Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours at ward Level, 2000-02. The Information Centre, Neighbourhood Statistics 2005
Smoking: Health Hazards
The information requested is not centrally collected.
West Sussex Primary Care Trust: Finance
The information is not held centrally but can be obtained from West Sussex Primary Care Trust.
Children, Schools and Families
Academies
A large number of publications issued by my Department to local authorities include guidance on academies. The most recent specific guidance to local authorities on academies is included in ‘400 Academies—Prospectus for Sponsors and Local Authorities’ (ISBN: 1-84478-682-X) published in May 2007. Copies of this have been placed in the Library.
The National Audit Office has examined whether the academies programme is able to meet its objectives and to deliver value for money. Its report ‘The Academies Programme’ was prepared under section 6 of the National Audit Act 1983 for presentation to the House of Commons in accordance with section 9 of the Act, and was published on 23 February 2007. The report examined whether the academies programme was “able to meet its objectives and to deliver value for money”, and concluded that:
“Given the progress made by most academies so far in improving the quality of education for their pupils, the academies programme is on track to deliver good value for money.”
Academies are a key element of the drive to raise standards; raising aspirations and creating opportunity in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the country. There are no current plans for further “value for money” reviews of the programme.
Academies: Finance
The following table details the financial provision for academies for each of the years in question where such provision is known.
Budgets for subsequent years will depend on the final allocation of the Department’s comprehensive spending review settlement.
Revenue Capital 2005-06 1145.5 1251.7 2006-07 1265.8 1385.7 2007-08 2565.0 3517.0 1 Actual outturn 2 Estimated outturn 3 Current baseline
Adoption: Standards
A national adoption target was announced in 2000 to increase the number of adoptions of looked after children by 40 per cent. by the year ending March 2005, and to exceed this by achieving, if possible, a 50 per cent. increase by the end of March 2006.
The target related to children who were already looked after.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families collects statistics on the number of adoptions of Looked After Children in England. Relevant information is published in the document “Children Looked After By Local Authorities Year Ending March 2006” which is available at:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000721/index.shtml.
Babies: Care Proceedings
Information on the initiation of care proceedings is not collected centrally. The information provided in the table relates to the number of children looked after who became subject to a care order and were aged under one year old at the time the care order became effective.
Number Year ending 31 March 2004 2005 2006 Number of children aged under one year 3,000 3,100 3,100 1 Figures include children who started to be looked after during the year as a result of a care order being granted and children who started to be looked after under any other legal status, including Section 20 of the Children Act, and subsequently became subject to a care order during the year. 2 To maintain the confidentiality of each individual child, data at national level are rounded to the nearest 100 if they exceed 1,000 to the nearest 10 otherwise. 3 Historical data may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials. Source: SSDA903
Building Schools for the Future Programme
Currently we are investing around £2.2 billion a year through the Building Schools for the Future programme. An announcement about the level of investment over the next spending period 2008-09 to 2010-11 will be made later this year. Beyond that, future levels of investment will depend on the outcome of future spending decisions. My Department has made no estimate of the net present value of costs.
Children in Care
The number of children who were looked after during the years ending 31 March 1991 to 2006 is shown in table 1.
The number of children who were taken into care during the years ending 31 March 2002 to 2006 is shown in table 2.
“Children taken into care” are children who started to be looked after under the following legal statuses: interim or full care orders, and police protection or emergency protection or child assessment orders. They exclude children freed for adoption or for whom a placement order was granted, they exclude children under voluntary accommodation and they also exclude children under youth justice legal statuses.
The remaining information requested can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Number 19913 59,800 19923 55,500 19933 51,200 19943 49,500 19953 49,900 19963 50,800 19973 51,400 19984 53,300 19994 55,500 20004 58,100 20014 58,900 20024 59,700 20034 60,800 20043 61,200 20053 60,900 20063 60,300 1 Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short term placements. 2 Historical data may differ from older publications. In previous years' publications, this table used data from CLA100. To be consistent with tables elsewhere, data in this publication are now taken from the SSDA903 throughout, and the breakdowns may therefore differ slightly from figures in previous publications. 3 Figures are taken from the SSDA903 return which in 1990-91 to 1996-97, 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 covered all looked after children. 4 Figures are taken from the SSDA903 one-third sample survey.
Number 20023 20033 20042 20052 20062 England 7,400 8,100 7,500 7,700 7,600 1 Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short term placements. 2 Figures are taken from the SSDA903 return which in 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 covered all looked after children. 3 Figures are taken from the SSDA903 one-third sample survey. 4 Only the first occasion on which a child was taken into care in the year has been counted. 5 “Children taken into care” are children who started to be looked after under the following legal statuses: interim or full care orders, and police protection or emergency protection or child assessment orders. They exclude children freed for adoption or for whom a placement order was granted, they exclude children under voluntary accommodation and they also exclude children under youth justice legal statuses. 6 Historical figures may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials. 7 To maintain the confidentiality of each individual child, data at national level are rounded to the nearest 100 if they exceed 1,000 or to the nearest 10 otherwise.
Children in Care: Care Homes
(2) how many independent children’s homes have been registered in each of the last five years;
(3) how many independent children’s homes have been de-registered in each of the last five years; and for what reasons.
Data on the number of looked after children who are accommodated in independent children's homes are not available from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).
Data on the number of independent children’s homes that have been (a) registered and (b) de-registered in each of the last five years are not held centrally by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).
The average annual cost of a placement for a looked after child in an independent children’s home in England for 2005-06 (the latest year for which figures are available) was £120,000.
Children in Care: East Sussex
The number of newborn babies, aged seven days or less, taken into care in England for year ending 31 March 2006 was 670. Of these, 10 were the responsibility of East Sussex local authority. The corresponding number for Eastbourne is unknown as information is collected at local authority level.
The information requested can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Children: Adoption
Statistical information on the total number of adoptions in England and Wales by age of child for the years 1995-2005 is included in table 6.2b in the Statistics Series “Marriage, divorce and adoptions”, volume FM2, published by the Office for National Statistics. A copy of this publication is available in the House Library and on the National Statistics website at
www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/FM2no32/FM2_32.pdf
Statistics for 2006 have not yet been published.
Children: Care Orders
The information requested is not available.
We are determined to improve outcomes for all children in care. Our recent White Paper Care Matters: Time for Change sets out specific proposals to improve their education. This includes: a £500 educational allowance for children in care at risk of falling behind at school; putting the 'designated teacher' on a statutory footing to improve the expertise in schools; appointing ‘virtual school heads’ to oversee their education; improving attendance and reducing exclusions; reducing mobility of school placements, particularly in the crucial years before GCSEs; and a bursary of a minimum of £2000 for all children in care who go on to university.
These proposals build on the measures already in place: a specific duty on local authorities to promote the educational achievement of children in care and a requirement to give them the highest priority in school admission arrangements.
Children: Databases
ContactPoint will not hold detailed case information. In addition to basic identifying information for the child or young person, it will hold only contact details for the parent or carer, and for practitioners providing services to a child or young person. In the case of sensitive services—defined as sexual health, mental health or substance abuse—practitioner contact details will only be added to ContactPoint with informed, explicit consent. ContactPoint will also have the facility for practitioners to indicate to others if they are a lead professional and have undertaken a common assessment, in relation to a child or young person.
ContactPoint has developed a strong, collaborative relationship with the Information Commissioner's Office based on a shared desire to ensure that ContactPoint operates within the Data Protection Act. Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner has recently written to the Project Director and confirmed that
"The information that you require to populate ContactPoint is of an administrative nature, it reveals nothing about an individual’s health or condition and it does not strike me as sensitive.”
ContactPoint will identify all users seeking access through a method of strong authentication involving physical security tokens, PIN numbers and passwords. Where access is mediated, ContactPoint will authenticate the identity of both the user and the mediator to the same high level. All ContactPoint activity will be audited, including the query parameters and the results returned.
User managers will regularly run analysis reports that will highlight potential inappropriate usage patterns for investigation. In addition, random samples of activity will be automatically extracted and analysed. The ContactPoint central team will monitor user managers to ensure that the audit reports are being run.
These measures provide a high level of assurance that the ContactPoint audit function is robust, and activity can be correctly attributed to an individual authorised user.
The only users who will be granted to access ContactPoint, without undergoing an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check, will be authorised members or employees of a police authority, a chief officer of police for a police area in England, or officers of the British Transport Police Authority. Their access will be granted by virtue of the fact that all officers and staff undergo equivalent vetting and checks but not the enhanced CRB check itself.
Children: Mental Health Services
The CAMHS Standard of the Children’s National Service Framework for England (published September 2004) set out a 10 year programme of improvements for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). The aim is that all children and young people, from birth to their eighteenth birthday, who have mental health problems and disorders, will have access to timely, integrated, high quality multidisciplinary mental health services to ensure effective assessment, treatment and support, for them, their parents or carers, and other family members.
This commitment to improve CAMHS has been backed by significant additional funding, over £400 million in the last four years, to local authorities and the NHS. We will continue to build on these improvements and ensure that the promotion of children’s mental health and emotional well being remains a priority for schools and children’s services.
City Academies: Sponsorship
Potential sponsors are those who have not yet formally entered into a funding agreement. Those who have projects which are in the public domain are listed as follows.
A number of potential sponsors are in very early discussions about academy projects. Their details have therefore not been provided.
The list of potential sponsors the Department is currently in discussions with are:
Absolute Return for Kids (ARK),
All Roads DSO,
Andrew Tinkler,
Aston University
Barnfield FE College,
BBC,
Bob Edmiston,
Bovis Lend Lease,
Brian Scrowcroft,
British Edutrust Foundation,
Carillion,
Central Manchester University,
CfBT,
Church of England,
Corporation of London,
Coventry City College,
Coventry City Council,
Coventry University,
Crown Products (Kent) Ltd.,
CTC Trusts’,
David and Anne Grassland,
David Ross,
David Samworth,
Duke of Northumberland,
Dulwich College,
Edge Foundation,
Emmanuel Schools Foundation,
Eric Payne,
Grahame Dacre,
Haberdashers’ Livery Company,
Hewlett Packard,
Holiday Extras,
HSBC Trust,
Imperial College
ITV Granada,
Jaguar Cars,
JCB,
Jon Aisbitt,
Kent County Council,
KPMG,
Laing O’Rourke,
Leighton Group,
Liverpool Hope University,
Lord Harris of Peckham,
Mancat,
Manchester Airport,
Manchester Children’s University Hosp NHS Trust,
Manchester City Council,
Martin Finegold,
Mercers’ Company,
Microsoft,
New Charter Housing Trust,
New Line Learning,
Northumbrian Water,
Oasis Community Learning,
Ormiston Trust,
Oxford Brookes University,
Priory Trust,
Prospect Education (Technology) Trust Ltd.,
Queen Mary
RC Archdiocese of Liverpool,
Rodney Aldridge Charitable Trust,
Roger de Haan,
RSA,
Sheffield Hallam University,
Shireland Learning,
Steiner School Fellowship,
Sunderland County Council,
Sunderland Housing Group,
The Co-operative Group,
The Skinners Company,
Toc H,
Tonbridge School,
ULT
University College London,
University of Central England
University of London
University of Manchester
University of Nottingham,
University of the West of England
University of Wolverhampton
Wellington College,
Willow Park Housing Trust,
Worshipful Company of Information Technologists.
Classroom Assistants
In January 2007, there were approximately 162,900 (full-time equivalent) teaching assistants in schools in England. This is an increase of 102,300 since 1997, more than doubling the number of teaching assistants.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families, in conjunction with the Welsh Assembly Government, have commissioned a five-year research study (2004-09) to provide a detailed analysis of the impact of support staff on teaching and learning, in addition to comprehensive and reliable information on the types, characteristics and deployment of support staff (including teaching assistants) in schools in England and Wales. Early findings published in 2006 (Blatchford et al, DfES Research Report 776) suggested that many teachers felt support staff were having a positive effect on pupil learning and behaviour. Teachers also felt that support staff benefited their teaching in a number of ways, for example, by allowing them to differentiate the work for more pupils. Subsequent publications will report in more detail on the role of support staff in teaching and learning and provide a systematic analysis of the effect of support staff on pupil outcomes, including attainment.
In 2002, Ofsted reported that
“In virtually every year group and at every level of free school meal eligibility, the quality of teaching in lessons with teaching assistants is better than in those without”.
(Applies to primary only. Source: Teaching Assistants in Primary Schools: An Evaluation of the Quality and Impact of their Work April 2002).
In 2006, the National Foundation for Educational Research concluded that
“In departments that had dedicated support staff, both teachers and departmental heads were significantly more satisfied with the amount and quality of in-class support and administrative support they received. There was evidence that being based in one department was also of benefit to the support staff themselves, both in terms of their overall satisfaction and access to professional development.”
(Source: The deployment of teachers and support staff to deliver the maths and science curriculum in secondary schools—NFER 2006).
In January 2003, the National Agreement, “Raising Standards, Tackling Workload” was signed by the Government, employers, and the majority of the school work force unions. The agreement set out the shared vision for the school work force of the future and featured a series of phased reforms to help schools raise standards of achievement of all their pupils and tackle work load issues. It is vital that schools make the most effective use of teachers’ time, ensuring that they spend their time only on activities that really need the professional skills and judgment of a teacher. The increased use of teaching assistants (and other support staff) in schools, providing high quality support in the classroom and by taking on a number of administrative tasks previously carried out by teachers, has therefore been integral to the Government’s drive to raise standards for pupils and tackle teacher work load.
The following tables provide the number of full-time equivalent teaching assistants employed in local authority maintained schools in England by Government Office region and local authority, January 2006.
Local authority figures for January 2007 are expected to be published on 27 September.
Teaching assistants2 England 153,100 North East 6,930 Darlington 300 Durham 1,100 Gateshead 480 Hartlepool 310 Middlesbrough 520 Newcastle upon Tyne 620 North Tyneside 430 Northumberland 1,040 Redcar and Cleveland 380 South Tyneside 470 Stockton-on-Tees 430 Sunderland 850 North West 22,020 Blackburn with Darwen 650 Blackpool 480 Bolton 1,070 Bury 640 Cheshire 1,740 Cumbria 1,310 Halton 330 Knowsley 460 Lancashire 3,890 Liverpool 1,130 Manchester 1,920 Oldham 830 Rochdale 860 Salford 780 Sefton 780 St. Helens 610 Stockport 780 Tameside 660 Trafford 440 Warrington 630 Wigan 980 Wirral 1,020 Yorkshire and the Humber 17,330 Barnsley 680 Bradford 2,000 Calderdale 860 Doncaster 840 East Riding of Yorkshire 950 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 920 Kirklees 1,490 Leeds 2,500 North East Lincolnshire 690 North Lincolnshire 600 North Yorkshire 1,710 Rotherham 900 Sheffield 1,590 Wakefield 1,090 York 500 East Midlands 13,490 Derby 930 Derbyshire 2,190 Leicester 1,090 Leicestershire 1,730 Lincolnshire 2,370 Northamptonshire 1,940 Nottingham 1,060 Nottinghamshire 2,060 Rutland 120 West Midlands 17,430 Birmingham 4,390 Coventry 770 Dudley 1,200 Herefordshire 420 Sandwell 970 Shropshire 750 Solihull 630 Staffordshire 2,080 Stoke-on-Trent 830 Telford and Wrekin 640 Walsall 820 Warwickshire 1,630 Wolverhampton 720 Worcestershire 1,580 East of England 17,290 Bedfordshire 1,340 Cambridgeshire 1,880 Essex 3,920 Hertfordshire 2,910 Luton 820 Norfolk 2,570 Peterborough 1,050 Southend-on-Sea 650 Suffolk 1,540 Thurrock 630 London 22,820 Inner London 9,660 Camden 640 City of London 10 Hackney 720 Hammersmith and Fulham 430 Haringey 960 Islington 620 Kensington and Chelsea 280 Lambeth 750 Lewisham 720 Newham 980 Southwark 1,070 Tower Hamlets 1,320 Wandsworth 800 Westminster 370 Outer London 13,160 Barking and Dagenham 560 Barnet 1,070 Bexley 570 Brent 680 Bromley 620 Croydon 980 Ealing 670 Enfield 1,160 Greenwich 920 Harrow 550 Havering 660 Hillingdon 800 Hounslow 680 Kingston upon Thames 380 Merton 460 Redbridge 910 Richmond upon Thames 350 Sutton 360 Waltham Forest 760 South East 22,360 Bracknell Forest 220 Brighton and Hove 510 Buckinghamshire 1,100 East Sussex 1,330 Hampshire 3,210 Isle of Wight 430 Kent 4,660 Medway 930 Milton Keynes 680 Oxfordshire 1,630 Portsmouth 660 Reading 250 Slough 530 Southampton 660 Surrey 2,720 West Berkshire 490 West Sussex 1,660 Windsor and Maidenhead 330 Wokingham 380 South West 13,440 Bath and North East Somerset 270 Bournemouth 460 Bristol, City of 1,110 Cornwall 1,630 Devon 2,380 Dorset 1,350 Gloucestershire 1,030 Isles of Scilly 3— North Somerset 430 Plymouth 870 Poole 460 Somerset 1,380 South Gloucestershire 640 Swindon 380 Torbay 300 Wiltshire 750 1 Includes both full-time and the full-time equivalent of part-time support staff. 2 Includes nursery nurses, nursery assistants, literacy and numeracy support staff and any non-teaching staff regularly employed to support in the classroom expect from special needs and minority ethnic pupils support staff. 3 Nil or negligible. Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census
The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teaching assistants employed in local authority maintained schools by local authority in each January from 1997 to 2006. The number of classroom assistants cannot be provided separately.
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 England 60,580 65,540 69,600 79,020 94,990 105,360 121,190 132,060 147,000 153,100 North East 2,870 2,990 3,130 3,450 4,280 4,010 5,060 5,630 6,430 6,930 Gateshead 190 200 210 220 300 320 370 350 450 480 Newcastle upon Tyne 270 300 310 330 410 330 480 580 700 620 North Tyneside 200 220 220 240 270 180 300 250 290 430 South Tyneside 160 160 160 180 250 350 280 420 440 470 Sunderland 420 400 440 460 610 510 690 750 810 850 Hartlepool 100 110 120 140 210 140 260 250 310 310 Middlesbrough 210 200 180 210 280 360 440 520 530 520 Redcar and Cleveland 150 170 160 170 180 120 200 250 240 380 Stockton-on-Tees 210 220 230 280 340 210 280 290 380 430 Former Durham 640 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Darlington n/a 120 130 140 170 200 210 190 270 300 Durham (post 1 April 1997) n/a 550 580 620 690 650 820 990 1,090 1,100 Northumberland 320 340 380 450 560 650 720 800 910 1,040 North West 8,750 9,370 9,920 10,990 13,700 14,400 17,500 18,950 20,700 22,020 Cumbria 610 620 660 730 840 1,100 1,110 1,150 1,200 1,310 Former Cheshire 1,130 1,240 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Cheshire (post 1 April 1998) n/a n/a 830 870 1,020 1,120 1,230 1,350 1,530 1,740 Halton n/a n/a 190 200 240 250 270 320 320 330 Warrington n/a n/a 250 270 320 370 380 440 510 630 Bolton 390 430 480 570 650 790 830 950 1,050 1,070 Bury 270 260 280 330 360 460 480 540 590 640 Manchester 740 750 750 810 1,080 1,430 1,610 1,750 1,880 1,920 Oldham 390 410 430 470 560 580 630 690 780 830 Rochdale 260 270 290 340 530 680 710 760 840 860 Salford 430 440 450 480 530 700 570 660 790 780 Stockport 340 360 310 410 510 670 700 750 810 780 Tameside 280 290 310 360 490 360 420 460 520 660 Trafford 190 200 220 230 300 230 300 380 420 440 Wigan 340 390 420 430 560 440 740 800 880 980 Former Lancashire 1,780 2,000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Lancashire (post 1 April 1998) n/a n/a 1,670 1,830 2,190 1,960 3,130 3,300 3,570 3,890 Blackburn with Darwen n/a n/a 300 350 430 360 530 580 610 650 Blackpool n/a n/a 190 220 290 190 390 430 480 480 Knowsley 210 230 260 280 350 470 430 490 480 460 Liverpool 450 490 520 610 920 720 1,150 1,150 1,190 1,130 St. Helens 260 270 290 310 390 420 480 530 640 610 Sefton 360 380 410 470 580 490 650 680 750 780 Wirral 320 350 390 420 570 620 780 790 850 1,020 Yorkshire and the Humber 7,700 8,160 8,500 9,830 11,660 13,030 14,430 15,420 16,680 17,330 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 370 400 440 460 540 510 540 640 880 920 East Riding of Yorkshire 340 370 410 470 550 500 650 800 880 950 North East Lincolnshire 220 240 260 310 460 520 570 650 630 690 North Lincolnshire 180 200 240 270 330 430 450 510 550 600 North Yorkshire 440 540 560 630 800 1,150 1,190 1,410 1,540 1,710 York 140 160 170 220 250 350 370 400 440 500 Barnsley 360 360 360 350 400 610 670 680 680 680 Doncaster 520 460 470 620 640 780 810 860 970 840 Rotherham 280 310 330 410 540 580 770 880 970 900 Sheffield 580 640 710 800 1,080 790 1,200 1,230 1,360 1,590 Bradford 1,240 1,200 1,230 1,370 1,590 1,600 1,870 1,880 1,980 2,000 Calderdale 370 400 420 520 630 720 770 820 880 860 Kirklees 580 620 670 970 1,120 1,160 1,140 1,270 1,390 1,490 Leeds 1,560 1,670 1,670 1,780 1,950 2,380 2,470 2,460 2,550 2,500 Wakefield 540 580 570 650 780 950 960 940 970 1,090 East Midlands 5,050 5,500 6,010 6,690 8,220 9,270 10,090 10,830 12,560 13,490 Former Derbyshire 1,180 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Derbyshire (post 1 April 1997) n/a 930 990 1,160 1,460 1,660 1,720 1,820 1,980 2,190 Derby n/a 360 380 430 510 590 670 760 830 930 Former Leicestershire 940 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Leicestershire (post 1 April 1997) n/a 580 640 760 920 970 1,190 1,150 1,630 1,730 Leicester n/a 470 520 540 620 730 900 930 1,120 1,090 Rutland n/a 50 50 70 70 80 100 100 120 120 Lincolnshire 810 820 890 990 1,250 1,550 1,610 1,980 2,190 2,370 Northamptonshire 810 880 990 1,090 1,330 1,310 1,330 1,360 1,680 1,940 Former Nottinghamshire 1,310 1,420 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Nottinghamshire (post 1 April 1998) n/a n/a 1,000 1,090 1,350 1,600 1,660 1,770 1,990 2,060 Nottingham n/a n/a 540 570 720 770 900 950 1,010 1,060 West Midlands 7,220 7,870 7,770 8,970 10,670 11,420 13,260 14,600 16,590 17,430 Former Hereford and Worcester 630 800 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Herefordshire n/a n/a 190 210 250 190 330 370 410 420 Worcestershire n/a n/a 680 760 820 930 1,290 1,450 1,580 1,580 Former Shropshire 510 540 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Shropshire (post 1 April 98) n/a n/a 350 390 460 560 640 690 780 750 Telford and Wrekin n/a n/a 260 280 370 390 480 530 580 640 Former Staffordshire 1,270 960 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Staffordshire (post 1 April 1998) n/a n/a 1,060 1,160 1,370 1,310 1,750 1,820 2,070 2,080 Stoke-on-Trent n/a 460 460 490 540 460 620 750 820 830 Warwickshire 530 630 700 980 1,040 1,240 1,250 1,470 1,590 1,630 Birmingham 2,030 2,080 1,630 1,740 2,170 2,970 3,130 3,320 3,930 4,390 Coventry 390 440 440 670 820 690 640 740 770 770 Dudley 350 410 420 530 680 830 880 960 1,060 1,200 Sandwell 460 460 490 520 650 500 600 650 850 970 Solihull 280 300 300 320 370 410 470 520 610 630 Walsall 380 390 380 440 580 700 810 840 950 820 Wolverhampton 390 400 420 470 570 230 360 480 580 720 East of England 6,060 6,800 7,280 8,380 10,300 12,000 14,370 15,360 16,850 17,290 Former Cambridgeshire 1,240 1,370 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Cambridgeshire (post 1 April 1998) n/a n/a 1,000 1,090 1,230 1,420 1,480 1,830 2,020 1,880 Peterborough n/a n/a 380 500 540 660 720 780 910 1,050 Norfolk 730 850 930 1,050 1,490 1,710 1,740 1,870 2,310 2,570 Suffolk 500 610 660 770 1,110 920 1,430 1,350 1,460 1,540 Former Bedfordshire 790 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Bedfordshire (post 1 April 1997) n/a 580 650 710 820 950 1,070 1,140 1,240 1,340 Luton n/a 290 360 430 530 560 620 720 780 820 Former Essex 1,720 1,840 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Essex (post 1 April 1998) n/a n/a 1,620 1,760 2,100 3,140 3,500 3,660 3,810 3,920 Southend-on-Sea n/a n/a 220 280 350 460 560 600 640 650 Thurrock n/a n/a 210 290 340 430 540 550 570 630 Hertfordshire 1,080 1,270 1,250 1,510 1,800 1,740 2,710 2,870 3,110 2,910 London 8,160 8,870 9,790 11,740 14,330 15,340 17,510 19,800 22,140 22,820 Inner London 3,390 3,710 4,060 5,090 6,430 6,580 7,470 8,540 9,490 9,660 Camden 200 240 250 300 360 440 470 550 580 640 City of London 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 10 10 10 Hackney 210 250 290 380 420 490 530 610 680 720 Hammersmith and Fulham 190 200 210 250 240 260 300 360 380 430 Haringey 350 360 380 420 490 650 680 810 900 960 Islington 250 250 270 350 360 350 480 520 560 620 Kensington and Chelsea 130 140 140 170 210 220 260 270 300 280 Lambeth 300 350 390 500 560 580 640 720 770 750 Lewisham 280 290 320 410 570 470 560 620 670 720 Newham 280 280 390 500 960 720 1,070 1,190 1,300 980 Southwark 350 420 430 650 810 750 710 900 1,030 1,070 Tower Hamlets 370 400 450 510 800 970 950 1,070 1,150 1,320 Wandsworth 330 370 370 460 470 380 530 590 730 800 Westminster 150 170 160 190 190 310 280 330 420 370 Outer London 4,770 5,160 5,730 6,650 7,900 8,760 10,040 11,270 12,650 13,160 Barking and Dagenham 300 290 310 320 400 500 510 560 540 560 Barnet 290 340 400 480 550 740 720 850 980 1,070 Bexley 200 230 280 310 380 320 560 550 600 570 Brent 260 300 360 390 440 450 470 560 640 680 Bromley 210 230 230 270 360 440 500 520 550 620 Croydon 400 410 510 530 660 630 870 950 1,010 980 Ealing 340 360 370 400 510 450 530 630 690 670 Enfield 250 290 290 500 590 810 880 970 1,050 1,160 Greenwich 360 400 430 510 650 650 730 750 820 920 Harrow 270 270 290 300 300 330 430 480 540 550 Havering 170 170 200 260 300 310 520 590 680 660 Hillingdon 300 340 380 420 510 520 590 620 740 800 Hounslow 280 280 290 330 380 400 400 550 580 680 Kingston upon Thames 130 130 150 170 220 220 250 310 360 380 Merton 190 200 220 240 290 250 300 370 530 460 Redbridge 190 230 270 370 450 580 620 730 820 910 Richmond upon Thames 100 110 110 130 160 210 220 250 330 350 Sutton 160 170 210 230 260 340 310 360 430 360 Waltham Forest 380 400 410 470 490 610 640 670 780 760 South East 9,830 10,480 11,250 12,290 13,720 16,910 18,890 20,300 22,400 22,360 Former Berkshire 940 970 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Bracknell Forest n/a n/a 140 130 170 110 190 190 210 220 Windsor and Maidenhead n/a n/a 150 160 220 210 220 280 300 330 West Berkshire n/a n/a 190 200 230 330 350 430 530 490 Reading n/a n/a 200 200 240 280 280 280 320 250 Slough n/a n/a 230 250 300 340 440 450 530 530 Wokingham n/a n/a 210 220 230 290 290 360 380 380 Former Buckinghamshire 650 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Buckinghamshire (post 1 April 1997) n/a 460 470 490 570 750 710 840 950 1,100 Milton Keynes n/a 260 270 280 300 310 450 530 530 680 Former East Sussex 700 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a East Sussex (post 1 April 1997) n/a 490 560 650 720 1,000 1,070 1,350 1,380 1,330 Brighton and Hove n/a 270 310 320 380 410 370 400 460 510 Former Hampshire 2,560 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Hampshire (post 1 April 1997) n/a 1,880 1,920 1,960 2,120 2,900 3,010 3,160 3,280 3,210 Portsmouth n/a 330 400 410 480 600 600 630 830 660 Southampton n/a 370 430 470 490 610 630 640 660 660 Isle of Wight 160 210 250 270 320 300 360 370 450 430 Former Kent 2,330 2,490 Kent (post 1 April 1998) n/a n/a 2,210 2,470 2,750 3,620 4,160 4,330 4,860 4,660 Medway n/a n/a 440 670 830 710 830 900 960 930 Oxfordshire 780 830 860 930 1,030 1,080 1,280 1,440 1,670 1,630 Surrey 1,170 1,290 1,360 1,500 1,570 1,960 2,350 2,390 2,610 2,720 West Sussex 530 650 670 710 780 1,090 1,310 1,330 1,480 1,660 South West 4,940 5,490 5,940 6,670 8,090 8,980 10,070 11,160 12,650 13,440 Isles of Scilly 2— 2— 2— 2— 10 2— 10 10 2— 2— Bath and North East Somerset 170 170 160 160 180 70 100 80 170 270 Bristol, City of 650 700 690 770 850 920 920 1,040 1,110 1,110 North Somerset 190 220 220 260 290 310 380 380 450 430 South Gloucestershire 270 280 300 350 430 480 560 550 590 640 Cornwall 790 870 960 980 990 1,000 1,170 1,190 1,860 1,630 Former Devon 810 960 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Devon (post 1 April 1998) n/a n/a 630 770 1,020 1,360 1,740 2,090 2,190 2,380 Plymouth n/a n/a 320 310 720 660 710 650 750 870 Torbay n/a n/a 140 170 180 200 220 290 280 300 Former Dorset 430 Dorset (post 1 April 1997) n/a 330 390 580 660 780 890 1,180 1,300 1,350 Poole n/a 110 150 180 220 400 390 430 420 460 Bournemouth n/a 130 170 210 240 380 380 410 400 460 Gloucestershire 470 490 550 590 740 710 750 700 910 1,030 Somerset 610 660 680 710 830 920 990 980 1,100 1,380 Former Wiltshire 530 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Wiltshire (post 1 April 1997) n/a 340 350 350 410 560 650 780 750 750 Swindon n/a 240 230 260 310 220 220 410 370 380 n/a = Not applicable. 1 Includes both full-time and the full-time equivalent of part-time support staff. 2 Nil or negligible. Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census.
Climate Change: Curriculum
Under both the current national curriculum in England for science and the new science curriculum to be taught in schools from September 2008, pupils aged 11-14 are taught about renewable energy and the possible impact of human activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels, on the environment. The current geography curriculum for 11 to 14-year-olds requires pupils to be taught about resource planning and management issues, for example developing alternative energy sources. From September 2008, ‘environmental interaction and sustainable development’ will be one of the key concepts in the new geography curriculum for 11 to 14-year-olds with a requirement to study climate change.
In May 2007, DCSF and DEFRA sent a climate change pack to every secondary school in England. The online teacher guidance accompanying the pack provides material to support the teaching of climate change in geography, science and citizenship. The pack is part of the wider DCSF Sustainable Schools programme which aims to embed sustainability in the curriculum, how schools operate (eg reducing energy usage) and in their work with the local community www.teachernet. gov.uk/sustainableschools. In addition to work being supported by DCSF, DEFRA have sponsored a number of projects aimed at raising awareness of climate change through the Climate Challenge Fund. Seventeen out of the 83 projects have schools as their main audience or have specifically targeted aspects of their project, www.climatechallenge.gov.uk. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has developed programmes for renewable energy education for primary and secondary schools www.berr.gov.uk/energy/sources/renewables/renewables-schools. BERR has provided grant funds to hundreds of schools for installations of microgeneration on their properties, and currently provides these through phase 2 of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme www.lowcarbonbuildingsphase2.org.uk.
Creative Partnerships Initiative: Disadvantaged
(2) what plans he has to increase funding to extend the Creative Partnership programme to more schools in England; and if he will make a statement.
We are currently considering options for the future funding of the Creative Partnerships programme beyond 2008.
Departments: Disciplinary Proceedings
From May 2006 to June 2007 in the Department, and its predecessor, one person was disciplined for inappropriate use of the internet while at work, and one person was disciplined for using work telephones to access premium rate telephone numbers.
Departments: Legislation
The following table sets out the legislative provisions, introduced by my Department’s predecessors in relation to England since 1997, that have been repealed:
Act Section Teaching and Higher Education Act section 20 Inspection of institutions training teachers for schools School Standards and Framework Act 1998 section 2 Plans by LEAs for reducing infant class sizes section 6 Preparation of Education Development Plans section 7 Approval, modification and review of statement and proposals section 13 Disapplication of Pay and Conditions Order in relation to teachers and participating schools sections14-19 Intervention in schools causing concern—amended to apply to Wales only section 24 School Organisation Committees section 26 School Organisation Plans section 26A Plans of local Learning and Skills Councils sections 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35 Amended to apply to Wales only in respect of school organisation sections 36-44 Government of maintained schools sections 54-57 Staffing and conduct of schools sections 64-68 Exclusion of pupils section 91 Special arrangements to preserve religious character of foundation or voluntary aided schools section 93 Fixing admission numbers sections 115-116 LEA functions concerning school lunches sections 120 and 121 Early years development and childcare plans sections 122-134 Publication of inspection reports section 135 Inspection Learning and Skills Act 2000 sections 52-72 Adult Learning Inspectorate section 90 FEFC transfer scheme Children Act 2004 section 20(4)(b) and (c) Joint area reviews section 24 Performance rating of social services Education Act 2002 sections 54-59 Powers of intervention in schools causing concern amended to apply to Wales only sections 70-71, 73 and 74 School organisation section 179 Rights of entry in relation to inspections section 188 School inspections Education Act 2005 sections 1-4 School Inspectors and school inspections—HM Inspectorate for England Childcare Act 2006 sections 14, 31, 50(4), 61(4) and 80-81 Inspection
Departments: Ministerial Red Boxes
Red boxes are ordered as and when they are needed from the Department's stationery supplier, Business Banner Supplies. Ministerial boxes are used by successive Ministers over many years.
Departments: Racial Harassment
No complaints of racial abuse were investigated in my Department, and its predecessor, in the last 12 months. Formal complaints of racial abuse would be investigated quickly and thoroughly and, where complaints were upheld, appropriate disciplinary action would be taken. All cases are treated seriously.
The Department believes that each and every individual has the right to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect. As such, we do not tolerate unacceptable behaviour towards others. The overall aim of our harassment and bullying policy is to prevent such unacceptable behaviour occurring but, where it does occur, to ensure that appropriate and effective action is taken to deal with it and prevent it happening again. This applies to everyone in the Department. Every individual is personally responsible for their own behaviour, and every manager is responsible for enforcing the policy in accordance with the guidance and procedures set out in our staff handbook.
Education: Assessments
It is for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) as the independent regulator to act to ensure that standards in both GCSE and A level are maintained. Since 1997, QCA has carried out reviews of standards in a wide range of A level and GCSE subjects. The reports are available on their website at http://www.qca.org.uk
The Independent Committee on Examination Standards chaired by Dr. Barry McGaw, Director for Education at OECD, published its findings about A levels in December 2004. The report concluded that:
no examination system at the school or other level is so tightly or carefully managed;
strategies for maintaining comparable examination standards across awarding bodies are adequate to the task;
the awarding bodies have broadly consistent and well-regulated systems for setting question papers, managing marking and awarding grades; and
QCA has robust systems in place to monitor and regulate the work of the awarding bodies.
The improvements we have seen reflect the hard work of pupils and teachers supported by record investment; double the number of support staff and billions invested in rebuilding schools.
It is for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) as the independent regulator to ensure that exams are fit for purpose and to make judgments on how to govern the use of multiple choice questions.
While elements of multiple choice testing may be included, this would be within the context of an exam that maintains the high standards of GCSE and requires a suitably challenging breadth and depth of knowledge. For instance, candidates will still have to read Shakespeare, write essays and give reasoned, individual responses to texts to pass English GCSE.
Education: Departmental Responsibilities
The Department is responsible for the following PSA targets, each of which were agreed between the former Department for Education and Skills and HM Treasury as part of the 2004 Spending Review:
1. Improve children's communication and social and emotional development so that by 2008 53 per cent. of children reach a good level of development at the end of the Foundation Stage; and reduce inequalities between the level of development achieved by children in the 30 per cent. most disadvantaged Super Output Areas and the rest of England by four percentage points from 16 per cent. to 12 per cent. (Joint with the Department for Work and Pensions)
2. As a contribution to reducing the proportion of children living in households where no-one is working, by 2008: increase the stock of Ofsted-registered childcare by 10 per cent.; increase the number of children in lower-income working families using formal childcare by 120,000; and introduce by April 2005 a successful light-touch child care approval scheme. (Joint with the Department for Work and Pensions)
3. Reduce the under-18 conception rate by 50 per cent. by 2010 as part of a broader strategy to improve sexual health. (Joint with the Department of Health)
4. Halt the year-on-year rise in obesity among children under 11 by 2010 in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole. (Joint with the Department of Health and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
5. Narrow the gap in educational achievement between looked after children and that of their peers; and improve their educational support and the stability of their lives so that by 2008 80 per cent. of children under 16 who have been looked after for 2.5 or more years will have been living in the same placement for at least two years, or are placed for adoption.
6. Raise standards in English and mathematics so that: by 2006, 85 per cent. of 11-year-olds achieve level 4 or above, with this level of performance sustained to 2008; and by 2008 the proportion of schools in which fewer than 65 per cent. of pupils achieve level 4 or above is reduced by 40 per cent.
7. Raise standards in English, mathematics, ICT and science in secondary education so that: by 2007 85 per cent. of 14-year-olds achieve level 5 or above in English, mathematics and ICT (80 per cent. in science) nationally, with this level of performance sustained to 2008; and by 2008 in all schools at least 50 per cent. of pupils achieve level 5 or above in English, mathematics and science.
8. Improve levels of school attendance so that by 2008, school absence is reduced by 8 per cent. compared to 2003.
9. Enhance the take-up of sporting opportunities by 5 to 16-year-olds so that the percentage of school children in England who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and sport within and beyond the curriculum increases from 25 per cent. in 2002 to 75 per cent. by 2006 and to 85 per cent. by 2008, and to at least 75 per cent. in each School Sport Partnership by 2008. (Joint with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
10. By 2008, 60 per cent. of those aged 16 to achieve the equivalent of 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C; and in all schools at least 20 per cent. of pupils to achieve this standard by 2004, rising to 25 per cent. by 2006 and 30 per cent. by 2008.
11. Increase the proportion of 19-year-olds who achieve at least level 2 by three percentage points between 2004 and 2006; and a further two percentage points between 2006 and 2008, and increase the proportion of young people who achieve level 3.
12. Reduce the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) by two percentage points by 2010.
Extended Schools
Our target is for all schools in England to be providing access to the extended schools full core offer of services by 2010 with half of all primary schools and a third of all secondary schools providing these services by September 2008. To help us meet our target we are aiming to have 6,000 schools delivering access to the full core offer of services by September 2007. With over 5,700 schools already providing these services, we are making excellent progress towards meeting our target.
