Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 11 October 2007
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Postal Services: West Yorkshire
On 17 May, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the Government’s response to the public consultation on the post office network.
Post Office Ltd is carrying this forward through 50 local area implementation plans over the next 15 months.
No decisions have been made about any individual post offices in West Yorkshire. According to the timetable set out by Post Office Ltd., which is publicly available on its website, the local consultation on the West Yorkshire plan is scheduled to begin in April next year.
Economic Partnership Agreements
The economic partnership agreements that the European Union is negotiating with the six regions of the African Caribbean and Pacific countries are at a critical point. We would be happy to keep the House informed as the negotiations progress.
Postal Services
On 17 May, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the Government’s response to the public consultation on the post office network. Post Office Ltd is now carrying that forward through around 50 local implementation plans.
Consultations on the first area plans were launched on 2 October. This process will continue over the next 15 months.
Competition Policy
Our policy is for an effective, proactive competition regime, as key to tackling—for example—hard-core cartels, and to encouraging innovation, quality and value for money. The UK and EU have among the best competition regimes in the world. We are committed to further improvement.
Renewable Energy
The Government have considered the use of feed-in tariffs for this purpose. However, we remain firmly committed to the renewables obligation as the principal means of driving the deployment of large-scale renewable electricity in the UK. The renewables obligation has been successful in driving deployment, offers continuity of policy to maintain investor confidence, and fits well with our pro-competitive approach to energy markets.
World Trade
Negotiations on all aspects of the Doha Development Agenda continue to take place at the WTO in Geneva. The UK Government remain fully committed to working with the EU Trade Commissioner, other EU member states and other WTO members to secure an ambitious, pro-development outcome to the Doha Round.
Yorkshire Forward
By the end of last week there had been 1,135 applications.
Enterprise: South Derbyshire
The Regional Funding Allocation processes prioritises key infrastructure schemes of regional significance. The South Derbyshire Local Transport Plan sets out local schemes to be brought forward for funding consideration. Key current projects in South Derbyshire include access to the Drakelow Power Station site, and the new rail freight facility. The report on the latter project is due to be published next month.
UK Competitiveness
The Government are committed to achieving continued long-term improvements in UK competitiveness, through raising long-term productivity growth and thereby reducing the productivity gap with our international competitors.
This week's pre-Budget report and comprehensive spending review illustrate that continued commitment with policies aimed at improving performance through the five drivers of productivity: investment, innovation, skills, enterprise and competition. These include increased investment in higher education and skills, continued development of a world-class science base and simplifications of the tax system.
This is underpinned by the Government's commitment to maintaining macroeconomic stability, which provides firms and individuals with the certainty needed to invest for the future.
Coats Viyella
The East Midlands Development Agency (emda) purchased the Coats Viyella site for £576,000 on 30th March 2001. Between 30th March 2001 and 25th April 2006, when emda owned the site, it spent £223,000 on its security.
Departments: Accountancy
Under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 HM Treasury issues accounts directions to Departments, pension schemes and agencies and under the Government Trading Funds Act 1973 to trading funds.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform operates a policy for the issue of accounts directions, where they remain existent until superseded by a new direction.
For the years 2005-06 and 2006-07 the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has issued accounts directions for the form and content of resource and other accounts to the following sponsored bodies. Where an existing accounts direction is in place this has also been noted.
2005-06
Issued Accounts Directions
Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Advantage West Midlands Regional Development Agency.
East Midlands Regional Development Agency.
East of England Regional Development Agency.
North West Regional Development Agency.
One North East Regional Development Agency.
South East England Regional Development Agency.
South West of England regional Development Agency.
Yorkshire Forward Regional Development Agency.
Civil Nuclear Police Authority.
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
Existing Account Directions
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils.
Economic and Social Research Council.
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Medical Research Council.
Natural Environment Research Council.
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council.
Research Council Pension Schemes.
British Hallmarking Council.
Coal Authority.
Competition Commission.
Competition Service.
Consumer Council for Postal Services.
Design Council.
Gas and Electricity Consumer Council.
Hearing Aid Council.
National Consumer Council.
Simpler Trade Procedures Board.
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.
2006-07
Issued Accounts Directions
Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils.
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Economic and Social Research Council.
Medical Research Council.
Natural Environment Research Council.
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council.
Research Council Pension Schemes.
Existing Account Directions
Advantage West Midlands Regional Development Agency.
East of England Regional Development Agency.
East Midlands Regional Development Agency.
North West Regional Development Agency.
One North East Regional Development Agency.
South East England Regional Development Agency.
South West of England regional Development Agency.
Yorkshire Forward Regional Development Agency.
British Hallmarking Council.
Civil Nuclear Police Authority.
Coal Authority.
Competition Commission.
Competition Service.
Consumer Council for Postal Services.
Design Council.
Gas and Electricity Consumer Council.
Hearing Aid Council.
National Consumer Council.
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
Simpler Trade Procedures Board.
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.
Departments: ICT
The Department has not purchased any new laptops, mobile telephones or personal digital assistant devices as a consequence of any Cabinet reshuffle. The Department recovers assigned ICT equipment from departing ministerial teams and reallocates the devices accordingly. If insufficient devices for ministerial teams are available at the time of a Cabinet reshuffle, the Department utilises devices that are within the reserve capacity held by the Department’s ICT suppliers as contingency and recovered devices are returned to this capacity pool. The Department’s arrangements with its ICT suppliers are structured such that this capacity is not charged for until used and the net effect on the ICT budget as a consequence is zero.
Children, Schools and Families
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service: Complaints
[holding answer 10 October 2007]: This is a matter for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). Anthony Douglas, the Chief Executive, has written to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 13 September 2007:
I am writing to you in response to the parliamentary question that you recently tabled:
153997 - To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, when he intends to publish the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service’s consultation on its complaints policy; and if he will make a statement.
Cafcass plans to review its complaints policy, to update it in line with the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ Guidance “Getting the Best From Complaints” issued in August 2006, for Local Authorities on how complaints from children are responded to. Cafcass would like to incorporate parts of the guidance into its complaints policy.
Cafcass has started an internal review, and it plans to consult externally next year.
A copy of this reply will be placed in the House Library.
Children: Autism
We are committed to introducing the Transition Support programme over the next three years, with £19 million secured as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review settlement for the Department. In the “Aiming high for disabled children: better support for families” report published in May, we acknowledged that children and young people with more complex needs require more carefully prepared and intricate packages of support as they move to adulthood.
We have not undertaken any estimate of indicative spending on young people on the autistic spectrum. The focus of the programme is not to target by type of special educational need or disability but to enable and support all disabled young people to move towards and into a new stage of life.
To make initial progress, the Department will be publishing transition guidance jointly with Department of Health later this month, to support local agencies to better support disabled young people to make the transition to adulthood.
Private Education: Greater London
The available information is shown in the following tables.
