Written Answers to Questions
Monday 6 October 2008
Health
Abortion
The Department does not hold a formal record of each of the individual interviews that took place. However, some of the information obtained from those discussions was used to develop the partial regulatory impact assessment.
Further to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) on 15 July 2008, Official Report, column 330W, a copy of the listed guidance has been placed in the Library, as requested.
The Department's forthcoming document "Good Practice Guidance for the Commissioning of Contraception and Abortion Services" will be published in the autumn. A publication date is yet to be agreed. Copies will be placed in the Library and will be made available to hon. Members and Peers in the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office as requested.
Accidents
The Department, in partnership with stakeholders including other Government Departments, has been working to prevent accidental injury and to promote safety. For example, the National Service Frameworks for Children and Older People, through their standards for health and well-being, recognise the importance of unintentional injury and the need for prevention initiatives led by the NHS in partnership with local authorities. The Department has also asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to develop a suite of guidance on the prevention of unintentional injury in children under 15 year olds. It is also working with Department for Children, Schools and Families on its cross-government Public Service Agreement to improve children and young people's safety.
There are five officials in the central Department who, as part of their duties, have direct responsibility for the coordination of accident prevention, as shown in the following table .
Pay Band Number Location Permanent Secretary (Chief Medical Officer) 1 London SCS3 1 London SCS2 1 London SCSI 1 London EO 1 London
Alcoholic Drinks: Consumption
The report of the conclusions of the Department’s inter-departmental working group on sensible drinking, “Sensible Drinking”, were published in December 1995 and drew upon a wide range of research, epidemiological evidence, expert consensus and advice, including reports from various Royal Colleges, in considering the relative risks and potential benefits of alcohol consumption to both health and mortality.
The Government fully accepted the group’s conclusions and their findings remain the basis for our advice, that men should not regularly exceed 3-4 units daily and women 2-3 units daily.
The Government continue to keep under review the emergence of any major new evidence on risks relating to alcohol consumption, to ensure guidance remains up to date. For example, when new evidence concerning alcohol and pregnancy was identified the CMO issued revised advice on 25 May 2007.
The Department’s interdepartmental working group on sensible drinking reviewed the evidence concerning the beneficial effects of alcohol consumption to both health and mortality and their findings were published in the report “Sensible Drinking”, in 1995.
They found that light to moderate consumption of alcohol, less than two units of alcohol a day, at ages over 45 for men or post-menopause for women, can have a protective effect against a number of diseases, including coronary heart disease. However, drinking at this level may also contribute to other health harms, although at a lower level of risk.
Government guidance primarily focuses on advising the public about the progressive risks to their health associated with drinking above lower risk levels—i.e. either increasing risk or higher risk levels of consumption. This is because of the clear evidence that alcohol consumption contributes to a wide range of health harms, particularly when drunk regularly above the lower risk levels. The evidence also suggests that regular drinking above the lower risk levels does not incur any additional protective effect for coronary heart disease. Hence, the advice on lower risk drinking levels for men and women remains consistent with the evidence of possible health benefits for coronary heart disease.
The Government continue to keep under review the emergence of any major new evidence on the risks and benefits relating to alcohol consumption, to ensure that guidance remains up to date.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
The public health consequences from alcohol consumption are well known. On 22 July 2008, the Department published the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO) report, “Alcohol-attributable fractions for England—Alcohol-attributable mortality and hospital admissions”, which summarised the current information on the health risks from alcohol consumption. A copy of this report has been placed in the Library.
Although the Department’s research is currently focused on improving prevention and treatment services, we continue to keep under review the emergence of any major new evidence on the risks and benefits relating to alcohol consumption, to ensure that guidance remains up-to-date.
Local Alcohol Profiles England, run by the NWPHO, provide data for local authorities and primary care trusts (PCT) on the local impact of alcohol use, which allow local alcohol strategies to be tailored to the needs for specific areas.
During 1 July 2008 and 2 September 2008 ‘Safe Space’, a programme to make public spaces safe and to reduce anti-social behaviour, was run in Merseyside. As part of this programme Liverpool PCT and Working Neighbourhood Fund ran ‘Safe Space Plus’, an initiative that specially addressed alcohol related anti-social behaviour and engaged with young people to encourage safe and sensible drinking. Additional objectives for ‘Safe Space Plus’ included enabling access to brief interventions or treatment to reduce alcohol consumption, where appropriate, and raising awareness of the risks associated with alcohol consumption.
The NWPHO are evaluating ‘Safe Space Plus’ and will be outlining the impact of ‘Safe Space Plus’ on young people and the wider community in a report expected to be published in early 2009.
Ambulance Services: Hoaxes and False Alarms
The information requested is not collected centrally. The hon. Member may therefore wish to raise this matter with the chief executive of London Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
Arthritis: Drugs
(2) if he will estimate the number of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who will not be provided with sequential treatments with anti-TNF drugs over the next five years as a result of the ruling by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on the issue;
(3) what records he holds for benchmarking purposes on the use of anti-TNF treatments in other EU countries; what assessment he has made of how that pattern of use differs from (a) that of its use in England and (b) the differential results of that use in the UK and other member states; and if he will make a statement.
We have made no estimate of the proportion of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who are expected to receive a second anti-TNF treatment.
We have made no estimate of the number of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who are expected not be provided with sequential treatments with anti-TNF drugs over the next five years. The Department holds no records on the use of anti-TNF treatments in other EU countries.
British Fluoridation Society: Finance
The Department ceased to fund the British Fluoridation Society in 2005 after legislation was enacted requiring decisions on fluoridation to be taken locally.
Cancer
(2) what consideration he has given to improving cancer services on the Clatterbridge Hospital site;
(3) what assessment he has made of the merits of establishing a high dependency cancer unit on site at Clatterbridge Hospital.
The delivery and organisation of services is the responsibility of the national health service locally, working in conjunction with clinicians, patients and other stakeholders. Any proposals regarding cancer services at the Clatterbridge hospital site remain the responsibility of the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with its local primary care trusts and other relevant stakeholders.
There have been no discussions involving the Secretary of State for Health or his ministerial colleagues on this matter.
Cancer: Health Services
As at 8 September 2008, 18 of the 30 networks already have a patient information manager in post and the remainder are expected to have one in post by February 2009. The following tables list those cancer networks with a patient information manager currently in post and those without.
Cancer networks with a patient information manager in post
Arden
Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire
Central South Coast
Dorset
Greater Manchester and Cheshire
Greater Midlands
Humber and Yorkshire Coast
Lancashire and South Cumbria
Merseyside and Cheshire
Mid Trent
North East London
North Trent
Northern Cancer Network
Peninsula
Surrey, West Sussex and Hampshire
Thames Valley
Three Counties
Yorkshire
Cancer networks without a patient information manager in post
Anglian
Derby-Burton
Essex
Kent and Medway
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland
Mount Vernon
North London
Pan Birmingham
South East London
South West London
Sussex
West London
Care Homes: Fees and Charges
(2) how many patients are receiving nursing care in care homes.
The information is not available in the format requested.
At December 2002, there were 41,580 self-funding residents receiving nursing care in care homes in England. Information for later years is not collected centrally.
As at 31 March 2007, the latest data available, 70,065 people whose costs were met wholly or partly by a council with adult social services responsibilities were resident in a nursing care home.
In October 2001, the Government delivered on time the commitment given in the NHS Plan to introduce national health service funded nursing care for those in a care home providing nursing care, who had previously paid for the care they needed from a registered nurse. From April 2003, all residents of care homes providing nursing care, including those placed by local authorities, have received NHS funding of their nursing care, rather than that element of their care being provided by the local council and subject to a means test.
In 2007-08, 117,587 people, including self-funders, were receiving NHS-funded free nursing care1.
The Government have produced a new national framework, which sets out a single, national system for determining eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare. The Framework, which was implemented, in October 2007, will lead to fair and consistent access to NHS funding across England, irrespective of location, so that people with equal needs have an equal chance of getting all their care free.
In 2007-08, 38,168 people were receiving NHS Continuing Healthcare1.
1 Source—Department of Health form LDPR 2007-08, quarter 4.
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Advice has been continually given by the Department and national health service Connecting for Health, to primary care trusts (PCTs) and providers of NHS care on the implementation of Choose and Book. The NHS Operating Framework for 2006-07 set a target that 90 per cent., of general practitioner referrals to first consultant-led out-patient services should be made through the Choose and Book system to a directly bookable service by March 2007. This was reconfirmed in the Operating Framework for 2007-08, and also mentioned in the Information Management and Technology guidance, with the aim of moving towards a position where Choose and Book is used as the standard safe and secure method for all referrals.
We are informed that the Healthcare Commission has given no advice to the Kensington and Chelsea PCT, and Westminster PCT on the requirement for patients referred to the Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust to be able to use the Choose and Book appointment system.
We are informed by the Chairman of Monitor (the statutory name of which is the Independent regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts) that no advice has been given to the Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust on the implementation of Choose and Book, except to specify the basis on which NHS foundation trusts (NHSFT) should report compliance, and to draw attention to the definition of the Choose and Book target.
We are also informed that the Healthcare Commission has given no advice to the Chelsea and Westminster NHSFT in relation to the implementation of the policy of allowing patients to use the Book and Choose system.
Choose and Book is a national service that combines electronic booking and a choice of time, date and place for first consultant led out-patient appointments. Advice has been continually given by the Department and NHS Connecting for Health to primary care trusts and providers of NHS care on the implementation of Choose and Book. The NHS Operating Framework for 2006-07 set a target that 90 per cent. of general practitioner referrals to first consultant-led outpatient services should be made through the Choose and Book system to a directly bookable service by March 2007. This was reconfirmed in the Operating Framework for 2007-08 and also mentioned in the Information Management and Technology guidance with the aim of moving towards a position where Choose and Book is used as the standard safe and secure method for all referrals.
Children: Health
(2) pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2007, Official Report, column 634W, on the Child Health Interim Application (CHIA) for what reasons (a) the output based specification for the CHIA options appraisal report and (b) the weighting and scoring spreadsheet are commercially sensitive.
The documents in question comprise the following:
Appendix 4: Description of Standalone Service Community Solution (extract from output based specification);
Appendix 7: Supplier Responses (from CSW Group, CSE Servelec, McKesson UK, Health Solution Wales) to Child Health Standalone Service Requirements VI.0 04/08/06;
Appendix 13: Supplier Responses (from CSW Group, CSE Servelec, McKesson UK, Health Solution Wales) to Additional NHS Questions Post Demonstration;
Appendix 17: Weighting and Scoring Template (BT document).
Following further discussion with BT, the basis on which this material was withheld previously—namely, that it would, or would be likely to, cause prejudice to the commercial interests of the suppliers—has been reviewed. While appendices 7 and 13 continue to be judged commercially sensitive, copies of appendices 4 and 17 have now been placed in the Library.
Chiropody: Services
(2) what income from charging for podiatry services each English health trust accrued in each of last five years;
(3) how much was spent on podiatry services in each English health trust in each of the last five reported years.
All national health service podiatry services are provided free of charge on the basis of assessed clinical need. It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) in partnership with local stakeholders, including practice based commissioners, local government and the public to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health and to commission services accordingly.
Guidance for access to foot care is included in the national service frameworks for older people, diabetes, and long-term conditions, and the White Paper, “Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services”.
Information about how much funding PCTs allocate to podiatry services is not collected centrally.
Foot care services for older people are being reviewed as part of the prevention package announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health (Alan Johnson) in May. The purpose of the package is to raise awareness among older people, of the existing core prevention services to which they are entitled and to support the service in making improvements in other key areas such as foot care. The package is due to be launched in spring 2009.
Chiropody: Standards
There are no plans to set minimum standards for the provision of chiropody services centrally. Access to chiropody services is a matter for primary care trusts based on the assessed needs of their local population. To help trusts develop their policy for access to foot care, guidance is included in the national service frameworks for older people, diabetes, and long-term conditions, and the White Paper, “Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services”.
CJD
(2) if he will hold discussions with his counterparts in the devolved administrations on epidemiological studies of possible sources of rogue prions in the 1980s and 1990s that caused variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; and if he will make a statement.
The National CJD Surveillance Unit (NCJDSU) currently considers the epidemiology of all new cases in the United Kingdom, against the background of on-going studies examining risk factors for vCJD. Findings are regularly published in peer reviewed journals and the NCJDSU Annual Report.
There has been one new vCJD diagnosis and three deaths since the final monthly press release dated 2 October 2007.
CJD: Babies
There have been no reported cases of maternal transmission of vCJD by the National CJD Surveillance Unit.
CJD: Blood
The National Anonymous Tonsil Archive has tested approximately 70,000 pairs of tonsils to date, none of them tested positive.
CJD: Death
There have been three known cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in which the onset of disease occurred whilst the patient was living in the United Kingdom, but who died overseas. The National CJD Surveillance Unit includes these cases in the figures for the UK, because they lived in the UK at the time of the onset of their illness.
CJD: Dental Services
Feedback from primary care trusts and dental practices supported by evidence from suppliers of dental equipment, which shows that there has been an increase in sales of single use instruments, suggests that the guidance is being observed. To corroborate these findings we are to undertake a National Dental Decontamination Survey to provide data on current practice on decontamination, including use of single use instruments, in dental practices. We intend that the survey should comprise a postal questionnaire to a sample of practices followed up by visits to at least 100 practices.
CJD: Statistics
The final monthly press release of vCJD statistics was issued on 2 October 2007. The Department is no longer issuing these statistics because it duplicates the official statistics published by the National CJD Surveillance Unit. The Department’s website now refers users directly to the NCJDSU website at http://www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/, which contains the latest statistics, which are updated on a monthly basis.
Colorectal Cancer: Screening
Roll-out of the national NHS bowel cancer screening programme began in April 2006, with the first invitations sent out in July 2006. Full national implementation is expected by December 2009.
We are continuing to roll out the NHS bowel cancer screening programme and expect it to be fully implemented by December 2009. The following table lists the remaining primary care trusts where bowel cancer screening will commence in the final roll-out.
Strategic health authority Primary care trust East Midlands Lincolnshire East of England Luton East of England South East Essex East of England Bedfordshire East of England Peterborough East of England West Essex East of England North East Essex East of England Mid Essex East of England South West Essex London Bromley London Bexley Care Trust London Havering North West Blackburn with Darwen North West Stockport North West Tameside and Glossop North West East Lancashire North West Trafford South Central Oxfordshire South Central Isle of Wight South Central Milton Keynes South Central Buckinghamshire South East Coast Brighton and Hove City South East Coast Surrey South East Coast East Sussex Downs and Weald South East Coast Hastings and Rother South East Coast Eastern and Coastal Kent South East Coast Medway South East Coast West Kent South West Bath and North East Somerset South West Swindon South West Wiltshire South West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly South West South Gloucestershire South West North Somerset South West Bristol West Midlands Telford and Wrekin West Midlands Herefordshire West Midlands South Birmingham West Midlands Shropshire County West Midlands Worcestershire Yorkshire and The Humber Wakefield District Yorkshire and The Humber Calderdale Yorkshire and The Humber Leeds Yorkshire and The Humber Kirklees
As the NHS bowel cancer screening programme has not yet been rolled out fully across the country, we have yet to identify any specific problems with uptake. We expect the programme to be fully implemented by December 2009.
When the bowel cancer screening programme is fully operational, we will be in a position to identify whether there are any issues surrounding uptake in any particular groups, including black and minority ethnic and deprived groups. If any health inequalities in bowel cancer screening are identified, it will be for those primary care trusts with low uptake levels to develop targeted programmes to tackle them.
A booklet entitled ‘Bowel Cancer Screening: The Facts’, which provides information about bowel cancer and sets out the benefits and risks of participating in the screening programme, is sent out with each invitation. A copy has been placed in the Library. This has been translated into a number of languages. It is important to note that no screening method is perfect and anyone invited to be screened for cancer must be aware of both the potential benefits and harms of being screened and be able to make an informed decision on whether or not to take part.
In December 2007, the Cancer Reform Strategy established the National Awareness and Early Detection Initiative, led by the National Cancer Director. The initiative will improve cancer symptom awareness amongst members of the public and healthcare professionals, and will encourage people with symptoms to seek medical help earlier than they do now. It will work with NHS Cancer Screening programmes on key messages and awareness programmes to improve screening uptake, particularly in deprived groups.
Full national roll out of the NHS bowel cancer screening programme is expected by December 2009. The following table shows the projected estimate of the size of the eligible population for bowel cancer screening (men and women aged 60 to 69) by regional screening hub once the programme has been fully rolled out across the country.
Sex Southern Eastern North East London Midlands and North West Total Male 697,907 514,374 398,156 427,502 656,134 2,694,073 Female 701,266 514,786 402,158 416,530 639,294 2,674,034 Total 1,399,173 1,029,160 800,314 844,032 1,295,428 5,368,107
The following table shows, as at 14 July 2008, the number of faecal occult blood testing kits issued each month since the start of the NHS bowel cancer screening programme, broken down by screening hub and sex.
M F I M F I M F I M F I M F I 2006 July — — — — — — — — — — — — 399 386 — August — — — — — — 1,263 1,230 — — — — 855 879 — September — — — 54 51 — 1,988 1,888 — — — — 822 816 — October 329 313 — 1,333 1,323 — 2,086 2,073 — — — — 2,431 2,453 — November 1,535 1,473 — 1,640 1,626 — 1,744 1,684 — — — — 3,415 3,351 — December 1,545 1,523 — 1,278 1,286 — 1,184 1,209 — — — — 2,667 2,642 — 2007 January 2,840 2,914 — 1,039 1,040 — 1,627 1,472 — — — — 2,880 3,025 — February 2,871 2,960 — 2,425 2,369 — 2,029 1,881 — 930 921 — 4,637 4,463 — March 4,078 3,939 — 2,300 2,207 — 2,394 2,284 — 7,329 7,352 — 4,369 4,248 — April 4,337 4,141 — 3,395 3,370 — 2,766 2,659 — 6,384 6,537 — 5,567 5,505 — May 5,085 5,043 — 5,588 5,705 — 3,209 3,248 — 7,707 7,550 — 8,677 8,681 — June 5,525 5,521 — 4,843 4,777 — 2,860 2,793 — 7,108 7,043 — 8,000 8,069 — July 6,187 5,992 — 5,051 4,987 — 5,594 5,487 — 3,709 3,616 — 10,610 10,463 — August 6,855 7,001 — 4,464 4,355 — 6,797 6,646 — 3,256 3,254 — 10,753 10,543 — September 6,481 6.134 — 4,254 4,422 — 5,260 5,174 — 5,628 5,726 — 11,660 12,094 — October 9,528 9,494 — 5,203 5,246 — 6,452 6,566 — 8,371 8,428 — 11,849 12,003 — November 10,555 10,629 — 5,129 5,043 — 6,795 6,770 — 9,868 9,874 — 11,546 11,274 — December 11,654 11,599 1 8,372 8,168 — 4,859 4,779 — 7,619 7,648 — 14,974 14,561 — 2008 January 14,721 14,960 1 6,096 6,137 — 9,526 9,414 — 10,182 10,192 — 13,194 13,286 — February 12,355 12,332 — 5,516 5,485 — 11,655 11,579 — 12,734 12,620 — 12,158 12,094 — March 12,940 12,833 — 8,894 8,898 — 16,564 16,481 — 14,481 14,573 — 15,108 15,136 — April 14,736 14,656 — 14,330 14,399 — 16,789 16,684 1 15,048 14,928 — 23,055 22,902 — May 16,526 16,282 — 18,152 18,158 — 19,238 18,955 — 15,086 15,000 — 27,272 16,748 — June 14,576 14,652 — 17,397 16,881 — 19,127 18,557 — 15,194 15,509 — 25,841 25,326 — July 8,613 8,477 — 7,802 7,685 — 7,132 7,089 — 6,766 6,818 — 11,776 11,697 — M = Male F = Female I = Indeterminate Note: Multiple kits can be sent out to a single screening subject if their previous test kit(s) were, for example, a technical fail, spoilt, or a weak positive.
The following table shows, as at 14 July 2008, the number of faecal occult blood testing kits returned since the start of the NHS bowel cancer screening programme, broken down by screening hub and sex.
M F I M F I M F I M F I M F I 2006 July — — — — — — — — — — — — 62 48 — August — — — — — — 314 332 — — — — 361 360 — September — — — — — — 1,023 989 — — — — 360 380 — October — — — 404 400 — 1,405 1,453 — — — — 896 870 — November 324 322 — 781 873 — 1,317 1,339 — — — — 1,537 1,703 — December 384 409 — 673 666 — 691 673 — — — — 1,282 1,270 — 2007 January 939 1,103 — 842 994 — 1,078 1,129 — — — — 1,909 2,041 — February 1,110 1,345 — 1,100 1,149 — 1,177 1,184 — — — — 2,226 2,227 — March 1,181 1,308 — 1,249 1,336 — 1,444 1,475 — 2,526 2,467 — 2,424 2,540 — April 1,775 1,908 — 1,311 1,400 — 1,483 1,527 — 3,309 3,538 — 2,391 2,584 — May 2,003 2,139 — 2,637 3,029 — 2,016 2,030 — 3,957 4,022 — 4,108 4,504 — June 2,042 2,268 — 2,862 3,143 — 1,606 1,698 — 3,738 3,772 — 4,398 4,733 — July 2,635 2,941 — 3,053 3,323 — 2,765 2,898 — 3,580 3,523 — 5,606 5,976 — August 2,385 2,570 — 2,647 2,843 — 3,383 3,636 — 1,816 1,840 — 5,966 6,521 — September 2,622 2,835 — 2,360 2,561 — 3,300 3,605 — 2,465 2,552 — 6,013 6,549 — October 3,028 3,263 — 2,748 3,080 — 3,099 3,370 — 3,799 3,983 — 6,672 7,382 — November 3,961 4,580 — 3,093 3,317 — 4,008 4,250 — 4,999 5,248 — 7,032 7,574 — December 2,746 2,864 — 2,454 2,431 — 3,211 3,266 — 3,597 3,513 — 5,066 4,924 — 2008 January 5,685 6,860 — 5,163 5,760 — 4,897 5,463 — 6,061 6,405 — 9,824 10,904 — February 5,091 5,864 1 3,562 3,885 — 5,581 6,118 — 6,234 6,610 — 7,343 8,077 — March 4,692 5,366 — 3,277 3,336 — 7,650 8,238 — 7,336 7,713 — 6,705 6,942 — April 6,104 7,101 — 7,118 8,321 — 9,371 10,510 — 9,253 9,925 — 11,590 13,480 — May 5,799 6,862 — 8,328 9,688 — 8,699 9,710 — 7,556 8,185 — 12,678 14,182 — June 6,115 7,109 — 9,263 10,442 — 10,623 11,433 — 8,481 9,216 — 13,940 15,572 — July 2,814 3,197 — 4,510 4,935 — 4,663 4,958 — 4,340 4,760 — 6,761 7,351 — M = Male F = Female I = Indeterminate Note: Multiple kits can be sent out to a single screening subject if their previous test kit(s) were, for example, a technical fail, spoilt, or a weak positive.
The following table shows, as at 14 July 2008, the number of completed faecal occult blood tests with positive results since the start of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, broken down by screening hub and sex.
M F M F M F M F M F 2006 July — — — — — — — — 0 0 August — — — — 2 1 — — 3 0 September — — — — 5 3 — — 0 1 October — — 4 2 13 1 — — 6 3 November 1 3 2 4 7 2 — — 6 7 December 1 2 4 0 3 3 — — 6 2 2007 January 5 2 2 0 6 2 — — 11 3 February 6 4 3 1 7 5 — — 13 4 March 11 6 1 1 5 1 9 3 4 7 April 19 9 2 1 5 0 10 3 16 3 May 22 10 8 2 7 3 13 6 17 3 June 21 19 3 2 9 2 17 13 17 5 July 20 16 7 4 14 5 25 21 12 10 August 19 11 8 6 13 7 17 14 17 18 September 23 17 7 3 15 10 10 1 36 16 October 31 19 11 2 19 12 10 7 34 12 November 33 21 12 1 22 8 15 10 28 10 December 25 24 9 5 20 9 13 4 21 8 2008 January 46 35 20 8 25 17 11 8 46 17 February 39 24 9 8 25 18 25 8 22 16 March 27 15 9 4 40 16 22 6 22 6 April 46 25 22 15 36 23 32 19 43 33 May 45 32 25 22 53 28 30 19 36 35 June 45 24 33 24 64 43 29 18 52 36 July 24 10 14 9 20 11 11 10 21 12 Notes: M = Male F = Female Multiple kits can be sent out to a single screening subject if their previous test kit(s) were, for example, a technical fail, spoilt, or a weak positive.
Cot Deaths: Research
(2) how much was spent by his Department on research into sudden infant death syndrome in the last 12 months.
The Department's policy research programme and the National Institute for Health Research spent some £200,000 on projects concerned with sudden infant death syndrome in 2007-08.
Dementia
A draft of a National Dementia Strategy was published on 19 June for consultation. The consultation closed on 11 September and we are currently considering carefully all the responses received before deciding the final shape of the strategy, and what resources are available to support its implementation. Funding will be announced around the same time when the strategy is published.
Dental Services
The Department has issued no guidance on the free provision of treatment by hygienists in NHS dental practices. The NHS dental system ensures that patients are entitled to all treatment that is clinically needed which the patient is willing to undergo. Which dental professional delivers the treatment is a clinical matter for the practice not the NHS. Where dental hygienists are part of the team in the practice delivering NHS care that treatment will be free where either the patient is exempt from NHS charges or the treatment itself is free. This is not affected by whether the treatment is delivered by a hygienist or any other dental professional.
Dental Services: Fees and Charges
Dentists are required to identify all care and treatment needed that the patient is willing to undergo at the start of treatment and include this within the treatment plan. A single charge covers all the interventions identified within that national health service treatment plan. This applies whatever the gaps between appointments within that course of treatment. Additionally, if within two months of the course of treatment ending the same provider determines that the patient requires further treatment which falls within the same or a lower charging band as the previous treatment no charge may be made in respect of that further treatment. This applies whether or not the treatment is delivered within two months of the previous course of treatment ending.
Dental Services: Waiting Lists
The information requested is not collected centrally. It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to determine how best to manage patients seeking national health service dental services, and for dental providers to manage the delivery of a complete course of treatment.
However, increasing the number of patients seen within NHS dental services is now a formal priority in the NHS Operating Framework for 2008-09 and we have supported this with a very substantial 11 per cent. uplift in overall allocations to PCTs from 1 April 2008.
Departmental Air Travel
2006-07 was the first year that the Department offset the emissions resulting from official air travel. In that year the total distance travelled by air, for which a payment was made to the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund, was 3,620,190 km. We do not have data for this year broken down further.
In 2007-08 the distance travelled by air was as follows:
Distance travelled (km) Long haul 2,344,688 Short haul 927,695 Domestic 666,038
Staff members are expected to travel in economy class when travelling by air. Travel expenses are reimbursed based on actual costs incurred and staff are expected to use the Department's travel contractor for ticket booking. Staff are not permitted to travel economy class and claim reimbursement for first class tickets, profiting from the difference. Further, any benefits or compensation obtained from business travel or similar activities is repaid to the Department and cannot be put to personal use, e.g. compensation offered by a travel company for delays in arriving at the destination.
All travel within the Department is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Department's staff expenses policy.
Departmental agencies apply similar rules. No member of staff should benefit in monetary terms or kind from any savings accruing from their travel arrangements.
Departmental Buildings
The Department and its agencies has not newly occupied and refurbished any properties in the last 24 months.
Departmental Data Protection
The Department, in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance, has prepared details of its data related incidents notified to the Information Commissioner’s Office in 2007-08 for inclusion in its resource accounts. The Department expects these accounts to be laid before Parliament at the end of the current session. Before November 2007, the Information Commissioner’s Office did not specifically keep records of instances of security breaches. I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 25 June 2008, providing the final report on measures for data handling procedures in Government.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
The five most serious breaches of discipline in the Department in the last 12 months for which steps have been taken are presented in the following table:
Level of seriousness Nature of breach Steps taken Serious misconduct Internet misuse Written warning Serious misconduct Falsification of records Written warning Absence case Poor attendance Absence warning Absence case Poor attendance Absence warning Performance case Poor performance Performance warning
There is also one case of possible gross misconduct—a charge of fraud—still outstanding for this period. This case has not yet been completed.
Departmental Homeworking
The Department already maintains central records of staff who are members of its official home working scheme. We do not intend to extend recording to cover staff who work at home on an occasional basis, at management discretion.
Departmental Information
Core information produced by the Department and the NHS Purchasing and Supplies Agency, which is central to their responsibilities and which is subject to Crown copyright, can be reused free of charge by applying for a Public Sector Information (PSI) Click-Use Licence administered by the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI). The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has delegated authority from OPSI to administer crown copyright material on its behalf.
Data to which value is added by the Department to enhance and facilitate their use and effectiveness for the user are outside the remit of the PSI licence, and can be sold under a value added licence. The type of data sold by the Department in the last 12 months are health sector specific information on best practice and standards relating to the physical environment. The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency has not sold any data in the last 12 months, and MHRA has allowed some data relating to licensed products to be reused for a fee in the last 12 months.
Departmental Manpower
The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) civil servants in the Department on 30 June 2008 was 2,208.
The number of FTE staff working within the Public Health Division of the Health Improvement and Protection Directorate is 58 (as at 12 September 2008), which includes civil servants, consultancy support and secondees. The number of FTE staff working within the Health and Well-being Division of the Health Improvement and Protection Directorate is 86.1 (as at 12 September 2008). Again, this figure includes civil servants, consultancy support and secondees. In addition, each of the nine regional public health groups has a headcount of 17.6 FTE civil servants, including the regional director of public health. In the 2008-09 planning round the headcount for the regions totalled 150.8 with the difference relating to vacancies.
However, within the Health Improvement and Protection Directorate and across the Department, there are other teams engaged in aspects of public health work.
At 12 September 2008, the equivalent of 4.2 FTE staff work on policies and programmes designed to achieve the Government’s target that 2 million more people regularly participate in physical activity before the 2012 Olympic Games. A further 1.0 FTE is currently being recruited. These figures include civil servants, consultancy support and secondees.
Furthermore, the Department has also assigned an envelope of funding to each of the nine regions for the comprehensive spending review period. In 2008-09 each Regional Public Health Group (RPHG) will receive £100,000 for physical activity. This will be used as each region sees best, to put in place action plans working with partner organisations and stakeholders, though each RPHG has been tasked by the Department to develop a regional 2012 Health Legacy Action Plan that complements the national Legacy Action Plan to deliver a 2012 health legacy. It is likely that a proportion of this funding will be used to secure additional capacity to take forward programmes.
Departmental Official Cars
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport on 16 July 2008, Official Report, column 414W.
Departmental Official Residences
The Department does not provide permanent residential accommodation for any of its civil servants.
Departmental Procurement
The purchasing system used by the Department until 30 June 2008 did hold names and addresses of its suppliers of goods and services, but this information is not easily distinguishable from the information relating to payments to patients, for professional services and to seconded staff. It is therefore not possible to place the information requested in the Library without incurring disproportionate costs.
Departmental Public Relations
The information in the table details the Department's expenditure on public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information's Public Relations Framework in the last 36 month period up to the end of the fiscal year 2007-08.
Expenditure 2005-06 76,796 2006-07 16,588 2007-08 23,320
Departmental Retirement
The number of requests to work beyond the mandatory retirement age received by the Department in each of the last four years are given in the following table:
Number 2007-08 0 2006-07 0 2005-06 1 2004-05 0
Departmental Surveillance
Figures on public authority use of covert techniques controlled by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (‘RIPA’) are published annually by the Interception of Communications Commissioner, the Chief Surveillance Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Commissioner who each have particular inspection and oversight responsibilities under RIPA. The latest reports were laid before Parliament and copies placed in the Library on 22 July. The figures provided in the reports are not broken down by individual public authority use of specific covert technique as, depending on the particular technique and authority using it, this could either reveal sensitivities or be misleading. The question of further disclosure for any particular public authority is a matter for the relevant Commissioner.
Direct Payments
Table 1 shows the number of clients (aged 18 and over) receiving direct payments. Information is shown for England, for Yorkshire and the Humber region and for Wakefield council with Adult Social Services Responsibilities between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2007. Table 2 shows the number of carers (aged 16 or over) receiving direct payments for carer’s services at 31 March 2007. There is no information available on the numbers of people requesting direct payments.
Rounded numbers England 48,000 Yorkshire and the Humber 3,800 Wakefield 235 Source: RAP proforma P2f
The England and Regional totals are estimates based on the figures from 150 P2f proformas received.
Rounded numbers England1 5,200 Yorkshire and the Humber2 170 Wakefield 3— 1 Actual figures—19 councils in England did not submit data. 2 Actual figures—one council in Yorkshire and the Humber did not submit data. 3 Data less than six. Source: PSSEX1
(2) what sources of assistance are available to carers and care receivers who decide not to apply for direct payments;
(3) what (a) targets and (b) guidelines there are for the period of time between a carer or care receiver making a request for direct payments and that request being implemented.
Both a care receiver and carer in receipt of direct payments are classified as employers when using the payments to secure the services of other professionals. They would have all the legal responsibilities of an employer and would need to ensure that they are aware of and comply with these responsibilities.
Councils should make it clear that a person does not have to receive direct payments. If a carer or care receiver decide not to have direct payments, their local council has an obligation to meet their needs, therefore the local council remains responsible for providing or arranging the provision of services they are assessed as needing. They should also discuss with people who are to receive direct payments what they should do if they no longer wish to receive direct payments.
The Department has not set any targets or deadlines for the period of time between a carer or care receiver making a request for direct payments and that request being implemented. This would be a local decision.
Dorneywood
Down's Syndrome
The number of live birth episodes recorded in each year from 1997-98 to 2006-07 are given in the following table. Before 1997-08 problems with data quality of the maternity data mean that figures are not available.
The figure for each year shows the number of live born recorded births with a primary or secondary diagnosis of Down's syndrome which have taken place in a national health service hospital or in an unspecified location. It does not show births that have taken place in a location that is known to be outside of an NHS hospital setting.
Live born birth episodes2006-073732005-063612004-053632003-043122002-033102001-022862000-012771999-20003031998-992711997-98329 Notes:1. Finished Consultant Episode (FCE): A finished consultant episode (FCE) is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which the FCE finishes. 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. (Episode type used: 3—Birth event 6—Other Birth event)2. Data Quality: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts, and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data are also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS 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.3. 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.4. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity.5. 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 outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time.6. Number of episodes in which the patient had a (named) primary or secondary diagnosis: These figures represent the number of episodes where the diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in an HES record. Each episode is only counted once in each count, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record.7. Down's syndrome codes used:Q90.0—Trisomy 21, meiotic nondisjunctionQ90.1—Trisomy 21, mosaicism (mitotic nondisjunction)Q90.--Trisomy 21, translocationQ90.9—Down's syndrome, unspecified8. Liveborn codes used:Z38.0—Singleton, born in hospitalZ38.2—Singleton, unspecified as to place of birthZ38.3—Twin, born in hospitalZ38.5—Twin, unspecified as to place of birthZ38.6—Other multiple, born in hospitalZ38.8—Other multiple, unspecified as to place of birth8. Ungrossed Data: Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).Source:HES, The NHS Information Centre for health and social care
EDF Energy
Our records for contracts only go as far back as 2002 and some data can only be partially provided for the period before 2004. The information of the contracts that the Department of Health and its Executive Agencies have had with EDF since 2002 is as follows:
Organisation Dates Amount (£) Purpose NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency October 2002 to September 2003 25,535 Electricity supply for Reading Office NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency October 2002 to September 2003 12,123 Electricity supply for Chester Office Department of Health October 2002 to October 2003 1— Electricity supply for London Offices Department of Health April 2006 to March 2007 194.58 Power supply to part of Richmond House Department of Health April 2007 to March 2008 210.66 Power supply to part of Richmond House 1Data not available
EU Law
As a matter of course, the management of European Union (EU) business rests with policy officials, throughout the Department, depending on the range and type of active EU legislation being negotiated/administered. The Department has an EU coordination unit (six officials) which supports the handling of EU policy business. In addition to this unit, there is an overseas healthcare team (eight officials) responsible for the management of healthcare regulation/overseas payments to other EU member states.
Fluoride: Drinking Water
The Department has commissioned research into the effects of fluoridation on health. A Systematic Review of Public Water Fluoridation published by the university of York in 2000 found no significant association between, water fluoridation and cancer, but called for further research to strengthen the evidence base. Section 58 of the Water Act 2003 placed a duty on strategic health authorities (SHAs) to monitor the effects of fluoridation schemes on the health of persons living in the fluoridated area and publish reports containing an analysis of the effects on health at four-yearly intervals. We have commissioned the West Midland Public Health Observatory to propose a set of standard indicators, which can be used by SHAs to discharge this duty. We understand that, in compiling its proposals, the Observatory is considering whether data on the incidence of bone cancer held in cancer registries could be included among the indicators.
General Practitioners
The Department has received communications from members of the public citing examples of general practitioner (GP) surgeries that are not willing to accept other doctors' patients and thereby restricting patient choice. We do not consider that these practices are widespread but, where they do occur, they can cause significant concern to members of the public. The General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association has recently issued a statement, indicating that it too has been made aware of such examples and urging GP practices to ensure that this unacceptable practice does not occur.
This information is not held centrally.
General Practitioners: Private Sector
Primary care trusts are responsible for awarding general practice (GP) contracts to the providers that can offer the best quality and value for money services to meet local needs, including independent, voluntary and third sector organisations and entrepreneurial GPs. The Department does not routinely collect this information.
However, the Department is providing the local national health service with procurement support through the national Fairness in Primary Care initiative, for which nine contracts have been awarded in 2008; of which four were awarded to independent sector operators, three to GP-led organisations and two to social enterprises.
Information on Fairness in Primary Care contracts is in the following table.
PCT scheme Provider Type of organisation Date signed Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT Central Nottingham Clinical Services Social enterprise 2008 Hartlepool PCT Intrahealth Independent sector 2008 County Durham PCT Blackball and Peterlee Practice GP-led 2008 Bolton PCT SSP Health GP-led 2008 Ashton Leigh and Wigan PCT (Scheme B) Intrahealth Independent sector 2008 Ashton Leigh and Wigan PCT (Scheme C) Integral health partnership GP-led 2008 Ashton Leigh and Wigan PCT (Scheme D) Intrahealth Independent sector 2008 Luton PCT SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association) Social enterprise 2008 Manchester PCT Care UK Independent sector 2008
Genito-urinary Medicine
In June 2008, the Department supported the publication of the document “Sexual Health Advising—Developing the Workforce”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
The guidance document is for sexual health advisers, higher education institutions, strategic and public health leads and commissioners on the implications of new arrangements for educational and practice preparation of sexual health advisers. This includes the opportunity for sexual health advisers to migrate to the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Programme.
The guidance is the culmination of collaborative work led by the Department with the Society of Sexual Health Advisers, the union UNITE and the Nursing and Midwifery Council and fulfils the Government commitment in the 2001 National Sexual Health Strategy to develop the role of the sexual health adviser, including registration with a professional body and educational development.
Headaches: Medical Treatments
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is assessing occipital nerve stimulation for intractable headache under its Interventional Procedures Programme. This assessment is currently suspended, pending CE marking of the devices used to carry out the procedure. NICE will continue its assessment once this situation has changed.
Health Education
In January 2008, the Government published the £372 million “Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A Cross-Government Strategy for England”. “Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives” committed us to developing a three-year, £75 million, social marketing programme to help us all maintain a healthy weight.
As part of this programme, the Government are inviting everyone in society to join a national movement called Change4Life to help people maintain a healthy weight, by making it easier for parents to make healthier food choices and encourage more activity.
Over the past few months we have been developing a programme of events, briefings and media activities that will engage grassroots local ‘activists’—the many people who are already running activities that help children eat well and be active. They have been invited to join the Change4Life movement, and by tapping into this existing energy and commitment, we will ensure that Change4Life is not just another healthy living campaign, but a hands-on, practical and supportive movement. It will be driven by ordinary people across society, who want to do something now to combat obesity and make lives healthier.
(2) what recent steps the Government has taken to educate the public on the risks to health of UV rays.
SunSmart, the national skin cancer prevention and sun protection campaign, is run by Cancer Research UK, on behalf of the UK Health Departments. It raises awareness and educates the public on the risks to health from ultra violet rays, both artificial and from sunlight. The campaign works through high profile media programmes, through provision of resources and information for health promotion events and targeted campaigns, and through the SunSmart website. The main emphasis for the SunSmart campaign for this year is children and young people, with a focus on the risks to health of using sunbeds. The Department also funds the Meteorological Office to produce UV Index forecasts, which are disseminated to the media and published on the Meteorological Office website.
Health Education
The Government are currently working on several initiatives to encourage healthy eating, as outlined in the “Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives” Strategy which has already been placed in the Library. These include:
working with industry leaders and other relevant stakeholders to develop and deliver a Healthy Food Code of Good Practice;
the 5-A-Day programme, which seeks to promote increased consumption of fruit and vegetables (preferably five each day) and sits alongside other initiatives aimed at reducing the amount of foods consumed that are high in salt, fat and sugar, and further promoting a healthy diet;
liaising with schools to develop and apply schemes to incorporate healthy eating within schools and families, such as the school fruit and vegetable scheme which provides children, aged four to six, with a free piece of fruit or vegetable every day; and
a comprehensive social marketing programme called Change4Life. The Government will invite all parts of society to join the movement, designed to help people maintain a healthy weight by helping parents make healthier food choices for their children and encouraging more activity. It will work in collaboration with other Government Departments, the NHS, schools, voluntary groups, and commercial and media partners.
The Department produces and disseminates to key health professionals a “National Heatwave Plan” which has been placed in the Library and is available on the Department’s website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_084670
along with supportive guidance for health professionals and social care staff. Additionally, a public facing leaflet is produced providing information on how to protect yourself and vulnerable people during a heatwave. Media messages are prepared in the event of a heatwave to raise awareness of protective actions.
Health Education: Families
Health professionals are asked to offer pregnant women and families applying for the Healthy Start scheme with relevant advice on breastfeeding and healthy eating. Basic information on breastfeeding and healthy eating is also given in the Healthy Start user guide, welcome magazine sent to all new Healthy Start beneficiaries, and on the publicly available Healthy Start website.
The Government have committed £75 million to a three year marketing campaign, “Change4life Programme” which aims to provide families with the information, tools and support that they will need to help their children lead healthier lives. The programme will include a help line, website, printed information, advertising and public relations, specialist materials for ethnic minority communities and resources for professionals to use with the public. The campaign will address those areas—including healthy meal suggestions, ideas for family activity, tips and strategies for getting children to eat more healthily—where parents said they needed support and guidance.
On 21 March 2007, we launched Top Tips for Top Mums a new 5 A DAY-Just Eat More (Fruit and Veg) campaign to help families get more fruit and vegetable into their children’s diets. The campaign aims to help families by sharing real tips from real mums on how they got their kids to eat more fruit and vegetables.
The Department also runs campaigns to motivate and support smokers to stop, and these are particularly targeted at routine and manual smokers, and their families. The messages through the motivation work focus on the impact of smoking on family life. For example, a new campaign was launched in June 2008, called ‘Wanna be like you’, which highlighted to parents that smoking will dramatically increase their children’s chances of becoming smokers too.
Since September 2006, we have been running a social marketing programme to ensure that people know the consequences of drinking, by raising awareness of the importance of sensible drinking and making sure people know what units are and therefore know how much they are drinking.
The level of public concern about how much alcohol young people are drinking in their teenage years is growing. The Youth Alcohol Action Plan (YAAP) sets out the evidence that shows that there is reason to be concerned and how Government will address this issue.
Part of the YAAP is establishing a new partnership with parents. This includes providing them with advice and guidance concerning young people and alcohol, which will include clear guidelines about how consumption of alcohol can affect children and young people produced by the Chief Medical Officer, and evaluation of family based interventions to assess if they are improving outcomes and reducing risks with those affected by alcohol misusing parents.
