Written Answers to Questions
Monday 23 March 2009
Scotland
Armed Forces: Recruitment
The Secretary of State and I are in regular contact with Defence Ministers on a range of issues. Recruitment to the armed forces is a matter for Defence Ministers.
Departmental Bank Services
For the financial year 2008-09, the Scotland Office have held contracts with banks for the provision of banking operational services only, and not for the provision of financial advice.
Departmental Training
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 March 2009, Official Report, column 1287W.
International Development
Sudan: Overseas Aid
I have been asked to reply.
The expulsion of 13 major international (and three national) non-governmental organisations will have a devastating impact on levels of humanitarian assistance in Sudan. UN officials have told the UN Security Council this will disrupt up to 50 per cent. of the current humanitarian effort in Darfur. Consequences will be most severe in Darfur, but will also affect humanitarian, recovery and development assistance throughout north Sudan, particularly in conflict-affected regions of the transitional areas and the east.
Our ambassador has urged government of Sudan to reverse its decision. The EU issued a statement on 10 March 2009 calling upon government of Sudan to urgently reconsider their decision, and ensure that humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people in Sudan be continuously guaranteed.
I have been asked to reply.
The expulsion of 13 major international (and three national) non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will have a devastating impact on levels of humanitarian assistance in Sudan. UN officials have told the UN Security Council this will disrupt up to 50 per cent. of the current humanitarian effort in Darfur. Consequences will be most severe in Darfur, but will also affect humanitarian and recovery and development assistance throughout north Sudan particularly in conflict-affected regions of the transitional areas and the east. As well as increased risk of disease, malnutrition and deaths, lack of water, food and shelter could increase insecurity, particularly in large, volatile camps like Kalma (90,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and Gereida (130,000) in south Darfur. Civil disturbances and mass movement of IDPs seeking help could quickly take the situation out of control.
The UK is the second biggest bilateral humanitarian donor after the US, and we have requested that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs brief the UN Security Council on the current situation on the ground. Together with the UN and NGOs we are keeping the situation under close review and are urgently exploring all options to fill the gap left by this action. Initial reports estimate that this could take months if Sudan does not reverse its decision in the near future.
I have been asked to reply.
The UK is the second biggest bilateral humanitarian donor after the US, and we have requested that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs brief the UN Security Council on the current situation on the ground. Together with the UN and non-governmental organisations we are keeping the situation under close review and are urgently exploring all options to fill the gap left by this action. Initial reports estimate that this could take months if Sudan does not reverse its decision in the near future.
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made a statement on 4 March 2009 in which he strongly urged all parties in Sudan to avoid escalation, maintain order and protect embassies, international personnel and humanitarian workers, and above all the Sudanese civilians who have already suffered so much.
The statement is available for viewing at:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/newsroom/latest-news/?view=Press S&id:=14479209
House of Commons Commission
Clerk of the House
The Tebbit Review recommended that the scope of the activities of the Office of the Clerk of the House should be expanded to embrace planning and performance management functions, and an increased communication co-ordination role; that its staffing numbers should be increased; and that it be renamed the Office of the Chief Executive to reflect its larger role.
In December 2007, immediately before the departmental restructuring which followed the Tebbit Review, there were 12 staff (11.6 full-time equivalent) in the Office of the Clerk of the House. There are currently 21 staff (20.2 full-time equivalent) in the Office of the Chief Executive. A breakdown by band is given in the following tables. Most of the increase in staff is accounted for by the transfer to the OCE of functions from other Departments (principally internal audit, risk management and internal communications), so there has not been a corresponding increase in the total number of staff in the House Service.
Band Number of staff (full-time equivalent) SCSI 1 Al 1 A2 4.6 B2 3 C 1 D2 1 Total 11.6
Band Number of staff (full-time equivalent) SCS1A 1 SCSI 1 A1 1 A2 7.2 B1 3 B2 5 C 2 Total 20.2
Management and Services of the House of Commons Review
The House of Commons Commission has received no recent representations about the implementation of the Tebbit Review. It has received six-monthly progress reports from the Management Board on actions agreed in response to the review; the most recent was in December.
It is intended that the implementation of the recommendations of the Tebbit Preview will lead over time to better management of the House Service and to greater efficiency in the delivery of the House administration. The costs of implementing the Tebbit recommendations have been met out of existing budgets, by efficiency savings in existing areas of work.
Postal Services
The current mail screening contract runs until September 2010. Work to retender the contract will commence in the autumn of 2009.
Transport
Bus Services: Concessions
Before 1 April 2008, funding for the statutory minimum bus concession was provided exclusively through the Formula Grant system, which is administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). The Department for Transport therefore provided no separate funding to Torbay Unitary Authority for concessionary bus travel in 2002-03 or 2007-08.
The Department did however provide Torbay unitary authority with £120,832 in 2007-08 for the cost of producing and issuing the new England-wide bus passes to all those eligible.
In 2008-09 Torbay unitary authority received additional special grant funding from the Department for Transport of £980,000; an increase of 38 per cent. on the authority’s spend on concessionary travel in 2007-08. The total number of bus journeys rose by 14 per cent. in England between 2002-03 and 2007-08. In 2007-08, 968 million concessionary trips were made in England. We do not hold data on the number of concessionary trips made in prior years.
In Torbay, 30 per cent. of the population is over-60, compared to 22 per cent. in the rest of England.
Driving: Insurance
The Department of Transport does not collect any information on the insurance status of drivers involved in reported personal injury road accidents.
Driving: Multiple Sclerosis
Accurate statistics on the total number of long-term licences held by drivers with multiple sclerosis are not available and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) only holds data on those drivers with multiple sclerosis who have notified the agency of their medical condition. Between 2004 and 2007 DVLA issued approximately 8,000 driving licences to Group 1 (car and motorcycle) drivers with multiple sclerosis and these included long-term licences.
The current licensing system places a legal obligation on the applicant/licence holder to notify, at any time, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of the onset or worsening of any medical condition which may affect their fitness to drive.
The statistical information required is not available.
Licences are revoked or restricted for a number of reasons which may or may not relate solely to the driver’s condition of multiple sclerosis. In some cases other prescribed or prospective disabilities may also be relevant to the decision. In cases where multiple sclerosis is the sole factor, changes to the validity or duration of a licence are dependent on information received from the driver and, on investigation, from medical opinion of the rate and level of progression of the driver’s condition and any consequent impairment relevant to driving.
In order to obtain the required material information, each case that has been assessed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency would need to be reviewed individually, to establish whether the strengthening of the operational framework in 2006 influenced the decision on the licensing.
The provisions of the Road Traffic Act 1988 require multiple sclerosis to be considered as a prospective disability. Drivers who notify the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of the condition are assessed against the standards set out in DVLA’s “At a Glance Guide to the Current Medical Standards of Fitness to Drive”, in relation to chronic neurological conditions (including multiple sclerosis). Neither the standards, nor the requirement for drivers to notify of such a prospective disability, have changed.
In early 2006, following the publication of new diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis by the American Neurological Association, operational guidance for case management was made more robust to ensure consistency of assessment and outcome.
High Speed Two: Finance
High Speed Two is funded directly from the Department for Transport. The funding arrangements are set out in a letter from the permanent secretary to a then director of the company, a copy of which has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Highways Agency: Members
(2) for what reasons the Highways Agency decided that no member of staff would accompany the hon. Member for Walsall North to a site meeting in his constituency on 20 March in relation to work being undertaken under the authorisation of the Highways Agency;
(3) what mechanisms are used by the Highways Agency for public consultation on work it plans to undertake which is likely to affect households near the site of such work;
(4) if he will make it his policy to direct the Highways Agency to notify each household in an area in which work authorised by the Highways Agency is to be carried out; and if he will make a statement.
[holding answer 20 March 2009]: The Highways Agency already accepts reasonable requests to meet hon. Members either on site or separately on any schemes for which it is responsible.
Representatives from the Highways Agency accompanied the hon. Member for Walsall, North to a site meeting on 20 March to discuss the details of the Active Traffic Management scheme currently being undertaken on the M6 in his constituency.
Where appropriate, the Highways Agency consults those likely to be affected by schemes being undertaken, and this was the case with the scheme on the M6. The Highways Agency has followed all environmental assessment and statutory procedures, including issuing public notices. It has listened to concerns raised, and has taken residents' concerns about current noise levels into consideration. An exhibition is planned where further issues can be raised. The scheme design has also been reviewed in the light of comments received.