2004 2005 Pupils aged 5 to 10 Pupils aged 11 to 15 Pupils aged 5 to 10 Pupils aged 11 to 15 No. %3 No. %3 No. %3 No. %3 England 205,340 5.5 232,730 7.1 202,670 5.5 232,080 7.1 London 51,390 9.5 43,090 10.0 51,220 9.5 42,980 10.0 Inner London 25,120 12.5 19,370 13.6 25,280 12.6 19,490 13.6 202 Camden 3,629 29.1 1,847 19.7 3,590 28.7 1,770 19.0 201 City of London 373 68.4 1,033 100.0 391 69.8 1,074 100.0 204 Hackney 3,051 18.3 1,580 18.0 3,053 18.3 1,612 17.6 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,634 18.0 2,063 24.8 1,855 20.0 2,082 25.6 309 Haringey 576 3.3 840 7.1 599 3.5 869 7.3 206 Islington 256 2.2 119 1.5 250 2.2 115 1.4 207 Kensington and Chelsea 4,822 46.6 2,592 45.5 5,023 47.6 2,566 45.3 208 Lambeth 1,240 7.6 489 6.0 1,148 7.0 478 5.7 209 Lewisham 645 3.6 893 6.9 634 3.6 864 6.8 316 Newham 126 0.5 163 0.9 273 1.2 243 1.3 210 Southwark 1,468 7.5 2,337 16.2 1,489 7.7 2,292 15.5 211 Tower Hamlets 203 1.2 597 4.3 220 1.3 655 4.8 212 Wandsworth 4,489 25.6 2,202 18.0 4,187 24.0 2,285 18.5 213 Westminster 2,605 23.9 2,616 26.7 2,567 23.4 2,584 26.4 Outer London 26,270 7.7 23,720 8.3 25,940 7.7 23,490 8.2 301 Barking and Dagenham 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 302 Barnet 2,296 10.1 2,353 11.9 2,334 10.2 2,361 12.2 303 Bexley 544 3.1 0 0.0 542 3.1 0 0.0 304 Brent 1,040 5.5 704 4.9 877 4.7 714 4.9 305 Bromley 1,966 8.7 1,761 8.7 1,870 8.4 1,725 8.6 306 Croydon 2,427 9.1 3,149 13.9 2,386 9.1 3,126 13.8 307 Ealing 2,339 10.4 2,167 13.5 2,223 9.9 2,093 13.1 308 Enfield 952 4.2 356 1.9 947 4.2 351 1.8 203 Greenwich 1,093 6.3 1,014 7.2 1,058 6.2 1,009 7.2 310 Harrow 1,418 8.9 2,156 16.3 1,454 9.1 2,103 16.1 311 Havering 534 3.1 173 1.1 517 3.0 181 1.2 312 Hillingdon 1,542 7.7 1,292 7.7 1,574 7.9 1,271 7.7 313 Hounslow 536 3.5 253 1.8 557 3.7 241 1.7 314 Kingston upon Thames 1,433 14.2 1,503 16.6 1,374 13.2 1,528 16.7 315 Merton 1,655 13.6 1,138 12.3 1,651 13.4 1,139 12.4 317 Redbridge 2,198 10.6 863 5.1 2,187 10.5 866 5.1 318 Richmond upon Thames 3,009 23.2 3,429 31.5 3,072 23.2 3,410 31.6 319 Sutton 805 6.3 523 3.9 803 6.3 510 3.8 320 Waltham Forest 486 2.8 884 6.1 515 3.0 864 6.0
Pupils aged 5 to 10 Pupils aged 11 to 15 Pupils aged 5 to 10 Pupils aged 11 to 15 No. %3 No. %3 No. %3 No. %3 England 200,440 5.5 233,820 7.2 199,030 5.6 232,620 7.3 London 51,120 9.5 42,730 9.9 51,740 9.6 43,150 10.0 Inner London 25,430 12.7 19,330 13.5 26,030 13.0 19,670 13.7 202 Camden 3,626 29.1 1,744 18.6 3,587 28.9 1,775 18.9 201 City of London 378 67.9 1,068 100.0 385 69.1 1,122 100.0 204 Hackney 3,197 19.0 1,430 16.1 3,298 19.5 1,453 16.6 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,792 19.5 2,081 26.2 2,147 22.5 2,137 26.9 309 Haringey 624 3.6 883 7.3 749 4.3 924 7.6 206 Islington 242 2.1 125 1.5 261 2.3 130 1.6 207 Kensington and Chelsea 5,112 48.2 2,460 44.3 5,224 48.8 2,464 44.2 208 Lambeth 1,116 6.8 461 5.3 992 6.1 461 5.2 209 Lewisham 676 3.8 899 7.1 636 3.6 873 7.0 316 Newham 316 1.4 203 1.1 406 1.7 260 1.4 210 Southwark 1,474 7.7 2,267 15.2 1,391 7.4 2,267 15.3 211 Tower Hamlets 239 1.4 735 5.3 199 1.2 762 5.4 212 Wandsworth 4,141 23.8 2,325 18.7 4,187 24.0 2,362 19.1 213 Westminster 2,497 22.8 2,653 27.2 2,569 23.2 2,683 27.4 Outer London 25,690 7.6 23,400 8.1 25,710 7.6 23,480 8.2 301 Barking and Dagenham 29 0.2 0 0.0 39 0.3 4 0.0 302 Barnet 2,369 10.4 2,383 12.3 2,452 10.8 2,388 12.4 303 Bexley 547 3.1 0 0.0 527 3.1 0 0.0 304 Brent 806 4.3 744 5.0 768 4.1 713 4.8 305 Bromley 1,817 8.2 1,593 8.0 1,820 8.3 1,557 8.0 306 Croydon 2,378 9.1 3,053 13.6 2,373 9.2 3,000 13.5 307 Ealing 2,134 9.6 2,004 12.4 2,045 9.1 1,932 11.9 308 Enfield 948 4.2 382 2.0 906 4.0 416 2.2 203 Greenwich 1,040 6.1 1,011 7.4 1,117 6.6 1,010 7.5 310 Harrow 1,413 8.9 2,105 16.1 1,401 8.9 2,127 16.2 311 Havering 512 3.1 162 1.0 491 3.0 153 1.0 312 Hillingdon 1,588 7.9 1,277 7.7 1,590 7.9 1,311 7.9 313 Hounslow 566 3.7 307 2.2 592 3.9 281 2.0 314 Kingston upon Thames 1,301 12.5 1,546 17.0 1,270 12.3 1,574 17.3 315 Merton 1,574 12.6 1,163 12.6 1,544 12.4 1,188 12.9 317 Redbridge 2,161 10.3 854 5.0 2,146 10.2 855 4.9 318 Richmond upon Thames 3,230 23.8 3,434 32.1 3,327 24.2 3,529 32.8 319 Sutton 767 6.1 488 3.6 772 6.2 529 3.8 320 Waltham Forest 514 3.0 892 6.1 525 3.0 912 6.3 1 Excludes City Technology Colleges and Academies. 2 Age as at 31 August in previous year (start of academic year). 3 Number of pupils in independent schools expressed as a percentage of number of pupils in same age group across all schools (excludes dually registered pupils). Note: National and regional totals may not appear to equal the sum of the component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Pupils: Intimidation
We have not conducted any research into the bullying of transgender pupils at school, or into children at school who have one or more transgender parents. However, we are aware of the research which Professor Stephen Whittle carried out for the Equalities Review on this issue.
Communities and Local Government
Departments: Publicity
The Department’s actual and planned spend on promotional and advertising campaigns for 2007-08 is follows:
£ (i) Television 1,500,000 (ii) Radio 305,000 (iii) Print media 5,552,080
Publicity budgets are not held centrally and the budgets for 2008-9 have not yet been agreed.
Fire Services: Quedgeley
The Gloucestershire tri-service centre will continue to house staff from all three emergency services and support tri-service working after the fire and rescue service control is moved to the South West regional control centre.. The Government are committed to creating a new national network of nine resilient regional control centres which will enhance the ability of the Fire and Rescue Service to respond to major incidents and natural disasters in a co-ordinated, efficient and effective manner, which will better protect the public. The new regional control centres will however build on the valuable lessons learnt on joint working from the tri-service pilots, including the recent experience of dealing with flooding in Gloucestershire.