Health Professions: Lancashire
The information is not held in the format requested. Information on workforce levels for East Lancashire Primary Care Trust (PCT), which is the main commissioner for the Ribble Valley population, is shown in the following table.
Organisation Doctors Nurses Midwives East Lancashire PCT 273 741 3 1 Includes General Practitioners (GPs) and hospital and community health services medical and dental staff. GPs exclude retainers. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care
Health Professions: Manpower
The number of doctors, nurses, consultants, and midwives there were in each year since 1998 is shown in the following table.
The numbers of national health service dentists in England, as at 31 March, 1997 to 2006 are available in Table 4 of the ‘NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006’. This information is based on the old contractual arrangements, which were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. This measure counted the number of NHS dentists recorded on primary care trust (PCT) lists as at 31 March each year. This report, published on 23 August 2006, has already been placed in the Library and is available on-line at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dwfactivity.
The numbers of dentists in England with NHS activity during the years ending 31 March 2007 and 2008 are available in Table 32 of the ‘NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007-08’ report. This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006. Following a recent consultation exercise, this measure is based on a revised methodology and therefore supersedes previously published workforce figures relating to the new dental contractual arrangements. It is not comparable to the information collected under the old contractual arrangements. This revised methodology counted the number of dental performers with NHS activity recorded via FP17 claim forms in each year ending 31 March. This report, published on 21 August 2008, has already been placed in the Library and is available on-line at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dental0708.
Further work is planned over the next 12 months to determine whether the new definition used under the new dental contractual arrangements can be applied to the years under the old contractual arrangements to produce a consistent time series.
Both reports have been published by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care.
Headcount At 30 September 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 All doctors (excl retainers) 91,837 93,981 96,319 99,169 103,350 108,993 117,036 122,345 125,612 127,645 Of which consultants (including directors of public health) 22,324 23,321 24,401 25,782 27,070 28,750 30,650 31,993 32,874 33,674 Total qualified nursing staff 323,457 329,637 335,952 350,381 367,520 386,359 397,515 404,161 398,335 399,597 Of which registered midwife 22,793 22,776 22,548 23,027 23,208 23,922 24,822 24,784 24,430 25,069
The number of doctors, nurses and general practitioners is shown in the table.
The majority of national health service dentists are self-employed.
The number of NHS dentists, as at 31 March, 1997 to 2006 is available in Annex E of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006”. Information is available by primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA). Equivalent information by constituency is available in Annex G of this report.
This measure counted the number of NHS dentists recorded on PCT lists as at 31 March each year. This report, published on 23 August 2006, has already been placed in the Library and is also on the NHS Information Centre website at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dwfactivity.
The numbers of dentists with NHS activity during the years ending 31 March, 2007 and 2008 are available in Table G1 of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007-08” report. Information is available by PCT and SHA. Information by constituency is not available.
This measure is based on a revised methodology and is not comparable to the information collected under the old contractual arrangements. This measure counted the number of dental performers with NHS activity recorded via FP17 claim forms in each year ending 31 March. This report, published on 21 August 2008, has already been placed in the Library and is also on the NHS Information Centre website at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dental0708.
Both reports have been published by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care.
Headcount 19971 1998 1999 2000 2001 20022 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 England 300,467 304,563 310,142 316,752 330,535 346,537 364,692 375,371 381,257 374,538 376,737 of which North east strategic health authority area 17,791 18,079 18,870 19,125 20,035 20,473 20,991 22,065 22,291 22,220 22,296 of which Total specified organisations 2,036 2,055 2,078 2,087 2,142 1,738 1,778 1,878 1,924 1,840 1,851 South Tyneside PCT — — — — — 180 185 251 241 235 253 South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust 905 854 899 891 916 615 624 625 639 612 550 Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust 1,131 1,201 1,179 1,196 1,226 943 969 1,002 1,044 993 1,048 Notes: 1 In 1997 Gateshead Hospitals NHS Trust and Gateshead Healthcare NHS Trust merged to form Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust. 1997 figures are an aggregate of these two predecessor organisations. 2 In 2002 Mental Health Services from South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust and Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust migrated to form part of Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland Mental Health NHS Trust. Source: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce census
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 England 60,230 62,140 63,994 66,067 68,484 72,168 76,400 82,951 87,043 90,243 91,790 North East SHA 3,548 3,542 3,749 3,953 4,053 4,178 4,330 4,699 4,764 4,942 5,145 of which RR7 Gateshead Health NHS Trust 1— 206 199 210 209 208 235 248 267 264 283 RM7 Gateshead Healthcare NHS Trust 31 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— RE2 Gateshead Hospitals NHS Trust 148 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— RE9 South Tyneside Health Care NHS Trust 141 131 157 176 242 218 220 231 137 145 163 5KG South Tyneside PCT 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 13 10 10 9 9 9 1 Excludes medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are GPs working part time in hospitals. 2 Data as at 30 September each year. 1 Denotes data not available. Source: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care Medical & Dental Workforce census
Numbers (headcount) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 England 29,389 29,697 29,987 30,252 30,685 31,182 32,593 34,085 35,302 35,369 35,855 North East 1,485 1,506 1,520 1,536 1,603 1,645 1,741 1,825 1,873 1,995 1,945 5KG South Tyneside PCT 1— 1— 1— 1— 87 87 91 93 104 108 105 1 Denotes data not applicable. Notes: 1. Data as at 1 October 1997-1999, 30 September 2000 to 2007. 2. Prior to 2006 figures for the north east were arrived at by combining County Durham and Tees Valley SHA and Northumberland Tyne and Wear SHA. From 2006 onwards north east SHA has been used. Source: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
Health Visitors
This information is not collected centrally.
Healthy Start Scheme
Total expenditure on Healthy Start across the United Kingdom between April 2007 and March 2008 (the only financial year for which specific figures are available) was approximately £94 million. This figure does not reflect the full cost of all Healthy Start vouchers issued in that year because retailers have up to six months from the use by date on vouchers to claim payment for them.
The following table shows the estimated number of families supported by Healthy Start in each national health service region in England between 4 August 2008 and 31 August 2008. It also shows the number of individual women and children receiving vouchers in these families.
Region Families Individuals East Midlands 25,713 32,828 East of England 27,334 34,276 London 73,900 93,168 North East 21,208 26,320 North West 51,075 64,206 South East 36,984 46,395 South West 23,402 29,544 West Midlands 42,320 54,281 Yorkshire and the Humber 35,658 45,110 England total 337,594 426,128 Note: These figures were provided by the Healthy Start Issuing Unit. Most families will have been supported throughout the whole four-week period, but some will have joined or left the scheme part way through. 16,000 families (19,000 individuals) across the UK who were receiving vouchers during this time could not be matched to a specific country or NHS region using the NHS postcode directory and so are not reflected in this table.
On 23 July 2008, the Healthy Start registered retailer database contained 76 individual retail outlets in Barnsley, 173 in Doncaster, and approximately 720 in South Yorkshire. Around 24,500 individual outlets accept vouchers across England as a whole.
Healthy Start Scheme: Yorkshire and the Humber
The number of people supported by Healthy Start fluctuates from week to week as families apply or cease to qualify. The scheme supported around 35,600 families in Yorkshire and the Humber between 4 August 2008 and 31 August 2008. This is the most recent four week period for which figures are available.
The Department ensures that information about Healthy Start is included in Government leaflets about the qualifying benefits and tax credits, and in the Pregnancy and Birth to Five books routinely given to first time pregnant women and new mothers by midwives. The National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services asks midwives and other health care professionals to signpost the scheme. We produce a range of posters, application leaflets, and other resources which NHS and other organisations can order in bulk for local use and we encourage our network of nominated Healthy Start contacts in every primary care trust to order these. General practitioner surgeries participating in the Waiting Room Information Services initiative also receive their own stocks of the application leaflets. All families with children under four years old notified by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs as newly qualifying for Healthy Start receive a personal invitation from the Healthy Start Issuing Unit to apply for the scheme, followed by two further reminders at four-weekly intervals if they do not take up the offer.
Hearing Impaired: Children
The number of deaf children in England is not collected centrally. Instead, data are collected on the number of children who are registered as deaf or hard of hearing. Inclusion on the register is voluntary and therefore, does not provide a complete picture of the number of children in England who are deaf or hard of hearing.
As at 31 March 2007, 3,400 people aged 0-17 years were registered as deaf in England (4,100 were registered as hard of hearing).
The data are collected every three years on the ‘SSDA910 Register of People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing’ by councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities.
One council did not provide data and therefore an estimate was calculated based on their previous return in 2004 and the change seen nationally.
Unfortunately, Hospital Episode Statistics cannot provide these data by primary care trust as the data would need to be suppressed due to small numbers, therefore providing little information. Instead a break down provided by strategic health authority of residence has been placed in the Library.
Hepatitis
The information requested for in-patients has been placed in the Library, for years 1997-98 to 2006-07. However, outpatient data are not included as clinical coding is not mandatory for the out-patients dataset and coverage is very low.
The information requested about notifications of hepatitis B is shown in the following table.
The Department estimates that about 0.3 per cent. of the United Kingdom population is chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (about 180,000 people)2. Estimates of hepatitis B prevalence at primary care trust level are not available.
Number of hepatitis B notifications1 1997 670 1998 813 1999 817 2000 985 2001 970 2002 1,014 2003 1,097 2004 1,134 2005 1,239 2006 1,061 2007 1,123 1 Hepatitis B is notifiable under the Public Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations 1988. 2 The increase in statutorily notified cases of hepatitis B is considered to be due primarily to reports of chronic hepatitis B cases detected through increased patient testing as part of clinical investigation and screening. The increase coincided with the introduction of universal antenatal testing for hepatitis B. Source: Health Protection Agency
The Department has issued a number of guidance documents to the national health service about hepatitis B services. Copies have been placed in the Library and are also available on the following websites:
Department of Health:
Addendum to HSG (93)40: Protecting healthcare workers and patients from hepatitis B—EL (96)77(1996)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/PublicationsAndStatistics/LettersAndCirculars/ExecutiveLetters/DH_4088385);
Children in need and bloodborne viruses: HIV and hepatitis (January 2002)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Closedconsultations/DH_4073041);
Good practice guidelines for renal dialysis/transplantation units: prevention and control of blood-borne virus infection (September 2002)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4005752);
Guidance for clinical healthcare workers: protection against infection with blood-borne viruses (April 1998)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4002766);
Health clearance for tuberculosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV: new healthcare workers (March 2007)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_073132)
Hepatitis B infected health care workers and antiviral therapy (March 2007)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_073164);
Hepatitis B infected healthcare workers: Guidance on implementation of Health Service Circular 2000/020 (June 2000)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4008156);
Hepatitis B immunisation of homosexual and bisexual men attending GUM clinics: provision of extra vaccine (June 2002)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Dearcolleagueletters/DH_4010113);
HSC 1998/127: Screening of pregnant women for hepatitis B and immunisation of babies at risk (July 1998)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Healthservicecirculars/DH_4004295)
Immunisation against infectious disease—The Green Book (includes a chapter on hepatitis B) (October 2007)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Healthprotection/Immunisation/Greenbook/dh_4097254);
Information for midwives: hepatitis B testing in pregnancy (January 2002)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4007742);
Screening for infectious diseases in pregnancy: Standards to support the UK antenatal screening programme (August 2003)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4050934); and
The national strategy for sexual health and HIV—Implementation action plan (June 2002)
(www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4006374).
Connecting for Health:
Extending the childhood immunisation data collected through the COVER (cover of vaccination evaluated rapidly) system by the Health Protection Agency: uptake of hepatitis B immunisation in babies born to infected mothers (DSC Notice 25/2004) (November 2004)
(www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/dscn/dscn2004/252004.pdf);
National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse:
Drug misuse and dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management (includes advice about hepatitis B) (September 2007)
(www.nta.nhs.uk/publications/documents/clinical_guidelines_2007.pdf).
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has published technology appraisal (TA) guidance on the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (TA 96, TA 153 and TA 154).
The Department is not currently planning further guidance to the NHS about hepatitis B but keeps this under review, including in the light of advice from its expert scientific advisory committees, the Advisory Group on Hepatitis and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
The following technology appraisals have been issued by National Institute for Health and Clinical Service (NICE):
“Adefovir dipivoxil and pegylated interferon alpha-2a for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B” (22 February 2006).
“Entecavir for the treatment of hepatitis B” (27 August 2008)
“Telbivudine for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B” (27 August 2008)
Copies of the technology appraisals have been placed in the Library and are available on NICE’s website at:
www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/TA96/QuickRefGuide/pdf/English,
www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/TA153/Guidance/pdf/English and
www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/TA154/QuickRefGuide/pdf/English.
A technology appraisal on tenofovir disoproxii fumarate for the treatment of hepatitis B will be published in May 2009. It was formally referred to NICE’s workstream to appraise its clinical and cost effectiveness.
There are no published clinical guidelines or guidelines in development that directly address the management of hepatitis B services. However, “Drug Misuse, psychological interventions” (July 2007) addresses the need for those who misuse drugs to reduce their exposure to blood-borne viruses where hepatitis B testing is recommended. A copy of this guidance has been placed in the Library and is available on NICE’s website at:
www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG051NICEguideline2.pdf
NICE is currently preparing the following public health guidelines, which are relevant to hepatitis B services:
“Needle and syringe programmes: providing injecting equipment to people who will inject drugs” (to be published in February 2009)
“Guidance on differences in the uptake of immunisations (including targeted vaccines) in people younger than 19” (to be published in June 2009)
There are no relevant interventional guidelines, which will have an effect on hepatitis B services.
These technology appraisal and guidelines for those involved in the management of hepatitis B services will promote good practice in the treatment and prevention of hepatitis B infection.
A significant number of primary care trusts dispensed less that 50 items each year in the community, in England. Releasing actual figures may potentially allow the identification of individual patients. Below are national dispensing figures with net ingredient cost (NIC).
Number of items (thousand) NIC (£000) 1998 8.8 2,070.2 1999 7.3 1,730.5 2000 6.9 1,508.0 2001 6.4 1,384.7 2002 6.1 1,144.7 2003 6.2 1,168.9 2004 6.6 1,257.9 2005 7.3 1,330.3 2006 8.6 1,608.9 2007 10.2 1,999.8 Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA)
Herbal Medicine: EU Law
Our understanding from discussions between the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the herbal medicine sector is that much of practice in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine is based on products prepared to meet individual patient needs. The main regulatory route for such herbal medicines in the United Kingdom would be through the provision of section 12(1) of the Medicines Act 1968 rather than traditional herbal registration scheme set up under European Directive 2004/24/EC.
It is likely that it would be possible in some cases for an applicant seeking a product registration under the traditional herbal registration scheme to demonstrate that a traditional Chinese or Ayurvedic medicinal product had had sufficient usage in the European Union (EU) for at least 15 years. There is also a provision in the directive under which the Herbal Medicinal Products Committee at the European Medicines Agency can lower the 15 years requirement in specific cases where all other requirements of the scheme are met.
We recognise that it is necessary to require demonstration of an adequate period of traditional use, given that this is the basis for lifting or easing a number of the normal requirements in medicines regulation in relation to the demonstration of efficacy and safety. However, we would like to see greater flexibility over the requirement for evidence of usage specifically within the EU. We have received a variety of representations on this issue over a period from a number of interested parties such as businesses and practitioner representatives. These have generally argued the case that the specific requirement for evidence of 15 years use within the EU is unduly onerous. The UK is not in position to set aside the provisions of a European Directive. The MHRA presented the case for changing the European legislative requirements in responding to the European Commission’s consultation in 2007 on the early operation of the directive and also alerted interested parties to the opportunity to comment. We await the outcome of that review.
Compliance costs of the traditional herbal registration (THR) scheme fall largely on manufacturers and wholesalers rather than retailers. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been running an extensive programme to manage the impact of the THR scheme. This has included well over 100 meetings held free of charge to help companies progress their plans and applications. The MHRA has taken a range of measures to help companies, for example publication of public assessment reports on registration granted, and has also issued a range of pragmatic guidance, for example on how companies can use monographs published by the European Herbal Medicinal Products Committee to mitigate the effects of delay in development of the Community positive list. The MHRA regularly meets the industry’s Herbal Forum to discuss progress of the THR scheme and whether there is further action that either MHRA or industry itself can take to facilitate progress. Recently two specialist small or medium sized businesses achieved their first grants of THR, demonstrating the possibilities for this kind of company.
(2) what his objective is in relation to the future availability of safe and proper herbal remedies; and what steps he is taking to achieve that objective;
(3) when Ministers of his Department last visited the facilities of small and medium-sized manufacturers of specialist herbal remedies to discuss the impact upon their business of the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive;
(4) what steps he has taken to establish whether chromatographic fingerprinting is an appropriate requirement in the testing of multi-ingredient herbal remedies in relation to registration under the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive; and what estimate he has made of the cost of commissioning such tests for a single product containing several herbal ingredients.
Companies are not required to notify the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) of products marketed under section 12(2) of the Medicines Act 1968, therefore no estimates are available in relation to these products. Following the expiry of the transitional period permitted under Directive 2004/24/EC manufactured herbal medicines placed on the market will require either a marketing authorisation or a traditional herbal registration (THR). As now there will continue to be some herbal products that potentially can be placed on the market either as medicinal products or under other product regulatory regimes depending on their presentation.
The Government's objective in relation to over the counter herbal medicines is that the public should have access to a range of herbal medicines made to assured standards of safety and quality and accompanied by systematic information about the safe use of the product. The previous regulatory arrangements for unlicensed herbal remedies marketed under section 12(2) left companies free to decide whether to meet any standards and put responsible companies, and in particular those with specialist expertise wishing to operate to high standards, at a significant disadvantage. Consumers were unable to tell which products were made to acceptable standards. The MHRA will continue to operate the THR scheme in a proportionate way, in line with the principles of better regulation. Thereby we expect to see a competitive market offering consumers a wide range of licensed and registered herbal medicines.
Chromatographic fingerprinting is an accepted methodology in the analysis of herbal products and has been included in European Guidelines and the European Pharmacopoeia since the early 1990s. With regard to multi-ingredient herbal medicinal products it is recognised that identification and assay of individual herbal ingredients in the herbal product is difficult to perform and sometimes impossible. The European Herbal Medicinal Product Committee has recently developed a guideline, in consultation with industry, which addresses the issue of multi-ingredient herbal products. The guideline states that if testing for identity, assay or to demonstrate stability cannot be performed in the herbal product, alternative strategies may be considered. The guideline refers to appropriate fingerprint chromatograms, appropriate overall methods of assay and physical or other appropriate tests. The applicant is therefore able to select appropriate methods and justify their use.
In its regulatory impact assessment of the THR scheme the MHRA estimated that typically the overall costs of registering a product under the scheme, which includes the cost of conducting appropriate quality testing, could be several tens of thousand pounds. The impact assessment also recognised that the figure would vary widely according to specific circumstances, not least, depending on whether companies already had systematic quality control systems in place. This assessment has not changed.
I recently met a small manufacturer of herbal medicines. The MHRA has had well over a hundred meetings with companies, including small and medium sized businesses, to discuss the progress of actual or prospective applications under the THR scheme. The MHRA has also undertaken a number of site visits.
HIV Infection
Long term conditions are currently defined as those that cannot at present be cured, but can be controlled by medication and other therapies. The widespread use of combination anti-retroviral therapies to control HIV, means the infection is now managed largely as a long-term condition. By 2010, all people with a long term condition, including those with HIV will be offered a personalised care plan, as recommended in the NHS Next Stage Review.
HIV Infection: Health Services
(2) what information his Department gathers on the number of (a) asylum seekers, (b) those of uncertain residency status and (c) other migrants who have accessed NHS HIV testing services in the last five years.
It is not possible to provide the information requested. Successive governments have not required the national health service to provide statistics on the number of foreign nationals seen, treated or charged under the provisions of the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended, nor any costs involved.
Hospitals: Accidents
(2) what steps he has (a) taken and (b) plans to take to prevent patient falls in hospital; what recent representations he has received on the issue; what reply he gave; and if he will make a statement.
The following table sets out the incident data in relation to patient falls for each English strategic health authority from the 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2007. The incidents summarised in the table have been drawn from the National Patient Safety Agency's (NPSA) National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS). Age and gender are not mandatory fields in the NRLS. It is, therefore, not possible to determine whether the data reflect the true pattern of those patient characteristics.
The data prior to January 2006 have not been included due to the low number of reports received by the NPSA and issues regarding the quality of data.
Steps taken to prevent falls in hospitals include the following:
The NPSA issued a report ‘Slips, trips and falls in hospital’ in February 2007. This included six recommendations to ensure that efforts by hospitals to prevent patient falls are as effective as possible. The Healthcare Commission is reviewing how well trusts are meeting these recommendations in their current round of random and targeted inspections.
In February 2007 the NPSA also produced a Safer Practice Notice ‘Using bedrails safely and effectively’ to help hospitals prevent falls from bed. This included additional resources such as awareness raising posters, staff education materials, and patient leaflets.
The Department makes available best practice guidance, Health Technical Memorandum 61: ‘Flooring’ (latest edition published in February, 2006). This provides guidance on suitable floor finishes in hospitals and includes information on slip resistance. A copy has been placed in the Library.
In addition, in March 2007, the Health and Safety Executive developed the guidance ‘Assessing the slip resistance of flooring. A technical information sheet’. This is intended to assist organisations including the national health service to assess pedestrian slip risks.
The Department has not received any representations on this issue.
SHA region Total 2006 North East Strategic Health Authority 11,217 North West Strategic Health Authority 29,595 Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority 22,257 East Midlands Strategic Health Authority 14,276 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority 16,538 East of England Strategic Health Authority 19,364 London Strategic Health Authority 21,941 South East Coast Strategic Health Authority 14,745 South Central Strategic Health Authority 13,511 South West Strategic Health Authority 21,960 Total 185,404 2007 North East Strategic Health Authority 13,255 North West Strategic Health Authority 29,665 Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority 22,848 East Midlands Strategic Health Authority 14,182 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority 18,301 East of England Strategic Health Authority 20,757 London Strategic Health Authority 25,908 South East Coast Strategic Health Authority 13,137 South Central Strategic Health Authority 14,750 South West Strategic Health Authority 24,112 Total 196,915 Note: These results exclude anonymously submitted reports, reports from community pharmacies, NHS Direct and from one organisation whose SHA could not be readily determined due to mergers that have taken place.
Hospitals: Infectious Diseases
Healthcare associated infections (HCAI) (such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or Clostridium difficile infection) should, like all other illnesses, injuries, and complications of treatment, be included on a death certificate if the certifying doctor considers they contributed to the death directly or indirectly. Patients who die with a HCAI often have several other serious and potentially fatal underlying medical conditions.
The Chief Medical Officer has previously written to all doctors to remind them of their responsibility to provide appropriate information on HCAIs on death certificates and of guidance issued by the Office for National Statistics on death certification. The latest reminder was sent in October 2007.
The information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
The Department has given a strong public commitment to improving hospital cleanliness and has in place a comprehensive programme of work to improve hospital cleanliness.
At the national level steps taken to improve cleanliness include;
a deep-clean of all hospitals during 2007-2008 which will enable trusts' strategic and operational cleaning plans to make provision for ongoing deep cleaning activity, all NHS bodies being subject to the Health Act 2006: Code of Practice for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections, which came into force on 1 October 2006.
Here, the Healthcare Commission (HCC) inspects against the duties set out in the Code, which require them to have appropriate management and clinical governance systems in place to deliver effective infection control. In April this year, specialist HCC inspections began against the Code, thus ensuring that acute trusts will be inspected every year on the cleanliness of the environment.
the HCC's annual 'healthcheck' assessing against three national core standards which relate to cleanliness,
a national Cleanliness Summit held in February 2008, hosted by the NHS Chief Executive,
Patient environment action teams (PEAT), assessing the quality of the environment, (including cleanliness),
HCC's annual inpatient survey includes questions about cleanliness of the wards and of toilets,
at the end of May 2008, there were 5000 matrons in hospitals with more powers over cleaning,
the Department worked with the National Patient Safety Agency to issue a revised national specifications for Cleanliness in the NHS for hospitals in 2007,
an annual NHS spend on cleaning that has increased year on year since data collection began in 2000, the 2007-08 total spend being £720 million.
In the future, the Department will ensure that the momentum and operational focus on cleanliness will continue, steps specifically include;
the development of a new national standard for monitoring cleanliness in healthcare environments. This work, which will be carried out under the auspices of the British Standards Institute, will focus in the first instance on hospitals in England, and will be developed by leading experts in the field of healthcare cleaning. A draft standard is anticipated by April 2009, in time for the establishment of the Care Quality Commission and its new regulation assessment.
compiling a compendium of good practice case studies arising from the Deep Clean initiative, (to be published this autumn),
issuing a national specification for cleanliness relating to GP surgeries and ambulances, (to be published this autumn),
reviewing the comprehensive NHS Healthcare Cleaning Manual (April 2004), to publish a revised version in summer 2009,
joint working between with the NHS Purchasing and Supplies Agency that will continue to look at new technologies for cleaning.
Steps taken in Southend-on-Sea, Essex and the Greater London area to improve hospital cleanliness, reflect the national initiatives set out above. More detail of cleanliness-related action in these particular areas is available from the relevant strategic health authority.
Source:
Estates Return Information Collection [ERIC] system.
A new standard NHS contract was introduced for 2008-09, covering agreements between primary care trusts (PCTs) and providers of general and acute services.
As set out in the Clean, Safe Care strategy, one element of the contract is the requirement for providers to achieve the target reduction in the rate of C. difficile agreed with PCTs. The contract provides for measures to remedy any failure to achieve the required improvements and ultimately for a financial sanction if the failure continues.
It is up to PCTs, as commissioners, to decide whether they want to exercise their power to fine providers and we do not hold this information centrally.
All national health service bodies are subject to the Health Act 2006: Code of Practice for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections (commonly known as the Hygiene Code), which came into force on 1 October 2006. The Healthcare Commission (HCC) inspects hospital cleanliness against the duties set out in the code and has the power to issue an ‘improvement notice’, when it considers an NHS body is failing to observe the code. In addition to its scrutiny of trusts' annual declarations of their own assessments of the measures they have in place to meet the code, last year, the HCC made 120 unannounced visits to assess compliance independently. To strengthen this process, since April 2008, specialist teams from the HCC have been carrying out an annual infection control inspections programme of all acute trusts in the context of the code's requirements. The HCC plans to publish a summary report of some key emerging findings from these inspections shortly.
Additionally, the HCC's annual ‘healthcheck’ procedure includes three national core standards set by the Department, (C4a, C4c and C21) which relate to cleanliness. The HCC assesses against these standards and it publishes the results.
Also, under the auspices of the National Patient Safety Agency, patient environment action teams, assess the quality of the environment, (including cleanliness), of every inpatient health care facility in England with more than 10 beds. The assessment takes place on a voluntary basis and leads to ratings of; excellent, good, acceptable, poor or unacceptable.
The Department has not received any formal representations on the issue of ward sisters in relation to cleanliness on hospital wards.
The best source of data is the mandatory surveillance system for acute trusts. Surveillance of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) blood stream infections (bacteraemia) started in April 2001 and surveillance for Clostridium difficile infection began in January 2004. Data are therefore not available before these times. Wexham Park hospital is part of Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the data for the trust are shown in the following tables. Data are not available for Upton hospital as it is not an acute trust.
April to March each year Number 2001-02 47 2002-03 28 2003-04 32 2004-05 29 2005-06 32 2006-07 22 2007-08 16
January to December each year Number 2004 289 2005 259 2006 302 2007 234 Note: All data are provisional. Source: Health Protection Agency.
Hospitals: Waiting Lists
The information requested is not collected centrally.
By the end of December 2008, no one should wait more than 18 weeks from the time they are referred by their general practitioner to the start of their treatment unless it is clinically appropriate to do so or they choose to wait longer. The 18-week target applies equally to those patients who need to transfer between hospitals while they are on their 18-week pathway.
Human Papilloma Virus: Vaccination
The information requested on the unit cost, number of units and value of the contract for Cervarix is commercially confidential. The contract will allow the Department to purchase sufficient vaccine to vaccinate all the identified cohorts of girls eligible for the Human Papilloma virus vaccine under the national programmes in the United Kingdom.
Incontinence: Medical Equipment
(2) with reference to the impact assessment of his Department’s proposals on Part IX of the Drug Tariff, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of a cap on reimbursement payments on contractor efficiency; and what factors were taken into account in deciding on 50,000 items as the cap on reimbursement;
(3) what assessment he has made of the likely effect on patient choice of his Department’s proposals to impose a capped payment structure for the reimbursement of stoma and incontinence items;
(4) whether he plans to extend the imposition of a three per cent., reduction in remuneration as referred to in his Department’s proposals relating to Part IX of the Drug tariff to other NHS suppliers.
No explicit assumption on contractors’ ability to secure greater efficiency has been made by the Department. What has been suggested is that the national health service annual efficiency targets should be shared by dispensing contractors as well.
The 50,000 items cap has been raised significantly from previous proposals. For instance, in September 2007 the cap was set at 30,000 items. The cap does not apply to payment for specific services but to the infrastructure payment that has been proposed. The infrastructure payment is intended to contribute towards the cost of elements of essential service provision which are not directly linked to dispensing a prescription item; for instance, operating within a clinical governance framework.
In the consultation entitled “Proposed new arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and urology appliances—and related services— in Primary Care June 2008” there are no proposals relating to a capped payment structure for the reimbursement of stoma and incontinence items.
However, subject to the outcome of the consultation, patient choice could be increased as proposals regarding remuneration for service relate not only to the 100-plus dispensing appliance contractors but also to the 10,000 plus pharmacy contractors.
The consultation document proposes that a uniform price reduction of two per cent., should be applied to all catheters listed in Part IXA—and for items listed in Part IXB and Part IXC.
No reduction in remuneration for services has been proposed. In fact, the Department has estimated that if these proposals had been implemented in 2007 they would have increased overall expenditure by primary care in this area by £5 million. If the proposals are implemented, the level of expenditure will continue to rise in line with any increase in the number of Part IXA, B and C prescription items dispensed in the future.
In the consultation entitled “Proposed new arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and urology appliances—and related services—in Primary Care. June 2008” it has been proposed that dispensing appliance contractors should be required to provide a dispensing service for items that they supply in the normal course of their business and that they should receive a 90p professional dispensing fee for each part IX prescription item dispensed for providing this service.
This reflects one of the Department’s stated aims of the review of the arrangements under part IX of the drug tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances—and related services—in primary care, which is to ensure equitable payment to dispensing appliance contractors and pharmacy contractors for equivalent services.
An impact assessment was published alongside the consultation.
One of the stated aims of the review of the arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances—and related services—in primary care is the maintenance and, where applicable, improvement of the current quality of care to patients—and provision of a consistent level of care.
Although many dispensing appliance contractors and pharmacy contractors provide additional services such as home delivery, these services are not required under their National Health Service service provision. Therefore, we want to make sure that key services are included in the arrangements for the provision of pharmaceutical services made by primary care trusts under Part 7 of the NHS Act 2006 and incorporated in to the terms of service set out in the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2005—and that such services are provided to the same standard.
Consequently, the proposals relating to services set out in the consultation document entitled ‘Proposed new arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and urology appliances—and related services—in Primary Care. June 2008’ apply to single line items.
(2) what assessment he has made of the likely effect on disabled people of his Department's proposals to impose a cap on the payment for stoma and incontinence services provided by contractors;
(3) whether patients will continue to be able to choose any dispensing appliance contractor under the proposals in his Department’s June 2007 consultation document on stoma and urology appliances;
In reviewing arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances—and related services—one of the Department's key aims has been to maintain, and where applicable improve, the current quality of care to patients—and provide a consistent level of care. The Department recognises that a number of dispensing appliance contractors provide a number of services which many users value. However, these services are not required under the terms of their national health service service provision. Therefore, the Department wants to make sure that key services are included in the arrangements for the provision of pharmaceutical services made by primary care trusts under Part 7 of the NHS Act 2006, and incorporated in to the terms of service set out in the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2005—and that such services are provided to the same standard.
The latest consultation entitled “Proposed new arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and urology appliances—and related services—in Primary Care. June 2008”, which has just closed, set out a number of proposals relating to remuneration for service provision directly linked to dispensing a prescription item. It was proposed that remuneration for only one such service should be capped. This service is appliance use reviews, which are intended to improve the patient's knowledge and use of the appliance they are using.
It was proposed that the number of total reviews that a dispensing appliance contractor or pharmacy contractor may claim for should be limited to one for every 35 Part IXA (catheter excluding any catheter accessory and maintenance solution), Part IXB and Part IXC prescription items dispensed in a year (April to March). However, the cap that was proposed in the latest consultation was lower than that proposed in earlier consultation published in September 2007; this was one for every 70 Part IXA (catheter excluding any catheter accessory and maintenance solution), Part IXB and Part IXC prescription items dispensed in a year (April to March). The new proposals reflected discussions with Industry and with representatives from the NHS and seeks to address concerns expressed about the previous cap.
Furthermore, the consultation that has just closed (9 September 2008) provided patients and Industry with the opportunity for views to be submitted regarding the current proposal.
The proposals set out in the consultation relate to the reimbursement for stoma and incontinence items dispensed and remuneration for related services. Consequently, patients will continue to be able to choose any dispensing appliance contractor—or pharmacy contractor—subject to the fact that they provide the requisite appliance and related service in the normal course of their business.
Infectious Diseases
In 2002, the chief medical officer published his report: “Getting Ahead of the Curve: a strategy for combating infectious diseases (including other aspects of health protection)”.
This set out steps towards improving the protection of the health of the population of England. We have no plans to revise this document which has been placed in the Library. The key measure proposed in the document was the creation of a Health Infection Control and Health Protection Agency. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) was constituted accordingly under the Health Protection Agency Act 2004. The HPA now provides strong science-based support to the NHS, local government and others on all matters relating to infectious disease, radiation, chemical contamination, and other hazards.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation provides independent expert advice on vaccination issues. Since ‘Getting Ahead of the Curve’ was published, we have introduced pneumococcal vaccination for children, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for girls and young women, and have switched from oral polio vaccines to an inactivated polio vaccine.
Injuries: Firearms
The available information is in the following tables. Information is collected on the number of finished admission episodes to hospital. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
Information has been included on total number of admissions and admissions per 100,000 for gunshot wounds for years 1996-97 - 2006-07. Where possible this information has been broken down by age.
Due to the small number and for reasons of confidentiality, figures between one and five have been suppressed and replaced in the attached table with an asterisk. We are unable to provide this information for South Tyneside PCT broken down by age because of the small numbers involved. It is not possible to provide information for the Jarrow constituency as information is not collected for this geographical area.
Reference should be made to the footnotes and clinical codes when interpreting the data.
South Tyneside PCT Gunshot wounds Stab wounds 2006-07 * 34 2005-06 * 39 2004-05 * 49 2003-04 * 58 2002-03 0 43 2001-02 8 41 2000-01 11 37 1999-2000 7 32 1998-99 * 34 1997-98 * 31
North East Under 16 16-18 Over 18 Unknown Total Under 16 16-18 Over 18 Unknown Total 2006-07 14 11 46 0 71 37 65 619 0 721 2005-06 11 10 29 0 50 25 76 661 0 762 2004-05 15 9 29 0 53 45 75 693 0 813 2003-04 10 10 40 0 60 36 68 664 0 768 2002-03 22 15 32 0 69 36 65 601 0 702 2001-02 27 18 39 0 84 37 67 643 0 747 2000-01 38 18 24 0 80 37 53 533 0 623 1999-20000 19 15 43 0 77 33 58 541 0 632 1998-99 33 19 34 0 86 27 50 480 0 558 1997-98 25 13 34 0 72 31 54 420 505
England Under 16 16-18 Over 18 Unknown Total Under 16 16-18 Over 18 Unknown Total 2006-07 181 208 925 1 1,315 495 1,122 9,384 3 11,004 2005-06 155 185 892 1 1,233 512 1,076 9,224 5 10,817 2004-05 199 175 788 1 1,163 474 911 8,623 3 10,011 2003-04 267 180 921 2 1,370 422 859 8,402 12 9,695 2002-03 253 209 824 1 1,287 443 779 7,852 6 9,309 2001-02 321 206 890 3 1,420 479 848 7.916 66 8,856 2000-01 287 192 641 2 1,122 463 779 7,596 18 8,856 1999-20000 362 189 618 1 1,170 438 784 7,340 25 8,587 1998-99 279 158 548 2 987 386 676 6,586 21 7,669 1997-98 260 146 579 9 994 389 701 6,397 118 7,605
South Tyneside PCT Gunshot wounds Stab wounds 2006-07 * 22.51 2005-06 * 25.80 2004-05 * 32.39 2003-04 * 38.18 2002-03 0.00 28.19
North East Under 16 16-18 Over 18 Total Under 16 16-18 Over 18 Total 2006-07 2.98 10.81 2.32 2.78 7.88 63.89 31.19 28.21 2005-06 2.32 9.78 1.47 1.96 5.27 74.36 33.49 29.89 2004-05 3.13 8.72 1.48 2.08 9.39 72.64 35.37 31.98 2003-04 2.06 9.72 2.05 2.36 7.41 66.07 34.01 30.22 2002-03 4.47 14.81 1.64 2.72 7.31 64.16 30.87 27.63 2001-02 5.39 18.22 2.01 3.31 7.39 67.83 33.14 29.41 2000-01 7.47 18.56 1.24 3.15 7.27 54.64 27.51 24.49 1999-20000 3.69 15.26 2.22 3.02 6.41 59.02 27.93 24.78 1998-99 6.32 19.16 1.75 3.36 5.17 50.42 24.74 21.79 1997-98 4.74 13.08 1.75 2.80 5.88 54.35 21.63 19.66
England Under 16 16-18 Over 18 Total Under 16 16-18 Over 18 Total 2006-07 1.87 10.41 2.37 2.59 5.12 56.15 24.01 21.68 2005-06 1.60 9.34 2.30 2,44 5.27 54.32 23.79 21.43 2004-05 2.04 8.95 2.05 2.32 4.86 46.62 22.45 19.98 2003-04 2.72 9.37 2.42 2.75 4.30 44.73 22.03 19.44 2002-03 2.57 11.13 2.17 2.59 4.49 41.49 20.71 18.29 2001-02 3.24 11.25 2.36 2.87 4.83 46.31 20.99 18.83 2000-01 2.88 10.77 1.71 2.28 4.64 43.69 20.27 17.99 1999-2000 3.61 10.52 1.66 2.39 4.37 43.64 19.72 17.51 1998-99 2.79 8.74 1.48 2.02 3.86 37.38 17.80 15.71 1997-98 2.60 8.11 1.57 2.04 3.89 38.94 17.35 15.63
Liver Diseases
Liver disease is a growing problem. Often it is associated with people’s choices throughout their lives.
The Government have published strategies for alcohol misuse, viral hepatitis and obesity, designed to improve diagnosis and treatment for the future. However, we are aware that despite these strategies, there is a problem in the shorter term of managing the primary causes of liver disease.
We are now considering what the national health service needs to do over the next few years in order to address these pressures, and how this should be monitored. We shall announce next steps in due course.
London Ambulance Service: Standards
This information is not held centrally by borough level and is not available for the period requested.
Information on trust-level operational performance standards achieved by each national health service ambulance trust is published annually in the KA34 statistical bulletin. The latest statistical bulletin, “Ambulance Services, England, 2007-08”, was published in June 2008, which has already been placed in the Library. It can also be found on the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care’s website at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/audits-and-performance/ambulance/ambulance-services-england-2007-08
London Ambulance Service: Vacancies
The information is not held in the format requested. The information available on the number of vacancies is for London Ambulance Service NHS Trust as a whole, and not broken down by borough.
Three month vacancy rates at London Ambulance Service NHS Trust at 31 March 2008 can be found in the table. This is the latest information available.
The provision of health services, including members of staff at ambulance trusts, is a matter for the local national health service.
March 2008 September 2007 London ambulance service Three month vacancy rate percentage Three month vacancy number (Staff in post) full-time equivalent (Staff in post) headcount Health care assistants and support staff within LDP definitions 0.0 0 0 0 Other health care assistants 0.0 0 0 0 Administrative and clerical staff 0.0 0 1,008 1,046 Ambulance staff 0.0 0 2,938 3,034 Notes: 1. Vacancy data are from the Vacancies Survey 2008. 2. Three month vacancy information is as at 31 March 2008. 3. Three month vacancies are vacancies which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (full time equivalents). 4. Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post. 5. Three month vacancy rates are calculated using staff in post from the Non-medical Workforce Census September 2007. 6. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. 7. Staff in post data are from the Non-Medical Workforce Census September 2007. 8. Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number. 9. Calculating the vacancy rates using the above data may not equal the actual vacancy rates. 10. Strategic health authority figures are based on trusts, and do not necessarily reflect the geographical provision of health care. Source: The Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census, Vacancies Survey
Malnutrition: Children
Data on general practitioner activity for those being treated for undernutrtion not caused by a eating disorder are not collected centrally.
Information on the total admissions to hospital of 0 to 18-year-olds in which the patient had a primary diagnosis of undernutrition without a primary or secondary diagnosis of an eating disorder at the start of his/her stay from 2002-03 to 2006-07 is set out in the following table. This covers national health service hospitals England and activity performed in the independent sector in England commissioned by English NHS.
Total admissions 2006-07 31 2005-06 20 2004-05 18 2003-04 19 2002-03 22 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.
Maternity Services
(2) what plans he has to incorporate and implement the latest standards developed by (a) the Royal Colleges on maternity and (b) the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists standards on gynaecology in delivering NHS services.
The Department’s strategy for safe, high quality, modernised maternity services is set out in “Maternity Matters: Choice, access and continuity of care in a safe service”. A copy has already been placed in the Library. It is for trusts to provide maternity care in line with the clinical standards outlined in guidance issued by the Department, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and the professional bodies.
The new standards for maternity and gynaecological care, developed by the Royal Colleges, and the maternity dashboard, produced by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), are useful tools, which commissioners and providers are encouraged to use to develop high quality maternity care. The president of the RCOG has written to all clinical directors asking them to use and adapt the dashboard in their maternity units. Its use will be evaluated by the RCOG.
Maternity Services: Newcastle upon Tyne
Proposals for the reconfiguration of services are a matter for the national health service locally, working in conjunction with clinicians, patients and other stakeholders.
However, the north east strategic health authority report that commissioners from the North of Tyne ‘cluster’ of primary care trusts (PCTs) (Northumberland National Health Service Care Trust, Newcastle PCT, and North Tyneside PCT) are in close contact with the two trusts (Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust) and are in the process of organising a progress meeting with the heads of midwifery and lead obstetricians of the trusts to discuss the impact of the reorganisation.
The PCTs are also providing three-monthly updates for the North Tyneside Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC), which representatives of the Newcastle and Northumberland OSCs are also attending.
Medical Equipment
The retail model developed for community equipment met with overall approval from the sector. The outline business case was sufficiently robust to support developing the outline model to operational status. This is currently being undertaken through a shadow running process in the North West with local authority and health partners in Manchester, Oldham and Cheshire.
The shadow running process demonstrated improvements in the user experience and efficiency of the service.
Cheshire and Oldham have decided to implement the model locally. This confirms that, in their areas, the new prescription processes have been demonstrated to be effective and are capable of being scaled up to support full implementation of the retail model.
The business case for a new model of delivery of wheelchair services is currently being considered by senior officials in the Department. At the present time we are unable to specify a time scale for any future decisions to be made and announced.
Medical Examinations: Immigrants
Medical inspectors are appointed under the Immigration Act 1971 to advise immigration officers at ports and airports on health issues relating to applicants for admission to the United Kingdom. Medical inspectors may be located at a port or airport, or brought in on call, according to local assessment of the most cost-effective deployment of resources. Information is not collected centrally on the deployment of medical inspectors at ports and airports.
Medical Records: Data Protection
This matter has been carefully considered, but we do not believe that such an assessment would serve any useful purpose at this stage of the project.