Schemes carried out by the Highways Agency on or near highway land vary in complexity and scale. For schemes planned outside of the highway boundary, such as bypass work, the Highways Agency makes every effort to contact individual households and businesses likely to be affected.
Work carried out within the highway boundary tends to be of a relatively smaller scale, or is carried out as part of a routine maintenance programme. Although there is no statutory requirement for local residents to be contacted ahead of schemes taking place within the highway boundary, and it would be impractical and costly for the Highway's Agency to undertake to contact individual households for each one of these schemes, the Highways Agency seeks to ensure that public involvement takes place in a proportionate manner.
Intercity Express Programme
These figures are based on information given by Agility Trains to the Department of Transport and we believe Agility's analysis to be sound.
The figure is exclusive of any job benefits arising as a result of the announcement of Bombardier's status as Preferred Bidder for extra carriages on Stansted Express.
Motor Vehicles: Safety
[holding answer 20 March 2009]: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has only recently introduced the capacity to record a specific vehicle type as a limousine. Previously vehicles were classed as either cars or Public Service Vehicles (PSV)s.
VOSA's records show that 58 checks were carried out on limousines in 2008. It is not possible to determine levels of compliance.
Railways
I refer the hon. Member to the answer on 25 November 2008, Official Report, column 1189W.
The Department for Transport does not hold the information at the level of detail requested. However, Network Rail is the custodian of timetable and performance data for the rail industry, and will be able to provide this information. The hon. Member should contact Network Rail's Chief Executive at the following address for a response to his question:
Iain Coucher
Chief Executive
Network Rail
40 Melton Street
London, NW1 2EE.
Roads and Railways
The estimated range of construction costs for one mile of three-lane motorway with a continuous hard shoulder is from £21.4 million to £35.0 million. The estimated rates cover the construction costs of a new dual three-lane rural motorway including detailed design costs and statutory undertakers’ diversions, but excluding land costs, VAT and Highways Agency’s Agent and administration costs.
The Channel Tunnel Rail Link between Folkestone and London St. Pancras, which was built over the nine years to 2007, cost £5.8 billion in outturn money of the day costs, for the 68 miles, an average of £85.3 million per mile of railway. These costs include the two new stations on the line, the upgrading and restoration of the Grade 1 listed St. Pancras, extensive tunnelling under London, tunnels under the Thames and North Downs, and the long viaducts at Ashford, across the River Medway and crossing the M25 at Dartford.
Roads: Snow and Ice
During the severe weather in February, the Secretary of State for Transport had no power to requisition supplies of road salt or grit from local authorities. Informal arrangements have been put into place between both local and strategic highway authorities for the agreed provision of mutual aid to those authorities that require additional salt stocks during the winter season. During the recent severe weather, the Highways Agency agreed to provide 5,294 tonnes of salt to a number of local authorities.
Rolling Stock: Procurement
[holding answer 6 March 2009]: Agility Trains anticipates that of the estimated 12,500 total jobs to be created or safeguarded, 2,500 will be directly employed by the Agility Trains consortium. Of these, 1,400 (estimate) jobs will be safeguarded in train maintenance, and 1,100 (estimate) jobs will be created in train and factory construction.
Of the remaining estimated 10,000 jobs Agility Trains anticipate that they are likely to be within train vehicle component suppliers, third party suppliers and the wider economy. Agility Trains advises that it has adopted an industry standard multiplier assumption, used with regard to the automotive industry, that each direct job will create, or secure, circa four jobs within the supply chain and the wider economy.
Transport: Eco-Towns
To date, the Department for Transport has had no discussion with the promoters of the Whitehill Bordon eco-town on the specific issues to which the question refers. The transport strategy for Whitehill Bordon is still in its early stages of development. Department for Transport officials continue to be informed of its progress and, should the town be included in the list of preferred sites to be announced later this year, it is anticipated that further discussions will then take place.
The Highways Agency is holding discussions with the promoters of Ford eco-town and other stakeholders to identify appropriate measures to address the current issues on the A27. This will primarily be based on the provision of sustainable travel initiatives with additional road capacity as a last resort.
Previous proposals for a bypass for Arundel, as recommended in the South Coast Multi-modal Study (2004), were rejected by the then Secretary of State for Transport as being too environmentally damaging. The promoters of the eco-town have been asked to develop proposals on the basis that such a bypass would not be constructed.
Any link from the site to the A259 would be a local road, and therefore an issue for the local highway authority, in this case West Sussex county council. The Highways Agency has therefore not been involved in any such discussion.
There has been no direct engagement between Department for Transport officials and the promoters for Ford eco-town on rail issues.
The Department for Transport has had no discussions with the developers of the St. Austell eco-town development on a rail strategy for the site. Network Rail has received one presentation from the developers on the proposals for the site.
The Department for Transport and Highways Agency have not had direct contact with the developers of the St. Austell eco-town as the main coordination of this large project is being led by Cornwall county council. The department and Highways Agency are in regular discussions with the council and are working collectively to improve the transport proposals associated with the eco-town development.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
The Ministry of Defence is currently collating and validating the data needed to answer this question. I will write to the right hon. and learned Member with the information requested and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
The armed forces use Reaper, Hermes 450 and the Desert Hawk 3 unmanned aerial vehicles in Afghanistan.
Africa: Conflict Prevention
From 2001 to 2007, HMG funded its conflict related programme activity through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) and Africa Conflict Prevention Pool (ACPP), owned and managed tri-departmentally by DFID, FCO and MOD. By bringing together the UK Government's development, diplomatic, and defence interests and expertise this ensured a coherent response to conflict prevention. In 2001, all three Departments contributed funds to form these pools (£2.1 million disbursed by the FCO; £14.4 million by DFID and £3.2 million by MOD), but in subsequent years funds have been allocated directly from HMT. The Conflict Prevention Pool (CPP) was set up in April 2008 as a successor to the former Global and Africa Conflict Prevention Pools, focusing activity through regional programmes where the UK can have its biggest impact, and through thematic programmes to deal with cross-cutting conflict prevention issues. The CPP commands a total of £112 million in 2008-09 of which the Africa Conflict Prevention Programme is forecast to spend £68 million. From FY 2001-02 to 2007-08, HMG has spent approximately £341 million through the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool. This is broken down by year as follows:
£ million 2001-02 19.7 2002-03 45.3 2003-04 47.2 2004-05 63.7 2005-06 48.2 2006-07 57 2007-08 60
Air Force: Military Bases
(2) when he expects to receive a recommendation on the preferred option for Programme Belvedere.
As explained in my written answer of 11 March 2009, Official Report, column 430W, the future of Programme Belvedere is currently under consideration at senior levels within the Department. Once that review has concluded I will write to the hon. Member.
Apprentices
The MOD is the largest public sector employer of apprentices in the UK. In the last three reporting year periods the following apprentice place completions have been achieved within the Department:
Number 2005-06 8,147 2006-07 7,446 2007-08 8,758
The largest area of operations for completions is within the engineering sector, with other areas including: agriculture; business administration; construction; health and public services; hospitality; transportation; retailing and customer services.
Work experience is not part of the departmental plan for apprenticeship delivery. Estimates of wider departmental work experience activities could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Families
[holding answer 16 March 2009]: The Government are committed to supporting bereaved families and we have been working in conjunction with both the Royal British Legion and the War Widows Association to identify areas in which we can enhance the support we provide.
CRUSE Bereavement has recently received funding to enable them to train volunteers to address the specific needs of bereaved service families.
Armed Forces: Northern Ireland
Following the end of Operation BANNER in July 2007 the Joint Declaration provided authority for no more than 5,000 troops resident in Northern Ireland. There are normally around 4,500 troops resident in Northern Ireland.
Armed Forces: Pay
The information requested is provided in the table.
The figures include all regular officers and other ranks on the main pay scales. Regular officers and other ranks who are on separate bespoke pay spines, e.g. chaplains, medical and dental officers, professional aviators, officers promoted from the ranks, as well as reservists, are excluded. While Army ranks are shown, the figures also incorporate their equivalent ranks in the RN and RAF.
The averages are based on pay rates for 2008-09 and numbers as at January 2009.
Other ranks are allocated to either the higher or lower pay spines in accordance with their trade.