Immigration: Housing
An updated estimate of the amount of household growth attributable to net migration will be part of the next major release, due in 2008, of the Department’s household projections. The household projection updates follow the rolling programme of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) population projections. The ONS is due to publish, on 23 October, the 2006-based national projections that include the assumption of long-term annual net migration into the UK of 190,000. In 2008, the ONS will publish sub-national population projections on this 2006 the base which will feed into the next major update of the household projections. These new household projections will also take account of the recent trends in household formation and of the Office for National Statistics’ latest projections of marital status and cohabitation.
Culture, Media and Sport
Big Lottery Fund
The Big Lottery Fund’s National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF) balance at 30 September 2007 was approximately £550 million.
At 30 September its outstanding ‘hard’ commitments were £1,060 million and its ‘soft’ commitments were £94 million. Its total forward commitments, therefore, exceeded its NLDF balance by about £604 million.
Cricket: Floods
(2) pursuant to the answer of 12 September 2007, Official Report, column 2140W on cricket: floods, if he will provide an update on Sport England funding to cricket clubs affected by flooding.
Funding from the National Sports Foundation, managed on behalf of the Government by Sport England, may support flood repairs for sports facilities, taking into account all proceeds from insurance cover. To date no applications of this nature have been received. In addition, Sport England’s Yorkshire and West Midlands regions are providing advice and guidance to support sports provision provided by clubs and others affected by the floods.
Departments: ICT
My Department does not record this information on a year-by-year basis. Additionally, when an individual no longer requires a piece of equipment, it is often passed to another user. Therefore, it is not possible to provide a breakdown by departmental Minister.
National Sports Foundation
The intention is for Sport England to build on the success of the National Sports Foundation, but I am not yet in a position to confirm funding allocations for sport.
Sportsmatch
The intention is for Sport England to build on the past success of Sportsmatch, but I am not yet in a position to confirm funding allocations for sport.
Defence
Armed Forces: Housing
[holding answer 8 October 2007]: Expenditure on upgrading Single Living Accommodation (SLA) to Grade 1 physical condition was not centrally collated until 2002-03. The information available is as follows:
SLAM Other SLA Total 2002-03 1.0 24.2 25.2 2003-04 67.7 63.8 131.5 2004-05 120.9 166.1 287.0 2005-06 151.0 62.0 213.0 2006-07 131.1 100.7 231.8
The figures for 2002-03 represent only part of the expenditure in that year and the beginning of specific recording of such expenditure.
Expenditure for earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
[holding answer 8 October 2007]: The former Defence Housing Executive (DHE) was responsible for the maintenance and new build of housing in Great Britain until 2004 after which the responsibility passed to Defence Estates (DE). The DHE only published agency accounts from 2001-02. The information available from this source and DE is as follows:
Capital Other Total 2001-02 25.3 n/a 25.3 2002-03 25.5 n/a 25.5 2003-04 25.2 8.3 35.5 2004-05 12.1 6.0 18.1 2005-06 28.0 4.4 32.4 2006-07 3.9 12.5 16.4
The maintenance and investment in service families accommodation overseas and in Northern Ireland is carried out by the respective budget holders. It is therefore held separately and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
During the period from 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2007 this Department upgraded around 15,000 houses in Great Britain to Standard One for Condition.
Departments: BAe Systems
My answer given on 5 July 2007, Official Report, column 1132W, noted that the figures had been compiled from manual historic records and that it was therefore possible that some cases might not be included in the figures. Further research of records allowed my answer of 3 September 2007, Official Report, column 1617W, to give a fuller picture of the applications in each year.
Departments: Publicity
Not all the information is held in the format requested.
The projected spending on recruit advertising and marketing campaigns for the armed forces for financial year (FY) 2007-08 is detailed in the following table. It should be noted that these figures take no account of departmental public relations activities or Veterans awareness campaigns.
Television Radio Print media Total Naval Service 2.600 0.020 0.450 3.070 Army 9.403 0.800 1.100 11.303 RAF 2.748 0.336 0.589 3.673
Figures for FY 2008-09 are not yet available as the services are in the process of preparing budget requirements for next year, and details will not be confirmed until March 2008.
The projected spending for MOD civilian advertising and promotional campaigns organised centrally for FY 2007-08 is £1.1 million, and for FY 2008-09 it is £1.5 million. It is not possible to break down these costs further.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
The MOD collates statistics of personnel evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) located at University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust (UHBFT) which is the main receiving hospital trust for service personnel who are medically evacuated from overseas. In the period 1 April until 30 September 2007 RCDM had admitted 197 UK service patients from Iraq and 222 UK service patients from Afghanistan to UHBFT and other NHS hospitals in the Birmingham area. The figures relate to patients aeromedically evacuated from theatre as a result of battle injuries, non-battle injuries and disease. They do not include patients being reviewed or returning for further surgery following earlier treatment in the UK. The breakdown of these figures is set out as follows:
Iraq Afghanistan Battle field injuries 88 111 Non-battle field injuries 70 59 Disease 39 52 Total 197 222
Other less seriously injured patients may be seen at other NHS facilities, but no central records are held and accurate information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, on average, the total number of military in-patients in NHS hospitals across the UK is, typically, about 60 to 75 for all illnesses and injuries, however sustained.
The MOD does not normally use the NHS for treatment of psychological injuries. Military patients suffering from psychological injuries are treated either by mental health professionals deployed in theatre or at one of 15 MOD Military Departments of Community Mental Health or, for those requiring in-patient treatment, at private facilities under contract from the Priory Group.
I have nothing to add to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in response to the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) on 8 October 2007, Official Report, column 27.
Duchy of Lancaster
Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers
Gila Sacks is a permanent civil servant.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Birds: Smuggling
[holding answer 10 October 2007]: DEFRA officials hold regular discussions, on this and a range of other issues, with colleagues in the EU.
Eggs: EC Action
[holding answer 10 October 2007]: DEFRA officials hold regular discussions, on this and a range of other issues, with stakeholders and colleagues in the EU.
Energy: Conservation
Government policy to support and incentivise increased local authority action on climate change is outlined in the 2006 UK Climate Change Programme and the 2006 Local Government White Paper. In addition, the Government have undertaken a review of the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 (HECA) to assess its success in delivering improvements in energy efficiency in the household sector over the last 10 years. DEFRA has published its review and is seeking the views of stakeholders on its findings and options for the future of the HECA.
Paper: Waste Disposal
The Government’s “Waste Strategy for England 2007” set a new national target for reducing the amount of household waste not reused, recycled or composted, and increased national targets for the percentage of household waste recycled and composted. It also set a target for the amount of municipal waste recovered.
Local authorities also have limits on the amount of biodegradable municipal waste, including waste paper, that they may collectively landfill.
The Waste and Resources and Action Programme (WRAP) works closely with local authorities to provide advice on recycling practice, including paper and other recyclates.
In addition, the British Standards Institution, working jointly with WRAP, the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee, the Confederation of Paper Industries, and the Environmental Services Association, has created a Publicly Available Specification (BSI PAS 105) entitled “Recovered Paper Sourcing and Quality for UK End Markets”. Published in July 2007, this is designed to boost the market for recovered paper by improving standards of production, and increasing confidence and understanding between local authorities, reprocessors, and potential end users.
A copy of BSI PAS 105 has been sent to every local authority in the UK. It will also be placed in the Library of the House.
Pirbright Laboratory: Inspections
During the last five years, the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) in Pirbright was inspected by DEFRA in November 2003, August 2004, September 2005 and December 2006. Inspections were carried out by senior DEFRA veterinarians with specialist knowledge of laboratory containment, exotic animal diseases and the requirements for licensing laboratories under the Specified Animal Pathogens Order (SAPO) 1998. The inspections were designed to provide an overview of general biosecurity, and to focus on new or refurbished areas, particular areas where changes are proposed or areas where particular biosecurity issues had been identified. Where any particular biosecurity issues were identified, the laboratory was required to submit action plans addressing the issues identified and, once they were agreed, implement them. These action plans addressed minor issues including management and personnel, site security, ventilation, waste handling, storage of pathogens and documentation. The progress of these plans was closely monitored. No major biosecurity issues were identified during the inspections.