The aim of a privacy impact assessment is to ensure that privacy is considered at every stage of a project involving the handling of information, and that action is taken to mitigate against identified risks to the privacy of individuals. While this is clearly a useful tool for many projects where these matters might otherwise be neglected, the need to safeguard privacy and confidentiality is a necessary deliverable of any health record system, and the management of risk in this area has been a core deliverable of the national health service care records service (the spine project).
The security safeguards around access to patient data held within the new care records will provide an unprecedented level of assurance compared with existing electronic and paper systems. The Department has also produced what we believe is the most comprehensive privacy statement of any public service in the form of the NHS care record guarantee for England, setting out 12 commitments the NHS. makes to patients in order to protect their confidentiality.
The Information Commissioner has confirmed that, properly deployed, the new systems have the potential to allow the NHS to better meet the various informational and privacy challenges which it faces than the systems currently in existence, and that he is content with the general approach being taken with the care records service.
Medical Records: Databases
NHS Connecting for Health provides information governance policies, guidance and tools to the NHS. However, the local processes are matters of local accountability, and for local discretion.
NHS Connecting for Health also provides a web-site:
www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/infogov/caldicott
on which are posted the minutes of meetings of the UK Council of Caldicott Guardians, back issues of the Caldicott Guardian newsletter, frequently-asked questions, example job descriptions and specifications, and other useful resources and information for those appointed to this important role.
Medical Treatments Abroad
It is not known how many national health service patients have paid for their own treatment in the European economic area in the last three months as this information is not collected centrally.
Mental Health Services
From the 2006-07 reference costs the national average cost, per bed day, for medium secure mental health units is £453. This is for national health service trusts and primary care trusts combined and is sourced from Schedule 4 of the 2006-07 reference costs.
For the number of people who received treatment in Tier 5 NHS medium secure services, I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) on 20 March 2008, Official Report, 1315-16w.
The information requested on community forensic services is not available centrally.
Tier 4 services are mainly specialist in-patient services for those people with severe and complex personality disorder but who do not present a risk to other people and who are not detained. For the year 2005-6 these services were treating approximately 100 to 120 people per year on an in-patient basis; and 70 patients per year on a day basis. The cost is approximately £1,500 to £2,000 per week for in-patient services.
Mental Health Services: Young Offenders
This work has not been undertaken centrally.
The “Procedure for the Transfer of Prisoners to and from Hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983” was published in December 2007 with contributions from the Department of Health, HM Prison Service and National Commissioning Group. A copy has been placed in the Library. The National Commissioning Group are responsible for commissioning a range of specialist services including the national in-patient Secure Forensic Mental Health Service for Young People, which oversees in-patient treatment and referrals to seven specialist units for under 18s in England.
The “Procedure for the Transfer of Prisoners to and from Hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983” aims to help colleagues to work together more effectively to secure and sustain significant improvements in any unacceptable delays transferring patients from custodial care to hospital care and includes a specific section on young people. The procedure states that a child with an acute need for a mental health secure bed should be moved within seven days.
Mentally Ill: Legal Services
We are committed to funding independent mental health advocacy and funding for this will be announced together with other departmental priorities as part of the Department's 2009-10 business plan which we expect to publish in the spring.
Mentally Incapacitated: Protection
The Government are committed to strengthening safeguarding for adults and is consulting on a range of ways of doing so. We are currently conducting a review of the No Secrets guidance, in light of the knowledge we have gained since it was introduced in 2000. We will consider the case for legislation as part of the review process.
We are working closely with other Government Departments on the review and will shortly be launching a public consultation exercise as part of it. We have already undertaken a listening exercise with key stakeholders to support the consultation process.
We want to enable adults to make informed decisions about how they live, how they are supported and what level of risk they are comfortable with. It is important that we do not assume that they automatically need the same type of protection as children.
MRSA
The latest Health Protection Agency data for January to March 2008 shows significant progress, with a reduction in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections of 33 per cent. compared to the same quarter last year. These figures also show a 49 per cent. reduction compared to the quarterly average in 2003-04, so the national health service is on course to reach the current nationwide target to halve the number of MRSA bloodstream infections by the end of March 2008 compared to 2003-04 levels.
It is not possible to eradicate health care associated infections completely as many health care interventions have some element of risk and sick people are more vulnerable to infection. However, the NHS is seeking to ensure that no avoidable infection occurs, as well as working towards the current nationwide target for MRSA bloodstream infections.
Under the “Better Care for All” public service agreement, the NHS is required to sustain progress on reducing the number of MRSA bloodstream infections to 2010-11. This means that the annual number of MRSA bloodstream infections for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11 should be less than half of the 2003-04 figure. As we have said in the “Clean, Safe Care” strategy, we do not, however, expect that this should limit the ambitions of organisations that wish to go further, faster. The NHS has made extraordinary progress in reducing MRSA levels and there is no reason to think that the progress cannot be maintained.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
The Department's report High Quality Care for All: NHS Next Stage Review Final Report (CM7432) states that, from 2009, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) will expand the number and reach of national quality standards either by selecting the best available standards, including the adoption of the relevant parts of national service frameworks or by filling in gaps. We are taking forward work on this proposal with NICE. NICE will need to work with a range of stakeholders as it develops national quality standards.
The information is in the following table.
Topic Work programme Published/ongoing Date of marketing authorisation1 Referral date2 Date of final NICE guidance Start of NICE appraisal3 Xolair (omalizumab) for uncontrolled asthma 8 Published October 2005 April 2003 November 2007 November 2006 Remicade (infliximab) for psoriasis 8 Published September 2005 April 2003 January 2008 March 2007 Natrecor (nesiritide), Heart failure (acute decompensated) 9 Ongoing n/a October 2003 n/a October 2003 Erbitux (cetuximab), Head and neck cancer 10 Published n/a June 2004 June 2008 June 2006 Iressa (gefitinib), lung cancer (non-small cell) 10 Ongoing n/a June 2004 n/a January 2009 Tysabri (natalizumab) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis 10 Published June 2006 June 2004 August 2007 September 2006 Alimta (pemetrexed) for mesothelioma 10 Published September 2004 June 2004 January 2008 April 2005 Erbitux (cetuximab) for head and neck cancer 10 Published March 2006 June 2004 June 2008 June 2006 Campto (irinotecan), colon cancer (adjuvant) 10 Ongoing n/a June 2004 n/a n/a Mabthera (rituximab) for untreated stage III or IV follicular lymphoma 11 Published August 2004 April 2005 September 2006 April 2007 Taxol (paclitaxel) for early node-positive breast cancer 11 Published March 2005 April 2005 September 2006 November 2005 Taxotere (docetaxel) for early node-positive breast cancer 11 Published March 2006 April 2005 September 2006 November 2005 Gemzar (gemcitabine) for metastatic breast cancer 11 Published September 2004 April 2005 January 2007 February 2006 Fludara (fludarabine) for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia 11 Published February 2003 April 2005 February 2007 February 2006 Alimta (pemetrexed) for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer 11 Published n/a April 2005 August 2007 April 2006 Tarceva (erlotinib), lung cancer (non-small cell) 11 Ongoing September 2005 April 2005 n/a March 2009 Idraparinux sodium, atrial fibrillation 12 Ongoing n/a July 2006 n/a July 2006 Arava (leflunomide), psoriatic arthritis (moderate to severe) 12 Ongoing June 2004 July 2006 n/a July 2006 Idraparinux sodium, venous thromboembolism (recurrent) 12 Ongoing n/a July 2006 n/a July 2006 Herceptin (trastuzumab) for early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer 12 Published May 2006 July 2005 August 2006 December 2005 Alteplase (Actilyse) for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke 12 Published June 2002 July 2006 June 2007 September 2006 Champix (varenicline) for smoking cessation 12 Published September 2006 July 2006 July 2007 November 2006 Humira (adalimumab) for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis 12 Published August 2005 July 2005 August 2007 September 2006 MabThera (rituximab) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis 12 Published July 2006 July 2005 August 2007 September 2006 Velcade (bortezomib) for multiple myeloma 12 Published April 2004 July 2005 October 2007 December 2005 Orencia (abatacept) for rheumatoid arthritis 12 Published May 2007 July 2006 April 2008 October 2006 Tyverb (lapatinib), breast cancer (advanced or metastatic) 13 Ongoing June 2008 December 2006 n/a February 2007 Cimzia (certolizumab), rheumatoid arthritis 13 Ongoing n/a December 2006 n/a December 2006 Remicade (infliximab), ulcerative colitis (acute exacerbations) 13 Ongoing February 2006 December 2006 n/a March 2007 Remicade (infliximab) for ulcerative colitis 13 Published February 2006 December 2006 April 2008 March 2007 Acomplia (rimonabant) for obesity 13 Published June 2006 December 2006 June 2008 June 2007 Baraclude (entecavir), Hepatitis B 14 Ongoing June 2006 June 2007 August 2008 September 2007 Sebivo (telbivudine), Hepatitis B 14 Ongoing April 2007 June 2007 August 2008 September 2007 Adenuric (febuxostat), hyperuricaemia 14 Ongoing April 2008 June 2007 n/a August 2007 Humira (adalimumab) for the chronic psoriasis 14 Published December 2007 June 2007 June 2008 July 2007 Ixabepilone, breast cancer (locally advanced or metastatic) 15 Ongoing n/a December 2007 n/a July 2008 Erbitux (cetuximab), colorectal cancer (first line) 15 Ongoing July 2008 December 2007 n/a January 2008 Erbitux (cetuximab), lung cancer (non-small cell) 15 Ongoing n/a December 2007 n/a October 2008 Revlimid (lenalidomide), multiple myeloma 15 Ongoing June 2007 December 2007 n/a April 2008 Xeloda (capectitabine), pancreatic cancer 15 Ongoing n/a December 2007 n/a June 2009 Pradaxa (dabigatran), venous thromboembolism 15 Ongoing March 2008 December 2007 n/a January 2008 Erbitux (cetuximab), head and neck cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) 16 Ongoing March 2006 March 2008 n/a March 2008 Effient (prasugrel), acute coronary artery syndrome 17 Ongoing n/a June 2008 n/a November 2008 Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), Hepatitis B 17 Ongoing April 2008 June 2008 n/a August 2008 Nexavar (sorafenib), hepatocellular carcinoma (advanced and metastatic) 17 Ongoing October 2007 June 2008 n/a August 2008 Orencia (abatacept), juvenile idiopathic arthritis 17 Ongoing May 2007 June 2008 n/a January 2009 Humira (adalimumab), juvenile idiopathic arthritis 17 Ongoing n/a June 2008 n/a September 2008 Sprycel (dasatinib), leukaemia (acute lymphoblastic) 17 Ongoing November 2006 June 2008 n/a July 2008 Temodal (temoazolomide), melanoma (advanced and metastatic 17 Ongoing June 2005 June 2008 n/a March 2009 Mifamurtide, Osteosarcoma 17 Ongoing n/a June 2008 n/a August 2008 Romiplostim, thrombocytompenic pupura 17 Ongoing n/a June 2008 n/a August 2008 Promacta (eltrombopag), thrombocytopenic purpura 17 Ongoing n/a June 2008 n/a March 2009 Xarelto (rivaroxaban), venous thromboembolism 17 Ongoing n/a June 2008 n/a August 2008 Azacitidine, acute myelomonocytic leukaemia and acute myeloid leukaemia 18 Ongoing n/a July 2008 n/a January 2009 Xeloda (capecitabine), advanced gastric cancer 18 Ongoing January 2008 July 2008 n/a December 2008 Methylnaltrexone, opioid-induced constipation in patients receiving palliative care 18 Ongoing n/a July 2008 n/a February 2009 Datiros (alitretinoin), severe chronic hand eczema 18 Ongoing n/a July 2008 n/a October 2008 Alimta (pemetrexed), locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer 18 Ongoing April 2008 July 2008 n/a June 2009 Mabthera (rituximab), relapsed treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia 18 Ongoing n/a July 2008 n/a September 2009 Mabthera (rituximab), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. 18 Ongoing n/a July 2008 n/a September 2008 Sutent (sunitinib), gastrointestinal stromal tumours 18 Ongoing July 2006 July 2008 n/a August 2008 Actemra (tocilizumab), rheumatoid arthritis 18 Ongoing n/a July 2008 n/a November 2008 Hycamtin (topotecan), carcinoma of the cervix 18 Ongoing n/a July 2008 n/a December 2008 Yondelis (trabectedin), advanced metastatic soft tissue sarcoma 18 Ongoing September 2007 July 2008 n/a September 2008 Ustekinumab, moderate to severe psoriasis 18 Ongoing n/a July 2008 n/a November 2008 1 Date of marketing authorisation by European Medicines Agency (EMEA). 2 Topics before the 13 work programme were originally referred to NICE’s Multiple Technology Appraisal (MTA) programme and were transferred to the STA programme when it was introduced in August 2006. The date provided is the date the topic was originally referred to NICE as a Multiple Technology Appraisal. 3 The date NICE commenced work on the appraisal. NICE will also have carried out scoping work for the appraisal before this date.
(2) what estimate he has made of the average cost of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence of undertaking a technology appraisal.
The total average direct cost to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to develop either a multiple technology appraisal (MTA) or single technology appraisal (STA) is estimated at £100,000. The average cost to the National Coordinating Centre for Health Technology Assessment (NCCHTA), who carry out an independent assessment of the evidence in support of NICE’s appraisals, is estimated at £150,000 for an MTA and £50,000 for an STA. These estimates do not include the costs of publication, dissemination and implementation support nor do they include corporate overheads or support costs.
NHS
The draft national health service constitution says that public funds for healthcare will be “devoted solely to the benefit of the people that the NHS serves”, whereas the NHS plan said they would be “devoted solely to NHS patients”. The revised wording does not represent any change in policy, but simply recognises that not all NHS funding is spent on patients. For example, funding for public health campaigns is used to promote the health of the wider population.
The draft NHS constitution and the Government’s proposals are open for public consultation until 17 October 2008. The details, including how to feed in views, are available on the Department’s website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/consultations.
NHS Information Centre
Grayling was engaged to supply a range of media and communication services including relations with trade and general media, events management and public affairs advice. They were appointed in 2006-07 and payment was made as follows:
£ 2003-04 0 2004-05 0 2005-06 0 2006-07 115,479 2007-08 5,382
The NHS Information Centre collects, analyses and distributes facts and figures for health and social care in England. It provides independent data for parliamentary questions covering a wide range of information from hospital admissions, statistics, national health service work force and salary data, alcohol, smoking and lifestyle surveys through to prescriptions data.
NHS: Drugs
The Department does not hold information on the average cost to the national health service of treating patients with the cancer medicines listed.
In developing the Ministerial Industry Strategy Group’s “Long-Term Leadership Strategy” report, the Department and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry carried out an analysis which compared the rates of uptake for a selection of medicines in the United Kingdom compared with Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland. This analysis included Trastuzumab (Herceptin), Imatinib (Glivec), and Rituximab (MabThera). The report has been placed in the Library and can be found on the Department’s website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_065198
NHS: Finance
The Department collected primary care trust (PCT) top slice information in the format requested in 2006-07 only. This information, based on data collected in the 2006-07 Month 12 national health service financial monitoring forms, has been placed in the Library.
The 2007-08 NHS Operating Framework clearly stated that, because of the extent of the financial recovery across the NHS, PCTs should not need to contribute the same level of top slice from their revenue allocations as was the case in 2006-07. Consequently, in the 2007-08 NHS draft accounts, we collected data showing a single net value for the amount of top slice transferred to, and paid back by, strategic health authorities (SHAs) during the year, and the balance remaining with SHAs at the year-end.
Figures for 2008-09 will be available from the 2008-09 NHS draft accounts after the end of the financial year.
NHS: ICT
There are a range of initiatives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions across the national health service and in the use of information technology, including initiatives extended to IT suppliers. However, information is not collected centrally that would enable such estimates to be made and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
NHS: Negligence
A copy of the Accord between the NHS Litigation Authority and FirstAssist has been placed in the House Library.
The Accord is a non-binding statement of intent which seeks to give effect to the judgment of Senior Costs Judge Hurst in the RSA Pursuit Test Cases1 and to provide an informal means for resolving disputes between the NHSLA and First Assist. The NHSLA specifically reserves the right to challenge premiums where it believes the premium is disproportionate to the size of the damages obtained. The Accord was entered into with the intention of providing an element of certainty in this area of litigation and with the aim of avoiding unnecessary costs associated with satellite litigation.
1 Reference (2005) EWHC 90003 (Costs) 27 May 2005, BAILII
NHS: Plants
The information requested is not collected centrally.
NHS: Private Sector
Primary care trusts are responsible for commissioning the majority of direct health care provision in the NHS. The detail of their contracts is not held centrally.
The largest 10 independent sector providers, by value, of services under the nationally procured independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) programme and the extended choice network (ECN) in 2007-08 are listed in the following table.
The turnover for providers cannot be released at this time for reasons of commercial sensitivity but the Department is working with providers with the intention of releasing as much information as possible in the future. By the end of November this year, contract details relating to the Phase 2 ISTC contracts will be published on the Department’s website in line with the Wave 1 information that is already available there.
The largest 10 independent sector providers, by value, of services under the nationally procured ISTC programme and the ECN in 2007-08
£ rank Independent sector provider Patient throughput 1 Care UK 170,864 2 Ramsay Health Care UK 19,828 3 Interhealth Care Services 7,831 4 UK Specialist Hospitals 9,782 5 Nations Healthcare 35,498 6 Netcare UK 7,882 7 Spire Healthcare 33,507 8 Alliance Medical 80,368 9 Nuffield Hospitals 1,988 10 The Horder Centre 486 Note: Patient throughput includes procedures, diagnostic assessments and episodes of primary care but not out-patient assessment appointments for elective procedures through ISTCs and the IS ECN.
NHS: Working Hours
No. The pilots are designed to meet the 48 hour week under the current legal interpretations.
Nursing and Midwifery Council
The Department has received a number of representations over the last three years, including from the following individuals and bodies: former and serving members of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), unions representing NMC registrants in the United Kingdom, the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE), members of the UK Parliament and members of the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland and Wales.
The Department was made aware of concerns about the NMC. As a result of these representations, the Department asked the CHRE to expedite its annual performance review of the NMC in 2008.
The Department has accepted the recommendations made by CHRE in the ‘Special report to the Minister of State for Health Services on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’ and it is moving towards a newly constituted council via reforms in the Nursing and Midwifery (Amendment) Order 2008, which will deliver a new, wholly appointed Council by the new year. This piece of legislation has now received Royal Approval. In future, all Council members will be appointed rather than elected.
Obesity
From the 1998 comprehensive spending review until 2004, the Department agreed a range of targets (public service agreements) to improving health that were related to obesity. For example, in 2000 the Department published a public service agreement (PSA) to substantially reduce the mortality rates from major killers by 2010, including heart disease and cancer—obesity is a contributing factor to both of these health issues.
Olympic Games 2012
The information is as follows.
Current full-time equivalent (FTE) members of staff working on projects related to London 2012 (as at 12 September 2008) Project Management 1.32 + 3 for 15 days Legacy planning 4.01 Project oversight 1.0 Financial oversight 0.1 Total 6.43 + 3 for 15 days
Figures include both civil servants, consultancy support and secondees.
In addition, a further full-time member of staff is currently being recruited to support 2012 legacy work. This member of staff would represent-0.2 FTE on project management and 0.8 FTE on legacy planning.
Furthermore, the Department has also assigned an envelope of funding to each of the nine regions for the comprehensive spending review period. In 2008-09 each Regional Public Health Group (RPHG) will receive £100,000 for physical activity. This will be used as each region sees best, to put in place action plans working with partner organisations and stakeholders, though each RPHG has been tasked by the Department to develop a regional 2012 Health Legacy Action Plan that complements the national Legacy Action Plan to deliver a 2012 health legacy. It is likely that a proportion of this funding will be used to secure additional capacity to take forward programmes.
Our future staffing needs are currently being reviewed. The number of staff working on projects related to London 2012 is likely to increase over time.
Current full-time equivalent members of staff working on projects related to London 2012 (as at 12 September 2008) Project Management 1.0 Legacy planning 0.1 Project oversight 0.15 Financial oversight 0.05 Total 1.3
At present, there are no plans for any increase on current staff levels in relation to the 2012 Olympics at the Health Protection Agency. However, over the next four years some increase might be necessary.
Palliative Care
The National Gold Standards Framework Centre made an important contribution to the roll out of the Gold Standards Framework. This was recognised by the support they received through the Department’s £12 million National Health Service End of Life Care Programme, which ran from 2004 to 2007.
Patient Choice Schemes: Greater London
All London NHS Foundation Trusts (NHSFTs) and teaching hospitals are using Choose and Book.
We are informed by the Chairman of Monitor (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHSFTs) that during 2007-08, compliance with the requirement to implement and maintain systems to support Choose and Book was reported by NHSFTs to Monitor on a quarterly basis. In 2007-08, no NHSFT reported to Monitor that it did not have in place the systems in order to enable it to offer choice to patients.
The Healthcare Commission has an indicator ‘Convenience and Choice’ as part of the annual health check. It assesses trusts on the information that providers have on NHS Choices and the availability of appointment slots on Choose and Book for patients to book their appointment.
Pregnancy: Diabetes
While it is for national health service providers and commissioners to decide how best to meet the needs of pregnant women with diabetes, both the National Service Framework for Diabetes, and the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services include standards that refer specifically to diabetes in pregnancy. Commissioners should aim to provide services that meet these standards.
To support this, the National Clinical Director for Diabetes is currently working with key stakeholders to develop a project to support the NHS in improving outcomes for women with diabetes.
Prescription Only Medicines (Human Use) Amendment Order 2008
The amendment order came into force on 1 April 2008. However, to fully implement the provisions allowing Nurse and Pharmacist Independent Prescribers to prescribe all controlled drugs, corresponding amendments to the Home Office’s Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 are also necessary. These amendments are expected to come into force later this year.
Prescriptions: ICT
(2) what guidance his Department has issued to NHS organisations on the use of (a) ScriptSwitch and (b) other systems used by clinicians to alert them to cheaper substitute medicines;
(3) how much (a) his Department and (b) the NHS spent on ScriptSwitch in each of the last three years;
(4) what contractual arrangements there are between ScriptSwitch Ltd and (a) his Department and (b) the NHS;
(5) what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the use of ScriptSwitch on (a) patient safety, (b) patient safety with specific regard to those patients with co-morbidities, (c) quality of care, (d) prescribing costs and (e) clinical freedom to prescribe; and if he will make a statement.
Following publication of the National Audit Office's May 2007 report Prescribing costs in primary care, the Department issued guidance entitled Strategies to Achieve Cost Effective Prescribing on 26 June 2007. This outlines advice to primary care trusts (PCTs) and general practitioner practices on how to consider releasing resources through so-called 'therapeutic switching' strategies. It gives details of a number of principles that should underpin any strategy, including the principle that decisions should be based on patients' individual clinical needs. The guidance has been placed in the Library and is available from the Department's website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_076350
We are aware that a commercially available prescribing support software tool provided by Scriptswitch Ltd has been adopted by a number of PCTs. The Department does not hold information on the numbers of PCTs using the tool, on individual contractual arrangements or on national health service expenditure on this product. The Department has not undertaken any assessment of the effects of the use of Scriptswitch by the NHS.
The Department is unaware of any other system similar to that provided by Scriptswitch Ltd. Apart from the questions asked by the hon. Member for Eddisbury, in the period 31 August 2007 to 1 September 2008 the Department received three written representations concerning Scriptswitch.
Psychiatry: Regulation
The Department is not currently consulting on the regulation of psychotherapists, however discussions on the scope of practice and the national occupational standards for psychotherapists are continuing. Once agreement has been reached we will publish proposals for public consultation.
Radiotherapy
The one-off transitional costs of £394 million on page 3 of the Cancer Reform Strategy's Impact Assessment refer only to the cost of radiotherapy capacity.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Babies
Information is only currently available in genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics on the number of diagnoses made, not the number of patients diagnosed.
The number of diagnoses made in babies born with a sexually transmitted infection in England, by infection for 2003-07 is shown in the following table:
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Congenital syphilis, aged under 2 years 1— 7 14 6 1— Gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum, aged under 2 months 1— 24 90 28 26 Chlamydial ophthalmia neonatorum, aged under 2 months 43 76 37 32 17 1 Cell size of 1 to 4 and totals have been masked to protect deductive disclosure in accordance with Office for National Statistics guidelines. Notes: 1. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are for diagnoses made in GUM clinics only. Diagnoses made in other clinical settings, such as general practice, are not recorded in the KC60 dataset. 2. The information provided has been adjusted for missing clinic data. 3. Additional information on infants born with a sexually transmitted infection can be found on the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) Service website www.hesonline.nhs.uk. 4. Some of the data from GUM clinics may be from referrals and therefore may also be counted in the HES dataset. 5. Not all infants born with a sexually transmitted infection would have been referred to a GUM clinic. Source: Health Protection Agency, KC60 returns
The number of babies born with HIV infection in England for 2003-07, is shown in the following table:
Confirmed mother to baby HIV transmission 2003 26 2004 33 2005 30 2006 23 2007 8 Note: Additional information on reporting of infants born to HIV-infected women is available at www.nshpc.ucl.ac.uk. Since some infants with perinatally acquired HIV are diagnosed in later childhood, further reports are expected, particularly for 2006 and 2007. Source: National Study of HIV in Pregnancy and Childhood, reports to June 2008
Skin Cancer
(2) what the (a) training, (b) accountability, (c) audit and (d) governance arrangements are for GPs carrying out surgical treatments of skin cancer.
Primary care trusts can enter into arrangements with a primary medical services contractor to carry out minor surgery, provided the contractor meets minimum requirements as set out in Primary Medical Services (Directed Enhanced Services) (England) Directions 2007. This includes requirements regarding training, accountability, audit and governance arrangements.
There is a nationally mandated accreditation process for general practitioners with special interest (GPwSIs). This is underpinned by a series of speciality specific guidance including one for dermatology and skin surgery.
Statistical information on the outcomes of operations for skin cancer conducted by general practitioners is not collected centrally.
Social Services: Foreign Workers
Data on the place of birth of workers in the care-related sector is not held centrally.
Social Services: Powers of Entry
No representations have been received by the Department. No decisions have been made on the extent of the Law Commission’s review of social care law. Terms of reference for any possible future work by the Law Commission have yet to be drafted and agreed between the Department and the Law Commission.
Social Services: Vetting
I have been asked to reply.
All the quality control procedures at the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) are geared to achieving the highest levels of accuracy. In addition, the CRB carries out a post disclosure accuracy check that analyses all aspects of the disclosure application and its issue. This check was introduced in 2007 and is based on a statistical sample of disclosure applications and from that sample it can be ascertained that the accuracy rate for 2006-07 is 99.94 per cent. and for 2007-08 is 99.98 per cent. No comparative data are available before these dates and the CRB does not collate information by specific sectors such as the care sector or providers.
If, as a result of this additional check, the CRB needs to correct a Disclosure, it does so free of charge to the employer and the applicant.
The CRB operates a central database in order to record transactions that occur during the disclosure process, where applicants’ personal data provided on an application form are compared against information held by the police, the Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Although the CRB has access to conviction and other information through this process, the police and the other data sources above are the data owners of material held on their respective databases and as such are responsible for the accuracy of information held thereon.
As with any public sector organisation the CRB operates a Redress scheme where there has been maladministration.
South East
The Department allocates almost all national health service funding directly to primary care trusts (PCTs), which are responsible for using their resources to commission healthcare services that meet the needs of their local population.
Information about NHS expenditure is not available in the format requested. However, information is available about commissioning expenditure by PCTs in the South East Coast strategic health authority (SHA) area, and figures for the financial years 2002-03 through to 2006-07 have been placed in the Library. 2006-07 is the most recent year for which data is available.
In the tables placed in the Library, the figures given for gross expenditure on primary healthcare include expenditure on primary care dental services only in 2006-07. Prior to the introduction of local commissioning arrangements for primary dental care on 1 April 2006, most general dental services expenditure was accounted for by the former Dental Practice Board on a national basis only. However, some information on primary dental care expenditure in individual PCT or health authority areas is available for earlier years. The Information Centre for health and social care published the report “NHS Expenditure for General Dental Services and Personal Dental Services: England 1997-98—2005-06 on 26 March 2008. A copy has already been placed in the Library and is also available at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalexpendl997to2006.
The report includes information on primary dental care expenditure by PCT and SHA for 1997-98 to 2005-06 at Tables A1 and B1 of Annex 3. Table A1 relates to ‘gross’ expenditure and table B1 relates to ‘net’ expenditure. Gross expenditure refers to the full cost of the payments recorded; net expenditure reflects the cost of these payments to the NHS after the deduction of income from NHS dental charges paid by patients.
This information is based on the old dental contractual arrangements that were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. While the information is not directly comparable with resource accounts data for the earlier years or current data on the new framework of locally commissioned dental services effective since 1 April 2006, it does reflect the major elements of primary dental care expenditure in each area. Further notes to aid interpretation of the information are shown in the ‘Contents and Notes’ page of Annex 3 of the Information Centre report.
The Department also sets the strategic framework for adult social care and influences local authority spending on social care. Resources and funding for local authorities/councils are allocated from the Government and distributed by the Department for Communities and Local Government. This contributes to the resources available to local authorities, alongside the collection of council tax and fees and charges. It is the responsibility of local authorities to allocate resources for adult social care in order to meet local needs, priorities and key local and national objectives.
In addition, the Department has made specific revenue grants available to local authorities to meet policy objectives. From 2008-09, the Department mainly allocates personal social services (PSS) grant funding to local authorities/councils through the area based grant. Area based grants are monies that central Government has pooled, and it is not possible for the Department to place any restrictions on how local authorities use this funding.
The Department does not hold data on PSS grants below local authority level. A breakdown of revenue and capital PSS grants allocated by the Department to Kent council in the last five years (2004-05 to 2008-09) and similar details for the South East region, which includes Kent council, have been placed in the Library.
Speech Impairment: Children
Information on treatment received from speech language therapists (SLT) provided by the national health service is not collected centrally. The Department collects data by consultant led specialties. SLT is not a consultant led speciality. The Government’s objective is to balance the need for data against the burden that data collection places on the NHS.
Stress
The Department is committed to the well-being of its employees. It has a number of policies and procedures in place to reduce stress at work. Our internal guidance on how to reduce stress at work, based on the principles of the Health and Safety Executive’s management standards, is available to all employees and gives easy-to-use advice on the successful prevention and management of stress at work. We are also developing a Mental Health policy which will be launched in autumn this year.
Syringes: Injuries
Data on the number of days of absence relating to needle stick injuries to national health service nurses are not collected centrally. However, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) collects information on surveillance of significant occupational exposures to blood borne viruses in health care workers in the United Kingdom; its latest report is available on the HPA’s website at:
www.camr.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1205394781623.
The cost of a course of antiviral drugs for HIV post-exposure prophylaxis, as recommended in the Department’s publication, “HIV post-exposure prophylaxis: Guidance from the UK Chief Medical Officers’ Expert Advisory Group on AIDS”, is about £680. Follow up will vary depending on case by case needs and cost estimates are therefore not available centrally.
A copy of this guidance has been placed in the Library and is available on the Department’s website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH _088185
It is the duty of the Healthcare Commission to monitor adherence by trusts of ‘The Health Act 2006 code of practice for the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections’. However, the use of devices which incorporate sharps protection mechanisms is not mandatory. Trusts have to consider the use of these devices but are not obliged to use them. Although these devices are designed to reduce needle stick injuries the evidence is not complete and providers find that such devices are not acceptable to their staff and can reduce safety.
Syringes: Procurement
A total of 241 trusts purchase medical devices incorporating sharps protection mechanisms through NHS Supply Chain.
Taxis
For the financial year April 2007 to March 2008, the amount spent on taxis for the Department is £331,192.43. We do not have figures for the whole of the financial year April 2007 to March 2008 for our Executive agencies. For the financial year April 2006 to March 2007, the amount spent on taxis for NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency is £242.30 and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is £16,125.21.
Teenage Pregnancy
I have been asked to reply:
In 2007, DCSF and DH issued guidance to FE colleges and primary care trusts (PCTs) on setting up sexual health advice services in FE settings. Such services serve to improve young people's access to early advice and treatment, by locating services in places that fit with young people's daily lives. A mapping survey in 2008 established that around 80 per cent. of FE colleges now have on-site services. The scope of each service is determined locally by the college's governing body, in negotiation with the PCT which provides the necessary health professional input. In some colleges, provision is limited to condom distribution schemes, whereas in others a wider range of services are available, including pregnancy testing, STI screening, and provision of a broad range of contraception, including emergency contraception.
Unlike schools, colleges are not required to provide sex education, although the majority of colleges do cover sexual health issues within their tutorial programmes.
More broadly, DH announced in July that it would be developing a ‘Healthy Colleges’ initiative that would put in place a framework—based on the National Healthy Schools programme—to allow FE colleges to better respond to the health needs of their students. Consultation is now underway with colleges, FE students and other stakeholders to determine the detailed design and implementation strategy for the ‘Healthy Colleges’ initiative.
Termination of Pregnancy Bill
Copies of written representations received from interested parties used in the preparation of the partial regulatory impact assessment of the Termination of Pregnancy Bill of Session 2006-07 have been placed in the Library, as requested.
Interviews were also held with a number of organisations, including some of those who made written representations, but the Department does not hold a formal record of these. However, some of the information obtained from those discussions was used to develop the partial regulatory impact assessment.
Vaccination: Greater London
No single estimate has been made of the number of children who may have missed immunisations as a direct result of the child health interim application (CHIA).
Each primary care trust (PCT) in London using CHIA has carried out an audit of the accuracy of the data held on their systems in 2007-08. These audits have been undertaken at different times and therefore are not directly comparable. The audits have allowed the identification of children who may have missed vaccinations or who have been vaccinated and the information not acknowledged, and PCTs are taking action locally to ensure that these children are offered the appropriate vaccinations.
In addition to information stored on CHIA, immunisations can also be identified in other ways such as the use of general practice data systems and individual children’s immunisation records (known as the “Red Book”) held by parents. The ‘CHIA’ PCTs are continuing to work closely with general practices and local health professionals to ensure that children are immunised at the appropriate time. The Department is kept updated on progress by these PCTs.
CHIA is in the process of being replaced this year by a new Electronic Care Record system which will enable full immunisation scheduling and recording.
Children, Schools and Families
Autism: Intimidation
The Department has recently commissioned Goldsmiths College to undertake research on the effectiveness of our anti-bullying strategies. This research will provide the necessary quantitative and qualitative data needed to draw robust conclusions about the efficacy of different anti-bullying strategies, including those affecting children with special educational needs and disabilities. The findings will be reported to the Department in summer 2009 and summer 2010.
Autism: Mental Health Services
I have been asked to reply.
This information is not collected centrally.
The annual child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) mapping includes a snapshot of the children and young people using CAMHS and what diagnosis is recorded. The latest findings are in figs. 11.73 and 11.74 on page 116 of “A profile of child health, child and adolescent mental health and maternity services in England 2007”. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Table 8.11 on page 202 of the Office for National Statistics publication “Mental health of children and young people in Great Britain, 2004” shows the percentages of children seeking help from CAMHS in 2004 and whether the child had an autistic spectrum disorder. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Building Schools for the Future Programme
Building Schools for the Future is the most ambitious school building programme for a generation. As you would expect of a programme of this scale, there have been challenges and lessons have been learned from the early projects. These have led to improvements in the process supporting the delivery of BSF and in local authority preparations for joining the programme. The key reasons for the delays in some of the early local authority projects are as follows:
many local authorities in the early waves of the programme found identifying and resourcing the necessary project management skill sets to deliver the programme more challenging than expected;
a focus on “getting it right” to ensure that strategies are educationally transformational rather than simply focusing on pace of delivery has led to some authorities taking longer than originally expected to develop their education and procurement strategies; and
in the early waves the selected local authorities had the biggest challenges to manage, were pioneering the processes, and were at the forefront of resolving unexpected difficulties with innovative solutions.
The following table provides a comparison between the original expected project completion date and the current expected date for each local authority in the first three waves of BSF. Where specific local issues have impacted on the delivery timetable, these are also described.
Local authority Original expected project completion date Current expected project completion date Major reasons for delay Wave 1 Bradford December 2007 September 2008 Challenging original completion expectations; Issues around use of untested processes Bristol April 2008 January 2009 Challenging original completion expectations; Issues around use of untested processes Greenwich April 2009 September 2011 Piloting of non-standard BSF procurement model by local authority has been problematic and has caused considerable delay; Local resourcing difficulties; Issues around use of untested processes Knowsley September 2009 January 2010 Issues around use of untested processes Lancashire September 2010 August 2010 — Leeds September 2010 September 2011 Issues around use of untested processes Leicester September 2011 September 2011 — Lewisham July 2010 September 2010 Issues around use of untested processes Manchester September 2009 June 2011 Challenging original completion expectations; Issues around use of untested processes; later project rescoping, including integrating seven new academies Newcastle March 2011 March 2011 — Newham January 2009 March 2011 Challenging original completion expectations; Issues around use of untested processes; Local resourcing difficulties Sheffield March 2010 April 2011 Challenging original completion expectations; Issues around use of untested processes Solihull September 2008 September 2009 Challenging original completion expectations; Issues around use of untested processes STaG December 2012 January 2013 Issues around use of untested processes Sunderland Jan 2010 September 2010 Challenging original completion expectations; Issues around use of untested processes Waltham Forest September 2008 September 2008 — Wave 2 Birmingham September 2010 September 2011 Challenging original completion expectations; Local resourcing difficulties; More time taken to develop transformational strategy; later project rescoping, including integrating new academies Hackney September 2013 November 2013 Issues around use of untested processes Haringey March 2011 October 2011 Issues around use of untested processes Islington September 2011 September 2012 Local resourcing difficulties; More time taken to develop transformational strategy Kingston-upon-Hull September 2014 September 2014 — Lambeth September 2010 September 2010 — Liverpool September 2010 September 2011 Local resourcing difficulties; More time taken to develop transformational strategy; Issues around use of untested processes; Piloting of non-standard BSF procurement model by local authority has caused some delay Middlesbrough September 2011 September 2012 Local resourcing difficulties; changes to procurement strategy to achieve a better value for money outcome caused some delay Nottingham December 2010 December 2010 — Tower Hamlets June 2011 December 2011 Local resourcing difficulties; More time taken to develop transformational strategy Wave 3 Barnsley September 2011 September 2011 — Bradford August 2010 August 2010 — Derbyshire August 2011 August 2011 — Durham September 2011 September 2011 — Kent April 2011 July 2011 — Luton September 2010 November 2012 Local resourcing difficulties; Issues around identifying new sites for new schools have caused delay to the project N Lincs June 2011 April 2012 Local resourcing difficulties; More time taken to develop transformational strategy Salford January 2012 September 2012 More time taken to develop transformational strategy Sandwell March 2011 July 2011 More time taken to develop transformational strategy Southwark November 2014 April 2014 — Tameside January 2011 February 2011 More time taken to develop transformational strategy Westminster December 2010 November 2010 — Notes: 1. Formal baseline dates were only set for the first wave. Expected completion dates for projects beyond wave 3 are not confirmed until the outline business case is approved. 2. Stoke, a Wave 1 project, is currently reviewing the proposals and timelines put forward in its outline business case following the Children’s Services going into intervention and therefore has not been included as the expected finish date has not been finalised.
Child Minding
The information requested is shown in the table.
2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 Apr to Jun Jul to Sep Oct to Dec Jan to Mar Apr to Jun Jul to Sep Oct to Dec Jan to Mar Apr to Jun Jul to Sep Oct to Dec Jan to Mar Apr to Jun England 70,900 71,100 71,500 71,600 71,600 71,200 71,500 69,900 68,300 67,400 65,800 64,600 64,300 North East 3,500 3,500 3,600 3,600 3,600 3,500 3,500 3,500 3,400 3,200 3,200 3,100 3,100 North West England 8,300 8,300 8,300 8,300 8,300 8,200 8,200 8,100 7,800 7,600 7,500 7,400 7,300 Yorkshire and the Humber 6,700 6,700 6,700 6,800 6,800 6,800 6,700 6,500 6,400 6,200 6,100 6,000 5,900 East Midlands 5,900 5,900 5,900 5,900 5,900 5,900 5,900 5,900 5,800 5,700 5,600 5,400 5,400 West Midlands 6,400 6,400 6,300 6,200 6,200 6,300 6,200 6,200 6,000 5,900 5,700 5,600 5,500 East of England 8,500 8,600 8,600 8,500 8,500 8,500 8,500 8,500 8,300 8,200 7,800 7,700 7,700 Inner London 3,500 3,500 3,600 3,600 3,700 3,700 3,800 3,700 3,700 3,700 3,600 3,500 3,500 Outer London 8,000 8,100 8,100 8,200 8,200 8,200 8,200 8,000 7,800 7,800 7,600 7,400 7,400 South East England 13,600 13,500 13,700 13,800 13,700 13,500 13,700 13,200 12,900 12,900 12,700 12,500 12,500 South West England 6,600 6,600 6,700 6,700 6,700 6,600 6,600 6,400 6,200 6,200 6,100 6,000 6,000 1 Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. 2 Data Source: Ofsted
Children in Care
We do not collect figures on the level of contact that children in foster care, children's homes, residential special schools or juvenile secure establishments in England have had in the last 12 months with their family. However, Paragraph 15 of Schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989 places a duty on the local authority in respect of all looked after children to promote contact between the child and his/her parents, friends, relatives and others unless this is not reasonably practicable or consistent with the child's welfare. Rule 29(2) of the Secure Training Centre Rules and Rule 39(2) of the Young Offender Institution Rules provide that the governor shall ensure that special attention is paid to the maintenance of such relations between a trainee and his family as seem desirable in the best interests of the trainee.
Children in Care: Health Services
The NHS Operating Framework outlines a clear expectation that PCTs will pay particular attention to access for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. This should include looked after children. The framework is underpinned by guidance including the guidance on Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) which states that looked after children should be taken into consideration when identifying the future health and wellbeing needs of local populations. The framework also states that the Healthcare Commission will specifically consider access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) provision when carrying out performance assessment of NHS bodies. The beneficial effects of this framework will be maximised by ensuring that the forthcoming statutory guidance on the health of looked after children reinforces the framework’s commitments and outlines exactly how health bodies should ensure that looked after children lead healthy lives. We will also maximise the beneficial effects by seeking to ensure that the data generated to measure the national indicator on the emotional and behavioural health of looked after children is used by local authorities and health bodies to inform how they ensure timely access to high quality mental health services for these children.
Children: Communication Skills
The Department does not collect this data. The importance of early identification and assessment featured strongly in the recently published report of the Review of Services for Children and Young People (0-19) with Speech, Language and Communication Needs, undertaken by the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow)—a copy of which can be accessed at
www.dcsf.gov.uk/bercowreview
The Government have welcomed the Bercow report and have announced an investment of £12 million to help enable action to be taken forward in the areas it highlighted. Later this year, we will produce a detailed action plan setting out how we will implement the Bercow recommendations, over what time scale, and how we will allocate the funds we are investing.
We have also introduced the Early Years Foundation Stage framework to help practitioners and teachers in early years settings meet the learning and development and needs (including speech and language) of all children. Through additional investment of £40 million, we have also introduced the “Every Child a Talker (ECAT)” programme—which will give practitioners easier access to training and materials so that they are better equipped to support children’s early language development, including identifying potential delays and disorders early on.
Children: Databases
We have no plans to commission a privacy impact assessment for the ContactPoint project which is currently in testing phase. Our preferred approach is to continue our ongoing engagement with the Information Commissioner's Office and with children, young people, parents and carers both at a national and a local level, to ensure that any concerns about privacy are addressed and that the benefits that ContactPoint will bring are fully explained.
It is important that children, young people and their families have confidence in the way ContactPoint protects their privacy. That is why the data held on ContactPoint will be minimal to enable it to fulfil its purpose - to provide a quick and easy way for practitioners to find out who else is working with the same child.
ContactPoint will contain no case information—for example, school attainment records or medical case notes—nor will it include subjective opinions, comments or observations about a child or their parents.
The Government have always been clear that they would take a steady, staged approach to developing ContactPoint including subjecting the system to rigorous testing.