Rank Average pay (£) Officers Chief of the Defence Staff 231,342.48 General 164,280.65 Lieutenant General 122,404.37 Major General 101,444.98 Brigadier 94,466.91 Colonel 80,381.43 Lieutenant Colonel 68,230.61 Major 50,487.64 Captain 39,433.73 Lieutenant/2nd Lieutenant 26,987.44 Other ranks—higher pay spine Warrant Officer 1 42,882.83 Warrant Officer 2 and Staff Sergeant 39,175.30 Sergeant 33,609.32 Corporal 29,836.48 Lance Corporal and Private 25,335.81 Other ranks—lower pay spine Warrant Officer 1 40,576.11 Warrant Officer 2 and Staff Sergeant 35,723.78 Sergeant 31,086.91 Corporal 27,421.40 Lance Corporal and Private 18,652.27 Other ranks—personnel under training New Entrant 13,012.80
The minimum pay range for a trained service person serving in Iraq or Afghanistan is currently £16,227 to £27,599 depending on service, rank, length of service and trade. Details of this and other pay ranges for all service personnel up to the rank of Brigadier and equivalent are contained in the 37th- Report—2008 of the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
In addition to basic pay, service personnel deployed on a six month operational tour in Iraq or Afghanistan will receive a tax free operational allowance of £2,380 plus a longer separation allowance worth a minimum of £1,161.
Armed Forces: Deployment
Figures for the number of service personnel stationed overseas can be found in table 1.1 of Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 10: UK Regular Forces stationed location. TSP 10 is published quarterly. The most recent publication shows figures at 1 October 2008 and can be found at:
http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index .php?page=48&pubType=0&thiscontent=1800&Publish Time=09:30:00 &date=20090223&disText=01%20Oct%202008 &from=listing&top Date =2009-02-23
Defence Equipment
The Government place the highest priority on the safety and security of our servicemen and women while on operations. If the arrival of a new piece of equipment to theatre is delayed, then commanders on the ground will either continue using existing equipment coupled with the appropriate tactics, techniques and procedures until the new capability is available; or, adapt operations to achieve the same aim while avoiding exposing troops to disproportionate risk.
It should be noted that, even once new equipment has been delivered, technology alone cannot guarantee the safety of deployed troops. It is their adherence to the correct tactics, techniques and procedures that provide the greatest assurance of their safety and these are constantly revised in line with experience and any new developments in the enemy’s tactics.
Departmental Bank Services
In the past, the MOD has contracted with banks for financial advice to support private finance and partnering projects and reviews of future models for defence business. But we hold no current contracts of this sort centrally. Information on any other contracts that may have been awarded to banks for financial advice is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Consultation
There have been four Ministry of Defence public consultations (as listed on the MOD internet site) over the last 12 months. These consultations consist of:
Submarine Enterprise Collaborative Agreement (SECA), 12 February to 6 May, there were 47 responses;
UK Defence Spectrum Management 2008, 30 May to 5 September, there were 32 responses;
The Revised Welsh Language Scheme, 16 July to 10 October, there were 25 responses;
Transfer of Historic Service Personnel Records to the National Archives, July to September, there were 428 responses.
Information about the cost of conducting these consultations is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Recruitment
The annual salary costs for permanent and temporary staff employed by the Department in each year since 2005-06 are published in departmental annual reports and accounts. We are unable to identify the costs of newly recruited staff separately. Salary costs of agency staff are met by their employing agencies and not by the Department.
Departmental Temporary Employment
The recruitment of temporary staff is governed by the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code. Agency workers are used as an interim measure for periods of up to 11 months to fill complemented and funded posts that cannot be filled by temporary promotion or internal posting or other recruitment action. In exceptional cases temporary staff may be extended up to a maximum of 24 months.
Departmental Training
I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Under-Secretary of State gave on 10 March 2009, Official Report, column 235W, to the hon. Member for St. Albans (Anne Main).
Departmental Translation Services
None of the Department’s Agencies employs language translators and therefore incurred no costs on employing such people. Information on non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) is not held by the Ministry of Defence but by the NDPBs themselves.
EU Battlegroups
No such estimate has been made. There have been no decisions on the scope of permanent structured co-operation, nor on possible UK participation, in the event that the Lisbon Treaty is ratified by all 27 EU member states.
Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society
Funds are provided through the War Pensions Scheme’s discretionary power to meet the cost of any necessary expenses in respect of medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment of ex-members of the armed forces that arise from a disablement due to service before 6 April 2005 where it is not provided for under other UK legislation. This includes the individual costs of war pensioners undergoing “remedial treatment” at homes run by Combat Stress for conditions related to their individual pensioned disablement and of related expenses such as travel costs. The table shows the funding received by Combat Stress under this provision. The funding figure for 2008-09 is not yet available.
£ million 2005-06 2.3 2006-07 2.5 2007-08 3.2
Combat Stress receives separate funding from the Scottish Executive for war pensioners’ resident in Scotland who receive treatment at Hollybush House.
HMS Victorious
It is our policy not to discuss individual submarine operations.
Joint Working Groups
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 27 February 2009, Official Report, column 1149W. In the interests of national security I am withholding further information on the nature or extent of work undertaken by these Joint Working Groups.
Loss of Service Will
The information requested is not recorded by the Ministry of Defence.
Military Aircraft: Helicopters
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 July 2008, Official Report, column 173W, to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox).
Figures for the period to April 2009 are not yet available.
Nuclear Weapons
Research, including trials, and experiments, is conducted on a regular basis, by the Atomic Weapons Establishment as part of its responsibility for maintaining the safety, security, and effectiveness of the UK nuclear stockpile in the absence of live testing. Some of this research, is undertaken in collaboration with the United States under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement.
Following publication of the 2006 White Paper, “The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent” (Cmd 6994) and the subsequent exchange of letters between Prime Minister Blair and President George W. Bush in December 2006, additional research is currently being undertaken, some in collaboration with the US, on how we may need to refurbish or replace our current warheads to help inform decisions, likely to be made in the next parliament.
I am withholding the detail of this collaboration in the interests of national security.
Special Forces
It is the long-standing policy of this Government not to comment on matters relating to operations involving British special forces.
Sudan: Military Aid
All training delivered by the MOD in Sudan is to members of the Joint Integrated Units (JIUs), which are made up of equally sized elements of the armies of North and South Sudan. JIUs were established as a peace-building measure under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the war between North and South. The CPA mandates members of the international community who supported the peace process, including the UK, to provide training and other support to the JIUs.
The MOD does not, however, directly fund any training in Sudan; instead the UK training programme is financed by the tri-departmental Conflict Prevention Pool. It has included the training of the JIUs' first de-mining Company, delivered by the International Mine Action Training Centre in Kenya, a wide range of individual courses conducted at military establishments in the UK as well as conflict resolution workshops and English language training conducted in Sudan. Specific information for 2003-04 and 2004-05 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost, but is assessed to have been very low as we then had no Defence Section in Sudan. Since then the following training activities have been provided:
Financial year 2006-07—£265,000
International Peace Support Briefing Programme (2 students)
International Collective Training Briefing Programme (2)
International Border Security Management Briefing (2)
Managing Defence in a Democracy (now Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context)—Nairobi (6)
Managing Defence in a Democracy (now Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context)—UK (3)
De-mining training, Nairobi—1 Company (120) of JIUs. British Peace Support Team—East Africa International Mine Action Training Centre
Financial year 2007-08—£248,000
Managing Defence in a Democracy (now Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context)—Nairobi (4)
Managing Defence in a Democracy (now Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context)—UK (2)
Commissioning Course (2)
International Peace Support Briefing Programme (2)
International Collective Training Briefing (2)
International Battle Group Commanders Course (6)
English language training—Sudan (160)
De-mining Training, Nairobi—1 company (120). British Peace Support Team—East Africa International Mine Action Training Centre
Financial year 2008-09—£282,000
Advanced Command and Staff Course (2)
International Peace Support Operations (7)
English language training—Sudan (up to 144)
Train the Trainer (4)
International Logistic Officers Course (1)
In financial year 2008-09 the UK also provided £750,000 through the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool to the UN to provide infrastructural support for the JIUs.
Trident
The work necessary to ensure the maintenance of the UK's nuclear deterrent is still in the concept phase. The investment decision point, Initial Gate, for the new submarine class to replace Vanguard class is not expected until this autumn. As such, it is too soon for such an estimate to be made.
Warships: Persian Gulf
The Royal Navy has the following ships deployed to the Persian Gulf as at 18 March:
A permanent Frigate, currently HMS Richmond, is deployed to the North Arabian Gulf patrolling the oil platforms in the Iraqi territorial waters.
A Landing Ship Docking Amphibious, currently RFA Cardigan Bay, also operates around the Iraqi oil platforms providing a training platform for the Iraqi Navy and Marines.