The extended schools core offer of services includes primary schools providing access to child care from 8 am to 6 pm all year round in response to demand, all schools offering access to a range of study support activities beyond the school day, parenting support, swift and easy referral and opening up facilities to the wider community.
Family Courts
I have been asked to reply.
The Government published the consultation ‘Confidence and confidentiality: Improving transparency and privacy in family courts’ on 11 July 2006. The consultation paper and the response paper (published on 22 March 2007) can be found at:
http://www.dca.gov.uk/consult/courttransparencey1106/cp1106.htm.
Copies of the responses will be sent to the hon. Member shortly.
Having carefully considered the range of views expressed in the consultation, we concluded that a new approach was needed to improve confidence in the family courts. This would focus on information coming out of the courts rather than who could attend proceedings.
The Government published a further consultation paper on 20 June 2007, setting out what we intend to do and inviting views on a small number of additional proposals. This can be found at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/cp1007.htm.
Copies will also be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Foster Care: Poole
Data on the number of foster parents who are required in the Poole area to meet the current demand for placements are not collected centrally by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).
Foundation Schools
There are 927 foundation schools and 15 foundation special schools as of the 17 July 2007.
Trust Schools are foundation schools that have acquired a foundation established otherwise than under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Prior to the commencement of the relevant provisions of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (25 May 2007), foundation schools did not have to follow a statutory process to acquire a foundation. The Department accordingly did not collect information on how many foundation schools acquired foundations before this date.
There are over 200 schools currently working towards acquiring Trust status—over 140 primary, secondary and specials schools, alongside 69 full pathfinder schools. As of the present time, no schools have implemented proposals to become foundation schools with foundations (Trust Schools) under the Education and Inspections Act 2006. However, the first of the pathfinder schools plan to become Trust schools from September 2007.
General Certificate of Secondary Education: Mathematics
(2) what average mark was required to achieve a grade (a) A, (b) B, (c) C and (d) E for GCSE (i) mathematics, (ii) English, (iii) physics and (iv) history in each year since 1990-91; and if he will make a statement.
This information is not held centrally.
Head Teachers: Retirement
The normal pension age (NPA) of teachers who entered service before 1 January 2007 is 60. Entrants to the profession from that date have a NPA of 65. NPA is the age at which members of the teachers’ pension scheme can retire without any actuarial reduction to their pension benefits.
The following table provides the percentage of full-time head teachers in service in the maintained schools sector in England within one year, two years, three years, five years and 10 years of the NPA 60, in March 2005, the latest information available.
Years before NPA Percentage of head teachers1 Less than: 1 2.1 2 6.2 3 11.3 5 23.9 10 57.7 1 Percentages are cumulative Source: Database of Teacher Records.
Reforms of the teachers’ pension scheme that were introduced in January 2007—and which include a NPA of 65 for new entrants—included new provisions that are specifically aimed at encouraging teachers to extend their working lives. These new provisions will provide a real and attractive alternative to teachers’ traditional approach to retirement.
The National College for School Leadership is currently undergoing an extensive programme of work on succession planning.
Health Education: Alcoholic Drinks
The Government recently published the new Alcohol Strategy for England, which highlights young people as one of three priority groups. Alcohol education is delivered alongside education on drugs and volatile substances as part of Personal Social and Health Education, and is a vital element of the current approach.
DCSF does not provide ring-fenced funding for schools’ drug education lessons, which are funded from schools’ general budgets.
The Government provide ring-fenced funding to prevent substance misuse among young people. The Young People’s Substance Misuse Partnership Grant (YPSMPG) is made available to local authorities for the provision of universal, targeted and specialist responses commissioned and delivered at locally, based on their area’s needs and priorities. The grant funds a range of different projects across the country determined at local level, which are available for young people.
The grant brings together into a single pot funding from the Home Office, the Department of Health, the Youth Justice Board and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The following table details the total YPSMPG expenditure for the past five years (note that the first year, 2003/04, was a pilot year in 27 local authority areas):
£ million 2003/04 114.9 2004/05 58.8 2005/06 66.6 2006/07 64.1 2007/08 55.5 1 YPSMPG pilot in only 27 local authorities
The YPSMPG is used in addition to mainstream funding to provide a comprehensive range of services for young people up to 18 years:
Universal—substance misuse education, information and advice and prevention campaigns
Targeted—early identification, assessment and prevention interventions with vulnerable young people in risk groups
Specialist—provision of specialist substance misuse treatment for under 18’s
In addition to supporting the work of local partnerships, The Government fund specific programmes targeting messages for young people about substances, including the FRANK campaign which has become a credible source of information and advice for young people and their parents. The cross departmental campaign was launched in 2003 funded by Home Office and Department of Health, with the Department for Children Schools and Families contributing from 2006/07.
£ million 2003/04 4.25 2004/05 4.30 2005/06 6.17 2006/07 9.05
The Government are committed to expanding and improving the quality of school drug education (Inc tobacco, alcohol, volatile substance), through encouraging the development of well structured high quality programmes of PSHE across all key stages.
The national health schools standard requires schools to demonstrate effective PSHE provision. The Government have also invested over £6 million on Blueprint, the largest research programme ever run in this country designed to test the effectiveness of a multi-component approach to drug education, involving an intensive set of school lessons for 11-13 year olds supported by work with parents, communities, health professionals and local media. The full results of the programme will be available over the next 12 months or so.
Health Education: Drugs
The Government are committed to reducing substance misuse related harm among young people, including harm arising from the misuse of drugs, alcohol and volatile substances. Education and awareness on these substances is a vital element of the current approach, and we have issued schools with guidance on drugs education. DCSF does not provide ring-fenced funding for schools’ drug education lessons, which are funded from schools’ general budgets.
The Government provide ring-fenced funding to prevent substance misuse among young people. The Young People’s Substance Misuse Partnership Grant (YPSMPG) is made available to local authorities for the provision of universal, targeted and specialist responses commissioned and delivered locally, based on their area's needs and priorities. The grant funds a range of different projects across the country determined at local level, which are available for young people.
The grant brings together into a single pot, funding from the Home Office, the Department of Health, the Youth Justice Board and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The following table details the total YPSMPG expenditure for the past five years (note that the first year, 2003/04, was a pilot year in 27 local authority areas):
£ million 2003/04 114.9 2004/05 58.8 2005/06 66.6 2006/07 64.1 2007/08 55.5 1 Pilot year in only 27 local authorities
The YPSMPG is used in addition to mainstream funding to provide a comprehensive range of services for young people up to 18 years:
Universal—substance misuse education, information and advice and prevention campaigns
Targeted—early identification, assessment and prevention interventions with vulnerable young people in risk groups
Specialist—provision of specialist substance misuse treatment for under 18’s
In addition to supporting the work of local partnerships, the Government fund specific programmes targeting messages for young people about substances, including the Frank campaign which has become a credible source of information and advice for young people and their parents. The cross departmental campaign was launched in 2003 funded by Home Office and Department of Health, with the Department for Children Schools and Families contributing from 2006/07.
£ million 2003/04 4.25 2004/05 4.30 2005/06 6.17 2006/07 9.05
The Government are committed to expanding and improving the quality of school drug education (inc. tobacco, alcohol, volatile substance), through encouraging the development of well structured high quality programmes of PSHE across all key stages. The National Health Schools Standard requires schools to demonstrate effective PSHE provision. The Government have also invested over £6 million on Blueprint, the largest research programme ever run in this country designed to test the effectiveness of a multi-component approach to drug education, involving an intensive set of school lessons for 11 to 13-year-olds supported by work with parents, communities, health professionals and local media. The full results of the programme will be available over the next 12 months or so.
The Department of Health lead on the Framework for Volatile Substance Abuse targeted at children and young people (launched on 20 July 2005). The document called “Out of Sight?...not out of mind” outlines a number of key recommendations that the Government intend to take forward in partnership with key stakeholders at local, regional and national level.
The stated aims of the VSA Framework are to:
Provide effective education on VSA to all children and young people, including the most disadvantaged
Provide effective targeted interventions for children and young people abusing or at risk of abusing volatile substances
Reduce the availability and accessibility of volatile substances, with a focus on butane gas lighter refills
Build the capacity of parents, carers and practitioners to identify and work effectively with children and young people who are abusing or at risk of abusing volatile substances
Increase the evidence base with regard to what works in reducing deaths and harm from VSA.
Health Education: Sex
(2) if he will make sex and relationships education a mandatory part of personal, social and health education;
(3) whether he plans to employ more specially-trained staff to deliver sex and relationship education;
(4) whether he plans to incorporate information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender relationships into sex and relationship education.
The Department has not undertaken or commissioned any recent assessment of sex and relationship education (SRE) in schools. Ofsted is responsible for assessing the quality of schools’ provision in the area of personal, social and health education (PSHE), including SRE, through its inspection framework and subject reports, and last reported on SRE in “Sex and Relationships Education in Schools” in 2002.
The Department's “Sex and Relationship Education Guidance” for schools outlines their responsibilities in this area and provides information on the issues to be covered at each of the four key stages, taking account of the age and the physical and emotional maturity of the young people. The guidance is clear that schools need to make sure that SRE meets, and is sensitive to, the needs of all pupils whatever their developing sexuality. Pupils should be helped to understand difference and respect themselves and others in order to prevent and remove prejudice.
Certain aspects of SRE must be delivered as part of the statutory curriculum for science, and legislation requires that head teachers and school governing bodies must have regard to the Department's guidance when delivering a broader range of SRE within the framework for PSHE. All schools are expected to meet the statutory requirements and have an up-to-date policy on SRE. Beyond this, there are no plans to regulate SRE further, as this would be contrary to curriculum reforms designed to give schools greater flexibilities.
It is for schools to determine whom they employ to deliver any area of the curriculum. We are however committed to helping schools improve their planning and delivery of this important area, and there is a Government-funded continuing professional development programme for PSHE, which all teachers of SRE are encouraged to undertake. The programme, which is also open to community nurses, supports standards in the delivery of PSHE teaching, including SRE. To date, over 6,000 teachers and nurses have benefited from the programme.
Other measures to support high quality SRE provision include:
(1) The Department's funding for a new PSHE subject association. The association provides support and advice to teachers in all areas of PSHE, including SRE;
(2) Increased funding (£13.2 million) in 2007-08 for the national Healthy Schools Programme. This key programme requires schools, for the purposes of accreditation, to demonstrate that they have a SRE programme in line with DCSF guidance. We expect all schools to have reached or be working towards Healthy School status by 2009;
(3) Detailed guidance to teachers from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, covering how schools can evaluate what young people are learning through PSHE, including SRE; and
(4) Developing a SRE pupil assessment tool for use by schools and teachers to establish whether SRE provision is meeting the needs of the young people receiving it.
Local Education Authorities: Inspections
The Secretary of State has no plans to request separate inspections of local authority education functions. These functions are within the scope of Ofsted’s annual performance assessments of children’s services, and of joint area reviews of children’s services by Ofsted and other inspectorates. The Secretary of State has approved a timetable for a programme of joint area reviews, to cover every local authority in England between 2005 and 2008.
Playing Fields
In the last 10 years the Secretary of State has approved 187 applications that involve the sale of an area of land capable of forming a sports pitch of at least 0.2 hectares at schools in England. The analysis is shown in the following table.
Local authority Total 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Barnet 1 — — 1 — — — — — — — Bath and NE Somerset 2 — — — — — 1 — — — 1 Bedfordshire 2 — 1 — 1 — — — — — — Bexley 1 — — — — — — — 1 — — Bolton 1 — 1 — — — — — — — — Bracknell Forest 1 — — — — — — 1 — — — Bristol 4 1 — — — — — 1 1 — 1 Buckinghamshire 4 — 1 3 — — — — — — — Bury 1 — — — — — 1 — — — — Calderdale 1 1 — — — — — — — — — Cambridge 1 — — — — 1 — — — — — Camden 2 — — 1 — 1 — — — — — Cheshire 6 1 — 2 2 — 1 — — — — Coventry 3 — — — — 1 — — — 1 1 Croydon 1 — 1 — — — — — — — — Cumbria 1 — — — — — — 1 — — — Derby 3 — — — — — 3 — — — — Derbyshire 3 — 2 1 — — — — — — — Devon 2 — 1 1 — — — — — — — Dorset 1 — — — 1 — — — — — — Dudley 1 — — — — 1 — — — — — Durham 3 — 1 1 — 1 — — — — — Ealing 1 — — 1 — — — — — — — East Riding of Yorkshire 1 — — — — — — — — 1 — Enfield 1 — 1 — — — — — — — — Essex 5 — 1 1 2 — 1 — — — — Gloucestershire 3 — — 1 — — — 1 — 1 — Greenwich 1 — — — — — 1 — — — — Halton 1 1 — — — — — — — — — Hammersmith and Fulham 2 — 1 — — 1 — — — — — Hampshire 2 — — — — 1 — — 1 — — Havering 2 — — 1 — — — 1 — — — Hertfordshire 6 — 2 — — 1 1 — — 2 — Kent 5 — 1 2 1 — — — 1 — — Lancashire 4 — 2 1 1 — — — — — — Leeds 3 — 1 — 2 — — — — — — Leicester 1 — — — — 1 — — — — — Leicestershire 1 — — — — 1 — — — — — Lewisham 1 — — — — — — — 1 — — Lincolnshire 2 — — — — — — — 2 — — Liverpool 2 — — — 1 — — 1 — — — Manchester 7 — — — — 6 — — 1 — — Medway 1 — — — — — — — — 1 — Merton 1 — — — — — — 1 — — — Milton Keynes 3 — 2 — — — 1 — — — — Newcastle 2 — 2 — — — — — — — — Norfolk 3 — — 2 — 1 — — — — — North Somerset 1 1 — — — — — — — — — North Tyneside 2 — 1 — — — — — 1 — — North Yorkshire 1 — 1 — — — — — — — — Northants 3 — — — 1 — — — — — 2 Northumberland 3 — 1 1 1 — — — — — — Nottingham 1 — — — — — 1 — — — — Nottinghamshire 4 — — 1 — — — — 1 — 2 Oxfordshire 6 — 1 1 — 1 2 — — 1 — Peterborough 2 — — — 1 — 1 — — — — Reading 1 — — — — — — — — — 1 Redcar and Cleveland 1 — — — — — — — — 1 — Rochdale 2 — 1 — 1 — — — — — — Salford 1 — — — — — — 1 — — — Sheffield 1 — 1 — — — — — — — — Shropshire 1 — — — 1 — — — — — — Slough 1 — — — — 1 — — — — — South Gloucestershire 1 — — — — — — — — — 1 Staffordshire 2 — 1 — — 1 — — — — — Stockton 1 — — — — — — 1 — — — Surrey 10 — 4 4 — — — — 1 — 1 Swindon 1 — — — — — — 1 — — — Tameside 1 — — 1 — — — — — — — Trafford 2 — — 1 — — 1 — — — — Wakefield 3 — 3 — — — — — — — — Walsall 2 — 1 — 1 — — — — — — Warwickshire 5 1 1 1 2 — — — — — — West Sussex 4 — 2 — — 2 — — — — — Wigan 4 — 3 1 — — — — — — — Wiltshire 7 — — — 1 1 1 — — — 4 Wirral 1 1 — — — — — — — — — Wokingham 3 — — — — 1 — 2 — — — Wolverhampton 1 — — 1 — — — — — — — Worcestershire 2 — — — 1 — — 1 — — — Total 187 7 42 31 21 24 16 13 11 8 14
Primary Education: Class Sizes
There is no clear evidence that further reductions in the infant class size limit from 30 would have further impact on overall pupil attainment, and therefore we have not done any work in costing this. Teachers, supported by teaching assistants, are free to organise their classes into small groups if they consider it will benefit individual pupils' learning.
Private Education: Per Capita Costs
These data are not collected by the Department. However, the 2007 Independent Schools Council Census, comprising 1,276 schools and around 80 per cent. of pupils in the independent sector, indicates that capital expenditure per pupil for the schools included in the census was on average £1,387 per pupil in 2006-07.
Pupil Exclusions: Greater London
Data on school exclusions for all local education authorities in England, including those for London and covering the years 1997/98 to 2005/06, have been placed in the House Library.
Pupils: Absenteeism
Figures on the percentage of unauthorised absence for each local authority from 1997 onwards is available in the House of Commons Library. Figures on the total number of unauthorised absence broken down by local authority and government office region are available only at a disproportionate cost.
Unauthorised absence is absence without leave from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences, such as lateness, holidays during term time not authorised by the school, absence where reason is not yet established and truancy.
Pupils: Allergies
(2) if he will take steps to ensure that advice is provided by the Joint Council for Qualifications to examination centres on provision to be made for those affected by hay fever during an examination.
I am satisfied that the current arrangements are sufficient to ensure that students who suffer from hay fever are not disadvantaged in taking general qualifications such as GCSEs and A levels. Under the annual regulations and guidance on Access Arrangements and Special Consideration produced by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) on behalf of the awarding bodies, candidates who suffer from hay fever on the day of an examination may apply via their examination centre for “special consideration”, which can result in an increase in their marks by up to 2 per cent., depending on the circumstances. The JCQ sends these regulations each year to all examination centres and they are also available on the JCQ's website.
Pupils: Discipline
Inspectors make a judgment about standards of behaviour every time they inspect a school. Ofsted will further strengthen their focus on behaviour by giving inspectors additional guidance that clearly identifies the characteristics of satisfactory and inadequate standards of behaviour. Ofsted inspectors will continue to make monitoring visits to schools judged to have inadequate standards of behaviour to make sure they improve.
Ofsted will also strengthen the behaviour-related aspects of the school self-evaluation form. This provides the opportunity for schools to identify the proportion of lessons where pupils do not make the progress they should as a result of low level disruption or the bad behaviour of individuals.
Taken together, these changes will provide an even stronger incentive for schools to maintain high standards and improve them where they are currently not good enough.
Pupils: Fingerprints
Guidance on the use of biometric technologies in schools will shortly be issued by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) on behalf of my Department.
Pupils: School Choice
We do not collate this information centrally.
Pupils: Special Educational Needs
Information on the number and percentage of pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in schools is published in a Statistical First Release “Special Educational Needs in England, January 2007” and is available on the Department’s Research and Statistics Gateway at:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000732/index.shtml
Pupils with statements of SEN Up to 2% 2% up to 5% 5% up to 10% 10% and above Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Total number of schools England 12,875 74.2 3,827 22.0 544 3.1 111 0.6 17,357 North East 727 79.2 163 17.8 18 2.0 10 1.1 918 North West 1,774 69.5 644 25.2 113 4.4 23 0.9 2,554 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,451 77.5 375 20.0 42 2.2 4 0.2 1,872 East Midlands 1,298 76.5 324 19.1 65 3.8 9 0.5 1,696 West Midlands 1,444 79.0 345 18.9 33 1.8 7 0.4 1,829 East of England 1,428 69.4 553 26.9 64 3.1 13 0.6 2,058 London 1,287 70.6 468 25.7 54 3.0 14 0.8 1,823 Inner London 471 67.8 200 28.8 16 2.3 8 1.2 695 Outer London 816 72.3 268 23.8 38 3.4 6 0.5 1,128 South East 2,075 77.8 487 18.3 84 3.1 21 0.8 2,667 South West 1,391 71.7 468 24.1 71 3.7 10 0.5 1,940
Up to 5% 5% up to 25% 25% up to 35% 35% up to 50% 50% and above Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Total number of schools England 602 3.5 13,507 77.8 2,421 13.9 715 4.1 112 0.6 17,357 North East 39 4.2 664 72.3 155 16.9 47 5.1 13 1.4 918 North West 132 5.2 1,994 78.1 327 12.8 93 3.6 8 0.3 2,554 Yorkshire and the Humber 76 4.1 1,495 79.9 227 12.1 68 3.6 6 0.3 1,872 East Midlands 48 2.8 1,344 79.2 223 13.1 72 4.2 9 0.5 1,696 West Midlands 46 2.5 1,447 79.1 264 14.4 67 3.7 5 0.3 1,829 East of England 67 3.3 1,679 81.6 237 11.5 59 2.9 16 0.8 2,058 London 35 1.9 1,365 74.9 333 18.3 86 4.7 4 0.2 1,823 Inner London 6 0.9 503 72.4 145 20.9 40 5.8 1 0.1 695 Outer London 29 2.6 862 76.4 188 16.7 46 4.1 3 0.3 1,128 South East 87 3.3 1,971 73.9 420 15.7 154 5.8 35 1.3 2,667 South West 72 3.7 1,548 79.8 235 12.1 69 3.6 16 0.8 1,940 1 Includes middle schools as deemed. 2 Schools banded by the proportion of school population with SEN. 3 Number of primary schools by proportion of school population with SEN expressed as a percentage of all primary schools. 4 Pupils with SEN include both pupils with statements and those identified by schools as having SEN who do not have statements. Source: School Census
Pupils with statements of SEN Up to 2% 2% up to 5% 5% up to 10% 10% and above Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Total number of schools England 1,667 49.9 1,513 45.3 157 4.7 6 0.2 3,343 North East 106 51.7 89 43.4 9 4.4 1 0.5 205 North West 201 43.0 232 49.7 33 7.1 1 0.2 467 Yorkshire and the Humber 163 51.3 142 44.7 13 4.1 0 0.0 318 East Midlands 150 50.2 131 43.8 17 5.7 1 0.3 299 West Midlands 167 40.7 221 53.9 21 5.1 1 0.2 410 East of England 233 54.8 173 40.7 19 4.5 0 0.0 425 London 172 43.5 204 51.6 18 4.6 1 0.3 395 Inner London 44 34.4 74 57.8 10 7.8 0 0.0 128 Outer London 128 47.9 130 48.7 8 3.0 1 0.4 267 South East 292 58.2 189 37.6 20 4.0 1 0.2 502 South West 183 56.8 132 41.0 7 2.2 0 0.0 322
Up to 5% 5% up to 25% 25% up to 35% 35% up to 50% 50% and above Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Number of schools %3 Total number of schools England 202 6.0 2,540 76.0 415 12.4 153 4.6 33 1.0 3,343 North East 6 2.9 166 81.0 25 12.2 8 3.9 0 0.0 205 North West 33 7.1 355 76.0 53 11.3 20 4.3 6 1.3 467 Yorkshire and the Humber 11 3.5 249 78.3 43 13.5 15 4.7 0 0.0 318 East Midlands 15 5.0 236 78.9 37 12.4 8 2.7 3 1.0 299 West Midlands 24 5.9 310 75.6 53 12.9 20 4.9 3 0.7 410 East of England 17 4.0 354 83.3 46 10.8 7 1.6 1 0.2 425 London 29 7.3 256 64.8 72 18.2 30 7.6 8 2.0 395 Inner London 2 1.6 79 61.7 27 21.1 17 13.3 3 2.3 128 Outer London 27 10.1 177 66.3 45 16.9 13 4.9 5 1.9 267 South East 40 8.0 353 70.3 62 12.4 36 7.2 11 2.2 502 South West 27 8.4 261 81.1 24 7.5 9 2.8 1 0.3 322 1 Includes middle schools as deemed. 2 Schools banded by the proportion of school population with SEN. 3 Number of primary schools by proportion of school population with SEN expressed as a percentage of all primary schools. 4 Pupils with SEN include both pupils with statements and those identified by schools as having SEN who do not have statements. Source: School Census
School Leaving
We plan to raise the participation age to 17 from September 2013 and 18 from September 2015. This will not involve additional costs over current plans in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10. We estimate that it will incur additional capital costs of £28.2 million in 2010-11 and £19.7 million in 2011-12, and additional training costs of £0.2 million in 2010-11 and £0.5 million in 2011-12.
School Meals
The Department does not collect data about the number and proportion of English school pupils taking hot and cold school lunches.
There is no requirement on authorities or schools to provide a hot school lunch. However, most authorities do offer pupils a hot meal and the transitional funding for school food we are providing authorities between 2005 and 2008 (£220 million for 05-08) is conditional upon local authorities developing plans to begin the reintroduction of hot meals by 2008.
Schools: Aerials
We do not hold this information but there is a website1 operated by the Office of Communications that gives information on the location and operating characteristics of all mobile phone base stations in the United Kingdom.
1 http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/
Schools: Construction
The number of schools opened in England between 1980 and 2007 are given in the following table. To date, there are some 52 schools proposed to open in 2008, though, of course, this figure is subject to change.
It must be noted that, prior to 2002, school details were recorded on three separate databases which did not demand school opening dates. Therefore, while the figures given are correct as recorded, they should be viewed within this context.
Year of opening Number opened 1980 1— 1981 1— 1982 1— 1983 1— 1984 1— 1985 1— 1986 1— 1987 1— 1988 1 1989 1 1990 1 1991 6 1992 6 1993 2 1994 1 1995 48 1996 136 1997 76 1998 86 1999 133 2000 124 2001 153 2002 118 2003 126 2004 129 2005 128 2006 138 2007 186 Total 1,599 1 No data Source: EduBase
The figures include schools that opened as a result of the amalgamation or merger of two or more schools; schools that have closed but reopened as voluntary schools with a religious character; and schools that have opened in local authorities that have moved from a three-tier to a two-tier system.
(2) how many schools in each local education authority have been built since the Education and Inspections Act 2006 came into force; and how many plans for new schools to be built have been drawn up since then;
(3) what percentage of schools that decided to rebuild at least 70 per cent. or more of their existing floor space were rebuilt with private finance initiative funding in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local education authority;
(4) which local education authorities have made plans to rebuild less than 70 per cent. of their floor space of schools since 1997;
(5) what percentage of the schools which have decided to rebuild less than 70 per cent. of existing floor space of schools since 1997 was funded by (a) a design and build conventional capital and (b) private finance initiative funding;
(6) how many local education authorities have made plans to rebuild at least 70 per cent. or more of the existing floor space of a school since 1997, broken down by local education authority.
We hold only some of this information centrally.
Earlier this year we collected data from all education authorities on their schools building investment. This includes, for instance, the number of new schools built each year over the past 10 years, either as additional schools or as replacement of existing schools, by each authority. This is the one area where the data we hold relate directly to one of these questions.
The data also include the numbers of schools where authorities have renewed over 80 per cent. of the floor area of schools, and where they have renewed from 50 per cent. to 80 per cent. This information is available in the House Library.
The information we requested was on completed projects, not on local authorities’ plans.
Schools: Finance
Information has been placed in the House Libraries detailing which specific grants were allocated to local authorities for schools or to support schools and pupils, for each year, between 2004-05 and 2007-08. The grants are in addition to the main funding for schools, provided though the local government finance system up to 2005-06 and the Dedicated Schools Grant since 2006-07. With the exception of the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant, recurrent grants that are devolved to schools are not ring-fenced at school level.
DCSF is still agreeing the exact split of budgets with DIUS so it is not possible to give details of funding from 2008-11 at this moment. We will announce these in the autumn. The spending review settlement provided for a significant increase in DfES funding over the next three years to reach £75.5 billion by 2010-11, approximately £11 billion higher than in 2007-08.
The core funding for schools is delivered through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) which was introduced in 2006-07 following two public consultations in 2005. The DSG was £28 billion in 2007-08 and all of this was distributed with reference to pupil numbers.
DCSF is still agreeing the exact split of budgets with DIUS so it is not possible to give details of funding from 2008-11 at this moment. The spending review settlement provided for a significant increase in DFES funding over the next three years to reach £75.5 billion by 2010-11, approximately £11 billion higher than in 2007-08. Details of specific schemes will be announced in the autumn.
Schools: Governing Bodies
School Organisation Committees were abolished by section 29 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 which came into force on 25 May 2007.
Under new decision-making arrangements introduced from this date, decisions on statutory proposals to make changes to local school organisation are normally decided by local authorities, except for proposals for a new school where the local authority is the proposer or has a role in the trust of a proposed trust school. Such new school proposals are decided by the schools adjudicator. Other proposals may be decided by the schools adjudicator if the local authority fails to decide proposals within two months or following an appeal by the bodies for which there is explicit provision in the relevant legislation. Statutory guidance to local authorities and the schools adjudicator makes clear that they should have regard to the views of parents when considering proposals.
Schools: Human Rights
(2) what his policy is on promoting UNICEF's Rights Respecting Schools Programme;
(3) what assessment he has made of the effect of UNICEF's Rights Respecting Schools programme on the behaviour of children in those schools that have adopted it.
The Rights, Respect and Responsibilities (RRR) programme provides a framework of values based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Rights Respecting School awards are made by UNICEF to schools which teach children's and human rights and where rights and respect are modelled in all relationships. The Department has not made a systematic assessment of the RRR programme's effect on pupils' behaviour, but we know of schools which implement the programme and which have reported improvements in behaviour.
Helping pupils understand their rights and responsibilities, which is central to RRR, can reinforce the Department's Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) programme, which has been shown to have positive effects on behaviour.
Behaviour-related guidance, training and curriculum materials produced by the Department emphasise the importance of promoting mutual respect and personal responsibility and while the Department does not actively promote the specific RRR framework, schools are free to adopt it. The Department does not collect information about the numbers of schools involved in RRR.
Schools: Inspections
This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the Library.
Schools: Nurses
The information is not available in the format requested.
The table provides the full-time equivalent number of matrons, nurses and medical staff employed in local authority maintained schools by local authority in each January from 2004 to 2006. The number of nurses cannot be provided separately. These figures can be provided only on a full-time equivalent basis and cannot be broken down by full and part-time staff.
2007 local authority figures are likely to be available on 27 September.
Matrons/Nurses/Medical Staff 2004 2005 2006 England 1,650 1,700 1,690 North East 50 50 60 Darlington — — — Durham — — — Gateshead 10 10 10 Hartlepool — — — Middlesbrough — 10 10 Newcastle upon Tyne — — — North Tyneside 10 — — Northumberland 10 10 10 Redcar and Cleveland — — — South Tyneside — 10 10 Stockton-on-Tees — — — Sunderland 10 10 10 North West 170 170 180 Blackburn with Darwen — — — Blackpool 10 10 10 Bolton 10 10 10 Bury 10 10 10 Cheshire 20 10 20 Cumbria 10 10 10 Halton — — — Knowsley 10 — 10 Lancashire 10 20 20 Liverpool 10 10 10 Manchester 10 10 10 Oldham 30 20 20 Rochdale — — — Salford — — — Sefton — — — St. Helens — — — Stockport — — — Tameside 20 20 20 Trafford — 10 10 Warrington — — 10 Wigan — — — Wirral 10 10 — Yorkshire and the Humber 140 130 140 Barnsley 10 10 10 Bradford 10 10 10 Calderdale 10 10 10 Doncaster 10 10 — East Riding of Yorkshire 10 10 10 Kingston Upon Hull, City of — — 10 Kirklees 10 10 10 Leeds 20 30 30 North East Lincolnshire 10 10 10 North Lincolnshire — — — North Yorkshire 10 10 10 Rotherham 10 10 10 Sheffield 10 — 10 Wakefield 10 10 20 York — — 10 East Midlands 80 100 90 Derby 10 10 10 Derbyshire 20 20 20 Leicester 20 20 10 Leicestershire 10 — — Lincolnshire 10 10 10 Northamptonshire 10 10 10 Nottingham — 10 — Nottinghamshire 10 20 10 Rutland — — — West Midlands 130 120 130 Birmingham 30 20 20 Coventry — — — Dudley 10 10 10 Herefordshire — — — Sandwell 10 10 10 Shropshire 20 10 10 Solihull 10 10 10 Staffordshire 10 10 10 Stoke-on-Trent — — — Telford and Wrekin 10 10 10 Walsall — — 10 Warwickshire 20 20 20 Wolverhampton — — — Worcestershire 10 10 10 East of England 180 160 160 Bedfordshire 10 10 10 Cambridgeshire 10 — 10 Essex 40 40 40 Hertfordshire 60 60 60 Luton 10 10 20 Norfolk 20 10 10 Peterborough — — — Southend-on-Sea 10 10 10 Suffolk 10 10 10 Thurrock — — — London 410 440 470 Inner London 70 70 80 Camden — — — City of London — — — Hackney — — — Hammersmith and Fulham — — — Haringey 20 20 30 Islington 10 — — Kensington and Chelsea — — — Lambeth — — 10 Lewisham 10 10 10 Newham 10 10 10 Southwark — — — Tower Hamlets — — — Wandsworth 10 10 10 Westminster — — — Outer London 340 370 390 Barking and Dagenham — — — Barnet 30 40 30 Bexley 10 — 10 Brent 40 40 40 Bromley 10 10 10 Croydon 20 10 20 Ealing 30 30 30 Enfield 40 40 50 Greenwich 20 30 30 Harrow 50 50 50 Havering — — — Hillingdon 60 60 60 Hounslow 20 30 30 Kingston upon Thames — — 10 Merton — — — Redbridge — 10 10 Richmond upon Thames — 10 10 Sutton — — — Waltham Forest 10 10 10 South East 410 430 350 Bracknell Forest 10 10 10 Brighton and Hove — — — Buckinghamshire 140 130 60 East Sussex 10 10 20 Hampshire 60 60 60 Isle of Wight 10 10 10 Kent 40 50 50 Medway — 10 10 Milton Keynes 10 10 10 Oxfordshire 10 20 10 Portsmouth 10 10 10 Reading 10 10 — Slough 10 10 10 Southampton 10 10 10 Surrey 30 30 20 West Berkshire — — — West Sussex 40 50 50 Windsor and Maidenhead — — — Wokingham — — — South West 90 100 110 Bath and North East Somerset — — — Bournemouth — — — Bristol, City of — — — Cornwall 10 10 10 Devon 10 10 10 Dorset — — — Gloucestershire 20 20 10 Isles of Scilly — — — North Somerset — 10 10 Plymouth — 10 10 Poole — — — Somerset 20 20 20 South Gloucestershire — — — Swindon 10 10 10 Torbay — — — Wiltshire 10 10 10 “—” = Nil or negligible. 1 Excludes matrons/nurses/medical staff in nursery schools and pupil referral units. Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census
Schools: Private Finance Initiative
Since May 1997, we have built 884 schools with private finance initiative funding. Currently 651 of these schools are open and 232 schools are under construction.
The Department does not hold this information centrally specifically for PFI funded schools. Detailed information on average number of pupils attending PFI funded schools is held at local authority level.
The Department does not hold information centrally on specifically how many PFI schools have experienced a fall in pupil numbers in each of the last 10 years. This level of detailed information is held at the local authority level.
Schools: Pupils
Statutory guidance issued to local authorities, in their capacity as decision makers, makes it clear that when considering proposals to establish a new school, they should take into account not only the existence of spare capacity in neighbouring schools, but also the schools' standards and popularity, together with any evidence of parents' aspirations for a new school. Where proposals for a new school will add to surplus capacity, but there is a strong case for approval on parental preference and standards grounds, the guidance includes a presumption to approve the proposals but makes it clear that the local authority should consider parallel action to remove any resulting surplus.
Schools: Special Educational Needs
There are no plans to alter the system of assessing and funding provision to meet children’s special educational needs (SEN). However, we will consider carefully the results of the Education and Skills Committee’s recent consultation on the proposal to separate local authority assessments of children’s SEN from funding the educational provision set out in any subsequent SEN statement.
Schools: Sports
This Government are committed to the expansion of competitive school sport. The PE national curriculum requires that all pupils are taught competitive games throughout their compulsory schooling. Competition is also a key component of the national school sport strategy. The 2005-06 school sport survey found that:
71 per cent. of pupils are now participating in intra-school competitive activities and 37 per cent. of pupils are taking part in inter-school competition. Both figures have been rising year on year;
97 per cent. of schools held a competitive sports day in the last academic year and the network of school sport partnerships staged over 10,700 festivals of sport—multi-sport events organised by secondary pupils for partnership primary schools.
In addition, the Prime Minister announced on 13 July extra funding to extend the network of competition managers. This will see the number of competition managers rise from the present 59, to a national network of 225 by 2010. The competition managers are creating a stronger framework for competitive sport and working across primary and secondary schools to increase the amount of competitive sport they offer.
Schools: Standards
The following table gives the number of schools that were judged to require significant improvement in each term since September 2005 and the number of schools that were removed from this Ofsted category. A school which requires significant improvement is normally re-inspected after around 12 months, when they are either removed from the category, kept in the category for a further 12 months or are placed in special measures.
The most recent information published by Ofsted was for the spring term this year.
Autumn 2005 Spring 2006 Summer 2006 Autumn 2006 Spring 2007 Number of schools requiring significant improvement 120 124 73 112 87 Number of schools removed from the category or closed 10 10 25 58 101 Number of schools in the category at the end of each term 120 244 312 366 352 1 No re-inspections 2 No re-inspections; five closures
The Department for Children, Schools and Families provides two streams of funding for school improvement partners (SIPs). First, it contributes to the cost to local authorities of providing a SIP for every secondary school and, from April 2008, for every primary school and every special school. The funding is to help local authorities meet the cost of the SIP programme additional to that of previous local authority link adviser arrangements. The funding will be £15.8 million in financial year 2007-08. Allocations of funding for SIPs for 2008-11 will be announced in the autumn as part of wider announcements for the next CSR period.
The second stream of funding is part of the Department's central support provided by the Primary and Secondary National Strategies. The SIP element of that support covers SIPs' accreditation, support to local authorities for introducing and managing SIPs, quality assurance of the programme and regional and national co-ordination of the work of SIPs. The cost of this in 2007-08 is £8.7 million. The cost of this work will vary annually depending on the level of support required and is also subject to the announcement of allocations for 2008-11 in the autumn.
Both streams of funding have a direct and beneficial impact on the resource available to schools to help with school improvement and raising standards.
A range of resources is made available by my Department to support schools causing concern. This includes guidance on such schools (available on the DCSF Standards website); central funding from a variety of sources, including the Fresh Start programme, that is paid to local authorities through the Standards Fund; a number of intervention and capacity building programmes such as the Raising Attainment in Teaching and Learning (RAIL) programme for secondary schools and the Intensifying Support Programme (ISP) for primary schools; and a network of school improvement delivery agencies some of whose work includes the provision of teaching materials and consultancy support.
Every local authority has been allocated a share of an additional £30 million, over the 2006-07 and 2007-08 financial years, to support their school improvement work. Additional funding is also available from my Department's interventions budget, to support specific school improvement projects.
The Department does not centrally hold information specifically on how many PFI schools are categorised as causing concern or placed in special measures. This level of detailed information is held at local authority level for PFI funded schools.
Secondary Education: Admissions
(2) how many pupils there were in English primary schools at Key Stage (a) 1 and (b) 2 equivalent in each year since 1985-86; and if he will make a statement.
The requested information cannot be provided within the deadline required by Parliament.
Secondary Education: Specialist Schools
It is not this Government’s policy to make all secondary schools independent specialist schools.
Any maintained secondary school in England may apply to be designated as specialist in one, or a combination of two, specialisms. Currently over 85 per cent. of all secondary schools in England are part of the Specialist Schools programme and have a subject specialism. The current target for the programme is that 95 per cent. of all schools will be specialist by 2008 and we are well on the way to achieving this.
Special Educational Needs
The Government do not collect information on the time taken by local authorities to carry out statutory assessments of children with special educational needs. However, where they have decided that a statement is appropriate, local authorities are required to issue a draft statement within 18 weeks of receiving a request for an assessment and a final statement within 26 weeks (with exceptions set out in regulations made under the Education Act 1996).
The Audit Commission publish figures on the proportion of draft statements issued by each local authority within 18 weeks of the start of the statutory assessment process. This information1, broken down by local authority is available from http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/performance/dataprovision.asp.
1 Best Value Performance Indicator 43a and b give the proportion of draft statements issued within 18 weeks excluding and including the permitted exceptions to the time limits respectively since 2000-01. The proportion of draft statements issued within 18 weeks excluding exceptions was collected as indicator K12b from 1997-98 until 1999-2000 and as indicator K10b in 1996-97.
The following table gives the national percentages of draft statements issued within 18 weeks for the years requested.