Recent testing of the system has highlighted some usability issues that we want to resolve before we embark on testing the ContactPoint system with users. In order to address these issues thoroughly, I decided not to start Early Adopter deployment in October 2008 as planned. It is both prudent and sensible to take a little more time to ensure the system is ready before we deploy it to local authorities and national partners.
We expect to meet the cost of full implementation from the existing budget, which remains unchanged at £224 million, since it was announced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Beverley Hughes) in December 2005.
Children: Day Care
The Childcare and Early Years Providers survey collects information on staff type in childcare and early years providers. Table 1 shows the total and average number of senior managers working in full day care settings, by type of ownership of the setting in 2007.
Private Voluntary Local authority School/college Other Total Total number of senior managers 8,700 2,700 800 900 300 13,400 Average number of senior managers per setting 1 1 1 1 1 1 Note: Numbers by type of ownership may not sum to the total due to rounding.
Children: Disadvantaged
We do not collect data on B-codes (i.e. children at an approved educational activity off-site) from schools because this code does not mean that the pupil is absent from education for that session. The concept of “at risk of exclusion” is rather subjective, and therefore not subject to precise measurement, so we therefore do not collect statistics of children at risk of exclusion and cannot give figures for children at risk of exclusion educated off site.
Children: Nutrition
The School Food Trust (SFT), on behalf of the Department, is taking a number of steps to assist schools to encourage parents to provide healthy meals for children. The SFT parent's forum is an electronic message board where parents can communicate with each other about school food. Access to the forum is via
http://forum.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/forum/people.php.
The SFT has also produced a booklet and a leaflet especially for parents and carers, which clearly lays out what the standards on school lunches mean and how parents can play a part in transforming school food. In addition the SFT has information and guidance on how to prepare healthy and varied packed lunches including some menu ideas and case studies.
‘Let’s Get Cooking’ is a network of cookery clubs for young people and parents funded by the Big Lottery Fund and led by the School Food Trust in partnership with well-known organisations with experience in food skills and campaigning, including the Prince's Trust, Business in the Community, Magic Outcomes and the Improvement Foundation. The aim of ‘Let's Get Cooking’ is to give children and non-cooking parents of all ages the skills and confidence to cook nutritious and tasty meals from scratch, outside of school hours. More information can be found at
http://www.letsgetcooking.org.uk/Home.
Children: Obesity
In the six months since the £372 million ‘Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: a Cross Government Strategy for England’ was published there has been substantial progress. The progress newsletter ‘Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: 6 months on’, was published on 23 July 2008.
The newsletter highlights the steps forward for the next six months across all five themes of the strategy: children, healthy growth and weight; promoting healthier food choices; building physical activity into our lives; creating incentives for better health; and personalised advice and support for all.
Children’s Centres
Local authorities, working with their partners through children’s trust arrangements, are responsible for the delivery of the Sure Start Children’s Centres in their local area. However we encourage them to involve voluntary, private and independent organisations both in managing children’s centres and as service providers in order to harness the best of all sectors in delivering quality services for children. Information is not collected centrally on how many and what proportion of Sure Start Children’s Centres are run by organisations on behalf of local authorities.
Children’s Centres: Lincolnshire
There are currently (a) two Sure Start Children's Centres in Cleethorpes,(b) nine Centres in Great Grimsby, (c) 12 centres in North East Lincolnshire with a further two planned and (d) 11 centres in North Lincolnshire with a further one planned.
The two centres planned in North East Lincolnshire are currently at the initial public consultation stage with the local authority looking at sites in Old Clee, Humberston and New Waltham, which fall within the Cleethorpes constituency.
Details of expenditure and expenditure are given below. It is not possible to provide a break-down of these figures for an 18 month period as information is not collected using this timescale.
2004-061 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 Total North East Lincolnshire Revenue 320,855 717,421 761,802 1,652,922 2,353,616 2,766,764 8,573,380 Capital 3,138,179 965,160 2,537,211 439,100 55,442 58,339 7,193,431 Total 3,459,034 1,682,581 3,299,013 2,092,022 2,409,058 2,825,103 15,766,811 North Lincolnshire Revenue 357,856 775,491 751,530 1,562,893 2,109,512 2,464,154 8,021,436 Capital 477,655 1,288,217 1,234,449 248,712 520,405 307,738 4,077,176 Total 835,511 2,063,708 1,985,979 1,811,605 2,629,917 2,771,892 12,098,612 1 2004-06 was a two year spending period.
Classroom Assistants: Manpower
The available information on the number of full-time equivalent teaching assistants in Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
Full-time equivalent teaching assistants1 2004 15,420 2005 16,680 2006 17,330 2007 17,920 2008 19,280 1 Includes teaching assistants in local authority maintained schools only.
Further details can be found in the in the Statistical First Release “School Workforce in England (including pupil: teacher ratios and pupil: adult ratios), January 2008 (Provisional)”:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000787
published in April 2008.
Departmental Air Travel
The Department’s predecessor, the Department for Education and Skills, first contributed to the Government Carbon Offsetting fund for its 2006/07 air travel and reported the following mileage:
Kilometres (a) Domestic flights 10 (b) Short-haul flights 945,414 (c) Long-haul flights 837,050 1 Could not be separated from (b)
Figures for 2007/08 for the Department are currently being cleared for submission within the annual return on Sustainable Development in Government.
The class of air travel which staff may book depends upon grade, the length of time the journey will take, as well as airlines’ fare structures on various routes. Whether or not a member of staff is entitled to travel first class or business class, all members of DCSF have a responsibility to make appropriate decisions on how to travel and to secure value for money in the use of travel budgets. DCSF members of staff are permitted to travel in a cheaper class to the destination although any saving would not generate a monetary or in kind benefit for the individual.
All travel undertaken by DCSF staff is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the ‘Civil Service Management Code’ and Treasury guidance set out in ‘Managing Public Money’ on the avoidance of personal profit from public business. DCSF has a travel service contract with a travel agent for all flight bookings, the costs being paid centrally. DCSF staff are expected to use the contract, whenever possible, when booking any travel tickets.
Departmental Buildings
The Department for Children, Schools and Families do not have any locations which have been newly occupied and refurbished in the last 24 months.
Departmental Circulars
The information is as follows:
(a) In 2007-08, the Department sent a weekly e-mail to the 150 local authorities in England. All e-mails can be downloaded from the Department’s local authorities website at:
www.dcsf.gov.uk/localauthorities/
(b) A regular fortnightly e-mail was sent to schools to inform them of new publications. In addition, the newsletter “Spectrum” provides schools, head teachers and chairs of governors with a summary of all the latest resources, publications, guidance and regulations. It is available online and can also be requested in paper copy.
Departmental Data Protection
The Department for Children, Schools and Families published details of notifications to the Information Commissioner's Office in its resource accounts published on 16 July 2008. There was, in fact, an error in these accounts: two instances were reported whereas there was only one; the second will be reported next year and the 2007-08 accounts amended. The correctly notified loss was of a laptop, encrypted to Cabinet Office guidelines. Before November 2007 the Information Commissioner's Office did not specifically keep records of instances of security breaches.
I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 25 June 2008, providing the final report on measures for data handling procedures in Government.
Departmental Databases
The Department does not currently hold a licence for either MOSAIC or ACORN data. The Department has previously used ACORN data under licence to supplement our existing data sources by combining the Department's data with the characteristics of the people who live in local areas. Examples of how we have used this information to analyse pupil attainment are published on the Department's website:
www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway
Information about the extent to which the Department's NDPBs make use of either MOSAIC or ACORN data can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
The disciplinary breaches in the Department in the last 12 months have included repeated unauthorised absence, unauthorised absence and failure to keep in touch while absent, serious failure to follow proper business procedures and breaches of civil service standards of behaviour. The Department has taken the appropriate steps in these cases including dismissal, written warnings, a written reprimand and removal from posts.
I am unable to provide specific information on the five most serious cases and steps taken due to the confidential nature of each case.
Departmental Information Officers
The Department has spent the following on freelance press officers since 2001:
£000 2004-05 8 2005-06 96 2006-07 81 2007-08 43
The Department has employed freelance press officers between 2001 and 2008 as follows:
Number 2004-05 1 2005-06 2 2006-07 2 2007-08 1
No Freelance Press Officers have been used since March 2008.
Departmental Marketing
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was established in June 2007 and currently employs the full-time equivalent of 16.7 marketing officers. It is not possible except at disproportionate cost to identify the number of marketing officers previously employed by the Department for Education and Skills. The Department does not hold information on non-departmental public bodies.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was established in June 2007 and currently employs the full-time equivalent of 16.7 Marketing Officers at a cost of £906,085 per annum. It is not possible except at disproportionate cost to identify the costs of Marketing Officers previously employed by the Department for Education and Skills.
The DFES’s total spend on advertising campaigns was:
£ 2000-01 29,110,000 2001-02 17,665,000 2002-03 13,790,000 2003-04 20,170,000
Campaigns over £500,000 are:
£ 2000-01 Don’t Quit Now 2,700,000 New deal 50 plus 2,400,000 ICT Employability 2,011,000 Childcare Recruitment 1,821,000 Parent’s Magazine 1,484,000 Disability Discrimination 1,242,000 Fast Track Teachers 1,056,000 Modern Apprenticeships 856,000 Individual Learning Accounts 612,000 2001-02 Adult Basic Skills ‘Get on’ 5,096,143 Childcare recruitment 2,504,000 Science Year 2001/02 1,803,000 Excellence Challenge 1,750,000 Modern Apprenticeships 1,670,000 Foundation Degree 1,325,000 Fast Track Teachers 1,250,000 Millennium Volunteers 848,000 Parents’ Magazine 770,000 New Deal 25+ 633,000 2002-03 Adult Basic Skills 5,478,117 Childcare Recruitment 2,741,377 Aim Higher 2,649,999 Connexions 1,320,331 HE Funding 655,000 Foundation Degree 549,397 2003-04 Adult Basic Skills 6,672,938 Aim Higher 4,190,018 Childcare Recruitment 2,986,659 Foundation Degrees 2,813,787 Connexions 2,608,005
It is not possible, except at disproportionate expense, to provide a more detailed breakdown for actual dates for when each campaign ran, other than detailing the financial year within which the expenditure occurred.
The Department ran a number of campaigns in support of its key delivery priorities, in order to inform target audiences of how they were affected by DFES policies. All of DFES campaigns followed the guidelines which govern Government information on issues of propriety and cost.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Details of expenditure on entertainment incurred by the Department are as follows:
2007-08: £16,467
The figure includes expenditure incurred by Ministers and senior departmental officials. The figure excludes costs incurred as part of official events or formal meetings held to further departmental business.
The basic rules governing hospitality are set by HM Treasury. Hospitality expenditure is limited to occasions when official business can best be transacted in that way. Personal entertainment is usually restricted to where senior managers (deputy director or above) are acting as a host and expenditure must be approved in advance by a director or executive board member.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was created on 28 June 2007 as a result of a Machinery of Government change and the expenditure recorded above includes that of its predecessor Department, the Department for Education and Skills. The expenditure will also include any costs incurred by the newly created Department for Universities, Innovation and Skills, where these costs relate to areas formerly the responsibility of the Department for Education and Skills.
Departmental Official Residences
The Department for Children, Schools and Families provides no permanent residential accommodation for use by civil servants of any grade.
Departmental Procurement
The Department’s finance system can only produce a list of all organisations including commercial and non-commercial organisations that have received a payment from the Department. We would, however, have to consider, on an individual basis, whether or not disclosure of that information might prejudice the commercial interests of the Department or the relevant organisation, and that could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Relations
The Department uses marketing companies for raising public awareness on specific issues. Public relations agencies are employed for specific communications tasks, most commonly working alongside our press office to provide campaign support in local, regional and specialist media.
The expenditure figures in the following table relate to the Central Office of Information’s Public Relations Framework and have been provided on a financial year basis, following guidance provided centrally by the Cabinet Office.
Company 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 Band and Brown Communications 19,616 — 158,886 126,868 Blue Rubicon Ltd. — 83,378 184,057 185,024 Cohn and Wolfe — 250,000 — — Consolidated Communications Management Ltd. 476,711 763,718 102,722 — Fishburn Hedges — — 71,396 52,652 Geronimo Communications — — — 35,815 JFL Search and Selection — 209,849 48,660 — Portfolio Metrica Ltd. — 6,325 — — Team Talk Training — — — 18,392 The Red Consultancy Ltd. — 59,880 458,531 143,280 Total 496,327 1,373,150 1,024,252 562,031
(2) how many staff from public relations or public affairs firms or consultancies have been seconded to his Department and its predecessor in each of the last five years.
Since my Department was formed as part of the Machinery of Government changes on 28 June 2007, no staff have been seconded to or from public relations or public affairs firms, or consultancies.
Information for the previous years regarding the predecessor Department (the Department for Education and Skills) is not available.
Departmental Surveillance
Figures on public authority use of covert techniques controlled by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (‘RIPA’) are published annually by the Interception of Communications Commissioner, the Chief Surveillance Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Commissioner, each of whom has particular inspection and oversight responsibilities under RIPA. The latest reports were laid before Parliament and copies placed in the House Library on 22 July. The figures provided in the reports are not broken down by individual public authority use of specific covert technique as, depending on the particular technique and authority using it, this could either reveal sensitivities or be misleading. The question of further disclosure for any particular public authority is a matter for the relevant Commissioner.
Economic and Monetary Union
A copy of the last plan has been placed in the Library.
EDF Energy
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was created on 28 June 2007 and has a contract with EDF for the provision of electricity to all of its Headquarter buildings. During 2007-08 the sum paid under this contract was £1,659,305. Contracts prior to this date relate to the former Department for Education and Skills.
Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant
The Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG) is a ring-fenced grant allocated to all local authorities on a needs-based formula. The grant has two purposes:
(i) it allows LA strategic managers and schools to bring about whole-school change in narrowing achievement gaps for Black and minority ethnic pupils which in turn ensures equality of outcomes; and
(ii) it covers some of the costs of additional support to meet the specific needs of bilingual learners and underachieving pupils.
The following has been spent on EMAG since 2004:
£ million 2004-05 162 2005-06 170 2006-07 174 2007-08 179
The following has been allocated for each of the next three years:
£ million 2008-09 188 2009-10 198 2010-11 206
EU Law
The Joint International Unit (JIU) supports both the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills by promoting and defending the interests of the two Departments on EU business; overseeing the delivery of EU education; training and youth programmes; and fulfilling our treaty obligations in respect of European Schools. A total of 15 JIU staff work on this EU business for the two Departments.
Exams: Special Educational Needs
(2) how many and what proportion of children classified as having (a) hearing and (b) vision impairment achieved five A* to C grades in their GCSE exams in each of the last 10 years;
(3) how many and what proportion of children classified as having (a) hearing and (b) vision impairment achieved five A* to C grades including mathematics and English in their GCSE exams in each of the last 10 years.
The Department only collects data by type of special educational need for children at School Action Plus or with statements. School Action Plus, under the SEN Code of Practice, enables a school to receive some external help to meet a child's SEN. An SEN statement is drawn up by a local authority, following an assessment, when it is necessary to determine the special educational provision which a child's learning difficulties call for.
The available 2007 information is attached to the Statistical First Release (SFR) National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2006/07.
KS2 can be found in Table 73 (key stage 2 attainment by SEN stage and primary SEN type) and at KS4 is in Table 74 (key stage 4 attainment for pupils at School Action Plus or with statements by primary SEN type). This information can be found at
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000759/SFR38_2007_Additional_100708.xls.
A similar analysis was also carried out in 2006 and the relevant information is given as follows.
This information is not available for years before 2005 when type of SEN information for pupils was not collected. Information for 2005 can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Having published this data in 2007, the Department will publish it for subsequent years when the data are available.
The analysis only relates to the primary SEN type of pupils. Some of these children may also have a secondary SEN type which has not been taken into consideration in the analysis.
Number of pupils with a hearing impairment at School Action Plus = 505 Number of pupils with a visual impairment at School Action Plus = 320 Number of pupils with a hearing impairment with statements = 415 Number of pupils with a visual impairment with statements = 230 Reading Writing Maths Science School Action Plus Hearing impairment 73 65 80 78 Visual impairment 64 58 75 73 Statement Hearing impairment 40 34 53 45 Visual impairment 52 51 62 61 Note: Figures relate to seven-year-olds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31 August) in maintained schools.
English Maths Science Percentage achieving Level 4+ Total eligible pupils Percentage achieving Level 4+ Total eligible pupils Percentage achieving Level 4+ Total eligible pupils School Action Plus Hearing impairment 63 550 61 550 75 550 Visual impairment 67 290 63 290 81 290 Statement Hearing impairment 30 495 36 500 48 500 Visual impairment 48 300 49 300 66 300 Note: Figures relate to 11-year-olds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31 August) in maintained schools.
English Maths Science Percentage achieving Level 5+ Total eligible pupils Percentage achieving Level 5+ Total eligible pupils Percentage achieving Level 5+ Total eligible pupils School Action Plus Hearing impairment 59 655 63 655 57 655 Visual impairment 59 285 68 285 65 285 Statement Hearing impairment 29 565 39 580 31 585 Visual impairment 47 395 53 390 49 390 Note: Figures relate to 13-year-olds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31 August) in maintained schools.
Number of pupils with a hearing impairment at School Action Plus = 595 Number of pupils with a visual impairment at School Action Plus = 240 Number of pupils with a hearing impairment with statements = 505 Number of pupils with a visual impairment with statements = 370 5 or more GCSE A*-C grades (or equivalent) 5 or more GCSE A*-C grades including English and Mathematics (or equivalent) School Action Plus Hearing impairment 46 33 Visual impairment 46 32 Statement Hearing impairment 31 18 Visual impairment 44 30 Note: Figures relate to pupils at the end of key stage 4 in maintained schools.
Faith Schools: Health Services
A questionnaire was issued to teenage pregnancy co-ordinators in each top-tier local authority in England, asking them to identify which secondary schools in their area provided on-site health services, which included advice on contraception and sexual health. Responses were received from 70 per cent. of local authorities. Within the local authorities that responded, 627 schools (29 per cent. of the sample) had on-site services. In addition, on-site services were being provided in 84 pupil referral units. Of the 627 schools providing on-site services, 17 were faith-based schools.
The Government support the provision of on-site services where schools have identified a need and where the scope of the service has been agreed by the school's Governing Body, following consultation with parents. On-site services provide young people with swift and easy access to health advice that survey evidence suggests they are reluctant to access through GPs or clinics.
GCE A-level
The information required for the last three years has been placed in the House of Commons Library. Figures for earlier years can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Comprehensive Selective Modern Other maintained Independent Sixth form colleges Other FE sector colleges Total Biological Sciences 20,078 5,463 298 47 8,540 7,613 3,623 45,662 Chemistry 13,031 4,532 145 33 7,980 5,094 2,349 33,164 Physics 10,313 3,339 123 21 5,469 3,086 1,743 24,094 Other Science 910 223 32 0 292 1,672 650 3,779 Mathematics 18,435 5,646 210 33 10,476 7,604 3,630 46,034 Further Mathematics 1,406 750 1— 1— 1,979 779 274 5,192 Design and Technology 10,281 1,575 271 0 1,966 1,742 242 16,077 Computer Studies 1,871 641 23 6 374 1,985 910 5,810 ICT 5,936 853 161 15 1,009 3,024 1,855 12,853 Home Economics 183 71 1— 0 158 55 1— 475 Accounting and Finance 396 10 5 3 243 1,232 933 2,822 Business Studies 12,753 2,827 176 33 4,574 5,876 3,709 29,948 Economics 4,228 1,713 23 25 4,683 1,999 748 13,419 Geography 14,045 3,201 349 22 5,421 3,583 1,762 28,383 Government and Politics 3,156 1,506 61 3 2,138 1,832 749 9,445 History 18,532 4,237 419 27 7,084 5,979 2,920 39,198 Law 3,172 259 128 9 201 5,222 3,660 12,651 Psychology 21,696 3,585 444 63 2,507 10,987 6,741 46,023 Sociology 11,888 1,212 288 37 439 5,300 4,330 23,494 Other social studies 498 164 12 0 306 1,167 587 2,734 Art and Design 15,027 2,066 636 29 5,597 7,313 4,926 35,594 Drama 7,496 1,072 247 18 2,376 2,169 1,090 14,468 English 36,785 6,592 1,052 61 9,253 14,367 8,887 76,997 Media/Film/Television Studies 10,516 936 505 56 525 5,592 3,337 21,467 Other Communication Studies 2,790 284 179 0 180 3,122 2,176 8,731 French 4,220 1,584 46 8 3,781 1,624 700 11,963 German 2,023 772 24 0 1,400 712 307 5,238 Spanish 1,408 505 21 9 1,904 775 308 4,930 Other modern languages 1,246 200 28 25 2,140 417 478 4,534 Classical Studies 793 826 10 0 2,686 933 213 5,461 Religious Studies 7,385 1,632 154 1— 2,841 1,482 1— 13,856 Music 3,816 727 82 0 1,504 1,627 686 8,442 Physical Education 10,285 1,268 321 10 2,093 4,196 1,586 19,759 General Studies 26,343 10,037 326 4 4,072 15,955 1,937 58,674 All subjects 302,941 70,308 6,808 600 106,191 136,115 68,408 691,371 1 Suppressed due to small numbers. Note: Figures relate to 16 to 18-year-olds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31 August).
General Certificate of Secondary Education
The information required for the last three years is given in the following table. Figures for earlier years can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Comprehensive Selective Modern Other maintained Independent Total Media Studies 2004-05 38,432 450 1,699 16 430 41,027 2005-06 48,753 491 2,563 44 515 52,366 2006-07 55,060 490 3,008 34 479 59,071 Law 2004-05 763 37 1— 1— 45 848 2005-06 1,015 43 26 0 48 1,132 2006-07 1,073 37 117 0 50 1,277 Psychology 2004-05 1,668 107 74 1— 1— 1,865 2005-06 2,520 73 116 1— 1— 2,755 2006-07 3,335 79 122 7 88 3,631 1 Figures suppressed due to small numbers. Note: Figures relate to pupils at the end of Key Stage 4.
Information on free school meals was first collected in 2002. Figures are provided as follows for 2002 and for the latest year 2007. Information for the intermediate years can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Updated figures have been provided for 2007. So, the 2007 figure differs from that previously given in the answer of 21 July 2008, Official Report, column 929W.
The figures cover maintained schools only.
The 2007 figures are for pupils at the end of key stage 4, the 2002 figures are for 15-year-olds.
138,340 pupils did not attain any GCSE grades higher than a D in 2006/07. This was 23.1 per cent. of pupils at the end of key stage 4 in maintained schools.
34,176 pupils eligible to receive free school meals did not attain any GCSE grades higher than a D in 2006/07. This was 44.6 per cent. of eligible pupils at the end of key stage 4 in maintained schools.
132,061 pupils did not attain any GCSE grades higher than a D in 2001/02. This was 24.2 per cent. of 15-year-olds in maintained schools.
34,128 pupils eligible to receive free school meals did not attain any GCSE grades higher than a D in 2001/02. This was 45.9 per cent. of eligible 15-year-olds in maintained schools.
Headteachers: Early Retirement
The information is not available in the format requested.
The following table provides the number and percentage of leadership group teachers, head, deputy and assistant head teachers, employed in local authority maintained schools in England who took early retirement in each of the last three years.
Number Percentage3 2005-064 1,650 2.9 2006-074 1,780 3.0 2007-084 1,720 2.9 1 Includes head teachers, deputy head teachers and assistant head teachers. 2 Includes teachers retiring under the premature and actuarially reduced pension arrangements. 3 The percentage rate is calculated from the number of early retirements divided by the headcount number of leadership group teachers, of all ages, recorded in service in January of the year in question. 4 All years are provisional and subject to slight revision due to the addition of retrospective awards and suspension of pension benefits where teachers return to service. Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: Database of Teacher Records (retirement numbers) and Annual Survey of Teachers in Service and Teacher Vacancies, 618g, (teacher numbers)
Languages: Primary Education
Ongoing research commissioned by the Department shows that in 2007, 84 per cent. of primary schools in England taught languages to pupils in Key Stage 2 (ages 7-11). This represented an increase of 14 percentage points since the same survey was carried out in 2006. We do not know how many pupils this represents as not all primary schools teach languages to all year groups in Key Stage 2.
Similar research carried out in 2002 showed that 44 percentage of primary schools were then teaching languages.
(2) how many (a) primary teachers and (b) primary teaching assistants have been given training to teach foreign languages to their pupils since 2005; and if he will make a statement.
The information given in the table shows recruitment to initial teacher training courses in primary modern languages. In total nearly 4,000 trainees have gone through these courses, with more to be trained over the next few years. The Training and Development Agency is also working with teacher training institutions to provide additional routes to boost the primary work force teaching languages. They are also developing a pilot programme of retraining modules for secondary language teachers to support language development in primary schools.
The Government fund the British Council to run the Primary Teacher Project, through which primary teachers undertake a two-week programme of language tuition through a partner institution in Europe, to develop their confidence and linguistic competence. Some 300 teachers went on this programme in 2007-08 and it is planned that around 400 will do so in 2008-09.
Teachers can also be supported through the increased funding we have given through local authorities to support the delivery of primary languages—£32.5 million in 2008-09, up from £27.5 million in 2007-08. Schools can use this for a variety of purposes, including to pay for in-service training for teachers and teaching assistants, or for upskilling primary teachers. CILT, the National Centre for Languages, also runs training courses for local authority staff and schools.
Total number of new entrants ITT subject 2005/06 2006/07 2007/081 Primary—French 370 390 420 Primary—German 80 100 90 Primary—Italian 30 40 40 Primary—Spanish 160 180 170 Primary—Portuguese 10 10 0 Primary—total modern foreign languages 650 710 720 1 Provisional. Notes: 1. Figures for mainstream trainees include Universities and other HE institutions, SCITT and OU, but exclude employment based routes. 2. Figures for 2007/08 are provisional and are subject to change. 3. Figures include trainees who are re-sitting all or part of their ITT programme. 4. Figures trainees on courses of one to five year durations. 5. Figures are individually rounded to the nearest 10 and may not sum. Source: TDA ITT Trainee Number Census
Information on Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) specialisms has recently started to be collected by the Training and Development Agency. The available data indicate that in 2007/08 there were some 40 HLTAs in primary schools specialising in modern foreign languages.
No other information is centrally collected on the training provided to teachers and teaching assistants to teach foreign languages to pupils.
Languages: Secondary Education
Since my reply of 12 November 2007 to the hon. Member no further research has been carried out concerning this benchmark. However at the end of September we will start a three-year evaluation, reporting in July 2011, looking at what impact the measures recommended in the Languages Review have had on take up at key stage 4, including looking at how many secondary schools have set the 50-90 percentage benchmark.
National Curriculum Tests
(2) how much each organisation that submitted a bid for the current contract to mark key stage 2 and 3 standard assessment tests proposed to charge to deliver the contract.
The administration and marking of national curriculum tests is a function of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) which is delivered independently of Government. The National Assessment Agency (NAA) is responsible for the marking process. I have therefore asked David Gee, Managing Director of the NAA, to write to the hon. Member. A copy of his letter has been placed in the Library.
Letter from David Gee, dated 18 September 2008:
The Secretary of State for Education, the Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, has asked me to write to you concerning two recent parliamentary questions pertaining to the organisations that submitted bids for the contract to provide external marking and data collection services for key stage 2 & 3 national curriculum tests.
The organisations who submitted bids for the National Curriculum Tests contract were Capita, Edexcel, ETS, Logica CMG, Research Machines (RM), and Harcourt. These were shortlisted to Edexcel, ETS and LogicaCMG. Bids were received from Edexcel and ETS. LogicaCMG declined to submit a final bid.
The amount each bidder proposed to charge is commercial in confidence and the NAA is therefore not in a position to provide the information you seek. If this situation changes, or if the organisations concerned publicly state their involvement in the procurement process and the nature of their bid, I will write to you again.
The remit of Ofqual is to regulate the national curriculum assessments to ensure that standards are maintained and assessments are fair and effective. Ofqual operates independently from Government, and I have asked Kathleen Tattersall, chair of Ofqual, to write to the hon. Member. A copy of this letter will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Isabel Nisbet, dated 15 September 2008:
DCSF have forwarded the following Parliamentary Question of Ofqual as it falls within Ofqual’s remit.
“To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, pursuant to the Oral Statement of 22nd July 2008, what factors Ofqual took into account in determining that the quality of marking of this year’s key stage 2 and key stage 3 national curriculum tests was at least as good as in previous years.”
In response to this question Ofqual has rigorously monitored this year’s national curriculum tests. It was assured by the National Assessment Agency that the criteria for marker appointments were in line with previous years. Ofqual attended marker training events, level setting meetings and script scrutiny meetings as well as checking that all procedures in place for the marking of the scripts were in line with our code of practice. The marking quality assurance measures in place for this year’s tests have been good practice and included more systematic and frequent comparison with a benchmark against a national standard rather than a check by a team leader. From the monitoring of quality assurance processes Ofqual carried out it concluded that while it was not possible to predict the volume of reviews schools will request this year, the quality of the marking is at least as good as previous years.
I am copying this letter to Sue White at DCSF to ensure that the copy of this letter is kept at the House Library.
(2) what the evidential basis is for his assertion that a Minister can move the responsibility for redress from where it presently falls under the contract between the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and ETS Europe.
The Department does not routinely publish advice to Ministers. It would only be in rare circumstances that such publication would be in the public interest. Publication would adversely affect the candour of officials' advice to Ministers and discourage the exploration of radical options. It would undermine the confidential relationship between officials and Ministers and compromise ministerial thinking space. There is also a public interest in protecting the principle of legal professional privilege.
In his oral statement to the House on 22 July 2008 the Secretary of State made clear that the contractual discussions between the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and ETS Europe were commercially, legally and financially highly sensitive. It was in the public interest that the QCA should be allowed to conclude those discussions in a timely, orderly and rigorous fashion.
They were concluded on 15 August when the QCA announced that it had agreed with ETS to dissolve its five-year contract for national curriculum tests operations with immediate effect.
National Curriculum Tests: Statistics
The Statistical First Release (SFR) National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 3 in England, 2008 (Provisional) was published on 12 August 2008, the second Tuesday in August as scheduled. This SFR can be found at
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000805/index.shtml.
The SFR published on 12 August did not contain local authority data. A statement about the publication of Local Authority data can be found at
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/.
The Statistical First Release (SFR) National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 2 in England, 2008 (Provisional) was published on 5 August 2008, the first Tuesday in August as scheduled. This SFR can be found at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgatewav/DB/SFR/s000804/index.shtml.
Office of the Schools Commissioner
From September 2006, when the Office of the Schools Commissioner was first established, to March 2007 the cost was £970,000. For 2007-08 the cost was £3.1 million, and for 2008-09 the Office of the Schools Commissioner has a total budget of £4.3 million. Budgets for future years have not yet been finalised.
Olympic Games 2012
The education opportunities presented by the 2012 Games are being used to build on and add value to existing activity being undertaken by the DCSF. There are 1.8 full-time equivalent members of staff allocated to co-ordinating this work. They deal with all aspects of project management, legacy planning and project oversight. Future staffing levels for this work are expected to remain at this level.
Pre-School Education: Admissions
Since April 2004 all three and four-year-olds have been entitled to a free part-time early education place for 12.5 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year. From 2010, this offer will be extended from 12.5 to 15 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year.
Information about the part-time equivalent number of free early education places filled by three and four-year-olds is shown in the table.
3 year olds 4 year olds Maintained nursery and primary schools3 Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total 3 year olds Maintained nursery and primary schools4 Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total 4 year olds 1997 214,200 n/a 214,200 n/a n/a 5,6576,200 1998 222,000 n/a 222,000 n/a n/a 5,6591,500 1999 225,700 n/a 225,700 n/a n/a 5,6593,800 2000 229,900 740,300 270,200 483,700 114,800 5,6598,500 2001 226,600 7108,800 335,400 482,800 106,500 5,6589,300 2002 223,500 7184,700 408,300 477,700 5106,800 584,500 2003 218,700 7226,100 444,800 472,200 8109,600 581,800 2004 215,300 9246,200 461,600 461,100 10110,000 571,200 2005 214,300 9259,800 474,100 449,500 10104,400 553,900 2006 215,500 9268,000 483,500 442,200 10104,000 546,200 2007 221,000 9284,700 505,700 442,400 10106,300 548,700 2008 223,400 9303,200 526,600 459,600 10112,000 571,500 n/a = Not available. 1 A place is equal to five or more sessions and can be filled by more than one child. 2 Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 if they exceed 1,000 and to the nearest 10 otherwise. 3 Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the School Census. 4 Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the School Census. 5 Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise. 6 For the years 1997-99, four year old figures from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise can not be disaggregated between the maintained and private, voluntary and independent sectors. 7 Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise. 8 Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census supplementary data collection exercise and the School Census. 9 Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the School Census. 10 Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the School Census.
The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release (SFR) 12/2008 “Provision for children under five years of age in England: January 2008”, available on my Department’s website
www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/.
Primary Education: Reading
Encouraging children to read more is essential to increasing their chances of success, both at school and beyond.
The national strategies continue to provide a wide range of materials to support teachers, school librarians and others to ensure schools provide both high quality teaching and learning in reading, and promote an environment which encourages children’s enthusiasm for reading and helps them achieve their potential. In primary schools and in response to the publication of the Rose Review we have ensured that all children learn to read through the use of systematic phonics. We are also now rolling out the Every Child a Reader programme for five and six-year-old children struggling with their reading.
There are a range of other programmes to promote reading which are available to all schools. For instance, the Reading Connects initiative supports schools in developing a whole-school reading culture; the School Reading Champions initiative uses the motivational power of male role models to inspire boys to read more; and the Family Reading Campaign supports schools in reaching out to parents and the wider family and helping them to encourage children to enjoy reading. All initiatives provide schools with tried and tested practical ideas to promote reading and a wide range of free resources.
Most recently, in June this year, I announced the extension of the Boys into Books programme to the primary sector. This project is bringing over half a million new books into public libraries from September for use on long-term loan in every state primary school in England.
Beyond the classroom, the National Year of Reading is helping to increase awareness of the pleasures and benefits of reading in all its forms, for children and families alike.
Pupil Exclusions
(2) how many pupils were suspended more than (a) once, (b) five times and (c) 10 times in (i) England and (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
The available information on the number of permanent exclusions is shown in the table. Information on pupils who have been permanently excluded more than once can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The number of pupils with more than (a) one, (b) five and (c) 10 fixed-period exclusions is not readily available and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. The available information showing the number of times pupils have been excluded for a fixed period is published annually by the Department. These figures can be found in the Statistical First Release “DCSF: Permanent and Fixed Period Exclusions from Schools and Exclusion Appeals in England”, the latest of which refer to the 2006/07 school year and can be accessed at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000793/index.shtml (table 14).
Number of permanent exclusions Percentage of the school population5 2002/03 Yorkshire and the Humber 880 0.11 England 9,340 0.12 2003/04 Yorkshire and the Humber 910 0.11 England 9,990 0.13 2004/05 Yorkshire and the Humber 840 0.10 England 9,570 0.13 2005/06 Yorkshire and the Humber 770 0.10 England 9,330 0.12 2006/07 Yorkshire and the Humber 670 0.09 England 8,680 0.12 1 Figures for maintained primary, secondary and special schools are as confirmed by local authorities as part of the data checking exercise. Figures for CTCs, academies and non-maintained special schools are as reported by schools and are unconfirmed. 2 National totals and regional totals have been rounded to the nearest 10. 3 Includes middle schools as deemed, CTCS and academies. 4 Includes both maintained and non-maintained special schools. 5 The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the number (headcount) pupils in primary, secondary and special schools, excluding dually registered pupils in special schools in January each year. Source: School Census.
Pupil Exclusions: Offensive Weapons
Data are not collected centrally on the number of pupils who have been suspended or excluded from school for possession of an offensive weapon.
The Department does collect information on the reasons why pupils have been excluded, either for a fixed period or permanently. However, this does not include a specific category relating to possession of a weapon. That information was collected for the first time for 2003-04. Information on the number of permanent and fixed period exclusions, by reason, broken down by local authority, and covering the academic years 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06 has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
The latest information on the number of permanent and fixed period exclusions by reason, broken down by local authority has been published at the following link:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000793/index.shtml
Real Action Butterfly Children's Programme
(2) if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Real Action Butterfly Children's programme in (a) raising educational attainment and (b) diverting young people away from anti-social behaviour and crime;
(3) if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Real Action Butterfly Children's programme on promoting integration and community cohesion; and if he will provide funding to the programme.
Ensuring equal opportunities for all to succeed at the highest level possible and removing barriers to access and participation in learning is an important contribution to promoting community cohesion. Through the National Strategies we are providing a wide range of training and resources to support teachers in providing the high quality teaching and learning which is vital to improving standards of attainment in literacy for all children.
Stopping young people engaging in crime and antisocial behaviour also plays an important role in building strong and cohesive communities. Through the Youth Taskforce Action plan, and more recently through the Youth Crime Action plan we have set out a ‘triple track’ response to these problems. Where problems occur we must respond with strong enforcement. However, that alone is not enough and we must also offer support to address the causes of bad behaviour and intervene earlier to prevent problems occurring in the first place.
In addition to promoting academic and other achievement, engaging young people in positive activities offers them stimulating things to do and safe places to go, helping to build resilience to future negative outcomes such as crime or antisocial behaviour. Over the next three years, Government have pledged £840 million to enhance facilities and services for young people.
We acknowledge the work that charities such as Real Action Butterfly Children's programme do to promote reading for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, however, we are not familiar with this specific programme and therefore we cannot comment on its efficacy on promoting integration or community cohesion.
The Children, Young People and Families Grant is a national grant programme, managed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, which aims to fund work of national significance to improve outcomes for children, young people, and families. It is possible that the work of Real Action Butterfly Children's programme may meet the criteria for this grant and more information can be found at:
http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/strategy/voluntaryandcommunity/cypfgrant/
Religion: Education
Religious education syllabuses, other than for voluntary aided schools with a religious designation, are drawn up by an agreed syllabus conference which advises each separate local authority. To assist in drawing up these syllabuses the Department, with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), has published a non-statutory framework for religious education which has been supported by all the main faith groups and the British Humanist Association. It says that pupils should learn about Christianity throughout each key stage though, by the end of key stage 3, pupils should have encountered all five principal religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism) in sufficient depth. It also recommends that all pupils have opportunities to study other religious traditions such as the Baha'i faith, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and secular philosophies such as humanism. It can be obtained from the QCA website at
www.qca.org.uk.
In addition, the Government is investing £1 million in an RE action plan to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the subject. Key areas for the action plan include updating existing guidance on RE, reviewing materials used in schools to teach world religions and their contribution to promoting community cohesion, supporting the work of the RE subject association (the National Association of Teachers of RE), and increasing the involvement of minority faith groups in local Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education by rolling out a national programme of recruitment and training.
The plan is being implemented with full involvement and in full consultation with faith and belief communities and the RE professional community.
School Meals
The Department is taking a number of steps to improve the nutritional content of school meals.
New food-based standards were introduced in September 2006 for school lunches and from September 2007 for other school food. Nutrient-based standards were introduced for primary school lunches in September 2008 and will be introduced in secondary and special schools in September 2009.
We are investing over £650 million between 2005 and 2011 to help improve school food and keep school lunch prices down. This includes £220 million over the three years 2005-06 to 2007-08 to assist authorities and schools in improving school lunches and other school food; £240 million between 2008 and 2011 to support the costs of school lunches; £150 million capital funding to build and refurbish kitchen and dining facilities; and funding to establish FEAST centres to train catering staff. We are also providing an extra £6 million over the next three years for the School Food Trust to promote healthy food to young people and raise take-up.
School Meals: Lancashire
All schools have to meet the food-based nutritional standards introduced in September 2006 for school lunches and the standards for other school food introduced in September 2007. Nutrient-based standards were introduced for primary school lunches in September 2008 and will be introduced in secondary and special schools in September 2009.
I refer the hon. Member to the replies given previously for questions 196856 and 221728.
Schools: Athletics
There is no departmental programme for this provision. A decision to purchase athletic equipment would be made locally by the school and based on its priorities.
Schools: Buildings
Data on school temporary buildings were supplied to my Department by local education authorities in 2001, 2003 and 2005. However, checks indicated that the completeness and quality of the data were not good enough to accurately assess the number of schools using temporary mobile classrooms.
Central Government capital support for investment in schools has increased from under £700 million in 1996-97 to £6.7 billion in 2008-09, and will rise further to £8.0 billion by 2010-11. Progress is being made year by year in improving the quality of the school building stock. The bulk of schools capital is now allocated by formula to authorities and schools so that they can address their local priorities, including the replacement of poor-quality temporary accommodation. Given the high levels of funding, authorities have the opportunity to replace temporary buildings where they are considered to be unsuitable.
Modern, high-quality mobile or demountable buildings can provide a good environment for teaching and learning where there is a short-term need. They might be used, for instance, to cope with a temporary increase in pupil numbers at a school, or as an alternative to transporting children elsewhere when there is building work under way.
Schools: Closed Circuit Television
The Department does not collect this information. Cameras can be installed in common areas in toilet or washroom facilities where misbehaviour may take place, so long as privacy is not infringed. The Information Commissioner's Office has produced a Code of Practice on the use of CCTV which schools can use.
Schools: Epilepsy
The Department does not hold information on schools that cater specifically for pupils with epilepsy, as it is a condition that falls within the broader descriptions of special educational needs used to categorise and classify special schools. Most pupils with epilepsy can be educated, mainstream schools but depending on the severity of the condition pupils may be educated in a variety of different types of special school. We are aware of one independent school in Lancashire, Oliver House School, which caters for children with epilepsy.
Schools: Finance
The following list provides a breakdown of the schools budget not devolved to schools or local authorities in the DCSF.
£ million Purpose School Performance and Reform 1 School Standards 459 School Resources 865 Schools Commissioner 1 Academies and Capital 66 Total 1,392
Schools: Recruitment
The Department has not made any estimates on maintained schools’ expenditure on advertising for recruitment. It is a matter for each local authority and its schools to determine locally.
The information is not collected centrally.
Information for the number of teacher vacancies, that existed on the survey date in January under the Department's standard definition, have been published in table 6 of the School Workforce Statistical First Release, January 2008 (Provisional) at the following web link:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000787/index.shtml
Schools: Restraint Techniques
This information is not collected centrally because that would be an unjustifiable bureaucratic burden for schools. The key issue is what happens at school level. The Department’s guidance on use of force by school staff therefore advises schools that it is essential for them to record significant incidents and report them to parents.
Schools: Standards
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.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 15 September 2008:
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for a response.
Inspectors have made a judgement about schools' overall effectiveness since January 2000. Under the previous school inspection framework (commonly known as Section 10), this judgment was made using a seven point scale: excellent, very good, good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, poor and very poor. Since September 2005, the judgment has been made under the current school inspection framework (commonly known as Section 5) using a four point scale: outstanding, good, satisfactory and inadequate. This response relates to each school's most recent inspection.
It is not possible to operate a simple read-across approach from a seven- to a four-point scale and so simple comparisons are not possible. Ofsted's criteria for making inspection judgements about schools are clearly set out in our inspection guidance.
As of 11 September 2008, there were 2,305 maintained schools in Yorkshire and the Humber. Of these, 2,275 schools have been inspected under the current or previous inspection frameworks. The remaining 30 schools have recently opened and are yet to have an inspection. Schools that have closed since their last inspection have been excluded from the analysis.
Table 1 shows the latest overall effectiveness grade of those maintained schools in Yorkshire and the Humber that have had an inspection under the current inspection framework, introduced in September 2005.
Table 2 shows the latest overall effectiveness grade of those maintained schools in Yorkshire and the Humber where their most recent inspection was under the previous inspection framework.
Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate Total Number of inspections 295 1,085 776 54 2,210 Percentage of inspections 13 49 35 2 100 Note: Percentages are rounded and may not add to 100.
Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor Total Number of inspections 2 9 33 21 0 0 0 65 Percentage of inspections 3 14 51 32 0 0 0 100 Note: Percentages are rounded and may not add to 100
A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners and will be placed in the library of both Houses.