There are four Mine Countermeasures Vessels permanently based at Bahrain, their crews rotating on a four to six monthly basis. The ships: HMS Atherstone, HMS Chiddingfold, HMS Grimsby and HMS Pembrooke.
A Forward Repair Ship, RFA Dilligence also operates in the Gulf and further out into the North Arabian sea providing engineering support, predominately to the Mine Counter Measures Vessels.
In addition two units, the Frigate HMS Portland and the Tanker RFA Wave Knight, permanently operate predominately in the North Arabian sea, Gulf of Oman and Gulf of Aden, but make routine visits within the Persian Gulf for maintenance, consolidation and crew rest and recuperation.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Drugs
The UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Afghanistan Opium Survey for 2008 estimates that 33 per cent. (103,590 hectares) of the land in Helmand with the potential for agriculture was devoted to poppy cultivation in 2008. In their winter survey, UNODC has indicated that there may be a slight decrease in the cultivation of poppy in Helmand in 2009. Final figures for 2009 will be published in the summer when UNODC releases the executive summary of its Afghanistan Opium Survey for 2009.
The UK welcomes the early signs that cultivation of poppy in Helmand may be reducing. We continue to support the government of Afghanistan’s national drug control strategy which aims to reduce poppy cultivation sustainably in Afghanistan.
AIDS
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is committed to using its overseas network of posts to support ‘Achieving Universal Access’. Posts in are being encouraged to use their existing budgets to support effective national AIDS responses to halt and reverse the spread of HIV, in particular among vulnerable groups. It is therefore not possible to state how much the FCO will allocate to funding for the Government's AIDS strategy in 2009-10.
Bali: Terrorism
There are currently no judicial processes in Indonesia relating to the Bali 2002 terrorist attacks.
We would welcome any further legal processes aimed at bringing to justice those suspected of involvement in the Bali attacks. It is the policy of the Government, that terrorists should always be brought to justice. However, the UK does not support the use of the death penalty. We advocate an end to the death penalty world-wide, regardless of the individual or the crime.
Belarus: Human Rights
The full extent of our human rights concerns in Belarus is detailed in the 2008 Human Rights Report, which will be published on 26 March 2009. We remain concerned about the overall human rights situation in Belarus, but small improvements have been made in the areas of media freedom, freedom of assembly, electoral reform and political imprisonment during the six months from October 2008 to April 2008 that the EU suspended travel restrictions to encourage reform.
To reflect the mixed progress made by Belarus during this time, the EU has taken the decision to extend the suspension period for a further nine months, and renew the common position (the legal basis for the travel restrictions and an asset freeze) for 12 months. We will take this opportunity to continue to encourage Belarus to make further progress on human rights in order to align itself with EU standards.
Burma: Political Prisoners
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human rights in Myanmar, Mr. Tomas Quintana, in a statement to the Human Rights Council on 18 March 2009, indicated that there remain over 2,100 prisoners of conscience in Burma. This figure is in line with our own estimates.
We condemn the lack of media freedom in Burma and the arrest and detention of journalists, including Eint Khaing Oo.
Our ambassador in Rangoon frequently raises the need for the release of all political prisoners in Burma with ministers in the military government. We also take every opportunity to underline our concern in our public statements and through the EU, UN Security Council and UN human rights bodies. We support the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human rights in Myanmar, Mr. Tomas Quintana, who, in a statement to the Human Rights Council on 18 March 2009, again called on the Burmese authorities to release all prisoners of conscience.
Burma: Politics and Government
[holding answer 19 March 2009]: We continue to do all we can to generate international pressure for a peaceful transition to democracy and respect for human rights in Burma. The Common Position adopted by the EU restricts ministerial contact with the military regime.
In his contacts with the Burmese authorities, our ambassador in Rangoon regularly raises the urgent need for all political prisoners to be released and for all opposition and ethnic groups to be allowed to play their full part in shaping the country's future.
Elections planned for 2010 will have no credibility unless these fundamental issues are addressed.
Burma: Religious Freedom
We are concerned by reports that the Burmese authorities have closed places of worship for religious minorities and childcare centres run by Christian groups in Rangoon. We condemn the marginalisation or persecution of any community based on their religious beliefs or ethnic background. Although it makes the reported abuses no less serious, we believe that the persecution of religious minority groups by the Burmese authorities is often based on their ethnicity and perceived threat to security rather than their faith. We view the regime’s actions as part of a wider deterioration in the human rights situation in Burma.
The issue of religious freedom is within the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, which covers human rights and fundamental freedoms.
We hold regular discussions with Mr. Quintana and his team concerning the human rights abuses we believe to be taking place in Burma, and fully support his efforts. Our ambassador in Burma regularly raises the issue of human rights in his meetings with Burmese government officials.
Burma: United Nations
Our mission to the UN in New York is in regular contact with the UN Special Adviser, Ibrahim Gambari and his office. This dialogue was particularly frequent before and after Professor Gambari's visit to Burma from 31 January 2009 to 3 February 2009 and after his briefing to the UN Security Council on 20 February 2009.
We continue to give our full support to the UN Secretary General's Good Offices mission.
Cambodia: Human Rights
The UK, in our capacity as the local EU presidency, arranged for EU Heads of Mission to meet with non-governmental organisation (NGOs) representatives and Dey Krahom leaders on 29 January 2009 to hear their concerns on forced evictions.
We have raised our concerns over land rights and forced evictions with the Cambodian authorities on a number of occasions, most recently with the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation in a Note Verbale sent on 2 March 2009.
Representatives from EU member states, the local Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and a local NGOs visited a site in Phnom Penh and also visited the Dey Krahom relocation site on 20 February 2009 to meet members of the local communities. They were accompanied by a representative of the Phnom Penh municipal authorities.
EU member states will maintain dialogue on these issues with the Phnom Penh authorities and have made clear to the royal government of Cambodia their support for the OHCHR’s proposal for development of guidelines to regulate evictions and relocations and a moratorium on evictions.
China: Family Planning
We are aware of reports of mal-administration of China's one child policy, but have not received reports of protests against it since July 2008.
We remain concerned, however, about the continued imprisonment of human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who highlighted reports of enforced sterilisation and abortion in Linyi City, Shandong Province in late 2005. Chen Guangcheng's case was raised most recently at the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue in November 2008. We continue to monitor Mr. Chen's situation and that of his family.
Departmental Accountancy
Various partners across Government co-locate with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). These partners base their operations within FCO missions overseas and use the support of FCO staff in management and administrative positions.
By not having to set up their own offices these Departments make efficiency savings as well as avoiding additional costs for the Department and tax payer. However we have not been informed of the cost savings made by other Departments in this manner, and cannot therefore publish details of them.
Departmental Catering
The two contracted suppliers of food and drink used by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are as follows:
Directors Table Mountain Spring 2005-06 305,520.99 1740.15 2006-07 451,191.79 16,204.39 2007-08 353,761.09 21,659.26
From 1 December 2008 the contract with Mountain Spring has been terminated.
There is a large difference between spend on Mountain Spring during the 2005-06 period and the subsequent years as there were various suppliers used in 2005-06.
Identifying these suppliers and the amounts spent would incur disproportionate cost.
The figures do not include spend by Government Hospitality, individual departmental spend or spend locally by post overseas, as this could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Internet
I will write to the hon. Member separately, as the answer is lengthy.
Departmental Public Expenditure
The main areas of overspend in administration budgets were:
(a) Afghanistan
Subsistence and allowances
Other purchased goods and services
Telecommunications costs
Freight and courier costs
Other costs, including embassy catering services
Other external/contract services
(b) Australia
Subsistence and allowances
Training costs
IT costs
Agency and casual staff
Other external/contract services
Maintenance and running costs
Locally engaged staff salaries
(c) Brazil
Freight and courier costs
Vehicle costs
Other purchased goods and services
Medical costs
Subsistence and allowances
Locally engaged staff salaries
Agency and casual staff
Maintenance and running costs
(d) Spain
Other purchased goods and services
Other costs
Training costs
Locally engaged staff salaries
Subsistence and allowances
Telecommunications costs
Other external/contract services
Agency and casual staff
(e) US
Consultancy and professional fees
Freight and courier costs
Hire of plant and machinery
IT Costs
Financial charges
Stationery
Agency and casual Staff
Subsistence and allowances
Maintenance and running costs
Telecommunications costs
Other purchased goods and services.