At IAH Compton, DEFRA works with other enforcement authorities and liaison with these authorities ensures that DEFRA is aware of any significant issues. We are aware that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has undertaken two inspections at IAH Compton this year, one of which resulted in an improvement notice for the ventilation system. Reports from inspections at Compton, undertaken by DEFRA during the last five years, are not held centrally. I have asked officials to gather the information and I will write to the hon. Member when it is available. I will also arrange for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
DEFRA was not notified of any issues in relation to flooding at either site which resulted in the deliberate or accidental release of hazardous waste. A HSE-led investigation into potential breaches of biosecurity at Pirbright following the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Surrey, included an assessment of the potential role of flooding in the release of the live virus. This report is available from the DEFRA website and the Libraries of the House.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
African Union: EU External Relations
[holding answer 17 September 2007]: The EU Presidency has not yet confirmed when invitations to the EU-Africa Summit will be issued.
Our policy on the attendance of President Mugabe has been made clear to the Presidency and to our European and African partners. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has publicly stated that he will not attend the summit if President Mugabe goes. We believe the EU-Africa summit can and should deliver progress on peace and security, growth, development, governance, climate change and the Millennium Development Goals. If President Mugabe were to attend, his presence would overshadow the summit, undermining the substantive business and dominating the media profile of the event. We are working with the Presidency and African partners to find an alternative solution.
British Overseas Territories
It is the responsibility of overseas territories Governments to provide and maintain accommodation for Governors. However, depending on local circumstances, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) pays for some maintenance and other costs, e.g. FCO required security enhancements. The approximate average annual running costs falling to the FCO for governors’ residences in each territory are listed in the following table:
Territory Rent Other running costs Staffing Entertainment and hospitality Anguilla 0 31,557 6,000 14,610 Bermuda 0 0 0 0 British Virgin Islands 0 23,500 11,833 19,390 Cayman Islands 0 0 0 0 Falkland Islands 0 6,400 1,000 25,036 Gibraltar 0 211,500 300,000 22,000 Montserrat 0 31,571 5,710 29,861 Pitcairn Island (Governor resides in Wellington) 0 0 0 0 St. Helena 0 0 0 0 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 0 0 37,951
The UK's objective is to see the six core UN Human Rights Conventions and the European Convention on Human Rights extended to the populated Overseas Territories (OTs) We recognise that in some cases OTs have to implement or amend legislation before the extension of some of these Conventions can take place, which takes time. But it is important that the OTs are able to comply with the obligations under the relevant Human Rights Conventions once they have been extended to them. Listed in the table are the conventions and the Territories they apply to so far.
Treaty Anguilla Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Gibraltar International Convention on Civil and Political Rights — Yes Yes Yes Yes International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights — Yes Yes Yes Yes Convention Against Torture Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Convention on the Rights of the Child Yes Yes Yes Yes — Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women — — Yes — — Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes European Convention on Human Rights1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Treaty Falkland Islands Montserrat St. Helena Pitcairn Turks and Caicos Islands International Convention on Civil and Political Rights Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Convention Against Torture Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Convention on the Rights of the Child Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Yes — — — Yes Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes European Convention on Human Rights Yes Yes Yes — Yes 1 The right of individual petition under the European Convention on Human Rights was accepted on a permanent basis for the following Territories from 14 January 2006: Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and was renewed for a period of five years from 14 January 2006 for: Anguilla, Bermuda, Montserrat, St. Helena, and St. Helena Dependencies. It was accepted for a period of five years from 14 January 2006 for the Turks and Caicos Islands, and on a permanent basis for the Cayman Islands from 21 February 2006.
Democratic Republic of Congo: Primates
Officials from our Embassy in Kinshasa lobbied the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Government in August on their duty and international obligations to protect all their wildlife., including mountain gorillas. We have also reminded the DRC authorities that wildlife populations bring sustainable development and economic benefits, especially for establishing a viable tourist industry. My hon. Friend the then Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for South Dorset (Jim Knight) lobbied the Congolese Minister of the Environment on the need to protect vulnerable species during his visit to DRC in 2005.
We are urging the DRC Government to do more to control the activities of the militia groups that are reportedly killing wild animals including gorillas in eastern DRC. We will continue to monitor the situation and raise with the DRC Government their duty to protect all forms of wildlife.
Departments: Training
During the last 12 months £8,834,098 was spent by the human resources directorate in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on staff training. These are direct training costs only.
Policy and technical training provided by other FCO Directorates, individual home departments and overseas posts has not been included because collating this information would incur disproportionate cost.
During the last 12 months £222,594 was spent by the human resources directorate on written and oral communications training.
This figure does not include media, press and public affairs training, for which a budget of £225,000 has been allocated for this financial year (FY) and approximately £200,000 was spent in FY 2006-07. Nor does it include training provided by individual overseas posts or home departments and directorates because collating this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Diego Garcia: Rendition
Under the 1966 Exchange of Notes between the US and UK, of non-US and non-UK nationals who are not serving members of the US military cannot be detained without notification to the Government.
There is no US facility for foreign detainees on Diego Garcia. The only civilian detention centre is at the small UK-run police station.
The US authorities have repeatedly given us assurances that no detainees, prisoners of war or any other persons in this category are being held on Diego Garcia, or have at any time passed in transit through Diego Garcia or its territorial waters or airspace. This was most recently confirmed during the 2007 US/UK Political Military Talks held in Washington on 11 and 13 September.
The Government co-operated fully with the Council of Europe’s inquiry last year, together with an inquiry on similar issues by the European Parliament. At that time the Government explained that we had carried out extensive searches of official records and found no evidence of detainees being rendered through the UK, or Overseas Territories, since 1997, where there were substantial grounds to believe there was a real risk of torture.
EU Reform Treaty
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to him during Foreign and Commonwealth Office oral questions on 9 October 2007, Official Report, column 159.
European Commission: Information Officers
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold the information requested.
Further information may be available by contacting the European Commission’s Representation in the UK at the following address:
European Commission Representation in the UK
8 Storey’s Gate
London
SW1P 3AT
Malawi: Politics and Government
The right hon. Jack McConnell’s appointment by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister as the next high commissioner to Malawi is in line with the Government’s policy of recruiting appropriate skills and experience from all areas of public life. His experience and skills make him well qualified for the job.
There have been a number of such appointments made by successive Governments.
Members: Correspondence
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's ministerial support unit telephoned my right hon. Friend's office at the House on 20 August to request that his letter of 6 August be sent again, as the enclosures referred to in this letter were missing. A further letter was not received.
Officials from UKvisas subsequently telephoned my right hon. Friend's office on 9 October to confirm that Mr. M. K. J. Iqbal’s wife had successfully appealed against her refused visa application, which was overturned on 20 September. It was agreed that a written reply would not be necessary.
Royal Visits
(2) what official visits are planned for Her Majesty the Queen to countries where Her Majesty is Head of State in the next 12 months; what estimated proportion of the costs of each visit will be met from (a) United Kingdom funds and (b) host country funds; and if he will make a statement.
It is not the practice to announce royal visits until they are firm and all parties concerned have agreed that they can proceed.
Health
Chlamydia Infection: Screening
As of 30 June 2007, the screening programme has been successfully rolled out to 64 per cent. of primary care trusts (PCTs). The vast majority of the remaining PCTs have active plans in place and have started recruiting staff to begin screening by the end of December 2007. At the end of June, the PCTs that have not indicated a start date to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) are given in the following list.