A list of schools where, according to 2007 results, fewer than 30 per cent. of pupils achieve five GCSEs or equivalent at grade A* to C including English and Maths has already been placed in the Library. Validated 2008 GCSE results will be available in January 2009. Officials from my Department are working with local authorities to identify what action is needed to ensure all schools rise above the threshold by 2011.
Sex Education Forum: Finance
In 2007-08 the Department made payments of £115,000 to the Sex Education Forum. Funds of £156,000 have been allocated to the forum for 2008-09. The Sex Education Forum provides support to practitioners involved in delivering sex and relationships education (SRE) or delivering on-site sexual health services in education settings, such as schools and FE colleges. All payments made to the Sex Education Forum are to deliver services or projects that are determined and monitored by the Department in accordance with an agreed work plan.
Social Services: Complaints
This information is not collected centrally. However, local authorities are required to keep a record of:
each representation/complaint received
the outcome of each, that is, the decisions made in response to the representation/complaint and any action to be taken; and
whether there was compliance with the time limits
Each local authority must produce and have available to the public an annual report drawing on this information.
Specialised Diplomas
145 consortia of schools, colleges and training providers are delivering Diploma courses from September 2008. Learner numbers for all qualifications are still subject to change during the first weeks of the autumn term, as young people make their final decisions about the courses they want to pursue. We are gathering data from local authorities on Diploma learner numbers during this term, in order to make adjustments to the funding areas receive for Diplomas. We will publish this information before the end of the year.
Specialised Diplomas: Standards
Up to 1 April 2008, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) was responsible for the methodology for establishing the relative value of qualifications reported in the Achievement and Attainment Tables and the points awarded to those qualifications. In December 2007, the QCA published the information relating to the Diploma, and the DCSF put this guidance on its website. This guidance—Performance Points for the Foundation, Higher and Advanced Diplomas—is as follows:
After 1 April 2008, Ofqual, the qualifications and examinations regulator, has taken over the responsibility for this and other issues of regulation.
Performance Points for the Foundation, Higher and Advanced Diplomas. Diplomas at levels 1 and 2 (Foundation and Higher Diploma)
Foundation and Higher Diploma achievement and attainment table (AAT) points exclude functional skills and personal, learning and thinking skills (PLTS) because these are delivered and recognised in AAT points through the KS4 curriculum.
This means that for the Foundation Diploma, the formula for AAT points is derived from 420 of the total 600 guided learning hours published in the Diploma structures and standards document (available on the QCA website), since the functional skills and PLTS comprise 180 guided learning hours at this level.
AAT points for the Higher Diploma are based on 660 of the total 800 guided learning hours for the course, since the functional skills and PLTS comprise 140 guided learning hours at this level.
glh B A A* Principal Learning 240 57 84 102 Extended Project 60 9.5 14 17 ASL 120 19 28 34 Total (5 GCSE size equivalence) 420 85.5 126 153 Comparison with AAT points at GCSE: 5 GCSEs D-G 415 to 504 80 to 110 140 170
glh C B A A* Principal Learning 420 200 230 260 290 Extended Project 60 20 23 26 29 ASL 180 80 92 104 116 Total (7 GCSE size equivalence) 660 300 345 390 435 Comparison with AAT points at GCSE: 7 GCSEs A* - C 595-684 280 322 364 406
Diplomas at level 3 (Advanced Diploma)
At Level 3, the curriculum context does not already include provision for the delivery of personal, learning and thinking skills (PLTS), functional skills or work experience. These are all hurdles for the achievement of the Advanced Diploma.
Functional Skills will need to be "taught" in the early years of the Diploma, and work experience will require a significant amount of directed time. Therefore the functional skills, work experience and PLTS hurdles are included within the AAT points calculations.
This means that although the published 1,080 guided learning hours for the Advanced Diploma is still valid, the AAT points for the qualification are based on 1305 guided learning hours, taking into account functional skills and work experience, which together comprise 225 guided learning hours.
glh E D C B A A* Principal Learning 540 225 270 315 360 405 450 Extended Project 120 45 54 63 72 81 90 ASL 360 150 180 210 240 270 300 English FS 45 23 23 23 23 23 23 Maths FS 45 23 23 23 23 23 23 ICTFS 45 23 23 23 23 23 23 PLTS 60 30 36 42 48 54 60 Work Experience 901 63 63 63 63 63 63 Total (3.5 GCE size equivalence) 1305 582 672 762 852 903 1032 Comparison with AAT points at GCE A level 35 GCE A levels A*- E 1,200 525 630 735 840 945 1,050 1 GLH for work experience has been calculated on the basis of 10 eight-hour working days and 10 hours for preparation, reporting and evaluation.
Specialist Schools and Academies Trust: Income
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) is an independent registered charity which receives income from a range of sources. As such, DCSF does not have responsibility for monitoring its income. Audited accounts are published and available from the Charity Commission.
The DCSF funds SSAT through a range of grants and contracts to support the Specialist Schools and Academies Programmes and a range of other activities designed to raise pupil achievement. The total financial contribution made by DCSF to SSAT over the last seven years for which we have final information is: £2.395 million in 2001-02; £4.371 million in 2002-03; £11.326 million in 2003-04; £17.796 million in 2004-05; £24.350 million in 2005-06; £35.152 million in 2006-07 and £43.578 million in 2007-08. This includes both grants and contracts. DCSF negotiates funding levels each year for individual grants and contracts. We are not in a position to estimate what the level of funding will be in future years—this will depend on our priorities at the time.
Stress
The Department is committed to the well-being of its employees. It has a number of procedures in place to reduce stress at work, and recently updated its Workforce Well-Being policies and practices for tackling sickness absence, including stress experienced in the workplace. In addition, we will be publishing a new stress prevention and management policy in the autumn. This will be based on the Health and Safety Executive's management standards, and will advise staff on best practice to further improve their capacity to manage stress.
Supply Teachers: Training
(2) what programmes there are to encourage current non-qualified teachers who are acting as supply teachers to seek careers as full-time qualified teachers; and if he will make a statement.
Unqualified teachers, including those acting as supply teachers, can gain QTS by completing one of the employment-based programmes. These include the Graduate Teacher Programme, the Registered Teacher Programme (for those without a degree or equivalent qualification) or, for overseas trained teachers, the Overseas Trained Teacher Programme all of which can be tailored to take account of prior experience. Alternatively they could complete an undergraduate teacher training course or postgraduate certificate in education. There are different financial support arrangements for each programme. Further information on the training options and financial assistance available can be obtained from the Teaching Information Line on 0845 6000 991 or by reference to the Training and Development Agency for Schools teacher recruitment website at:
www.tda.gov.uk.
Sure Start Programme
The National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS), undertaken by the University of Birkbeck, began in 2001 and focuses on the impact made by Sure Start Local Programmes, the precursor to Sure Start Children's Centres. Reports evaluating the impact of Sure Start on children and their families at nine months and three years of age are available at
www.ness.bbk.ac.uk.
The report from the current phase of the evaluation, assessing the impact when the children are five years old, is currently under way and we expect to publish the results in spring 2010. No decisions have been taken on whether this research should continue in the future.
The Department is considering arrangements for the evaluation of Sure Start Children's Centres currently.
Sure Start Programme: Finance
The childcare sufficiency and access element of the Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare Grant was introduced in financial year 2008-09 and so allocation figures are not available for earlier periods. Local authorities have discretion over the use to which they put this funding but the Memorandum of Grant assigns three principal objectives to it:
(a) to help local authorities maintain an accurate and up to date assessment of the provision of, and demand for, childcare in their respective areas;
(b) to help local authorities secure a sufficient supply of childcare across their area, through their management of the local childcare market; and
(c) to ensure that the needs of potentially excluded groups are met
The total funding across the country for sufficiency and access within the 2008-11 SSEYCG main revenue block is as follows:
£ 2008-09 122,133,095 2009-01 126,964,804 2010-11 129,122,702
Talent Taskforce
The Talent and Enterprise Taskforce was established in September 2007. To date, the Taskforce’s running costs and programme expenditure come to £2,554,708. The objective is to promote the economic and social imperative of developing talent and skill in the UK through engaging influential networks, organisations and individuals across society to mobilise behind this theme. In working towards this objective the Taskforce has established:
an advisory group of 13 people representing organisations across educational, business and community sectors and who are engaging in the talent agenda;
SHINE, a national festival held in over 2,300 schools to celebrate the talent in every child that took place from 30June—4 July;
The Prime Minster's Global Fellowship. A scheme in which 100 school leavers visited China, India and Brazil to gain first-hand understanding of the global economy and how it will impact the lives of young people, returning to share what they have learnt with their peers;
regional debates on the ‘Talent Challenge’. To be held in every Government region, these debates are bringing together leaders in the business, education and community sectors to consider their priorities on the talent agenda in their region; and,
a project underway in 20 local authorities to pilot online sign-posting to positive activities for young people.
Taxis
Details of expenditure on taxis incurred by the Department in the last financial year are set out as follows:
£ 2007-08 247,738
The expenditure is based on staff travel claims and approved invoices received from taxi companies paid via the Departments Integrated Financial Information System.
DCSF was established under Machinery of Government changes on 28 June 2007. This response also covers those areas of responsibility held by its predecessor the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).
Teachers: Males
Provisional March 2006 figures show that 15.5 per cent. of full-time regular teachers employed in local authority maintained primary schools in England are male compared with 16.5 per cent. in Yorkshire and the Humber Government office region.
The source of this information is the Database of Teacher Records.
Teachers: Pay
(2) what the average income of a first year teacher in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) Wakefield District was in the last year for which figures are available.
Information on the average annual earnings of supply teachers is not collected centrally.
The available information on the average income of a first year teacher in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber is contained within Table B4:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000743/Addition_B_DOU.xls
of the Statistical First Release (SFR) “School Workforce in England (including pupil: teacher ratios and pupil: adult ratios), January 2007 (Revised)”. Figures for Wakefield district are not available.
The following table provides the average gross salary, including all additional allowances, of full-time regular qualified teachers on scale point six of the main classroom teachers pay scale (M6) in local authority maintained schools in England, Yorkshire and the Humber Government Office Region (GOR) and Wakefield local authority in March 2006, the latest information available.
£ England3 28,920 Yorkshire and the Humber GOR 28,180 28,380 1 Included are teachers for whom there is sufficient information on the components of their salary to match exactly their basic salary with the scale point M6. For 17 per cent. of teachers we are unable to perform this matching. 2 Provisional. 3 Includes teachers on the London main classroom pay scales. Source: Database of Teacher Records
Teachers: Training
The available information is given in the table.
Numeracy Literacy ICT Number passed Approximate number of tests sat by those who passed Mean number of attempts required to pass Number passed Approximate number of tests sat by those who passed Mean number of attempts required to pass Number passed Approximate number of tests sat by those who passed Mean number of attempts required to pass 2000-01 22,950 29,380 1.28 23,230 26,480 1.14 n/a n/a n/a 2001-02 25,980 33,260 1.28 26,330 32,910 1.25 25,810 28,650 1.11 2002-03 29,090 38,110 1.31 29,620 36,720 1.24 29,170 38,220 1.31 2003-04 31,310 42,580 1.36 32,720 40,250 1.23 32,960 38,560 1.17 2004-05 33,250 49,540 1.49 33,900 47,120 1.39 33,330 45,990 1.38 2005-06 34,130 50,850 1.49 34,150 47,810 1.40 33,250 37,900 1.14 2006-07 34,360 53,600 1.56 35,150 46,460 1.32 35,140 39,310 1.12 n/a = Not applicable Notes: 1. Includes mainstream (Universities, other higher education institutes, SCITT and Open University) as well as employment based routes. Source: TDA
(2) how many graduates he expects to complete the Teach First programme in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement;
(3) what plans he has to increase the number of graduates completing the Teach First programme; and if he will make a statement;
(4) what plans he has to increase awareness of the Teach First programme among graduates; and if he will make a statement;
(5) how many and what percentage of Teach First leavers went on to work in (a) academies and (b) the independent sector in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement.
The following number of graduates have completed the Teach First programme:
Number 2004 164 2005 177 2006 158 2007 244 2008 253
The Prime Minister announced in June 2008 that the number of Teach First places would double over the next five years to the level where more than 800 top class graduates would be recruited into teaching each year. Accordingly, Teach First is projecting the following number of graduates will begin the programme in each year:
Number 2009 370 2010 460 2011 560 2012 660 2013 760 2014 850
Teach First is already taking forward plans to drive the expansion by increasing the awareness of the programme among eligible graduates. It does not currently have detailed statistics on the destinations of completers who remain in education, but I already plan to require these to be available for the 2008/09 academic year onwards.
The only centrally available data on applications for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses is for mainstream postgraduate ITT courses. Data on total ITT, mainstream undergraduate ITT and Employment Based ITT are not available centrally.
The following tables show the number of applications and acceptances to mainstream postgraduate secondary ITT courses in England along with the proportion of those applications which were accepted for each subject since 2003-04. Figures for 2008-09 will be available around May 2009.
2003-04 2004-05 Number of applications Number of acceptances Proportion of applications which are accepted Number of applications Number of acceptances Proportion of applications which are accepted Mathematics 2,610 1,660 64 2,920 1,670 57 English (inc. Drama) 4,550 2,430 53 4,670 2,340 50 Science4 3,880 2,500 65 4,040 2,460 61 Modern foreign languages5 2,480 1,580 64 2,300 1,400 61 Technology6 3,790 2,100 55 3,800 2,180 58 History 1,920 1,120 58 1,910 1,010 53 Geography 1,250 980 79 1,310 940 72 Physical Education 2,020 950 47 2,200 1,020 46 Art 1,770 1,020 57 1,690 920 55 Music 610 510 84 640 460 73 Religious education 700 560 80 780 580 75 Other7 950 470 50 1,050 560 53 Total secondary8 26,520 15,880 60 27,300 15,550 57
Number of applications Number of acceptances Proportion of applications which are accepted Number of applications Number of acceptances Proportion of applications which are accepted Mathematics 3,250 1,780 55 2,840 1,740 61 English (inc. Drama) 4,950 2,250 46 5,090 2,090 41 Science4 4,310 2,570 60 4,210 2,680 64 Modern foreign languages5 2,220 1,330 60 2,060 1,310 64 Technology6 3,800 2,200 58 3,530 2,160 61 History 1,960 910 46 1,780 740 42 Geography 1,220 860 70 1,120 770 69 Physical Education 2,300 970 42 2,340 870 37 Art 1,650 820 50 1,560 700 45 Music 700 510 73 780 540 69 Religious education 860 630 74 1,070 720 67 Other7 1,140 590 51 1,070 490 46 Total secondary8 28,360 15,410 54 27,450 14,810 54
Number of applications Number of acceptances Proportion of applications which are accepted Mathematics 2,590 1,680 65 English (inc. Drama) 4,700 2,010 43 Science4 3,910 2,690 69 Modern foreign languages5 1,810 1,260 70 Technology6 2,980 2,080 70 History 1,710 690 41 Geography 890 690 77 Physical Education 2,370 830 35 Art 1,390 600 43 Music 770 570 73 Religious education 1,110 760 68 Other7 950 420 45 Total secondary8 25,170 14,270 57 1 Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. There may be discrepancies between the sum of constituent items and totals as shown. 2 Some applications to Postgraduate ITT courses are made independently of the Graduate Teacher Training Registry {GTTR) and are not included in the figures. 3 Membership to the GTTR changes between years, therefore the higher education institutions covered may vary. 4 Includes Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geology, Combined/General Sciences and Env/Rural Sciences. 5 Includes French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Celtic Languages and Other Modern Languages. 6 Includes Design and Technology, Information Technology, Business Studies and Home Economics. 7 Includes Economics, Social Studies, Classics, Citizenship and Unspecified. 8 Excludes middle phase. Source: Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR)
The number of people accepting offers to ITT courses is a more important indicator of take up rate than applications. Year on year changes in the number of acceptances between 2003-04 and 2007-08 have broadly reflected changes in ITT recruitment targets. While acceptances for postgraduate courses for 2007-08 are a few percentage points down on last year, there are also fewer places on offer.
Figures presented in this response have been published on the GTTR website. Details of what GTTR information has been published is available at:
http://www.gttr.ac.uk/providers/statistics/annualstatisticalreport
The National College for School Leadership submitted its preliminary advice for a new accelerated leadership programme to the Secretary of State in June 2008.
Departmental officials are working with the College to enable it to provide further advice and full proposals by early November 2008. The Secretary of State will then respond to these.
(2) how many people are expected to complete the future leaders programme in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement;
(3) what the budget for the future leaders programme is for 2008-09; and if he will make a statement;
(4) what plans he has to expand the future leaders programme across England; and if he will make a statement.
Early, independent evaluation of the programme has been very favourable. The Future Leaders programme is already helping to address the imminent succession planning needs in London school leadership teams, with the majority of participants to date securing a senior leadership team post.
When we published the Children’s Plan at the end of last year, we announced that we would expand the Future Leaders programme so that by September 2011 there will be over 500 Future Leaders in schools across the country’s major city regions.
The programme is part-funded by the Government; for the current spending review period we have allowed £8 million, of which approximately £2 million will be spent in 2008-09.
No specific assessment has been made of the merits of establishing a national college of teachers. However, the DCSF works with the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) to support and promote effective recruitment and professional development arrangements, not only for teachers, but for the whole school work force.
We also continue to work with the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) supporting the development of leadership teams with broad skill sets, and with the independent General Teaching Council for England (GTCE), to improve standards of teaching and the quality of learning, and to maintain and improve standards of professional conduct among teachers.
The TDA, NCSL and GTCE work effectively together. For example, TDA and NCSL are leading jointly the project to support remodelling in extended schools while TDA and GTCE work closely on the continuing professional development of teachers.
Teaching Methods
The Department has not funded any research specifically to investigate the direct instruction method of teaching. However, we regularly review research evidence on effective pedagogy to inform the guidance issued by the national strategies. Overall, evidence suggests that while elements of the direct instruction method may be suitable in certain subjects and in certain circumstances, a varied and responsive teaching repertoire is most likely to engage pupils in their learning and support their attainment. The primary and secondary national strategies promote the use of whole class, small group and one to one approaches to teaching, regardless of the areas of learning including, for example, when teaching early reading based on the Simple View of Reading.
We will continue to support teachers and schools to use their professional judgment to select the most appropriate approaches for their pupils, based on evidence of good practice.
Training and Development Agency for Schools: Location
The relocation of the Training and Development Agency to Manchester is estimated to cost £16 million over the three-year period from 2008 to 2011.
This is consistent with the Government's commitment to continuous improvement in delivery of public services and to providing value for money to taxpayers. The initial costs are balanced by longer-term benefits for the Agency in the potential for cost savings, reductions in staff turnover, and improvements in the quality of service delivery; and the wider economic benefits for the Manchester region
Truancy
The Ministry of Justice collects data for England and Wales on prosecutions brought against parents under the Education Act 1996 for the offence under s444(1) for failing to secure their child's regular attendance at school; and for prosecutions under s444(1A), the aggravated offence of knowing that their child is failing to attend school regularly. It is possible, because of the way courts record data that some data are collected under the more general heading of various offences under the Education Act 1996.
The information on the number of people by gender sentenced and given fines or immediate custodial sentences is detailed in the following tables.
Number of persons Sex Offence description Sentenced Immediate custody 2002 Male Failure to secure regular attendance at school 769 — Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 1 — Female Failure to secure regular attendance at school 2,055 1 2003 Male Failure to secure regular attendance at school 786 1 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 83 2 Female Failure to secure regular attendance at school 2,187 3 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 239 1 2004 Male Failure to secure regular attendance at school 778 2 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 259 5 Female Failure to secure regular attendance at school 1,964 6 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 573 9 2005 Male Failure to secure regular attendance at school 812 — Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 244 2 Female Failure to secure regular attendance at school 2,017 5 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 695 13 2006 Male Failure to secure regular attendance at school 1,011 1 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 292 3 Female Failure to secure regular attendance at school 2,524 1 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 944 17 1 These data are on the principal offence basis. 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: OMS Analytical Services Ref: AHA312-08
Number of persons Sex Offence description Sentenced Fine 2002 Male Failure to secure regular attendance at school 769 511 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 1 1 Female Failure to secure regular attendance at school 2,055 1,260 2003 Male Failure to secure regular attendance at school 786 524 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 83 45 Female Failure to secure regular attendance at school 2,187 1,337 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 239 105 2004 Male Failure to secure regular attendance at school 778 498 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 259 174 Female Failure to secure regular attendance at school 1,964 1,166 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 573 301 2005 Male Failure to secure regular attendance at school 812 524 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 244 125 Female Failure to secure regular attendance at school 2,017 1,219 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 695 341 2006 Male Failure to secure regular attendance at school 1,011 699 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 292 158 Female Failure to secure regular attendance at school 2,524 1,625 Parent knows that child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school 944 470 Notes: 1. These data are on the principal offence basis. 2. 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. 3. The Department for Children, Schools and Families also collects separate data for England on penalty notices, fines, issued to parents for failing to ensure that their compulsory school aged children attend school regularly. Penalty notices provide an alternative to prosecuting parents under s444 of the Education Act 1996 and have been available since February 2004. Data available covering the last three complete school academic years show that from 1 September 2004 to 31 July 2005, 3,483 penalty notices were issued to parents; from 1 August 2005 to 1 September 2006,12,150; and from 2 September 2006 to 31 August 2007,14,625. The Department does not collect data by gender type. Source: OMS Analytical Services 19 August 2008 Ref: AHA327-08
Truancy: Yorkshire and the Humber
(2) how many persistent truants there were in Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
The Department does not maintain records of ‘truancy’.
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. The available information showing the percentage of half days missed owing to unauthorised absence in secondary schools is given in the table. Information which includes CTCs and academies can be provided only at disproportionate cost for the years prior to 2005/06.
Information on persistent absence relates to persistent absentees, these are pupils who are absent for more than 20 per cent. of possible sessions of attendance. This information is available for secondary schools from 2005/06 and for primary schools from 2006/07 and is given in the table.
2002/033 2003/043 2004/053 2005/063 2006/073 Percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence: Yorkshire and the Humber LA maintained secondary schools2 1.47 1.49 1.58 1.74 1.82 State funded secondary schools4 — — — 1.75 1.88 England LA maintained secondary schools2 1.07 1.14 1.23 1.42 1.50 State funded secondary schools4 — — — 1.42 1.52 1 Includes middle schools as deemed. 2 Excludes CTCs and academies. 3 For years 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05 data was collected via the School Absence Survey, for 2005/06 and 2006/07 data was collected via the School Census. 4 Includes CTCs and academies, two academies opened in Yorkshire and the Humber in 2005 (one had previously been a CTC) with a further four in 2006. Source: School Absence Survey and School Census.
Maintained primary schools1 State funded secondary schools1, 2 2005/06 2006/07 2005/06 2006/07 Percentage of enrolments who are classed as persistent absentees3 Yorkshire and the Humber n/a 1.8 8.4 7.7 England n/a 1.8 7.1 6.7 n/a = Not available. 1 Includes middle schools as deemed. 2 Includes CTCs and academies, two academies opened in Yorkshire and the Humber in 2005 (one had previously been a CTC) with a further four in 2006. 3 Persistent absentees are defined as having more than 63 sessions of absence (authorised and unauthorised) during the year. Source: School Census.
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Jane Hutt, Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning and Skills in the Welsh Assembly Government wrote to the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, in May 2008, expressing an interest in joining a ministerial delegation for the UK Government’s oral hearing with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on 23/24 September 2008.
The Secretary of State gave careful consideration to the make up of the delegation and decided that it would be more appropriate for the delegation to be comprised of senior officials from across government and the Devolved Administrations.
The UK Government do not routinely send Ministers to treaty monitoring examinations and, like most other western countries, Ministers have not attended previous hearings with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. Junior Minister Gerry Kelly from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, Northern Ireland also expressed an interest in attending.
Work Experience: Industrial Health and Safety
Work-related learning has been a statutory requirement at key stage 4 since 2004. Responsibility for meeting this requirement lies with schools or colleges, supported by a number of parties involved in the work experienced programme including, Education Business Partnership Organisations (EBPOs), parents and carers, employers and learners. The Department for Children, Schools and Families provides necessary supporting policy guidance to help achieve this requirement including the ‘Quality Standard for Work Experience’. This guidance provides a framework of responsibilities for the different elements of work experience including the health and safety of learners. It is the responsibility of local authorities to apply their own audit and oversight of the extent to which work experience programmes in their own areas meet the standard. Ofsted take the standard into account during their inspections. The Department's internal audit unit does not provide any specific assurance to the Accounting Officer on these matters.
Young Offenders
The Department for Children, Schools and Families and Ministry of Justice, who share responsibility for Youth Justice issues do not collect this information centrally.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Ministry of Justice, which share responsibility for Youth Justice issues, do not collect this information centrally.
Young People: Unemployment
The Department's published estimate of the number and proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) cannot be disaggregated to regional level. However, we can estimate the number and proportion of young people NEET using figures drawn from the client management systems maintained by Connexions services. The following table shows the number and proportion of (a) 16 to 18, (b) 17 and (c) 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training in each region at the end of 2007 based on Connexions data.
Number Proportion (%) Number Proportion (%) Number Proportion (%) South East 13,220 5.3 5,140 5.4 5,190 5.6 London 13,430 6.4 5,110 6.5 5,670 7.1 East 10,470 5.8 4,000 5.8 4,300 6.4 South West 8,640 5.4 3,370 5.6 3,480 5.9 West Midlands 13,220 7.1 5,190 7.3 5,260 7.7 East Midlands 8,140 5.6 3,130 5.6 3,230 6.0 Yorkshire and Humber 14,440 8.2 5,760 8.5 5,570 8.7 North West 19,570 7.9 7,600 8.0 7,950 8.8 North East 9,120 10.0 3,390 9.8 4,090 12.2 Note: 1. The figures relate to young people known to Connexions and are not directly comparable with the statistics on 16 to 18-year-olds NEET published annually by the Department of Children, Schools and Families. This is because the Connexions NEET measure excludes those on gap years, or in custody. Young people who attended independent schools or were educated outside England may also be excluded. In addition, the Department's statistics relate to the young person's academic age, rather than calendar age.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Apprentices
(2) how many people have completed an apprenticeship in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) nationally in each year since 1997.
Table 1 shows the number of people aged 16 to 18 at the start of their apprenticeship who has completed a full Apprenticeship framework. Table 2 shows the total number of people who have completed a full Apprenticeship framework.
Framework completion data was not published in the pre-LSC era, so figures are not available for the period between 1997/98 to 2001/02.
Full framework apprenticeship completions for learners aged 16 to 181 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 Total Apprenticeship Completions 26,500 29,300 40,200 59,000 65,700 Apprenticeship Completions in the North East2 2,200 2,400 3,500 4,800 5,100 Apprenticeship Completions in South Tyneside3 140 150 230 320 380 Apprenticeship Completions in Jarrow4 80 70 160 180 210 1 Age is based on learner age at the start of the course. 2 North East Government Office Region, based on learner’s home postcode. 3 South Tyneside Local Authority, based on learner’s home postcode. 4 Jarrow constituency, based on learner’s home postcode. Notes: 1. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 2. These figures represent learners starting an apprenticeship or an advanced apprenticeship. Additionally, there are a very small number of Higher Level Apprenticeships included in the 2006/07 total. Source: ILR Work-Based Learning data
Full framework apprenticeship completions 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 Total Apprenticeship Completions 42,700 49,300 67,200 98,700 111,800 Apprenticeship Completions in the North East1 3,200 3,700 5,200 7,200 8,000 Apprenticeship Completions in South Tyneside2 170 220 330 450 580 Apprenticeship Completions in Jarrow3 90 100 210 250 300 1 North East Government Office Region, based on learner’s home postcode. 2 South Tyneside Local Authority, based on learner’s home postcode. 3 Jarrow constituency, based on learner’s home postcode. Notes: 1. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 2. These figures represent learners starting an apprenticeship or an advanced apprenticeship. Additionally, there are a very small number of Higher Level Apprenticeships included in the 2006/07 total. Source: ILR Work-Based Learning data
Apprentices: Bureaucracy
On 7 August this year Skills Secretary John Denham announced Government proposals to cut red tape around Apprenticeships in response to employers’ concerns. We will remove unnecessary bureaucracy such as demands to store paperwork for up to six years; multiple inspection visits; and minimise reporting requirements at the earliest possible opportunity. In line with the successful actions of some of Britain’s leading employers, we will introduce improvements including more efficient use of electronic audit and storage, simpler and faster registration and certification processes, and more streamlined payment and reporting systems. These practical measures will enable more employers to meet their present and future skills needs, unimpeded by time-consuming and costly administration.
Apprentices: Disabled
(2) what steps he has taken to promote the representation of young disabled people in the London apprenticeship taskforce.
The proportion of young people starting apprenticeships in England who have learning difficulties or disabilities has been around 11 per cent. for the last three years. However, we are seeing increases in the number of young people with learning difficulties or disabilities who complete apprenticeships as a proportion of all young people who complete Apprenticeships. The proportion rose from almost 8.5 per cent. in 2004/05 to 10.5 per cent. in 2006/07.
‘World-class apprenticeships’ plans to expand the number and range of apprenticeships in England include a number of proposals to increase the take-up and completion rates of apprenticeships by learners who are currently under-represented in the programme. We are developing pilots to begin later this year—including a campaign which is London-specific—to increase the ‘critical mass’ of learners in non-traditional occupations to encourage more such applications; and mentoring trials to support atypical apprentices through their experience. A national vacancy matching service, to be introduced from the end of this year, will, for the first time in England, provide data on who is applying for apprenticeships that we will use to focus activity supporting employers and potential apprentices where there is evidence that any particular groups of applicants are not being successful in their applications.
I chair a London Apprenticeship Task Force whose role includes tackling inequalities. I expect those employers, colleges and partners who are current members of the taskforce to represent the interests of young disabled people as they do for all apprentices and potential apprentices.
Apprentices: Small Businesses
There are a number of proposals in ‘World-class Apprenticeships’ aimed at supporting and encouraging small business in taking on apprentices, These included the recently launched sector growth pilots. These pilots are designed to trial a range of support including wage and training subsidies and while this is not exclusively for small businesses, they will be encouraged to bid for this funding. We are also developing proposals set out in World Class Apprenticeships to support SMEs to form their own Group Training Associations to support the delivery of Apprenticeships.
We are developing the Apprenticeship Frameworks to be more flexible and responsive. This will involve relaxing the current arrangements to allow employers to submit their own frameworks for funding, by drawing from a Sector Skills Council ‘bank’ of qualifications.
We are also working with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, who recently surveyed SMEs to establish how the new National Apprenticeship Service can better meet the needs of employers. The survey focused on, although not limited to, reducing the administrative burden on them. Together we will consider how best to incorporate the recommendations coming out of the survey.
Departmental Air Travel
The class of air travel which staff may book depends upon grade, the length of time the journey will take, as well as airlines fare structures on various routes. Whether or not a member of staff is entitled to travel first class or business class, all members of DIUS have a responsibility to make appropriate decisions on how to travel and to secure value for money in the use of travel budgets. DIUS members of staff are permitted to travel in a cheaper class to the destination although any saving would not generate a monetary or in kind benefit for the individual.
All travel undertaken by DIUS staff is undertaken in accordance with the staff handbook and the requirements of the “Civil Service Management Code” and Treasury guidance set out in “Managing Public Money” on the avoidance of personal profit from public business.
DIUS has a travel service contract with a travel agent for all flight bookings, the costs being paid centrally. DIUS staff are expected to use the contract, whenever possible, when booking any travel tickets.
DIUS agency, NWML: Staff who are entitled to business class or first class air travel are permitted to travel in a cheaper class to the destination and do not benefit in monetary terms or kind from the saving. In fact they are ‘expected’ to travel in a cheaper class in all but very exceptional circumstances.
DIUS agency, UK-IPO: All official travel is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the “Civil Service Management Code” and staff handbook.
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was created as a result of machinery of government changes in June 2007. The Departments predecessors DfES (Department for Education and Skills, now DCSF) and DTI (Department for Trade and Industry, now BERR) have been participated in the Carbon Offsetting Fund since the 2006/07 financial year and continue to provide this for DIUS. The number of air miles used to calculate the departmental payment for the 2006/07 financial year is contained in their Departments response.
The figures provided to DIUS by DCSF for 2007/08 are currently being cleared for submission within the annual return on Sustainable Development in Government.
The number of air miles used to calculate the departmental payment for the 2007/08 financial year for DIUS provided by BERR was as follows:
Miles (a) Domestic 27,540 (b) Short haul 140,286 (c) Long haul 285,096
Departmental Buildings
The London base of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills is at Kingsgate House, 66-74 Victoria Street. 5,671 sq m of office space (on a net internal basis) at these premises were refurbished in order to accommodate the Department after it was created in summer 2007. The space was previously occupied by the former Department of Trade and Industry.
No other buildings occupied by the Department or its agencies have been newly occupied or refurbished in the last 24 months.
Departmental Correspondence
Since the machinery of government changes, and the creation of the Department on 28 June 2007, correspondence has been handled by an interim arrangement which relied on our legacy Departments. The Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) has assisted in the handling of correspondence relating to skills, further and higher education and the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has dealt with correspondence about science and innovation.
The Department has a target to respond to correspondence from either hon. Members or members of the public within 15 days of receipt. From June 2008 all correspondence has been handled using DCFS' computerised handling system. During the period 1 January 2008 and 31 August 2008, 77 per cent. of correspondence from hon. Members was despatched within target and the average time taken to respond was 14 days. For correspondence from members of the public, 98 per cent. was despatched within target and the average time taken to respond was nine days.
This information has been extracted from the DCSF system and refers to the correspondence DCSF have responded to on DIUS' behalf. Statistics regarding the correspondence handled by BERR on behalf of DIUS are not available.
The information set out in the following table relates to correspondence about higher education, further education and skills issues, and since June 2008, science and innovation correspondence and covers the period 1 January 2008 to 31 August 2008.
Members of the public Hon. Members and peers Received (number) 8,475 3,431 Percentage Completed within target 98 77 Completed within 1 week 35 6 Completed within 2 weeks 58 27 Completed within 4 weeks 98 86 Completed greater than 4 weeks 2 14
As I said in my earlier statement, the Department has a target to respond to correspondence from either hon. Members or members of the public within 15 days of receipt, something we take very seriously, and to date there have been no representations on the timeliness of response.
Let me repeat again, the Department has a target to respond to correspondence from either hon. Members or members of the public within 15 days of receipt, something we take very seriously, and to date there are no recorded complaints about either the substance or timeliness of responses to correspondence.
Departmental Data Protection
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance, did not report any personal data-related incidents for the period 2007/08 to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Before November 2007, the Information Commissioner’s Office did not specifically keep records of instances of security breaches.
I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 25 June 2008, providing the final report on measures for data handling procedures in Government.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
I am unable to provide the information requested on the grounds of confidentiality.
Departmental Home Working
Information on staff employed contractually as home workers is maintained. However, some staff opt to work from home on an ad-hoc basis and these arrangements are agreed locally between the manager and individual. Information on these ad hoc home working arrangements will not be collated centrally.
Departmental Information
Core information produced by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills can be reused free of charge under the terms of the PSI Click-Use Licence which is administered by the Office of Public Sector Information in accordance with the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations.
Neither the core Department nor the National Weights and Measures Laboratory has charged for re-use of any data in the last 12 months. The UK Intellectual Property Office has charged for re-use of the following types of data:
UK patent bibliographic databases;
Supplementary Protection Certificates;
Bibliographic databases;
UK patent abstract data;
UK patent “A” image data;
UK patent “B” image data;
Reports on Patents Cases;
UK trade mark text database;
UK trade mark image database;
International trade marks with a UK designation.
Departmental Official Residences
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills provides no permanent residential accommodation for civil servants.
Departmental Procurement
The Department will not place in the Library the names and addresses of each organisation that supplied goods and services to his Department in 2007-08, based on the purchase order data held in the Department’s financial database. The Department’s finance system can only produce a list of all organisations including commercial and non-commercial organisations that have received a payment form the Department. We would, however have to consider, on an individual basis, whether or not disclosure of that information might prejudice the commercial interests of the Department or the relevant organisation and that could be done only at disproportionate costs.
Departmental Public Relations
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was created under the machinery of government changes in June 2007, since that time the Department and its agencies have spent the following on each of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information's Public Relations Framework:
Company 2007-08 2008-09 Porter Novelli Limited 52,214.15 11,843.06 Consolidated Communications Management Limited 99,113.00 — Total 151,327.15 11,843.06
Departmental Retirement
The Department does not hold central records of requests to work beyond retirement age, but does maintain records of staff working beyond retirement age as referred to in my previous answer to the hon. Member.
Departmental Written Questions
The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
EDF Energy
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was established under Machinery of Government changes in June 2007 and currently contracts according to the existing agreements put in place by its predecessor Departments being the Department for Education and Schools (now the Department for Children, Schools and Families—DCSF) and Department for Trade and Industry (now the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform—BERR).
BERR has not made any payments to EDF during the 2007-08 financial year.
DCSF have made payments to the value of £1,659,305.17 but the portion attributable to DIUS cannot be determined as a cross charge is made to DIUS based upon headcount for electricity charges, and floor space for gas. DIUS agency NWML has not made any payments to EDF.
DIUS agency UK-IPO have made the following payments for the supply of electricity to EDF (and London Electricity when they traded under that name):
Financial year £000 2002-03 48 2003-04 116 2004-05 135 2005-06 179 2006-07 245 2007-08 250
Olympic Games 2012
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills is taking advantage of the opportunities which the games afford to enhance skills levels across a wide range of occupations and industrial sectors, in line with the broader objectives of the national Skills Strategy. There are 2.1 full-time equivalent members of staff allocated to co-ordinating this work within the Department, and 9.7 full-time equivalent members of staff dealing with this within the Learning and Skills Council across England. They deal with all aspects of project management, legacy planning and project oversight. Future staffing levels for this work are expected to remain at this level.
South East
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was established under machinery of government changes in June 2007. DIUS currently operates two financial ledgers. BERR continue to provide accounting services for the ex-DTI parts of DIUS and DCSF provide a similar service to ex-DfES elements. Our accounting systems record costs, including services based on their nature rather than the geographical region to which they pertain. To provide a response to this question would be at disproportionate cost.
Stress
The Department is committed to the well-being of its employees. It has a number of procedures in place to reduce stress at work. A stress management framework, based on the Health and Safety Executive's management standards, is available to all employees and gives easy to use advice on the successful prevention, recognition and management of stress at work.
In addition, on 1 July 2008, a new Employee Assistance Programme was made available to all members of staff, providing them with enhanced employee care.
Training: Elderly
The Government are committed to ensuring that learning serves the needs of the whole community, including older people both within and outside the work force. Our strategy for World Class Skills and our reforms of wider adult learning are designed to ensure that everyone, whatever their age or background, has the opportunity to improve their skills, prospects and quality of life.
We recognise how much older people value and enjoy their courses and the many wider benefits that taking part in learning can bring. There is good evidence that older people benefit substantially from participating in learning and acquiring new skills as part of a fulfilling and active retirement. As we set out in ‘Opportunity Age’, 80 per cent. of learners aged 50 to 71 reported a positive impact from learning in areas such as their enjoyment of life, self-confidence, and their ability to cope with events like divorce and bereavement, while 28 per cent. reported increased involvement in social, community and voluntary activities. For many older people, learning represents an important social activity, not only providing valuable opportunities for social interaction with their peers and members of other generations, but also offering valuable opportunities to share their own knowledge and skills through community volunteering activities.
Our recent consultation on informal adult learning has shown just how passionate people are about learning in later life and many older respondents have told us that the opportunities to engage in social activities and share experiences are as important as the learning itself. We are determined to identify and tackle the real and perceived barriers that face older learners and to ensure that the most marginalised and isolated older people are able to participate. We will continue the consultation dialogue with partners and stakeholders to develop a strategic and durable vision, with policy proposals that work for all older learners and potential learners.
The Government are committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all learners, and that learning serves the needs of the whole community, including older people both within and outside the workforce. Our aim is to ensure that everyone in every community can lead healthy and fulfilling lives by participating fully in work, education and society as a whole.
The exact balance and mix of adult learning provision at local level is for the Learning and Skills Councils to determine in collaboration with colleges, private and third sector providers, learner representatives and other local partners, according to their assessment of the needs and priorities of their communities.
We recognise that ICT skills are an essential tool for everyday life, for work and for leisure, and that adults of all ages are seriously disadvantaged without ICT skills, especially those in marginalised groups and deprived communities. Over the last six years, £22 million has been invested to bring the benefits of technology to adults in personal and community development learning settings, supporting innovation projects and in establishing learning platforms in over 50 per cent. of local authorities. Around half of all learners over 60 are studying ICT. Some 1,700 people have been trained as e-guides, learning champions who work with more than 10,000 other tutors. 6,000 UK online centres—about half in public libraries, one third in the voluntary and community sector and the rest in FE colleges and other organisations—are enabling people to access ICT, the internet and e-learning.
The contribution of new technology and broadcasting is a specific strand of our recent consultation on informal adult learning. We want to know how ICT might support new ways of learning and to work with partners, interest groups and networks to identify barriers and obstacles to making ICT learning resources more widely available. We are also working to bridge the digital divide by making new technologies accessible and helping people develop the skills they need to use them effectively. We are currently assessing the many good ideas and proposals we have received in response to the consultation, as part of a process that will lead to a major policy paper later in the year.
The Government are committed to ensuring that older people in every community, both within and outside the workforce, have access to suitable high quality learning opportunities. Our strategy for world class skills and our recent wide-ranging consultation on informal adult learning have been designed to ensure that adults everywhere, whatever their age or background, have the opportunity to improve their skills, prospects, quality of life and personal wellbeing.
Increasing financial literacy and helping older people to make informed decisions about working longer and saving for retirement are key aims of “Opportunity Age”, but the Government have also set out a wider, long-term strategy for improving the personal financial capability of people from all sections of the UK population. This is our response to the Thoresen Review, published in March 2008, which reports that large numbers of people from all sections of society are not taking basic steps to plan ahead, such as saving sufficiently for their retirement or putting money aside for when unexpected expenses occur. Many are unwittingly taking on significant financial risks because they struggle to choose products that truly meet their needs. Adults without basic literacy and numeracy are highly likely to struggle with their personal finances.
Since its launch in 2001, the “Skills for Life” strategy has provided in excess of £3 million to fund numeracy and financial capability. This has been embedded into the wider national strategy to improve adult literacy, language and numeracy. The programme is run on behalf of my Department by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE). Its aim is to address the needs of basic literacy, language and numeracy learners through financial literacy, and in so doing to develop their capability to make effective decisions about the use and management of money. In developing the programme NIACE have resources and pilots in several areas. These projects are testing effective ways of engaging adults of all ages and delivering financial literacy in community settings.
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 7 October 2008
Northern Ireland
Departmental Marketing
To provide the breakdown of costs incurred by the Northern Ireland Office on public information campaigns from April 1997 to March 2000 would incur disproportionate costs; however, the overall costs for these years are as follows:
£ 1997-98 262,083.75 1998-99 428,390.82 1999-2000 Nil
The breakdown of costs from April 2000 to date is contained in the following table:
Internet and website design and hosting (£) Print media design (£) Broadcast media (£) 2000-01 0.00 11,802.08 0.00 2001-02 8,364.24 12,483.18 0.00 2002-03 36,489.03 11,470.88 97,043.25 2003-04 40,598.43 24,798.22 56,088.55 2004-05 15,418.13 52,324.48 140,564.66 2005-06 12,556.25 48,554.44 196,842.23 2006-07 11,005.16 95,863.97 40,758.93 2007-08 19,476.60 154,793.00 165,720.68 2008-09 822.50 816.63 0.00 Total 144,730.34 412,906.88 697,018.30
Economic and Monetary Union
The Northern Ireland Office is unable to provide details of the Euro Changeover Plan as it contains the names and addresses of the Euro Co-ordinators as well as details of registered companies and computer packages which are to be used.