Percentage of draft statements issued within 18 weeks excluding permitted exceptions Percentage of draft statements issued within 18 weeks including permitted exceptions1 2005-06 96.0 82.7 2004-05 92.0 76.4 2003-04 89.3 68.2 2002-03 86.9 64.7 2001-02 85.4 62.0 2000-012 82.5 57.1 1999-2000 77.2 — 1998-99 66.5 — 1997-983 53.5 — 1996-974 48.2 — 1 Data not collected in this format prior to 2000-01. 2 From 2000-01 onwards, these data reflect Best Value Performance Indicator 43a and 43b. 3 From, 1997-98 until 1999-2000, these data reflect Local Authority Performance Indicator K12b. 4 In 1996-97, these data reflect Local Authority Performance Indicator K10b.
Special Educational Needs: Free Schools Meals
(2) what percentage of students with special educational needs statements in each local education authority attended a school characterised as one of the top 200 schools in the country in each of the last 10 years;
(3) what percentage of pupils receiving free school meals in each local education authority attended a school characterised as one of the top 200 schools in each of the last 10 years;
(4) what percentage of pupils receiving free school meals in each local education authority attended a school classified as being in a school causing concern category in each of the last 10 years;
(5) how many classes of 30 or more pupils there were in each (a) local education authority and (b) type of school in each of the last 10 years;
(6) how many members of (a) primary and (b) secondary school staff in each local education authority were physically assaulted in each of the last 10 years;
(7) how many single sex schools there were in each of the last 10 years;
(8) how many faith-based schools there were in each of the last 10 years, broken down by religion;
(9) how many special educational needs students were educated solely in special schools in each of the last 10 years;
(10) how many special needs schools there were in each local education authority in each of the last 10 years;
(11) what the average ratio of special educational needs pupils to non-special educational needs pupils was in each local education authority’s classes in each of the last 10 years;
(12) how many pupils with special educational needs were educated in mainstream schools in each of the last 10 years.
The information requested cannot be provided within the deadline required by Parliament.
Specialist Schools
The number of specialist schools in each year from 1997 to 2007 was as follows:
Number of specialist schools 1997 221 1998 304 1999 377 2000 513 2001 664 2002 972 2003 1,435 2004 1,945 2005 2,376 2006 2,607 2007 2,807
Around 86 per cent. of all secondary schools are now specialist and we are well on track to meet the target that 95 per cent. of eligible secondary schools should be specialist by 2008.
Specialist Schools: Sports
There are already 433 designated sports colleges, composed of:
371 schools with sport as a first specialism;
22 schools with sport as a combined specialism;
26 schools with sport as a second specialism; and
14 academies with sport as a focus.
The Department part funds the Youth Sport Trust to provide guidance and support to schools seeking to apply for sports college status. We are now working towards our ambition to establish 450 sports colleges and academies with a sports focus.
Teachers: Training
Information about failure to complete initial teacher training (ITT) courses is only available for trainees in their final year of training. The following tables show the number of final year initial teacher training (ITT) trainees for each academic year between 1999/2000 and 2005/06 who did not gain qualified teacher status (QTS) in their final year of training and, of these, the number who left their course before completion and the number where the outcome of QTS is unknown for:
1. Mainstream initial teacher training (ITT) trainees
2. Employment-based routes (EBR) trainees
Mainstream final year ITT traineesNumber of mainstream final year trainees who have not gained QTSTotal number of mainstream trainees in their final yearNumber of mainstream final year trainees gaining QTSKnown not to have completed courseUndefined outcomeOther outcomeTotal1999/200024,65021,6901,2903501,3302,9602000/0125,72022,6401,3504801,2503,0802001/0226,35023,2801,13001,9403,0702002/0328,57025,4301,050102,0903,1402003/0430,97027,3401,47002,1603,6302004/0531,36027,1501,410202,7804,2102005/0631,31027,1001,310102,9004,210 Notes:1. Includes trainees from universities and other higher education (HE) institutions, school centred initial teacher training (SCITT) and Open universities (OU), but exclude employment-based routes (EBR).2. Numbers are individually rounded to the nearest 10, therefore may not sum.3. ‘Other outcome’ includes final year trainees who are yet to complete their course, those with withheld QTS (including those where their skills test was not met, their standards were not met and where both their standards and skills test were not met) and those where the skill test has not been taken (include those whose standards were met and those whose standards were not met).Source:TDA performance profiles.
Number of EBR final year trainees who have not gained QTS Total number of EBR trainees in their final year Number of EBR final year trainees gaining QTS Known not to have completed course Undefined outcome Other outcome Total 2001/02 2,440 2,210 30 0 190 230 2002/03 4,030 3,670 340 0 20 360 2003/04 4,950 4,470 440 0 30 470 2004/05 7,220 6,600 260 0 350 610 2005/06 6,970 6,090 420 0 450 870 Notes: 1. Includes trainees from employment-based routes (EBR) only. 2. Numbers are individually rounded to the nearest 10, therefore may not sum. 3. ‘Other outcome’ includes final year trainees who are yet to complete their course, those with withheld QTS (including those where their skills test was not met, their standards were not met and where both their standards and skills test were not met) and those where the skill test has not been taken (include those whose standards were met and those whose standards were not met). Source: TDA performance profiles.
Truancy: Finance
I refer the hon. Member to the replies given on 16 April 2007, Official Report, column 313W, to the hon. Member for Brent, East (Sarah Teather), on 22 January 2007, Official Report, column 1486W, to the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr. Hayes), on 16 January 2007, Official Report, columns 1061-62W, to the hon. Member for Cheadle (Mark Hunter) and on 23 October 2006, Official Report, column 1566W, to the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Chris Huhne).
In 2007/08 we have committed the following amounts:
£0.6 million on attendance consultancy to support to local authorities;
£100,000 on absence data collections (in addition to school census collections);
£126,000 for publicity and promotion materials on attendance and absence; and
£15,000 on events for local authorities to share effective practice on attendance management.
As a result of our focus on providing challenge and support to 436 secondary schools with high levels of persistent absence, we have seen a 22 per cent. reduction in the number of persistently absent pupils in those schools over the autumn and spring terms of 2006-07 compared to the same period in 2005-06.
Trust Schools
At present, no schools have implemented proposals to become foundation schools with foundations (Trust Schools) under the Education and Inspections Act 2006. However, the first of the Pathfinder schools plan to become Trust Schools from September 2007. There are currently 33 Pathfinder projects involving around 70 schools. All of these schools are expected to become Trust Schools by September 2008. With the addition of around 140 Early Adopters this means that there are currently more than 200 schools working towards Trust status. This is a school driven policy therefore there are no set targets. However the Department for Children, Schools and Families will work towards having 300 schools, which by the end of the year will have become Trust Schools or are working towards this.
Forming a Trust does not involve new buildings. There is no additional capital and they will be funded through the local authority like any other maintained school.
Young People: Drugs
I have been asked to reply
The specific information requested is not collected. However, the following table shows the number of finished admission episodes of young people under the age of 18, for the most commonly abused illegal drugs and volatile substances, for the last five years.
Illegal drugs Volatile substances 2001-02 1,345 633 2002-03 1,367 630 2003-04 1,336 692 2004-05 1,138 903 2005-06 1,253 1,005 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, The Information Centre for health and social care.
Young People: Education
The information requested is shown in the following table.
Looked after children1 All children2 2002 56 72 2003 57 72 2004 59 73 2005 61 75 2006 64 78 1 Source: Outcome Indicators for Looked After Children survey. 2 Source: “The Connexions/Careers Service Annual Activity Survey”.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service
The number of individual conciliation claims handled by ACAS during the five years up to 2006-07 is as follows:
Region 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 Five-year total London 15,109 15,214 12,435 33,001 8,905 84,664 South and East 10,414 10,666 8,473 8,094 9,965 47,612 East of England 7,355 7,442 5,804 5,100 5,126 30,827 East Midlands 6,090 7,493 5,224 6,105 6,864 31,776 West Midlands 7,977 8,724 6,662 9,670 7,100 40,133 North East 5,294 5,928 9,120 8,349 9,006 37,697 Yorkshire and Humber 8,015 9,202 7,110 7,887 8,081 40,295 North West 14,310 15,932 11,783 15,445 12,521 69,991 Scotland 9,309 10,366 7,138 8,379 7,703 42,895 South West 5,815 6,888 5,035 4,543 5,248 27,529 Wales 4,765 4,704 3,049 3,139 3,520 19,177 Total, all regions 94,453 102,559 81,833 109,712 84,039 472,596
The number of people employed by ACAS as of June 2007 is as follows:
ACAS region Total number of employees London 88 Midlands and Eastern 152 North West 96 Northern 110 Scotland 49 Wales, South West and the South 139 ACAS National (Head Office) 141 Total 775
ACAS operates in all of the regional development agency regions in England. It also operates in Scotland and Wales but does not cover Northern Ireland.
Bankruptcy
The official receiver does not keep statistics on this matter.
However, all bankrupts are provided with a copy of the booklet "A Guide to Bankruptcy" which includes details about alternatives to bankruptcy including fast track voluntary arrangements.
A leaflet on FTVAs is also available on the Insolvency Service website.
Business: Torbay
The Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform currently supports the following schemes for entrepreneurs in Torbay. This support is provided through the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA).
Vantage Point Innovation Centre at South Devon College, Paignton
Lymington Road Innovation Centre, Torquay.
To date, SWRDA has contributed £1.8 million to these schemes matched with £0.78 million of European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) from the South West European Objective 2 Programme. The Objective 2 programme is also contributing £3.4 million ERDF towards the £7.1 million infrastructure development costs of the White Rock Business Park, Paignton.
In addition to these schemes that are specific to Torbay, the Department also supports entrepreneurs in Torbay through the following regional schemes. This support, which is also provided through SWRDA, is funded on a regional basis and there is no budget specifically earmarked for entrepreneurs in Torbay. The SWRDA contribution to each scheme is shown in brackets.
Business support to Small and Medium Enterprises delivered through the Business Link core offer (£14.8 million per annum)
South West Angels Investor Network (total investment of £1.4 million)
Grant for Research and Development (£1.5 million per annum).
The Objective 2 programme has also provided over £21.7 million ERDF and £1.2 million of European Social Funds (ESF) to support businesses and entrepreneurs across the Objective 2 area which includes Torbay. The Objective 2 contribution to each project is shown in brackets.
Business Link (D&C)—Adding Value to the Business Support Network (£1,497,151 ERDF)
Business Link (D&C)—Developing the Business Support Network (£3,008,825 ERDF)
Business Link (D&C)—Social Enterprise Loan Fund (£1,200,000 ESF)
Devon County Council—Broadband4Devon (£5,366,000 ERDF)
SWIG (South West Investment Group)—Business Development Funds (£420,995 ERDF)
SWIG—Business Rural Enterprise Fund (£102,000 ERDF)
SWIG—Business Growth Fund (£700,000 ERDF)
Finance South West (Venture Capital Funds) (£9,630,070 ERDF)
Environment Agency—Envision (£1,078,656 ERDF).
Coal: Environment Protection
The Government have been taking action on a number of fronts to ensure fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas are used cleanly. The two key areas for reducing CO2, SO2 and NOx are as follows.
The development of the Carbon Abatement Technology Strategy for Fossil Fuel Use, published in June 2005 (reference URN 05/844) sets out a path towards the cleaner use of fossil fuels enabling them to have a role in a sustainable world with significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. As a result of this the Government announced in the Budget this year a competition to demonstrate carbon capture and storage power plant which has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions from power plant by up to 90 per cent. The Strategy document is available in the House of Commons Library and also can be found at
www.berr.go.uk/energy/sources/sustainability/carbon-abatement-tech/techstrategy.
Additionally the Government are implementing the European Commission's ‘large combustion plant directive’, (LCPD, 2001/80/EC) aimed at significantly reducing SO2 and NOx emissions as well as dust from power plant and other large industrial installations, This directive comes into effect from the start of 2008. Website Address:
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/eu-int/eu-directives/lcpd.
Combined Heat and Power: Housing
As stated in the recently-published Energy White Paper, the Government are committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions from heat. Many current policies contribute to reducing carbon dioxide emissions from heat—for example the EU ETS, the climate change levy, tax incentives for CHP and the Energy Efficiency Commitment. In addition, policies such as the Warm Front programme to tackle fuel poverty help to reduce emissions.
The Government published a Biomass Strategy alongside the Energy White Paper. The strategy provides a framework for the development of biomass, including its application to combined heat and power. The Government are currently also consulting on proposals to band the Renewables Obligation. The proposals contain mechanisms which are designed to encourage biomass CHP.
The Government recognise the value of considering the heat sector in a holistic and focused way. Further work is therefore being carried out into the policy options available to reduce the carbon impact of heat and its use. The work examines the full range of policy options, including the range of existing policy mechanisms such as the EU ETS.
The Government recognise that Combined Heat and Power has an important role to play alongside other low carbon technologies. However, the market is best placed to decide which technologies are most effective in supplying the UK’s energy while also meeting our carbon reduction goals. It will be for the proposers of Eco Towns to bring forward their ideas on how heating and electricity generation can be supplied from renewable sources, including combined heat and power and associated heat grids as appropriate. These will be assessed against Government policies for promoting renewable and decentralised energy supply. My hon. Friend the Minister for Housing, will shortly be publishing a prospectus for Eco Towns setting out the growth expectations for sourcing heat and power use from renewable energy.
Competition: Public Houses
Ensuring that markets operate freely and fairly is a matter for the independent competition authorities, rather than for Government. The UK competition framework has established the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) as an independent statutory body which is responsible for ensuring that markets operate competitively. The OFT has the powers to investigate and take action if companies are abusing a dominant position in a market or behaving anti-competitively.
Departments: EU Budget
The role of regional Ministers is set out in paragraphs 115 to 118 in “The Governance of Britain” (cmd 7170).
Departments: Ministerial Red Boxes
The number of Ministers red boxes ordered by BERR and its predecessor over the previous five years were as follows:
Number Cost (£) 2002-03 0 — 2003-04 0 — 2004-05 1 604.50 2005-06 9 749 each 2006-07 8 749 each
Banner Business Supplies are the sole supplier of Ministers boxes and are an Office of Government Commerce (OGC) approved supplier.
Electricity Generation: Renewable Energy
In 2006, 4.6 per cent. of electricity was generated by renewable sources in the UK.
Source:
Quarterly Energy Trends (June 2007), page 18, Table 2.
Electronic Equipment: Waste Disposal
Detailed figures at a county level are not available, but all retailers of electrical and electronic equipment are obliged to offer in-store take-back if they are not members of the Distributor Takeback Scheme.
Within Staffordshire all 13 local authority civic amenity sites have been approved as designated collection facilities and are playing their part in the UK WEEE system.
Energy Supply
The Department remains committed to open, competitive markets as the means to deliver energy security through diversity of energy supply and fuels. The Energy White Paper published in May 2007 set out in detail the Government's strategy for energy security. Specific measures include reform of the planning and consents process, to help facilitate delivery of energy infrastructure projects, continuing to press for fully competitive and transparent international markets, and provision of more detailed, forward looking information to the market through the Energy Markets Outlook. We will also maximise the economic production of our domestic energy sources, which, together with energy saving measures, will help reduce our dependence on energy imports.
Energy Supply: Meters
The Government set out their proposals on display devices in the Energy White Paper. They stated that the Government would require the provision of displays with new and replacement meters, and that consumers would be able to request for a display to be provided free of charge. They will shortly issue a consultation taking forward these proposals.
Data from the Energy Demand Reduction Project, together with information from other work being undertaken by the Government, Ofgem and energy suppliers, will inform the Government's and the industry's approach to a roll-out of smart meters.
The trials will be important for number aspects of a roll-out programme, which the Government expect to be complete within 10 years. The Government will shortly issue a consultation on their approach to smart metering.
(2) when he expects the start of the roll-out of smart meters with visual displays of real-time information which allow communication between the meter, the energy supplier and the customer.
In the Energy White Paper, the Government made clear their expectation that domestic gas and electricity customers would have access to smart meters over the next 10 years. Its forthcoming consultation on the metering and billing proposals in the Energy White Paper will include a call for evidence on smart meters. This evidence, together with information from a range of other activities will inform the Government's decision on how best to roll out smart meters to the domestic market.
Energy Supply: Russia
We are in regular contact with our European colleagues on energy issues; ensuring security of supply and the development of the internet market are key issues in these discussions.
Russian energy companies play only a minor role in the UK energy market and the Government therefore do not plan a review.
Energy businesses operating in our market are subject to the applicable regulatory regimes, which are there to safeguard the interests of customers.
Energy Technologies Institute: Consultants
I have been asked to reply.
The Energy Technologies Institute is still being established as a 50:50 public/private partnership. The Department has not employed external consultants to assess potential private sector bids for involvement.
Energy Technologies Institute: Finance
I have been asked to reply.
The then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry published the prospectus for the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) on 14 September 2006. It envisaged that the Institute would be fully operational in 2008, with 50:50 public/private sector funding. The intention is that the institute will be legally established later in the autumn. Direct costs so far incurred in supporting the establishment of ETI amount to approximately £573,700.
Export Credit Guarantees
The information requested is as follows.
(a) 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006 (b) 1 July 2006 - to date Number of standard applications 91 35 Number of non-standard applications 2 1
The number of standard applications for the period of 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006 is approximate, as it was not ECGD's practice at that time to maintain a central record of application forms received.
Industrial Disputes: Mediation
The Department does not hold this information.
The consultation “Resolving Disputes in the Workplace” covered the area of mediation, and the Government will publish its plans for the way forward in resolving disputes in the workplace in due course.
Internet: Privacy
I have had no such discussions since my recent appointment. These issues are an important aspect of the discussions within Europe and globally about policy issues arising from the internet.
The rapidly increasing use of the internet gives rise to a range of issues relating to privacy. These include the problem of spam, issues around identity and on-line authentication, how to make the internet a safe place for children, and the problem of identity theft when such mechanisms fail. Privacy concerns also emerge in relation to the adoption of new technologies such as radio frequency identification and law enforcement initiatives such as the retention of and access to communications data. We also expect the European Commission to come forward with proposals to enhance privacy of data in their review of the telecommunications framework.
Low Carbon Buildings Programme
The following table provides the data for all Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 1 funding streams as at 12 July 2007.
Region Month application received Number of applications Grant offered(£) East Midlands 416 457,454 May 2006 26 29,533 June 2006 8 6,900 July 2006 32 33,071 August 2006 35 40,536 September 2006 27 38,749 October 2006 100 103,392 November 2006 85 71,126 December 2006 29 34,447 January 2007 18 26,313 February 2007 8 8,008 March 2007 12 26,489 May 2007 13 14,742 June 2007 16 18,449 July 2007 7 5,700 East of England 728 989,611 May 2006 42 48,749 June 2006 13 14,900 July 2006 62 131,726 August 2006 64 60,468 September 2006 50 86,360 October 2006 150 194,889 November 2006 138 144,803 December 2006 40 49,961 January 2007 37 65,490 February 2007 30 67,495 March 2007 18 46,733 May 2007 46 43,753 June 2007 28 28,683 July 2007 10 5,600 London 276 640,399 May 2006 16 27,525 June 2006 6 17,696 July 2006 22 45,025 August 2006 24 64,195 September 2006 30 100,097 October 2006 46 121,399 November 2006 42 64,101 December 2006 13 18,729 January 2007 9 28,538 February 2007 12 46,770 March 2007 13 58,325 May 2007 17 14,800 June 2007 20 26,600 July 2007 6 6,600 North East 110 168,817 May 2006 7 13,600 June 2006 3 7,000 July 2006 6 10,268 August 2006 9 27,571 September 2006 7 16,600 October 2006 26 12,204 November 2006 17 26,606 December 2006 3 7,150 January 2007 7 16,420 February 2007 3 6,600 March 2007 7 13,100 May 2007 1 1 ,500 June 2007 11 8,999 July 2007 3 1,200 North West 350 469,355 May 2006 18 45,216 June 2006 8 5,353 July 2006 21 34,512 August 2006 22 43,520 September 2006 16 19,283 October 2006 80 62,835 November 2006 83 79,209 December 2006 35 67,924 January 2007 11 15,403 February 2007 9 17,379 March 2007 8 37,270 May 2007 19 24,634 June 2007 17 15,540 July 2007 3 1,279 Northern Ireland 88 216,651 May 2006 18 30,191 June 2006 15 21 ,306 July 2006 28 82,343 August 2006 12 44,722 September 2006 3 5,400 October 2006 5 10,589 November 2006 4 10,319 January 2007 1 400 March 2007 1 8,880 May 2007 1 2,500 Scotland 178 390,574 May 2006 7 35,500 July 2006 10 52,596 August 2006 11 52,526 September 2006 9 20,240 October 2006 39 26,481 November 2006 52 79,102 December 2006 24 43,388 January 2007 7 14,636 February 2007 3 7,177 March 2007 11 51,580 May 2007 2 1,900 June 2007 2 5,000 July 2007 1 449 South East 1,243 2,066,947 May 2006 110 123,660 June 2006 39 69,458 July 2006 120 211,850 August 2006 113 164,675 September 2006 86 205,270 October 2006 226 374,866 November 2006 192 229,680 December 2006 75 109,520 January 2007 56 142,271 February 2007 51 179,766 March 2007 45 140,038 May 2007 64 57,967 June 2007 51 37,178 July 2007 17 20,750 South West 1132 1,605,705^H May 2006 78 59,215 June 2006 32 47,601 July 2006 103 150,104 August 2006 103 145,209 September 2006 79 152,838 October 2006 162 167,930 November 2006 204 295,128 December 2006 59 72,067 January 2007 60 97,642 February 2007 43 108,794 March 2007 37 143,833 May 2007 64 69,226 June 2007 79 60,968 July 2007 30 34,350 July 2008 1 1 ,200 Wales 511 649,961 May 2006 30 29,043 June 2006 22 15,934 July 2006 42 84,139 August 2006 37 34,632 September 2006 27 59,030 October 2006 85 73,000 November 2006 91 121,164 December 2006 33 57,261 January 2007 21 24,383 February 2007 21 14,168 March 2007 16 43,460 May 2007 45 53,885 June 2007 33 30,861 July 2007 8 9,000 West Midlands 365 524,428 May 2006 23 22,574 June 2006 8 7,000 July 2006 28 23,779 August 2006 41 84,336 September 2006 29 41,881 October 2006 78 116,680 November 2006 50 50,425 December 2006 17 28,945 January 2007 17 32,365 February 2007 15 34,861 March 2007 11 36,165 May 2007 15 15,980 June 2007 23 23,740 July 2007 10 5,699 Yorks and Humber 350 538,354 May 2006 14 23,580 June 2006 6 20,265 July 2006 19 33,890 August 2006 29 42,984 September 2006 28 40,813 October 2006 77 96,707 November 2006 90 115,047 December 2006 17 32,280 January 2007 18 32,340 February 2007 5 11,183 March 2007 12 46,563 May 2007 15 20,168 June 2007 17 19,986 July 2007 3 2,550 Grand total 5,751 8,718,655
[holding answer 16 July 2007]: The Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 1 was launched in April 2006 with a £30 million budget. £1.5 million was allocated to the Clear Skies and Solar PV Major Demonstration programmes to smooth the transition between these programmes and the Low Carbon Buildings Programme. The allocations by funding stream for the remainder were as follows:
Funding stream Allocation1 (£ million) Household 6.5 Community 4.0 Large-scale projects up to £100,000 grants 6.0 Large-scale projects up to £1 million grants 12.0 1 Including management fees
A further £6.2 million of the total budget was re-allocated to the household stream in October 2006 given the higher than anticipated demand from householders. The revised allocations by funding stream were as follows:
Funding stream Allocation1 (£ million) Household 12.7 Community 2.9 Large-scale projects up to £100,000 grants 2.9 Large-scale projects up to £1 million grants 10.0 1 Including management fees
In the Budget 2007, the Chancellor announced that an additional £6 million would be made available to the household stream. The current allocations by funding stream are therefore as follows:
Funding stream Allocation1(£ million) Household 18.7 Community 2.9 Large-scale projects up to £100,000 grants 2.9 Large-scale projects up to £1 million grants 10.0 1 Including management fees
National Institute for Medical Research
I have been asked to reply.
The National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) is a wholly owned institute of the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC sought professional advice on the valuation of the National Temperance Hospital (NTH) site. This advised that the valuation of the site was in the range £12 million to £42 million, with a figure between the two extremes being more realistic. The area of the NTH site is 0.9 acres.
Overseas Companies: Chile
UK Trade and Investment's team in Chile is aware of two UK companies with operations in Los Lagos. They are not aware of any UK-registered companies operating in the Araucania region.
Paternity Leave
The Government believe in the importance of increasing opportunities for individuals to achieve a balance between work and caring responsibilities. This is why they introduced two weeks’ paid paternity leave in 2003.
Small Businesses: Floods
The Yorkshire Forward Small Business Recovery Fund is a regional scheme and companies in North Yorkshire affected by the recent flooding are eligible to apply. The scheme provides up to £2,500 per company for immediate recovery needs.
Tidal Power: Severn Estuary
Between 1978 and 1994 the Government supported a comprehensive programme of research and development on tidal energy. These studies considered tidal energy schemes at a number of potential sites, including within the Severn estuary. The results of the Severn studies were reported in Energy Paper 57 (ISBN 0 11 412952 5) and an overall assessment of the tidal programme was published in 1994 (ETSU R-82).
A study is currently under way that is looking in some detail at the issues arising on tidal power. The study is being led by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) working together with my Department, Welsh Assembly Government, the devolved administrations and the South West Regional Development Agency. The study will provide a strategic, independent and evidence-based consideration of all the environmental, social and economic aspects of options for tidal power in the Severn estuary from a sustainable development perspective.
The final report is expected to be published in September. Further details of the study can be seen at:
www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/tidal.html.
Trade: China
The Government place great importance on developing the skills base of the United Kingdom and recognises the value of foreign languages.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families is leading on a number of initiatives to promote the Chinese language and culture in the UK educational system.
The recent Qualifications and Curriculum Authority review announced plans to free up requirements in languages so that schools can offer major world languages such as Mandarin, at Key Stage 3.
In addition, the Government are actively encouraging better understanding of Chinese business practices and culture. UK Trade and Investment, along with our partners at the China-Britain Business Council provide a wide range of practical services to support British companies to trade with, and invest in China. This includes support on the ground from Mandarin speakers. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform however does not make assessments on foreign language capacity of the workforce.
Unsolicited Goods and Services: Telephone Services
[holding answer 19 July 2007]: This matter is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, I have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to reply directly to my hon. Friend. Copies of the Chief Executive’s letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Wind Power
[holding answer 19 July 2007]: As stated in the Energy White Paper “Meeting the Energy Challenge”, published earlier this year “renewable energy has a key role to play in reducing carbon emissions and achieving security of supply”.
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file39387.pdf
In February this year the UK became one of only eight countries to surpass two gigawatts of wind generation. It took 14 years to reach the first gigawatt of electricity from wind and only a further 20 months to reach the second gigawatt.
The UK has one of the best wind profiles in Europe and as such wind technologies both onshore and offshore have the potential to supply a significant percentage of our energy needs.
[holding answer 19 July 2007]: According to the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) there are currently a total of 148 wind farms in the UK, 143 onshore and five offshore.
The locations of these wind farms are:
Wind farm Location Latitude Longitude Dommuie Aberdeenshire 57 27 01N 02 41 35W Boyndie Airfield Aberdeenshire 57 38 47N 02 36 17W Glens of Foudland Aberdeenshire 57 25 28N 02 38 34W Llyn Alaw Anglesey 53 21 48N 04 26 59W Cruach Mhor Argyll and Bute 56 02 24N 05 09 22W Tangy Argyll and Bute 55 29 38N 05 40 45W Deucheran Hill Argyll and Bute 55 37 44N 05 33 35W Beinn an Tuirc Argyll and Bute 55 33 56N 05 34 12W Beinn Ghlas Argyll and Bute 56 22 59N 05 16 20W Green Park Berkshire 51 25 05N 00 59 02W Ransonmoor Farm Cambridgeshire 52 30 15N 00 01 28E Red Tile Cambridgeshire 52 27 02N 00 00 27W Glass Moor Cambridgeshire 52 30 53N 00 06 45W Coldham Cambridgeshire 52 34 29N 00 08 45W Long Hill Road Cambridgeshire 52 33 34N 00 06 08E Abbey Produce Ramsey Site Cambridgeshire — — Blaen Bowi Carmarthenshire 51 59 17N 04 26 43W Parc Cynog Carmarthenshire 51 51 28N 04 34 40W Cefn Croes (inc Devils Bridge, Bryn Du) Ceredigion 52 24 18N 03 45 03W Llangwyryfon Ceredigion 52 18 26N 04 01 43W Mynydd Gorddu Ceredigion 52 27 18N 03 58 20W Rheidol Ceredigion 52 24 12N 03 52 56W Dyffryn Brodyn Ceredigion 51 52 09N 04 33 25W Rhyd-y-Groes Ceredigion 53 24 46N 04 25 54W Slievenahanaghan Co. Antrim 55 02 21N 06 16 20W Elliot’s Hill Co. Antrim 54 51 00N 06 03 36W Corkey Co. Antrim 55 02 00N 06 15 24W Callagheen Co. Fermanagh 54 26 18N 08 00 30W Tappaghan Mountain Co. Fermanagh 54 32 53N 07 33 14W Slieve Rushen Co. Fermanagh 54 09 36N 07 37 12W Altahullion Phase I Co. Londonderry 54 57 36N 07 01 54W Rigged Hill Co. Londonderry 55 01 18N 06 49 13W Lendrum’s Bridge Phase II Co. Tyrone 54 26 12N 07 20 42W Lendrum’s Bridge Phase I Co. Tyrone 54 26 12N 07 20 42W Owenreagh Co. Tyrone 54 48 30N 07 19 54W Bessy Bell Co. Tyrone 54 40 48N 07 24 12W Mawla (Moel Maelogen) Conwy 53 08 08N 03 43 00W Moel Maelogen Conwy 53 08 08N 03 43 24W Bears Down Cornwall 50 28 23N 04 57 11W Four Burrows Cornwall 50 17 30N 05 08 44W St. Breock Cornwall 50 28 36N 04 51 45W Goonhilly Downs Cornwall 50 02 46N 05 11 56W Cold Northcott Cornwall 50 38 14N 04 31 07W Carland Cross Cornwall 50 21 05N 05 01 48W Delabole Cornwall 50 38 14N 04 42 15W WWA High Sharpley County Durham 54 50 20N 01 25 04W Hare Hill (3Hs) County Durham 54 45 45N 01 24 59W Holmside Hall (3Hs) County Durham 54 50 18N 01 40 35W High Volts (3Hs) County Durham 54 41 58N 01 17 29W Tow Low (High Hedley 2) County Durham 54 45 37N 01 46 57W High Hedley Hope County Durham 54 45 36N 01 46 51W WWU High Pow Cumbria 54 46 51N 03 09 35W Eastman (Voridian) Cumbria 54 39 51N 03 32 33W Barrow (Off Shore) Cumbria 53 59 00N 03 17 00W Haverigg III Cumbria 54 12 03N 03 19 45W Winscales extension Cumbria 55 51 51N 03 05 15W Lambrigg Cumbria 54 20 07N 02 38 18W Lowca Cumbria 54 35 34N 03 34 33W Great Orton II Cumbria 54 52 01N 03 04 31W Winscales Cumbria 54 51 51N 03 05 15W Askam Cumbria 54 11 14N 03 10 20W Haverigg II Cumbria 54 12 03N 03 19 45W Harlock Hill Cumbria 54 13 08N 03 09 28W Oldside Cumbria 54 39 34N 03 33 34W Siddick Cumbria 54 40 16N 03 32 35W Kirkby Moor Cumbria 54 14 46N 03 09 08W Tir Mostyn and Foel Goch Denbighshire 53 06 52N 03 29 17W North Hoyle (Off Shore) Denbighshire 53 26 00N 03 24 00W Forest Moor Devon 50 53 39N 04 24 57W Wether Hill Dumfries and Galloway 55 18 37N 03 55 54W Artfield Fell Dumfries and Galloway 54 57 58N 04 45 59W Windy Standard Dumfries and Galloway 55 17 31N 04 12 18W Michelin Tyre Factory Dundee City 56 28 59N 02 53 32W Hare Hill East Ayrshire 55 21 06N 04 07 04W Myres Hill East Renfrewshire 55 41 30N 04 16 42W Lynch Knoll Gloucestershire 51 40 47N 02 16 29W Hafoty Ucha 3 extension Gwynedd 52 54 01N 04 23 18W Hafoty Ucha 2 extension Gwynedd 52 54 01N 03 35 18W Hafoty Ucha 1 Gwynedd 52 53 01N 03 35 18W Trysglwyn Gwynedd 53 22 28N 04 20 43W Beaufort Court (RES Office) Hertfordshire 51 42 29N 00 26 13W Beinn Tharsuinn Highland 57 48 06N 04 19 56W Farr Windfarm Highland 57 19 30N 04 05 39W Boulfruich Highland 58 18 0N 03 26 00W Gigha Community Highland 55 40 05N 05 45 16W Causeymire Highland 58 25 46N 03 30 31W Forss, Hill of Lybster Highland 58 36 28N 03 40 03W Novar Highland 57 42 52N 04 26 03W Out Newton Humberside 53 40 03N 00 06 04W Kentish Flats (Off shore) Kent 51 27 00N 01 08 10E WWP Hameldon Hill Lancashire 53 47 19N 02 09 39W Caton Moor Repowering Lancashire 54 03 39N 02 39 25W Coal Clough Lancashire 53 44 55N 02 10 03W Black Scout Wind Farm Lancashire 53 45 10N 02 09 39W Bambers Farm II Linolnshire 53 19 39N 00 14 25E Deeping St. Nicholas Lincolnshire 52 43 58N 00 13 01W Gedney Marsh (Red House) Lincolnshire 52 50 23N 00 06 24W Bambers Farm Lincolnshire 53 19 44N 00 15 03E Mablethorpe Lincolnshire 53 19 39N 00 14 25E Ford Motors London 51 31 18N 00 09 02E Royal Seaforth Dock Merseyside 53 27 31N 03 01 49W Paul’s Hill Moray 57 26 46N 03 28 34W Findhorn Foundation Moray 57 39 26N 03 34 48W Rothes (Cairn Uish) Moray 57 32 14N 03 22 17W Ffynnon Oer Neath Port Talbot 51 54 00N 03 10 00W North Pickenham Windfarm Norfolk 52 37 34N 00 44 59W Scroby Sands (Off shore) Norfolk 52 38 00N 01 47 00E Swaffham Extension Norfolk 52 39 21N 00 41 07E Somerton Norfolk 52 42 33N 01 39 20E Eco Tech Centre Norfolk 52 39 21N 00 41 07E Blood Hill Norfolk 52 42 41N 01 40 03E Wardlaw Wood North Ayrshire 55 42 38N 04 43 24W Ardrossan North Ayrshire 55 41 09N 04 48 26W Chelker Reservoir North Yorkshire 53 57 34N 01 54 31W Burton Wold Wind farm Northamptonshire 52 21 23N 00 39 02W Blyth (Off shore) Northumberland 55 08 09N 01 29 25W Kirkheaton Northumberland 55 04 58N 01 59 26W Blyth Harbour Northumberland 55 07 20N 01 29 25W Burray Orkney 58 52 15N 02 53 41W Spurness Wind farm Orkney 59 11 10N 02 41 22W Thorfinn, Burgar Hill Orkney 59 07 31N 03 09 16W Bu farm Orkney 59 04 59N 02 39 53W Sigurd Orkney 59 07 53N 03 08 57W Castle Pill Farm Pembrokeshire 51 43 27N 05 00 26W Mynydd Clogau Powys 52 34 49N 03 25 59W Cemmaes Powys 52 38 38N 03 40 45W Carno ‘A’ and ‘B’ Powys 52 33 02N 03 36 01W Bryn Titli Powys 52 22 03N 03 33 51W Llandinam P&L Powys 52 26 11N 03 24 49W Taff Ely Rhondda Cynon Taff 51 33 46N 03 29 09W Crystal Rig 1a Scottish Borders 56 53 42N 03 30 47W Black Hill Scottish Borders 55 47 54N 02 26 02W Crystal Rig Scottish Borders 55 53 42N 02 30 47W Bowbeat Scottish Borders 55 42 56N 03 08 23W Dun Law Scottish Borders 55 48 27N 02 51 37W Burra Dale Extension Shetland Islands 60 09 53N 01 14 10W Burra dale Shetland Islands 60 09 53N 01 14 10W Hadyard Hill, Barr South Ayrshire 55 14 45N 04 43 23W Black Law B South Lanarkshire 55 46 01N 03 44 20W Black Law A South Lanarkshire 55 46 01N 03 44 20W Sainsburys, Langlands Park South Lanarkshire 55 44 32N 04 09 36W Hagshaw Hill South Lanarkshire 55 33 02N 03 55 06W Royd Moor South Yorkshire 53 31 55N 01 40 10W Braes O’Doune Stirling 56 16 34N 04 03 45W Ness Point Suffolk 52 28 47N 01 45 35E Nissan Motors Plant Tyne and Wear 54 55 12N 01 28 05W Great Eppleton Tyne and Wear 54 49 47N 01 25 54W Ovenden Moor West Yorkshire 53 46 27N 01 56 05W
[holding answer 19 July 2007]: My Department are continuing to work with the renewables industry to overcome the barriers for deployment.
The Renewables Obligation (RO) is the Government’s main support mechanism for supporting renewables generation. The RO places an obligation on suppliers to source a specific and annually increasing proportion of their sales from renewable sources. The RO is currently technology blind so that as long as the generation is from an eligible renewable source the generator will receive one Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) for every 1 MW of renewable generation.
We are currently changing the RO to allow banding whereby differing values of ROC’s dependent on what the generating source is and we announced in the Energy White Paper the proposed bands for renewables under the RO.
[holding answer 19 July 2007]: It is for the wind farm developers to decide the best location for the wind farms and for them to take them through the planning process.
According to the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) there are currently:
32 onshore and seven offshore wind farms are under construction.
96 onshore and seven offshore wind farms are consented but not yet under construction.
217 onshore and seven offshore wind farms are in planning.
[holding answer 19 July 2007]: I have had no recent discussions with my colleagues at HM Treasury on tax incentives for wind farms.
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 24 July 2007
House of Commons Commission
Recruitment
Mr. Speaker announced on 28 June that Sir Philip Mawer had written to him saying he wished to step down from the appointment as Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on 31 December 2007. By that date, Sir Philip will have served for almost six years. The Commission has agreed that the process of recruiting a successor by open competition should begin. The post was advertised in the press on 22 July and the Commission plans to make a recommendation for the House to consider early in the new Session.
The Librarian was appointed on a three year contract in December 2004. The Commission has agreed to make the appointment permanent.
The Serjeant at Arms was appointed on a three year contract starting in December 2004. Following the Tebbit review of the management and services of the House, involving a re-allocation of duties (including the creation of a new post to direct key support services and facilities for Members and others) and after careful consideration the Speaker accepted the House authorities’ recommendation not to approve renewal of the contract. Further details on implementation of the Tebbit recommendations are contained in my answer to another question today from the Chairman of the Administration Committee.
Tebbit Review
The House of Commons Commission has fast tracked several areas of the Tebbit review on management and services. These include the amalgamation of Estates and Works; the expansion of the Office of the Clerk into that of the Chief Executive and the reorganisation of the Board of Management on functional lines.
A new Parliamentary Director of Estates is to be appointed to take forward an estate strategy which will prioritise large and costly projects facing the House in the future, including refurbishment of the cast iron roofs and large scale mechanical and electrical works servicing the Chamber.
The Commission has instructed the Clerk of the House to push ahead with a reorganisation of the Office of the Clerk (to be named Office of the Chief Executive) which will be at the centre of moving forward a coordinated strategy for achieving delivery of services, ensuring better planning, customer satisfaction and value for money which are highlighted in the Tebbit report. The Commission also approved proposals for restructuring of the Board of Management on functional lines in terms of Chamber and allied services, support facilities for Members, their staff and others on the estate, information and communication services (including IT/IS), and finance/HR, with the possibility of two external members of the board.