List of PCTs where plans to commence screening by the end of December 2007 have not been submitted to the HPA.
Devon
Havering
Hillingdon
Sandwell
Source:
National Chlamydia Screening programme as of 30 June 2007.
Doctors: Career Structure
The report of the Douglas review on modernising medical careers including annexes and appendices was placed in the Library on 6 August. A copy was posted to the hon. Member for Worthing, West on 10 October 2007.
Further copies can be made available to hon. Members via the vote office.
Health Services: Overseas Visitors
[holding answer 10 September 2007]: The national health service bodies that took part in the project which resulted in the internal report in question did so on the understanding that the document was an informal piece of work for the Department, and that their anonymity would be guaranteed. Several of the NHS trusts involved have specifically asked for that anonymity to be maintained. That being the case, it would be inappropriate to release details of any of the NHS bodies involved.
Influenza
Standard infection control procedures are in place that follow current Ambulance Service Association guidelines for decontaminating ambulances, with stringent cleaning procedures between patients, such as washing and wiping down areas and surfaces within the ambulance that have been in contact with the patient with detergent or alcohol spray. Single-use equipment and clinical waste would be disposed of in accordance with current procedures.
As announced by the Department on 16 August 2007, advanced supply contracts have been put in place with two companies, Baxter Healthcare and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The contracts allow the United Kingdom to purchase up to 120 million doses of pandemic specific vaccine should a pandemic occur. The exact number of doses will be determined by the strength of the virus and its impact on the population, which will only be known once the virus has emerged. Pandemic specific vaccines will be manufactured at Baxter Healthcare's facilities in Austria and the Czech Republic, and at GSK's site in Germany.
Influenza: Disease Control
The national framework for responding to an influenza pandemic and the supporting guidance are due to be published in the autumn.
Home Department
Animal Experiments
A reply was sent to Mr. Menache by email on 19 September 2007.
In 2005 the food additives tested were flavourings, colorants and plant extracts. In 2006 they included dietary supplements, stabilisers, sweeteners, colorants and flavouring agents. All of the work in both years was conducted to fulfil regulatory requirements. Changes from year to year depend on the requirements of industry and the regulators concerned with the safety of the products. All the “other foodstuff” testing in 2005 and 2006 was conducted to fulfil regulatory safety requirements mainly for marine biotoxins testing. Part of the increase in procedures in 2006 involved validation of a non-animal alternative for pre-screening for marine biotoxins testing as a result of which it is likely that live animal use for these purposes will begin to fall in 2007.
Domestic Violence: Entry Clearances
Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) on the grounds of domestic violence (DV) was brought within the rules on 18 December 2002. During the period 18 December 2002 to 30 September 2007 1,0431 applications were granted and 2,1011 refused.
Data are provisional management information (MI) produced by the Border and Immigration Agency. They are not National Statistics.
1 Data do not include dependants.
The average time for determination of applications for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) on the grounds of domestic violence (DV), decided between 18 December 2002 and 30 September 2007, was 61 days. This is provisional management information (MI) produced by the Border and Immigration Agency. It is not a National Statistic.
Emergency Calls
I have been asked to reply.
Operational issues relating to the 999 service fall to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Officials from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform played an active role in the response by the Telecoms industry to the flooding during the summer. I followed the situation closely and met representatives of the telecommunications industry and some of the businesses affected by the floods. One of the key objectives of the telecoms industry response was to maintain the 999 service and the availability of the service to the public was not seriously affected by the conditions. The situation did lead to increased demand on the service and the emergency services were pressed in handling this increased number of calls.
Foreign Workers: Romania
The Government are carrying out a stock-take of the restrictions on workers from Romania and Bulgaria, and have committed themselves to making an announcement within 12 months of their coming into effect.
Genetics: Databases
The number of profiles relating to individuals added to the database each month for all police forces since its foundation in 1995 is shown in the following table.
A certain number of profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates, i.e. a profile for a person has been loaded on more than one occasion (one reason for this is that the person gave different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests). At present the replication rate is 13.7 per cent., i.e. the number of people whose details are loaded is 13.7 per cent. fewer than the number of profiles. However, as the replication rate has varied over time, an exact figure for the number of people who have been added to the database in each month since 1995 cannot be given.
The National DNA Database records the DNA profile for a particular individual. It does not hold data on arrest and criminal records. This information is held on the Police National Computer. To produce figures for the category of offence in relation to which the DNA sample was taken would require cross-searching of PNC and the NDNAD, which could be done only at disproportionate cost.
For the same reason, it is not possible to give precise figures for the stage in the criminal justice system at which someone had a DNA sample taken. However, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, the police have the power to take DNA and fingerprints from anyone arrested for a recordable offence and detained in a police station, and retain them indefinitely; and taking a DNA sample is now a normal part of handling of arrested persons in the custody suite. So it is expected that in most cases the sample would have been taken when the person was being dealt with in the custody suite after arrest.
Profiles loaded Subject 1995-96 April 0 May 148 June 3,205 July 1,872 August 1,057 September 635 October 4,035 November 3,551 December 2,196 January 5,752 February 6,257 March 4,899 Total 33,607 1996-97 April 4,433 May 5,482 June 4,641 July 5,370 August 4,075 September 6,426 October 8,398 November 8,939 December 5,334 January 9,316 February 9,554 March 8,470 Total 80,438 1997-98 April 7,740 May 10,310 June 10,444 July 11,692 August 9,491 September 10,570 October 10,698 November 10,617 December 9,017 January 9,175 February 11,208 March 18,819 Total 129,781 1998-99 April 14,272 May 13,428 June 12,527 July 15,021 August 18,339 September 23,747 October 24,676 November 23,032 December 24,609 January 35,772 February 28,752 March 22,255 Total 256,430 1999-2000 April 15,754 May 18,380 June 15,057 July 16,400 August 17,343 September 15,662 October 17,510 November 16,976 December 12,680 January 18,698 February 25,161 March 30,108 Total 219,729 2000-01 April 19,857 May 25,579 June 30,168 July 32,212 August 34,682 September 34,115 October 35,125 November 34,626 December 28,393 January 37,699 February 37,785 March 46,319 Total 396,560 20001-02 April 34,632 May 30,051 June 34,128 July 35,774 August 34,320 September 42,856 October 49,164 November 50,217 December 44,651 January 55,046 February 53,328 March 39,829 Total 503,996 2002-03 April 42,149 May 51,857 June 33,909 July 44,801 August 42,251 September 38,847 October 39,792 November 38,055 December 35,536 January 40,086 February 35,039 March 46,197 Total 488,519 2003-04 April 33,322 May 38,871 June 37,856 July 45,359 August 38,375 September 36,603 October 38,108 November 35,069 December 33,149 January 39,335 February 42,220 March 57,030 Total 475,297 2004-05 April 36,877 May 32,507 June 42,825 July 43,291 August 49,153 September 31,832 October 48,573 November 49,035 December 48,064 January 44,039 February 45,926 March 48,996 Total 521,118 2005-06 April 50,577 May 52,704 June 53,404 July 50,578 August 54,437 September 64,118 October 61,915 November 67,869 December 55,152 January 63,246 February 70,878 March 70,267 Total 715,145 2006-07 April 49,407 May 70,413 June 55,778 July 66,370 August 78,647 September 64,478 October 59,470 November 63,636 December 48,701 January 55,135 February 54,461 March 55,968 Total 722,464 207-08 April 50,077 May 54,718 June 49,701 July 55,273 August 49,025 September 48,632 Total 307,426
It is understood that this question refers to the number of samples taken from crime scenes added to the National DNA Database, since a separate question has been asked on the number of people added. The number of crime scene samples added each month for all police forces since the foundation of the Database in 1995 is shown in the attached table. Crime scene samples are not normally retained on the Database once the crime from which they were taken has been solved. Therefore the number of such samples currently on the database is less than the total number that have been loaded since 1995.