Powers of Entry
Since May 1997, my Department has taken forward nine primary enactments and one statutory instrument which have either introduced new, or amended existing, powers of entry in Northern Ireland. The relevant legislation is shown in the following lists.
Primary legislation introduced since May 1997 amending existing entry powers or containing new entry powers
Northern Ireland (Location of Victims' Remains) Act 1999;
Justice (NI) Act 2004;
Criminal Justice (NI) Order 2004;
Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004;
Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006;
Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007;
Police and Criminal Evidence (Amendment) (NI) Order 2007;
Policing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order 2007;
Criminal Justice (NI) Order 2008.
Statutory instruments conferring one or more powers of entry coming into force since May 1997
Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) (Registration) Regulations (NI) 2007
The answer covers Acts, Orders in Council and statutory instruments on reserved and excepted matters. Northern Ireland Statutory Rules and legislation in the transferred field taken forward prior to the establishment and during the suspension of the Assembly have not been covered on the grounds that to do so would involve disproportionate cost.
Justice
Channel Islands
There have been no meetings between the Secretary of State and Government representatives of Guernsey and Alderney during the period specified. There has been one meeting between the Secretary of State and the Seigneur of Sark (8 January 2008).
As the Minister responsible for the Crown Dependencies I have met with Government representatives of Guernsey on two occasions (22 November 2007 and 21 July 2008); and Government representatives of Sark on three occasions (8 and 24 January 2008 and 5 February 2008).
Governance of Britain
(2) how many (a) Ministers, (b) officials from his Department, (c) representatives of local authorities, (d) invited members of the public and (e) non-invited members of the public attended the “Governance of Britain” event in London on 22nd July;
(3) how many (a) Ministers from his Department, (b) officials from his Department, (c) representatives of local authorities, (d) invited members of the public and (e) other members of the public attended the “Governance of Britain” event in (i) Nottingham on 9th July 2008 and (ii) Newcastle on 14th July 2008;
(4) how many (a) Ministers from his Department, (b) officials from his Department, (c) representatives of local authorities, (d) invited members of the public and (e) other members of the public attended the “Governance of Britain” event in Bristol on 30th June.
The “Governance of Britain” ‘townhall’ events were designed to engage those who are already active in their local communities in the Government's constitutional renewal agenda with an aim of encouraging them to take the debate put to their community groups and organisations.
All those who attended the event were invited to do so.
A breakdown of information requested for each event is shown in the following table.
Brighton London Bristol Nottingham Newcastle (a) Michael Wills Michael Wills Michael Wills Michael Wills Michael Wills (b) 5 5 5 5 5 (c) 2 2 11 10 7 (d) 25 27 25 27 16
(2) what the cost was of the “Governance of Britain” consultation event held in London on 22nd July;
(3) what the cost was of the “Governance of Britain” consultation event held in Newcastle on 14th July;
(4) what expenditure his Department incurred in holding the “Governance of Britain” consultation event in Nottingham on 9th July;
(5) what expenditure his Department incurred in holding the “Governance of Britain” consultation event in Bristol on 30th June.
The total cost of the “Governance of Britain” events as requested are as follows:
Venue Date Cost of event (£) Brighton 17 July 593.83 London 22 July 1,538.09 Newcastle 14 July 686.50 Nottingham 9 July 676.00 Bristol 30 June 435.00 Note: All costs were inclusive of value added tax.
Land: Measurement
Land Registry requires the use of metric measurements on any documents dated on or after 1 October 1995. Any imperial measurements in such documents must appear as supplementary indications only and will usually be placed in brackets, for example, 22.86 m (75 feet).
Land Registry similarly only uses imperial units of measurement on the register and title plan as supplementary indications (in brackets) or where they are included in a verbatim extract from a deed dated prior to 1 October 1995.
Political Parties: Finance
I have been asked to reply.
The Electoral Commission informs me that it has published a response to the White Paper, Party finance and expenditure in the United Kingdom, which is available on the Commission's website:
www.electoralcommission.org.uk.
The Commission will now consider carefully all aspects of the Political Parties and Elections Bill relevant to its work before setting out its views in more detail prior to the Bill's second reading in the House of Commons.
Leader of the House
Stress
The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is committed to the well-being of its employees. It has an external employee counselling service, it regularly consults staff on reducing stress at work and it provides easy to use advice on the successful prevention, recognition and management of stress at work.
I am delighted that no staff have taken leave for stress over the last four years.
Work and Pensions
Access to Work Programme
[holding answer 10 September 2008]: On 21 July 2008, the Department published its Green Paper ‘No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility’. Despite a fourfold increase in funding over the last 10 years, we recognise the need to expand the service to provide more help to more people. We are doubling the budget on Access to Work. This will be a major expansion of the support we can offer to disabled people to help them get and sustain employment. We estimate that this will expand the programme's capacity to around 48,000 people by 2013-14. The extra funding being made available is in addition to what was agreed in the 2007 spending review settlement.
Child Benefit: Telephone Services
[holding answer 10 September 2008]: I have been asked to reply.
The table below provides the details of the information requested where it is available. In answer to part (b) all calls received by the Child Benefit Helpline receive an automated message of some kind. It is not possible to calculate the relative proportions of the different groups with the information available.
Child Benefit 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 (b) Calls received1 n/a 5,041,079 3,687,025 4,026,335 4,806,978 (a) Calls Handled2 n/a 3,360,272 3,091,750 3,483,386 4,336,202 (c) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a (d) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1 Calls received: where the caller selected an option from the call steering menu and was put in a queue to speak to an adviser. 2 Calls handled: where the caller spoke to an adviser.
EU Law
This Government are firmly committed to the importance of the EU in delivering on 21st century challenges. The EU is of central importance to the work of HM Government across all Departments. It is relevant to a wide range of policy areas, and to the work of approximately 380 officials in the Department for Work and Pensions.
Housing Benefits
The available information is in the following tables.
Nominal out-turn: £ million Rent rebate Rent allowance Local authority Registered social landlords Private rented sector Total rent allowance Minor housing benefits Total housing benefit 1987-88 2,506 n/a n/a 1,030 0 3,536 1988-89 2,653 n/a n/a 1,071 34 3,757 1989-90 2,867 n/a n/a 1,365 26 4,258 1990-91 3,329 n/a n/a 1,767 11 5,106 1991-92 3,945 n/a n/a 2,413 4 6,363 1992-93 4,566 676 2,570 3,246 2 7,814 1993-94 5,028 974 3,214 4,189 1 9,218 1994-95 5,228 1,309 3,567 4,875 1 10,104 1995-96 5,430 1,640 3,804 5,445 2 10,876 1996-97 5,569 1,991 3,820 5,810 0 11,380 1997-98 5,498 2,242 3,437 5,679 0 11,177 1998-99 5,405 2,480 3,180 5,660 1 11,065 1999-2000 5,345 2,753 2,966 5,719 0 11,064 2000-01 5,258 3,053 2,851 5,904 0 11,162 2001-02 5,282 3,482 2,824 6,306 0 11,589 2002-03 5,405 4,199 3,032 7,231 0 12,637 2003-04 5,027 4,291 3,023 7,314 0 12,342 2004-05 5,200 4,603 3,354 7,957 0 13,158 2005-06 5,263 4,950 3,716 8,666 0 13,928 2006-07 5,368 5,328 4,144 9,472 0 14,840
Real terms 2008-09 prices: £ million Rent rebate Rent allowance Local authority Registered social landlords Private rented sector Total rent allowance Minor housing benefits Total housing benefit 1987-88 5,128 n/a n/a 2,108 0 7,236 1988-89 5,074 n/a n/a 2,048 65 7,187 1989-90 5,117 n/a n/a 2,437 46 7,600 1990-91 5,508 n/a n/a 2,924 18 8,450 1991-92 6,154 n/a n/a 3,765 7 9,925 1992-93 6,899 1,022 3,883 4,904 3 11,807 1993-94 7,405 1,434 4,734 6,168 2 13,575 1994-95 7,584 1,898 5,174 7,072 1 14,657 1995-96 7,645 2,309 5,356 7,666 2 15,313 1996-97 7,586 2,711 5,202 7,914 0 15,499 1997-98 7,275 2,967 4,548 7,515 0 14,790 1998-99 6,976 3,201 4,104 7,305 1 14,281 1999-2000 6,762 3,483 3,753 7,236 0 13,997 2000-01 6,559 3,808 3,556 7,364 0 13,923 2001-02 6,435 4,242 3,440 7,682 0 14,117 2002-03 6,385 4,960 3,581 8,541 0 14,926 2003-04 5,771 4,926 3,470 8,396 0 14,167 2004-05 5,809 5,142 3,747 8,889 0 14,698 2005-06 5,757 5,415 4,065 9,480 0 15,237 2006-07 5,709 5,666 4,407 10,073 0 15,782 Notes: 1. Information sourced from local authority claims for housing revenue account subsidy and housing benefit subsidy. 2. Figures to 2005-06 are taken from the final audited subsidy claims submitted to the Department by each local authority. 3. Figures for 2006-07 are not yet audited, and represent provisional out-turn for the year. 4. Figures exclude Asylum Seekers from April 1999, since when the National Asylum Support Service has reimbursed DWP for benefits paid to asylum seekers. 5. From 2004-05 rent rebate expenditure responsibility transferred to DWP. 6. Separation of rent allowance into private rental sector and registered social landlord elements is an estimate derived from the quarterly administrative data on caseloads and average awards. This breakdown is only available from 1992-93. 7. Expenditure on minor housing benefits reflects transitional spending following the reform of housing benefit in 1988. It is not possible to identify the tenure of minor housing benefits so these are shown separately. 8. Figures are total amounts paid to beneficiaries, irrespective of the source of funding, and include benefit spending reimbursed by DWP, spending on rent rebates financed within local authorities’ housing revenue accounts, and benefit spending financed from local authorities’ general funds. 9. Figures reflect the latest benefit-by-benefit estimate of out-turn, and not the amounts voted by Parliament. 10. Figures for 1999-2000 onwards are on a resource accounting and budgeting basis. There may be differences between figures quoted in these tables and those quoted in Department for Work and Pensions accounts. 11. Figures for past years may have changed since previous publication due to changes in methodology and the incorporation of more up-to-date information. 12.Totals may not sum due to rounding. 13. Real terms have been calculated using Gross Domestic Product deflators updated after the 2008 Budget report on 12 March 2008. Source: DWP expenditure tables
Olympic Games 2012
The information is in the following table.
Work area FTE Project Management 3.3 Legacy Planning 1.4 Project Oversight 0.8 Financial Oversight 0 Total 5.5
Our current work force plans extend to 2010. Over this period we anticipate recruiting one additional person to work across project oversight and legacy planning.
Pensioners: Personal Income
The information that is available is shown in the following table. Information cannot be provided at a lower level than Government office region, averaged over three years. Figures are based on survey data and as such subject to a degree of sampling and non-sampling error. Figures are based on the average of three years' data as single year estimates do not provide a robust guide to year-on-year changes.
£ per week, (2006-07 prices) Yorkshire and the Humber 293 England 327 Notes: 1. Gross income is income from all sources received by the pensioner unit including income from social security benefits, earnings from employment, any private pension, and tax credits. 2. Based on survey data and as such subject to a degree of sampling and non-sampling error. Figures are based on the average of three years' data as single year estimates do not provide a robust guide to year-on-year changes. Further information for single years at a national level are available in the publication ‘Pensioners' Income Series 2006-07’. 3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest £. 4. Figures are based on the average incomes of pensioner units (couples or singles) where all members are state pension age or over. Source: Pensioners' Income Series 2006-07
Pensions: Mining
The information is not available.
The information is not available.
Social Security Benefits: Interviews
[holding answer 10 September 2008]: The Department for Work and Pensions conducts a wide range of research to inform the strategic development and operational delivery of its policies. This includes formal evaluations of employment programmes and pilots, as well as more strategic research on work-related and service delivery issues. Other research considers, more broadly, customer satisfaction with various aspects of Jobcentre Plus provision.
Work-focused Interviews are one of the main ways through which Jobcentre Plus services are made available to its customers. Large bodies of evaluation evidence exist on work-focused Interviews, including qualitative studies of customers’ experiences, large scale quantitative surveys of clients’ journeys through Jobcentre Plus services and case studies of the delivery of client based services.
Comprehensive programmes of evaluation have taken place. All research reports are available in the House of Commons Library and are also available on the DWP website.
A list of relevant recently published research has been placed in the Library.
Women and Equality
Dorneywood
The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. Since then, it has not made use of Dorneywood for official engagements.
Electoral Commission Committee
Political Parties: Finance
The Electoral Commission informs me that it has no power to impose unilaterally any sanction on regulated donees or donors. Where the Commission establishes that a regulated donee has accepted a donation from an impermissible source, it may apply for a forfeiture order through a magistrates’ court.
Cases of suspected criminal offences committed by donees and donors under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) are referred by the Commission to the police, or in the case of Scotland, to the Procurator Fiscal, where the Commission believes there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to do so. The appeal procedure in each case is through the judicial system.
The Electoral Commission informs me that it takes a variety of factors into account when deciding whether it is in the public interest to refer such cases to the police. These include the nature and gravity of the offence, the motive, mitigating circumstances, the effect of a prosecution on the accused, the risk of further offences, the availability of a more appropriate civil or other remedy, the powers of the court, and the public concern. Decisions regarding such referrals are taken by the Electoral Commissioners.
The Electoral Commission informs me that evidence of the need for greater transparency in the accounts of registered parties and their accounting units has been set out in a number of reports, including the first report of Session 2006-07 of the then Constitutional Affairs Committee of the House of Commons (HC 163-1). Paragraph 39 of that report recommended that:
“Despite the introduction of a duty to produce accounts under PPERA, a lack of common accounting practices makes it difficult to compile a comprehensive account of the income profiles of the political parties. The Government should ensure that the Electoral Commission produce more digestible, thorough and transparent figures of both the private and public sources of party income.”
The Commission launched its public consultation on the standardisation of statements of accounts in July 2008 and invited the major accountancy bodies to respond to the consultation. The Commission informs me that in April 2008 it engaged an experienced public sector auditor to assist with developing the consultation and an audit strategy, and that a contract for professional accountancy advice and support on producing a guidance manual and delivering a training package for party and accounting unit treasurers is likely to be finalised shortly. The Commission has not undertaken or commissioned other research on this subject.
Powers
The Electoral Commission informs me that it made representations supporting more proportionate and flexible penalties and the ability to apply a range of sanctions in 2003, when it published its review, Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act: Recommendations for change, which it submitted to the Government.
The Commission further informs me that in 2006 it called for wider sanctions during evidence provided to the eleventh enquiry of the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
In July 2008, the Commission reiterated its support for a widened range of sanctions and investigatory powers in its response to the Government's White Paper Party finance and expenditure in the United Kingdom.
In the Commission’s most recent briefing paper responding to the Political Parties and Elections Bill, it again welcomed and reiterated its strong support for the provisions in the Bill to widen its sanctioning and investigation powers. Copies of this briefing paper have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Adult Education: Finance
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: Overall investment in the post-16 further education sector has increased significantly—by 53 per cent. in real terms between 1997 and 2008. Chelmsford college’s overall LSC funding has increased by 3.7 per cent. compared with the previous year.
Following a consultation in January 2007 and subsequent work through LSC advisory groups, changes were made to the way additional learning support was calculated for 2008/09. These changes were introduced to ensure that the funding was better focused on need rather than purely on an historical basis.
ALS now has a funding formula that has two levels, low cost and high cost. For learners aged 16-18, low cost claims—that is, those under £5,500—will be allocated using the learners' GCSE English and Maths points profile from the college’s previous year’s cohort.
For learners over the age of 19, low level claims are based on the level of qualification being studied.
To allow for transitional arrangements for ALS, and to minimise the impact on colleges’ budgets, 60 per cent. of the low cost ALS has been distributed using the formula approach in 2008/09. The remaining 40 per cent. has been allocated on the basis of the historical proportion of the budget. The intention is to move to 75 per cent. (formula)/ 25 per cent. (allocation) in 2009/10.
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: Until the academic year 2007-08, Additional Learning Support (ALS) was allocated as a lump sum to Further Education (FE) Colleges based on historical spend. From 2008-09 ALS allocations have, for the first time, been differentiated by age group and have used a formula based approach to more accurately reflect need.
The LSC has responsibility for the funding of post-16 further education and training (other than higher education). As a result, table 1 below shows the ALS allocated for FE colleges in the Essex area with information on Chelmsford college in the table that follows.
Essex ALS (FE) Allocation (£) Difference (£) Percentage difference 2007-08 total 9,387,920 — — 2008-09 total 8,932,072 (455,848) -4.8
Chelmsford college Allocation (£) Difference (£) Percentage difference 2007-08 total 737,620 — — 2008-09 total 690,948 (46,672) -6.3
Departmental Databases
DIUS itself has not made any direct recent use of either MOSAIC or ACORN. The following is a summary of known examples of use and general extent of use in agencies and their contractors. There may be some use where MOSAIC or ACORN are used indirectly by external contractors which we have not been able to identify in collating the information for this reply.
Some regional Learning and Skills Councils (LSC) use MOSAIC to a limited extent. Contractors working on behalf of LSC may recommend it for projects where the aim is to analyse the population in certain areas, or understand which particular groups are accessing/not accessing learning. For example the LSC South East project uses MOSAIC neighbourhood types to identify and map NEET (Not in Education Training or Employment) hotspots in the South East.
The Student Loans Company hires a modelling tool from Experian which relies on some MOSAIC data and which predicts the likelihood to repay of student loans mortgage style accounts.
ACORN is to be used for the LSC Free Childcare for Training and Learning for Work project (activity to be undertaken November/December 2008)—profiling the population of England against the target audience (struggling families) to help plan where door drop activity should take place. It is also used to target media activity for the Skills for Life campaign.
Ufi (University for Industry) uses ACORN data in its marketing campaigns to promote learndirect learning.
No other use of MOSAIC or ACORN has been reported by DIUS or any of its agencies.
Environment: Research
The Government provides funding to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), which in turn funds independent environmental research in the United Kingdom. NERC's funding from DIUS’s science and research budget, has risen from £259 million in 2003-04 to £392 million in 2008-09. The increased sum includes support for the major new £1 billion programme living with environmental change, launched on 18 June, involving a wide range of partners, to which NERC and the other research councils are providing £363 million over the current spending review period.. The Department also funds the Higher Education Funding Council for England which provides quality related funding for research, including environmental research, in English Higher Education Institutes.
EU Law
The Joint International Unit (JIU) supports both the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families by promoting and defending the interests of the two Departments; and overseeing the delivery of EU education training and youth programmes. A total of 10 JIU staff work on this EU business for the two Departments. In addition, there are 10 staff working wholly on EU business in the Government Office for Science and the Intellectual Property Office.
Higher Education: Finance
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: Under the current arrangements, institutions are required to pay a minimum bursary to all students receiving the maximum grant. Beyond this, it is for institutions themselves, subject to approval from OFFA, to decide how to support their students. The latest figures show that acceptances to universities for England are at an all time high, with the proportion of applicants from lower socio-economic groups also up. A national bursary scheme would be very complex and costly to administer, and would lead to reduced support for students at a number of universities, damaging our fair access agenda.
As we made clear during the passage of the legislation introducing the new fee and student support arrangements, there will be an independent review in 2009 which will work on the basis of evidence from the first three years' operation of the variable fee arrangements. The review will report to Parliament. The draft terms of reference were announced to Parliament in 2004 by the then Secretary of State. The final details about the arrangements for the review, its remit and methodology will be determined in due course. That will take place after the Government have conducted a wider debate among both higher education providers and users which will set the framework for the future of Higher Education over the next ten to fifteen years. The Secretary of State recently announced the next steps to that process in his speech to Universities UK at Cambridge.
Higher Education: Israel
(2) what assessment he has made of the effects on the reputation and attractiveness of British universities to prospective students of a boycott of Israeli academics by the University and College Union.
The UK Government fully support academic freedom and are firmly against any academic boycotts of Israel or Israeli academics.
Boycotts and any severing of links with Israel would be counterproductive, and completely at odds with the principles of open exchange that should underpin academic life. I profoundly believe ending such links would do nothing to promote the Middle East peace process. Both Israel and the occupied territories contain progressives and reactionaries, and the problem with boycotts or moves to severe links is that they make the job of progressives much more difficult and entrench the position of the reactionaries.
The UK Government have made their support of international academic links clear. Alongside the Israeli Government, we have actively supported the establishment of the Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange partnership—BIRAX—which aims to strengthen academic links between the UK and Israel through the awarding of grants to support academic exchanges for research purposes. We are exploring options for supporting academics in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Science: Research
The following table sets out the latest outturn (2005-06), the estimated outturn (2006-07) and the CSR plan (2007-08) for net Government expenditure on research and development in cash terms.
Outturn2005-06 Estimated outturn2006-07 CSR plan2007-08 Science budget OSI—DIUS 578 760 704 BBSRC 322 357 375 ESRC 125 146 162 MRC 416 487 500 NERC 373 375 399 EPSRC 555 664 746 PPARC 334 334 — CCLRC 84 103 — STFC — — 460 AHRC 69 83 102 Pensions/Other 15 17 27 Total Science budget 2,871 3,327 3,476 Higher Education Funding Councils HEFC 1,928 2,059 2,188 Total HE funding councils 1,928 2,059 2,188 Total Science and Engineering base 4,800 5,387 5,664 Civil departments DEFRA 288 300 324 DCSF 100 87 62 DCLG 27 24 24 DfT 61 58 68 DH (including NHS) 628 668 734 NHS 583 621 687 DWP (including DSS) 18 17 17 HSC 22 20 19 HO 73 59 49 DCMS 23 21 23 DFID 265 256 253 DTI (ex OST and Launch Investment) 300 261 266 Net Launch Investment -158.3 -142.9 -131.2 NI departments 21 22 22 SE (formerly SO) 209 228 247 WAG (formerly WO) 33 34 36 FSA 17 14 14 Other departments 38 39 42 Total Civil departments 1,965 1,966 2,069 Total Civil 6,765 7,353 7,733 MoD of which: Research 598 600 640 Development 1,921 2,068 2,061 Total Defence 2,519 2,668 2,701 Total 9,284 10,020 10,434 Indicative UK contribution to the EU R and D budget 365 377 354 Grand total 9,649 10,397 10,788 Grand total (ex NHS) 9,066 9,777 10,101 Source: ONS Government R and D Survey
Students: Disabled
The latest available information from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) is shown in the tables. Comparable figures for 2008 entry will be available in February 2009.
Year of entry Blind/partially sighted1 Deaf/partial hearing1 Number Percentage of total applicants Number Percentage of total applicants 1998 401 0.1 726 0.2 1999 401 0.1 728 0.2 2000 456 0.1 793 0.2 2001 598 0.1 868 0.2 2002 602 0.1 875 0.2 2003 641 0.2 900 0.2 2004 604 0.2 897 0.2 2005 707 0.2 1,078 0.2 2006 779 0.2 1,211 0.3 2007 711 0.2 1,210 0.3 1 Applicants who are blind/partially sighted or deaf/partial hearing may be counted in the category of 2+ disabilities, therefore such applicants are excluded from the above figures. Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
Year of entry Blind/partially sighted1 Deaf/partial hearing1 Number Percentage of total applicants Number Percentage of total applicants 1998 293 0.1 544 0.2 1999 312 0.1 559 0.2 2000 370 0.1 621 0.2 2001 467 0.1 696 0.2 2002 501 0.2 709 0.2 2003 507 0.2 715 0.2 2004 470 0.1 722 0.2 2005 558 0.2 854 0.2 2006 589 0.2 927 0.3 2007 539 0.1 930 0.3 1 Accepted applicants who are blind/partially sighted or deaf/partial hearing may be counted in the category of 2+ disabilities, therefore such accepted applicants are excluded from the above figures. Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
Students: Finance
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: HEFCE does not allocate funding for student bursary schemes. Instead, each higher education provider which wishes to charge variable tuition fees for regulated courses has to agree an access agreement with the Office of Fair Access (OFFA) under which it commits to recycle some of the extra income from variable fees to support some of its students. Information on the 2007/08 academic year will become available in the spring. The following table sets out the position for 2006/07—the first year of the new arrangements.
Amount budgeted for bursary schemes Amount spent Leeds University 2,500,000 1,500,000 Leeds Metropolitan University n/a 42,000 Trinity and All Saints College 115,000 83,000 England 115,000,000 96,000,000 n/a = Not applicable Notes: 1. Many HEIs overestimated the number of students who were eligible for bursaries in the first year of the new arrangements. Where “underspends” have occurred some HEIs have chosen to redeploy the resources towards additional outreach activities designed to attract students from non-traditional backgrounds. 2. Leeds Metropolitan University does not charge fees at a level which requires bursaries to be recycled within the terms of their approved access agreement. Source: 2006/07 returns to OFFA
Students: Loans
The Sale of Student Loans Act 2008 enables an indefinite programme of sales of income-contingent repayment student loans. For each sale to proceed, it will have to be assessed as yielding good value for money. No estimate has been made of how much revenue will be raised in the long term. Any update to the original estimates of proceeds over the comprehensive spending review period will be set out in the pre-Budget report.
Prime Minister
Departmental Alcoholic Drinks
(2) what purchasing process is used by his Office for the procurement of alcohol for hospitality purposes.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Phil Hope) on 1 September 2008, Official Report, column 1433W.
Departmental Industrial Health and Safety
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, West (Kevin Brennan) earlier.
Departmental Public Participation
(2) what (a) reviews and (b) public consultations have been initiated by his Office since 27 June 2007.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, West (Kevin Brennan) earlier.
Departmental Sick Leave
(2) how many staff in 10 Downing street have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last five years.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, East (Mr. Watson) earlier.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Information
I have been asked to reply.
The Power of Information report was written by Tom Steinberg (MySociety) and Ed Mayo (National Consumer Council). It was published on 7 June 2007.
The Government accepted the recommendations of the Power of Information Review in the Official Response, published on 25 June 2007. The response can be found online at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/~/media/assets/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/publications/reports/power_information/power_information_response%20pdf.ashx
An interim progress report was published in March this year at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/power_of_information.aspx
Copies of both documents have been placed in the Library.
Transport
Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: Oil price assumptions are provided by BERR (Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) and the Department for Transport has released guidance that uses the latest (May 2008) BERR central oil price figures to produce fuel price forecasts used in highway scheme appraisal.
Central oil prices are projected to fall back from today's level to $65 in 2010 (2007 prices) before gradually rising again to $75 (2007 prices) in 2030. These correspond to nominal prices of $71 (in 2010) to $140 (in 2030).
Duchy of Lancaster
Data Protection: Manpower
Staff in a number of units within the Cabinet Office, including Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Security Policy Division, Transformational Government, Historical Records and Openness Unit as well as Financial and Estates Management, are involved in work related to data protection issues.
It is estimated that in excess of 20 full-time equivalent civil servants are directly engaged on work to protect information held by the Cabinet Office or on policy for the protection of information for Government.
Departmental Air Travel
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 14 July 2008, Official Report, column 153W.
Departmental Appeals
The Cabinet Office seeks advice from the Treasury Solicitor’s Department on legal matters throughout the year. However, the information requested is not held centrally and can be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Buildings
Neither the Cabinet Office nor the Central Office of Information has newly occupied any offices over the last 24 months.
A breakdown of the fixed asset figures provided on page 106 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2007-08 into specified work packages can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Computers
As part of the Department's continuing sustainable development programme, we use software tools on the corporate IT network to remotely switch off overnight all desk top computers that are logged off but are not switched off. All staff are instructed to switch off their computers and monitors when not in use; this software supports this instruction. Statistics are not collated on those computers left switched-on.
Departmental Health and Safety
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 13 March 2008, Official Report, column 593W.
Departmental Mobile Telephones
In the calendar year since 27 June 2007, the Cabinet Office, which includes the Prime Minister’s Office, has purchased 237 mobile phones, had five repaired and replaced 41.
Departmental Official Residences
No Cabinet Office civil servants are provided with permanent residential accommodation at public expense.
Departmental Public Participation
(2) what (a) reviews and (b) public consultations have been initiated by his Department since 27 June 2007.
The Cabinet Office held three events in March 2008 to identify the most effective way to deliver improved community safety in partnership with local people as part of the crime and communities review. The events were attended by over 600 people and comprised of open discussions and interactive audience participation. The events cost a total of £256,632, including VAT.
Following a competitive tendering exercise, M Integrated Solutions was awarded the contract and was paid £250,758, including VAT. The Central Office of Information was paid £5,874 to cover the tendering and other administrative costs.
Departmental Sick Leave
(2) how many staff in his Department have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last five years.
The incidence of Cabinet Office reported periods of staff sickness absence and headcount vary during each year. The number of staff with periods of sickness absence of less than five days in each of the last three years are detailed in the following table and are expressed as percentages of the Department’s average annual headcounts.
Five or more of less than five days Percentage Four of less than five days Percentage Three of less than five days Percentage Two of less than five days Percentage 2007 49 3.5 29 2.1 75 5.4 129 9.3 2006 67 4.1 42 2.6 76 4.6 157 9.5 2005 51 2.8 52 2.9 102 5.6 206 11.3
Departmental Surveillance
The Cabinet Office is not named under Schedule 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Therefore, it has made no applications under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
Departmental Television
The premium packages the Department subscribes to are Sky Mixes and Sky General.
Departmental Training
The Department has spent the following amounts on training, language courses, conferences and seminars in the last five years:
Expenditure 2007-08 2,215,979 2006-07 2,156,453 2005-06 2,313,361 2004-05 2,227,753 2003-04 2,194,182
Government Departments: Public Participation
[holding answer 17 September 2008]: I have been asked to reply.
The Government have recently revised their Code of Practice on Consultation. The new code, which will be supported by practical guidance, takes effect from November 2008. The current code and the new code set out good practice principles that Departments should adhere to when running formal, written consultation exercises and as such, they do not prescribe the approach that Departments should take with regard to submitting their responses.
Intelligence Services: Vetting
Government Departments collect information and make decisions in respect of staff and contractors as part of the security vetting process. This information is classed as sensitive personal data and there is currently no requirement for such information to be held centrally. There is provision for Government Departments to share information on individual cases as necessary.
NHS: Finance
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, 7 October 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question on which figures are collated by the Office for National Statistics on the net cost of the National Health Service in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) Wales, (d) Scotland and (e) Northern Ireland in each of the last 11 years. (224075)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collates and publishes data on the expenditure by Government on health services overall, but does not collate statistics on the NHS alone. Examples of Government expenditure on health services outside the NHS are the expenditure on health by Ministry of Defence, and the education and training of NHS medical staff.
Data on Government expenditure on health are sourced from HM Treasury at a UK level, and are not collated or published by country or region of the UK.
In January 2007 the ONS published an article 'Public Service Productivity: Health Care'. This article contained a table showing general government final consumption expenditure on health from 1995 to 2006. The table is shown below.
£ billion 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Average annual change 1995-2006 (%) Labour 22.7 23.5 24.5 25.4 26.6 28.9 31.5 34.8 38.3 41.1 44.2 47.3 6.9 Goods and services 15.4 17.2 17.1 19.0 22.6 23.2 25.3 26.6 29.7 33.9 36.6 40.5 9.2 Capital consumption 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.9 3.5 Total 39.4 42.0 43.0 45.9. 50.8 53.7 58.4 63.1 69.8 76.7 82.6 89.7 7.8 Note: 1. These figures differ from those used in Blue Book 2007 (ONS 2007d), as they incorporate data revisions to the historical series. Also, by convention, Blue Book 2007 includes expenditure on capital items in GP surgeries within intermediate consumption. The estimates in this table include such expenditure in capital consumption.
Non-profit Making Associations: Lancashire
The Office of the Third Sector has provided £215 million to the Futurebuilders programme to make grants and loans to third sector organisations, including social enterprises, delivering public services in England.
In the last twelve months, Futurebuilders England has invested £10,627.00 in Bickerstaffe Children’s Services to help build a childcare and family facility in rural West Lancashire.
Taxis
The Prime Minister’s Office forms an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
Due to the way that taxi costs are recorded on the Cabinet Office accounting system, it is not possible to extract the information requested without incurring disproportionate costs.
All official travel in the Department is undertaken strictly in accordance with the rules contained in the Cabinet Office Management Code.
Voluntary Organisations: Finance
The Improving Reach grants are awarded by Capacitybuilders, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Office of the Third Sector.
Details of the organisations receiving Improving Reach grants during the current phase of the programme and how much each organisation receives are available through the following website.
http://www.capacitybuilders.org.uk/Resources/a/j/x/Funding%20allocations.pdf
A list of the third sector organisations which were funded through the pilot phase of the Improving Reach programme and how much each organisation received is available through the following website.
http://www.capacitybuilders.org.uk/downloadfile.aspx?ID=112
This information has been placed in the Libraries in the House.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
The current alcohol arrest referral (AAR) pilots in Manchester, Liverpool, Ealing and Chester are subject to a vigorous evaluation process. This is being conducted by external evaluators from Liverpool John Moores University and Risk Solutions consultancy. Preliminary findings on re-offending data six months post-intervention and the throughput figures for offenders referred/receiving interventions will be received from the external evaluators in December 2008, with the final report due in July 2009.
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 June 2008, Official Report, column 190W.
Statistics for St. Albans cannot be provided as data are not collected to this level of detail by the Ministry of Justice.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 June 2008, Official Report, column 188W.
Statistics for Test Valley and Southampton cannot be provided as data are not collected to this level of detail by the Ministry of Justice.
Anti-social Behaviour Orders
Three independent reports including the Home Affairs Select Committee report (2005), the Audit Commission report (May 2006) and the NAO report (December 2006) have confirmed our approach to tackling antisocial behaviour is working. Indeed the NAO reported that 65 per cent. of people stop committing antisocial behaviour after intervention one rising to 93 per cent. after intervention three. Peoples' fear of antisocial behaviour has fallen since ASBOs were introduced.
Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Enforcement
We collect data on the use of the tools and powers available to practitioners to tackle antisocial behaviour. Data on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) made and breached are provided by the courts to the Home Office. The most recent data were published on 8 May 2008. We also receive data on the use of other tools and powers, such as antisocial behaviour contracts, through the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) survey.
We also keep in touch with frontline practitioners through policy development discussion groups, and through regular training events. This helps ensure that practitioners are fully up to speed with the latest practice in using the wide range of ASB tools and powers available to them. This close relationship also means that we can draw upon front line experience and expertise in developing policy.
Anti-social Behaviour Orders: Warley
Information on the number of ASBOs issued and breached is not compiled below Criminal Justice System (CJS) area level. Data at CJS level are collected centrally on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) made and breached, but not those unsuccessfully applied for.
Burglary
We have no plans to set a target for police forces to investigate all reported house burglaries.
The Government are determined to ensure the police have the time and flexibility to respond to the concerns of local communities and have listened to the police service about the best way to achieve this. The Police Green Paper published in July—‘From the Neighbourhood to the National, Policing Our Communities Together’—set out the Government's commitment to remove all targets that we set nationally for the police, and replace them with just one numerical top-down target for forces—on whether the public are confident that their force are tackling local problems. It is for local police forces, accountable to their police authorities, to determine their local priorities and the most appropriate way to tackle issues such as house burglary, including through the use of locally-set targets if appropriate.
Closed Circuit Television
No guidance has been issued to local authorities on the use of closed circuit television (CCTV).
Use of CCTV by local authorities in public spaces must comply with the Data Protection Act 1998, which provides individuals with rights in respect of their information and sets rules about its collection and use.
The Information Commissioner’s Office is the independent authority which administers the Act, and has recently produced a revised edition of its CCTV code of practice. This provides guidance on how to deploy CCTV while respecting the rights of individuals. Because of the wider privacy concerns raised by CCTV, the code advises organisations to consider the impact on individual privacy beforehand, what benefits can be gained, and whether better solutions exist.
The Home Office published the National CCTV Strategy last year, and a National CCTV Strategy Programme Board has been established. The programme board is reviewing the recommendations of the strategy and Ministers will have the opportunity to approve the work of the board later this year.
Credit Cards: Fraud
In 2007-08, there were 23,344 cases of fraud by false representation that involved a cheque, plastic card or online bank account recorded by police (this includes some instances of the similar offence of cheque and credit card fraud committed under old legislation in place before 15 January 2007).
These offences could have either been referred direct by a financial institution, reported by an account holder or merchant who was not refunded monies by their financial institution or dealt with as a direct call for service to the police where a suspect was believed to be committing a crime at the time. These offences will in some instances relate to online fraud, but there is no specific category of recorded crime to separately identify these. In addition, we do not separately identify fraud offences relating to credit cards that have been notified to police by banks or financial institutions.
Statistics giving the number of fraud offences relating to cheque, plastic card and online bank accounts recorded by each police force area since April 2007 are shown in the following table.
Force name Number of fraud offences Avon and Somerset 547 Bedfordshire 394 British Transport Police 315 Cambridgeshire 430 Cheshire 276 Cleveland 196 Cumbria 14 Derbyshire 361 Devon and Cornwall 603 Dorset 139 Durham 187 Dyfed-Powys 69 Essex 592 Gloucestershire 161 Greater Manchester 316 Gwent 107 Hampshire 824 Hertfordshire 448 Humberside 284 Kent 537 Lancashire 317 Leicestershire 512 Lincolnshire 145 London, City of 107 Merseyside 308 Metropolitan Police 7330 Norfolk 184 Northamptonshire 325 Northumbria 18 North Wales 104 North Yorkshire 220 Nottinghamshire 224 South Wales 513 South Yorkshire 373 Staffordshire 368 Suffolk 279 Surrey 730 Sussex 472 Thames Valley 945 Warwickshire 262 West Mercia 423 West Midlands 765 West Yorkshire 911 Wiltshire 709 England and Wales 23,344
Crime
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: The information requested is in the following tables.
1998-99 1999-20001 2000-01 2001-02 Police force area Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Avon and Somerset 150,089 24 147,104 22 149,254 21 177,196 14 Bedfordshire 49,076 33 53,607 25 49,627 27 52,210 25 British Transport Police n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Cambridgeshire 67,256 29 68,722 25 64,343 24 69,559 22 Cheshire 65,119 37 64,528 31 63,288 30 70,990 26 Cleveland 67,030 23 65,185 22 64,357 21 72,003 20 Cumbria 40,202 44 37,729 39 32,873 34 37,229 32 Derbyshire 84,459 31 85,650 28 81,668 26 89,841 25 Devon and Cornwall 110,644 36 110,361 35 102,853 34 101,425 32 Dorset 52,755 31 52,332 26 50,320 25 54,869 27 Durham 50,413 33 48,796 32 44,702 34 51,478 33 Dyfed-Powys 24,588 69 23,709 65 22,878 63 23,969 64 Essex 95,797 29 102,777 30 106,768 26 113,150 26 Gloucestershire 48,206 31 50,993 31 49,871 32 50,467 30 Greater Manchester 362,450 25 377,086 23 363,454 22 380,801 21 Gwent 58,738 55 60,132 53 56,728 57 46,916 55 Hampshire 128,253 35 135,174 32 133,553 29 135,961 29 Hertfordshire 49,309 34 52,741 27 64,215 24 67,237 24 Humberside 130,691 22 121,442 19 110,312 21 118,039 20 Kent 129,340 34 124,918 33 128,382 28 120,155 28 Lancashire 118,085 34 108,866 29 117,633 27 137,760 26 Leicestershire 93,397 34 94,577 30 86,422 28 88,557 28 Lincolnshire 46,670 40 46,170 28 44,884 25 49,792 27 London, City of 7,144 33 7,775 32 8,255 27 10,093 34 Merseyside 140,874 31 148,172 26 142,807 28 151,041 24 Metropolitan Police 934,254 22 1,052,049 16 994,233 15 1,056,513 14 Norfolk 57,129 37 59,387 30 57,259 26 58,923 25 Northamptonshire 65,466 33 61,240 33 56,731 33 60,458 31 Northumbria 151,298 30 142,279 31 134,777 31 139,130 31 North Wales 43,848 43 44,606 36 47,712 31 53,839 28 North Yorkshire 55,309 33 53,554 31 51,551 30 59,125 26 Nottinghamshire 135,255 25 136,875 21 139,903 20 159,462 18 South Wales 134,820 39 127,040 31 111,131 31 116,708 33 South Yorkshire 133,059 32 131,700 25 125,179 25 134,764 23 Staffordshire 91,919 32 98,852 22 104,705 23 117,027 20 Suffolk 39,908 41 43,355 36 44,317 35 50,492 33 Surrey 42,467 40 46,288 32 63,321 28 61,457 25 Sussex 130,402 25 136,566 25 136,920 23 135,110 25 Thames Valley 176,477 25 191,875 20 187,989 22 196,980 24 Warwickshire 38,485 26 38,593 22 36,963 22 42,211 25 West Mercia 81,782 34 84,797 29 78,363 28 102,257 28 West Midlands 314,628 30 364,887 27 364,879 28 372,257 29 West Yorkshire 273,809 27 260,237 25 258,908 23 298,845 19 Wiltshire 38,189 38 38,461 33 36,555 29 38,728 30 England and Wales 5,109,089 29 5,301,187 25 5,170,843 24 5,525,024 22 n/a = Not available 1 New instructions which clarified the rules for detecting crime were introduced on 1 April 1999. Notes: 1. The data in this table are prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years. 2. It should be noted that non-sanction detections that contribute to the overall detection rate have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable. From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstances.