Peacekeeping costs—both assessed costs to international missions and UK discretionary support to international and bilateral missions—have been met through the Peacekeeping Budget which is an annual claim on the Treasury Reserve and has been managed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on behalf of the FCO, Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence (MOD). In 2007-08 and 2008-09, £374 million was allocated from the Treasury Reserve for Peacekeeping.
Pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2009, Official Report, column 1240W, as a claim on the Treasury Reserve, the Peacekeeping Budget did not benefit from the Overseas Prices Mechanism. However, from the Peacekeeping Budget, assessed contributions to peacekeeping missions paid in foreign currencies by the FCO in 2007-08 were:
£ UN Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB) 366,011 UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) 5,771,218 UN_Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) 15,184,311 UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) 39,728,447 UN_Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) 3,135,316 UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) 25,403,196 UN African Union—United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) 37,228,728 UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) 28,920,533 UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) 960,793 UN Integrated Mission in East Timor(UNMIT) 4,727,871 UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) 1,140,559 UN Disengagement Observer Force Zone (UNDOF) 1,393,431 UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) 19,062,884 UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) 7,816,007 UN Interim Force in Lebanon(UNIFIL) 25,003,407 UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) 1,557,670 UN International Criminal Court 6,429,102 UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda 4,813,809 UN International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia 6,252,619 Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe field missions 8,377,220 Total 243,273,132
At current exchange rates, estimated assessed contributions to peacekeeping missions paid in foreign currencies in 2008-09 are:
£ UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) 18,297,738 UN_Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) 19,968,022 UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) 49,272,772 UN_Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) 1,334,652 UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) 25,323,581 UN African Union—United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) 64,197,346 UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) 30,070,770 UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus 1,392,357 UN Integrated Mission in East Timor(UNMIT) 6,008,093 UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) 1,462,365 UN Disengagement Observer Force Zone (UNDOF) 1,834,559 UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) 24,201,172 UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) 7,480,504 UN Interim Force in Lebanon(UNIFIL) 28,307,578 UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) 1,764,832 UN International Criminal Court 5,463,876 UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda 5,403,725 UN International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia 7,145,468 UN/AU UN Logistical Support to African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) 1,960,880 Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe field missions 9,633,681 Total 310,523,971
The 2008-09 costs will be reduced by a transfer of £29.4 million from the FCO which includes gains from the benefits of the advanced purchase of foreign currency costs, based on estimated costs at the time of spring supplementary. Further assessed costs are attributed to the Peacekeeping Budget by the Treasury or paid in the relevant foreign currency by the MOD.
Elections: Monitoring
The Government's ongoing discussions on conflict-related budgets for 2009-10, which include funding for election observation missions, have been between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence. The Treasury has been consulted fully throughout. Final decisions have not yet been made in this process.
Election observation remains a priority for the FCO. We are reviewing internally spend for the next financial year.
Exchange Rates
To date the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has secured several contracts with the Bank of England which provide the full cover allowed for our forecast US dollar and euro net exposure up to February 2010, and partial cover over the intervening months to January 2011. HM Treasury have limited the amount of cover we can purchase to a maximum of 80 per cent. of our net foreign exchange exposure at overseas posts, but up to 100 per cent. for known commitments to international organisations.
Each month a further contract is secured with the Bank of England, to extend full cover and partial cover an additional month. Thus the March 2010 contract will secure full cover for March 2010 and partial cover over the intervening months to February 2011.
Contracts have also been secured for Japanese yen that currently extend to March 2010. Additional contracts will be purchased in due course.
Hezbollah
On 9 January 2009 our ambassador in Beirut accompanied a group of British parliamentarians to a meeting with the Lebanese Foreign Affairs Committee that included the Hezbollah MP, Ali Amaar.
The UK had contacts with some political officials in Hezbollah from 2001 to 2005 but no contacts with Hezbollah's military wing. Although previous discussions had been frank, they became increasingly insubstantial. The political contacts ended in 2005 as we judged that the conditions at the time, specifically the political stalemate of the Lebanese Government, meant that the talks were not productive enough to be worth continuing.
In July 2008 the decision was made by the Home Office to proscribe the military wing, which we specified as the Jihad Council and all units reporting to it. During this process a thorough assessment of all the components of Hezbollah was carried out to establish this distinction.
In July 2008 the decision was made by the Home Office to proscribe the military wing, which we specified as the Jihad Council and all units reporting to it. During this process a thorough assessment of all the components of Hezbollah was carried out to establish this distinction between those members of Hezbollah who are legitimately involved in Lebanese politics and those who are involved in violence and support terrorism. We will not have contacts with individuals whom we assess to be involved in violence.
India: Terrorism
[holding answer 20 March 2009]: Seven British nationals were seriously injured during the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. For consular confidentiality and data protection reasons, the nature and severity of those injuries cannot be disclosed.
Iran
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has said many times that the UK would like to have a positive and constructive relationship with Iran—a relationship which is based on mutual respect and is not a prisoner of history. We believe that we have important shared interests in Iran's neighbourhood, including stability, security and economic development in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, we and the rest of the international community have significant and legitimate concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions, its activity in the region, and its repression of its own people. Iran must address these if our relationship is to move forward. The Iranian authorities are also responsible for unacceptable harassment of our staff in Tehran, both UK based and Iranian—pressure which has forced the British Council to suspend its operation in Iran, and which obstructs the legitimate activities of our embassy. We have raised this with the Iranian authorities on numerous occasions, and we regret that they have done nothing to address this.
Iran: Nuclear Power
The E3+3 made a generous offer to Iran in June 2008. This offer remains on the table. The offer presents Iran with an opportunity to transform its relationship with the international community and enjoy many significant benefits, if it suspends its enrichment programme and negotiates.
However, in the event of Iran failing to take up this opportunity and continuing to disregard its international obligations to the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency, we will be forced to consider further measures, including the consideration of further significant sanctions through the UN.
Iraq: Capital Punishment
The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We continue to make our position on capital punishment clear to the Iraqi government at every opportunity both bilaterally and with the support of our EU partners. As recently as 8 March 2009 the UK joined other EU member states in supporting a démarche, delivered by the current Czech EU presidency to Iraqi vice-President Tareeq al-Hashemi and to the head of the Iraqi prime minister’s office on the proposed resumption of executions in Iraq. We strongly supported the resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2007 (A/Res/62/149) and November 2008 (A/Res/63/168) which called upon all states that maintain the death penalty to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolition. The resolutions expressed the conviction of the majority of UN members that the use of the death penalty undermines human dignity; recalled that there is no conclusive evidence of its deterrent value; and noted that any miscarriage or failure of justice in the implementation of the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable.
Following reports of an imminent move to carry out the death sentences of 117 individuals on death row at Kadhamiyah-Max Prison in Iraq, the UK joined other EU member states in supporting a démarche against the sentences delivered on 8 March 2009 by the Czech EU presidency to Iraqi vice-president Tareeq al-Hashemi and to the head of the Iraqi Prime Minister’s office. Vice-president al-Hashemi said he had no information about the enforcement of these sentences which had been passed by the courts in full compliance with Iraqi law and the Iraqi Constitution. We will continue to pursue the Iraqi government on this matter, including making clear our position on the death penalty.
The UK joined other EU member states in supporting a demarche against the death sentences against 117 people which was delivered on 8 March 2009 by the Czech EU presidency to Iraqi Vice President Tareeq al-Hashemi and to the Head of the Iraqi Prime Minister's Office. We are asking the Iraqi Government for further information about these sentences and regularly make clear our opposition to the death penalty.
Iraq: Females
Our officials in Baghdad regularly meet with staff from the office of the Minister for Women’s Affairs and Ministry of Human Rights. We are closely monitoring the work of the acting Minister for Women’s Affairs. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Human Rights in Iraq also raised the situation of women with senior members of the government of Iraq during a visit on 1 March 2009.
Middle East: Armed Conflict
All arms export license applications are considered on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. This includes criteria covering internal repression and external aggression. We assess each application in the light of information received from several sources, including our embassies, non-governmental organisations and international agencies and in accordance with the EU Arms Export Users Guide, which was published in the UK’s 2007 Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls.
Tackling the smuggling of arms, ammunition and weapons components to armed groups in Gaza—along with opening the crossings to legitimate goods—is an important part of improving the situation there in a sustainable way.
The London conference on 13 March 2009 built on the progress made in Copenhagen on 3-5 February 2009 and agreed a Programme of Action between the nine participating countries (Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the US). A copy of this programme is available on the FCO website:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/newsroom/
Middle East: Peace Negotiations
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Turkey on 22 December 2008. The details of that meeting, and any other private conversations which may have taken place, are a matter for the governments concerned.