Scotland
Departments: Legislation
The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999 and has respectively supported and been responsible for two Acts; the Sunday Working (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004. All the provisions of both Acts remain in force.
Elections
A request from Mr. Ron Gould, who is leading the Electoral Commission’s review of the Scottish elections in May, was received on 14 June 2007, for access to the electronic images of ballot papers. Following consultation with the Electoral Commission including statutory consultation on the draft order, legislation to allow access both to the electronic images and to the ballot papers themselves was introduced on 2 July, debated in both Houses on 17 July and approved by Parliament on 23 July.
Solicitor-General
Legal Costs
The information requested for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 in respect of fees paid by the Treasury Solicitor and the Crown Prosecution Service has been placed in the Library.
International Development
Departments: Legislation
(2) have been repealed.
Departments: Official Visits
It is not possible to disaggregate costs in respect of hotel accommodation without incurring a disproportionate cost. We are able to provide figures for travel and subsistence costs for our Department, which reflect all domestic and overseas travel for Ministers, Advisors and Officials and include costs for all travel, accommodation and subsistence. The cost for the last 12 months was £10,838,328.
Departments: Visits Abroad
This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis, a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. Information for 2006-07 is currently being compiled and will be published before the summer recess. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
Developing Countries: Water
DFID recognises that capacity building is vital to achieving the millennium development goal targets for water and sanitation. DFID supports a range of institutions and initiatives that have capacity building at the core of their work. In particular, DFID:
funds capacity building networks such as the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council and the Global Water Partnership;
works closely with UNICEF at country level in both Africa and Asia in its work in supporting governments implement water and sanitation projects and programmes, as well as centrally with their head office;
works with others to build capacity e.g. DFID supports the World Bank’s Community Driven Development Programme and is planning to provide funding for another World Bank programme building district level capacity in Ethiopia;
funds programmes to strengthen research networks in developing countries (e.g. the £3.9 million RiPPLE programme in Ethiopia);
will build on the work it has done in the past through the WELL Resource Centre supporting centres of excellence in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, India;
is providing over £1 million of additional funding for the Partners for Water and Sanitation capacity building initiative, working in Ethiopia, South Africa, Uganda and Nigeria.
DFID assesses the in-country capacity of the sector as part of its standard institutional appraisal for water projects and programmes, and when necessary includes a capacity building component.
Republic of Congo: Debts
DFID has not made its own assessment as it relies on the assessment of the IMF and World Bank, which administer HIPC. According to the Annual Report of the World Bank and IMF Boards in May 2006 the Republic of Congo’s overall progress in the necessary reforms has been limited and slow. There have been improvements in the management of forestry, the social sectors and health, as well as in developing a poverty reduction strategy. However, there has been limited progress in procurement, debt management, the oil sector and civil society involvement in reducing corruption. There has been no progress in strengthening public investment management.
Sierra Leone: Palliative Care
DFID has not provided financial support for palliative care in Sierra Leone within the last three years. DFID Sierra Leone has pledged £50 million over the next 10 years to strengthen basic health systems and is currently working on the design of a health programme.
Transport
Accidents: Yorkshire and Humberside
The number of reported fatal and serious personal injury road accidents in the City of York local authority and Yorkshire and the Humber in each year since 1992 are given in the following table.
City of York Yorkshire and the Humber Fatal Serious Fatal Serious 1992 4 110 373 3,858 1993 4 84 351 3,459 1994 2 67 294 3,333 1995 3 69 313 3,396 19961 3 59 292 3,220 1997 7 111 295 3,175 1998 4 70 286 3,001 1999 8 106 285 2,922 2000 12 73 288 2,800 2001 6 108 299 2,858 2002 8 103 294 2,893 2003 8 70 296 2,808 2004 7 94 288 2,709 2005 9 71 276 2,507 2006 6 114 278 2,538 1 In April 1996 the City of York local authority became a unitary authority and increased in size.
Information relating to light railways is not available, and providing the information requested for railway and air accidents would entail disproportionate costs.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition
No specific advice has been given by the Department to local authorities on the installation and use of automatic number plate recognition systems.
Aviation: Security
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: Aviation security measures in the UK National Aviation Security Programme are constantly kept under review. We are working closely with the EU in considering the appropriateness of security measures for smaller aircraft. The security measures in the UK National Aviation Security Programme apply to aircraft over a certain size used for civil public transport purposes and the airfields from which they operate from.
Bicycles: Parking
This information is not collected centrally.
Birmingham New Street Station
We are very clear that something has to and will be done to improve New Street station.
This is fully recognised within the proposed funding provision for the railway for the next planning period (2009-14) and the funding elements for major improvements for the rail related aspects of Birmingham New Street station have today been announced as being given high priority by government.
The proposals of Birmingham city council and its partners seek a very significant investment commitment from the public purse. The Department is therefore scrutinising these proposals carefully and has asked for information to ensure that the funding sought from government represents best value.
This information includes alternative proposals for optimising the benefits of public investment and clarification of proposals for ensuring that the public sector's contribution is set at the right level.
Blue Badge Scheme
(2) for what reasons people with inflammatory bowel disease are not eligible for the Blue Badge parking scheme; and if she will extend eligibility for the scheme to such people.
The Blue Badge Disabled Parking Scheme is primarily designed to assist people with severe difficulty in walking. People with specific conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, are therefore not eligible for a badge unless their walking is very seriously affected.
The Department for Transport (DFT) is currently conducting a strategic review of the Blue Badge Scheme, which will consider whether the scheme should be extended to other disability groups.
The strategic review will report to DFT Ministers in September 2007. A subsequent announcement will follow prior to the publication of a comprehensive Blue Badge reform strategy by April 2008.
Bus Services
The information is not available without incurring disproportionate costs.
The information requested for England, Yorkshire and the Humber and London is available from Table E of the “Public Transport Statistics Bulletin GB: 2006 Edition”, a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library.
The information for York is not available from DfT sources. York City council reported an increase in bus passenger journeys of 57 per cent. between 2000-01 and 2005-06 in its delivery report for its first local transport plan.
Bus Services: East Sussex
The Department provides grants to local transport authorities through the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant, Rural and Urban Bus Challenge and Kickstart schemes. A total of £1.146 million was paid under these schemes to East Sussex county council in the financial year 2006-07. Figures are not available by parliamentary constituency.
In addition, the Department pays Bus Service Operators Grant to operators of local bus services throughout the country but information on this expenditure is not collected on a parliamentary constituency basis.
Information is not available in the form requested on local authority expenditure on bus support from the Government’s unhypothecated Revenue Support Grant or their own resources.
Departments: East Sussex
The following table shows the capital funding allocated to East Sussex county council in the local transport capital settlements from 1998-99 to 2007-08. From 2000-01 to 2007-08 the figures shown include block allocations for integrated transport block and highways capital maintenance, along with specific funding for major schemes.
For most of the funding it has been for the county council to decide on its distribution between Eastbourne and the rest of the county, according to its local policies and priorities.
£ million 1998-99 5.449 1999-2000 5.478 2000-01 8.043 2001-02 10.061 2002-03 10.767 2003-04 10.694 2004-05 11.955 2005-06 10.931 2006-07 12.005 2007-08 10.473
Departments: Land
The Department for Transport was formed in 2002 and since that date has disposed of the following plots of land in Hampshire:
Number 2002 4 plots sold 2003 0 plots sold 2004 4 plots sold 2005 8 plots sold 2006 6 plots sold 2007 (as at 17 April) 1
It is the responsibility of local planning authorities to identify and release land for housing as part of the planning process. This means that the requirement for the provision of social housing will need to be negotiated and agreed with the local planning authority. The Government have implemented a number of initiatives to assist with land supply for housing. A Register of Surplus Public Sector Land held by central Government bodies has been established. English Partnerships review the sites on the register to identify those which could have the potential for housing development. As of June 2007 there were over 700 sites on the register. Sites are continually being added as they are identified as surplus by landowners and removed once expressions of interest are received after a site has been marketed.
Departments: Legislation
Of the enacted Bills introduced by the Department for Transport in the last five years one contains a sunset provision.
Under section 16 of the Road Safety Act 2006 no order can be made under the new section 34D of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 (orders relating to the alcohol ignition interlock programme) after the end of 2010 or such later date as the Secretary of State may specify by order, subject to any order by the Secretary of State terminating the restriction. In the intervening period (“the experimental period”) section 16 imposes more limited restrictions on the making of orders under section 34D.
The appropriateness of a sunset clause for the whole or any part of any proposed legislation is considered on a case by case basis. It is also addressed when a regulatory impact assessment relating to legislation is being prepared.
Motor Vehicles: Insurance
The latest insurance industry estimates available are for the year 2005 and are that the average cost of car insurance for all drivers is £370 per annum.
Motor Vehicles: Safety Measures
The Secretary of State has not yet had an opportunity to discuss daytime running lights (DRLs) with her EU counterparts. However, the Department for Transport and the Secretary of State will continue to work with our EU partners on this subject to make sure the concerns of the UK Government are considered in any decision on the fitment and use of DRLs.
Motor Vehicles: York
The rate of vehicle excise duty (VED) is directly linked to engine capacity for motorcycles, tricycles and private and light goods vehicles registered prior to 1 March 2001. At the end of March 2007, the numbers of licensed vehicles within these tax classes, registered to keepers residing in the City of York unitary authority were as follows:
Tax class Engine capacity Number of licensed vehicles Private and light goods Not over 1549 cc 13,389 Private and light goods Over 1549 cc 23,345 Motorcycles Not over 150 cc 1,841 Motorcycles 151 cc to 400 cc 312 Motorcycles 401 cc to 600 cc 717 Motorcycles Over 600 cc 1,492 Tricycles Not over 150 cc 1 Tricycles Over 150 cc 42
At the end of March 2007, there were also 850 licensed vehicles registered within the City of York that were exempt from VED due to them being constructed prior to 1 January 1973.
Railways: Poole
Stagecoach South Western replaced the train units that serve the train service to Weymouth from commencement of the new franchise (February 2007). The train service consisted of five car class 442 units with a capacity of 495 passengers which were replaced with five car class 444 units with a capacity of 520 passengers. The department is not aware of any further plans by Stagecoach South Western to increase capacity on this line.
Road Traffic Control: Ambulance Services
The Department has commissioned extensive research into the development of traffic calming technique. This research covers the impacts of road humps on vehicles, including ambulances, and their occupants. As a result, the Department recommends the use of 75 mm high (instead of the 100 mm maximum height permitted under regulations) road humps with shallow gradients, or speed cushions, where emergency services may be expected to pass on a regular basis.
Rolling Stock: Leasing
Eurostar UK Ltd. (EUKL) has recently leased its Regional Eurostar trains to SNCF to reduce the cost of stabling and maintaining trains for which it has no current use. The lease agreed with SNCF runs to 2013, however, the value of the deal is commercially sensitive and cannot be released in answer to this question. Income from the lease will accrue to EUKL, improving London and Continental Railways’ (EUKL’s parent company) overall financial position and reducing the Department for Transport’s exposure to supporting Eurostar’s costs. The Regional Eurostar trains were ordered by British Rail in 1991 at a cost of £180 million.
Shipping: Radioactive Materials
Provided that shipments are made in accordance with the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code there is no legal reason why radioactive material may not be transported by passenger ferry.
Provided that shipments are made in accordance with the requirements and restrictions established in Volume F (Carriage of Dangerous Goods) of Eurotunnel's Safety Arrangements, there is no legal reason why radioactive material may not be transported through the channel tunnel.
Transport: Lancashire
Lancashire county council’s 2005 major scheme business case for the Heysham to M6 link did not include an estimated cost for the next best option (the western route). However, it did include an explanation of the reasons why the local authority had rejected the western route. A copy of the business case is available on Lancashire county council’s website at
www.lancashire.gov.uk.
Transport: York
A local transport capital settlement is made annually and includes funding to support local transport projects. The settlements are published on the Department for Transport website at:
www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/ltp/capital
Most Government support for day to day highways and transport services is provided within the revenue support grant. It is up to local authorities to determine how much of this support to use on individual services according to their local policies and priorities.
Travel: Surveys
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael) on 28 November 2006, Official Report, columns 527-28W.
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency
Payments to Deloitte and Touche LLP, from July 2006 (when the contract was awarded) to the end of June 2007, that are related to the current review of services provided by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency have been £1,072,904.
Defence
Arborfield Garrison
The Ministry of Defence is required to obtain market value when disposing of surplus assets. Officials work closely with English Partnerships, regional development agencies, local authorities and other key stakeholders when considering its disposal strategy. This will often include an assessment of development and regeneration opportunities which can be taken forward by prospective purchasers.
Currently we are promoting the surplus land holdings at Arborfield Garrison within the emerging Local Development Framework for a residential-led mixed use re-development. This may lead to a planning application being made by MOD prior to disposal of the land.
Arborfield Garrison consists of Rowcroft Barracks, Hazebrouck Barracks and West Court Officers' Mess that are due to become surplus to the Department's requirements by 2012. The site areas are respectively 50.753 hectares, 67.332 hectares and 28.393 hectares. In accordance with Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing, we consider most of the land holdings as previously developed land (often referred to as brownfield land).
In addition there is 2.24 hectares not assigned to any of the above sites and a number of Service families accommodation, owned by Annington Homes Limited (AHL), that will become surplus to this Department and will be handed back to AHL under the terms of the 1996 Sale Agreement.
Armed Forces: Casualties
The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) (formerly CDM), officially opened at Selly Oak in April 2001. Figures prior to this date are not available. Since opening, RCDM has handled the following numbers of patients who will have been admitted to any of five separate hospitals in Birmingham (this includes Selly Oak hospital). RCDM is the main reception centre for our casualties from all operations. The figures include all war fighting and non-war fighting physical injuries and illnesses. Figures for other operations include deployed operations, permanent operations, Permanent Joint Operating Bases, British Forces Germany, all Royal Navy ships and overseas locations, and exercise areas of all three services.
The admissions to RCDM from Operation Telic (commenced in 2003) are shown in the following table:
Total 2003 512 2004 430 2005 321 2006 353 2007 1178 1 January to June
Admissions to RCDM from Operation Herrick (commenced in 2005):
Total 2005 24 2006 113 2007 1145 1 January to June
Admissions to RCDM from other operations:
Total 2001 393 2002 504 2003 146 2004 477 2005 598 2006 557 2007 1248 1 January to June
With regard to the number of admissions to the United States medical facility in Ramstein, Germany, I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy my letter in the Library of the House.
Field hospital admissions and Aeromedical figures are published on a fortnightly basis on the MOD website and updated regularly.
Statistics for other theatres of operations from 1997 onwards are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Housing
Modern Housing Solutions (MHS) has only been responsible for the maintenance of service families accommodation in England and Wales since January 2006.
MHS does not separately identify the information requested.
Armed Forces: Private Education
Information on cost details of Service Education Allowances that have been spent by Service parents to help provide education for their children at independent schools is not held. When an eligible Service parent claims a Service Education Allowance, it can be used to help provide continuity of education for their child(ren) in either the independent or state maintained school sector; this is the parents' choice. The allowances can also be used at independent or state maintained education establishments that offer professional or vocational qualifications for the post-16 age group. All of these schools and establishments are listed on the Ministry of Defence's Accredited Schools Database.
The net cost of Service Education Allowances for the academic year 2005-06 was £93.6 million and for 2006-07 is estimated to be £93.7 million.
From 1 April 2007, all Service Education Allowances are now managed by the Joint Personnel Administration system. I am able to provide information on the number of Service Education Allowance claimants for 2005-06. This is shown in the following table:
Service Officers Other ranks Total Royal Navy 920 457 1,377 Army 2,675 1,605 4,280 Royal Air Force 1,286 971 2,257 Total claimants 4,881 3,033 7,914
Information on the cost for officer and other rank claimants from the legacy single Service administration systems could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Temporary Accommodation
Records of hotel costs in England and Wales incurred prior to 1 January 2006 are no longer available. However, the costs incurred since January 2006 are:
January-December 2006: £49,081
January-30 June 2007: £28,271
It will take more time to identify hotel costs for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Overseas and I will write to the hon. Member. A copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Defence Export Services Organisation
I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) on 16 July 2007, Official Report, column 13W.
Departments: Air Conditioning
The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Crime
The Ministry of Defence has sponsored one piece of primary legislation since October 2006; the Armed Forces Act 2006. That Act maintains in force, with modifications, a number of offences which are currently in the Service Discipline Acts (the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 and the Naval Discipline Act 1957). A summary of the main offences in the Act is as follows.
Assisting an enemy, section 1
Misconduct on operations, section 2
Obstructing operations, section 3
Looting, section 4
Failure to escape etc, section 5
Mutiny, section 6,
Failure to suppress mutiny, section 7
Desertion, section 8,
Absence without leave, section 9,
Failure to cause apprehension of deserters or absentees, section 10,
Misconduct towards a superior officer, section 11
Disobedience to lawful commands, section 12
Contravention of standing orders, section 13
Using force against a sentry, section 14
Failure to attend for or perform duty etc, section 15
Malingering, section 16,
Disclosure of information useful to an enemy, section 17,
Making false records etc, section 18,
Conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline, section 19,
Unfitness or misconduct through alcohol or drugs, section 20,
Fighting or threatening behaviour etc, section 21,
Ill-treatment of subordinates, section 22,
Disgraceful conduct of a cruel or indecent kind, section 23,
Damage to or loss of public or service property, section 24,
Misapplying or wasting public or service property, section 25,
Obstructing or failing to assist a service policeman, section 27,
Resistance to arrest etc, section 28,
Offences in relation to service custody, section 29,
Allowing escape, or unlawful release, of prisoners etc, section 30,
Hazarding of ship, section 31,
Giving false air signals etc, section 32
Dangerous flying etc, section 33,
Low flying, section 34,
Annoyance by flying, section 35,
Inaccurate certification, section 36,
Prize offences by officer in command of ship or aircraft, section 37,
Other prize offences, section 38,
Attempts, section 39,
Incitement, section 40,
Aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring, section 41,
Sections 42 to 48 do not create offences but provide for criminal conduct punishable by the law of England and Wales to be dealt with under the 2006 Act.
Failure to attend a hearing following release from custody after charge, section 107
Service restraining orders, section 229
Financial statement orders, section 266
Failing to provide a drug sample, section 305
Failing to comply with requirement for a sample for analysis, section 306,
Misbehaviour in court etc, section 309
Aiding or abetting etc desertion or absence without leave, section 344
Aiding or abetting etc malingering, section 345,
Obstructing persons subject to service law in course of duty, section 346.
Departments: Legislation
The MOD has been responsible for the introduction of four Acts since 1997.
The Armed Forces Discipline Act 2000 and The Armed Forces Pay and Compensation Act 2004 are both in force.
The Armed Forces Act 2001, with the exception of three sections, is in force. It is intended to bring the Armed Forces Act 2006 fully into force by January 2009.
Departments: Manpower
Fewer then five staff at Main Building are classified as people without posts. Due to the low numbers involved the information is not broken down further as this could identify the individuals and breach disclosure and confidentiality policy.
Departments: Visits Abroad
This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis, a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Library of the House. Information for 2006-07 is currently being compiled and will be published before the summer recess. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
Ex-servicemen: Pay
Information on the average time period between discharge and payment of gratuities (i.e. discharge related grants and pensions) since 1997 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Modern Housing Solutions: Standards
Modern Housing Solutions (MHS) has been delivering services since 1 January 2006, producing monthly progress reports for occupants. The report for June is published on its website at: www.modernhousingsolutions.com/assets/documents/update.pdf and includes the results of MHS’s customer satisfaction survey for weeks ending 1 March to 24 May 2007.
It will take a little time to collate the requested information for the period 1 January 2006 to the end of February 2007. I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Home Department
Anti-Semitism
Part III of the Public Order Act 1986 contains a number of offences covering acts intended or likely to stir up racial hatred. These include: use of words or behaviour or display of written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting; publishing or distributing such written material; presenting or directing a public performance of a play involving the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour; distributing, showing or playing recordings of images or sounds which are threatening, abusive or insulting; providing, producing, directing or appearing in a programme service involving threatening, abusive or insulting visual images or sounds; and possessing threatening, abusive or insulting written material or recordings of visual images or sounds with a view to displaying, publishing, distributing or playing them in a programme service. Anti-Semitic hatred is covered by these offences as Jews are defined as a racial group. The maximum penalty for inciting racial hatred is seven years’ imprisonment.
In addition to the range of existing incitement offences, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 created nine racially-aggravated offences, including assaults, criminal damage and harassment, which make available to the courts higher maximum penalties where there is evidence of racist motivation or racial hostility in connection with the offence. The Act also requires a judge or magistrate dealing with any offence which is racially-aggravated to state in open court that they have found it to be so aggravated, and therefore meriting an increased sentence.
The Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 introduces a requirement for courts to take account of racial or religious motivation in sentencing for other offences.
I can assure the hon. gentleman that this Government take all attacks and violence seriously, and particularly those motivated by prejudice and hatred. We have in place a programme of work to tackle all hate crime, including that motivated by anti-Semitism, based on: increasing reporting; ensuring a more effective response from authorities; bringing more offences to justice; using local data to prevent hate crime from happening in the first place; and better understanding the extent and nature of all hate crimes.
If any members of the community have been the subject of an attack or violence, they should contact the police immediately. If they are worried that they may be the subject of an attack or violence, they should contact their local police Crime Prevention Officer, who can offer specific advice as to protective security measures that may be taken.
Antisocial Behaviour: East Sussex
The data are not available in the form requested. Antisocial behaviour (ASB) is measured through a measure of perceptions using the British Crime Survey (BCS). The size of the sample in the British Crime Survey means that we cannot provide reliable data for geographical areas smaller than police force areas. This applies both to the local authority level of Eastbourne and the county level of East Sussex. Due to changes in the measure of antisocial behaviour, police force area data comparable to the national figures are only available for 2004-05 to 2006-07, and the national measure of perceptions of ASB only back to 2001-02.
The following table sets out the national BCS figures for the last six years and the comparable figure for Sussex police force area.
Percentage National Sussex police force area Statistically significantly different (at the 95 per cent. level) from the national average 2001-02 19 — — 2002-03 21 — - 2003-04 16 — — 2004-05 17 17 No 2005-06 17 14 No 2006-07 18 15 No Note: The measure of antisocial behaviour used is based on a scale constructed from seven questions on problems due to noisy neighbours or loud parties, teenagers and young people hanging around, rubbish and litter, vandalism, people using or dealing drugs, people being drunk or rowdy and abandoned cars.
Asylum: Poole
Information on numbers of asylum applications and decision outcomes relating to asylum seekers in particular areas of the UK is not collated as are statistics regarding the location of asylum seekers not in receipt of support.
There were no asylum seekers recorded as receiving asylum support in Poole as at the end of March 2007.
The numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support, broken down by Government office region and local authority, are published on a quarterly and annual basis. Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
Further breakdowns of those in receipt of support, by parliamentary constituency, are also available from the Library of the House.
Statistics on the location of asylum seekers in the UK are linked to the available information on the support that the asylum seeker receives. The numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support are available broken down by Government office region, local authority and parliamentary constituency.
The following table shows the number of asylum seekers recorded as receiving asylum support in Poole as at the end of each year for the last five years. These figures exclude any asylum seekers who may be living in Poole but not receiving support.
The numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support, broken down by Government office region and local authority, are published on a quarterly and annual basis. Copies of these publications are available from the Library
As at the end of December: In dispersed accommodation In receipt of subsistence only support Total in receipt of support 2002 0 10 10 2003 0 5 5 2004 0 1— 1— 2005 0 5 5 2006 0 1— 1— 1 1or 2 Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest 5.
Asylum: York
Statistics on the location of asylum seekers in the UK are linked to the available information on the support that the asylum seeker receives. The numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support are available broken down by Government office region, local authority and Parliamentary constituency.
As at the end of March 2007 there were fewer than three asylum seekers receiving support in York. This figure excludes any asylum seekers who may be living in York but are not receiving support.
The numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support, broken down by Government office region and local authority, are published on a quarterly and annual basis. Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
Further breakdowns, of those in receipt of support by parliamentary constituency, are also available from the Library of the House.
BAE Systems: Saudi Arabia
I can confirm that the Home Office has received a request for assistance from the USA in respect of corruption allegations concerning BAE Systems. The request will be dealt with in accordance with the bi-lateral treaty on mutual legal assistance between the UK and the USA. It would be inappropriate to comment further.
Crime: North Yorkshire
The available information relates to the North Yorkshire police force area and the York Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area and is given in the tables.
Violence against the person Total crime York CDRP North Yorkshire York CDRP North Yorkshire 1997 n/a 2,425 n/a 50,252 n/a - not available
Violence against the person Total crime York CDRP North Yorkshire York CDRP North Yorkshire 1998-99 n/a 4,827 n/a 55,309 1999-2000 n/a 5,101 n/a 53,554 2000-01 1,504 4,895 19,291 51,532 2001-02 1,656 5,624 22,890 59,125 n/a = Not available Notes: 1. The coverage was extended and counting rules revised from 1998-99. Figures from that date are not directly comparable with those for 1997. 2. The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.
Violence against the person Total crime York CDRP North Yorkshire York CDRP North Yorkshire 2002-03 2,575 8,108 25,630 67,239 2003-04 3,459 9,610 29,347 71,473 2004-05 4,000 12,045 23,080 61,615 2005-06 3,810 11,473 22,784 58,850 2006-07 3,285 10,087 20,935 54,526 Note: The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.
Crimes of Violence: Southampton
The Government are currently taking forward a very full range of work which will continue to reduce violent crime. We have, for example, recently passed the Violent Crime Reduction Act, which gives the police and local communities the powers they need to tackle guns, knives and alcohol-related violence.
Southampton is one of the areas included in the Tackling Violent Crime Programme, through which the Home Office is working intensively with practitioners in a number of local areas with high levels of more serious violent crime, to support their efforts to reduce alcohol-related crime and domestic violence, to improve police and other agencies' performance and partnership working, and to improve local strategies.
Southampton was also the first area in the South East to adopt a violence prevention initiative based on Accident and Emergency Unit information sharing. This follows a successful model of community violence prevention developed in Cardiff, which has demonstrated that hospital A&E intelligence can be pivotal in directing violence reduction initiatives, and ultimately reducing the harm caused by violent crime.
Sexual violence is also a priority. Funding has been provided this year for the Southampton Rape Crisis and Abuse Centre, a registered charity providing support, advocacy, counselling and therapy, and for No Limits, Southampton, an organisation which provides information, advice and counselling services for young people. Two independent sexual violence advisers, who provide targeted professional support to victims of sex crimes, are based in Southampton.
Southampton Safe City Partnership are engaged in, and sponsor, a range of initiatives, including:
Improved crime recording and analysis
Domestic violence advocacy to assist victims and reduce repeat offending
Dedicated hate crime and harassment reporting line to the police and local authority
Extended Designated Public Places Order use
Test purchases with on and off licences
CCTV in taxi cabs
Best Bar None Scheme
Taxi Marshals
Nightlink Bus
Dedicated police monitoring of CCTV to identify incidents of violence early.
Departments: Postal Services
Information on the volumes of correspondence sent by Royal Mail and by other commercial delivery services for the last five years are not held.
The volume of correspondence dispatched from the Home Office headquarters in 2 Marsham Street in year 2006-07 sent by Royal Mail comprise 32,902 individual items and 6,613 sacks of mail (approximately 200 items per sack). Other commercial mail delivery services were not used in 2006-07 other than limited use of courier companies.
Driving Under Influence: Great Yarmouth
Screening breath tests data held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform are available by police force area only. Information is not collected centrally on the age or sex of persons required to take a screening breath test.
Drugs: Crime
The information requested is not available centrally from the recorded crime statistics. It is not possible to identify whether alcohol or drug abuse are contributory factors since the circumstances of individual crimes are not collected in the statistics.
Entry Clearances: Waiting Lists
I have been asked to reply.
UKvisas do not keep statistics on average waiting times for visa applications. Since 2005, UKvisas performance has been measured against the following Public Service Agreement (PSA) standards:
PS A 1: 90 per cent. of straightforward non-settlement applications to be processed within 24 hours.
PS A 2: 90 per cent. of non-settlement applications requiring further enquiries or interview to be processed within 15 days.
PS A 3: 90 per cent. of settlement applications to be processed within 12 weeks.
UKvisas exceeded these standards in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 financial years. In 2004-05, 91 per cent. of PSA 1 applications were processed within 24 hours, 90 per cent. of PSA 2 applications were processed within 15 days and 99 per cent. of PSA 3 applications processed within 12 weeks. In 2005-06, 93 per cent. of PSA 1 applications were processed within 24 hours, 94 per cent. of PSA 2 applications were processed within 15 days and 97 per cent. of PSA 3 applications processed within 12 weeks.
Prior to 2004, service delivery was measured against target times for length of interviews which entry clearance officers were required to meet rather than the total time taken to process visa applications. Figures for the 2006-07 financial year are not yet available.
The Border and Immigration Agency do not keep statistics on average waiting times for leave to remain applications. Performance is measured against the published service standards which can be found on the immigration website at:
http://www.ind.homeoftice.gov.uk/6353/11464/servicestandardsapr07.xls.
Firearms: Crime
Information on charges brought by the police are only held by the police themselves and not reported to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
However, data on cases brought to court are collected, and information on the number of persons under 21 years of age proceeded against for firearms offences in England and Wales for the years 2001-05 is provided in the table.
Data for 2006 will be available in the autumn.
Number proceeded against 2001 1,193 2002 1,014 2003 959 2004 1,273 2005 1,444 1 These data are provided on the principal offence basis. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 3 See the following offence table for offences used.
Offence Indictable firearms offences 514-516 Possession of firearms with intent to endanger life or injure property 517-519 Using firearms with intent to resist arrest 813-815 Possessing firearms at time of committing, or being arrested for, an offence 816-818 Possessing firearms with intent to commit an indictable offence or resist arrest 823-825 Possessing firearms with intent to cause fear of violence 8103 Possessing firearms or ammunition without certificate (Section 1)(2) 8115 Shortening a shot gun 8104 Possessing shot gun without certificate 8109-8110 Selling firearms to person without a certificate 8117 Possessing or distributing prohibited weapons or ammunition 8126-8127 Carrying loaded firearm in public place 8135-8137 Possession of firearms by persons previously convicted of crime 8170 Possessing or distributing prohibited weapons designed for discharge of noxious liquid etc.(2) other81 Other indictable offence Summary firearms offences 11504 Non-compliance with condition of firearms certificate (Section 1)(3) 11528 Carrying air weapon or imitation weapon in public place(4) 11532-11534 Trespassing with firearm on land 11541-11543 Person under 17 acquiring firearm subject to control under Section 1 11559-11560 Making false statement in order to procure grant or renewal of firearm or shot gun certificate 11506 Non-compliance with condition of shot gun certificate 11546 Person under 14 having an air weapon or ammunition 11547 Person under 17 having an air weapon in a public place other 115 + 14103 Other summary firearms offence
Foreign Workers: Health Professions
The Race Equality Impact Assessment on the changes in the immigration rules for postgraduate doctors and dentists drew upon management information provided by Work Permits (UK) and discussions with the Department for Health on the increasing competition for training programmes.
Identity Cards
[holding answer 19 July 2007]: There has yet to be a pilot of the identity cards scheme. However, there is provision in section 44(4) of the Identity Cards Act 2006 that will enable provisions of the Act to be brought into force in stages so as to allow for a trial in a particular area or relating to a particular category of persons. It also allows for transitional provisions following any such trial.
Identity Cards: Travelling People
Issues relating to the Gypsy and Traveller communities were raised as part of the consultation on identity cards legislation and were included in the summary of responses, published in October 2004 (Cm 6348). Once identity cards are introduced, it is expected that Gypsies and Travellers would be able to apply for an identity card at the same time as applying for a passport.
Immigration: Bulgaria
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: The seasonal agricultural workers scheme is a low skilled scheme designed to help meet any shortfall in the supply of seasonal labour from within the UK and those ED states with access to our labour market. As this is a low skilled scheme, we contract with operators to undertake with the individual the necessary assessment of suitability.
A recent International Organisation for Migration (IOM) survey in Bulgaria and Romania shows there is good reason to believe A2 nationals will offer an adequate pool of SAWS recruits. The survey found that 5 per cent. of the sample of respondents (which was representative of the population at large) would consider working in the UK. Of those 50 per cent. would consider working in agriculture and 38 per cent. intended to remain for less than six months. We are in regular contact with the operators and our embassies in Romanian and Bulgaria and will continue to monitor the situation.
Offensive Weapons: East Sussex
The information available centrally relates to homicides by sharp instrument recorded each year between 1997-98 and 2005-06. As figures are not collected below police force area level, data relating to Sussex police are given in the following table.
Year offence initially recorded Number recorded 1997-98 4 1998-99 4 1999-2000 5 2000-01 5 2001-02 6 2002-03 9 2003-04 3 2004-05 9 2005-06 5 1 As at 9 October 2006: figures subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information comes to light. 2 Includes all sharp instruments, including knives. Source: Based on England and Wales totals as published in ‘Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2005-06’ (Home Office Statistical Bulletin 02/07).
Passports: Fraud
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: IPS has not generally awarded specific consultancy contracts for advice on passport security, fraud detection and prevention. It has operated a model of engaging specialist contractors on an interim management basis to provide guidance and knowledge to supplement in-house expertise.
Two contracts were awarded in 2004 on a consultancy basis. These are in the following table:
Contractor Work Date Price (£) Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP Development of a testing strategy for establishing extent and nature of fraudulent applications February to April 2004 62,790 BDA Training Implement common sampling process for detection of fraudulent passport applications November to December 2004 17,850
Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: There have been a number of meetings, both at ministerial and official level, with operators and their representatives since October 2006 about the future of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS). Those discussions have centred on the implications of the Government's obligations regarding EU Community preference, restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals and the future role of the Migration Advisory Committee.
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) allows farmers and growers in the UK to recruit overseas workers to undertake work that is both seasonal and agricultural. The scheme helps to meet any shortfall in the supply of seasonal labour from within the UK and those EU states with access to our labour market.
It is not the purpose of SAWS to fill the requirement for agricultural labour in the UK, and it has only ever met a small proportion of the total requirement for agricultural labour. Migrants from a number of other routes such as working holidaymakers are also free to work in the agricultural sector.
The horticultural industry is also able to recruit workers from throughout the EEA.
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: As in previous years, an announcement will be made on next year's quota in time to allow operators to recruit workers for 2008.
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: I met with Lord Rooker, Minister for Sustainable Food and Farming and Animal Health, on 15 May 2007 and we are arranging a further meeting with operators and the National Farmers Union to discuss the scheme.
Technology: Safety
The Government meets with the communication service providers, children’s charities and other interested parties to keep these matters under review. We are supportive of the industry Code of Practice for the use of mobile technology to provide passive location services in the UK. This code governs the way services are run and provide consumer (particularly child) protection measures that supplement legal and regulatory requirements. We will work with industry to ensure that the Code of Practice is updated to take account of technological advances.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Carbon Emissions: Imports
DEFRA’s evidence and innovation strategy considers some of the ‘embedded' environmental impacts of the international supply chains that feed UK consumption. Research projects relevant to embodied carbon emissions include:
Support for a British Standards Institute project to develop a publicly accessible specification for embedded greenhouse gas emissions of products and services.
The development of an embedded carbon emissions indicator to enable more accurate measurement of embedded carbon emissions in supply chains outside the UK. This is based on a multi-regional model that, in the first instance, divides the world into three regions (OECD-Europe, other OECD and non-OECD countries) enabling a more accurate estimation of carbon dioxide emissions embedded UK trade than previously possible. To date, UK emissions factors for this data have been used but do not give an accurate result, as the impacts can vary depending on the sources of energy used in the producing country. This model will enable a more accurate representation of the emission, albeit not specifically for Chinese energy sources.
Environment Protection: York City Council
Details of grants awarded to City of York council for environmental purposes since 2006 are shown in the following table.
Grant Purpose of grant Amount (£) 2005-07 Yorkshire Forward City of York's Eco Depot 600,000 2006-07 Direct Consultancy Support1 Waste Composition Project 49,916 2007-08 Direct Consultancy Support1 Waste Composition Project 49,916 2005-06 Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant General Waste and Recycling 145,790 2006-07 Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant General Waste and Recycling 387,705 2007-08 Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant General Waste and Recycling 406,075 2005-06 Joint Municipal Waste Strategy2 Revision and Development 72,183 1 Joint project between North Yorkshire county council and City of York council. 2 Awarded to North Yorkshire county council. City of York council was one of the named constituent councils for this project.
Exhaust Emissions: Delivery Services
No assessment has been made by my Department.
Fisheries: Migrant Workers
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: My Department does not hold the information requested.
Flood Control
1 refer the hon. Member to the statement given by the Secretary of State on 2 July 2007, Official Report, column 689, in which he stated the Government have always recognised the need to spend more on flood defence because of changes in climate. DEFRA and local authority spend on flood and coastal erosion risk management has increased from £307 million in 1996-97 to £600 million this year and will increase further to £800 million in 2010-11.
Floods: Housing
I have been asked to reply.
With regards to the homes that have been (a) built and (b) built on flood plains information from the Communities and Local Government’s Land Use Change Statistics and Completions data show the total number of dwellings built and the estimated number built on floodplains. Between 1996 and 2005 (the most recent 10 years for which data are available) there were 1,441,200 dwellings completed, of which an estimated 133,600 were built on flood risk areas.
Data are not available on the number of homes built against Environment Agency advice.
I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) on 8 January 2007, Official Report, column 369W.
Floods: Warnings
The Environment Agency reported that the take up for Floodline Warnings Direct in these areas is as follows:
North Yorkshire (excluding the City of York): 3,516 properties which is 29 per cent. of those offered Floodline Warnings Direct.
South Yorkshire: 1,653 properties which is 39 per cent. of those offered Floodline Warnings Direct.
East Yorkshire: 2,694 properties which is 45 per cent. of those offered Floodline Warnings Direct.
England: 250,606 properties which is 30 per cent. of those offered Floodline Warnings Direct.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a Lessons Learned exercise on the summer flooding on 12 July. Any lessons about the operation of the operation of the flood warning system will be picked up as part of that exercise.
Under the Government's making space for water strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management, the technical feasibility of extending warnings to include other types of flooding than from rivers or the sea is currently under study.
Fly Tipping: East of England
The Flycapture database, which was set up in 2004 by DEFRA, the Environment Agency and the Local Government Association, records the number of fly tipping incidents dealt with by the Environment Agency and local authorities and the enforcement action taken. The Environment Agency deals only with larger scale fly-tipping incidents.
As it is quite lengthy, I am arranging for a table showing the number of incidents and prosecutions recorded on Flycapture for 2004-05 and 2005-06 in England to be placed in the House Library.
Data for 2006-07 have not yet been finalised, but will be available in the summer.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Yorkshire and Humberside
DEFRA does not hold greenhouse gas emissions data at the geographical level necessary to derive these reductions. Experimental local authority carbon dioxide emissions data are currently available for 2003 and 2004 only— however, due to changes in the underlying methodology, year-on-year comparisons using these data would be inappropriate.
I have placed experimental emissions estimates for 2003 and 2004 in the Library of the House.
Land Drainage
The Environment Agency is responsible for managing flood risk from designated main rivers and the sea with local authorities (and, in low-lying areas, internal drainage boards) responsible for managing flood risk from other watercourses.
Local authorities, highway authorities and water and sewerage companies all have varying responsibilities for drainage of surface water.
I am unable to provide a breakdown of spend on flood risk management by local authority area without incurring disproportionate cost.