Profiles loaded Scene 1995-96 April 0 May 0 June 0 July 0 August 74 September 102 October 226 November 131 December 188 January 173 February 410 March 628 Total 1,932 1996-97 April 673 May 583 June 421 July 198 August 60 September 91 October 244 November 455 December 444 January 543 February 435 March 1,046 Total 5,193 1997-98 April 1,236 May 908 June 1257 July 1,449 August 1,327 September 1,545 October 1,019 November 600 December 922 January 818 February 1,022 March 1,067 Total 1,3170 1998-99 April 715 May 642 June 823 July 763 August 958 September 1,396 October 1,153 November 1,376 December 1,621 January 1,342 February 1,339 March 1,359 Total 1,3487 1999-2000 April 731 May 984 June 1331 July 1390 August 1478 September 1961 October 1596 November 1795 December 1394 January 1597 February 2056 March 2038 Total 18351 2000-01 April 1,659 May 2,005 June 2,317 July 2,316 August 2,612 September 2,589 October 2,391 November 2,601 December 2,264 January 2,562 February 2,587 March 3,105 Total 29,008 2001-02 April 2,480 May 2,723 June 2,887 July 2,871 August 3,123 September 3,223 October 3,534 November 4,094 December 3,327 January 3,836 February 3,841 March 5,280 Total 41,219 2002-03 April 4294 May 5501 June 4139 July 6144 August 4476 September 4263 October 5465 November 6245 December 4910 January 5121 February 4988 March 5885 Total 61431 2003-04 April 4,793 May 4,840 June 5,449 July 5,327 August 4,365 September 5,437 October 5,664 November 4,127 December 4,401 January 4,827 February 5,210 March 5,786 Total 6,0226 2004-05 April 4,673 May 4,492 June 5,290 July 4,821 August 4,509 September 4,478 October 4,931 November 4,921 December 4,762 January 5,286 February 5,442 March 5,642 Total 59,247 2005-06 April 5,217 May 1,0719 June 6,884 July 5,097 August 5,153 September 5,646 October 5,173 November 5,309 December 3,965 January 5,481 February 4,966 March 5,164 Total 68,774 2006-07 April 4,637 May 4,926 June 4,793 July 4,871 August 4,663 September 4,647 October 4,716 November 4,503 December 3,715 January 4,756 February 4,407 March 4,583 Total 55,217 2007 April 4,643 May 4,430 June 4,325 July 4,282 August 4,388 September 4,256 Total 2,6324
A non-convicted individual’s DNA record will be accessed by the police only if it matches a record subsequently loaded from a crime scene or another individual.
The purpose of the National DNA Database (NDNAD) is to hold a record of a person’s DNA which can be matched against DNA taken from crime scenes. The database can also match DNA taken from different crime scenes. The police do not have direct access to the records on the database, and receive reports on people on it only if their DNA matches DNA from a crime scene. This is true both for those convicted of a crime and those not convicted. Matches between two apparently different individuals may also occur. The usual reason is that a profile for a person has been loaded on more than one occasion (one reason for this is that the person gave different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests).
There may be an innocent explanation for someone’s presence at a crime scene, so a match report is simply a piece of intelligence leading to further inquiries. If a match between DNA from a crime scene and DNA from an individual is found, a report of the match is sent to the police forces which loaded the crime scene data and the individual data, to make further inquiries.
The national DNA database (NDNAD) records the DNA profile for a particular individual. It does not hold data on arrest and criminal records. This information is held on the police national computer (PNC). Obtaining the information sought would require cross searching of records held on the PNC against the NDNAD, which could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Imports: Primates
Nafovanny is currently acceptable to the Home Office as a source of non-human primates for use in regulated procedures in the UK. The acceptance is valid until 31 August 2008. All overseas breeding centres wishing to supply non-human primates to the UK for scientific use are subject to periodic review and visits by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate to ensure that standards of animal care and accommodation meet acceptable standards.
Details of non-human primates acquired from EU member states for use by designated establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in 2005 and 2006 are shown in the following table. Authority to import animals is granted by DEFRA.
Source 2005 2006 Germany 36 0 France 37 0 Netherlands 14 92 All other member states 0 0 Totals 87 92
Personation
Identity theft and the fraudulent use of identity details is an extremely serious issue, and in 2003, we set up a public-private sector work programme to tackle all aspects of this problem.
Since this time, we have strengthened legislation and introduced tougher criminal penalties, provided more powers to share data to combat fraud, sought to ensure better co-ordination in prosecuting fraudsters, and worked extensively to raise public awareness of this issue. Our plans for a National Identity Scheme will provide people with a highly secure means of protecting their identity and help citizens to prove their identities easily, quickly, simply and with vastly improved security.
The range of activities that we are undertaking are vital if we are to protect ourselves from the misuse of identity through organised crime, illegal immigration and working, and fraudulent access to public services.
Police: Firearms
The information is not available centrally in the form requested. The number of police operations in which firearms were authorised to be used in each force area in the last 10 years, and the overall number of incidents where a conventional firearm was used, are shown in the following tables.
1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Total 12,379 11,842 10,928 10,915 11,109 13,991 14,827 16,657 15,981 18,891 Avon and Somerset 312 139 88 90 65 195 262 311 333 247 Bedfordshire 345 323 260 190 294 237 301 442 475 575 Cambridgeshire 54 96 43 75 71 114 57 104 241 201 Cheshire 288 216 299 386 545 419 451 397 358 367 Cleveland 1,026 103 35 76 28 37 170 453 530 657 City of London 308 307 147 125 3 40 131 364 404 323 Cumbria 72 68 52 24 30 71 77 72 152 112 Derbyshire 109 147 176 178 167 275 401 369 287 305 Devon and Cornwall 160 133 61 65 151 101 96 112 71 84 Dorset 36 54 69 79 174 184 193 231 223 263 Durham 131 103 114 114 40 89 83 156 144 291 Essex 331 505 590 497 435 323 312 275 296 432 Gloucestershire 41 51 52 52 48 165 185 127 176 229 Greater Manchester 214 165 160 224 357 580 518 507 461 478 Hampshire 245 217 129 103 114 198 162 208 237 289 Hertfordshire 96 82 75 73 86 112 172 195 185 187 Humberside 291 472 317 193 158 297 187 183 206 362 Kent 236 423 92 85 83 115 137 207 163 219 Lancashire 333 338 616 267 242 232 238 318 241 240 Leicestershire 155 89 109 222 217 300 268 295 260 363 Lincolnshire 58 52 57 155 336 477 392 386 294 220 Merseyside 671 675 484 489 825 1,020 628 751 733 669 Metropolitan 2,439 2,578 2,742 2,862 1,862 2,447 3,199 3,563 2,964 4,711 Norfolk 166 128 185 239 226 175 200 178 195 175 Northamptonshire 64 77 51 57 58 43 138 148 158 137 Northumbria 1,360 823 683 465 708 1,440 1,275 1,140 977 611 North Yorkshire 65 102 69 612 72 92 100 147 185 183 Nottinghamshire 84 306 266 255 233 384 452 459 408 394 South Yorkshire 155 302 135 237 127 258 463 484 546 749 Staffordshire 257 240 209 174 203 232 281 255 216 171 Suffolk 180 193 174 165 176 163 270 251 153 202 Surrey 133 87 60 143 221 245 247 203 151 222 Sussex 235 330 123 185 353 248 204 280 187 190 Thames Valley 215 227 158 110 153 179 167 195 289 427 Warwickshire 97 152 291 194 233 130 149 164 124 180 West Mercia 106 132 130 110 36 117 91 197 162 122 West Midlands 270 227 305 362 485 822 902 1,377 1,264 1,044 West Yorkshire 617 630 662 813 822 757 604 575 853 1,335 Wiltshire 26 26 24 19 66 45 58 63 88 139 Dyfed Powys 17 27 38 37 18 28 29 28 51 63 Gwent 89 86 64 39 30 20 37 40 81 94 North Wales 233 310 386 371 195 302 259 197 223 350 South Wales 59 101 148 255 363 283 281 250 236 279
1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Incidents 5 3 5 7 9 11 10 4 5 9 Percentage of incidents compared with number of authorised operations 0.040 0.025 0.046 0.064 0.0 81 0.079 0.067 0.024 0.031 0.048
Work Permits
Since the dismantling of embarkation controls no Government of the United Kingdom have been able to say with accuracy how many irregular migrants are present in the country, and this remains the case.