While we have not made a formal assessment, we judge that the Quartet representative and his office have made a valuable contribution to improving the situation on the ground.
Morocco: Fisheries
[holding answer 17 March 2009]: The Government maintain the position that the Government of Morocco—as the de facto administering power of Western Sahara—are obliged under international law to ensure that economic activities under administration, including the extraction and exportation of phosphates, do not adversely affect the interests of the people of Western Sahara.
Our officials in Rabat discuss a range of issues relating to the Western Sahara with their Moroccan counterparts, including when appropriate the issue of fishing revenues.
There are currently only two UK vessels operating in the waters off Western Sahara under the EU—Morocco Fisheries Agreement. All the fish caught are landed in Dakhla, Western Sahara and sold through the local markets or processed in a local factory.
Morocco: Mining
[holding answer 20 March 2009]: The UK maintains its position that Morocco, as the de facto administering power of Western Sahara, is obliged under international law to ensure that economic activities under administration—including the extraction and exportation of phosphates—do not adversely affect the interests of the people in Western Sahara. The UK has not recently raised this issue with the Moroccan authorities.
However, the Government firmly support the principles of transparency and good governance with regards to the extractive industries generally. In November 2008, the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) held a roundtable meeting in Tunis, which included Morocco. Participants discussed the opportunities and challenges which implementing the EITI can bring for the north African region and for further enhancing resource management and economic growth.
Nepal: Human Rights
While there have been improvements in the human rights situation in Nepal since the end of the conflict in 2006, significant challenges remain to the promotion and protection of human rights caused by the absence of rule of law. Despite the government of Nepal making repeated commitments to promoting respect for human rights, they have made limited progress. It has taken steps towards the proportional inclusion of minorities in all organs and at all levels of the state. It has also increased the budget for the national human rights commission, and has discussed the introduction of a bill to establish a truth and reconciliation commission.
The continuing impunity for past and current human rights abuses remains a key concern. It has encouraged a lack of respect for the law which encourages people to turn to violence to resolving disputes. Poor public security, particularly in the Terai (plains), where there is a proliferation of armed groups, is a major obstacle to improving human rights in Nepal. We are also concerned at the increase in intimidation and violence against journalists which is leading to self-censorship by journalists. Political interference in police investigations is commonplace and we continue to receive reports of torture in police custody.
Our embassy in Kathmandu closely monitors the human rights situation. During the past year we have raised our concerns, including at ministerial level, about attacks on the media, freedom of expression and movement, excessive use of force by the security forces, and the need to discharge minors from the Maoist People’s Liberation Army. We will continue to engage with the government of Nepal both bilaterally and in conjunction with the EU, other international partners, and the Office of the High Commissioner on human rights to urge it to meet the commitments they have made to uphold and promote human rights. Our Embassy is also supporting the efforts of civil society to combat impunity, through advocacy, training and work on legislative reform.
North Korea: Capital Punishment
We are concerned about the use of the death penalty in North Korea, including the reports of public executions. There are, however, no reliable figures available for the numbers of executions in North Korea. Different non-governmental organisations produce various figures based on the observations of defectors, but these are difficult to verify and often out of date.
North Korea: Political Prisoners
While there is no doubt that North Korea imprisons large numbers of people for their political and religious beliefs, there are no reliable figures available for the number of political prisoners in North Korea. Different non-governmental organisations produce various figures based on the observations of defectors, but these are difficult to verify, and often out of date. That is why we have consistently pressed North Korea to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea access to their country.
Palestinians: Fisheries
Gazan fishermen are prevented by the Israeli navy from entering international waters. The Israeli navy also severely limits their access to Gaza’s own territorial waters. We believe that the current limit is enforced at around three miles from the shore.
Many Gazan fishing boats were also destroyed or damaged during Operation Cast Lead. The Israeli authorities say that they are enforcing these limits to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.
Palestinians: Postal Services
There are no restrictions specific to mail or gifts originating in the UK. Incoming mail destined for the Occupied Palestinian Territories must be routed via Israel. It will be subject to security checks. Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff, living in Gaza and the West Bank report that it will take small envelopes several weeks to arrive from an international address. Some of this period of time may also be accounted for by the inefficiency of the Palestinian Authority’s own mail service.
For parcels sent to the West Bank, the security checking process can last up to two months and many West Bankers now arrange for larger mail items to be sent to addresses in east Jerusalem and then delivered on by friends or relatives. Parcels destined for Gaza can be held up for several months and few individuals or organisations inside Gaza would now use this as a means to send items into the Gaza strip.
Philippines: Politics and Government
We are aware that on 15 January 2009 three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), including two foreign nationals, were kidnapped on the island of Sulu in the southern Philippines. The terrorist group Abu Sayyaf claims to be holding them captive. Our embassy in Manila has been following the case closely. We welcome reports by the ICRC that one of the hostages has been released and we hope the two remaining members will be freed unharmed.
We are concerned about on-going terrorist and insurgent activity in the southern Philippines. Our ambassador in Manila regularly discusses the conflict in the southern Philippines, including wider political implications, with the Philippines Government. The UK has been sharing its experience from the Northern Ireland Peace Process with the Philippines Government to help the Government in its efforts towards achieving peace in Mindanao.
Ron Arad
Our ambassador in Tehran has not had any discussions with the Iranian Government regarding the missing Israeli pilot, Ron Arad. However, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed Mr. Arad's disappearance in January 2000 with the Iranian Foreign Minister. The Iranian Minister assured him that although he had no information concerning Mr. Arad, he would pass on any information he might obtain. Officials in our embassies in Beirut and Damascus have also sought information on Mr. Arad's case; most recently with the Lebanese Government in February 2004.
Seoul
There were two visits to Seoul by Government Ministers in financial year 2007-08. These visits were by the then Minister of State for Higher Education, Further Education, and Lifelong Learning, at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Bill Rammell), in May 2007, and the then Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Mr. Hutton) in November 2007.
Sri Lanka: Human Rights
The UK has recently made clear our concerns about the deteriorating human right situation in Sri Lanka during the ongoing UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva. The continuing reports of abductions, disappearances, violence and intimidation against the media are of particular concern. Violations must be investigated thoroughly and independently and those responsible must be brought to justice.
On 23 February 2009, the EU released a statement calling on the Sri Lankan authorities to take decisive action to tackle human rights abuses, to guarantee press freedom and to disarm paramilitary groups in government controlled areas. We continue to raise human rights concerns with the Sri Lankan authorities whenever possible.
Sri Lanka: Politics and Government
[holding answer 19 March 2009]: I refer my hon. Friend to my response of 5 March 2009, Official Report, column 1750W.
We are in regular contact with the Government of Sri Lanka. Most recently my noble friend Lord Malloch-Brown, the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, spoke to the Sri Lankan Minister for Foreign Affairs on 16 March 2009 about the political and humanitarian situation. We remain of the view that a political solution that addresses the legitimate concerns of all communities in Sri Lanka is the only way to bring a sustainable end to the conflict.
Sudan: Peacekeeping Operations
We currently assess that a no-fly zone would restrict essential humanitarian operations and be a major logistical challenge due to the size of Darfur and the lack of available air assets. The African Union-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) is mandated to monitor military activity, including flights prohibited by UN Security Council Resolution 1591. To this end, we continue to press all parties for rapid, full deployment of UNAMID, and work with the UN and any potential donors to ensure UNAMID receives the equipment it so urgently requires.
Sudan: Politics and Government
We remain committed to both the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and Darfur Peace Process. We welcomed the initial agreement between the Government of Sudan and the justice and equality movement signed in Doha on 17 February 2009, and encouraged UN/African Union mediator Bassole and Qatar to continue efforts. We urge implementation of the initial agreement, talks on a cessation of hostilities and a lasting settlement, and the engagement also of other Darfur leaders.
Full implementation of CPA is essential for lasting peace throughout Sudan and we will continue to work with the governments in Khartoum and Juba for that.
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made a statement on 4 March 2009 in which he strongly urged all parties in Sudan to avoid escalation, maintain order and protect embassies, international personnel and humanitarian workers, and above all the Sudanese civilians who have already suffered so much.
The statement is available for viewing at:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/newsroom/latest-news/?view=Press S&id=14479209
[holding answer 13 March 2009]: Our Ambassador has urged the Government of Sudan to allow non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to continue their work. The EU issued a statement on 10 March 2009 calling upon the Government of Sudan to urgently reconsider their decision, and ensure that humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people in Sudan be continuously guaranteed. European foreign Ministers discussed the situation again on 16 March 2009 and reiterated this message. We have, through official and ministerial level contacts, urged, China, Russia, and Sudan’s African and Arab neighbours to press the Government of Sudan to reverse their decision.