Land Use: Flood Control
There is funding available under the higher level scheme for the creation of wildlife habitats which may also have flood risk management benefits. My officials are currently reviewing the progress of environmental stewardship to see whether the scheme is on course to meet its environmental outcomes. In particular the review will consider how the scheme can mitigate the effects of climate change which may have a bearing on flood management issues.
Radioactive Materials: Storage
I have been asked to reply.
Government considers that it is essential that radioactive waste is stored safely and securely at all times pending its disposal, in line with HSE requirements on Nuclear Site Licensees and the recommendations of the independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM).
In response to CoRWM’s 2006 recommendations, the NDA is reviewing the adequacy of waste storage arrangements across its sites, focusing on the service life of facilities required to accommodate waste until a disposal facility is available. In a separate study NDA's contractors have been looking at possible opportunities to optimise intermediate level waste storage. The preliminary view is that there may be opportunities to consolidate storage at some NDA sites using facilities that are already in site baseline plans, as well as opportunities for minimising waste generation. There are currently no plans for new stores located off NDA sites. The outcomes of these studies will inform the review of the NDA’s Strategy, which it expects to begin during 2008. The NDA’s Strategy will be the subject of public consultation and subject to approval by Government.
Rights of Way
Section 54 of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act does provide for “excepted rights of way” which are exempted from the extinguishment provisions of the Act and come into force in 2026. The relevant sections in the Act require regulations to be implemented, and are yet to be implemented in Parliament. The Government will publish a consultation paper in due course to seek views on the scope of the provisions before any regulations are brought into force.
Rights of Way: Yorkshire and Humberside
The former Countryside Agency mapped 748 hectares of open country and registered common land in the administrative area of York city council, equivalent to 2.7 per cent. of the administrative area.
The agency mapped a total of 178,990 hectares in north Yorkshire as open country and common land. That includes 95,060 hectares of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and 44,450 hectares of the North York Moors National Park.
Sewers: East Sussex
DEFRA does not hold this information. Southern Water are responsible for the public sewers in Eastbourne and East Sussex and would hold any available information relating to the age and length of sewers in this area.
Wood: Recycling
Recent research1 carried out on DEFRA’s behalf, suggests that it is generally better, in carbon and energy terms, to recover energy from waste wood than to recycle it, with either option being far better than landfill. It estimated that 16 per cent. of waste wood in the UK is currently recycled and 80 per cent. landfilled.
No specific assessment has been made of the reasons for the current level of wood recycling. However the waste and resources action programme (WRAP) continues to play an important role in developing recycling capacity for clean waste wood and markets for the resulting products.
Most waste wood is, however, unsuitable for recycling and the waste strategy for England 2007 sets out the Government's intention to recover more energy from wood that would otherwise be landfilled. DEFRA’s waste implementation programme is taking forward a programme of work to develop energy markets for waste wood by addressing the informational and practical barriers to expansion.
1 Carbon Balances and Energy Impacts of the Management of UK Wastes, report by ERM (with Colder Associates) for DEFRA, Final Report, March 2007.
Culture, Media and Sport
Arts Council of England: Finance
Discussions on the comprehensive spending review are continuing between DCMS and HM Treasury. No decision has yet been taken about grant in aid for Arts Council England for the next three years.
Arts: National Lottery
The total operator proceeds for each financial year for (a) the Heritage Lottery Fund were:
Heritage lottery fund (£ million) 1994-95 57.875 1995-96 288.674 1996-97 291.484 1997-98 327.210 1998-99 253.665 1999-2000 244.801 2000-01 258.010 2001-02 275.800 2002-03 225.185 2003-04 216.452 2004-05 226.088 2005-06 230.631 2006-07 200.930 Note: Figures rounded to the nearest thousand pounds
and (b) the Arts Council of England, Arts Council of Wales, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Screen and the UK Film Council were:
Arts Council of England UK Film Council. Arts Council of Northern Ireland Scottish Arts Council Arts Council of Wales Scottish Screen 1994-95 48.210 — 1.621 5.151 2.894 — 1995-96 240.465 — 8.083 25.692 14.434 — 1996-97 242.806 — 8.162 25.942 14.574 — 1997-98 272.566 — 9.162 29.122 16.361 — 1998-99 211.303 — 7.103 22.576 12.683 — 1999-2000 188.072 15.848 6.854 21.787 12.240 — 2000-01 183.445 31.477 7.224 17.628 12.901 5.335 2001-02 196.094 33.648 7.722 21.347 13.790 3.199 2002-03 159.556 28.023 6.305 17.377 11.259 2.664 2003-04 153.923 26.414 6.061 16.752 10.824 2.514 2004-05 160.723 27.576 6.330 17.500 11.303 2.619 2005-06 163.978 28.137 6.458 17.851 11.532 2.675 2006-07 142.861 24.513 5.626 15.552 10.046 2.331 Note: Figures rounded to the nearest thousand pounds
Betting: Regulation
Following an approach from the Bookmakers’ Committee, my Department facilitated the setting up of the Working Group on the Regulation and Administration of On Course Bookmaking in February 2007. It is chaired by the chief executive of the National Joint Pitch Council and includes representatives of the betting and racing industries. DCMS is not represented on the group.
The group originally planned to report in April 2007. However, it has taken it longer than originally expected to fulfil its terms of reference. We are expecting it to publish its draft proposals for consultation soon.
Digital Switchover Help Scheme
The digital terrestrial set top boxes provided under the digital switchover help scheme will meet the scheme's core receiver requirements. These requirements do not at present require that the boxes have a return path but nor do they rule it out. The requirements will be kept under review throughout the process of switchover by an emerging technologies group, which will assess the case for changes, including the possible provision of a return path, based on their usability and cost-effectiveness, and will, where appropriate, recommend that DCMS and the BBC amend the requirements.
National Joint Pitch Council
The Working Group on the Regulation and Administration of On Course Bookmaking is independent of my Department. It was set up following an approach from the Bookmakers’ Committee, includes representatives of the betting and racing industries and is chaired by the chief executive of the National Joint Pitch Council. Its terms of reference include a requirement to
“Agree a comprehensive list of the current administrative functions of the NJPC that are not preserved in regulations under the Gambling Act 2005”.
I understand that its members are in the process of completing this task and will publish their findings for public consultation soon. I am further aware that the Group decided of its own volition to exclude any consideration of pitch tenure issues.
National Lottery: Wales
As announced on 15 March, it is proposed that the Arts Council of Wales will contribute £8.1 million and the Sports Council for Wales £7.3 million.
Of the relevant UK-wide distributing bodies, it is proposed that the Heritage Lottery Fund will make a contribution of £161.2 million and Big Lottery Fund a contribution of £638.1 million. It is for these distributors to determine the proportion of their funding which goes to Wales. No funds will be transferred before 2009.
In addition, non-Olympic good causes may lose about 5 per cent. of their income as a result of sales diversion from Olympic Lottery games during the eight years from 2005 to 2012.
Grants already made need not be affected. Furthermore, the Big Lottery Fund will maintain, and extend from 2009 to 2012, its commitment to provide 60 to 70 per cent. of its funding to the voluntary and community sector, at the levels planned before the announcement of the Olympic transfer.
Sports: Children
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: Our continued investment in the National School Sport Strategy, jointly delivered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Children, Schools and Families, will help us to achieve a sustainable legacy of sporting participation for children and young people now and beyond the Games in 2012. There is a PSA target to increase the percentage of 5-16 year olds participating in a minimum of two hours high quality PE and school sport each week to 85 per cent. by 2008. The 2005-06 annual survey of schools in school sport partnerships showed that 80 per cent. of children and young people were already doing so.
The Government’s long-term aim has been to offer all 5-16 year olds four hours of sport by 2010, through a combination of provision in the school day, out of school and community activities. On 13 July 2007 the Prime Minister announced an additional £100 million funding to increase this offer to five hours per week of sport for children and young people aged 5-16, plus three hours per week for young people aged 16-19, by 2010.
Sports: National Lottery
The amount of lottery funding provided to athletics, swimming and rowing in each year since 1998 is in the following table.
£ Athletics Swimming Rowing 1998-99 3,045,016 15,791,917 1,790,466 1999-2000 12,161,588 26,119,732 1,908,205 2000-01 19,904,669 18,325,175 1,685,659 2001-02 7,040,174 30,088,993 9,295,194 2002-03 5,134,124 20,282,823 1,914,826 2003-04 9,715,394 3,016,870 400,245 2004-05 32,006,607 19,257,243 18,890,457 2005-06 21,922,334 5,466,592 618,753 2006-07 4,540,492 6,454,689 1,926,034
Sports: Yorkshire and Humberside
Data for the past 10 years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The following table shows the Government (Exchequer) funding for Yorkshire and Humber in each of the last seven years. It is not possible to isolate figures for the City of York as Sport England does not hold data in that format.
Exchequer (£) 2001-02 139,078 2002-03 25,000 2003-04 205,020 2004-05 893,066 2005-06 1,014,442 2006-07 876,054 2007-08 48,000 Total 3,200,660
Communities and Local Government
Buildings: Energy
Buildings account for 45 per cent. of total UK carbon emissions—27 per cent. from homes and 18 per cent. from non-domestic buildings—so reducing emissions from buildings will be a vital contribution to delivering our overall target of reducing UK carbon emissions by 60 per cent. on 1990 levels by 2050.
Despite recent growth in the number of domestic and office appliances, heating is still the major use of energy in buildings—around 75 per cent. of building energy consumption relates to space and water heating—so insulation, draught-proofing and efficient heating systems and controls are key to delivering significant energy efficiencies.
Existing programmes and policies such as Decent Homes, Warm Front, and the Energy Efficiency Commitment, and information and advice from the Government-funded Energy Saving Trust and Carbon Trust continue to encourage and support energy efficiency refurbishments of existing buildings. These programmes have already had a significant impact on the existing building stock. The latest annual report on the English House Condition Survey, published in June this year, found that the average energy efficiency rating of the housing stock had progressively improved from 1996.
In addition, we will shortly begin to roll out the requirement for Energy Performance Certificates and air conditioning inspections which will provide building owners and occupants, for the first time, with information on the energy performance of their buildings and what can be done to improve their performance.
We are currently consulting on proposals for a new three-year Carbon Emissions Reduction Target to run from 2008 to 2011 that would double the activity under the existing Energy Efficiency Commitment that comes to an end in 2008. We announced, in the Energy White Paper in May this year, our intention to introduce a new cap and trade scheme, the Carbon Reduction Commitment, for large organisations to provide a greater incentive for them to take up energy efficiency measures and to consult on a proposal to roll out advanced and smart metering services to all but the smallest business users.
We are also looking at how to further improve the targeting of advice to households to encourage energy efficiency improvements and we are reviewing what other measures could be taken to improve non-domestic buildings.
Business: Renewable Energy
The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Communities England: Finance
The creation of the new homes agency is subject to the agreement of Parliament, and until this has been granted no money can be allocated. Following parliamentary approval. any future budgets allocated to the homes agency are subject to the outcome of the comprehensive spending review.
Council Housing: East Sussex
Eastbourne local authority reported a stock of 3,825 council dwellings as at 1 April 2006 the latest date available. East Sussex local authorities—Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother and Wealden—reported a stock of 10,380 council dwellings as at 1 April 2006.
Source:
Local authority returns (Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix).
Figures for the number of private dwelling completions as reported by Eastbourne and East Sussex local authorities are presented in the tables:
Eastbourne East Sussex (including Eastbourne) 1997-98 73 512 1998-99 132 1,215 1999-2000 328 1,114 2000-01 377 1,126 2001-02 451 1,102 2002-03 431 1,177 2003-04 540 1,057 2004-05 437 1,170 2005-06 426 1,053 2006-07 255 1,250 Source: P2 new build return to CLG from local authorities and the national House Building Council. Figures for 1997-98 to 2000-01 are missing some monthly returns from local authorities.
Figures for 1997-98 to 2000-01 are missing some monthly returns from local authorities Figures for the number of new build affordable dwellings as reported by the Housing Corporation are presented below. These affordable figures include social rent and intermediate housing e.g. low cost home ownership
Eastbourne East Sussex (including Eastbourne) 1997-98 138 432 1998-99 106 334 1999-2000 3 59 2000-01 47 169 2001-02 32 141 2002-03 27 127 2003-04 39 226 2004-05 — 64 2005-06 42 100 2006-07 n/a n/a n/a = not available Source: Housing Corporation and local authority returns.
No reported local authority dwellings have been built in the last 10 years in Eastbourne and East Sussex.
Council Housing: Waiting Lists
The information on average waiting time on a housing list for households is not held centrally.
The information on number of households on the waiting list which are subsequently housed in social rented housing is not held centrally.
For information, although not related to households on waiting lists who were subsequently housed in social rented housing, the numbers of households on the waiting list for social housing by local authority, as at 1 April each year, is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 600. The link for this table is as follows:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?id=1163853
Departments: Contracts
Communities and Local Government awards contracts incorporating standard terms and conditions that reinforce and promote work force related legislation.
For contracts where the transfer of undertakings (TUPE) regulations would apply, specific conditions are applied to protect employees' rights when the business in which they are employed changes hands.
Communities and Local Government promotes the adoption of procurement best practice among its affiliated, autonomous organisations. This includes the adoption of standard terms and conditions and addressing TUPE regulations as well as other specific work force related issues when merited.
Communities and Local Government promotes the use of effective contract management to ensure compliance.
Departments: Crime
The Department for Communities and Local Government has not created any primary legislation since October 2006, and therefore no new criminal offences have been created.
Departments: Disciplinary Proceedings
The Department has not conducted formal proceedings against any staff for inappropriate use of the internet while at work, or for using work telephones to access premium rate phone lines while at work, in the last 12 months.
Full details of Community and Local Government’s approach to the appropriate use of IT and telephones while at work are made available to all staff through the Department’s staff handbook. The rules make it clear that the inappropriate use of IT and telephones may constitute a disciplinary offence. Within Communities and Local Government, all users of the Department’s IT and telephones are required to make a personal commitment regarding appropriate use of the systems.
Departments: Legislation
The Department (and its predecessors) has been responsible for the introduction of 17 Acts since 1997 all of which have been brought into force.
The Department (and its predecessors) has been responsible for the introduction of 17 Acts since 1997 of which the Local Government Finance (Supplementary Credit Approvals) Act 1997 has been repealed as it was superseded by the Local Government Act 2003.
Departments: Official Visits
For the 12-month period June 2006 to June 2007 the amount spent on overnight accommodation by civil servants in the Department for Communities and Local Government, excluding Government Offices, departmental agencies and NDPBs, was £928,118.
Departments: Private Finance Initiative
This Department sponsors 45 signed local authority projects. The total revenue spent by the local authorities on those projects in the last 10 years and forecast for the next three years is as follows:
£ million 1998-99 11 1999-2000 16 2000-01 19 2001-02 34 2002-03 42 2003-04 62 2004-05 81 2005-06 86 2006-07 117 2007-08 140 2008-09 152 2009-10 149 2010-11 146
Forecasts of revenue payments for any projects spending revenue in the next three years, but which are not yet signed, is not available.
Information on individual projects is available on the HM Treasury website at:
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/public_private_partnerships/ppp_pfi_stats.cfm.
Departments: Racial Harassment
There have been no formal complaints of racial abuse relating to staff in the Department in the last 12 months.
Departments: Standards
I refer the hon. Member to the Communities and Local Government Annual Report which was published on 17 May 2007. Departmental performance across the 10 public service agreement targets is set out in detail in chapters 3 to 9.
Disadvantaged: East Riding
The East Riding of Yorkshire receives funding from the Department of Communities and Local Government through its Local Area Agreement. This Neighbourhood Element funding is part of resources to build safer and stronger communities. It is up to local partners to decide exactly how these funds are spent, and there has been a focus on improving certain neighbourhoods in the coastal town of Bridlington.
The Department also funds community cohesion activities by small grants distributed through regional Government Offices. The East Riding recently benefited from grants towards the Helping Hands project in Goole which offers support to migrant workers and their families, and towards the Wilberforce Way Walk to commemorate the abolition of slavery and promote community cohesion.
Goole also benefits from regional housing funding for its Advance Goole project to tackle private sector housing issues in part of the town. This aims to create a more mixed and sustainable market to help increase social inclusion.
Empty Property
This information is not held centrally. Details on mortgage types, such as buy-to-let are held by the mortgage lenders.
Floods: Expenditure
It is too early to say what the cost will be to each affected local authority of the clear up operation following recent flooding. Local authorities are continuing to make their own assessments of the impact of the floods and of the work that will be needed for the recovery process and information improves by the day. We remain in close contact with the affected local authorities and continue to monitor the situation carefully as more information becomes available.
Homelessness: Ex-servicemen
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: The Department does not have a comprehensive estimate of the number of former armed forces service personnel that are homeless, but it does collect information on statutory homelessness from local authorities (which cover some ex-HM forces personnel).
Information about local authorities’ actions under homelessness legislation is collected quarterly at local authority level, in respect of households rather than people.
Information reported includes the number of households accepted by local authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty. The duty owed to an accepted household is to secure suitable accommodation.
Based on information supplied by local authorities for 2006-07, around 50 households accepted as owed the main homelessness duty in England were in priority need primarily as a result of being vulnerable through having served in HM forces. Some authorities also report secondary priority need categories (when an household falls in to more than one priority need group), and there were an additional 40 households reported here. In total, this represents 0.1 per cent. of all acceptances in the year.
In the same year, around 200 households accepted as owed the main homelessness duty cited the reason for loss of their last settled home as having left HM forces, representing 0.3 per cent. of acceptances.
A table has been placed in the Library which shows the number of household acceptances who have (i) the primary and (ii) the secondary priority need of being vulnerable through having served in HM forces, and (iii) cited the reason for loss of last settled home as having left HM forces. The data are provided for all local authorities, including Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.
It is important to note that many of those households with the HM forces priority need may also have the reason for loss of having left HM forces accommodation, and so there is likely to be some overlap between the two sets of figures.
Housing: Building Regulations
The Building Regulations 2000 do not apply to porches constructed at ground level which are less than 30 square metres in area provided they comply with the relevant parts of Approved Documents Part N—Glazing, and Part P—Electrical Safety.
Housing: Finance
The total housing funding for each county in the year 2005-06 is in the following table. Figures for other years can be obtained only at disproportionate cost owing to the complexity involved in compiling data on a county-wise basis across so many different funding programmes.
Funding for housing comprises both direct investment and supported investment. Direct investment includes housing capital grants, Housing Corporation capital investment, housing market renewal funding, disabled facilities grants, transfer gap funding and Gypsy sites grants. Housing capital grants are not provided direct to counties but to district councils.
Supported investment includes housing revenue account (HRA) subsidy in the form of major repairs allowance, ALMOs supported borrowing allocations and LAs supported capital expenditure allocations.
County Total (£) Avon 61,059,286 Bedfordshire 24,435,315 Berkshire 45,431,667 Buckinghamshire 49,043,888 Cambridgeshire 37,218,319 Cheshire 46,811,477 Cleveland 25,568,908 Cornwall 29,766,397 Cumbria 24,486,059 Derbyshire 75,691,163 Devon 49,256,868 Dorset 47,636,765 Durham 46,988,587 East Sussex 44,158,644 Essex 143,657,206 Gloucestershire 37,107,148 Greater Manchester 427,493,162 Hampshire 90,572,099 Hereford and Worcester 32,429,370 Hertfordshire 68,952,897 Humberside 57,385,753 Inner London 781,578,439 Isle of Wight 10,472,631 Kent 78,915,070 Lancashire 133,873,129 Leicestershire 63,339,544 Lincolnshire 29,000,383 Merseyside 139,616,618 North Yorkshire 36,252,043 Norfolk 42,314,655 Northamptonshire 47,064,168 Northumberland 33,402,565 Nottinghamshire 84,136,970 Outer London 749,483,158 Oxfordshire 20,736,123 South Yorkshire 281,113,551 Shropshire 33,226,042 Somerset 17,260,609 Staffordshire 167,575,689 Suffolk 18,680,395 Surrey 61,525,233 Tyne and Wear 118,352,732 West Midlands 238,475,063 West Yorkshire 278,699,223 Warwickshire 21,557,294 West Sussex 34,026,191 Wiltshire 21,245,956
Housing Funding for Cornwall in the year 2005-06 was £29.8 million and for the South West Region as whole was £258.5 million. Figures for other years can be obtained only at disproportionate cost owing to the time involved in compiling data on a county-wide basis across so many different funding programmes.
Funding for housing comprises both direct investment and supported investment. Direct investment includes housing capital grants, Housing Corporation capital investment, housing market renewal funding, disabled facilities grants, transfer gap funding and Gypsy sites grants.
Supported investment includes housing revenue account (HRA) subsidy in the form of major repairs allowance, ALMOs supported borrowing allocations and LAs supported capital allocations.
Housing capital grants are not provided direct to counties but to district councils.
Figures for housing capital investment by Communities and Local Government and its predecessor Departments for England between 1997-98 and 2006-07 are given in the following table.
Value (£ million) 1997-98 1,894 1998-99 2,098 1999-2000 2,173 2000-01 2,866 2001-02 3,312 2002-03 3,598 2003-04 4,685 2004-05 4,767 2005-06 5,151 2006-07 5,189
Housing: Hampshire
The constituency of Romsey covers most of Test Valley district council but also includes a small part of Eastleigh district council and Southampton city council. Information is not collected at the constituency level, only at local authority level and includes households rather than people.
The number of households on the waiting list for social housing in (a) local authorities covering the Romsey area (Test Valley, Eastleigh and Southampton) (b) Southampton and (c) Hampshire, as at 1 April each year since 1997, are presented in table 1.
Test Valley Eastleigh Southampton Hampshire 1997 1,873 967 2,329 15,341 1998 1,768 1,169 3,902 17,144 1999 1,723 1,200 3,699 19,127 2000 1,611 1,361 4,522 22,070 2001 1,440 1,481 5,148 22,634 2002 1,645 1,623 5,811 24,071 2003 2,189 3,424 6,697 24,558 2004 2,092 4,446 8,128 28,635 2005 2,698 4,515 9,225 30,357 2006 2,885 5,014 11,126 32,361 Note: As reported by local authorities. Source: Communities and Local Government Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix return (HSSA)
These figures are also published on the Communities and Local Government website in table 600. The link for this table is given as follows:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?id=1163853
Local authorities in England report the numbers of households on their housing waiting list as at 1 April in their annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns. Not everyone on the waiting list is necessarily in urgent housing need. The waiting list includes those who consider social housing as their preferred or one of a number of housing options, and those who decide to get onto the waiting list ladder before they need or want to move house—particularly where the priority system is heavily based on waiting time.
The numbers of social rent homes provided by local authorities and registered social landlords in (a) local authorities covering the Romsey area (Test Valley, Eastleigh and Southampton) (b) Southampton and (c) Hampshire, since 1997 are presented in table 2 as follows. Homes are provided through new build as well as acquisitions. Figures are as reported by local authorities and the Housing Corporation.
Test Valley Eastleigh Southampton Hampshire 1996-97 142 87 167 1,998 1997-98 57 177 229 1,645 1998-99 68 137 266 1,561 1999-2000 52 105 191 1,119 2000-01 92 62 236 1,033 2001-02 48 37 140 1,101 2002-03 160 34 178 817 2003-04 13 96 92 1,045 2004-05 80 132 162 969 2005-06 63 47 114 856 Note: Figures shown represent our best estimate and may be subject to revisions. Source: Housing Corporation and local authorities
Housing: Low Incomes
[holding answer 12 July 2007]: The future level and distribution of housing provision across the South East will be determined by the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) for the South East. The draft RSS (South East Plan) affordable housing policy proposes that the future provision of affordable housing in the region should have regard to the overall regional target that 25 per cent. of all new housing should be social rented accommodation and 10 per cent. other forms of affordable housing. The policies contained in the draft RSS, including those relating to future plans for affordable housing provision were the subject of an Examination in Public by an Independent Panel. The Panel are due to hand their report to Government on 31 July 2007. The Panel Report will be published by the Government as soon as practicable following that date. Any proposed changes to the Draft RSS by the Government will be published for a further statutory consultation later in the year.
To pre-empt the outcome of the Panel Report and the Statutory Process by making a statement at this time would not be appropriate.
The Draft RSS (South East Plan) proposes an annual average of 281 net dwelling completions in Windsor and Maidenhead and an annual average of 28,900 in the region during the period between 2006 and 2026.
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: The numbers of affordable homes built in West Sussex in each financial year since 1997-98 are presented in the following table. West Sussex has been taken to include the local authority areas of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Worthing. Affordable housing includes both social rent and intermediate housing (e.g. low cost home ownership).
Not all affordable housing supply is through new build completions, supply can also come from the acquisition and refurbishment of private sector homes. Between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 2006 an additional 1,500 affordable homes were supplied through acquisitions which are not shown in the following table. Figures for 2006-07 are not yet available.
Financial year Number of homes 1997-98 484 1998-99 682 1999-2000 353 2000-01 190 2001-02 182 2002-03 538 2003-04 400 2004-05 391 2005-06 649 Source: Housing Corporation, local authorities
Housing: Single People
One person households account for 70 per cent. of the new households projected to form up to 2026, in England.
Housing: South Eastern Region
The total number of new build completions in the South East of England since 1979 is as follows:
New build completions 1980-81 36,646 1981-82 31,333 1982-83 30,943 1983-84 39,098 1984-85 39,927 1985-86 37,158 1986-87 42,158 1987-88 41,265 1988-89 41,865 1989-90 36,114 1990-91 29,867 1991-92 27,373 1992-93 24,040 1993-94 25,797 1994-95 26,955 1995-96 26,992 1996-97 25,048 1997-98 25,441 1998-99 23,199 1999-2000 22,797 2000-01 21,839 2001-02 21,815 2002-03 22,745 2003-04 24,280 2004-05 25,692 2005-06 28,209 2006-07 27,698 Source: P2 return from local authorities and the National House Building Council.
Housing: Standards
We currently have no plans to set a specific target date for improving the SAP ratings of these homes, as we have existing policies and programmes which are successfully raising levels of domestic energy efficiency throughout England.
The Government are committed to meeting its statutory requirement of eradicating fuel poverty in the households of vulnerable people by 2010 and in all households across England by 2016. To date 1.4 million households have received help in making their home more energy efficient, through the "Warm Front" programme.
Additionally, the decent homes standard requires homes to have both efficient heating and effective insulation. Since 1997 we have reduced the number of non-decent social sector homes by over 1 million, with over 700,000 council homes receiving work to improve their central heating and over 600,000 local authority dwellings receiving work to improve their insulation.
We have increased the proportion of vulnerable households in the private sector who live in decent homes to 66 per cent., up from 43 per cent. in 1996.
Landlord and Tenant: Rents
[holding answer 18 July 2007]: Through the annual Survey of English Housing the Department collects a range of information about the attitudes of private tenants towards their accommodation. This includes information on rents and satisfaction levels with accommodation. The Department has not undertaken any studies in relation to security of tenure in the private rented sector.
We monitor the operation of the private rented housing market to ensure that the sector continues to offer good quality and safe accommodation for people who do not qualify for social housing and are not in a position to enter home ownership. We have no immediate plans to make changes to the legislation on rent levels and security of tenure governed by the Housing Act 1988.
Local Authorities: Newspaper Press
The Government's policy is that information should be made widely available by public bodies, including local authorities, through a variety of appropriate channels. We will take the opportunity, where possible, to allow authorities more discretion on how best to publicise matters in their area. We do not hold centrally, information on the requirements placed on local authorities to insert notices in local newspapers.
Local Government: Grants
The following table shows the total amount of formula grant, which comprises Revenue Support Grant, redistributed business rates, principal formula Police Grant, SSA Reduction Grant (SSA Review). SSA Reduction Grant (Police Funding Review) and Central Support Protection Grant, where appropriate, for all authorities, the previous year's formula grant adjusted for changes in funding and function to enable like-for-like comparisons, the change in formula grant and the percentage change in formula grant for the period 1997-98 to 2007-08.
Current year Previous year's adjusted formula grant (£ million) Current year's formula grant(£ million) Change (£ million) Percentage change 1998-99 34,799.547 35,436.867 637.320 1.8 1999-2000 35,436.867 37,110.829 1,673.962 4.7 2000-01 37,110.980 38,516.380 1,405.400 3.8 2001-02 38,343.957 40,024.446 1,680.489 4.4 2002-03 38,399.009 40,323.132 1,924.123 5.0 2003-04 41,444.087 43,894.370 2,450.282 5.9 2004-05 43,706.797 46,124.222 2,417.425 5.5 2005-06 46,428.755 49,015.925 2,587.170 5.6 2006-07 24,091.464 24,813.914 722.450 3.0 2007-08 24,706.400 25,633.008 926.608 3.8
Prior to 2006-07 support for schools was provided via formula grant; from 2006-07 onwards support for schools was provided via the Dedicated Schools Grant.
Members: Official Correspondence
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: I answered the question from the hon. Member on 23 July 2007.
Ordnance Survey Act 1841: Fines
There has been no breach of the Ordnance Survey Act 1841 requiring formal action in relation to prevention of a representative of Ordnance Survey from entering a property in any year since 1997. No fines have been levied in any of these years.
Planning
A single-issue revision to a national planning policy is initiated when Government decide that an aspect of planning policy needs to be changed or withdrawn. There is a variety of reasons which might prompt Government to revise policy. These include for example, when policies are not being implemented as expected, where new information emerges that suggest a change is needed, or where a change is required as a result of a court judgment.
The following table sets out all single-issue revisions that have been made since 1997, and the planning policy document to which the amendment relates.
Title of document Amendment to which planning policy document 2007 Circular 03/2007 “The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007” Planning Policy Guidance note 19: (1992) 2007 Circular 01/07 “Revisions to Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings” Planning Policy Guidance note 15: Planning and the Historic Environment (1994) 2006 Written Ministerial Statement “PPS22” (Yvette Cooper) Planning Policy Statement 22: Renewable Energy (2004) 2005 “Planning for Sustainable Communities in Rural Areas” Planning Policy Guidance note 3: Housing (2000) 2005 “Supporting the Delivery of New Housing” Planning Policy Guidance note 3: Housing (2000) 2005 Circular 09/2005 “Arrangements for Handling Heritage Applications—Notification to National Amenity Societies Direction 2005” Planning Policy Guidance note 15: Planning and the Historic Environment (1994) 2005 Circular 02/2005 “Temporary Stop Notice” Planning Policy Guidance note 18: Enforcing Planning Control (1991) 2001 DETR News Release 155 and PQ Mark Todd—“Countryside Planning”—(21 March 2001, Official Report, columns 253-55W) Planning Policy Guidance note 7: The Countryside (2004) 2001 Circular 01/2001 “Arrangements for Handling Heritage Applications—Notification and Directions by the Secretary of State” Planning Policy Guidance note 15: Planning and the Historic Environment (1994) 2000 DETR News Release 416 and PQ Dr. Whitehead—“Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty”—(13 June 2000, Official Report, columns 555-56W) Planning Policy Guidance note 7: The Countryside (2004) 1997 Circular 14/97 “Planning and the Historic Environment—Notification and Directions by the Secretary of State” Planning Policy Guidance note 15: Planning and the Historic Environment (1994)
Planning Permission: Appeals
There is no statutory period, following receipt of a planning appeal, for setting a starting date. However, when an appeal is received, and provided it is submitted within the time limit and contains all the essential documents listed in the appeal form, it typically takes the Planning Inspectorate five to seven working days to set the starting date.
Planning Permission: Cornwall
The information requested is not held centrally.
Communities and Local Government collects quarterly aggregate statistics on development control from all local planning authorities in England. However, we do not collect information on individual planning applications.
Property Development: East Sussex
Information on the percentage of “parkland” that has been developed in Eastbourne or East Sussex is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. This is because central Government do not hold data on the stock of “parkland”. The land use change statistics do not have a category which corresponds exactly to “parkland”. The nearest category would be “outdoor recreation”.
Land use change statistics show the amount of land changing its use from “outdoor recreation” to previously-developed (“brownfield”), but this figure can only be compared against the overall amount of change or the total area of Eastbourne or East Sussex.
The land use change statistics show that between 1996 and 2005:
(i) 1.5 per cent. of the land changing its use in Eastbourne changed from “outdoor recreation” to a developed (“brownfield”) use. This change is 0.1 per cent. of the total area of Eastbourne district.
(ii) 0.7 per cent. of the land changing its use in East Sussex changed from “outdoor recreation” to a developed (“brownfield”) use. This change is less than 0.1 per cent. of the total area of East Sussex.
Information on the percentage of “greenfield” land that has been developed in Eastbourne or East Sussex is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. This is because central Government do not hold data on the stock of “greenfield” land.
Land use change statistics show the amount of land changing its use from non previously-developed (“greenfield”) to developed (“brownfield”), but this figure can only be compared against the overall amount of change or the total area of Eastbourne or East Sussex.
Land use change statistics show that between 1996 and 2005:
(i) 24.8 per cent. of land changing its use in Eastbourne changed from a non previously-developed (“greenfield”) use to a previously-developed (“brownfield”) use. This change is 1.4 per cent. of the total area of Eastbourne district,
(ii) 13.1 per cent. of land changing its use in East Sussex changed from a non previously-developed (“greenfield”) use to a previously-developed (“brownfield”) use. This change is 0.4 per cent. of the total area of East Sussex.
Second Homes: Rural Areas
This is an issue on which the Government are seeking to improve the evidence base. The National Housing and Planning Advice Unit, established in November 2006, has recently announced plans to conduct research to explore the impact of second homes across the country—including in small rural communities—working with the Department for Food and Rural Affairs and Communities and Local Government.
Sewers: Repairs and Maintenance
The Government provide funding for local authority responsibilities in relation to drains maintenance as part of the general formula grant.
Social Sector Working Party on Housing: Meetings
The Chairman of the Social Sector Working Party is arranging the next meeting of the Working Party for September.
Travelling People: Caravan Sites
Communities and Local Government publishes data on the number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans on both authorised and unauthorised sites, on a twice yearly basis. This information is available on our website:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=l153575
The table shows the number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans on unauthorised encampments in England published on a twice yearly basis since 1997.
Total number of unauthorised encampments in England January 1997 1,704 July 1997 2,770 January 1998 1,792 July 1998 2,951 January 1999 1,717 July 1999 2,555 January 2000 1,788 July 2000 2,513 January 2001 1,638 July 2001 2,382 January 2002 1,637 July 2002 2,261 January 2003 1,620 July 2003 2,315 January 2004 1,594 July 2004 2,377 January 2005 1,301 July 2005 2,099 January 2006 1,118 July 2006 1,772 January 2007 1,286
Prime Minister
Departments: Recruitment
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the for Lincoln (Gillian Merron) today.
Departments: Written Questions
Section 1 of the Ministerial Code provides guidance to Ministers on answering parliamentary questions.
Minister for Women
Pensions: Family Credit
[holding answer 9 July 2007]: I have been asked to reply.
The information is not collated centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Northern Ireland
Departments: Flint Bishop Solicitors
The Northern Ireland Office and its agencies have not made any payments to Flint Bishop Solicitors.
Police: Inquiries
The PSNI is committed to providing all material in its possession to assist the inquiries to carry out their legal obligations. To deliver on this commitment, the organisation has sought to maximise the role of PSNI support staff in order to maintain the operational effectiveness of its police officers. To achieve this, PSNI has committed resources to dedicated units and teams such as:
Historic Enquiries Team (HET)
Retrospective Murder Review Unit (RMRU)
Public Inquiry Unit (PIU)
Stevens Enquiry Team
Police Ombudsman (NI) liaison
Murder Archive/Exhibit Store
Rosemary Nelson Murder Inquiry team
These units and teams currently employ 288 staff, the majority of whom are support staff. 19.5 PSNI officers have dedicated roles within these teams which interact directly with colleagues across the organisation on a regular basis.
There is no straightforward way to establish the percentage of time spent on historical inquiries. Providing an accurate response to the question asked would entail disproportionate time and resources.
Health
Junior Doctors
14,681 applicants in England were not successful in round 1. However, round 2 is ongoing and all applicants in substantive national health service employment will continue to have employment until 31 October. As most applicants are currently NHS employees and will still be needed in the NHS, most unsuccessful applicants should be able to find or return to a service post.
For those appointable doctors who are not successful at the end of round 2 we have prepared an extra package of support which includes:
about 1,000 extra one-year and GP training posts;
access to career information via local Deaneries;
a careers website for junior doctors; and
educational grants.
In this way, any junior doctor who has been judged to be appointable by an interview panel of senior doctors will have access to a training or educational opportunity next year.
In addition, we are currently in discussions with Foundation Programme Directors and Deans to see what options might be available for Foundation Programme doctors who complete the programme but are unsuccessful in securing specialty training posts.
We are also opening up discussions with the BMA, the Academy of Royal Colleges and other representatives of the medical profession to discuss whether there is any risk that high academic achievers may be missed by the end of the recruitment process and if so how we can avoid that happening.
NHS Reconfiguration
The NHS is changing because medicines and treatments are changing. If we do not keep up with the times, services will not keep on improving. Local services are changing for the benefit of patients. That means safer surgery, quicker recovery times, shortened lengths of stay in hospital, more people receiving hospital-style treatment in their own homes, and more investment in local services.
Changes to local services are however a matter for the local NHS.
Minor Injury Units
The national health service locally is best placed to understand the needs of patients and staff, working with them and other key groups to plan, develop and improve services. The key is ensuring appropriate, timely and safe access to care for patients.
There was some temporary reduction in Minor Injury Unit opening hours last year as part of the financial recovery plan and the formation of Devon Primary Care Trust (PCT). The PCT is now in surplus and is conducting a full review with Devon county council with its social community services.
Primary Care Services
I would like to draw my hon. Friend’s attention to the written statement given today by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health.
Polyclinics
Polyclinics provide the opportunities for care closer to people’s homes, rather than in hospitals. Whether a particular area would benefit from a polyclinic will be a decision for the health service locally, in consultation with the public and national health service staff.
BCG Vaccination
The Chief Medical Officer’s letter of 6 July 2005 announced that the universal Bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccination programme was being replaced by a programme targeted at children in high risk groups.
Contracts are in place for the continued supply of BCG vaccine for those who require it.
Maternity Units
Since January 2006, we have received over 25,000 pieces of correspondence concerning local NHS service change. Of these, we know that 619, for example, were part of a campaign against the proposed closure of Stroud Hospital maternity unit.
Waiting Times
There have been no recent discussions between Department of Health Ministers and the Welsh Assembly Government on this matter. However, cross-border matters such as this one are discussed at regular meetings between the Welsh Assembly Government and Wales Office Ministers, of which the Department is kept aware, and at regular meetings of officials.
Epilepsy
Through the Action Plan on Epilepsy, National Service Framework for Long-Term Conditions and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance we have provided local national health service organisations with evidence-based markers of good practice to support service improvements. This includes an emphasis on supporting and empowering patients to manage their condition and mitigate the risk of sudden death.
NHS Finance: Coventry
The Department holds data on the total income of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire National Health Service Trust (Walsgrave Hospitals NHS Trust in 1999-2000) for the period 1999-2000 to 2005-06.
However, no assessment of these data have been undertaken by the Department as revenue allocations are made directly to primary care trusts (PCTs), not to NHS trusts or individual hospitals. NHS trusts receive most of their income through the commissioning arrangements they have with PCTs.
In addition, strategic health authorities monitor the financial position of NHS trusts to ensure that all NHS organisations within their areas are maintaining financial stability.
Peripheral Arterial Disease
There is no specific work programme on peripheral arterial disease but a number of the Department's initiatives are relevant to the prevention or treatment of this condition. For example the Quality and Outcomes Framework of the general practitioner (GP) contract provide incentives for GPs to control key risk factors for peripheral arterial disease, such as smoking and hypertension.
Social Care
The comprehensive spending review will be published in the autumn and will set the level of central Government funding for local government for 2008-09 to 2010-11, including for adult social care services.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 24 July 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many alcohol related deaths there have been amongst teenagers in the last (a) 12 months and (b) five years in (i) Hampshire and (ii) England. I am replying in her absence. (151008).