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 Police force area Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Avon and Somerset 173,866 15 164,943 15 161,210 17 Bedfordshire 60,895 26 62,382 23 57,973 28 British Transport Police 77,264 15 79,182 16 77,889 17 Cambridgeshire 85,029 22 79,960 23 73,659 23 Cheshire 84,574 26 92,223 27 89,300 26 Cleveland 73,816 23 74,579 21 68,967 24 Cumbria 37,595 31 39,539 32 43,300 30 Derbyshire 103,180 26 98,741 25 84,712 28 Devon and Cornwall 131,240 29 131,453 29 133,282 30 Dorset 62,297 25 62,657 26 57,722 28 Durham 51,177 34 48,432 29 47,115 29 Dyfed-Powys 25,104 68 31,105 47 32,409 43 Essex 136,181 27 144,512 28 134,789 27 Gloucestershire 55,775 29 58,097 28 53,333 27 Greater Manchester 379,126 22 367,959 22 324,616 23 Gwent 61,237 48 59,296 45 57,204 42 Hampshire 152,664 30 178,543 27 173,072 28 Hertfordshire 86,396 23 95,117 25 97,065 29 Humberside 132,529 20 141,644 19 124,105 20 Kent 130,597 28 137,313 25 136,440 23 Lancashire 130,507 27 151,834 27 152,043 30 Leicestershire 96,143 27 96,355 22 96,347 25 Lincolnshire 61,949 23 60,377 22 58,349 25 London, City of 10,026 36 9,250 33 8,685 36 Merseyside 163,166 25 169,181 27 170,846 30 Metropolitan Police 1,079,877 14 1,060,927 15 1,015,121 21 Norfolk 71,270 24 69,846 26 66,376 28 Northamptonshire 73,509 28 78,582 28 73,903 29 Northumbria 165,496 31 157,051 30 142,122 29 North Wales 65,067 29 61,749 33 53,849 42 North Yorkshire 67,239 26 71,473 28 61,615 35 Nottinghamshire 161,403 16 159,228 18 143,498 20 South Wales 143,372 29 137,113 29 124,162 29 South Yorkshire 152,057 21 141,794 24 140,371 26 Staffordshire 108,626 31 109,396 33 101,084 35 Suffolk 50,315 34 53,443 33 52,101 32 Surrey 68,452 22 73,252 22 70,851 26 Sussex 130,887 24 134,557 24 140,177 25 Thames Valley 208,523 25 210,256 23 205,273 26 Warwickshire 44,196 26 45,714 25 43,131 27 West Mercia 105,077 33 106,900 31 95,056 34 West Midlands 350,242 26 339,292 25 290,779 23 West Yorkshire 322,794 20 325,556 20 263,534 25 Wiltshire 44,225 28 42,956 28 40,076 29 England and Wales 5,974,960 24 6,013,759 23 5,637,511 26
Police force area Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Avon and Somerset 154,876 23 160,834 24 144,970 25 Bedfordshire 59,493 25 57,289 22 51,327 22 British Transport Police 76,385 20 76,405 24 67,875 27 Cambridgeshire 66,804 27 69,146 25 65,308 27 Cheshire 95,297 27 89,023 27 79,278 26 Cleveland 71,962 30 68,452 31 66,646 33 Cumbria 42,722 35 38,640 36 35,282 38 Derbyshire 81,085 27 81,037 26 77,534 29 Devon and Cornwall 124,533 28 123,851 27 111,260 28 Dorset 58,724 30 55,142 30 51,285 27 Durham 53,123 27 53,173 30 47,839 29 Dyfed-Powys 30,185 45 30,124 45 25,639 42 Essex 132,378 31 127,163 33 119,164 32 Gloucestershire 53,062 32 52,388 33 45,685 32 Greater Manchester 328,237 25 332,554 25 297,966 25 Gwent 53,627 36 53,182 33 48,472 30 Hampshire 175,293 24 180,894 23 164,940 27 Hertfordshire 95,273 26 91,408 29 80,239 30 Humberside 116,104 23 112,771 25 97,034 31 Kent 147,112 26 146,402 26 131,269 27 Lancashire 142,229 32 135,837 35 123,681 35 Leicestershire 91,185 30 93,108 28 88,253 27 Lincolnshire 57,608 26 55,478 28 51,102 28 London, City of 8,432 43 7,973 39 7,572 36 Merseyside 174,989 28 155,208 29 126,934 32 Metropolitan Police 984,125 24 921,779 21 862,032 25 Norfolk 64,902 31 62,626 30 55,686 32 Northamptonshire 68,075 25 65,975 26 63,657 25 Northumbria 131,968 35 129,070 40 109,251 38 North Wales 50,270 43 53,450 48 45,545 40 North Yorkshire 58,850 35 54,526 33 50,265 33 Nottinghamshire 138,289 22 136,531 23 124,880 23 South Wales 123,942 26 121,717 25 123,967 26 South Yorkshire 162,845 27 159,477 26 145,769 27 Staffordshire 104,411 35 104,336 35 89,348 28 Suffolk 52,831 30 51,096 31 48,330 30 Surrey 68,978 25 74,242 30 68,947 27 Sussex 135,690 30 133,147 31 119,393 32 Thames Valley 201,412 28 211,325 25 196,008 25 Warwickshire 43,392 25 45,257 27 39,968 26 West Mercia 85,353 34 82,095 34 80,054 29 West Midlands 288,055 26 278,660 27 248,235 27 West Yorkshire 258,887 28 249,670 29 228,195 24 Wiltshire 42,181 32 45,098 26 44,587 27 England and Wales 5,555,174 27 5,427,559 27 4,950,671 28 Notes: 1. The data in this table take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording standard In April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years. 2. It should be noted that non-sanction detections that contribute to the overall detection rate have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable. From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstances.
Crime Prevention
The Government maintain internet fraud prevention advice on a number of websites and also supports the GetSafeOnline website which is a joint Government and industry initiative which provides clear, accessible and up-to-date advice on the easy ways in which the public and small businesses can protect themselves and their PCs while using the internet.
The Government have recently allocated £29 million in new money to implement the findings of the cross Whitehall review of fraud. A new National Fraud Reporting Centre which will enable the police to draw together comprehensive fraud intelligence will also work with law enforcement to tackle fraud facilitated through the internet.
The Government are involved in a range of activity to help reduce identity theft and works with organisations in the public and private sector. We have sought to ensure better co-ordination in prosecuting fraudsters through establishing a network of Single Points of Contact in all police forces and a range of Government Departments and agencies dealing with identity fraud investigations and prosecutions.
We have also strengthened legislation. Offences in the Identity Cards Act 2006 target those who possess and use false identity documents and genuine documents belonging to someone else. More powers to share data to combat fraud were enacted in the Serious Crime Act 2007 and the Disclosure of Death Registration Information Scheme, under the Police and Justice Act 2006, was launched on 16 January 2008.
We have introduced systems to confirm the validity of UK passports presented to other organisations and interviews for first time passport applicants over 16 years old now take place to verify the identity of individuals.
A leaflet and the
www.identitytheft.org.uk
website help to increase public awareness of the problem. The material advises on how to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of identity fraud, warning signs to look out for, and what someone should do if they do fall victim. Anyone who has had their personal details used fraudulently can contact one of the three credit reference agencies for help in resolving any credit related problems. They offer a free credit repair service and will liaise with each other, and the banks, to repair compromised personal credit records.
Finally, 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 and with vastly improved security.
Crime: Prisoners
[holding answer 17 September 2008]: The information requested is not collected centrally.
The Home Office collects 'recorded crime' data from the police in England and Wales. These data concentrate solely on the numbers of offences which are recorded and detected by the police.
Within this data-set no details are collected on the offender.
Crime: Young People
The information requested is not currently available.
There are two primary sources of statistics on crime held by the Home Office. Police recorded crime is based on aggregate returns from police forces of the number of notifiable offences reported to and recorded by the police. Such returns do not contain information on the characteristics of victims or their families. The British crime survey is a sample survey of households in England and Wales and covers crimes experienced in the 12 months prior to interview. Currently, the survey is restricted to the experiences of adults aged 16 years and over. Following a recommendation of the independent Smith review of Home Office crime statistics, the survey is being extended to include those aged under 16 years from 2009.
Curfews: Young People
There are no plans to assess the safety of individual children in areas that are subject to authorisations made under section 30 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 (dispersal orders).
Domestic Violence: Emergency Calls
The Home Office does not hold information on the use of 999 recordings in police interviews with suspects in domestic violence cases.
However, in April this year revised guidance on investigating domestic abuse was reissued to all police forces by the Association of Chief Police Officers and the National Policing Improvement Agency. The guidance sets out the principles of interviewing suspects in domestic violence cases and also gives direction on the use of relevant questioning to prove offences.
Driving Offences: Insurance
I have made no assessment of the extent of insurance fraud arising from intentional motor vehicle accidents.
Driving Offences: Mobile Phones
This information is not collected centrally. Use of resources is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police. It became a specific offence to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving in December 2003.
This information is not collected centrally. Information on court proceedings for the offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving and fixed penalties issued for the offence are contained in Motoring Offences and Breath Test Statistics, England and Wales, published annually, and in its supplementary tables. The information covers the period from December 2003, when this conduct became a specific offence.
The latest available information from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Ministry of Justice is for 2006 and is provided in the table. As the majority of ‘use of hand held mobile phone while driving’ offences are dealt with by the issue of a fixed penalty notice these are also included.
2007 data should be available later this year.
Number of offences Fixed penalty notices issued Total court proceedings3 Total dealt with England and Wales 164,910 2,682 167,592 1 Paid, i.e. no further action. 2 Offences under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, Regulations 110 (1), 110 (2) and 110(3). 3 Includes cases where fixed penalty notices were originally issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court. 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 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.
Homicide: Children
Available data relate to homicides recorded by police in England and Wales between 1997-98 and 2006-07, and are shown in the table. Data for 2007-08 are not yet available.
Latest analysis of homicide statistics for England and Wales was published in ‘Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2006-07’ (Home Office Statistical Bulletin 03/08) which can be found online at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0308.pdf
The next homicide chapter is scheduled for release in January 2009.
Year offence initially recorded3 Number of homicides 1997-98 61 1998-99 70 1999-2000 56 2000-01 81 2001-02 49 2002-03 73 2003-04 53 2004-05 48 2005-06 38 2006-07 49 1 As at 12 November 2007; figures are revised as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. 2 Data for 2007-08 are scheduled to be published in January 2009. 3 Offences are shown according to the year in which the police initially recorded the offence as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the incident took place or the year in which any court decision was made.
Offensive Weapons
The Home Office has provided funding for a range of organisations working on issues generally relating to violent crime, including CrimeStoppers and Crime Concern.
In addition, through the Connected Fund, we have provided small grants to local community organisations working on tackling gun and knife crime. Lists of the organisations funded in the six rounds of the fund held to date can be found at:
www.connected.gov.uk.
The Home Office has also provided funding for Be Safe, which provides educational workshops on weapons; the Disarm Trust, which worked to support community groups working on gun crime; Urban Concepts' ‘Don't Trigger Campaign’, focusing on raising awareness of gun crime; Mothers Against Guns, which supports families of gun crime victims; From Boyhood to Manhood, an organisation working with young black men who are at risk of being involved with violent crime; and Street Pastors, which works on the streets on Friday and Saturday nights to listen to young people and provide support.
Offensive Weapons: Dyfed
It is not possible to identify those offences that are knife-related from the data centrally collected on overall recorded crime. However, since April 2007, police forces have been providing separate aggregate data on serious violence (attempted murder, GBH and robbery) involving knives and sharp instruments. Dyfed-Powys police recorded 74 such offences during 2007-08.
Available data from the Homicide Index relate to offences currently recorded as homicide where the apparent method of killing was ‘sharp instrument’, as at 12 November 2007. The number of such offences recorded by Dyfed-Powys police each year between 2002-03 and 2006-07 are given in the following table. Figures for 2007-08 are scheduled to be published in January 2009.
Year offence initially recorded3 Number 2002-03 3 2003-04 0 2004-05 0 2005-06 2 2006-07 1 1 As at 12 November 2007; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. 2 Homicides involving any sharp instrument, including knives. 3 Offences are shown according to the year in which the police initially recorded the offence as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the incident took place or the year in which any court decision was made. 4 Data for 2007-08 are not yet published.
Offensive Weapons: Southampton
The information requested is not collected centrally.
Offensive Weapons: Young People
The information requested is not currently available.
There are two primary sources of statistics on crime held by the Home Office. Police recorded crime is based on aggregate returns from police forces of the number of notifiable offences reported to and recorded by the police. Such returns do not contain information on the characteristics of victims or their families. The British Crime Survey is a sample survey of households in England and Wales and covers crimes experienced in the 12 months prior to interview. Currently the survey is restricted to the experiences of adults aged 16 years and over. Following a recommendation of the independent Smith review of Home Office crime statistics, the survey is being extended to include those aged under 16 years from 2009.
Powers of Entry
Since May 1997, Parliament has passed 73 primary enactments and 208 statutory instruments containing reference to a power of entry in England and Wales, sponsored by a range of Departments, introducing new or amending existing powers of entry. The relevant legislation is placed in the House Library.
We are currently conducting a review of the powers of entry. The review is focused on establishing the continuing need for existing powers and determining the potential for a single statutory framework for all powers of entry. The review is also examining ways in which public understanding and awareness of entry powers can be raised.
A public consultation paper will be published later this year on the proposed framework approach and raising public accessibility. Details can be found on:
http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operational-policing/powers-pacecodes/powers-of-entry-review
Reoffenders
The most recent data available from the performance management arrangements for the Prolific and other Priority Offender programme cover the period from January to March 2008. Based on returns from 93 per cent. of all Prolific and other Priority Offender schemes in England and Wales, the data show that 38 per cent. of Prolific and other Priority Offenders were serving custodial sentences at that time.
Road Traffic Offences: Fixed Penalties
The proposal was contained in a paper submitted to the Fixed Penalty Procedures Working Group, which is chaired by the Home Office and brings together representatives from across Government and the criminal justice system who have an interest in fixed penalties. It is set out below. We are currently considering the launch of a consultation on the proposal, as would be required before any change could be made.
ACPO Proposal
Seatbelts
Security: Licensed Premises
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has not to date specified competency requirements for second and subsequent licence applications after an individual has provided evidence of competency when applying for his or her first licence under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. However, the SIA anticipate proposing the introduction of a requirement for licence holders, including door supervisors, to provide evidence that they have kept their competency up to date when applying for licence renewal. Such a proposal would require an assessment of the costs and benefits involved.
Smuggling: Tobacco
I have been asked to reply.
Since the publication of the tackling tobacco smuggling strategy in 2000, over 15 billion illicit cigarettes and over 1,000 tonnes of hand rolling tobacco (HRT) have been seized. Many organised criminal gangs have been broken up and thousands of individuals have been successfully prosecuted. As a result of the success of the strategy, the size of the illicit market for cigarettes was reduced over the five years to 2005-06 from 21 per cent. to 13 per cent.
At Budget 2008, the Government announced that the new UK Border Agency, which has assumed responsibility for Customs detection work at the border, would be developing a strategy for enhancing detection of tobacco products.
Speed Limits: Cameras
This information is not collected centrally. Issues relating to the deployment of safety cameras in the Metropolitan Police district are operational matters for the Commissioner.
This is an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
Young People: Greater London
The Home Office has invested funds in a wide variety of universal and targeted services to develop positive activities to improve outcomes for young people, as well as targeted youth crime and antisocial behaviour prevention activities for young people most at risk.
The Home Office has provided funding in the last three years to 21 London-based Positive Futures projects. The total Home Office funding provided to this collection of projects was £2.5 million for 2006-07/08 and an additional £1,274,680 in this financial year.
Disaggregated information on funding specifically to London-based Positive Futures projects in 2005-06 and 2004-05 is not available.
In addition, in May 2004, the Home Office launched the Connected Fund, which has to date held six funding rounds of small grants for local community organisations working to tackle gun and knife crime. Details of the projects funded can be found on the website:
www.connected.gov.uk
Total funding under this funding stream to date is £1.75 million and approximately half of which went to London based organisations.
Also across Government the Department for Children Schools and Families fund a wide range of universal and targeted youth groups.
International Development
Africa: EU Strategic Partnership
The Africa EU Joint Strategic Partnership and action plan were agreed by EU and AU member states at the Lisbon summit in December 2007. The action plan consists of eight Partnerships which contain 22 priority actions with agreed activities under each. On the European side, EU member states have taken a lead on the different partnerships. This role will include monitoring implementation of the agreed priority actions, in consultation with African partners.
The EU Africa MDG Partnership includes four priority actions, with a set of agreed activities listed under each. The UK Government are currently mapping ongoing and planned work on these activities and identifying gaps, in consultation with European and African partners. Once this mapping is completed, the principal criteria for assessing progress will be (a) delivery of planned or ongoing activities; (b) action to address gaps; and (c) whether a wide range of stakeholders, such as civil society organisations, are able to contribute their views and ideas.
Africa: Females
The Department for International Development (DFID) is supporting a number of innovative and successful programmes in African countries that address women's rights and political participation.
DFID supports Kenya's Political Empowerment Programme which provided support to women candidates contesting parliamentary and civic seats in the December national elections. There are now more women in both parliament and local councils: the number of elected women in Parliament increased from nine in the last Parliament to 15 currently in 2008.
In Nigeria we are working with other donors and Nigerian civil society organisations, and DFID funded programmes have provided detailed analysis on the impact of the African Protocol on the Rights of Women and the adoption of the convention to eliminate discrimination against women (CEDAW). This will facilitate Nigerian civil society organisations to develop advocacy strategies aimed at passing legislation that better protects women's rights. In Sierra Leone DFID has committed long-term funding (2006-10) to support Women's Access to Justice. This programme has supported the introduction of Circuit Courts to reach remote areas, improving women's access to justice.
Further Information is available on the DFID website using the links provided in the answer of 19 June 2008, Official Report, columns 1167-8W.
Developing Countries: Borders
The Department for International Development (DFID) receives monthly updates from the USAID Trade Hub based in Gaborone, Botswana.
USAID recently reported the endorsement given by Botswana's Ministry of Works and Transport for harmonising axle load limits for trucks moving along the Trans Kalahari Corridor. This measure should facilitate trade along the corridor.
USAID is also supporting the work of the Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative (MCLI) for improving transport logistics along the Maputo Development Corridor. Some of the recent progress reported by USAID on their work with the MCLI include:
Co-funding the MCLI annual general meeting in May 2008.
Co-funding the MCLI open day in October 2008.
Providing technical assistance to the MCLI as well as other Maputo Corridor stakeholders (for example, in relation to Customs issues, one stop border post issues, transport costs, trade facilitation, etc).
Producing a Study on Sustainable Funding of Corridor Management Institutions which has led to funding being pledged to the MCLI.
Studies on Corridor Performance and Truck Stops to be produced in the next few months.
Further information on the USAID Trade Hub can be accessed at:
www.satradehub.org.
Developing Countries: Education
In 2007-08, the Department for International Development (DFID) spent some £351 million bilaterally on education which represented 12 per cent. of DFID's total bilateral programme. These figures include an allocated proportion of General Budget Support and funding to the Education for All fast track initiative. It does not include support to education through multilateral institutions and non-governmental organisations funded through DFID's Partnership Programme Agreements. The UK is committed to increasing its total spending on education globally to £1 billion by 2010.
Global enrolment in primary education increased from 647 million in 1999 to 688 million in 2005 but latest estimates show that some 75 million primary aged children are still not enrolled in school, so a significant challenge remains. That is why, last year the Prime Minister and United Nations' Secretary General called for accelerated action to achieve the millennium development goals, including for education.
Ethiopia: Overseas Aid
Despite the present economic and humanitarian situation, this year's national budget for Ethiopia (passed in July) commits the Ethiopian Government to further increases in the levels of social spending to promote the expansion of basic services and improve human development.
Through a number of sector programmes, the Department for International Development supports this government priority through improving the availability and quality of health, education and water and sanitation services, particularly in poorly served rural areas in Ethiopia.
During 2008-09, we will be spending approximately £38.5 million on education services, £20.5 million on health services, and £10.5 million on water services. These resources will make a significant contribution to increasing the numbers of schools and teachers, health clinics and health workers, water points and latrines in rural areas.
Ethiopia: Water
The Department for International Development's (DFID) water and sanitation programme in Ethiopia is administered through a World Bank trust fund. Project funds are channelled through the Government of Ethiopia's federal Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, and spent by local government at regional and district levels. These funds are spent directly to provide water and sanitation services at community level. In 2008, £9 million has so far been provided to build around 1,000 rural water schemes (such as protected springs and hand dug wells) and eight small town schemes (piped water systems), benefiting approximately 500,000 people. Overall, DFID's £75 million will pay for water and sanitation for 3.2 million people.
India: Education
The Indian Government's flagship Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme, described in the answer of 18 June 2008, sets a number of targets for universal elementary education. These targets, for achievement by 2009-10, include reducing the number of out of school children aged six to 14 years from 13.4 million (2005-06) to 4.9 million; ensuring that girls’ share of enrolments and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe shares of enrolments are maintained or increased relative to their share in the population as a whole; increasing student attendance rates at the primary and upper primary levels from 70 per cent. and 75 per cent. respectively to 85 per cent. and 90 per cent.; increasing the retention rate at the primary level from 71 per cent. to 75 per cent.; increasing the transition rate from primary to upper primary levels from 83 per cent. to 89 per cent.; adequately and regularly monitoring learning levels of elementary education students; and improving learning levels of students in grade 3 in particular.
India: Overseas Aid
Pursuant to the response of 18 June 2008, the technical assistance provided by the Department for International Development (DFID) to the Government of Andhra Pradesh has taken the form of advisory inputs by national and international consultants on: livelihood enhancement, human resource management, water audits, gender, evaluation and impact assessment. Technical assistance was also used to recommend improvements in the ways government departments operate and train officials to discharge their duties more effectively.
There was no formal education component in the Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihoods project, although there was a strong emphasis on capacity building of community members, particularly women to develop new skills, in areas related to livelihoods and income generating activities. The project ended in December 2007.
Nepal: Health Services
The International Health Partnership's (IHP) goal is to accelerate progress on the health related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through improvements to health systems as well as more effective use of aid. The Government of Nepal (GoN) joined the IHP while the GoN's Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) were designing how to scale up the free health care policy: a policy designed to improve access by the poor to services. The IHP launch event provided the Minister of Health and Population with valuable global evidence to inform policy-making and expansion of delivery. The Department for International Development (DFID) has provided technical support to the policy both preceding the launch of the IHP and subsequently. DFID provided an additional £3 million for fiscal years 2007-08 and 2008-09 in recognition of the IHP and supporting the free health care policy.
For 2008-09 DFID is providing £20.5 million to the health sector. This funds three programmes: the overall health programme (called the Nepal Health Sector Programme), Support to the Safe Motherhood programme and the HIV/AIDS programme. Most of the fund is provided as budget support to be managed by, and through, the government's system.
Overseas Aid
The UK attaches great importance to the work of the OECD Development Assistance Committee in developing best practice guidance for donors whether in the form of principles, guidelines or policy statements. Where appropriate we will continue to work with others to ensure such guidance is associated with clear commitments and targets for its implementation.
For example, the Paris principles (partner country ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results and mutual accountability) provide an organising framework for the commitments set out in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. The international community agreed 12 targets to monitor the implementation of these commitments, and most recently reviewed progress in doing so at the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness held in Accra on 2-4 September. The Accra Agenda for Action, which resulted from that meeting, represents an important further means to accelerate progress towards the Paris Declaration targets set for 2010.
UK delivery of the Paris Declaration commitments and targets now forms part of the Department for International Development's (DFID) Departmental Strategic Objectives rather than of a separate action plan. There are therefore no costs associated with fulfilling a separate plan. Our progress in meeting our Paris Declaration commitments and targets is subject to DFID's normal management and reporting mechanisms.
The Department for International Development (DFID) has initiated two programmes to increase opportunities for individuals in the UK to assist developing countries in the last three years.
In February 2008, DFID launched a youth volunteering programme, called Platform2. This aims both to increase awareness of development issues among young people in the UK (with a focus on less advantaged youth), and to enable young people to contribute meaningfully to community led overseas development projects. The programme aims to involve a minimum of 2,500 young people over three years. Since the launch, 170 UK volunteers have completed (or are currently participating) in the programme in Ghana, South Africa, Peru, India, Malawi and Nepal.
In July 2008 DFID launched the Diaspora Volunteering scheme to fund volunteers from UK Diaspora communities to use their skills and experience to help development in poor countries. It aims to send at least 600 volunteers to developing countries over three years. The first volunteers have started working in India, Nepal and Cameroon.
A final breakdown of Department for International Development (DFID) expenditure for 2007-08 was published on 2 October 2008 in the publication “Statistics on International Development 2007-08”. This publication is available on the DFID website
www.dfid.gov.uk.
Overseas Aid: Standards
The OECD's Development Assistance Committee measures donors' commitments on harmonisation in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness through achievement of three targets: 66 per cent. of aid flows through programme based approaches, 40 per cent. of missions to the field conducted jointly with other donors, and 66 per cent. of analytical work conducted jointly.
At the Third High Level Forum (HLF3) on Aid Effectiveness held in Ghana from 2-4 September, the UK played a key role in getting international agreement to speed up implementation of the Paris Declaration. The Accra Agenda for Action commits donors to
“publicly disclose regular, detailed and timely information on volume, allocation and, when available, results of development expenditure to enable more accurate budget, accounting and audit by developing countries”.
The implementation of this commitment will be monitored by the OECD-DAC and reviewed at the next High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in 2011.
Also at the HLF, 14 donors, including UNDP, World Bank, EC, Germany and the Netherlands, signed up to a new UK-led ‘International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI)’. This will enable donors to implement and go beyond the commitment made in the Accra Agenda for Action and ensure that information on aid flows is available to everyone. Donors will work together to agree before the end of 2009 an accessible common format for the publication of information about aid. The initiative will help citizens hold donors and governments to account for their promises and enable partner governments and their citizens—those who ultimately benefit from aid—to plan for and make the best use of aid.
At the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, held in Accra, Ghana from 2-4 September 2008, strong UK leadership helped to secure an ambitious ‘Accra Agenda for Action’ which will speed up implementation of the Paris Declaration.
Donors and developing countries commitments include:
A step change in donors' use of partner government systems to deliver aid, with a new target to channel 50 per cent. of government-to-government aid through country systems, thus improving alignment;
Strengthening of national, and for the first time international, mutual accountability mechanisms, allowing donors and partner countries to better hold each other accountable for meeting their commitments, with a milestone agreed for 2009;
Donors agreed to respect and support partner country-led efforts to agree a better division of labour between donors at country level—and for the first time at international level too; we agreed to start dialogue on international division of labour by June 2009. This will reduce transaction costs for partner countries and help address the issue of under-aided countries;
For the first time and beginning now, donors will provide partner governments with forward expenditure or implementation plans for the following three to five years, allowing partner countries to integrate the information in their medium-term planning and macroeconomic frameworks. This will help developing countries plan to use aid to implement their own priorities, e.g. recruiting nurses and teachers; and
Partner countries will improve their information systems, with support from donors to develop national statistical capacity. The UK announced £50 million support for a new multi-donor Statistics for Results Facility. Donors will use these systems to manage development results.
These steps will help achieve the targets set for 2010.
Renewable Energy
The Department for International Development (DFID) has had various discussions with the Carbon Trust, and through them have commissioned building surveys of both our UK offices, at 1 Palace Street in London, and Abercrombie House in East Kilbride. While these surveys found that the buildings were inherently energy efficient, they also identified technologies which merited further investigation. Further work has been carried out through the Carbon Trust to assess the feasibility of these, such as a wind turbine and a Biomass boiler at Abercrombie House, and a Tri-generation plant at 1 Palace Street.
Earlier this year DFID invested in voltage modulation equipment which has reduced the electricity consumption at 1 Palace Street by around 15 per cent.. The level of capital funding for the next 3½ years is still being considered.
Sierra Leone: Overseas Aid
No administrative support is provided by the Department for International Development (DFID) to the UN Peace building Fund (PBF) in Sierra Leone. DFID is a member of the PBF Steering Committee in Sierra Leone; its remit includes assessment and approval of proposals and oversight of implementation.
The Peacebuilding Fund was set up in March 2007 with an envelope of $35 million. UNDP administers the fund from New York and provides the local secretariat. To date, seven projects have been formally approved for funding—full details of these can be viewed on UNDP's website:
http://www.unpbf.org/sierraleone-projects.shtml
DFID works closely with a number of UN agencies in Sierra Leone. This includes direct funding for project implementation—for example to UNICEF for a national Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme, as well as contribution to basket funds—for example to a fund managed by UNDP to support the delivery of the 2007 national and 2008 local elections.
Southern Africa: Infrastructure
The more than US$ 5 billion private sector investment which has been mobilised in relation to the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) is helping to improve telecommunications, energy, transport, industrial and other infrastructure in African countries such as Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda. A detailed breakdown of the US$ 5.5 billion private sector investments together with EAIF finance is given in the attached table (Annex 1).
($ million) Project EAIF Year Country Sector Comments PSI Committed ($m) Celtel (MSI Expansion) 30.00 2003 Sub-Saharan Africa Telecoms Total US$190m syndicated loan fully disbursed. Now repaid on refinancing. 160.0 MTN Nigeria 10.00 2003 Nigeria Telecoms US $5m drawn. Now repaid on refinancing 200.0 AES-Sonel 35.50 2003 (EAIF $32.3m) 2006 (EAIF $2.3m) Cameroon Energy/Power EAIF loan disbursed - $32.3m in 2003, $2.3m in 2006. GPOBA approved eligibility commitment awaited 554.0 Moma Mineral Sands 36.50 2003 ($24.5m) 2007 ($12m) Mozambique Mining Disbursing 477.0 BidCo Palm Oil/KIS Renewables 22.00 2006 Uganda Agribusiness Approved Nov 2006. Loan not yet signed Tema Port Mooring Buoy 12.00 2005 Ghana Transport US$ 36m facility. US$ 9.4m Drawn 58.0 Obajana Cement Plant 30.00 2005 Nigeria Industrial Disbursed as part of US$ 500m syndicated loan 829.0 ElemePetrochem 20.00 2007 Nigeria Industrial EAIF loan disbursed Feb.2007 400.0 Ethiopian Airlines 36.00 2006 Ethiopia Transport Approved by the Board. Awaiting disbursement 474.0 CelTel Nigeria 35.00 2007 Nigeria Telecoms Disbursed Feb.2007 1,327.0 Celtel Africa 24.00 Africa Regional Telecoms Commenced disbursing Sept 2007 590.0 DRC (8.0) DRC Telecoms Malawi (1.0) Malawi Telecoms Madagascar (2.0) Madagascar Telecoms Sierra Leone (9.0) Sierra Leone Telecoms Uganda (4.0) Uganda Telecoms Mnazi Bay Power (Mtwara Power) 17.50 2007 Tanzania Energy/Power Approved April 200. Not yet signed MagEnergy 12.00 2007 (TAF EAIF) DRC Energy/Power Loan Approved 48.7 Seacom 35.00 2007 Africa Regional Telecoms Signed Dec.2007 385.0 Safal Africa 29.00 2007 Africa Regional Industrial Signed March 2008 (not yet available) Bugoye Hydro Power Plant 35.00 2008 Uganda Energy/Power Loan Approved 55.7 Total 419.50 5,558.40
Zambia: Education
The multi-donor education fund to which the UK Government contributed under the 2003-07 Ministry of Education Strategic Plan was distributed across three sub sectors: free basic education, high school education, teacher and tertiary education. As illustrated in the following table, the majority of donor pooled resources were allocated to basic education.
2005 2006 2007 2008 Basic education 58 62 52 59 High school 24 15 40 24 Tertiary 11 13 3 12 Administration and support 7 10 5 5 Total 100 100 100 100
This support has resulted in the net enrolment ratio at primary school level increasing from 78 in 2002 to 97 in 2006; and from 9.4 in 2002 to 22.17 in 2006 for grades 10-12 as well as the number of orphans enrolled increasing three-fold from 12,967 in 2002 to 38,262 in 2005.
The Zambian Fifth National Development Plan 2006-10 outlines the priorities to ensure equitable access to education in Zambia. This includes expansion of infrastructure including classrooms and teachers’ houses; teacher education; and curriculum development. Specific discussions between government and development partners to extend free primary education from Grades 1-7 to Grades 8-12 are currently underway. In addition a key priority is to respond effectively to the increased demand for education services following the abolition of charges for Grades 1-7 and improve the quality of education delivered, including infrastructure and teaching staff.
The Department for International Development (DFID) provides financing to the Government of Zambia's budget to support attainment of the goals outlined in the national plan.
Children, Schools and Families
Building Schools for the Future Programme
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: The guidance was issued on 19 September. It reflected the responses to the consultation. This means that those involved in these later waves of Building Schools for the Future will benefit from the experience of those involved in the earlier waves, such as local authorities, schools, diocesan bodies and private sector bodies engaged in construction finance and design. In line with Government guidelines, we have now issued a summary of the consultation responses.
We received 145 responses, of which 67 were from local authorities (46 per cent.), 21 from schools, 16 from representative organisations, five from diocesan bodies, nine from the private sector in construction finance and design, and 27 other—which include further private sector consultants. 55 (38 per cent.) of the responses were from bodies involved in waves 1 to 6 of Building Schools for the Future, and 90 not.
The guidance issued in the light of the responses asks for responses by 30 November 2008. When the Department has received the responses, we will prioritise projects in the way that the guidance specifies. We aim to announce the new national programme in early 2009, which will provide authorities with an indication on when they can expect to join the programme.
Departmental Homeworking
We have no plans to keep a central record of those staff who agree with their line manager to work occasionally from home, for example, to write a report. There is no requirement to keep a central record.
We have, however, recently moved from ‘dial-in’ access for homeworkers to broadband access only by authorised users with encrypted fobs. We have kept a central record of those authorised users with security fobs—which currently stands at 1,631 staff (or 60.3 per cent. of staff).
GCE A-level
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb) on 10 September 2008, Official Report, columns 1854-56W.
General Certificate of Secondary Education
(2) pursuant to the answer of 10 September 2008, Official Report, columns 1854-6W, on examination results, what percentage of students who gained a GCSE in (a) physics, (b) chemistry and (c) biology or human biology were educated in (i) the mainstream maintained sector and (ii) the independent sector in each year since 2005, broken down by grade.
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: The answer to which the question refers gives figures broken down by A*-C and A*-G grades. Further breakdowns can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
General Certificate of Secondary Education
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to PQ 180463, 28 January 2008, Official Report, column 162W.
The latest year for which figures are available is 2006/07. Provisional figures for 2007/08 will be available in mid-October.
Languages: General Certificate of Secondary Education
(2) what percentage of pupils in the maintained mainstream sector achieved five GCSEs including a modern language at A* to C grades in each year since 1997.
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: The information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Treasury
Air Passenger Duty
Where an airline ceases to trade and there is no carriage of passengers, no liability to APD arises, and consequently no tax is received by HMRC.
It is therefore for the airline to decide whether or not it refunds this charge.
Child Benefit: Telephone Services
In 2007-08 customers calling the Child Benefit Helpline waited, on average, one minute 21 seconds before their call was answered by an adviser.
Council Tax: Wales
The number of dwellings in Wales marked with property details activity code 30, 60 or 70 is as follows.
Data held at 2 April 2008 Code 30 6,632 Code 60 7,946 Code 70 22,459
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
There were fewer than five cases of serious disciplinary breaches over the last 12 months. These were dealt with under the Department’s disciplinary procedures and appropriate action taken.
Departmental Security
In the last 24 months the following departmental identity cards or passes have been reported lost or stolen by staff in:
Number (a) HM Treasury 136 (b) HM Treasury's executive agencies DMO 3 OGC 149 OGC Buying Solutions 113 1 OGC and OGC Buying Solutions figures include data for all their offices since January 2007. Earlier figures are not available other than at disproportionate cost.
Excise Duties: Fuels
The impact of a six-month postponement of fuel duty increases on Government revenue is shown in Budget 2008, page 110, table A1.
Excise Duties: Motor Vehicles
The public finance assumption is that the clause will have a negligible effect on receipts.
Housing: Sales
Figures for the number of residential property transactions with a value of £40,000 or above by month are published on the HMRC website as National Statistics:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/survey_of_prop/val-40000-or-above.pdf
Housing: Valuation
The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Valuation Office Agency only collects information on domestic dwellings that is necessary for it to undertake its work in relation to property valuation.
Minimum Wage
Since 1 August 2007, there have been five successful prosecutions for minimum wage offences. HMRC does not maintain statistics at district or constituency level.
Minimum Wage: Hampshire
HMRC does not hold statistics based on town or county locations.
Minimum Wage: West Yorkshire
HM Revenue and Customs does not record activity by reference to the areas specified in the question.
Non-domestic Rates: Ports
The regulatory changes in relation to ports introduced from 1 April 2005 concerned the valuation basis on which the statutory designated port operators' occupations are assessed (moving from a “formula” to a “conventional” basis). They did not change the law regarding what should or should not be separately assessed, under which the present action is being taken.
Valuation officers have no discretion over the effective date from which alterations in assessment take place, which is prescribed by separate regulation of general application. The valuation officers are simply discharging their normal functions, so no impact assessment has been undertaken by or on behalf of HM Treasury.
Northern Rock: Nationalisation
Financial information related to Northern Rock is given in the HM Treasury's resource accounts 2007-08, published on 16 July 2008. This is available at the Treasury website:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/4/B/annualreportandaccounts200708050808.pdf
Pensions: Ministerial Policy Advisers
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Under the Model Contract for Special Advisers, special advisers appointed from October 2002 are entitled to the same pension choices as civil servants. Civil servants, including departmental press officers, have the choice of joining the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) or opting for a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Copies of the Model Contract and the rules of the PCSPS are available in the Libraries of the House.
Powers of Entry
Powers exercisable by (a) the Valuation Office Agency are contained in primary legislation. For council tax these are contained in section 26 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. They do not extend to forcible entry. For other functions of the Valuation Office Agency I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 1037W.
Powers exercisable by (b) HM Revenue and Customs (of which VOA is an agency) are contained in primary and secondary legislation. HMRC has a wide range of responsibilities across a number of functions ranging from administration of tax and duties, enforcement of prohibitions and restrictions through to criminal offences. Within HMRC powers of entry are only used within the limits of a particular function and when it is proportionate and reasonable to do so. The main powers exercisable by HMRC (other than those listed elsewhere as exercisable by the VOA) are shown in the following table.
The Home Office is leading a review of powers of entry across all Government Departments and in which HMRC is engaged. The latest findings can be found at
www.police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operational-policing/powers-pace-codes/powers-of-entry-review/.
Statute Reference Alcohol Liquor Duties Act 1979 Section 79 Betting and Gaming Duties Act 1981 Schedule 1 Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 Part III—sections 20(A); 25A and 33; Part VIIIA—section 100F; Part IX—sections 112 and 113; Part IXA—section 118C; Part XII—sections 161; 161A and 162. Finance Act 1994 Part 1—section 24; schedule 7, paragraph 4 Finance Act 1996 Schedule 5, paragraph 4 Finance Act 2000 Part XII Schedule 6, paragraph 129 Finance Act 2001 Schedule 7, paragraph 6 Finance Act 2008 Schedule 36, paragraph 10 Inheritance Act 1984 Part VIII—section 20 Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Part II—sections 8; 7; 18 and 32—schedule 1 and section 9 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 Part II—section 51 Stamp Act 1981 Part 1 Regulations—section 16 Taxes Management Act 1970 Sections 61; 110 and 111 Value Added Tax Act 1994 Schedule 58 and schedule 11 paragraph 10 Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979 Regulations made under section 17 Hydrocarbon Oil Regulations 1973 (from Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979) Regulation 47 Hydrocarbon Oil Duties (Reliefs for Electricity Generation) Regulations 2005 Regulations 10 and 13
Private Finance Initiative
In all cases but one, the National Physical Laboratory, the failure of either party to meet its obligations under the private finance initiative has led to contract re-registration or reversion to public ownership.
The full list of all signed PFI projects can be found on HM Treasury's website at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/public_private_partnerships/ppp_pfi_stats.cfm
For each PFI project, this list details the project name, the capital value, the constituency and the procuring authority.
Public Sector: Pensions
As page 38 of the Long Term Public Finance Report published on 12 March 2008 explains, the key actuarial assumptions used to value the liabilities of individual schemes, such as discount rates, are set out in the relevant reports by the scheme actuary as reported in individual scheme resource accounts. Applying different discount rates would produce different estimates of the total liability but this would not affect the size of future actual cash payments to pensioners. Further information on the liabilities for individual pension schemes is available in the individual scheme resource accounts.
Revenue and Customs
The latest available cost figures are for 2006-07. In this year the average cost per member of compliance staff1 was £37,600.
1 Included are Local Compliance, National Teams and Special Civil Investigations, Stamps Tax, Charity Assets and Residence and Large Business Service.
The latest available yield figures are for 2006-07. In this year the average yield per member of compliance staff1 was around £680,000.
1 Included are Local Compliance, National Teams and Special Civil Investigations, Stamps Tax, Charity Assets and Residence and Large Business Service.
(2) how many tax payers resident outside Scotland are attached to Inland Revenue centres outside of Scotland;
Information on taxpayer numbers is available on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income tax/menu.htm
The total number of taxpayers is shown in Table 2.1: ‘Number of individual income taxpayers’. Estimates of the number of taxpayers resident in Scotland can be found in Table 2:2 ‘Number of individual income taxpayers by country and region’.
Revenue and Customs: Art Works
Nothing, according to HMRC’s records.
Revenue and Customs: Buildings
The Minister responsible for HM Revenue and Customs has frequent discussions on these issues, and many other departmental issues and keeps the Chancellor of the Exchequer informed on a regular basis.
Revenue and Customs: Correspondence
[holding answer 17 September 2008]: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has received over 25 million items of post (letters and forms) from customers in the last 12 months.
As at end of August 2008, HMRC estimates that there were approximately 1.2 million items of post due to be processed, which represents approximately two weeks worth of post received.
This is within HMRC’s normal expectation for this time of year and reflects the fact that volumes of work outstanding are affected by seasonal demands.
This information is not held by individual HMRC offices.
Revenue and Customs: Scotland
No final decision has been taken to close the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) offices at Hawick and Galashiels. HMRC announced proposals for the possible closure of both offices on 11 June 2008 and, as part of their normal commitment to consultation with stakeholders including staff and customers, have invited feedback. I expect to take decisions on these and other proposals based on HMRC’s recommendations following feedback from the consultation exercise and after detailed feasibility work has been carried out by them. Estates financial savings are neither the sole nor the primary factor in making those decisions.
Overall, estates savings in Scotland in the period 2007-08 to 2011-12 are currently estimated at around £23.8 million. HMRC is unable to disclose the financial savings from closure of individual buildings because the release of this information would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of HMRC’s Private Finance Initiative (PFI) accommodation partners and to impact upon wider aspects of the way in which PFIs operate in the Department and in the wider Government.
Revenue and Customs: Southend-on-Sea
(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the representations received from (a) Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and (b) the Public and Commercial Services Union on the closure of HM Revenue and Customs offices in Southend; what responses he gave in each case; and if he will make a statement.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answers the former Financial Secretary my right hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Jane Kennedy) gave on 16 June 2008, Official Report, columns 692-93. I have no current plans to meet representatives from Southend council.
The Estates Consolidation Programme (ECP) is a five-year undertaking designed to deliver £250 million cumulative accommodation running cost savings by releasing surplus accommodation across the HMRC estate. Accommodation is chosen for retention or vacation in conjunction with HMRC’s Workforce Change Programme, which aims to ensure that the offices retained are those best suited to the Department’s long-term business needs.
The overall projected estates savings for the Eastern England region in the period 2007-08 to 2011-12 are estimated at around £25.9 million. The overall costs associated with delivering those changes over the same period are estimated at around £10.7 million. For reasons of commercial confidentiality, more specific figures cannot be made available.
Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide range of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such representations.
Revenue and Customs: Visits Abroad
Pursuant to the answer of 7 July 2008, Official Report, column 1263W, for policy and operational reasons we are unable to disclose which overseas destinations HMRC employees travel to.
HMRC has previously disclosed countries to which HMRC staff have travelled. However in observance of the FOI exemptions we believe the publication of information on the operational focus of our activities could compromise and prejudice future enforcement objectives.
Current systems do not allow for the separation of data between policy and operational visits abroad. Information on policy visits potentially could be disclosed but are not currently held and would incur disproportionate cost to provide.
Stamp Duties: Tax Avoidance
I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the answer the former Economic Secretary to the Treasury my right hon. Friend the Member for Normanton (Ed Balls) gave him on 16 April 2007, Official Report, column 415W.
Stocks and Shares: Oil
Commodity derivatives, such as the futures market, enable producers and consumers of energy to manage (or hedge) their exposure to adverse price movements in the future, thereby enabling them to plan for the future with certainty regarding the price they will receive or pay for the commodity in question.
Any measure to restrict those engaged in the operation of the oil industry, i.e. producers and consumers, from trading in oil futures would limit the ability of producers and consumers to hedge effectively against adverse price movements in the future, hindering efficient business planning and risk management.
Tax Avoidance
The information requested is not available.
Tax Evasion: Lancashire
(2) how many arrests were made by customs officers in Lancashire in each year since 2000.
High-level data on arrest statistics are published in HM Revenue and Customs' Annual Reports. Copies of the Annual Reports are available in the Library of the House and online www.hmrc.gov.uk. The specific information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Taxation: Aviation
The consultation on the proposed aviation duty closed on 24 April 2008, and considered all aspects of the operation of the duty.
A summary of consultation responses will be published in due course.
Taxis
Spending on taxis in 2007-08 was as follows:
£ HM Treasury 217,000 Debt Management Office 1,000
Valuation Office: Databases
None of the three applications mentioned in the question are databases; however, they will all benefit from the database alignment exercise.
Valuation Office: Eurostar
The European Commission investigation, under article 88(2) of the treaty, was into an alleged state aid in respect of British Telecom's and Kingston Communications' non domestic rating assessments.
Valuation Office: Video Recordings
(2) pursuant to the answer of 14 July 2008, Official Report, column 151W, on the Valuation Office: video recordings, what the name is of each internal training video used by the Valuation Office Agency for valuation purposes.
The VOA has used video recordings for a variety of training and information purposes. These recordings are usually accessed through the intranet and they are sometimes embedded in documents or accessed via links. The VOA does not maintain a single comprehensive record of all such filmed sequences and to collate this material, examine it, and isolate ‘training videos’ could be achieved only at a disproportionate cost.
VAT: Parking
The European Court of Justice gave its judgment on this issue on 16 September 2008 and the precedent case will now revert to the High Court for judgment. It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment further on the matter until the legal process has been concluded.