On 7 March 2007 the Border and Immigration Agency published its enforcement strategy “Enforcing the Rules”. This strategy sets out how the Border and Immigration Agency intends to make it increasingly difficult for individuals to continue to reside in the UK when they have no lawful basis to do so. Copies of the document are in the Libraries of both Houses. It is also available to view at:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/6353/aboutus/enforcementstrategy.pdf
House of Commons Commission
Constituencies: Telephones
I have been asked to reply.
Members have a choice whether to ask the Department of Finance and Administration to settle constituency telephone accounts, including those for BT, or to pay them direct and reclaim the expenditure. In 2006-07 some 365 hon. Members had one or more accounts settled by the Department of Finance and Administration each of which would in future incur the new quarterly charge. On this basis the annual cost of the imposition of the charge of £4.50 is estimated to be approximately £20,000.
Departments: General Elections
Following the 2005 general election, the House authorities put in place revised arrangements for any future election. In bringing these arrangements to a higher state of readiness for the possibility of an autumn election a number of planning and other meetings were held. The cost of these was the staff time involved. This was not recorded.
Expenditure was incurred on the following:
£ Printing of revised dissolution arrangements 115 Bringing a guidebook for new Members of Parliament to a publication-ready state 4,500
It is planned to use both these documents at the next election whenever it occurs.
Coincidentally, in early October, the House authorities set up part of the temporary accommodation which is planned to be used by new Members immediately after an election. This activity had been scheduled for several months as a test of part of the post-election arrangements. The cost was £6,085.
International Development
Democratic Republic of Congo: Minerals
(2) what representations his Department has made to the Congolese Government in relation to the participation of civil society and parliament in the review process for mineral concessions and contracts in Democratic Republic of Congo.
DFID and the FCO have raised concerns about the transparency of the review of mineral concessions with the relevant DRC authorities on numerous occasions. My colleague, Baroness Vadera, raised the mining review with the Vice-Minister of Mines during her recent visit to Kinshasa, and underlined the importance of transparency. We are not directly involved in the work of the DRC Government Commission which is undertaking the mining review, but fully recognise its importance for the future of the minerals sector. The review is vital for public confidence in DRC and investor confidence globally. While we believe that it is for the DRC Government to decide who should be involved in the review process, we will continue to use our channels with government, the private sector and civil society to push for the commission to carry out its work in the most transparent way possible.
Developing Countries
The Department for International Development (DFID) set out what the UK Government will do to reduce world poverty over the next five years in DFID's White Paper: Making governance work for the poor http://www.dfid.gov.uk/wp2006/ for both low income countries (LICs) and middle income countries (MICs).
DFID's commitment to MICs can be found in more detail in the middle income countries strategy 2005-2008
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/achievingmdgmidincome.pdf
Under DFID's public service agreement (PSA) 2005-2008 the Department planned to allocate 90 per cent. of its bilateral programme to LICs to support them in reaching the millennium development goals (MDGs). DFID is meeting its objective.
International Assistance
Progress on all Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is measured annually by a set of indicators produced by the United Nations (UN). DFID draws on these data to monitor progress on all MDG targets and sub-targets, including progress on malnutrition rates.
Justice
Burglary and Drugs: Suffolk
(2) what proportion of those convicted for supplying illegal drugs in Suffolk were given a custodial sentence in each of the last 10 years.
The information requested is in the following table. It relates to persons sentenced in Suffolk. However, it is not possible to say from statistics held centrally how many of the offences were committed in Suffolk.
2006 data will be available towards the end of the year.
Percentage Offence Burglary (residential and non-residential) Supplying illegal drugs2 Total sentenced Total sentenced immediate custody Proportion given immediate custody Total sentenced Total sentenced immediate custody Proportion given immediate custody 1995 350 95 27.1 28 11 39.3 1996 319 122 38.2 45 26 57.8 1997 310 119 38.4 27 17 63.0 1998 311 115 37.0 52 29 55.8 1999 271 123 45.4 36 18 50.0 2000 239 111 46.4 30 15 50.0 2001 210 96 45.7 21 13 61.9 2002 235 89 37.9 14 4 28.6 2003 250 96 38.4 27 15 55.6 2004 260 88 33.8 47 38 80.9 2005 248 89 35.9 45 25 55.6 1 Principal offence basis. 2 Limited to the offence of supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug. 3 Sentenced in Suffolk but offence not necessarily committed in Suffolk. Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: RDS-NOMS, Ministry of Justice
Departments: ICT
If laptops are allocated to Ministers, they are usually from a central pool held within the Ministry’s central IT Department, and are returned to the pool when no longer required for re-allocation.
There were no purchases of laptops, mobile telephones or personal digital assistant devices for new Ministers following the Cabinet reshuffle earlier this year. Information prior to the latest reshuffle is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Driving Offences
(2) how many people (a) over and (b) under the age of 25 who did not hold a full UK driving licence were convicted of dangerous driving offences in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the north-east and (iv) the UK in each year since 1997.
Information held centrally by my Department on convictions for motoring offences does not identify whether the offender held a UK or other driving licence (full or provisional). Possession of a licence can only be inferred through the nature of specific offences such as driving while disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence, or failing to produce a driving licence. Information is available at police force area level only.
Driving Offences: Mobile Phones
New penalties for using a hand-held mobile phone while driving and for failing to have proper control of a vehicle came into effect on 27 February 2007.
2007 data will not be available until 2009.
Driving Offences: Speed Limits
Available information taken from the fixed penalty notices collection and the Court Proceedings Database held by my Department, from 2000 to 2004 (latest available), is provided in the following tables.
2005 data will be available later this year.
Thousand Fixed penalty notices issued 2000 989 2001 1,233 2002 1,505 2003 2,078 2004 1,924 1 Endorsements on driving licences given out by the police (fixed penalty notices). 2 Including speeding offences detected by camera.
Number of offences (Thousand) Total findings of guilt Endorsements without disqualification 2000 141 126 2001 136 116 2002 125 106 2003 140 119 2004 143 126 1 Excludes penalty points given under section 35 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 (totting up system). 2 Including speeding offences detected by camera. Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. 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 police forces and the courts. 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.
Driving: Licences
Available information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by my Department, from 2000 to 2004 (latest available), is provided in the following table.
2005 data will be available later this year.
Number of persons 2000 33,600 2001 30,100 2002 30,500 2003 33,300 2004 30,900 1 Disqualifications under section 35 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988. Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system being implemented by the Ministry of Justice reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. 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. 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.
Fixed Penalties: Cycling
Information on the number of fixed penalty notices issued to cyclists found cycling (a) on the pavement, (b) in the dark without lights and (c) through red traffic lights is not held by my Department.