The attached table provides the number of deaths of persons aged 13 to 19 with an alcohol-related underlying cause in (a) 2006 (the latest year available) and (b) the five year period 2002 to 2006, in (i) Hampshire county and (ii) England.
Deaths (persons) 2006 2002-06 Hampshire 0 1 England 3 21 1 Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The specific causes of death categorised as alcohol-related, and their corresponding ICD-10 codes, are shown in the following box. 2 Based on local authority boundaries as of 2007. 3 Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.
Cause of death ICD-10 code(s) Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol F10 Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol G31.2 Alcoholic polyneuropathy G62.1 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy I42.6 Alcoholic gastritis K29.2 Alcoholic liver disease K70 Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified K73 Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver (excl. Biliary cirrhosis) K74 (excl. K74.3-K74.5) Alcohol induced chronic pancreatitis K86.0 Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X45 Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X65 Poisoning by and exposure to alcohol, undetermined intent Y15
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
I have been asked to reply.
We have carried out two Tackling Underage Sales of Alcohol Campaigns (the most recent of which included a 10-week operational phase which concluded on 13 July) through which police and trading standards officers have targeted over 3,000 potential problem premises that break the law by selling alcohol to under-18s. These national campaigns make use of tough sanctions available under newly commenced legislation to prosecute the premises licence-holder, where there are persistent sales of alcohol to children. Prior to this, we carried out four national Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaigns (AMECs) between 2004 and 2006.
As a consequence of these test-purchase campaigns, retailers have strengthened their procedures and training of staff in relation to alcohol sales. Most retailers have now adopted the ‘Challenge 21’ policy, whereby anyone appearing to be under 21 is asked to produce a valid form of identification prior to any sale of alcohol. Test-purchase failure rates have dropped accordingly, indicating that it is increasingly difficult for under-18s to purchase alcohol illegally. During AMEC one in 2004, the overall test-purchase failure rate was 50 per cent. By AMEC four in the summer of 2006, it had reached 29 per cent. and 21 per cent. for the on and off-licence trade respectively, and 18 per cent. for supermarkets. In addition, the Licensing Act 2003 also increased penalties for selling alcohol to children with the maximum fine increasing to £5,000 on conviction, and the possibility for courts to suspend or order forfeit of personal licences on a first offence as opposed to a second conviction, as was previously the case.
Baby Care Units
Information is not available in the format requested. However, information is in the following table on the number of finished consultant episodes (FCE) where neonatal care was provided in a specialist unit. This is not equivalent to the number of babies requiring care in a specialist unit. A baby may have had more than one FCE of neonatal care in a specialist unit.
Special care Level 2 intensive care Level 1 intensive care Total episodes 2005-06 General episode 18,598 3,475 4,394 Birth episode 31,936 4,062 6,196 Total 50,534 7,537 10,590 68,661 2004-05 General episode 17,202 2,854 4,020 Birth episode 31,121 4,069 5,480 Total 48,323 6,923 9,500 64,746 2003-04 General episode 18,259 3,160 4,063 Birth episode 28,946 4,400 5,123 Total 47,205 7,560 9,186 63,951 2002-03 General episode 15,062 2,784 3,516 Birth episode 28,884 4,421 5,063 Total 43,946 7,205 8,579 59,730 2001-02 General episode 19,763 2,956 3,962 Birth episode 28,756 4,305 6,099 Total 48,519 7,261 10,061 65,841 Notes: 1. Definitions of neonatal care provided in specialist units. Special care: care given in a special nursery, transitional care ward or postnatal ward, which provides care and treatment exceeding normal routine care. Some aspects of special care can be undertaken by a mother supervised by qualified nursing staff. Special nursing care includes support for and education of the infants parents. 2. Level 2 intensive care: (high dependency intensive care): care given in an intensive or special care nursery, which provides continuous skilled supervision by qualified and specially trained nursing staff who may care for more babies than in level 1 intensive care. Care includes support for the infant's parents. 3. Level 1 intensive care: (maximal intensive care): care given in an intensive or special care nursery, which provides continuous skilled supervision by qualified and specially trained nursing and medical staff. Care includes support for the infant's parents. 4. Definitions of general and birth episodes General episode: A general episode is any episode which is not covered under other episode types. Other episode types include birth episodes, delivery episodes, patients formally detained under the provisions mental health legislation or long term psychiatric patients, other birth events and other delivery events. 5. Birth episode: A birth episode is the hospital episode that commences at birth. If a baby is transferred from another episode or re-admitted to hospital after discharge this new episode will not be classified as a birth episode, regardless of the age of the baby. 6. 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. 7. Data quality Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 national health service trusts and primary care trusts in England. The Information Centre for Health And Social Care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. 8. Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). Source: HES, The Information Centre for health and social care.
Camping Sites: Sanitation
I have been asked to reply.
The Government have taken no action to ensure the use of land in Parliament square as a campsite complies with section 269 of the Public Health Act 1936.
Cancer: Medical Treatments
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 15 June 2007, Official Report, column 1382W and on 16 July 2007, Official Report, columns 154-55W.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 16 July 2007, Official Report, columns 154-55W.
Contraception: Finance
Only partial information is collected centrally.
The information shown in the table is for prescriptions dispensed in the community in England. This does not include emergency hormonal contraception supplied by community contraception clinics or issued under Patient Group Directions.
Cost (£000) 1999 0.6 2000 1,377.7 2001 1,953.6 2002 2,174.4 2003 2,283.7 2004 2,129.0 2005 1,945.9 2006 2,210.0 Source: Prescription information is taken from the Prescription Cost Analysis system, supplied by the Prescription Pricing Division of the Business Services Authority, and is based on a full analysis of all prescriptions dispensed in the community i.e. by community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors, and prescriptions submitted by prescribing doctors for items personally administered in England. The data do not cover drugs dispensed in hospitals.
Dental Services
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 14 May 2007, Official Report, columns 578-79W.
Dental Services: Gloucestershire
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: Under the dental reforms launched in 2006, primary care trusts (PCTs) are now responsible for providing or commissioning national health service dental services to meet local needs.
We understand that Gloucestershire PCT regards NHS dental services as a local priority and has announced plans to expand local services.
Doctors: Vacancies
This information is not collected centrally.
There are details of Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) vacancies by grade/level and specialty and this is on the Modernising Medical Careers website at www.mmc.nhs.uk. MTAS vacancies are also posted on Deanery websites.
Drinks: Nutrition
Data on the calorific content of foods can be found in the McCance and Widdowson's ‘The Composition of Foods’ series. Latest data from this series published in 2002 are set out in the following table.
Food Energy (kcal/100g) Orange juice, unsweetened 136 Water 0 Low calorie carbonated drinks e.g. diet cola 11 Fruit smoothies 242-94 1 Data are an average figure for a composite sample of products available on the market at the time of analysis. 2 Fruit smoothies have not yet been analysed for The Composition of Foods. Information made available by market leaders suggest energy values in this range, depending on products formulation. Source: Food Standards Agency (2002) McCance and Widdowson's ‘The Composition of Foods’, Sixth summary edition. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry.
The Government have no plans to commission an assessment of the hydration properties of certain fluids.
The Food Standards Agency advises people to consume 6 to 8 glasses (1.2 litres) of water, or other fluids, every day to prevent dehydration. This amount should be increased when the weather is warm or when exercising.
Genito-Urinary Medicine: Closures
This information is not collected centrally.
Health Professions: Registration
A person commits an offence if they use a protected title and they are not registered with the relevant health professions regulator, including the Health Professions Council (HPC). I understand from the HPC that if it comes to their notice that a person is using a protected title without being registered it will issue a warning letter. If the person does not register (if qualified) and continues to use the title, the HPC can issue a ‘cease and desist’ letter. In most cases this action has been effective and the HPC says that it has not yet had to prosecute a case. Anyone improperly using a protected title may be subject to prosecution and a fine of up to £5,000.
Health Services: Autism
The Department has not estimated the amounts spent on Asperger’s adult services and autism services in Norfolk. It is the responsibility of primary care trust to ensure that the services they commission meet the needs of the communities that they serve.
Health Services: Community Care
(2) for what reasons guidance notes HSC2001(15): LAC(2001)18 and HSC(2003)006: LAC(2003)7 have been withdrawn.
The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare, which was published on 26 June, makes it clear that it is the responsibility of primary care trusts (PCTs) to identify, commission and contract for all services required to meet the needs of individuals who qualify for NHS Continuing Healthcare and for the healthcare part of a joint care package.
The National Framework supersedes HSC2001/15: LAC(2001)18. Guidance in HSC2003/006 : LAC(2003)7, remains current until 30 September 2007, but we will soon publish the guidance that supersedes it.
Health Services: Tourism
This information is not centrally held by the Department.
Home Care Services: Oxygen
The Department does not hold this information centrally. There are 10 regional contracts supporting the provision of home oxygen to patients at home in England. Four services are available—emergency or urgent supply, short burst oxygen therapy, long-term oxygen therapy and ambulatory oxygen. The price for each service varies within the different service contract regions. Costs will also vary according to the number of patients using a service or combination of services and the patient's individual needs (for example, the amount of oxygen a patient uses each day).
Hospitals: Standards
Any proposals for the reconfiguration of services are a matter for the national health service locally.
There is a well established and well understood process for managing formal public consultations on proposals for major service change so that the public and other stakeholders can help to inform the local debate.
Human Papilloma Virus: Vaccination
(2) if he will consider allowing young women up to the age of 25 to self-refer for human papilloma virus vaccination for two years after the proposed programme begins in 2008.
The Department has agreed in principle to accept the advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) that human papilloma virus vaccines should be introduced routinely for girls aged around 12-13 years, subject to independent peer review of the cost benefit analysis. Details of the programme will be finalised in the coming months, following further advice from JCVI and discussions with the national health service on the implementation of the programme. JCVI is currently considering the evidence regarding the benefits and costs of vaccinating older girls, and will provide advice on this issue in due course.
Influenza: Vaccination
In the event that the United Kingdom is involved in a worldwide pandemic influenza outbreak, the public will have an active role to play in ensuring the country’s effective response.
Building on the research already undertaken, it is proposed to start an ongoing programme of public engagement by the end of 2007. This will include debating vaccine and antiviral prioritisation as well as other issues of public concern in accord with the “National Framework for responding to an influenza pandemic” that was issued in draft in March 2007.
Kidney Patients: Portsmouth
It is up to the national health service locally to implement the National Service Framework for Renal Services. The Department, however, is assisting the NHS in doing so by providing guidance and policy development expertise on subjects which are particularly challenging.
Malaria
Information on the nationality of patients that are diagnosed with or died from malaria are not collected. However, the Health Protection Agency does publish an annual table of imported malaria cases and deaths, shown in the following table.
The information is available on the Health Protection Agency website at:
www.hpa.org.uk/infection/topics_az/malaria/cases_deaths.htm
Total (number of cases) Deaths 2006 1,758 8 2005 1,754 11 2004 1,660 5 2003 1,722 16 2002 1,945 9 2001 2,050 9
Midwives: Employment
The Department has consulted with NHS Employers, strategic health authorities (SHA) and the Social Partnership Forum on maximising employment opportunities for newly qualified health care graduates. The consistent message from these consultations is that solutions need to be flexible, locally driven and founded on partnerships between employers, staff side and the higher education sector. Any new initiatives also need to be appropriately tested first.
Accordingly, East of England SHA have offered to undertake a feasibility study into establishing a local voluntary guaranteed employment scheme. The feasibility study will last for one year and was launched on 15 May by East of England SHA. The outcome of the feasibility study will determine whether employment guarantee schemes are a viable option. If so, the nature and length of these schemes will be defined upon relevant factors established through the study.
Midwives: Training
There are no plans to carry out an assessment centrally.
It is for primary care trusts in partnership with local stakeholders to assess the needs of their local communities and to commission services accordingly, including the provision of preceptorships. While preceptorships are not mandatory, they are good practice and widely implemented across the responsibilities of a registered midwife and requirements of the post as set out in the terms and conditions of employment during that period.
MRSA: Disease Control
The reports on the seven products that use ozone reviewed by the Rapid Review Panel have been placed in the Library.
Nurses: Pay
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: Discussions continue between the Department, the NHS employers organisation and the national health service unions about this year's pay award. We are hopeful the outcome from these talks will enable the award to be implemented shortly.
Nurses: Training
Post-registration training needs for NHS staff is a matter for local NHS bodies to determine in light of local priorities and local assessment of training needs.
Vaccines: Sleeping Contracts
Negotiations with vaccine manufacturers have now been completed and a statement will be made in due course.
Duchy of Lancaster
Admiralty House
The ground floor State Rooms have been used for a number of Government and military events since 27 June. The former Deputy Prime Minister will be vacating one of the residential flats shortly and the other two flats are currently unallocated.
Departments: Employment Agencies
It is not possible to identify from the Department’s accounting system, how much the Cabinet Office paid in fees to recruitment agencies for (a) temporary and (b) permanent staff in each year since 1997. This information is therefore not available.
Departments: Flint Bishop Solicitors
The Cabinet Office has not made any payments to Flint Bishop Solicitors since 1997.
Departments: ICT
The 2005-06 budget for the team supporting the GCN was £2.1 million; the budget was the same in 2006-07 at £2.1 million.
Departments: Manpower
As at 30 June 2007, Cabinet Office had (a) 1,541 staff employed in headcount and (b) 1,502,53 employed as full-time equivalent.
Departments: Official Cars
[holding answer 19 July 2007]: My right hon. Friends the Members for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott) and Derby, South (Margaret Beckett) are finalising arrangements to move out of Admiralty House and Carlton Gardens respectively.
The use of official cars by any former Ministers after their departure from office is on the advice of the security authorities. In line with successive administrations, the Government do not comment on security issues.
Former Ministers: Redundancy Pay
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: The arrangements for ministerial severance pay are set out in the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991. Severance pay is paid by individual Departments.
Legal Costs
Mr. Dismore:
Edward Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Solicitor-General today.
Ministers: Pay
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: If a Minister appointed to a paid ministerial position wishes to forgo all or part of their salary, they should advise the Prime Minister and their Department.
Olympic Games: Greater London
In partnership with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), I have committed to conducting regular public meetings in all the nations and regions of the UK before 2012 to give local people the opportunity to question members of the Olympic Family about all aspects of preparations for the London Games. The full programme of meetings and their locations is yet to be decided but I can confirm that residents of the South West will have an opportunity to take part in one such event.
Public Administration Select Committee: Government Responses
The Government responded to the Public Administration Select Committee’s First Report of Session 2005-06 by way of a statement on the floor of the House on 28 March 2006, Official Report, columns 681-84. The Government responded to the Committee’s Sixth Report of Session 2005-06 on 2 November 2006 (HC 1081). The Government expect to respond to the other reports referred to in due course.
Justice
Antisocial Behaviour: Poole
Incidents relating to antisocial behaviour involving mini-motorbikes and details of antisocial behaviour orders relating to mini-motorbikes in Poole are not collected centrally by the Ministry of Justice or the Home Office.
The statistical collections on the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform for offences committed by mini-motorcyclists cannot be distinguished from other motor vehicle offences because the offence as defined in legislation is not specific to any type of motor vehicle (e.g. driving on a footpath or vehicle not taxed or insured against third party risks) or it is not identified separately, and grouped together with other miscellaneous motoring offences.
The Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) Scheme was introduced to all police forces in England and Wales in 2004, under provisions in the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.
The Office for Criminal Justice Reform collects data on PNDs at police force area level only; more detailed information on the number of PNDs issued by police division is held on local police force databases.
Poole is part of Dorset police force area. Data show that the number of PNDs issued by Dorset constabulary was 516 in 2004, 1,381 in 2005 and 2,262 in 2006 (provisional).
Driving Offences: Measurement
The Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform does not separately identify the offence of exceeding the weight limit on a specified road from other summary motoring offences within the offence group ‘Other load offences’.
Driving Under Influence: Sentencing
Data for 2005 will not be available until after the Statistical Bulletin “Motoring Offences and Breath Test Statistics, England and Wales, 2005” is published in the autumn. Data for 2006 will be published next year.
Fixed Penalties: Yorkshire and Humberside
The information collected by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform identifies the number of motoring offences fixed penalty notices issued by result at police force area level. (Data are collected on the disposal, i.e. paid, fine registration certificate issued etc.). However, because of the time taken for the procedures for payment to be enforced, the data are collected approximately nine months later than the period of issue.
2005 data will be available in the 2006 publication “Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales, Supplementary tables” which is expected to be published in 2008. 2006 data will be in the 2009 publication.
Police Cautions
The number of defendants cautioned from 1996 to 2005 in England and Wales, broken down by police force area is shown in the following table. Data for 2006 will be available in the autumn of 2007.
In addition, the Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) Scheme was introduced to all police forces in England and Wales in 2004. Under the scheme, police can issue ‘on-the-spot fines’ of £50 or £80 for a specified range of minor disorder offences. The number of PNDs issued in 2004 and 2005 by police force area, together with provisional data for 2006, is shown in the following tables.
Formal warnings were also introduced in 2004; the number of offenders issued with a formal warning for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 is shown in the following tables. These data are presented by financial year, rather than calendar year.
Police force area 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Avon and Somerset 3,910 3,773 4,534 5,197 4,764 4,351 4,286 4,615 5,075 6,107 Bedfordshire 2,664 2,940 2,789 2,833 2,265 3,112 2,628 2,827 3,080 3,455 Cambridgeshire 2,523 2,477 2,621 2,569 2,308 2,207 2,114 2,063 2,618 3,985 Cheshire 4,602 4,048 4,587 3,592 3,111 2,780 2,085 3,051 3,268 4,572 City of London 1,067 1,146 751 709 559 902 1,083 974 605 807 Cleveland 7,757 7,242 5,583 4,321 3,267 3,087 3,020 3,256 3,490 3,617 Cumbria 2,688 2,902 3,015 3,032 2,337 2,505 2,392 2,615 2,753 2,652 Derbyshire 3,303 3,832 3,532 3,301 2,917 3,161 2,732 2,794 3,371 4,644 Devon and Cornwall 8,822 8,042 7,047 7,226 7,283 7,177 7,224 7,870 6,951 7,175 Dorset 1,052 964 1,741 1,787 1,926 1,787 1,709 1,789 3,114 3,115 Durham 1,668 2,014 2,089 2,393 2,349 2,424 2,681 2,628 2,160 3,137 Essex 7,829 6,717 6,064 5,296 4,690 4,640 4,330 4,277 4,799 7,530 Gloucestershire 2,458 2,331 2,897 2,754 2,848 2,828 2,815 2,590 2,696 3,822 Greater Manchester 17,874 16,297 19,716 16,142 12,389 11,181 9,774 11,063 12,778 13,184 Hampshire 8,161 7,592 6,424 7,478 7,014 7,436 6,765 7,587 8,747 9,180 Hertfordshire 2,858 3,057 2,867 2,779 3,182 3,237 3,096 3,378 3,826 4,006 Humberside 4,535 3,968 4,509 3,756 3,533 3,250 2,632 2,874 4,118 5,386 Kent 7,013 7,129 8,570 8,533 7,655 7,339 6,479 8,252 10,013 10,166 Lancashire 8,778 9,333 8,909 7,355 6,777 7,189 6,515 8,205 10,229 10,345 Leicestershire 3,644 3,155 3,409 3,202 2,512 2,149 804 2,564 3,898 5,029 Lincolnshire 3,604 2,566 2,425 1,957 1,440 1,799 2,101 2,063 2,177 3,672 Merseyside 12,807 13,763 14,205 12,159 8,216 6,142 6,331 6,165 6,388 3,785 Metropolitan Police 54,263 53,632 57,969 46,239 36,758 31,337 32,088 31,324 31,833 35,152 Norfolk 5,053 4,460 3,345 2,809 2,773 2,302 2,345 2,314 2,774 3,013 North Yorkshire 2,444 1,852 2,238 2,531 2,461 2,590 2,646 2,722 2,740 2,405 Northamptonshire 3,010 2,352 3,176 3,021 3,431 3,679 3,560 2,716 2,591 3,237 Northumbria 17,795 17,586 14,620 14,505 14,165 14,065 15,694 16,779 16,246 16,628 Nottinghamshire 6,358 5,966 5,808 5,323 5,142 5,118 3,862 4,814 4,868 7,640 South Yorkshire 5,163 4,965 5,306 6,217 3,950 4,304 4,102 4,839 4,891 9,506 Staffordshire 6,014 5,905 4,958 4,105 5,628 5,455 6,124 5,585 4,616 6,496 Suffolk 3,115 3,188 3,345 2,695 3,201 3,459 3,336 3,636 3,484 3,670 Surrey 3,297 2,861 3,514 3,914 3,213 4,097 3,675 4,793 5,435 5,654 Sussex 7,157 6,640 5,762 6,393 6,670 7,666 8,151 8,162 8,709 9,146 Thames Valley 4,377 3,705 3,209 4,626 6,790 5,157 6,149 6,534 8,243 13,337 Warwickshire 2,289 2,160 2,143 2,061 1,785 2,161 2,024 2,277 1,936 2,920 West Mercia 3,973 5,866 5,836 5,297 5,380 6,385 6,357 6,251 6,658 7,747 West Midlands 14,830 15,836 17,093 17,138 15,575 14,517 15,078 15,143 13,751 17,706 West Yorkshire 8,349 8,875 9,676 9,923 9,633 9,071 10,073 11,277 14,959 17,904 Wiltshire 1,932 2,575 2,497 2,678 2,853 2,115 1,695 2,347 1,985 2,046 Dyfed-Powys 2,240 3,109 3,452 3,313 3,185 3,495 3,761 4,491 3,170 3,973 Gwent 4,963 5,329 5,780 5,502 4,529 4,258 3,803 3,666 1,456 2,553 North Wales 3,226 3,074 3,544 3,619 3,124 3,120 3,559 3,299 3,237 2,706 South Wales 6,733 6,869 6,339 5,852 5,399 4,826 3,680 5,337 6,032 6,135 Total 286,198 282,093 287,894 266,132 238,987 229,860 225,358 241,806 255,768 298,945 1 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 2 These data are on the principal offence basis.
Police force area 2004 2005 20062 Total Avon and Somerset 508 3,244 3,876 7,628 Bedfordshire 503 1,239 1,602 3,344 Cambridgeshire 359 1,046 1,346 2,751 Cheshire 972 2,387 2,265 5,624 Cleveland 559 2,806 3,552 6,917 Cumbria 578 1,220 1,677 3,475 Derbyshire 656 1,593 2,537 4,786 Devon and Cornwall 1,889 5,134 6,976 13,999 Dorset 516 1,381 2,262 4,159 Durham 597 1,149 1,583 3,329 Essex 2,802 4,454 4,357 11,613 Gloucestershire 473 1,721 2,654 4,848 Greater Manchester 2,253 7,256 10,532 20,041 Hampshire 2,116 3,658 4,365 10,139 Hertfordshire 412 1,296 5,312 7,020 Humberside 1,596 3,265 5,385 10,246 Kent 767 5,032 6,889 12,688 Lancashire 5,077 10,222 12,401 27,700 Leicestershire 756 1,909 2,376 5,041 Lincolnshire 544 2,373 1,930 4,847 London, City of 60 219 305 584 Merseyside 3,929 11,937 11,269 27,135 Metropolitan 12,758 18,047 20,171 50,976 Norfolk 475 676 1,323 2,474 North Yorkshire 1,078 1,596 2,367 5,041 Northamptonshire 570 1,403 2,498 4,471 Northumbria 211 2,147 6,307 8,665 Nottinghamshire 1,060 2,119 2,205 5,384 South Yorkshire 2,098 3,710 5,989 11,797 Staffordshire 1,450 2,169 3,209 6,828 Suffolk 472 901 1,460 2,833 Surrey 203 641 2,819 3,663 Sussex 1,509 4,193 5,023 10,725 Thames Valley 1,038 5,795 6,676 13,509 Warwickshire 481 933 1,016 2,430 West Mercia 275 1,774 3,433 5,482 West Midlands 4,773 7,320 7,925 20,018 West Yorkshire 4,277 9,217 8,866 22,360 Wiltshire 610 1,080 1,224 2,914 Dyfed Powys 459 1,214 1,353 3,026 Gwent 424 1,511 1,908 3,843 North Wales 1,255 3,792 6,049 11,096 South Wales 241 1,702 5,311 7,254 England and Wales 63,639 146,481 192,583 402,703 1 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 2 Provisional figures.
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 Avon and Somerset 977 2,578 3,600 Bedfordshire 603 643 324 British Transport Police n/a 203 430 Cambridgeshire 349 492 956 Cheshire 311 393 532 Cleveland 120 392 331 Cumbria 272 219 231 Derbyshire 665 513 497 Devon and Cornwall 1,956 1,532 1,473 Dorset 369 340 348 Durham 252 207 257 Dyfed-Powys 917 799 887 Essex 556 697 722 Gloucestershire 371 395 419 Greater Manchester 1,751 3,235 4,943 Gwent 159 396 646 Hampshire 698 1,113 1,477 Hertfordshire 258 488 1,394 Humberside 32 149 533 Kent 198 497 652 Lancashire 390 237 210 Leicestershire 154 978 1,555 Lincolnshire 79 n/a 543 London, City of 505 682 373 Merseyside 961 8,561 7,204 Metropolitan Police 13,161 21,040 30,554 Norfolk 486 638 731 Northamptonshire 120 111 206 Northumbria 199 155 1,419 North Wales 543 793 971 North Yorkshire 727 654 554 Nottinghamshire 529 855 1,077 South Wales 520 536 1,266 South Yorkshire 560 1,023 1027 Staffordshire 867 1,323 1,282 Suffolk 600 64 573 Surrey 523 482 754 Sussex 866 1,350 1,971 Thames Valley 2,232 1,883 2,431 Warwickshire 340 419 649 West Mercia 571 582 686 West Midlands 2,025 3,451 2,852 West Yorkshire 1,212 1,839 1,539 Wiltshire 274 394 231 England and Wales 39,258 63,331 81,310 n/a = Not available.
Prison Service: Convictions
Currently information is not held centrally to answer the question to the level of detail required and could be obtained only by contacting each public sector prison establishment, headquarters group and outstation, which would incur a disproportionate cost. However, the Government plan to develop a shared service centre which, when fully live, will have improved IT capability that will enable us to produce accurate reports on information such as disciplinary action taken following receipt of a criminal conviction.
Prisoners: Foreigners
Figures showing the numbers of foreign national prisoners held in prison establishments in England and Wales can be found in the following table.
Foreign national prisoners British nationals Not recorded All prisoners 2002 7,719 62,553 946 71,218 2003 8,728 62,417 1,142 72,286 2004 8,941 64,379 1,168 74,488 2005 9,651 65,670 869 76,190 2006 10,879 66,160 944 77,982 2007 (April) 11,231 68,124 905 80,261
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Prisoners: Rehabilitation
No records are kept of the number of offenders with drug or alcohol problems. The numbers engaged in drug treatment (2006-07) in Welsh prisons are given in the following table
Wales prisons Clinical interventions1 CARATs2 (assessments) Drug rehabilitation programme starts 3 Cardiff 788 732 96 Pare 400 362 96 Prescoed/Usk n/a 236 n/a Swansea 453 402 152 n/a = not available. 1 Clinical intervention may involve detoxification or maintenance. 2 Counselling, assessments, referral, advice and throughcare. CARAT assessments used as a proxy measure of engagement. 3 Entrants to intensive rehabilitation programmes are referred by CARAT teams.
No central records are kept of the number of offenders engaged specifically in treatment for an alcohol problem.
There was no formal report informing the closure of the 12 Step Programme at HMP Swansea. The decision was reached after detailed discussions between the Governor of HMP Swansea and the Wales Area Drug Co-ordinator, with support from the National Drug Programme Delivery Unit (NDPDU). A key factor involved in the decision was the NDPDU audit reports. Copies of which I have placed in the Library of the House.
A comprehensive framework is in place to address the needs of those with substance misuse problems:
clinical services are available in all local and remand prisons, including alcohol detoxification (see following list 1);
Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare (CARAT) services are available in all prisons with the exception of HMP Blantyre House. CARAT teams provide support to those where alcohol is part of a multiple drug misuse problem;
the substance misuse service for 16 to 18-year-olds provides support for those with an alcohol problem (see following list 2);
intensive drug rehabilitation programmes are run in 102 prisons (see following list 3,);
Alcoholics Anonymous run groups in approximately 60 per cent. of prisons—the list of prisons is not held centrally and I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of the list in the Library of the House; and
intensive alcohol rehabilitation programmes are currently being piloted at HMP Bullingdon and HMP Featherstone.
1. Prisons offering clinical services for substance misuse
Altcourse
Ashfield
Bedford
Belmarsh
Birmingham
Blakenhurst
Brinsford
Bristol
Brixton
Brockhill
Bronzefield
Bullingdon
Cardiff
Castington
Chelmsford
Doncaster
Dorchester
Durham
Eastwood Park
Elmley
Exeter
Feltham
Forest Bank
Foston Hall
Glen Parva
Gloucester
High Down
Holloway
Holme House
Hull
Leeds
Leicester
Lewes
Lincoln
Liverpool
Low Newton
Manchester
New Hall
Norwich
Nottingham
Parc
Parkhurst
Pentonville
Peterborough Female
Peterborough Male
Preston
Reading
Shrewsbury
Stafford
Stoke Heath
Styal
Swansea
Wandsworth
Wetherby
Winchester
Woodhill
Wormwood Scrubs
2: The substance misuse service for 16 to 18-year-olds
HMP/YOI Ashfield
HMP/YOI Brinsford
HMP/YOI Castington
HMP Cookham Wood
HMP/YOI Downview
HMP Eastwood Park
HMP/YOI/RC Feltham
HMP Foston
HMP/YOI Hindley
HMP/YOI Huntercombe
HMP/YOI Lancaster Farms
HMP/YOI New Hall
HMP/YOI Parc
HMP/YOI Stoke Heath
HMP/YOI Thorn Cross
HMP/YOI Warren Hill
HMP/YOI Werrington
HMP/YOI Wetherby
3. Intensive drug rehabilitation programmes
Acklington
Altcourse
Ashwell
Aylesbury
Bedford
Birmingham
Blakenhurst
Blundeston
Bristol
Brixton
Bullingdon
Camp Hill
Canterbury
Cardiff
Castington
Castle
Channings Wood
Chelmsford
Coldingley
Cookham Wood
Dartmoor
Deerbolt
Doncaster
Dorchester
Downview
Drake Hall
Durham
Eastwood Park
Edmunds Hill
Elmley
Erlestoke
Everthorpe
Exeter
Featherstone
Ford
Forest Bank
Frankland
Full Sutton
Garth
Gartree
Glen Parva
Gloucester
Guys Marsh
Haverigg
Highdown
Highpoint
Hindley
Hollesley Bay
Holloway
Holme House
Hull
Kingston
Kirkham
Lancaster
Lancaster Farms
Leeds
Leicester
Lewes
Leyhill
Lincoln
Lindholme
Littlehay
Liverpool
Long Lartin
Low Newton
Maidstone
Manchester
Moorland
New Hall
North Sea Camp
Northallerton
Norwich
Nottingham
Onley
Parc
Pentonville
Portland
Preston
Ranby
Reading
Risley
Rochester
Send
Stafford
Stocken
Stoke Heath
Styal
Swaleside
Swansea
Swinfen Hall
The Mount
The Verne
Thorn Cross
Wakefield
Wandsworth
Wayland
Wealstun
Wellingborough
Whitemoor
Winchester
Wormwood Scrubs
Wymott
Prisoners: Scotland
(2) how many prisoners of English or Welsh origin are serving sentences in Scottish prisons.
The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only by manually requesting every prisoner to identify their country of origin at a disproportionate cost.
Young Offenders: Restraint Techniques
The information requested is held locally but not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. To obtain this information would require every prison that holds young offenders to check the record of every instance of use of force over the last three years to see if hospitalisation was involved.
Young Offenders: Smoking
Young people held in secure training centres and secure children’s homes are not allowed to smoke.
Treasury
Average Earnings: Cornwall
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 24 July 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average wage in Cornwall was at the latest date for which figures are available. I am replying in her absence. (152107)
Levels of earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for all full-time employees on adult rates of pay, whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. The ASHE, carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom.
I attach a table showing the mean and median gross weekly earnings for all full-time employees in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly for the year 2006.
£ Full-time employees Full-time male Full-time female Median 358 386 *321 Mean 412 446 366 a Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence. Guide to quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an average of £200 with a CV of 5 per cent. (£10), we would expect the population average to be within the range £180 to £220. Key: * CV <= 5 per cent. CV >5 per cent. and <= 10 per cent. Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.
Capital Gains Tax
The estimates of the cost of the relief as published in the Tax Ready Reckoners and in table A3.1 of Financial Statement and Budget Reports are for business and non-business assets combined. Taper relief is dependent upon the volume of disposals, which in turn is driven by changes in asset prices, particularly share prices. The movement between 2001-02 and 2002-03 was also influenced by the maturing of business asset taper relief.
The latest estimates of the Exchequer impact of taper relief for 2001-02 to 2006-07 are as follows.
Estimated cost (£ million) 2001-02 550 2002-03 3,500 2003-04 2,750 2004-05 3,500 2005-06 4,620 2006-07 6,020
Figures for 2005-06 and 2006-07 are available in the ‘Estimated costs of the principal tax expenditure and structural reliefs’ table at http//www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_expenditures/table1-5.pdf. Figures for 2007-08 are not available.
The estimated costs are not the same as the yield from abolition of taper relief as they do not take into account any behavioural changes which would occur if taper relief was abolished.
Carbon Emissions: Pollution Control
The environmental impact of Budget measures (including carbon savings where appropriate) is set out in Table 7.2 of the Budget 2007 document. This information is included in the environmental section of each Budget and pre-Budget report since 1998.
Civil Servants: Poole
Departments are responsible for meeting their Lyons relocation targets and some have yet to finalise their plans for meeting the remainder of the 2010 target. HM Treasury does not hold comprehensive data on where Departments intend to move staff to over the next five years.
Civil Service: Norfolk
By December 2006 15 posts had been relocated from London and the south-east to Norfolk as part of the Lyons relocation programme. None of these posts had moved to Great Yarmouth.
Climate Change Levy
The climate change levy is estimated to have reduced emissions by a cumulative 16.5 million tonnes of carbon up to 2005 and by 2010 it is estimated to deliver savings of over 3.5 million tonnes of carbon per year.
Council of Economic Advisers
The Chancellor has appointed Andrew Maugham to the Council of Economic Advisers.
Council Tax: Valuation
The Valuation Office Agency purchases its surveying equipment, including laser measuring devices, from a company called Survey Express Services Ltd. (SES) and is invoiced in bulk. It is not possible to identify individual purchases without incurring disproportionate cost.
Customs Officers: Complaints
The total number of all types of complaint including staff behaviour made each year is published in the annual reports of HM Revenue and Customs, previously HM Customs and Excise. Centrally held records do not provide the further detail requested.
Departments: Agencies
As explained in the answer given by the then Financial Secretary the hon. Member for Wentworth (John Healey) on 28 June 2007, Official Report, column 873W, the fees paid to recruitment agencies for the Chancellor's Department could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information on spending on recruitment consultancy is not held in a format whereby it can be separated out from other external management consultancy, or from the cost of agency staff.
Departments: Flint Bishop Solicitors
In 2001 HM Customs and Excise made two payments totalling £15,749 to Flint Bishop Solicitors, recorded under their former name of Flint Bishop and Barnett. HM Customs and Excise merged with the Inland Revenue in 2005 to form HM Revenue and Customs.
No other Chancellor's departments or their agencies have found any records of payments to Flint Bishop Solicitors within the last five years. Changes in accounting systems mean that a positive confirmation for all bodies over the whole period since 1997 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Legislation
No Acts that received Royal Assent during this period contain sunset provisions, although by their nature the annual Appropriation and Consolidated Fund Acts, and many of the provisions of the Finance Acts and other tax legislation, are time limited or temporary in effect.
The appropriateness of a sunset clause for the whole or part of any proposed legislation is considered on a case-by-case basis. It is also addressed when a regulatory impact assessment relating to legislation is being prepared.
Departments: Sexual Harassment
The Valuation Office Agency has a Gender Equality Scheme and Action Plan which includes impact assessing the agency's policies in relation to diversity strands including “gender” and an action plan specifically to address “gender” issues.
In addition to this the agency produces a monitoring report for diversity strands including “gender” and has a related consultative group chaired by a Management Board member.
The agency also promotes and runs a “Springboard” mentoring programme of positive action for women and conducts equal pay audits to monitor remuneration. The agency plans to incorporate the gender equality duty into all staff training.
Employment: East Sussex
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 24 July 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex residents were in employment in (i) April 1997 and (ii) the most recent period for which figures are available. I am replying in her absence. (151413)
The Office for National Statistics compiles employment statistics for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
The attached table shows the number of people aged 16 and over, resident in the Eastbourne constituency, and for residents of East Sussex, who were in employment, for the 12 months ending February 1997, from the local area LFS and for the 12 months ending in December 2006 from the APS. Corresponding headline employment rates, for persons of working age (males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59), are also provided. The rates allow changes to be seen in the context of changing population numbers.
As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. In this case, the sample sizes are not sufficient to give an accurate estimate of even the direction of the change over the period.
Eastbourne East Sussex Level1 (thousand) Rate2 (percentage) Level1 (thousand) Rate2 (percentage) February 1997 40 73.6 207 75.8 December 2006 47 75.6 233 76.1 1 Persons aged 16 and over. 2 Persons of working age—males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59. Notes: 1. Estimates are subject to sampling variability. 2. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with particular caution. Source: Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey.
Employment: Parents
This information is not available.
Employment: York
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 24 July 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people were (a) employed (i) full-time and (ii) part-time and (b) unemployed in (A) City of York constituency, (B) City of York Council area, (C) Yorkshire and the Humber and (D) the United Kingdom (1) at the latest date for which figures are available and (2) at the same date in each of the previous 10 years. I am replying in her absence. (151614)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
Table 1 attached, shows the number of people, aged 16 and over, resident in the City of York constituency, who were in full-time and part-time employment, for the 12 months ending in February for 1997 to 2004 from the local area LFS and for the 12 months ending in March for 2005 and 2006, and for the latest period, the 12 months ending in December 2006, from the APS. The table also shows corresponding data for residents of the City of York Unitary Authority, Yorkshire and the Humber and Great Britain.
For unitary and local authorities, the ONS produces estimates of total unemployment, following ILO definitions, from a statistical model. Annual estimates for other areas are compiled from the annual local area LFS and the APS following ILO definitions.
Table 2 attached, shows the number of people, aged 16 and over, resident in the City of York constituency, who were unemployed, for the 12 months ending in February for 1997 to 2004 from the local area LFS and for the 12 months ending in March for 2005 and 2006, and for the latest period, the 12 months ending in December 2006, from the APS.
The table also shows corresponding data for residents of the City of York Unitary Authority, Yorkshire and the Humber and Great Britain. Corresponding headline employment rates, for persons of working age (males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59), are also provided. The rates allow changes to be seen in the context of changing population numbers.
As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. In this case, for the City of York constituency and the City of York Unitary Authority, the sample sizes are not sufficient to give an accurate estimate of even the direction of the change over the period.
ONS also compiles statistics for local areas of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). Table 3, attached, shows the annual average number of people, resident in the City of York constituency, the City of York Unitary Constituency, Yorkshire and the Humber and the United Kingdom, claiming JSA from 1997 to 2006. The number of claimants is also shown as a percentage of the resident working age population.