To date, there has been no indication that the Government of Sudan will reverse their decision and allow the 13 NGOs to remain in Sudan.
Terrorism: Finance
All of the £80 million and £6 million allocated to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and British Council respectively in the 2008-11 comprehensive spending review was new funding.
Thailand: Demonstrations
[holding answer 2 March 2009]: An estimated 6,000 British nationals had their travel plans disrupted during the closure of Bangkok’s two main airports by People’s Alliance for Democracy demonstrators last year. Our consular team in Bangkok spoke to about 400 callers per day during this period, visited Bangkok hotels and made contact with British nationals. We received one complaint through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s formal complaints procedure about the Government’s response to the airport closure. Separately we have received approximately 50 letters and emails from members of the public and 15 letters from MPs whose constituents were unhappy with the assistance provided by the Government.
Treaty of Lisbon
At the December 2008 European Council, a way forward was agreed on the Lisbon treaty on the basis of proposals from the Irish Government. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made a statement on the European Council to Parliament on 15 December 2008, Official Report, column 813.
There have been no formal discussions at EU level since December. Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers regularly meet their EU counterparts to discuss a range of issues including the Treaty of Lisbon.
The Irish Government gave an update on their progress at the Spring European Council on 19-20 March 2009.
UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
The Government are currently examining the potential impact of the UN Convention against enforced disappearance on the law of the UK. In particular, lawyers are analysing the extent to which common law provisions may need to be replicated in statute law, and the introduction of one or more specific criminal offences.
If the Government decide to ratify the convention, these changes to the law would require primary legislation, which would be introduced when parliamentary time allowed. Decisions would also need to be taken in due course on whether the UK required any reservations or declarations upon ratification. These are complex issues requiring further consideration and analysis which will take some time to complete.
UN World Conference against Racism
The UK is still engaged in the Durban Review process and we will keep our position under review. We hope that there is still time to return the focus of preparations to reviewing work undertaken to combat racism and implement the 2001 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, thus enhancing the prospect of a consensus outcome. But a change in this direction will be required for any outcome document to gain our support.
We have, on several occasions, expressed our view on the Durban Review Conference: we want the conference to forge a collective will to fight against racism in all its forms, in all countries in the world. The Government remain deeply concerned about the draft outcome document.
Ministers and officials have had regular discussions with EU partners and the US administration on the Durban Review Conference. I discussed it with the Israeli ambassador when he called on me on 11 March 2009.
We have received numerous representations both urging us to remain engaged in the process to strengthen the concluding document, and also expressing concern about the direction it has taken.
Uzbekistan: Sanctions
The UK has consistently argued that sanctions have been an important factor in bringing about positive, albeit limited, progress in the human rights situation in Uzbekistan.
While serious concerns persist about the overall human rights situation, recent developments include:
the release of five human rights defenders, including Mutabar Tojibayeva, the most egregious of the Uzbek human rights cases of concern to the EU;
the resumption of prison visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross;
the entry into force of the abolition of the death penalty, and the introduction of a limited form of habeas corpus.
Uzbekistan: Visas
None. The EU visa ban was lifted at the October 2008 General Affairs and External Relations Council.
Zimbabwe: Politics and Government
[holding answer 19 March 2009]: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed Zimbabwe with Dlamini-Zuma, his South African counterpart, in a telephonic conversation on 9 and 16 February 2009, and at a meeting on 6 March 2009. My noble Friend, Lord Malloch-Brown, the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, regularly speaks with representatives of southern African governments about Zimbabwe, a number of whom he met on 16 March 2009.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Bank Services
The Northern Ireland Office (excluding its agencies and Executive NDPBs) does not have contracts with any banks for the provision of financial advice.
The main banking services which the Department use are part of a Northern Ireland civil service wide contract which is managed by the Department of Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland.
Departmental Catering
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) records expenditure for food and drink under the description of either hospitality or catering. These expenditure types are also used to record spending on related services and equipment and as a consequence, some of the suppliers used may not be termed as food or drink companies. Due to the high volume of transactions within these expenditure areas, it would only be possible to extract the food and drink companies at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Plants
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) does not record expenditure under these headings. However, the following table shows the total costs paid to florists and nurseries in the last three financial years (excluding agencies and Executive NDPBs):
Financial Year Expenditure (£) 2005-06 26,892 2006-07 25,755 2007-08 28,412
Flowers and pot plants are generally purchased as decoration when the NIO hosts official events such as receptions, for example for military personnel returning and ceremonies such as Royal garden parties honouring community and civic leaders. Where possible, the Department will make use of these items at more than one event.
These figures also include flowers purchased for events which are held in Hillsborough castle on behalf of other parties. Although the NIO does not charge these external customers directly for the cost of flowers, an administration charge is levied to cover sundry costs.
Drugs: Crime
Conviction data for 2008 are not available; 2006 is the latest available year. With regards to offences relating to the possession of drugs, there were 411 persons convicted in 1998 and 572 persons convicted in 2006.
Data are collated on the principal offence rule; only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.
Northern Ireland Compensation Agency
The following table shows the claims rejected and accepted in each of the last five years.
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Total Rejected 9,437 7,470 4,963 4,441 4,007 30,318 Accepted 5,754 4,877 3,235 2,517 2,072 18,455 Total 15,191 12,347 8,198 6,958 6,079 48,773 Notes: 1. 2008-09 figures are up to end of February 2009. 2. The figures for accepted and rejected claims each year includes claims in the system carried forward from previous years.
Northern Ireland Prison Service: Manpower
The number of people employed in each job category by the Northern Ireland Prison Service in each of the last five years, filling the post at each rank or grade substantively, is as shown in the following table.
Job category 2004-051 2005-061 2006-071 2007-08 As at 18 March 2009 Director 1 1 1 1 1 Deputy Director 4 4 4 4 3 Non ex. Director 1 2 2 2 4 Governor 1 2 2 2 2 2 Governor 2 4 4 4 4 4 Governor 3 2 2 3 3 3 Governor 4 8 9 12 12 10 Governor 5 18 19 14 20 19 Principal Officer 72 67 63 58 65 Senior Officer 171 166 166 159 146 Main Grade Officer 1,268 1,260 1,229 1,176 1,132 Operational Support Grade 0 0 0 17 114 Night Custody/Patrol Officer 83 139 159 184 190 Senior Prisoner Custody Officer 0 0 7 6 15 Prisoner Custody Officer 0 0 93 149 174 Grade A 22 20 19 20 21 Grade B1 30 33 32 35 39 Grade B2 51 53 56 51 64 Grade C 79 81 79 80 101 Grade Dl 107 108 117 118 130 Grade D2 57 59 42 43 37 Civilian Support Staff 95 88 87 86 70 Total 2,075 2,117 2,191 2,230 2,344 1 These figures reflect the full-time equivalent staff. Actual staff in post figures are only available from 2007 onwards.
Women and Equality
Equal Opportunities
I have been asked to reply.
Data on the number of people in the UK who are subject to intersectional multiple discrimination in the workplace but are without a remedy in law are not collected because it is not currently possible for people to bring such claims.
In estimating the number of people subject to intersectional multiple discrimination, but who are without a remedy in law, GEO has drawn on international comparisons. Over the last three years, an average of 7.5 per cent. of the number of cases per year brought to the Irish Equality Tribunals included claims on multiple (additive) grounds. This figure could include intersectional claims but these are not separately identified.
Leader of the House
Members: Pensions
As I stated in the answer of 16 March 2009, Official Report, column 966W, stock lending is not allowed in the segregated funds of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF). The Trustees have no role in deciding the policy on stock lending in pooled funds used by the PCPF.
Stock lending by investment managers of pooled funds is intended to enhance the returns to their clients. Within a pooled fund no specific stocks are either owned by, or clearly attributable to, a single investor. Thus, the (PCPF) has a proportionate share in the value of the total stock within one or more equity-based funds.
At 31 December 2007 and 31 December 2008 the PCPF had pooled assets on loan to the value of some £31 million and £19 million, respectively, representing some 8 per cent. and 6 per cent. of the total value of the Fund on these dates.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Animal Welfare
[holding answer 10 March 2009]: The welfare of animals held in quarantine is protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any animal. The Act also contains a Duty of Care to animals—this means that anyone responsible for an animal must take reasonable steps to make sure the animal's needs are met.