Welfare Tax Credits: ICT
[holding answer 17 September 2008]: HM Revenue and Customs are currently working towards delivering three major upgrades to the tax credits system in October 2008, April 2009 and October 2009.
HMRC also makes regular changes throughout the year to secure the ongoing health of the IT system and its ability to deliver tax credits business events.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Madrid Declaration
British Ministers have not recently discussed the 1989 Madrid Declaration specifically with EU counterparts. However, we continue to discuss issues relevant to the Declaration, such as encouraging respect for human rights, within the EU and between the EU and China. The arms embargo was last discussed at the 2007 EU-China summit.
Georgia
Relations with Georgia are excellent. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary visited Tbilisi on 14-15 August and met President Saakashvili in New York on 27 September. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister welcomed the Georgian Prime Minister to London on 19 September.
Throughout events in Georgia this summer, we have worked closely with partners in the EU, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, NATO, G7 and UN to reverse Russia’s encroachments into Georgian territory outside the conflict zones, address immediate humanitarian needs, assist Georgia’s economic recovery, foster long-term peace and stability, and encourage Georgia’s domestic reform programme.
Rwanda
British officials made representations after the arrest in 2002 of the former Rwandan minister to whom my hon. Friend refers.
Since his trial in 2004, we have continued to take a close interest in this case.
HM ambassador in Rwanda raised this case with the Rwandan Minister for Justice in August.
Health Care: Spain
The new scheme is in line with European law and is intended to bring Valencia into line with the rest of Spain. Officials at the British Embassy in Madrid have been active in negotiating an extension until the end of the year so that British Citizens who might be affected have time to make necessary provisions. The Embassy will remain in close contact with the Valencia Authorities on this issue.
Zimbabwe
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary’s statement to the House yesterday made our position clear. Zimbabwe’s people want the agreement signed on paper to work in practice. A Cabinet needs to be appointed without further delay to reform Zimbabwe’s economic management and the behaviour of its security forces. The UK continues to provide humanitarian relief to the Zimbabwean people and we remain ready to support recovery when a new government shows commitment to reform.
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary’s statement to the House on 6 October 2008 made our position clear. Zimbabwe’s people want the agreement signed on paper to work in practice. A Cabinet needs to be appointed without further delay to reform Zimbabwe’s economic management and the behaviour of its security forces. The UK continues to provide humanitarian relief to the Zimbabwean people and we remain ready to support recovery when a new government shows commitment to reform.
Horn of Africa
The Government remain concerned about ongoing tensions and violence in several areas of the Horn of Africa, particularly in Somalia.
We continue to work with regional governments and international partners to encourage peaceful resolution of political differences as well as offering humanitarian and development assistance.
Nepal
We welcomed the significant political changes in Nepal following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in November 2006. Elections to a Constituent Assembly in April 2008 led to the declaration of Nepal as a Federal Republic. Nepal has now appointed its first President and established a multi-party Government.
The new Government recently announced an ambitious programme of work to advance Nepal’s peace process. We are helping the Government meet their objectives.
Iran
Dr. Mohammad El Baradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), reported on the state of Iran’s nuclear programme on 15 September 2008. Once again his report confirmed that Iran had failed to suspend enrichment-related activities, had made no progress on the transparency measures the UN Security Council and IAEA have long called for, and that, as a result of Iran’s failure to engage, the IAEA had been unable to make any substantive progress on resolving the questions about studies with a possible military dimension, studies which it judges are of serious concern.
Iraq
We continue to work with our Whitehall partners in Ministry of Defence, Department for International Development, and UK Borders Agency and our missions in Iraq, Jordan and Syria to ensure that these brave Iraqis who meet the qualifying criteria for the Iraqi LE Staff Assistance Scheme as set out in my written statement to the House on 30 October 2007 are moved to safety as quickly as possible.
Afghanistan
On 12 December 2007 my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, in this House, set out the UK’s long-term and comprehensive framework for security, political, social and economic development for Afghanistan.
The key points are:
encouraging and supporting more Afghan ownership, including of the security effort supporting the Government of Afghanistan as they seek to build democracy and governance at local levels;
backing the Government of Afghanistan’s attempts to dismantle the insurgency through a politically led approach;
helping the Afghan Government meet the demands of the Afghan people by backing initiatives that encourage economic regeneration and social/economic development.
This strategy sets the strategic objectives for the Government as a whole, including my Department and remains viable today. It can be found on the Hansard website.
The Afghan Drugs Inter-departmental Unit (ADIDU) continues to take forward the UK's role as the designated G8 Partner Nation with Afghanistan on counter-narcotics. This includes work to support the Government of Afghanistan in implementing its National Drug Control Strategy. The approach of risk and reward is starting to deliver, with more targeted Afghan-led operations and record seizures of narcotics.
European Union
National Parliaments play an increasingly important influence over EU decision-making, through, for example, national scrutiny of EU business and the regular appearance of EU officials before national Parliaments.
Bangladesh
We welcome the announcement by the Chief Adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, that parliamentary elections will take place on 18 December 2008. It is vital for Bangladesh's future that all parties participate positively in the democratic process so that successful elections can be followed by a smooth transition of power to the elected government.
Pakistan
The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary spoke to President Zardari on 7 September to congratulate him on his election and reiterate Britain's commitment to working closely with the Government of Pakistan to support measures that promote stability, democracy and the rule of law. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary met President Zardari in London on 16 September and told him that the UK stands ready to assist the Government of Pakistan in combating the shared threat of violent extremism and meeting the economic challenges Pakistan faces.
The Foreign Secretary also saw President Zardari in New York on 25 September and joined him at the lunch of the Friends of Pakistan Group on 26 September.
The accession of President Zardari to the leadership of Pakistan with a 68 per cent. majority completes the transition to full democratic civilian rule for the first time in nine years.
Olympic Games 2012
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) created a new full-time D6 (First Secretary) Olympics position on 1 September 2008 to work on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The FCO envisages that by London 2012 a full team of staff will be working on London 2012 projects (including on security, public diplomacy and protocol). However, it is difficult to predict at this stage how many staff might be involved in this work.
The British Council has eight full-time equivalent members of staff working on projects related to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Of these, project management accounts for four full-time posts. Legacy planning, project oversight and financial oversight jointly account for four full-time posts. From 2009 to 2013, the British Council intends to recruit an additional 15 project management posts (three year period per post).
Russia: Missiles
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no discussions with the Russian authorities on this test-firing. We discuss missile-related issues with Russia in the context of the Hague Code of Conduct and the missile technology control regime.
[holding answer 17 September 2008]: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no discussions with the Russian authorities on this test-firing. We discuss missile-related issues with Russia in the Context of the Hague Code of Conduct and the missile technology control regime.
Health
Departmental Databases
The Department uses the geo-demographic systems MOSAIC and ACORN to assist with targeting of marketing and communications messaging. The Department uses the Central Office of Information (COI) to help with this process. The two targeting systems have been used to:
improve targeting on campaigns e.g. when planning a door to door distribution drop to profile, segment then pick off the ACORN audiences that most correspond to communications target audiences to improve efficiency of activity;
give the Department a view of specific geographic areas for targeting in terms of demographic profile;
allow the Department to examine segments of the population on Government surveys and map them to direct mail lists and examine media consumption to enhance how the Department can reach pertinent audience groups when required;
create a bridge between research-based segmentation and more actionable data based segmentation; and
evaluate whether respondents to a campaign fall into an expected audience profile e.g. did the campaign work against the people the Department wanted to respond/convert and which media predominantly drove which type of respondent?
It is possible that other tools or applications may have been used (for example, through external agencies or contractors) which themselves make some use of MOSAIC or ACORN data. The Department may not necessarily be able to identify such indirect use.
Drugs: Young People
Information by age group and year on the number of hospital admissions where the primary or secondary diagnosis was poisoning by drugs is in tables which have been placed in the Library.
Defence
Afghanistan: Casualties
From April 2006 to August 2008 inclusive, 34 military patients from Afghanistan and 16 from Iraq have been identified as having either a traumatic or surgical amputation; this could range from the loss of part of a finger or toe up to the loss of one or more entire limb(s).
Because of the small numbers of personnel who have suffered an amputation we do not provide further details of amputations as this would increase the risk of an individual being identified and compromising their right to medical confidentiality.
Service personnel who require prosthetic limbs will be provided with these by the Amputee Unit at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) at Headley Court in Surrey, which is the principal medical rehabilitation centre run by the Armed Forces. The Amputee Unit provides high quality prosthetics and adaptations, manufactured on site and individually tailored as necessary for the specific patient. The aim is to provide prosthetics to enable Service personnel to resume Service duties where possible.
Departmental Leave
The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Manpower
Civilian staff who are in posts that are due to be cut, or are awaiting a posting (e.g. on return from overseas or a career break), are placed in the Redeployment Pool six months before the post ends, and remain the responsibility of their existing line management until they find a new job. They are permanent staff who are deployed locally to temporary work within their current business areas until they secure a more permanent position. About 830 civilian staff are currently classified by the Department's HR Management System as members of the Redeployment pool, in which they receive priority consideration for posting.
Departmental Retirement
Requests to work beyond normal retirement age have been recorded centrally since 1 October 2006. 123 requests were received in the period October 2006 to March 2007; 473 in the period April 2007 to March 2008. These figures exclude the trading fund agencies. Figures for previous years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Weapons: Arms Trade
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not available.
Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 8 October 2008
Work and Pensions
Industrial Diseases
Ministers and officials in the Department for Work and Pensions have met and received representations on numerous occasions in the last five years from a wide range of stakeholders on insurance and liability arrangements with regard to asbestos-related deaths and ill health due to industrial activity.
Among the changes made as a result of these representations the Government provided more information and guidance to claimants and practitioners. More precisely, we published improved guidance on mesothelioma explaining the help available and where to find it, we provided best practice advice to industrial injuries disablement benefits claims handlers and we undertook public awareness activity to encourage claimants to use qualified, experienced legal practitioners when making a claim.
We also introduced standardised approaches to claiming civil damages by introducing a Standard Claim Letter. To facilitate the speeding up of payment of claims to people with mesothelioma, changes were introduced in the Compensation Act 2006 to enable defendant employers/insurers to claim money back from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
We have worked extensively with partners. We have conducted annual reviews of the Code of Practice for tracing Employers’ Liability Insurance policies to ensure the Code is comprehensive and has user confidence. HM Revenue and Customs now trace employer records for people with mesothelioma within 10 working days (previously 25-30 days). The Association of British Insurers (ABI ) has issued a claims handling best practice guide within the industry, and has introduced a Code of Practice phone enquiries helpline and issued guidance on getting the best out of the Code. Working with the Department for Business, we have now removed the need to resurrect insolvent companies in order to access ELCI policies, and working with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, we have helped make it easier for them to compensate people with mesothelioma more quickly.
We have introduced a new scheme for making payments to people with diffuse mesothelioma. The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 introduced a lump-sum payment scheme for people with diffuse mesothelioma who can receive a payment of an average of £10,000 within 6 weeks of claiming (the payment is recovered if any subsequent civil damages are awarded). The scheme started on 1 October 2008.
We have reduced the compliance costs of regulations relating to the display of Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance certificates. The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (which came into force on 1 October 2008) allowed companies to display certificates electronically when employees have reasonable access to the certificate in that form, and removed the requirement for employers to retain certificates for 40 years.
We have asked questions about the possible reform of the current Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) scheme in the consultation document, “No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility”. The consultation asks questions on IIDB: How might we reform Bereavement Benefit and IIDB to provide better support to help people adjust to their new circumstances while maintaining the work focus of the modern welfare state? Are lump sum payments a good way of meeting people’s needs? Do they give people more choice and control? Could we make more use of them? The consultation ends on 22 October 2008.
We continue to have discussions with insurers, employers, trades unions, lawyers and other interested parties.
Jobseeker’s Allowance
The information requested is not available.
Maternity Benefits
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested. The letter will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Lesley Strathie:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the average processing time for Maternity Allowance claims in each quarter in each of the last five years. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The time it takes to process Maternity Allowance applications is measured by counting the average length of time taken to clear all claims processed within a set time period. The measure is referred to as the Average Actual Clearance Time.
The average processing time for Maternity Allowance claims in each quarter in each of the last five years is contained in the table below.
Period AACT(days) 2003-04 Quarter 1 13.2 Quarter 2 13.8 Quarter 3 13.8 Quarter 4 13.3 2004-05 Quarter 1 13.4 Quarter 2 14.2 Quarter 3 14.1 Quarter 4 12.2 2005-06 Quarter 1 11.1 Quarter 2 11.6 Quarter 3 11.9 Quarter 4 12.7 2006-07 Quarter 1 14.5 Quarter 2 14.1 Quarter 3 12.9 Quarter 4 13.9 2007-08 Quarter 1 16.5 Quarter 2 18.8 Quarter 3 20.5 Quarter 4 18.2 2008-09 Quarter 1 21.0
Over the last few months increases in the number of births in the general population have led through to an increase in Maternity Allowance applications by a fifth. This increase coincided with centralisation into the four units and a temporary dip in productivity associated with retraining existing members of staff. This has led to a backlog of around 7000 claims.
We are responding to these difficulties by increasing the staffing in the centralised sites by a fifth, so they can cope with the increase in new applications. The 7000 backlog cases are being dealt with separately by sharing the cases across our wider network of Benefit Delivery Centres. We are making progress now on clearing these cases. This action has seen immediate improvements in clearance numbers and we expect to have fully cleared the backlog by this autumn.
New Deal Schemes: Lancashire
Information regarding work experience and training is only available for new deal for young people and new deal 25 plus. The available information is in the following tables.
Number New Deal for Young People 1,640 New Deal 25 Plus 460 New Deal for Lone Parents 1,220 New Deal for Disabled People 300 New Deal 50 Plus1 160 New Deal for Partners1 10 1 Figures for new deal 50 plus are not available prior to April 2003 and for new deal for partners figures are not available prior to April 2004. Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Those people who have participated on subsidised employment option are included in the above figures for the relevant new deal programmes. 3. Figures for new deal for young people, new deal 25 plus, new deal for lone parents, new deal 50 plus and new deal for partners are available at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/tabtool_nd.asp Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate
Number Subsidised Employment Option 70 Full time Education Option 200 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Figures include those who have left the New Deal programme and current participants. 3. These figures are published at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/tabtool_nd.asp 4. Immediate destination on leaving is measured within two weeks of leaving new deal, using information from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate
Number Subsidised Employment Option 10 Full time Education Option 340 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Immediate destination on leaving is measured within two weeks of leaving new deal, using information from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). 3. Employment includes those in employment and self employment. 4. Figures include those who have left the New Deal programme and current participants. 5. Figures do not include current participants on the follow-through stage of the programme. 6. These figures are published at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/tabtool_nd.asp Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Post Office
The Department regularly and closely monitors the financial performance of Post Office Ltd. through the financial year because it is both a publicly owned company and it receives very substantial public funding to support the post office network. As part of this the Department reviews the company’s business case forecasts and the annual out-turn with regard to costs and to revenues.
Prime Minister
Cabinet
The Cabinet met in Birmingham on Monday 8 September 2008.
Chequers
The answer of 13 December 2007, Official Report, column 825W, is also true of special advisers.
China
(2) whether he discussed progress in talks between the envoys of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government with the Chinese President at the G8 summit in Japan.
I refer my hon. Friends to the answer I gave on 14 July 2008, Official Report, column 20W.
In addition, I refer my hon. Friends to the press briefing I gave en route to Beijing on 21 August 2008. A transcript is available on the No. 10 website:
http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page16647
and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Defence: Expenditure
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) during my statement on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 672-3.
Departmental Domestic Visits
I refer the hon. Members to the written statement I made on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 103-04WS.
I travel making the most efficient and cost-effective arrangements. My travel arrangements are in accordance with the arrangements for official travel set out in chapter 10 of the “Ministerial Code”, and the accompanying guidance document, “Travel by Ministers”.
Departmental Internet
I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 15 September 2008, Official Report, column 2026W.
Departmental Occupational Health
Departmental Official Engagements
I frequently meet people from all these occupations in the course of my duties around the UK.
Departmental Overtime
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Watson) on 1 September 2008, Official Report, columns 1434-36W.
Departmental Procurement
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Phil Hope) on 22 July 2008, Official Report, column 1258W.
Departmental Training
Israel: Nuclear Weapons
I discussed a wide range of issues on my recent trip to Israel. I refer the hon. Member to the speech I made to the Israeli Knesset, a transcript is available on the No. 10 website at:
http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page16423
A copy has also been placed in the Library of the House.
Ministerial Policy Advisers
Guidelines on allowances and subsistence are a matter for the relevant Government Department.
Ministerial Policy Advisers: Conditions of Employment
Special advisers, including those in my office, are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers.
Ministers: Official Residences
(2) whether the new Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will have an official ministerial residence funded by the public purse.
There have been no changes to the answer I gave the hon. Members for Lewes (Norman Baker) and Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 17 October 2007, Official Report, column 1135W.
Olympic Games 2012
My Office is fully engaged with work towards the Olympics led by the DCMS.
Political Office: Furniture
The staffing and associated costs for my Political Office are met by the Labour party. As has been the case under successive Administrations, marginal costs associated with the Political Office are met from within the overall budget for 10 Downing street.
Schools
My Office receives many letters from schools and children, all of which receive a reply. In addition, and when appropriate, my Office sends out a booklet about the history of Downing street to schools and children who write in. Copies of this booklet are available in the Library of the House.
Written Questions: Government Responses
I refer the hon. Member to the answer published on 12 March 2008, Official Report, column 449W.
Justice
Departmental Buildings
The full information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, Her Majesty’s Court Service (HMCS) provide free of charge room hire to organisations that directly support the work of the courts. These include the Crown Prosecution Service, Probation Service, Victim and Witness Service, Police, Shorthand Writers, Press and WRVS. HMCS also hire out to organisations that support the Court Service for training purposes and a system has recently been put in place to record the information requested. Therefore, income for this financial year is currently £3,190.
NOMS/HMPS and the Tribunal Service have confirmed they do not hire out rooms.
Departmental Data Protection
Records in the former DCA show that three members of staff have been disciplined for inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last three years, all in 2006.
Prison Service records show that members of staff have been disciplined and dismissed for inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last three years. In some of these cases, the inappropriate use of data has been part of a wide range of charges against the members of staff:
April 2005-March 2006: Nil
April 2006-March 2007: Six members of staff were subject to formal disciplinary action and, of these, three were subsequently dismissed from service.
April 2007-March 2008: One member of staff was subject to formal disciplinary action and was subsequently dismissed from service.
Centrally held records in NOMS and OCJR there have been no recorded cases of discipline or dismissal for breaches of data protection and inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data.
Departmental Surveillance
I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s written ministerial statement on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 110-11WS. The Government’s approach is to neither confirm nor deny the extent to which use is made of these powers. The Chief Surveillance Commissioner and Interception of Communications Commissioner does however provide statistics of all covert activity authorised under Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) in their annual reports, which were laid before both Houses of Parliament on 22 July 2008.
National Probation Service for England and Wales: ICT
As of 7 October 2008, the following probation areas within England and Wales use:
(a) Delius—Greater Manchester, London and West Mercia;
(b) CRAMS—Cheshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Dorset, Durham, Dyfed-Powys, Essex, Gloucestershire, Gwent, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Humberside, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, North Wales, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, Nottinghamshire, South Wales, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Teesside, Warwickshire, West Yorkshire and Wiltshire;
(c) Other IT case management systems—Avon and Somerset, Bedfordshire, Cambridge, Devon and Cornwall, Kent, Merseyside, Norfolk, Suffolk, Sussex (in addition to CRAMS), Thames Valley, and West Midlands.
Reparation by Offenders
The evaluation of the Crime Reduction Programme Restorative Justice Pilots, undertaken by Joanna Shapland of the University of Sheffield, was commissioned to develop the evidence base of what works for adults in terms of restorative justice and to inform future policy developments. Although the most recently published research report showed that, overall, the evidence of the effectiveness of restorative justice in reducing adult re-offending is no stronger than for other interventions, earlier research showed that it delivers high levels of victim satisfaction. The Government are, therefore, considering what further encouragement they can provide to support the continued growth of adult and youth restorative justice, taking account of the complete findings from the evaluation of these pilots.
Young Offenders: Sentencing
The Government have developed a range of sentences that are designed to offer courts a robust alternative to custody. The decision on the most appropriate type of disposal given to a young person is ultimately for the court to make.
The data requested, which are collected by the Youth Justice Board on a quarterly basis, are shown in the following tables.
April to June 2006 July to September 2006 YOT Occasions custody proposed in the pre-sentence report Custodial sentence imposed Percentage Occasions custody proposed in the pre-sentence report Custodial sentence imposed Percentage Barking and Dagenham 0 7 0 1 11 9 Barnet 2 2 100 3 11 27 Barnsley 0 6 0 0 5 0 Bath and North East Somerset 0 2 0 0 2 0 Bedfordshire 2 4 50 1 4 25 Bexley 4 11 36 1 9 11 Birmingham 16 47 34 11 37 30 Blackburn with Darwen 0 5 0 1 1 100 Blackpool 0 5 0 1 6 17 Blaenau, Gwent and Caerphilly 3 6 50 3 7 43 Bolton 6 13 46 5 8 63 Bournemouth and Poole 0 2 0 1 7 14 Bracknell Forest 0 0 n/a 3 3 100 Bradford 5 12 42 1 10 10 Brent 2 2 100 0 5 0 Bridgend 0 1 0 1 5 20 Brighton and Hove 0 1 0 3 5 60 Bristol 1 5 20 1 8 13 Bromley 2 2 100 0 0 n/a Buckinghamshire 0 2 0 3 6 50 Bury 1 4 25 1 4 25 Calderdale 0 1 0 1 2 50 Cambridgeshire 0 6 0 0 4 0 Camden 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a Cardiff 1 9 11 1 13 8 Carmarthenshire 2 4 50 5 7 71 Ceredigion 0 0 n/a 0 1 0 Cheshire 1 6 17 7 22 32 Conwy and Denbighshire 2 2 100 6 8 75 Cornwall 1 2 50 0 1 0 Coventry 4 19 21 1 14 7 Croydon 3 9 33 6 8 75 Cumbria 0 3 0 0 4 0 Darlington 0 2 0 0 0 n/a Derby 3 7 43 3 10 30 Derbyshire 1 14 7 1 8 13 Devon 0 2 0 0 2 0 Doncaster 3 5 60 1 5 20 Dorset 1 3 33 1 2 50 Dudley 0 3 0 0 3 0 Durham 4 2 200 2 5 40 Ealing 0 6 0 2 2 100 East Riding of Yorkshire 0 0 n/a 1 3 33 East Sussex 5 8 63 3 5 60 Enfield 1 9 11 0 10 0 Essex 0 8 0 1 8 13 Flintshire 0 0 n/a 0 2 0 Gateshead 3 5 60 1 4 25 Gloucestershire 2 5 40 2 6 33 Greenwich 0 2 0 2 0 n/a Gwynedd Mon 7 7 100 5 5 100 Hackney 5 21 24 1 10 10 Halton and Warrington 1 3 33 0 5 0 Hammersmith and Fulham 0 7 0 0 3 0 Haringey 2 4 50 1 5 20 Harrow 1 4 25 0 2 0 Hartlepool 0 1 0 1 5 20 Havering 0 4 0 1 3 33 Hertfordshire 1 3 33 3 7 43 Hillingdon 1 2 50 1 4 25 Hounslow 0 6 0 1 4 25 Islington 1 3 33 0 4 0 Kensington and Chelsea 0 3 0 1 2 50 Kent 3 12 25 7 17 41 Kingston-upon-Hull 0 7 0 0 10 0 Kingston-upon-Thames 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a Kirklees 3 24 13 5 16 31 Knowsley 1 5 20 0 2 0 Lambeth 0 16 0 1 12 8 Lancashire 9 29 31 12 19 63 Leeds 2 23 9 1 13 8 Leicester City 3 8 38 4 8 50 Leicestershire 1 5 20 0 4 0 Lewisham 1 4 25 1 3 33 Lincolnshire 0 4 0 3 2 150 Liverpool 1 22 5 2 21 10 Luton 1 2 50 1 5 20 Manchester 7 26 27 8 36 22 Medway 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a Merthyr Tydfil 0 2 0 0 3 0 Merton 0 2 0 0 0 n/a Milton Keynes 2 5 40 1 2 50 Monmouthshire and Torfaen 0 1 0 2 4 50 Neath Port Talbot 0 2 0 2 5 40 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 3 4 75 1 4 25 Newham 2 8 25 2 8 25 Newport 1 11 9 4 9 44 Norfolk 0 2 0 0 0 n/a North East Lincolnshire 9 10 90 7 8 88 North Lincolnshire 2 8 25 0 2 0 North Somerset 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a North Tyneside 0 2 0 1 6 17 North Yorkshire 3 9 33 2 6 33 Northamptonshire 3 18 17 2 11 18 Northumberland 1 4 25 0 4 0 Nottingham 4 13 31 27 33 82 Nottinghamshire 7 14 50 3 11 27 Oldham 5 7 71 3 7 43 Oxfordshire 0 2 0 0 2 0 Pembrokeshire 0 0 n/a 1 2 50 Peterborough 2 4 50 0 6 0 Plymouth 1 3 33 0 3 0 Powys 0 0 n/a 2 2 100 Reading and Wokingham 4 7 57 4 5 80 Redbridge 0 5 0 1 3 33 Rhondda Cynon Taff 0 3 0 0 0 n/a Richmond-upon-Thames 0 1 0 0 0 n/a Rochdale 1 8 13 0 7 0 Rotherham 0 2 0 0 6 0 Salford 2 10 20 2 8 25 Sandwell 3 5 60 4 9 44 Sefton 1 6 17 2 8 25 Sheffield 7 9 78 2 14 14 Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin 0 2 0 1 6 17 Slough 0 1 0 2 2 100 Solihull 0 0 n/a 0 7 0 Somerset 0 0 n/a 0 2 0 South Gloucestershire 0 1 0 0 0 n/a South Tees 1 4 25 1 7 14 South Tyneside 2 5 40 3 3 100 Southend-on-Sea 0 4 0 3 6 50 Southwark 1 5 20 0 14 0 St. Helens 2 3 67 1 1 100 Staffordshire 0 8 0 2 10 20 Stockport 1 1 100 2 4 50 Stockton-on-Tees 0 2 0 1 2 50 Stoke-on-Trent 4 10 40 4 14 29 Suffolk 4 10 40 4 8 50 Sunderland 3 5 60 8 9 89 Surrey 4 12 33 0 0 n/a Sutton 0 4 0 0 2 0 Swansea 9 9 100 5 5 100 Swindon 0 1 0 1 3 33 Tameside 2 9 22 3 8 38 Thurrock 3 4 75 8 9 89 Torbay 0 0 n/a 1 0 n/a Tower Hamlets and City of London 0 2 0 0 9 0 Trafford 3 8 38 8 8 100 Vale of Glamorgan 1 1 100 0 0 n/a Wakefield 0 4 0 0 6 0 Walsall 0 7 0 0 4 0 Waltham Forest 3 6 50 7 9 78 Wandsworth 2 10 20 2 13 15 Warwickshire 2 9 22 4 5 80 Wessex 4 42 10 5 31 16 West Berkshire 0 0 n/a 0 1 0 West Sussex 1 5 20 2 6 33 Westminster 3 7 43 0 1 0 Wigan 0 7 0 0 5 0 Wiltshire 0 0 n/a 0 1 0 Windsor and Maidenhead 0 2 0 0 1 0 Wirral 1 6 17 1 7 14 Wolverhampton 0 4 0 0 3 0 Worcestershire and Herefordshire 2 5 40 1 11 9 Wrexham 1 3 33 2 4 50 York 1 2 50 0 2 0 Total 255 953 27 305 987 31
October to December 2006 January to March 2007 YOT Occasions custody proposed in the pre-sentence report Custodial sentence imposed Percentage Occasions custody proposed in the pre-sentence report Custodial sentence imposed Percentage Barking and Dagenham 0 8 0 1 3 33 Barnet 1 2 50 1 1 100 Barnsley 2 6 33 0 8 0 Bath and North East Somerset 0 3 0 0 1 0 Bedfordshire 1 4 25 0 5 0 Bexley 1 5 20 0 3 0 Birmingham 9 38 24 5 21 24 Blackburn with Darwen 0 4 0 2 4 50 Blackpool 1 12 8 3 5 60 Blaenau, Gwent and Caerphilly 1 5 20 1 4 25 Bolton 1 9 11 3 7 43 Bournemouth and Poole 0 1 0 2 2 100 Bracknell Forest 0 1 0 0 0 n/a Bradford 4 8 50 7 15 47 Brent 0 1 0 0 2 0 Bridgend 2 5 40 0 1 0 Brighton and Hove 1 2 50 1 5 20 Bristol 0 6 0 0 7 0 Bromley 0 1 0 0 3 0 Buckinghamshire 3 4 75 1 2 50 Bury 2 7 29 1 3 33 Calderdale 2 4 50 0 5 0 Cambridgeshire 0 3 0 1 3 33 Camden 0 8 0 0 6 0 Cardiff 2 11 18 0 13 0 Carmarthenshire 0 0 n/a 3 4 75 Ceredigion 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a Cheshire 5 13 38 4 9 44 Conwy and Denbighshire 1 2 50 0 2 0 Cornwall 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a Coventry 1 7 14 2 14 14 Croydon 2 3 67 0 3 0 Cumbria 2 4 50 1 16 6 Darlington 1 1 100 1 1 100 Derby 5 7 71 3 7 43 Derbyshire 1 15 7 1 12 8 Devon 0 4 0 0 4 0 Doncaster 0 6 0 3 10 30 Dorset 0 2 0 1 2 50 Dudley 0 2 0 0 2 0 Durham 0 0 n/a 3 6 50 Ealing 1 4 25 0 2 0 East Riding of Yorkshire 2 4 50 0 1 0 East Sussex 1 2 50 1 5 20 Enfield 1 7 14 6 9 67 Essex 1 6 17 3 7 43 Flintshire 2 1 200 2 7 29 Gateshead 2 3 67 1 1 100 Gloucestershire 3 7 43 2 7 29 Greenwich 1 3 33 1 5 20 Gwynedd Mon 0 2 0 3 3 100 Hackney 6 9 67 0 11 0 Halton and Warrington 0 7 0 2 4 50 Hammersmith and Fulham 1 3 33 0 5 0 Haringey 2 5 40 3 9 33 Harrow 0 2 0 2 3 67 Hartlepool 1 1 100 2 3 67 Havering 0 7 0 0 3 0 Hertfordshire 0 4 0 4 7 57 Hillingdon 0 5 0 0 5 0 Hounslow 3 5 60 0 1 0 Islington 0 7 0 0 4 0 Kensington and Chelsea 1 5 20 1 2 50 Kent 8 23 35 8 15 53 Kingston-upon-Hull 0 10 0 1 10 10 Kingston-upon-Thames 4 4 100 1 0 n/a Kirklees 3 15 20 6 13 46 Knowsley 2 3 67 0 2 0 Lambeth 3 14 21 3 14 21 Lancashire 13 27 48 9 15 60 Leeds 0 8 0 1 8 13 Leicester City 1 3 33 0 3 0 Leicestershire 1 5 20 5 10 50 Lewisham 0 3 0 0 1 0 Lincolnshire 2 3 67 3 3 100 Liverpool 0 19 0 0 16 0 Luton 2 2 100 1 2 50 Manchester 16 51 31 10 38 26 Medway 1 1 100 0 5 0 Merthyr Tydfil 0 3 0 0 2 0 Merton 3 6 50 0 4 0 Milton Keynes 0 1 0 2 6 33 Monmouthshire and Torfaen 1 2 50 0 0 n/a Neath Port Talbot 1 3 33 0 1 0 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 2 6 33 5 8 63 Newham 2 3 67 1 12 8 Newport 3 8 38 0 4 0 Norfolk 1 2 50 2 4 50 North East Lincolnshire 8 13 62 3 7 43 North Lincolnshire 3 2 150 4 12 33 North Somerset 1 2 50 1 3 33 North Tyneside 1 4 25 0 2 0 North Yorkshire 3 7 43 2 11 18 Northamptonshire 1 9 11 1 18 6 Northumberland 1 3 33 4 6 67 Nottingham 16 22 73 12 21 57 Nottinghamshire 3 6 50 9 14 64 Oldham 1 5 20 1 5 20 Oxfordshire 0 2 0 0 5 0 Pembrokeshire 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a Peterborough 2 3 67 5 15 33 Plymouth 0 2 0 0 0 n/a Powys 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a Reading and Wokingham 3 4 75 0 4 0 Redbridge 0 6 0 4 8 50 Rhondda Cynon Taff 0 8 0 0 5 0 Richmond-upon-Thames 0 1 0 0 0 n/a Rochdale 2 9 22 0 5 0 Rotherham 0 8 0 0 5 0 Salford 2 12 17 1 8 13 Sandwell 4 7 57 4 8 50 Sefton 3 9 33 2 7 29 Sheffield 2 11 18 1 9 11 Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin 0 5 0 0 1 0 Slough 1 4 25 0 5 0 Solihull 0 1 0 0 0 n/a Somerset 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a South Gloucestershire 0 2 0 1 2 50 South Tees 0 3 0 0 0 n/a South Tyneside 0 6 0 4 4 100 Southend-on-Sea 0 1 0 1 2 50 Southwark 1 10 10 3 9 33 St. Helens 0 4 0 0 4 0 Staffordshire 1 2 50 0 7 0 Stockport 5 8 63 5 6 83 Stockton-on-Tees 0 2 0 2 4 50 Stoke-on-Trent 2 6 33 4 8 50 Suffolk 0 5 0 3 11 27 Sunderland 0 2 0 0 0 n/a Surrey 0 4 0 4 6 67 Sutton 1 2 50 0 0 n/a Swansea 3 4 75 3 4 75 Swindon 0 2 0 0 1 0 Tameside 1 5 20 4 4 100 Thurrock 2 2 100 4 6 67 Torbay 3 3 100 1 2 50 Tower Hamlets and City of London 1 12 8 0 4 0 Trafford 2 3 67 3 5 60 Vale of Glamorgan 1 2 50 2 2 100 Wakefield 0 6 0 0 9 0 Walsall 0 1 0 0 7 0 Waltham Forest 5 6 83 5 5 100 Wandsworth 6 9 67 0 6 0 Warwickshire 2 7 29 0 5 0 Wessex 6 33 18 6 24 25 West Berkshire 0 0 n/a 0 3 0 West Sussex 1 4 25 1 4 25 Westminster 1 2 50 0 1 0 Wigan 0 6 0 0 6 0 Wiltshire 0 1 0 0 1 0 Windsor and Maidenhead 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a Wirral 0 12 0 0 9 0 Wolverhampton 3 3 100 3 9 33 Worcestershire and Herefordshire 2 6 33 1 8 13 Wrexham 4 6 67 3 2 150 York 0 0 n/a 0 0 n/a Total 258 905 29 259 895 29
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Burma: Ethnic Groups
[holding answer 10 September 2008]: We are aware of recent reports of forced returns of Karen refugees from Thailand. Our embassy in Bangkok frequently raises refugee welfare issues with the Royal Thai government. Recent discussions have covered the need for measures to mitigate the impact of the increase in the price of rice, refugees' access to jobs and education and the impact of Cyclone Nargis on the camps.
The Government have increased support for Burmese refugees in Thailand. It has recently allocated a further £1 million to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium for its work supporting Burmese refugees in Thailand and internally displaced persons inside Burma. In 2007-08, the Department for International Development provided £400,000 for assistance to internally displaced persons through community-based organisations inside Burma. This reached more than 100,000 displaced persons, mostly in Karen communities, living near Burma's border with Thailand.
The UK condemns the continuing human rights abuses and the political, social and economic restrictions from which the ethnic groups of Burma—including the Karen group—have suffered under the current regime. Acceptable agreement for the ethnic nationalities is key to a durable solution to Burma's problems. We continue to bring reports of human rights abuses to the attention of the international community, the UN and the UN Human Rights Council.
China: Pandas
[holding answer 17 September 2008]: We are aware that The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) is in discussion with its counterparts in China about conservation collaboration, of which the proposed loan of pandas is only one element. At the request of the Scottish Executive, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised this with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi when he visited China in February. The Government regard this primarily as an arrangement between the RZSS and the Chinese authorities, but are supportive of the underlying objective of promoting collaboration in the area of animal conservation.
China: Taiwan
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said on 22 March, the change of administration in Taiwan is a real opportunity to renew efforts to improve cross-Strait relations. We hope that the Chinese government and Taiwanese administration will continue to engage in direct dialogue to resolve differences and strengthen cross-Strait stability, with a view to finding a peaceful solution to the Taiwan question acceptable to the people of both sides of the Strait.
We welcome the efforts undertaken by both sides to improve China-Taiwan relations. We support the EU declaration of 19 September which similarly sought to encourage dialogue and commended the willingness of both sides to continue and widen discussions in the coming months, contributing to reinforced stability and security in East Asia.
Georgia: South Ossetia
[holding answer 10 September 2008]: Neither the Government nor, do we believe, the EU presidency were given advance warning of Georgian plans to take military actions in South Ossetia.
Indeed, prior to the outbreak of hostilities on 7 August—and while tensions were rising—UK and other EU partners and allies actively sought to encourage all parties to exercise restraint, avoid actions likely to increase tensions and work towards a sustainable resolution of the conflict.
Israel: EU External Relations
The UK abides by its commitments under international law, including the UN Convention Against Torture, and expects all other countries to comply with their international obligations.
We have made it clear that all intelligence received from foreign sources, in whatever forum, is carefully evaluated, particularly where it is clear it has been obtained from individuals in detention.
Olympics
Departmental Buildings
The following locations have been occupied by the office of the Minister for the Olympics: 70 Whitehall; 26 Whitehall; and 2-4 Cockspur Street. 26 Whitehall and 2-4 Cockspur Street have been refurbished in the last 24 months. The floor area of each location for the Minister for the Olympics Office and Private Office is: 70 Whitehall, 78.21 sq m; 26 Whitehall, 105.48 sq m; and 2-4 Cockspur Street, 93 sq m.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
There have been no disciplinary breaches in my Office during the last 12 months.
Departmental Procurement
This information is not recorded in the format requested and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Relations
My Office has not incurred any expenditure with any of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information's Public Relations Framework since its establishment.
There have been no secondments of staff to my Office from public relations or public affairs firms or consultancies since its establishment.
No members of my staff have been seconded to public relations, public affairs or consultancies since its establishment.
Dorneywood
My Office has made no use of Dorneywood for official engagements during the last 12 months.
Olympic Games 2012: Schools
My Department has not distributed any materials to schools over the last three years.
Olympic Games 2012: Technology
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is responsible for planning and implementing the core technology and information systems that will be needed to host the Games in 2012. LOCOG's current expectation is to implement a lock-down on core Games technology by the end of 2010 to allow for rigorous testing and integration across all mission critical designs, equipment and operational processes.
Taxis
The Minister for the Olympics’ office spent £620.26 on taxis for the last financial year.
Leader of the House
Legislation
The information requested is as follows:
Pages of primary legislation Pages of delegated legislation 1980 2,110 5,440 1990 2,390 6,550 1996 3,150 10,230 1997 2,060 8,660 1998 2,490 7,480 1999 2,096 10,760 2000 3,865 8,770 2001 1,605 10,830 2002 2,868 9,070 2003 4,073 8,942 2004 3,470 10,236 2005 2,712 11,868 2006 4,609 12,083 Note: The figures for statutory instruments relate to the number of pages in the Stationery Office bound set—this excludes some local and unpublished instruments and, more recently, those of the National Assembly for Wales. The figures do not include Northern Ireland (Stormont) Acts or Statutory Rules. Pre-1987 figures are adjusted to current page sizes.
For more detailed information please see the House of Commons Library note: “Acts and Statutory Instruments: Volume of UK legislation 1950 to 2007” at:
www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snsg-02911.pdf
Wales
Departmental NDPBs
The Wales Office has a complement of three press and communications officers. The Wales Office has no NDPBs or agencies.
Health
Cancer: Drugs
The Cancer Reform Strategy (CRS), published on 3 December 2007 and already placed in the Library, included a commitment that all new cancer drugs and significant new licensed indications will be referred to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), where there is a sufficient patient population and evidence base on which to carry out an appraisal. The CRS also makes a commitment that cancer drugs will be considered through NICE'S Single Technology Appraisal (STA) process where appropriate. I have agreed revisions to the topic selection process to implement the Cancer Reform Strategy commitments and NICE'S 19th work programme will be the first to be referred to NICE under the revised arrangements.
Diabetes
(2) what recent steps the Government has taken to improve treatments for diabetes patients in the NHS.
This Government continue to support the implementation of the Diabetes national service framework (NSF) and work with key partners to support the NHS in driving forward improvements in diabetes care. The Department, in partnership with Diabetes UK and the National Diabetes Support Team, has published reports, documents and toolkits in a number of areas that are intended to provide quality information and standards for commissioners and health care providers to help them plan and deliver services envisaged in the NSF.
“Putting Prevention First”, published on 1 April 2008 and already placed into the Library, outlined plans for a national programme of vascular checks, which PCTs will begin to roll out in 2009-10. Full roll out is anticipated in 2012-13 when we hope the checks will be available to all people between the ages of 40 and 74, on a five year rolling basis. The checks aim to help people be healthier for longer by assessing and managing their risk of developing vascular conditions, such as chronic heart disease and diabetes. The checks will ensure that people are given information about their health, supported to make lifestyle changes and, in some cases, offered earlier interventions.
Defence
Aircraft Carriers
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: A specific manning team was established during the early stages of the Future Aircraft Carriers Project charged with producing a detailed manpower plan. This plan has evolved as the design of the carriers has matured and will continue to evolve. It is intended to produce an endorsed manpower plan by the end of 2009. However, further refinement will continue until the ships enter service. Our current planning assumption is that the Future Carriers will be manned with a core compliment of 680. This figure excludes flight crew for embarked aircraft.
(2) what effect he anticipates on the manning of other units of the Fleet when (a) the first and (b) both of the Future Aircraft Carriers receive their full crews.
[holding answer 6 October 2008]: The two existing operational carriers are each manned with a core complement of 698. Our current planning assumption is that the Future Carriers will each be manned with a core complement of 680. Both these figures exclude flight crew for the embarked aircraft.
Armed Forces: Food
Under the MOD single food supply contract, 100 per cent. of pork and gammon, and 55 per cent. of beef is sourced from the UK. Of the poultry requirement, up to 15 per cent. is sourced from the UK, although 100 per cent. of turkeys are British, and an initiative has been launched to increase the number of British chickens procured. Recently the amount of British lamb procured has increased from 9 per cent. to 19 per cent., and the MOD continues to look for opportunities to increase this further while still achieving best value for money. Figures for food procured under the Pay as You Dine project, which now accounts for more than 50 per cent. of troops fed, are not held centrally, although these contractors are also required, wherever competitive, to give full consideration to procuring British products.
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
(2) what percentage of the armed forces' (a) Vectors, (b) Viking and (c) Bulldog vehicles were (i) in service, (ii) fit for purpose and (iii) out of service at the latest date for which figures are available.
The information requested is as follows:
Vehicle In Service (percentage of fleet number) Fit for Purpose (percentage of in service number) Out of service (percentage of fleet number) Mastiff 100 93 — Jackal 100 81 — Panther 100 99 — Snatch Land Rover 72 90 28 Vectors 100 93 — Viking 100 79 — Bulldog 100 100 —
The Snatch figures highlight the fact that two of the early variants are now obsolete and cannot be used. They are currently awaiting disposal.
The percentage of Viking Fit for Purpose reflects 18 vehicles which are part of the Total Fleet but which are awaiting replacement. They are therefore In Service but not Fit for Purpose.
Army: Buildings
(2) when the Army will vacate Erskine Barracks at Wilton.
The new Land Forces Headquarters at Andover will use existing buildings which will be refurbished as necessary to provide updated accommodation for all staff.
The Army will vacate Erskine Barracks at Wilton progressively between mid-2010 and 2012.