Immigration: Judges
In each calendar year since 2005, the number of fee-paid immigration judges appointed by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) and the total number of sitting days for those judges are in the following table.
New fee paid judges appointed Sittings 2005 0 n/a 2006 135 2468.5 2007 3 31
Members: Correspondence
The hon. Member’s letter was transferred to my Department on 17 August, as I have ministerial responsibility for prisons. I wrote to the hon. Member on 10 October. I apologise for the delay.
Prison Accommodation: Cardiff
We have paid our contractors a total of £26,324.32 (excluding VAT) this year in respect of cells at Cardiff Crown court.
Costs for June and July were £22,814.41 and £3,509.91 respectively.
Prison Service: Strikes
Additional payments were made to some prison staff who worked through the Prison Officers Association strike on 29 August 2007. These payments were made in line with the Prison Service performance recognition scheme which allows managers to award a special bonus payment as an exceptional measure to give prompt and tangible recognition to staff who have given an outstanding performance.
Vehicle Number Plates
Information collected centrally on the Court Proceedings Database held by my Department does not separately identify offences involving the use or supply of fraudulent vehicle registration marks.
Leader of the House
Departments: Railways
The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons spent £242.20 on first class train travel in the last 12 months.
Departments: ICT
Following a Machinery of Government change, information prior to 2006-07 is available only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Press
Following a Machinery of Government change, detailed information on expenditure incurred in the 2006-07 financial year is available only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Serials
The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons subscribes to The New Statesman, The Spectator, Tribune, The Economist and Prospect.
Departments: Taxis
Following a Machinery of Government change, detailed information on expenditure incurred in the 2006-07 financial year is available only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Training
The office of the Leader of the House of Commons spent £9,000 on training in the last 12 months. It is not possible to disaggregate this by subject.
Home Affairs Committee
(2) how much was paid to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee for the undertaking of that role between 26 July and 8 October.
The work programme for Select Committees of the House is a matter for the individual Committees. Information on the activities of each Committee is available from the Select Committee calendar and current inquiries list (available on the Parliament website) on individual Committee websites. For additional information the hon. Member should write to the Chairman of the Committee concerned.
The Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee was paid £2,749.68 (gross) during the period 26 July to 8 October.
Prime Minister
Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers
I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to my answer given to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) today.
UK Youth Parliament
I have been asked to reply.
On 3 July 2007, the Prime Minister proposed inviting the UK Youth Parliament to meet in the Commons. As the Prime Minister said in his statement, this is principally a matter for the Speaker and my right hon. and learned Friend the Leader of the House has been liaising with the Speaker on how best to take this forward.
Transport
Airports: Security
The UK national aviation security programme states that airports, airlines, in-flight caterers and listed air cargo agents report to the Department for Transport any act of unlawful interference or occurrence that may affect the security of civil aviation within their spheres of operation. It would be inappropriate to comment on the number of security alerts at UK airports.
Cars
[pursuant to the reply, 8 October 2007, Official Report, c. 84W]: I should like to make clear that it is the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) that is responsible for the pre-transmission examination and clearance of television advertisements, and not the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Crossrail Line: Finance
I refer the hon. Member to the White Paper for the 2007 pre-Budget report and Comprehensive Spending Review presented to Parliament by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 9 October 2007.
Diesel: Pollution Control
Construction standards for vehicles, including the standards that must be met for exhaust emissions, are set at a European Union level through negotiations in which the United Kingdom plays an active part.
New emission standards for cars and vans have just been agreed. These standards will force the adoption of particulate filters on new models of diesel cars and vans brought to the market from 2009, and on all newly registered diesel cars and vans by 2012.
A proposal from the European Commission for new, and stricter, exhaust emission standards for lorries and buses is expected towards the end of this year or in the early part of the next. These standards are expected to become mandatory for new vehicles from around 2012, and to tighten particulate emissions limits by around 70 per cent.
While the retrofitting of particulate filters on cars is seldom feasible, because it is precluded by space constraints and can require reprogramming the engine management system, the retrofitting of particulate filters to heavy duty vehicles is sometimes possible. The Government encourage retrofitting existing lorries and buses with technologies designed to reduce particulate emissions through the Reduced Pollution Certificate schemes. These schemes offer operators of heavy duty vehicles a reduction in Vehicle Excise Duty for vehicles modified to meet stricter emission standards.
Driving Tests: Standards
The driver quality monitoring assessment is not a driving test, but an assessment of the driver on behalf of the bus operator. If a driver commits a serious or dangerous fault this will be relayed to the bus operator, which will then follow its own internal procedures. The Driving Standards Agency does not have a duty to report this to the police or any other relevant authority.
Driving: Standards
Driver Quality Monitoring (DQM) is a non-statutory service that the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) performs on behalf of bus companies. Assessors travel incognito on random bus routes and assess the ability of the driver over a 20-minute period. The Assessors then prepare a report for the relevant bus operator.
The scoring system on which the drivers are assessed is:
A four band score against 10 aspects of passenger consideration (supporting explanatory comments given)
A four band score against 13 aspects of driving ability (supporting explanatory comments given)
Box 1 = Fully acceptable,
Box 2 = Acceptable with some driving faults,
Box 3 = Unacceptable with serious faults,
Box 4 = Unacceptable with dangerous faults.
Nine safety comments (Such as handling cash in motion or talking to person while driving)
This is in addition to other aspects against which an operator may require feedback such as service frequency, uniform being worn.
DSA has received the income in the following table since 2003-04.
DSA had not recorded income before 2003-04.
£ 2000-01 n/a 2001-02 n/a 2002-03 n/a 2003-04 375,172.18 2004-05 355,119.42 2005-06 395,686.33 2006-07 416,804.76 n/a = not available
The number of Driving Quality Monitoring assessments carried out by the Driving Standards Agency for the last seven years is shown in the table as follows.
Number 2000-01 5,940 2001-02 6,411 2002-03 8,580 2003-04 9,338 2004-05 8,738 2005-06 9,059 2006-07 9,089
The number of drivers who committed serious faults on their DQM assessments is in the table as follows.
Number 2000-01 2,345 2001-02 2,477 2002-03 3,662 2003-04 4,863 2004-05 3,983 2005-06 3,311 2006-07 2,783
The number of drivers who committed dangerous faults on their DQM assessments is in the table as follows.
Number 2000-01 99 2001-02 171 2002-03 221 2003-04 225 2004-05 163 2005-06 136 2006-07 113
The number of companies for which the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) conducts Driving Quality Monitoring is in the following table, split into financial years.
£ 2000-01 2 2001-02 2 2002-03 9 2003-04 12 2004-05 12 2005-06 9 2006-07 11
DSA cannot name the companies involved, owing to the nature of the contractual relationship.
Fishing Vessels: Safety
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has been monitoring the experience of the Irish Department of Transport Maritime Safety Directorate with interest and regular contact has taken place regarding the introduction of regulations requiring the wearing of personal flotation devices.
Research has also recently been undertaken by the MCA to assess the approach taken to the wearing of lifejackets adopted by other countries, and the effect on casualty statistics, and the MCA is currently reviewing the findings.
On a daily basis, the MCA reviews maritime leisure fatalities to assess whether the wearing or carrying of a lifejacket might have saved a life.
On the basis of this ongoing work, the National Water Safety Forum has recently approved an initiative by the MCA and in partnership with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Royal Yachting Association and the British Marine Federation to investigate a three to five-year national lifejacket campaign.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas: Motor Vehicles
Based on the figure of licensed vehicles as at end June 2007, the estimated revenue cost of extending the alternative fuel rate of graduated vehicle excise duty to light private goods powered vehicles registered before 2001 and currently licensed would be between £400,000 and £550,000.