Thousand City of York constituency City of York unitary authority In employment In employment 12 months ending Full-time Part-time Total Full-time Part-time Total February 1997 32 12 44 59 23 82 February 1998 31 14 45 57 20 77 February 1999 33 15 48 59 24 83 February 2000 34 12 45 61 22 83 February 2001 36 15 51 64 29 93 February 2002 36 15 51 66 27 93 February 2003 37 16 54 65 28 93 February 2004 37 16 53 65 27 92 March 2005 39 16 55 65 27 92 March 2006 37 15 52 67 26 93 December 2006 36 17 53 67 28 95
Yorkshire and the Humber Great Britain In employment In employment 12 months ending Full-time Part-time 12 months ending Full-time Part-time 12 months ending February 1997 1,590 560 2,151 18,974 6,379 25,355 February 1998 1,594 576 2,170 19,224 6,448 25,678 February 1999 1,616 595 2,212 19,454 6,520 25,981 February 2000 1,620 591 2,211 19,600 6,610 26,218 February 2001 1,634 624 2,259 19,743 6,739 26,492 February 2002 1,658 606 2,265 19,957 6,767 26,734 February 2003 1,664 616 2,280 19,931 6,902 26,848 February 2004 1,671 641 2,312 19,971 7,078 27,063 March 2005 1,696 623 2,320 20,274 7,019 27,313 March 2006 1,691 630 2,322 20,310 7,046 27,371 December 2006 1,706 624 2,331 20,415 7,099 27,527 Notes: 1. Data subject to sampling variability. 2. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with particular caution. Source: Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey.
Thousand City of York constituency City of York unitary authority Yorkshire and the Humber Great Britain 12 months ending Level1 Rate2 (%) Level3 Rate2, 3 (%) Level1 Rate2 (%) Level1 Rate2 (%) February 1997 4 8.0 5 5.9 198 8.4 2,136 7.8 February 1998 4 7.3 5 5.7 172 7.3 1,851 6.7 February 1999 3 6.4 5 5.2 164 6.9 1,673 6.1 February 2000 2 5.2 4 4.5 152 6.4 1,641 5.9 February 2001 3 4.9 4 4.0 140 5.9 1,468 5.3 February 2002 2 4.3 3 3.6 121 5.1 1,404 5.0 February 2003 2 3.9 3 3.4 119 5.0 1,450 5.1 February 2004 3 4.7 4 3.7 121 5.0 1,399 4.9 March 2005 2 3.1 3 2.8 105 4.3 1,343 4.7 March 2006 2 3.9 3 3.2 124 5.1 1,445 5.0 December 2006 4 7.4 4n/a 4n/a 136 5.5 1,555 5.3 1 Annual local area Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey data subject to sampling variability. 2 Unemployed as a percentage of the economically active population. 3 Model-based estimates subject to random variability. 4 Data unavailable until published on 31 July 2007. Note: Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with particular caution. Source: Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey; ONS.
City of York constituency City of York unitary authority Yorkshire and the Humber United Kingdom Number of claimants Proportion1 (%) Number of claimants Proportion1 (%) Number of claimants Proportion1 (%) Number of claimants Proportion1 (%) 1996 4,053 6.1 5,182 4.8 191,830 6.4 2,122,245 6.0 1997 3,002 4.5 3,786 3.5 151,995 5.1 1,602,442 4.5 1998 2,425 3.7 3,042 2.8 134,892 4.5 1,362,340 3.8 1999 2,190 3.3 2,762 2.5 124,675 4.1 1,263,001 3.5 2000 1,895 2.9 2,367 2.1 108,459 3.6 1,102,257 3.0 2001 1,676 2.5 2,120 1.9 97,453 3.2 982,998 2.7 2002 1,480 2.2 1,838 1.6 90,091 2.9 958,759 2.6 2003 1,437 2.2 1,808 1.6 84,995 2.8 945,894 2.6 2004 1,342 2.0 1,706 1.4 74,512 2.4 866,144 2.3 2005 1,331 2.0 1,689 1.4 77,306 2.5 874,417 2.3 2006 1,654 2.5 2,107 1.8 88,667 2.8 956,732 2.6 1 Number of claimants expressed as a percentage of the resident working-age population. Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative data
Forfeiture: Motor Vehicles
The number of vehicles seized is published in the annual reports of HM Revenue and Customs, previously HM Customs and Excise. Centrally held records do not provide the breakdown required.
Centrally held records do not provide the breakdown requested.
Futurebuilders Fund
I have been asked to reply.
A total of £18,787,579 Futurebuilder investments in grant and loan finance have been made in 21 projects specifically dealing with children’s physical and mental health. These are listed in the following table:
£ (a) Children’s physical and mental health Chiltern Centre for Disabled Children 14,000 Real Life Parenting 16,000 Nottingham Regional Society for Adults and Children with Autism 18,000 National Blind Children’s Society 20,000 Makaton 513,000 British Institute for Brain Injured Children (BIBIC) 732,000 Bayis Sheli 3,200,000 TreeHouse 5,209,357 Bangladeshi Parents and Carers Association 1,209,000 First Step Opportunity Group 462,000 Springboard Opportunity Group 130,900 Total 11,524,257 (b)Children’s mental health Headliners (formerly Children’s Express) 18,237 Pupil Parent Partnership 20,000 COASTS 58,335 Med Theatre 78,750 Bubble Theatre 104,000 Antidote 155,000 CHeCC (Cross-Herts Community Counselling) 385,000 St. Christopher's Fellowship 1,473,000 Place2Be 2,718,000 The Lighthouse Group 2,253,000 Total 7,263,322
HM Revenue and Customs: Great Yarmouth
As at 1 July 2007, 145 HM Revenue and Customs staff were employed in Havenbridge House, Great Yarmouth, of whom 97 were female.
Flexitime is not a contractual right for any HMRC staff, but most staff are able to work flexibly within their contracted hours provided this does not conflict with local business need.
HM Revenue and Customs: Manpower
As at 1 July 2007 HMRC employed 86,948 full-time equivalent staff and had reduced its workforce by 12,132 posts since 1 April 2004. This leaves a balance of 368 full-time equivalent posts to achieve the Department's efficiency target of a net reduction of 12,500 posts by 31 March 2008.
HM Revenue and Customs is undertaking a major restructuring programme to enable it to meet the staffing reduction targets arising from the Gershon Review, and other PSA efficiency and customer service targets.
All staff have been encouraged to take part in consultation exercises both on business and accommodation restructuring proposals.
Housing
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 June 2007, Official Report, 1667W.
Housing: Prices
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings reports that average male full-time earnings in 2006 were £32,744. Data from the Land Registry shows that in 2006 Q3 the mean house price in England was £214,471, and in Cornwall £217,776. Therefore the proportion of average national income to average house prices in Cornwall and England are 6.7 and 6.5 respectively.
Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands
[holding answer 23 July 2007]: The estimated costs of uprating the threshold at which taxpayers start paying income tax at the higher rate in line with earnings from 1998-99 are in the table.
Cost 1998-99 40 1999-2000 340 2000-01 890 2001-02 1,020 2002-03 1,600 2003-04 1,830 2004-05 2,200 2005-06 2,470 2006-07 2,920 2007-08 3,240
These are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes, of which 2004-05 is the latest available. Estimates for later years are based on projections in line with Budget 2007 assumptions.
Infectious Diseases: Death
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 24 July 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths where the death certificate refers to healthcare-acquired infections there were in (a) hospital and (b) care homes in (i) Eastbourne and (ii) East Sussex in each of the last 10 years. I am replying in her absence. (151498)
Death certificates record the place where a person dies, but not where any infections may have been acquired. It is not possible from the information on a death certificate to know whether an infection was acquired in the hospital or other place where a patient died. Patients are often transferred between hospitals, nursing homes and other establishments and may have acquired infections in a different place from where they died.
ONS does not receive information on ‘healthcare-acquired infections’ but special analyses of deaths involving two infections that are often associated with healthcare, MRSA and Clostridium difficile, are undertaken annually by ONS for England and Wales. The most recent figures were published in reports in Health Statistics Quarterly 33 in February of this year. This publication is available in the House of Commons library.
The table below provides data on the number of death certificates of persons normally resident in East Sussex on which MRSA and Clostridium difficile were mentioned, from 1996 to 2005, the latest year for which figures are available. Breaking these figures down to local authority lever risks identifying individuals, and so figures can not be provided for Eastbourne.
Figures are reported in Health Statistics Quarterly for deaths involving MRSA and Clostridium difficile by place of death, including general hospitals and nursing homes. These figures show that in England and Wales around 90 per cent of these deaths occur in NHS general hospitals. Breaking down the number of deaths in East Sussex by place of death would risk identifying individuals. Figures by place of death can therefore not be provided for either East Sussex or Eastbourne.
(a) MRSA (b) Clostridium difficile 1996 6— 5n/a 1997 6— 5n/a 1998 9 5n/a 1999 10 23 2000 14 5n/a 2001 10 10 2002 15 17 2003 18 37 2004 14 19 2005 24 36 1 Identified using the methodology described in Griffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004). Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993-2002. Health Statistics Quarterly 21, 15-22. 2 Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics: Report: Deaths involving Clostridium difficile: England and Wales, 2001-2005. Health Statistics Quarterly 33, 71-75. 3 Figures are provided for usual residents of the current county of East Sussex. Deaths of residents of Brighton and Hove unitary authority are therefore excluded. 4 Data are for deaths occurring in each calendar year 5 Deaths involving Clostridium difficile can only be identified using the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). This has been used by ONS for coding mortality from 2001 onwards and in 1999 for a bridge coding study. Data are therefore not available for 1996-1998 and 2000 when the Ninth Revision of the ICD was in use. 6 Where less than five deaths, numbers have been suppressed in line with ONS guidelines on disclosure and confidentiality.
Local Government Finance Funding Changes Independent Inquiry
(2) whether (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) the Valuation Office Agency made any written submission or representation to the Lyons Inquiry on local government.
No submissions or representations were made on behalf of HMRC, VOA or HM Treasury. The inquiry published written submissions as part of its final report, archived at
http://www.lyonsinquiry.org.
Married People: Separation
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 24 July 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your request for how many married couples have separated but are still married. I am replying in her absence. (151192)
The Annual Population Survey (APS) combines results from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the English, Welsh and Scottish Labour Force Survey boosts. Marital status of individuals is asked, but the number of couples, according to whether they have separated or not, is not collected.
In 2006 the APS indicates that there were 1.2 million individuals in the UK who were married and separated from their husband or wife. This figure does not include those individuals who were in a legally recognised Civil Partnership and separated from their civil partner. The comparable figure for married individuals living with their husband or wife is 24.5 million.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
Pensions
The tax rules provide that where a member's total pension benefit rights in registered pension schemes do not exceed one per cent of the lifetime allowance then the member may commute some or all those benefits in return for receiving a taxable lump sum between age 60 and age 75. This process is known as “trivial commutation”.
At PBR 2006 the Government announced that HMRC would discuss with interested parties the concerns raised regarding the administration costs of paying trivial commutation lump sums under these rules. The Government will explore the way in which the current rules impact across a range of interests, bearing in mind both the potential impact on individual pensioners, pension savers, and pension providers and the way the rules fit with the Government’s wider objectives in encouraging pension saving to produce an income stream in retirement.
Personal Income: York
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 24 July 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average wage for (a) full-time and (b) part-time (i) male and (ii) female employee is and what the average household income for working age households was in City of York council area in (A) cash and (B) real terms in 2006. (151612)
Levels of earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for all full-time and part-time employees on adult rates of pay, whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. The ASHE, carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom.
I attach a table showing the mean and median Gross Weekly Earnings for all full-time and part-time employees in the city of York Unitary authority, for the year 2006.
Estimates of average household income for working age households by council area are not available. Household income statistics for all households in the UK, based on the Family Resources Survey, are produced by the Department for Work and Pensions.
£ Full-time employees Full-time male Full-time female Part-time employees Part-time male Part-time female Median 455 *491 *391 *134 bx *145 Mean 529 *578 444 *167 **148 *174 a Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence. b Figure not published for reasons of quality. Guide to quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the duality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an average of £200 with a CV of 5 per cent. (10), we would expect the population average to be within the range £180 to £220. Key: CV <= 5 per cent. * CV> 5 per cent. and <= 10 per cent. ** CV> 10 per cent. and<=20 per cent. x CV>20 per cent. Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.
Police Informers: Pay
Rewards have been paid to informers by the two former departments, HM Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue, as follows:
£ 1997-98 1,670,812 1998-99 1,052,033 1999-2000 1,083,895 2000-01 1,603,301 2001-02 1,464,400 2002-03 984,422 2003-04 946,399
In line with an undertaking given during the debate on the Commissioners Revenue and Customs Bill, the amount of reward payments made by HMRC is published in our annual report. This was done in the 2004-05 HMRC Annual Report (page 69), the 2005-06 HMRC Annual Report (page 75) and Spring 2007 Departmental Report (the new format for our Annual Report, on page 45).
Private Finance Initiative
(2) what assessment he has made of the lessons of the private finance initiative credit guarantee finance pilots;
(3) whether the private finance initiative credit guarantee finance scheme will be rolled out nationally.
The Government continue to monitor and assess the Credit Guarantee Finance (CGF) scheme. The Government have previously announced that they do not intend to use CGF for more than a limited proportion of their PFI programme.
The total amount HM Treasury has spent on legal advice for CGF pilots is £361,000.
Public Expenditure
In July 2005, the Government announced its decision that, with the start of the next spending review period coming a decade after the first Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), the time was right for a second CSR. In the context of a rapidly changing world, the CSR would undertake a fundamental examination of the balance and pattern of public expenditure, and identify the investment and reforms necessary to equip the UK for the decade ahead. The Government announced that Departments budgets for 2007-08 would be unaltered from those previously announced and that the next CSR would conclude in 2007, setting departments budgets for the years 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. As announced at Budget 2007, the CSR will conclude by autumn 2007, at which point the Government will set out the final conclusions of the CSR.
Taxation: Disclosure of Information
HM Revenue and Customs’ records indicate that such exchanges have taken place on a reciprocal basis since at least the mid 1970s. Most exchanges relate to payments of interest, royalties, pensions and commissions made from a source in one country to persons resident in the other country. Information is exchanged in secure electronic form.
Taxation: Domicil
(2) how many staff have worked on the review of non-domicile taxation carried out by his Department since 2002; and if he will make a statement.
A number of HMRC and HMT staff have contributed directly or indirectly to the review since 2002, it is not possible to provide an exact number. The review is currently being managed by two HMT officials, supported by a number of other officials in HMT and HMRC who contribute to the review alongside other duties.
Information on costs of individual stands of policy work is not held centrally.
The information is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
Teenage Pregnancy
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply. A copy of his reply has been placed in the Library.
Terrorism: Finance
Since 2001, a total of approximately £570,000 of suspected terrorist funds have been frozen in the UK including funds belonging to six designated organisations. All assets frozen remain the property of the designated individuals or organisations and are not disposed of by the Treasury. The Treasury reports to Parliament quarterly on the operation of its asset-freezing regime, including detail on the total amount of funds frozen. The latest such report was laid before Parliament on 12 July 2007.
Unemployment
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of non-UK citizens who were economically active in the UK labour supply in each year since 1997; and what proportion of the labour force this represented in each year;
(3) what estimate he has made of the number of individuals registered as inactive in the UK due to sickness and disability; and what benchmarking he has conducted of this number against numbers in other EU member states;
(4) how many and what proportion of people in the working age population were non-UK citizens in each year since 1997.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 24 July2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your four parliamentary questions about economic activity and economic inactivity. The replies to these four questions have been combined. I am replying in her absence. (151470, 151489, .151490, 151491)
Table 1 gives estimates of the numbers of UK and foreign nationals of working age and the numbers and rates of economic activity for the three months ending December in each year for 1997, 1999 and 2001 to 2006. Comparable estimates are not available for 1998 and 2000. These estimates are not seasonally adjusted. The data shown are based on labour force survey (LFS) household population and not the total UK population to enable consistent economic activity data to be shown. It should be noted the LFS data shown by nationality:
excludes those who have not been resident in the UK for six months
excludes students in halls who do not have a UK resident parent
excludes people in most other types of communal establishments (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites, etc.)
is consistent with population estimates that only includes migrants staying for 12 months or more
is consistent with population estimates published in spring 2003 which are significantly lower than the latest population estimates and also the headline labour market statistics published each month by the Office for National Statistics; LFS estimates by nationality for the period requested are not yet available consistent with latest population estimates.
Table 2 gives estimates of the economically inactive people split by those who want a job and those who do not want a job. A further disaggregation for those who are long term sick or disabled is also shown. These data are for the three months ending December 2006, and are not seasonally adjusted.
Estimates for economic inactivity for EU member states are available from the Eurostat website which is accessible via the House of Commons Library.
The LFS estimates at the detailed level required for this answer are only available consistent with the UK population estimates published in February and March 2003 and do not yet incorporate the more recent population estimates that are used in the headline labour market series.
Estimates are taken from the LFS. As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
All persons of working age 1, 2 Economically active Total Non-UK nationals UK nationals Non-UK nationals Three months ending December each year Numbers (thousand) Numbers (thousand) % of total Numbers (thousand) Rates (%)3 Numbers (thousand) Rates (%)3 1997 35,209 1,604 4.6 26,504 78.9 1,082 67.5 1999 35,473 1,659 4.7 26,881 79.5 1,107 66.7 2001 35,897 1,929 5.4 26,896 79.2 1,300 67.4 2002 36,068 2,066 5.7 27,015 79.5 1,414 68.5 2003 36,213 2,130 5.9 26,968 79.1 1,460 68.5 2004 36,364 2,332 6.4 26,955 79.2 1,646 70.6 2005 36,510 2,451 6.7 26,908 79.0 1,767 72.1 2006 36,652 2,757 7.5 26,862 79.2 2,052 74.4 1 LFS microdata for working age household population that excludes communal establishments, is consistent with population estimates first published in spring 2003. 2 Men aged 16 to 64 and women age 16 to 59. 3 Economically active people of working age as a percentage of all persons. Notes: 1 Comparable data are not available for 1998 and 2000. 2 It should also be noted that the nationality question in the LFS is an undercount because: - it excludes those who have not been resident in the UK for six months. - it excludes students in halls who do not have a UK resident parent. - it excludes people in most other types of communal establishments (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites, etc). - it is grossed to population estimates that only include migrants staying for 12 months or more. - microdata is only grossed to population estimates consistent with those published in spring 2003 which are significantly lower than the latest population estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Thousand All persons Wants a job Does not want a job All inactive 7,739 2,025 5,714 of whom: Long-term sick or disabled 2,048 601 1,447 1 LFS microdata for working age household population that excludes communal establishments, is consistent with population estimates first published in spring 2003. 2 Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Unemployment: Young People
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 24 July 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people aged 24 years or under were considered to be economically inactive in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex in each of the last 10 years. I am replying in her absence. (151434)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of inactivity from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
The attached table shows the number of economically inactive persons, aged 16 to 24, resident in the Eastbourne constituency and the county of East Sussex, from the annual local area LFS, for the 12-month periods ending in February from 1997 to 2004 and from the APS for the 12-month periods ending in March 2005 and March 2006.
As these estimates are for a subset of the population in a small geographical area, they are based on very small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. In this case, the sample sizes are not sufficient to give an accurate estimate of even the direction of the change over time.
Thousand Economically inactive 16 to 24 year olds 12 months ending Eastbourne East Sussex February 1997 3 11 February 1998 2 9 February 1999 2 6 February 2000 1— 8 February 2001 2 11 February 2002 1 10 February 2003 3 11 February 2004 2 8 March 2005 2 10 March 2006 3 10 1 Sample size are too small to provide estimates. Notes: 1. Data are subject to sampling variability. 2. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with caution. Source: Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey.
Valuation Office Agency
There is no central record of meetings held between the Valuation Office Agency and the Australian Valuation Office and the information could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
The secondees worked in the Valuation Office Agency’s Chief Executive’s Office (Non-Domestic Rating Section) and the London City Group and London District Valuer Service, respectively.
Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Gateway Reviews are conducted on a confidential basis for Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) of projects and programmes across government. To place this report in the public domain would put at risk an important process that has recorded £2.5 billion of value for money through avoided costs in central civil government since 2003.
The Valuation Office Agency paid for 412 flights in the financial year 2006-07. Data are not held on how much each flight contributed to the 83 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
The review was conducted by the Office of Government Commerce.
Valuation Office Agency: HM Revenue and Customs
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 14 February 2006, Official Report, column 1851W.
Valuation Office Agency: Hong Kong
The valuation advice related to land for commercial development. No valuation advice was given relating to domestic property.
Valuation Office Agency: Optical Equipment
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) on 20 June 2007, Official Report, column 1877W. The Valuation Office Agency has not purchased any telescopic viewers in the last 36 months.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 24 January 2007, Official Report, column 1901W.
Valuation Office Agency: Digital Versatile Disks
The VGA has produced no DVDs over the last 36 months.
Valuation Office Agency: Expenditure
The expenditure undertaken in providing and implementing the Electronic Billing Authority Reports application in the period January 2005 to 31 March 2007 was £1,478,352 (excluding VAT). The annual service charges in respect of the application are £31,929 (excluding VAT).
Valuation Office Agency: ICT
The latest figures are that 160 local authorities have submitted information to the Valuation Office Agency via Electronic Billing Authority Reports.
Valuation Office Agency: Training
Media training was provided by the Government News Network. The staff trained were senior management whose function is to manage Valuation Offices.
Valuation Office Agency: Visits Abroad
(2) what the purpose was of each visit to (a) Australia, (b) Canada, (c) New Zealand, (d) the USA and (e) Lithuania.
One member of staff attended conferences in Canada, New Zealand, USA and Australia. All costs were met by the conference organisers or by staff members. Four members of staff attended a conference in Lithuania. The total cost to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) was £2,000. The Agency has also seconded staff to Australia. The cost to the VOA from 1 January 2007 was £8,481.
Valuation Office Agency: Non-domestic Rates
The Valuation Office Agency has no plans to collate Value Significant Codes for the purposes of valuations of properties for non-domestic rates.
Welfare Tax Credits
The information requested is provided in the following table.
Income used to taper in-work awards All families Over £50,000 United Kingdom 3,643 139 England 3,024 117 North East 172 5 North West 439 15 Yorks and The Humber 344 10 East Midlands 290 10 West Midlands 360 11 East 333 15 London 321 14 South East 445 24 South West 320 11 Wales 196 5 Scotland 294 13 Northern Ireland 115 4 Foreign and not known 13 0
Work and Pensions
Antisocial Behaviour: Housing Benefit
We will pilot the scheme in eight local authorities, starting 1 November 2007, for a period of two years.
Child Support Agency: Fees and Charges
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 24 July 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, for what reasons the Child Support Agency ceased its policy of charging a fee for use of its services in 1995; and if he will make a statement.
The Child Support Agency ceased to charge fees for its services in 1995. The Child Support Fees Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/3094) which covered the amount and circumstances in which fees could be charged were subsequently revoked in 1996.
As the 1998 Green Paper ‘Children First’ explained, the decision to firstly cease applying these regulations and to later revoke them was based on concerns about the unacceptable levels of service the Agency was providing. The regulation making power within the Act was retained to allow for the reintroduction of fees once the Agency could provide a level of service that would warrant it.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Children: Maintenance
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:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what amount of Child Support Agency arrears has been collected directly from non-resident parents’ assets in each year since 1996-97; and if he will make a statement.
When enforcing the collection of child support arrears, all appropriate means of civil debt recovery proceedings will be considered to ensure effective, timely and efficient recovery of outstanding debt.
The attached table outlines what payments have been received directly by non-resident parents’ assets in England & Wales and Scotland.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
£ Payments received by process 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 England and Wales Bailiff 2,966,000 5,249,000 6,987,000 Order for recovery 90,000 120,000 101,000 Charging order/order for sale 1,027,000 1,493,000 2,357,000 Third party debt order 430,000 508,000 588,000 Scotland Attachment and exceptional attachment 26,000 54,000 118,000 Inhibition 72,000 306,000 242,000 Arrestment 28,000 53,000 147,000 Total 4,639,000 7,783,000 10,540,000 Notes: 1. Due to the implementation of a new management information system in 2003 the information requested is available only from 2004-05. The table details the amounts recovered by the various enforcement tools available to the agency. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
From October 2008 we will have established an Information and Support Service where both parents can easily access free information and guidance in relation to child maintenance. To inform the design of this service we are actively engaging with voluntary sector organisations that have expertise in this area. The Department is also in the process of undertaking an assessment of the market capacity to deliver an information service from 2008 onwards. This assessment is necessary to inform our decision making regarding how the services can be most effectively delivered. We will not begin our procurement processes until this assessment is complete which we envisage will be late autumn 2007.
Counselling: Separation
The Information and Support Service is a critical element of our reform programme. We will provide a national service available to all separate and separating parents who need help to think through their options or establish maintenance arrangements. A key aspect of this will be a national contact centre with web-based support and a face-to-face service where appropriate.
These services will provide high quality information products including a guide for parents and a standard maintenance agreement form and will signpost other relevant parenting services. We will pro-actively direct low income families towards this service with the support of Jobcentre Plus and HMRC.
We also recognise that separating parents are not always clear about the issues they need to address and, likewise, the need to resolve wider separation issues first can act as a barrier to making maintenance arrangements. With this in mind, the Commission may also provide guides and links to key public and voluntary sector services and literature on non-maintenance related issues such as housing, benefits, debt and contact.
In order to fully understand what services separated or separating parents require we will carry out additional research that will help us develop further our understanding of what information and support services will be needed in the future.
Departments: Agencies
The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Visits Abroad
This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. Information for 2006-07 is currently being compiled and will be published before the summer recess. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
Disabled: Children
In January 2005, the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit published their report, ‘Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People’. The report set out the Government's vision and made recommendations relating to disabled children, young people making the transition to adulthood, employment and independent living.
The Office for Disability Issues was established in December 2005 and is working across Government to improve outcomes for disabled people, including through a ministerial group and the board of management, both of which bring together a range of Departments to oversee delivery of the Government's strategy.
The chapter of the Life Chances report which considered employment did not make any specific recommendations relating to parents with disabled children. However, proposals set out in the July 2007 Green Paper, ‘In Work, Better Off’ are intended to make better use of the new deal approach for people who claim benefit as unemployed and are actively seeking work but who face significant barriers to finding work, including caring responsibilities at home.
More recently, the joint HMT/DfES children and young people's review, ‘Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families’, published in May 2007, looked at how services can provide greater support for families with disabled children. The report's findings are feeding into the comprehensive spending review and will be implemented through a cross-Government framework.
Employment Schemes
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide my hon. Friend with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 24 July 2007:
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply to your question about the number of job applicants undertaking a work trial and the number of these resulting in the applicant taking the position since the inception of the work trial programme. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Work trials were first introduced in 1989, since when they have formed part of an overall and constantly evolving package of measures to assist employers meet their recruitment needs. Until 2000 we did not routinely capture detailed management information on work trials. Since then, we have recorded information on the number of customers undertaking a work trial, but not the number of people confirmed permanently in the job. Our success in helping people into work is measured in terms of the number of people who leave benefit and move into work, but this is not broken down specifically to identify those securing a job through the help of a work trial.
The table below shows the number of work trial starts since April 2000.
April to March each year: Work trial starts 2000-01 6,580 2001-02 4,390 2002-03 3,340 2003-04 2,240 2004-05 1,700 2005-06 2,040 2006-07 3,640
Although we do not keep data on the number of people confirmed in post following a work trial, internal research suggests that up to 50% of those people who secured the job would not have done so without the help of a work trial.
I hope this is helpful.
Financial Assistance Scheme: Peterborough
As at 13 July 2007, there are 24 residents of Peterborough constituency in receipt of assistance from the Financial Assistance Scheme.
Housing Benefit
Local housing allowance (LHA) will be introduced nationally from 7 April 2008 and the preparation for its implementation is under way in all local authorities. It has been extensively evaluated in nine pathfinder areas and tested for operational readiness in a further nine. These local authorities were chosen to provide a range of different housing markets, geographical factors and labour markets.
One of the pathfinders, Teignbridge, is largely a rural area. As in the other eight evaluated LHA pathfinder areas, the implementation and delivery in Teignbridge was considered successful and the impact of the local housing allowance is covered in the local housing allowance evaluation publications.
Incapacity Benefit
The available information is in the following table.
As at November each year: IB/SDA claimants with duration of five years or over Percentage of IB/SDA claimants with duration of five years or over 2000 1,233,030 44.6 2001 1,311,790 47.1 2002 1,392,350 49.4 2003 1,433,850 50.8 2004 1,468,620 52.2 2005 1,489,980 54.1 2006 1,500,380 55.3 Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 2. ‘Claimant’ figures include credits only cases. 3. Figures for claimants with a duration of claim of five years or over are not available prior to 2000 as IB was not introduced until April 1995. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data
Incapacity Benefit: Mentally Ill
The available information is in the following table.
As at November: Percentage 1997 27.1 1998 29.1 1999 31.0 2000 32.7 2001 34.2 2002 35.7 2003 37.2 2004 38.5 2005 39.4 2006 40.6 Notes: 1. Caseload figures from 1999 onwards are rounded to the nearest 10. Some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 2. Caseload figures for 1997 and 1998 are rounded to the nearest 100. 3. Caseloads for 1997 and 1998 have been produced using 5 per cent. data and have been rated up in accordance with the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. IB/SDA totals. 4. 1997 and 1998 figures are from a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 5. From 6 April 2001, no new claims to SDA were accepted. 6. Figures include credits only cases. Source: 1. DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 1999 onwards. 2. Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 5 per cent sample, 1997 and 1998.
Jobseeker’s Allowance
The information is in the following table.
Number June 2006 927,300 July 2006 927,400 August 2006 925,800 September 2006 929,100 October 2006 927,400 November 2006 920,000 December 2006 912,300 January 2007 897,000 February 2007 894,200 March 2007 880,000 April 2007 864,400 May 2007 855,300 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 2. Figures are taken from the second Thursday of each month. Source: Count of unemployment-benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems (including clerically held cases).
The information is in the following table.
As at November at year: Percentage 1997 14.09 1998 13.96 1999 16.15 2000 15.14 2001 13.39 2002 12.53 2003 12.11 2004 11.05 2005 10.80 2006 11.14 1 The figures for jobseeker's allowance with partners are based on cases where there is payment of additional benefit for a partner. Notes: 1. There are a number of cases where partner status is unknown. 2. Figures for 1997 and 1998 are based on a five per cent sample, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. Source: Department of Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample, 1997 and 1998, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 1999 onwards.
Members: Correspondence
The Secretary of State replied on 16 July 2007.
The Secretary of State replied on 19 July 2007.
National Insurance: Fraud
We do not employ a specific number of staff to investigate national insurance number fraud. Benefit fraud investigators in the Department for Work and Pensions deal with allegations of benefit fraud relating to all aspects of benefits and services administered by this Department.
Pensions
Estimates of pension credit eligibility are not available below the level of Great Britain. Latest estimates of the number of pensioners eligible for pension credit in Great Britain can be found in ‘Pension Credit Estimates of Take-Up in 2005-06’. A copy of the report is available in the Library.
The following table shows the number of households in Eastbourne, the local authorities that make up East Sussex, England and Great Britain receiving pension credit at February 2007.
In Northern Ireland pension credit administration is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Region Pension credit household recipients Eastbourne parliamentary constituency 5,410 East Sussex Eastbourne local authority 5,130 Hastings local authority 5,060 Lewes local authority 4,020 Rother local authority 4,630 Wealden local authority 5,330 England 2,283,630 Great Britain 2,729,490 Notes: 1. The figures provided are early estimates. The preferred data source for figures supplied by DWP is the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). However, the figures provided are the latest available figures, which are taken from the GMS scan at 2 March 2007. 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. Households are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. 4. Parliamentary constituencies are based on the 2005 parliamentary boundaries. 5. Figures at county level are not available from the early estimates, so we have provided the local authority figures that make up East Sussex county. Source: DWP 100 per cent. data from the Generalised Matching Service (GMS) pension credit scan taken as at 2nd March 2007.
The information requested is as follows:
Single Couple 1996-97 61.15 97.75 2006-07 (actual) 84.25 134.75 2006-07 (price uprated) 79.68 127.37 Notes: 1. All figures in cash terms. 2. Uprating calculations employ historic RPI series. 3. There is no such thing as a ‘singles rate’ though the maximum rate of the Category A pension is commonly referred to as the ‘singles rate’. Similarly the sum of the Category A and Category B(L) pension is often referred to as the ‘couples rate’. 3. Category B(L) pension is about 60 per cent. of the full-rate basic Category A pension. It is payable by virtue of a spouse's qualifying years or earnings.
Pensions: York
The information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The answer is in the following tables.
Number York local authority 35,200 City of York parliamentary constituency 17,900 Notes: 1. Data is taken from 5 per cent. extract of the Pensions Strategy Computer System (PSCS), therefore figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall caseload from the WPLS. 2. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Source: Five per cent sample, DWP Information Directorate
Pension credit household recipients Average weekly amount York local authority 6,720 40.22 City of York parliamentary constituency 4,440 41.07 Notes: 1. The figures provided are early estimates. The preferred data source for figures supplied by DWP is the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). However, the figures provided are the latest available figures, which are taken from the GMS scan at 2 March 2007. 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. Households 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 (GMS) Pension Credit scan taken as at 2 March 2007.
Social Security Benefits
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide my hon. Friend with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 24 July 2007:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about support provided for people signed off Incapacity Benefit and awaiting Jobseeker's Allowance. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Payments to people who transfer between benefits, without a break, including from Incapacity Benefit to Jobseeker's Allowance, are not normally subject to delay, providing they meet all the conditions for benefit entitlement. If there are delays customers can request an interim payment, or apply for a crisis loan payment from the Social Fund.
I hope this is helpful.
Social Security Benefits: EC Nationals
The information is not available.
Social Security Benefits: York
The information requested is not available at constituency level and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Unemployment
The information requested is not available.
However, the Office for National Statistics publishes an estimate of the number of people unemployed on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition— those who are not in employment but are actively seeking and available for work. This figure is derived from the Labour Force Survey, based on criteria set down by the ILO, and stood at 1.677 million in February to April 2007.
Children, Schools and Families
Adoption
(2) how many children in the age groups corresponding most closely to the age group (a) under 12 months, (b) one to four years, (c) five to nine years, (d) 10 to 14 years and (e) 15 to 18 years registered with Isle of Wight council were adopted in the last period for which figures are available.
Information on the number of children in each local authority in England who were considered for adoption is not collected centrally by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).
Information on the number of children in each local authority in England who were placed for adoption in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2005-06 has been placed in the House Library. The data are also available in table 4 of the Statistical Volume on Children Looked After By Local Authorities Year Ending 31 March 2006 on my Department's website at:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000721/TablesfinalRENAMED.xls
The number of children looked after by the Isle of Wight local authority who were adopted in the year ending 31 March 2006, is shown in the following table.
Number Age at adoption All children Under 1 1 to 4 5 to 9 10 to 15 16 and over Children adopted in England 3,700 190 2,300 940 180 20 Children adopted in the Isle of Wight 10 * * * 0 0 1. Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements. 2. Figures are derived from the SSDA903 return. 3. To maintain the confidentiality of each individual child, data at national level are rounded to the nearest 100 if they exceed 1,000 or to the nearest 10 otherwise. Data at local authority level are rounded to the nearest 5. Where the number was 5 or less (other than 0) this has been suppressed and replaced with an asterisk ‘*’.
Adoption: Standards
The information requested has been placed in the House Library.
Classroom Assistants
(2) what average number of hours was worked per week by teaching assistants in (a) each government region, (b) each local education authority and (c) England, in the latest period for which figures are available.
The information requested is not collected centrally.
The allocation of funds for the employment of teaching assistants is a matter for individual schools and local authorities.
Research commissioned by the Department into the deployment and impact of support staff in schools has looked at a range of characteristics of support staff as well as their deployment and impact on pupils. The first wave of the study, conducted in 2004, estimated that teaching assistants work an average of 26 hours per week. The report of the first wave can be found at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR776.pdf. The report of the second wave of the study, which will contain an updated estimate of average hours from fieldwork completed in 2006, will be published on Thursday 26 July.
The employment and deployment of support staff, together with any training required in order to take up a post, is a matter for schools or local authorities to determine as the employer.
Support staffs, including teaching assistants, play an important role in schools, often working closely with pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities. In recognition of this, the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), which has responsibility for the training and development of the whole school workforce, has developed national occupational standards for teaching/classroom assistants. These contain elements relevant to working with pupils with SEN or particular educational needs. National Vocational Qualifications at level 2 and 3 are based on these standards.
In addition, the TDA has also developed induction training materials for teaching assistants and introductory training materials for other support staff working in primary and secondary schools. Both sets of materials contain discrete modules covering inclusion, SEN and disabilities.
The professional standards for higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs), for which the TDA is also responsible, require HLTAs to know how to support learners in accessing the curriculum, in accordance with the SEN code of practice.
All schools can use their own budget to fund the training and development of their staff. They also receive a school development grant which they are able to use to support improvements in any aspect of teaching and learning. This can include sending teaching assistants on specialised training courses. Local authorities may retain a proportion of this grant, in certain circumstances, to provide specific training and development in relation to SEN and disabilities. The TDA also provides local authorities with grant funding to support candidates through the HTLA training and assessment process.
Classroom Assistants: Pay
The salaries for all support staff are for local determination and are set either by local authorities (in the case of community and voluntary controlled schools) or governing bodies (in the case of foundation and voluntary aided schools). Due to the many variations in local pay across the country it is not possible to give an average salary.
Departments: Contracts
The Department does not maintain a central record of all contracts that have been or are about to be awarded. Contracts which are in the process of being awarded will have the name of the contracting authority changed from the Department for Education and Skills to the relevant new departmental title at little cost.
Departments: Private Finance Initiative
Information on schools private finance initiative contracts, including balance sheet treatment and unitary charges, is included in HM Treasury’s PFI Signed Projects List, which is available through:
www.hmtreasury.gov.uk/documents/public_private_partnerships/ppp_pfi_stats.
This is a working document containing information on current signed PFI projects. It is updated on a 6-monthly basis to reflect the updates HM Treasury receives from Departments at Budget and pre-Budget report.
Digital Versatile Disks
The Department is working with the Y Touring Group, through the Central Office of Information, to produce a DVD version of their “Every Breath” play to be used as a teaching resource in schools. A total budget of £61,000 has been allocated to this project. An initial production run of approximately 2,000 DVDs is planned. These will be made available to schools via the Online Publication System. The level of demand will be monitored and stock managed accordingly.
Education and Skills Bill
The Education and Skills Bill will be a joint bill between the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. The Bill will include provisions to raise to 18 the minimum age at which young people can leave education or training, and to implement recommendations of the recent Leitch review of skills. The Department will be the lead Department on the Bill, but I will be working closely with my ministerial colleagues in DIUS.
Family Courts: Counselling
(2) what representations his Department and its predecessors have received from children’s charities on mediation in family disputes; and if he will make a statement.
I have been asked to reply.
The Government believe that mediation can offer considerable advantages over going to court in the settling of family disputes, especially where children are involved, irrespective of how cases are funded. To support and encourage mediation, we have established the Family Mediation Helpline and supporting website. The Helpline telephone number is 0845 60 26 627 and the website address is www.FamilyMediation Helpline.co.uk. We have sponsored a public awareness campaign; are facilitating judicial awareness seminars and supporting in-court referral schemes.
Provisions of the Children and Adoption Act 2006 will enable the court to direct parties in child contact disputes to attend a meeting about mediation. Referrals will also be encouraged through changes to court forms, particularly in relation to disputes over children.
The Legal Services Commission’s revised Family Fee scheme will remove the financial disincentives for solicitors to make referrals to mediation. Under the scheme, it will be in the interests of the solicitor to make a referral to mediation and to do so at an earlier stage.
The Ministry does not set targets for mediation because we do not think that a target in this area would be desirable. There are certain cases which are unsuitable for mediation because there is an imbalance of power between the parties. We do not wish to see such cases, which include those where one of the parties has been subject to domestic violence, forced into mediation. In addition, while we can advise parties about the benefits of mediation it would be a breach of the parties’ human rights to prevent them having their case heard in court.
Finally, neither this nor predecessor Departments have received any representations from children’s charities regarding mediation in family disputes.
Health Education: Sex
Certain aspects of sex and relationship education (SRE) are a statutory requirement as part of national curriculum science. This stipulates the issues that schools are required to cover at each of the four key stages. Beyond this, the Department's ‘Sex and Relationship Education Guidance’ outlines how schools can deliver a broader programme of SRE using the framework for Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). The guidance provides information on the issues to be covered in both primary and secondary schools, but it is for individual schools to determine their own SRE policy, including how SRE is delivered and when. The Department does not collect information on this.
Primary Education
The following table details the proportion of schools in each local authority who reported in autumn 2006 that they were teaching languages in class time. These data were obtained from recent research commissioned by the Department, which estimated the proportion of schools teaching languages in class time based on a nationally representative sample.
Music and art and design are compulsory national curriculum subjects for all primary age pupils in maintained schools. All schools must teach the statutory programmes of study, but it is up to them to decide exactly how they deliver them. Schools may also provide extra-curricular activity in music and art, for example school choirs or art clubs that may be run after school, but no information is held centrally on the numbers of schools doing such activities.
Percentage Yes No No response Camden 100.00 — — Greenwich 78.57 21.43 — Hackney 77.78 22.22 — Hammersmith and Fulham 83.33 16.67 — Islington 100.00 — — Kensington and Chelsea 83.33 16.67 — Lambeth 81.25 18.75 — Lewisham 50.00 42.86 7.14 Southwark 78.57 21.43 — Tower Hamlets 25.00 66.67 8.33 Wandsworth 93.75 6.25 — Westminster 100.00 — — Barking and Dagenham 100.00 — — Barnet 66.67 33.33 — Bexley 100.00 — — Brent 71.43 28.57 — Bromley 86.67 13.33 — Croydon 63.16 36.84 — Ealing 72.22 16.67 11.11 Enfield 86.67 6.67 6.67 Haringey 71.43 28.57 — Harrow 100.00 — — Havering 86.67 6.67 6.67 Hillingdon 76.92 23.08 — Hounslow 84.62 15.38 — Kingston on Thames 66.67 33.33 — Merton 91.67 8.33 — Newham 90.91 9.09 — Redbridge 57.14 42.86 — Richmond upon Thames 100.00 — — Sutton 90.91 9.09 — Waltham Forest 36.36 63.64 — Birmingham 59.18 36.73 4.08 Coventry 88.89 11.11 — Dudley 75.00 25.00 — Sandwell 52.94 47.06 — Solihull 88.89 11.11 — Walsall 66.67 33.33 — Wolverhampton 54.55 45.45 — Knowsley 81.82 18.18 — Liverpool 91.67 5.56 2.78 St. Helens 100.00 — Sefton 83.33 16.67 — Wirral 95.65 4.35 — Bolton 96.00 4.00 — Bury 94.44 5.56 —- Manchester 74.29 22.86 2.86 Oldham 81.25 18.75 — Rochdale 80.00 20.00 — Salford 100.00 — — Stockport 87.50 12.50 — Tameside 90.48 9.52 — Trafford 100.00 — — Wigan 96.15 3.85 — Barnsley 47.06 41.18 11.76 Doncaster 76.92 23.08 — Rotherham 100.00 — — Sheffield 96.55 3.45 — Bradford 86.84 13.16 — Calderdale 85.00 15.00 — Kirklees 80.00 15.00 5.00 Leeds 79.37 19.05 1.59 Wakefield 87.10 12.90 — Gateshead 100.00 — — Newcastle upon Tyne 92.00 8.00 — North Tyneside 100.00 — — South Tyneside 100.00 — — Sunderland 60.00 33.33 6.67 Bath and North East Somerset 93.33 — 6.67 Bristol 71.43 28.57 — North Somerset 94.12 5.88 — South Gloucestershire 92.31 7.69 — Hartlepool 90.91 — 9.09 Middlesbrough 83.33 16.67 — Redcar and Cleveland 100.00 — — Stockton on Tees 76.47 23.53 — Hull 83.33 16.67 — East Riding of Yorks 97.22 2.78 — North East Lincolnshire 78.57 14.29 7.14 North Lincolnshire 100.00 — — North Yorkshire 86.11 12.50 1.39 City of York 91.67 8.33 — Bedfordshire 72.50 22.50 5.00 Luton 76.92 23.08 — Buckinghamshire 95.24 4.76 — Milton Keynes 100.00 — — Derbyshire 94.81 2.60 2.60 City of Derby 88.89 11.11 — Dorset 54.05 35.14 10.81 Poole 100.00 — — Bournemouth 100.00 — — Durham 79.69 17.19 3.13 Darlington 100.00 — — East Sussex 75.76 24.24 — Brighton and Hove 83.33 16.67 — Hampshire 74.19 22.58 3.23 Portsmouth 16.67 83.33 — Southampton 20.00 80.00 — Leicestershire 91.04 8.96 — Leicester 72.73 27.27 — Rutland 100.00 — — Staffordshire 78.13 17.19 4.69 Stoke on Trent 50.00 42.86 7.14 Wiltshire 90.57 9.43 — Swindon 90.91 9.09 — Bracknell Forest 66.67 33.33 — Windsor and Maidenhead 75.00 25.00 — West Berkshire 92.86 7.14 — Reading 100.00 — — Slough 80.00 20.00 — Wokingham 75.00 25.00 — Cambridgeshire 69.77 27.91 2.33 Peterborough City 80.00 20.00 — Cheshire 77.97 20.34 1.69 Halton 100.00 — — Warrington 95.83 4.17 — Devon 85.71 12.70 1.59 Plymouth 91.30 8.70 — Torbay 88.89 11.11 — Essex 69.66 23.60 6.74 Southend 100.00 — — Thurrock 71.43 28.57 — Herefordshire 95.24 4.76 — Worcestershire 77.50 20.00 2.50 Kent 91.51 7.55 0.94 Medway 81.25 18.75 — Lancashire 77.19 21.05 1.75 Blackburn 55.56 44.44 — Blackpool 100.00 — — Nottinghamshire 83.93 16.07 — Nottingham City 50.00 25.00 25.00 Shropshire 81.08 18.92 — Telford and Wrekin 81.82 18.18 — Cornwall 76.27 23.73 — Cumbria 94.83 5.17 — Gloucestershire 94.44 5.56 — Hertfordshire 68.67 25.30 6.02 Isle of Wight 92.31 7.69 — Lincolnshire 67.74 27.42 4.84 Norfolk 71.21 27.27 1.52 Northamptonshire 86.89 13.11 — Northumberland 87.50 12.50 — Oxfordshire 87.14 11.43 1.43 Somerset 80.77 15.38 3.85 Suffolk 69.14 28.40 2.47 Surrey 84.00 14.00 2.00 Warwickshire 77.14 20.00 2.86 West Sussex 84.44 15.56 — Total 81.38 16.83 1.80
One of the three overarching objectives in the National Languages Strategy, published in 2002, was an entitlement that by 2010 all 7 to 11-year-old pupils will be able to learn a language at least in part in class time. Already some 70 per cent. of schools are providing primary languages within class time, so are making excellent progress towards this goal. We have backed this by action on a range of fronts including: training over 2,000 primary teachers with a languages specialism and aiming to train 6,000 by 2010; committing £49 million over 2006-07 and 2007-08 to support the introduction of primary languages; developing new schemes of work for French, German and Spanish; and setting up the Primary Languages Training Zone, an interactive website for teachers, school leaders and trainers involved in the delivery of primary languages.
In October 2006, we commissioned a languages review, which was chaired by Lord Dearing and which reported in March 2007. We have accepted Lord Dearing's recommendation that languages should become a compulsory part of the primary curriculum when it is next reviewed. This will mean that all pupils will learn languages for seven years. We hope that learning languages earlier will inspire children with a love of languages and motivate them to continue learning languages post-14.
Music and Art and Design are compulsory National Curriculum subjects for all five to 14-year-olds. To begin to realise our aim that every primary pupil who wants to should have an opportunity to learn a musical instrument the Government have invested £30 million in primary instrumental and vocal tuition over the last two years. We are putting a further £10 million this year into a national singing programme aiming to make singing an integral part of every child's school day. The Government are investing £36.5 million this year in the creative partnerships programme which promotes schools working with creative artists.
Pupils: Per Capita Costs
The average capital cost per pupil of an academy is £20,400. This figure has been calculated by reference to the actual or estimated capital cost of establishing the first 91 academies in relation to their pupil capacity.
Comparable figures for maintained secondary schools constructed in recent years are unavailable centrally. But a typical cost per pupil for construction of a 1,000-pupil maintained secondary would be in the range of £18,750 to £22,900 per pupil, excluding site acquisition costs.
There are considerable variations in building costs according to region and the nature of sites.
Reading: Teaching Methods
Phonics has been part of the national curriculum since it was introduced in 1998. However, we do not hold information on the number of schools teaching synthetic phonics.
Schools
The information requested has been placed in the House Library.
Schools: Chelmsford
Figures were requested for Chelmsford local authority area and because Chelmsford is not a local education authority area the reply provided information for Essex local authority area. I apologise that this was not made clear. Figures for Chelmsford district council are provided in the following table:
Headcount of pupils Maintained Nursery 291 Maintained Primary 12,351 Maintained Secondary 13,131 Maintained Special 450 Non-Maintained Special 2— Pupil Referral Units 2— Independent Schools 1,954 City Technology Colleges and Academies 2— 1 Excludes dually registered pupils. 2 Not applicable, no schools of this type Source: School Census
Schools: Closures
The following table sets out the number of maintained, mainstream schools which have closed following decisions taken under local decision making arrangements, which were introduced in September 1999, including the reasons for their closure.
Cease to maintain Change religious character Due to amalg- amation For an academy For fresh start To allow for a new estab- lishment Total 2000 13 — 96 — 8 — 117 2001 26 4 194 1 3 3 231 2002 33 9 181 3 1 1 228 2003 38 10 173 8 5 1 235 2004 53 6 192 6 7 — 264 2005 39 8 211 7 7 — 272 2006 41 4 222 17 3 1 288 2007 4 — 12 1 1 — 18 Total 247 41 1,281 43 35 6 1,653
Information held on proposals that were decided under the arrangements that operated prior to September 1999 is not reliable and has therefore been excluded. The figures for the early years of this table will therefore exclude closures that were decided before September 1999.
Schools: Construction
The Department for Children, Schools and Families does not hold this information.
Schools: Fire Extinguishers
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has advised all local authorities and fire brigades that we expect new schools to be fitted with sprinkler systems in future. However, the decision as to whether or not to install sprinkler systems will be based on a risk analysis and there may be a few cases where new schools are at a low risk of fire and where sprinklers would not represent good value for money. The risk analysis and cost benefit analysis tools we have recently published to help clients decide whether or not to install sprinkler systems in schools can also be used to determine whether or not an existing school should have sprinklers fitted, as part of a refurbishment project.
In the autumn we will be publishing a standard specification for sprinkler systems in schools in our Standard Specifications Layouts and Designs series of guidance documents. Also, in August, we will be publishing the new Building Bulletin 100 Designing and Managing against the Risk of Fire in Schools which will be the normal means of compliance with Building Regulations Part B. This will include comprehensive guidance on when to install sprinkler systems in schools.
Schools: Fires
The latest figures we have are from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for England and Wales and cover 2000-04, with provisional figures for 2005.
Number of fires Total costs (£ million) Arson (Percentage) 2000 1,275 45 63 2001 1,529 67 58 2002 1,332 67 55 2003 1,313 61 60 2004 1,291 52 56 20052 1,166 1— 45 1 Not available 2 Provisional
The costs are rounded to the nearest £1 million and are derived from the (then) ODPM’s cost of Fire Estimates, published last year. They cover property damage and the costs of the fire and rescue services attending the fires.
Schools: First Aid
(2) how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local education authority area taught first aid to their students in each of the last 10 years.
The Department does not collect information on when schools cover first aid teaching with pupils.
The Department’s Safety Education: Guidance for schools DFS/0161/2002 provides information on how the framework for personal, social and health education (PSHE) can address the issue of accidental injury in children and young people. The framework includes teaching young people at primary school level about school rules relating to health and safety issues, and at secondary school level to develop skills to cope with emergencies, including first aid and resuscitation techniques. Beyond this, the guidance also highlights how other parts of the national curriculum can be used to develop children's ability to recognise hazards and respond appropriately to risky situations.
The Department encourages schools to develop strategies that are effective at a local level in raising the profile of safety education and dealing with medical emergencies, working with suitable partners where appropriate to do so. We are aware of the valuable support that organisations such as the British Red Cross offer individual schools or groups of schools at a local level to enrich curriculum work in this area.
Advice on first aid training for school staff is included in the Department's Guidance on First Aid for Schools by means of which we encourage first aid provision for schools and their pupils.
Schools: Private Finance Initiative
The Department is only aware of one public finance funded school which has closed prematurely in the last five years. (College of Media, Arts and Technology in Brighton and Hove). All detailed cost information for establishing and closing this school is held at the local authority level.
Since April 2001, 457 schools have been funded via the private finance initiative. The following table gives a breakdown by local authority area.
LEA name Project name Number schools Barking and Dagenham Barking and Dagenham—Two Schools 2 Barnsley Barnsley—Thirteen schools 13 Bedfordshire Mid-Bedfordshire Schools Upper Schools Project 2 Bexley Bexley—Three Schools 3 Birmingham Birmingham 2—Twelve Schools 12 Bolton Bolton—Castle Hill School 1 Bradford BSF Pathfinder/Wave 1 3 Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove—four schools 4 Bristol Bristol—Grouped Schools Project (Phase 1A) 4 Bristol BSF Pathfinder/Wave 1 4 Calderdale Calderdale—Grouped Schools Project 5 Camden Camden—Haverstock School 1 Cheshire Cheshire—Ellesmere Port and Neston Schools 6 Cornwall Cornwall 2—Truro schools 17 Coventry Coventry—Caludon Castle School 1 Croydon Croydon—Ashburton School 1 Darlington Darlington—Five Schools Project 4 Derby Derby—Grouped Schools 5 Derbyshire Derbyshire 1—Grouped Schools PFI Project 2 Derbyshire Derbyshire 2—Long Eaton and Newbold Replacement Schools Project 2 Devon Devon—Six Schools Project 6 Doncaster Doncaster—Two schools 2 Dudley Dudley 2—Paragon Project 2 Ealing Ealing 1—Ealing Schools Project 4 Eating Ealing 2—Three schools 3 Enfield Enfield—Joint Schools Project 3 Essex Essex 2—NDS—Tendring Schools 12 Essex Essex 3—Clacton-on-Sea Education Project 3 Gateshead Gateshead—Group of Schools 7 Harrow Harrow—Special Schools PFI 3 Havering Havering—Frances Bardsley School 1 Herefordshire Herefordshire—Whitecross High School 1 Kent Kent—Six schools (including Hugh Christie Technology College) 6 Kent Kent—Swanscombe Schools 2 Kirklees Kirklees 2—Special Schools Reorganisation 4 Lambeth Lambeth—Lilian Baylis School and Resource Centre 1 Lambeth Lambeth ICT—Connected Learning Project 1 Lancashire BSF Wave 1 10 Leeds BSF Wave 1 5 Leeds Leeds 1—7 Schools 7 Leeds Leeds 2—Ten Primary Schools 10 Leeds Leeds 3 and 4—Secondary and Post 16 PFI Project 6 Leicester City BSF Wave 1 6 Lewisharn Lewisham—Grouped Schools Modernisation (PFI) Project 7 Lincolnshire Lincolnshire—Seven Schools Project 7 Liverpool Liverpool—Grouped Schools Project 18 Liverpool Liverpool—Speke/Garston Lifelong Learning Centre 1 Manchester Manchester 2—Wright Robinson Sports College 1 Merton Merton—Age of Transfer 6 Newcastle upon Tyne BSF Wave 1 3 Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle 1—Six schools 6 Newham Newham—Joint Schools Project 1 Norfolk Norfolk 2—Norwich Area Grouped Schools PFi Project 12 North Tyneside North Tyneside—Four schools project 4 Northamptonshire Northamptonshire 1—Wooldale Centre for Learning 1 Northamptonshire Northamptonshire 2—Northampton Review 41 Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire 1—East Leake Schools 2 Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire 2—Bassetlaw Phases 1 and 2 8 Oldham Oldham—Grouped Schools 2 Peterborough Peterborough—Secondary Schools Scheme 3 Plymouth Plymouth 1and 2-Whitleigh Community Campus and Replacement Primaries 9 Redbridge Redbridge—Oaks Park School 1 Redcar and Cleveland Redcar and Cleveland—Grouped schools 5 Richmond upon Thames Richmond upon Thames—Primary Schools 6 Rochdale Rochdale—Aiming High 4 Rotherham Rotherham—Grouped Schools 15 Salford Salford 1—Special Schools Project 3 Salford Salford 2—High Schools PFI Project 3 Sandwell Sandwell—Five Schools PFI Project 5 Sheffield BSF Pathfinder/Wave 1 3 Sheffield Sheffield Schools Phase 2 2 Sheffield Sheffield Schools Phase 3 4 Slough Slough—Three schools 3 Solihull BSF Wave 1 3 South Tyneside South Tyneside—Boldon High School 1 Southampton Southampton—Three Secondary Schools 3 Stockton-on-Tees Stockton on Tees—Community Campus at Ingleby Barwick 2 Sunderland Sunderland—Sandhill View School 1 Swindon Swindon—North Swindon Schools PFI 7 Tameside Tameside—Hattersley Schools 3 Telford and Wrekin Telford and Wrekin—Hadley Learning Community Incorporating Jigsaw 3 Tower Hamlets Tower Hamlets—Grouped Schools 25 Tower Hamlets Tower Hamlets—Mulberry School 1 Walsall Walsall—St. Thomas More VA School 1 Waltham Forest BSF Wave 1 2 Waltham Forest Waltham Forest 2—Grouped Schools Project 8 West Sussex West Sussex—Crawley schools scheme 3 Worcestershire Worcestershire—Bromsgrove Schools 7 York York—Four schools 4 Total schools — 457
This is the most up-to-date information that the Department holds, but there may be more current information held at LA level.
The Department holds information on central Government allocations to local education authorities each year for conventional capital funding, and for PFI credits, but not on all school building projects. Local authorities have considerable flexibility to decide how to use their investment, for instance on the number, size and type of project, and we collect only some information on how capital allocations are used.
I am arranging for information on PFI and conventional funding allocations to authorities over the past 10 years to be placed in the House Library.
The Department does not routinely collect this information. To the best of our knowledge none of the schools procured under PFI since 1997 are now conventional capital projects using Design and Build contracts.
Special Educational Needs
Information on statements of special educational needs from 2000 onwards by local authority as at January each year has been placed in the Library. Figures for earlier years are not readily available.
Young People: Antisocial Behaviour Orders
(2) received an antisocial behaviour order in each of the last three years.
I have been asked to reply.
The Home Office has the lead responsibility for antisocial behaviour policy.
The number of persons aged 10-17 who received an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) in the last three years is as follows:
625 in 2003,
1,320 in 2004 and
1,558 in 2005.
The latest data available for breaches of ASBO and custody are for 2003. The figures show that 30 young people in total between 2000 and 2003 were sentenced to custody for breach of ASBO alone—in all other cases, they were convicted for other offences at the same time.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Adult Education: Learning Disability
Adult learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LLDD) remain an important priority for the Government, as set out in the Learning and Skills Council's “Annual Statement of Priorities and in Progression through Partnership” the Government's strategy for improving outcomes for LLDD learners, which was published in June 2007.
In 2004/05, expenditure on LLDD provision rose by 15 per cent. from the previous year to £1.5 billion. Funding per learner is expected to continue to rise.
LLDD learners are one of the priority groups targeted by the Skills for Life strategy, which offers free literacy and numeracy provision to adults.
In response to the report, “Freedom to Learn”, the Skills for Life Strategy Unit in the Department produced a range of materials to support the teaching and learning infrastructure for adults with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. These include tailored curriculum frameworks, guidance for teachers, assessment materials, teaching and learning materials, and a framework for understanding dyslexia. We have also tested the entire Skills for Life learning infrastructure to ensure it properly supports LLDD learners, and commissioned a training programme for staff in the sector.
The Quality Improvement Agency is now working to further improve the quality of LLDD teaching and learning.
Apprentices: East Sussex
(i) The following table shows the number of apprenticeship starts for 16 to 18-year-olds in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex in 2005-06.
Eastbourne East Sussex Apprenticeship starts for 16 to 18-year-olds 130 560 Advanced apprenticeship starts for 16 to 18-year-olds 40 170 Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Work Based Learning (WBL) Individualised Learner Record (ILR)
(ii) We want to continue the expansion of apprenticeships so that by 2013 every suitably qualified young person will be able to take up a place on the programme.
We are working with the LSC to promote apprenticeships to employers of all sizes and so increase their take-up. Many employers are already on board with 130,000 offering apprenticeships in England with over 180 apprenticeships available across more than 80 industry sectors.
We have increased the completion rate to 59 per cent. and rising—up from only 24 per cent. five years ago. We plan to increase this further in the next three years to match that of other top competitors. The Government are working with the LSC and key partners to deliver provider incentives; foster provider collaboration; improve staff training; and develop with Sector Skills Councils guidance for individual sectors.
Diplomas will also provide clear progression routes into apprenticeships and, indeed, contain apprenticeship components within their content where specified by the Diploma Development Partnerships.
We are also building stronger links with higher education to ensure that apprentices who have the ambition and capacity to do so can enter higher education.
Figures for those participating in apprenticeships can be derived from the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) Individualised Learner Record (ILR). There were 380 learners on apprenticeships and 180 on advanced apprenticeships in Poole parliamentary constituency (based on home postcode of the learner) in 2005-06.
Note:
Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Work Based Learning (WBL) Individualised Learner Record (ILR)
Apprentices: Gravesham
Figures for those participating in apprenticeships can be derived from the Learning and Skills Council’s (LSC) Individualised Learner Record (ILR). There were 340 learners on apprenticeships and 190 on advanced apprenticeships in Gravesham parliamentary constituency (based on home post code of the learner) in 2005/06.
Note:
Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Work Based Learning (WBL) Individualised Learner Record (ILR)
Apprentices: York
Figures for those participating in apprenticeships can be derived from the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) Individualised Learner Record (ILR). There were 640 learners on apprenticeships and 280 on advanced apprenticeships in City of York parliamentary constituency (based on home post code of the learner) in 2005/06.
Note:
Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Work Based Learning (WBL) Individualised Learner Record (ILR).
Degrees: Ethnic Groups
The available information on students obtaining first degree qualifications is given in two tables which have been placed in the Libraries.
A new ethnicity classification was introduced on the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record in 2001/02 which allowed those students of mixed ethnicity to be classified in more detail. Additionally for the earlier figures, students qualifying from dormant modes of study are excluded, whereas such students are included in the population count for 2001/02 onwards. As such, figures for 2000/01 and earlier are not strictly comparable with those for 2001/02 onwards.
Information for 2006/07 will be available in January 2008.
Higher Education: Finance
There are no universities at imminent risk of insolvency, although six institutions were judged by the Higher Education Funding Council for England to be “at higher risk” in March 2007 and are being supported by the council. Higher education institutions will also be able to draw on new funding streams we have introduced such as income from variable tuition fees and voluntary giving to strengthen their financial position, and the number of institutions with historical cost deficits is forecast to fall from 14 per cent. now to 5 per cent. in 2010.
Whenever this issue has been raised either by university representatives, vice-chancellors or student unions we have consistently said that before any changes could even be considered there will be an independent commission in 2009 which will examine the evidence from the first three years of the new fees regime, and which will report directly to Parliament. That remains the case. Draft terms of reference for the commission were published in January 2004. It would be premature to speculate now about what the commission might recommend or indeed whether Parliament would agree with any recommendations.
Higher Education: NHS
I have been asked to reply.
The handover report produced by the chief executive of the national health service university (NHSU) on closure of the organisation states that the NHSU did not own land or buildings.
All leases were terminated by October 2005 in accordance with the lease for each property.
Nanotechnology
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Science and Innovation at DTI on 21 June concerning overall Government spend on nanotechnology. Estimated Government support for nanotechnology work over the last 10 years amounts to around £408 million.
The Technology Strategy Board (an Executive NDPB of DIUS) invests to support nanotechnology companies through two initiatives:
(i) A portfolio of 26 Nanotechnology Collaborative R and D projects is being supported, which brings together business and academia to undertake joint research that has a future commercial use. Funding of £14 million since 2004 (against £32 million total project costs) has been provided to consortia involving business and academia, with business providing just over half of the funding; and
(ii) The network of 24 UK-based Nanotechnology Centres, with a total budget of £54 million over five years, provides open access facilities to enable companies (particularly SMEs) to use expensive pieces of equipment to test new ideas and prototypes.
Additionally, EPSRC currently funds 167 research grants classified as having a significant nanotechnology component that have a formal collaboration with UK industry. These grants have a total value of £86 million.
Student Wastage
Projected non-completion rates are released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) each year within the Performance Indicators in Higher Education publication. The latest available non-completion projections are shown in table 1.
Academic year Percentage 1999/2000 15.9 2000/01 15.0 2001/02 14.1 2002/03 14.4 2003/04 14.9 Source: “Performance Indicators in Higher Education”, published by HESA
The 2004/05 figure will be released by HESA on 19 July 2007. These non-completion rates are not available broken down by entry qualification.
Drop-out is more likely to occur during the first year of higher education. The performance indicators also include non-continuation rates, which show the proportion of entrants who are not detected in higher education after their first year. The latest available non-continuation rates are shown in table 2.
Academic year Percentage 1999/2000 7.8 2000/01 7.1 2001/02 7.3 2002/03 7.8 2003/04 7.7 Source: “Performance Indicators in Higher Education”, published by HESA
The 2004/05 figure will be released by HESA on 19 July 2007. The 2002/03 and 2003/04 non-continuation rates are available broken down by entry qualification, as shown in table 3.
Entry qualification categories/tariff points Entrants 2002/03 Entrants 2003/04 A-levels or highers: Unknown 11.3 12.6 Up to 200 11.7 11.9 201 to 290 7.9 8.1 291 to 380 4.9 5.3 Above 380 2.6 2.8 Other qualifications 11.4 11.6 All qualifications 7.8 7.7 Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
Student Wastage: Age
Projected non-completion rates are released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) each year within the Performance Indicators in Higher Education publication. The latest available non-completion projections are shown in table 1.
Academic Year Percentage 1999-2000 15.9 2000-01 15.0 2001-02 14.1 2002-03 14.4 2003-04 14.9 2004-05 14.2 Source: "Performance Indicators in Higher Education", published by HESA.
These non-completion rates are not available broken down by age group.
Drop-out is more likely to occur during the first year of higher education. The performance indicators also include non-continuation rates, which show the proportion of entrants who are not detected in higher education after their first year. The latest available non-continuation rates are shown in table 2.
Academic year 1999/2000 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 Young (under 21) 7.8 7.1 7.3 7.8 7.7 7.2 Mature (21 and over) 15.9 14.5 14.9 15.4 15.6 14.4 All entrants 9.7 8.7 9.0 9.5 9.5 8.8 Source: "Performance Indicators in Higher Education", published by HESA.
A more detailed age breakdown is not available.
Student Wastage: Gender
(2) what the non-completion rate was of (a) female and (b) male students who entered higher education between the ages of (i) 18 and 20, (ii) 21 and 25, (iii) 25 and 30 and (iv) 30 years and above in each of the last five years, broken down by ethnicity;
(3) what the non-completion rate was of (a) female and (b) male students in each of the last five years, broken down by ethnicity;
(4) what the non-completion rates were of (a) UK domiciled, (b) non-UK but EU domiciled and (c) non-EU domiciled (i) males and (ii) females in each of the last 10 years.
Table 1 contains the latest available projected non-completion indicators for entrants to full-time first degree courses.
Academic year Percentage 1999/2000 15.9 2000/01 15.0 2001/02 14.1 2002/03 14.4 2003/04 14.9 2004/05 14.2 Source: “Performance Indicators in Higher Education”, published by HESA
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) publishes these projected non-completion indicators in its Performance Indicators in Higher Education publication each year. These indicators are not available broken down by gender or entry qualification.
HESA also publishes non-continuation indicators, which show the proportion of entrants to full-time first degree courses not continuing in higher education after their first year. Table 2 contains the latest available non-continuation rates.
Academic year Young (under 21) Mature (21 and over) All entrants 1999/2000 7.8 15.9 9.7 2000/01 7.1 14.5 8.7 2001/02 7.3 14.9 9.0 2002/03 7.8 15.4 9.5 2003/04 7.7 15.6 9.5 2004/05 7.2 14.4 8.8 Source: “Performance Indicators in Higher Education”, published by HESA
A more detailed age breakdown is not available.
Table 3 contains the available information for non-continuation indicators broken down by entry qualification.
Entry qualification categories/tariff points 2002/03 2003/04 A-levels or highers: Unknown 11.3 12.6 Up to 200 11.7 11.9 201 to 290 7.9 8.1 291 to 380 4.9 5.3 Above 380 2.6 2.8 Other qualifications 11.4 11.6 All qualifications 7.8 7.7 Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
Table 4 contains the available information for non-continuation indicators broken down by gender.
Gender Proportion Female 6.7 Male 8.8 Total 7.7 Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
Figures for non-continuation indicators broken down by ethnicity are not available.
Figures for non-completion and non-continuation indicators are available for UK-domiciled students only.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Angola: Democracy
In Angola there is an independent press and a few radio stations that are free to voice criticism of the Government. However, in the provinces the Government-run media largely dominates media coverage. There is only one independent nationwide broadcaster, Radio Vorgan (run by the main opposition party, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA).
The Government of Angola is taking measures to reform the judiciary and associated legislation, much of which pre-dates the civil war, which ended in 2002. Our embassy in Luanda has sponsored three projects in conjunction with the Bar Association of Angola to assist in the development of the judiciary. We welcome the Government’s introduction of a new press law, which is currently in preparation and will provide more scope for independent reporting. Both the Constitutional Law and the Penal Code are also under review.
There is complex legislation relating to the registration of political parties which is rigorously enforced. There are 12 opposition parties represented in Parliament. The UNITA congress is currently under way in Luanda and has received coverage in the independent and Government-run media. Representatives of other smaller political parties and members of the Diplomatic Corps have also attended the congress. We welcome the Government’s announcement that legislative and presidential elections will be held in 2008 and 2009 respectively and continue to monitor the political landscape closely.
The Government of Angola have taken several steps to improve transparency in public financial management. Internationally qualified auditors conduct rigorous cost and fiscal audits for all oil companies, including the national oil company, Sonangol. A new procurement law is being drafted. A Court of Auditors was created in 2001, which helps to review and audit public expenditure allocations and has handed down embezzlement sentences. However, much still needs to be done, not only on transparency of public financial management, but also on strengthening Government accountability to the people. We continue to encourage the Government of Angola to sign up to the principles of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
Departments: Air Conditioning
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has spent the following amounts on the hire of air conditioning units in the last five years:
£ 2006-07 0 2005-06 4,235.00 2004-05 2,492.00 2003-04 4,632.52 2002-03 9,958.00
All sums aforementioned are net of VAT.
The information provided is applicable to the FCO’s UK estate only.
Departments: Flint Bishop
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not made any payments to Flint Bishop Solicitors in this period.
Departments: Legislation
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been responsible for the introduction of 12 Acts of Parliament since 1997 of which the Nuclear Explosions (Prohibitions and Inspections) Act 1998 and the Arms Control and Disarmament (Inspections) Act 2003 have not yet been brought into force.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been responsible for the introduction of 12 Acts of Parliament since 1997, none of which have been repealed.
Departments: Private Education
It is a condition of employment that members of the Diplomatic Service must be prepared to serve anywhere in the world at any time during their career, sometimes at very short notice. Those with children also have a legal obligation as parents to ensure that their children receive full-time education from the age of five years. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) provisions for children's education are intended to help staff meet these potentially conflicting obligations.
We expect children who accompany their parents on postings overseas to use free state schooling if it is available locally and suitable. If suitable English-language schooling is not available free of charge locally, but is available at fee-charging schools, we refund fees to enable children to receive the education they would be entitled to in the UK.
With staff and their families having to move at regular intervals, sometimes at short notice and at times which may disrupt schooling for their children, and education facilities at posts overseas varying (or not being available at all), continuity of education can be problematic particularly during the important exam years. The FCO's continuity of education allowance addresses this problem by enabling children to board at schools in the UK as long as their parents remain subject to the world-wide mobility obligation and take up postings overseas.
The amount we spent in the financial year 2006-07 on providing education in independent schools for children whose parents are temporarily based in the UK is £7.6 million. The total amount we have spent on continuity of education allowance for staff in the UK and overseas during the financial year 2006-07 is £13 million.
Departments: Visits Abroad
This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. Information for 2006-07 is currently being compiled and will be published before the summer recess. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the “Civil Service Management Code”, the “Ministerial Code” and “Travel by Ministers”.
Entry Clearances: Health Professions
Subject to satisfying the relevant paragraph of the immigration rules, overseas qualified medical personnel can enter the UK in either the postgraduate doctor, PLAB test (Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board Test), or clinical attachment categories. We do not distinguish between undergraduate and graduate students.
Applications recorded in each category are:
Received Issued Refused 2006 Clinical Attachment 873 111 72 Nurses—Supervised Practice 1,136 695 393 PLAB Test 758 698 83 Post Graduate Dentist 7 7 1 Post Graduate Doctor 638 589 51 Post Graduate GP 4 2 2 Student Nurse 1,305 840 600 2005 Clinical Attachment 304 284 13 Nurses—Supervised Practice 4 0 0 PLAB Test 581 502 41 Post Graduate Dentist 20 17 0 Post Graduate Doctor 1,423 1,352 44 Post Graduate GP 1 1 0 Student Nurse 5,128 3,554 1,518 2004 PLAB Test 1 0 1 Post Graduate Dentist 11 10 0 Post Graduate Doctor 1,079 1,058 12 Student Nurse 7,468 5,444 1,904 2003 Post Graduate Dentist 12 12 0 Post Graduate Doctor 989 970 6 Student Nurse 4,614 3,977 605 2002 Post Graduate Dentist 23 20 0 Post Graduate Doctor 847 848 2 Student Nurse 1,583 1,410 169
Prior to 2005 data were not kept on all categories. These statistics have not been published and should be used for information purposes only.
The total number of applications issued and refused may not equal the number of applications received due to applications being withdrawn or lapsed. Additionally, applications can be carried forward from one year to the next before being resolved, for example if they have been referred to the Home Office for a decision or deferred for further inquiries.
EU Reform: Treaties
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe is now defunct. The mandate for a Reform Treaty agreed by the European Council states clearly:
“The constitutional concept, which consisted in repealing all existing Treaties and replacing them by a single text called “Constitution”, is abandoned.”
The Government expect the new Reform Treaty to contain extensions of Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) under 50 Articles. However, the number of extensions that will apply to the UK will be significantly less than 50. We expect 13 extensions will not apply to the UK. Nine of these relate to Justice and Home Affairs (where we have secured an extension of our existing opt-in mechanism). Three relate to the euro (where our opt-out applies). One relates to social security (where we will have an emergency brake including a veto power).
Existing areas of policy activity moved from unanimity to QMV
1. Immigration and frontier controls (UK opt-in)
2. Judicial co-operation in criminal matters (UK opt-in)
3. Minimum rules for criminal offences and sanctions (UK opt-in)
4. Eurojust (structure, operation, field of action and tasks) (UK opt-in)
5. Police co-operation (data sharing and training) (UK opt-in)
6. Europol (structure, operation, field of action and tasks) (UK opt-in)
7. Social security (measures to facilitate free movement of workers) (emergency brake including a veto power)
8. Co-ordination of provisions for self-employed persons (measures to facilitate self-employment in other member states)
9. Transport (removes existing limited derogation)
10. Culture (incentive measures to promote cultural awareness and diversity)
Existing institutional/procedural measures moved from unanimity to QMV
11. Appointment of European Central Bank executive board (UK opt-out)
12. Comitology (rules enabling member states to oversee the Commission’s exercise of its implementing powers)
13. Financial regulations (rules on budgetary and accounting procedures)
14. Specialised courts (establishment of specialised first instance courts)
15. European Court of Justice statute
16. Amendments to certain parts of the statute of the European System of Central Banks
17. Presidency of Council configurations (arrangements for rotation)
Existing areas of policy activity where there is a new specific legal base subject to QMV
18. Use of the euro (UK opt-out)
19. Measures relating to the broad economic guidelines and excessive deficit procedure (applicable only to eurozone members) (UK opt-out)
20. Border checks (establishment of integrated management system for external borders) (UK opt-in)
21. Mechanism for peer review of member states’ implementation of policies in the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) area (UK opt-in)
22. Crime prevention (UK opt-in)
23. Implementation of own resources decisions
24. Provisions enabling repeal of the aspects of an Article related to state aids policy and the effect of the past division of Germany
25. Procedure for entry into the euro
26. Provisions enabling repeal of an Article on transport policy as it affects areas of Germany affected by its past division
27. Authorisation, co-ordination and supervision of intellectual property rights protection
28. Services of general economic interest (clarification of EU rules/principles applying public services)
29. Diplomatic and consular protection
30. Humanitarian aid operations
31. Energy (measures on energy markets, energy security and energy saving)
32. Tourism (promotion of competitiveness and best practice)
33. Civil protection (assistance to prevent or protect against natural or man-made disasters)
34. Implementation of solidarity clause (assistance, if requested, in the event of a natural or man-made disaster)
35. Urgent financing of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) measures (start up measures for ‘Petersberg’ tasks)
36. Urgent aid to third countries
37. Aspects of the Common Commercial Policy (definition of general framework for its implementation)
New areas of EU policy activity subject to QMV
38. European Research Area (removal of barriers to free flow of research)
39. Space policy (measures to promote joint initiatives and research and development)
40. Sport (incentive measures to promote sport)
41. Administrative co-operation (capacity building measures)
42. Membership of structured co-operation in defence (procedural issues relating to its establishment)
New institutional/procedural measures subject to QMV
43. Election of European Council President
44. Appointment of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
45. Council review of general rules on composition of the Committee of the Regions and European Economic and Social Committee
46. Citizens’ initiatives (petition procedure)
47. Principles of European administration (staff regulation measures)
48. Negotiation of withdrawal agreement
49. Judicial appointments panel (composition and operation)
50. Role of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in CFSP implementing measures (measures proposed by the High Representative following a specific request from the European Council)
European Council
The German presidency first released a draft mandate for the Inter-Governmental Conference on the evening of 19 June. This document was discussed at the European Council.
The Presidency Conclusions were received by the Government at the European Council.
Iraq: Oil
The Government have not held discussions on oil contracts in Iraq with any major British oil companies.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials first obtained a copy of a draft of the hydrocarbons law at the end of October 2006.
Iraq: Peace-keeping Operations
We welcome all constructive contributions to the ongoing debate on policy in Iraq. Many of the recommendations in the Iraq Commission’s report are in line with the policies we are already pursuing. We continue to work hard to support the Government of Iraq in its efforts to establish security, deliver basic services and make progress on national reconciliation. The most important figures in determining the future of Iraq are Iraqis themselves, but we believe the international community and states in the region have a key role to play in supporting the Iraqi government.
Italy: Diplomatic Service
As my right hon. Friend the then Foreign Secretary (Margaret Beckett) outlined in her answer to my hon. Friend on 16 April 2007, Official Report, column 37W, Sir Ivor Roberts provided advice in his valedictory telegram on a confidential basis. Placing a copy of this telegram in the Library of the House would be likely to inhibit the frank and confidential provision of advice.