These include the need for a suitable environment; for a suitable diet; to exhibit normal behaviour patterns; to be housed with, or apart from, other animals (if applicable), and to be protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease.
Every approved quarantine premises must have a veterinary presence six days a week. It is the Veterinary Superintendent's responsibility to monitor the welfare of animals in quarantine and take any necessary action to prevent suffering.
Animal Welfare: EU Law
While we have yet to enter into formal discussions with the European Commission on the review of EC Regulation 1/2005 on the welfare of animals during transport, as it has yet to publish formal proposals, we have responded to early opportunities presented by the Commission to comment on a draft options paper. The UK provided a set of generic principles which was drawn up in close consultation with the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer in Wales, the Scottish Government Rural Directorate and the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development Northern Ireland. We fully support the Commission’s initiative to review key elements of the Regulation and welcomed the opportunity in the early stages of the review process to express our opinion on the Commission’s policy options.
The European Commission has yet to publish its formal proposals for the review of EC Regulation 1/2005 on the welfare of animals during transport. We are working closely with the Scottish Government Rural Directorate to prepare for the review. Its input will be central to establishing the likely effects of the review of the Regulation on livestock transportation in the Highlands and Islands.
Bovine Tuberculosis
The following table sets out the budget which has been allocated by DEFRA for expenditure on bovine tuberculosis in 2009-10. No allocation has yet been made for 2010-11 onwards and as such we are unable to provide any estimates.
£ million (forecast only) Cattle testing 37.8 Compensation 23 Surveillance activity by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) 6.7 Other research 8.4 HQ/overheads 1.8 Total 77.7 Notes: 1. 2009-10 figures are provisional and subject to change 2. Data sourced from DEFRA Oracle financial system 3. Cattle testing—the cost of carrying out the testing of cattle for tuberculosis by arranging, assessing and monitoring tests, conducting investigations of incident herds and diagnostic testing by Local Veterinary Inspectors on behalf of DEFRA. (NB This expenditure is funded by DEFRA for the UK) 4. Compensation—includes payments for ‘reactors’ and ‘contact animals’ which are compulsorily slaughtered. This includes ‘salvage’ money received by the Government for those carcasses which are permitted to go into the food chain or are eligible for Over Thirty Month Scheme payments. (NB This funding is for England only) 5. Surveillance activity by the VLA—includes all DEFRA funded work carried out by the VLA relating to tuberculosis in cattle and badgers including the supply of tuberculin. (NB This expenditure is funded by DEFRA for the UK) 6. HQ/overheads—includes staff costs for veterinary advice and administration of tuberculosis policy in England only.
Central Heating
(2) if he will make it his policy to seek amendments to the proposed Energy Using Products Directive to ensure that the UK boiler industry is able to meet the Directive's emission requirements.
[holding answer 16 March 2009]: The Government recognises that the nitrogen oxides emission levels proposed in the commission’s draft implementing measures on boilers and water heaters are challenging for the industry to achieve. DEFRA officials are working together with industry representatives to understand the impact on UK oil-fired boiler manufacturers and to determine a level to propose to the commission that is achievable for the industry.
Compost
The following table indicates the number of in-vessel and windrow composting sites that are licensed in each district in each Environment Agency region. Where there are n/a entries, this indicates that the site is currently in the process of surrendering its permit.
Prior to standard permits being introduced, the Environment Agency’s permit recording system did not distinguish between in-vessel and windrow composting and it would therefore incur disproportionate cost to collate figures for in-vessel alone.
Agency area District Total Anglian: Central Area Aylesbury Vale 1 Bedford 2 Breckland 1 East Cambridgeshire 1 Forest Heath 1 Huntingdonshire 3 King’s Lynn and West Norfolk 1 Milton Keynes 1 South Bedfordshire 2 South Cambridgeshire 1 South Northamptonshire 1 St. Edmundsbury 2 n/a 3 Anglian: Central Area total 20 Anglian: Eastern Area Basildon 1 Broadland 2 Chelmsford 1 Colchester 1 Ipswich 1 Maldon 1 North Norfolk 1 Rochford 1 South Norfolk 2 Suffolk Coastal 2 Waveney 1 n/a 1 Anglian: Eastern Area total 15 Anglian: Northern Area Daventry 3 East Lindsey 1 East Northamptonshire 1 Harborough 1 North East Lincolnshire 1 North Lincolnshire 2 Peterborough 1 South Holland 2 South Kesteven 2 Wellingborough 1 West Lindsey 1 Anglian: Northern Area total 16 Midlands: Lower Severn Bridgnorth 1 Forest of Dean 2 North Shropshire 1 Powys 1 Shrewsbury and Atcham 1 Stroud 2 Telford and Wrekin 1 n/a 1 Midlands: Lower Severn total 10 Midlands: Lower Trent Doncaster 2 Erewash 1 Newark and Sherwood 1 North Kesteven 2 North Lincolnshire 1 North West Leicestershire 1 Rotherham 1 Rushcliffe 1 South Derbyshire 2 n/a 1 Midlands: Lower Trent total 13 Midlands: Upper Trent Birmingham 3 Derbyshire Dales 1 Hinckley and Bosworth 1 Lichfield 1 Newcastle-under-Lyme 1 North Warwickshire 1 Rugby 1 Solihull 1 South Staffordshire 3 Stafford 3 Stratford-on-Avon 1 Midlands: Upper Trent total 17 North East: Dales East Riding of Yorkshire 2 Leeds 1 Richmondshire 1 Scarborough 1 Sedgefield 1 Stockton-on-Tees 1 North East: Dales total 7 North East: Northumbria Durham 1 Newcastle upon Tyne 1 South Tyneside 1 Tynedale 1 Wansbeck 2 n/a 3 North East: Northumbria total 9 North East: Ridings Calderdale 1 East Riding of Yorkshire 1 Leeds 1 Sheffield 1 Wakefield 1 North East: Ridings total 5 North West: Central Knowsley 1 Preston 2 Sefton 2 South Ribble 1 North West: Central total 6 North West: Northern Carlisle 2 Eden 1 North West: Northern total 3 North West: Southern Chester 2 Congleton 2 Crewe and Nantwich 2 Halton 1 Knowsley 2 Manchester 2 St. Helens 1 Vale Royal 1 North West: Southern total 13 South West: Cornwall North Cornwall 1 Penwith 1 South West: Cornwall total 2 South West: Devon East Devon 1 Mid Devon 1 South Hams 1 Teignbridge 1 Torridge 1 n/a 1 South West: Devon total 6 South West: North Wessex Bath and North East Somerset 1 North Wiltshire 1 Sedgemoor 1 South Somerset 1 n/a 1 South West: North Wessex total 5 South West: South Wessex Bournemouth 1 Christchurch 1 North Dorset 1 Weymouth and Portland 1 n/a 1 South West: South Wessex total 5 Southern: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Arun 1 Basingstoke and Deane 4 Chichester 2 Fareham 1 Havant 1 Isle of Wight 2 Mid Sussex 1 Salisbury 1 Test Valley 1 n/a 2 Southern: Hampshire and Isle of Wight total 16 Southern: Kent Canterbury 1 Lewes 1 Sevenoaks 2 Shepway 1 Swale 2 Tonbridge and Malling 1 Wealden 1 Southern: Kent total 9 Southern: Sussex n/a 1 Southern: Sussex total 1 Thames: North East Brentwood 1 Enfield 1 Epping Forest 1 Havering 1 Hertsmere 1 Hillingdon 3 Newham 1 North Hertfordshire 2 St. Albans 1 n/a 3 Thames: North East total 15 Thames: South East Bracknell Forest 1 Croydon 1 n/a 3 Thames: South East total 5 Thames: West Cherwell 1 Cotswold 2 South Oxfordshire 1 Vale of White Horse 1 West Berkshire 1 West Oxfordshire 1 Wycombe 2 Thames: West total 9 Wales: Buckley Gwynedd 2 Isle of Anglesey 1 n/a 1 Wales: Buckley total 4 Wales: Cardiff Cardiff 1 Herefordshire, County of 1 Monmouthshire 1 n/a 1 Wales: Cardiff total 4 Wales: Swansea Carmarthenshire 2 Wales: Swansea total 2
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not had any recent discussions with local authorities on the incorporation of composting into their household waste management strategies.
Composting is one approach for diverting biodegradable material from landfill and local authorities already consider this as part of their management of household waste. This contributes to the good progress being made towards the target set in England's Waste Strategy 2007 to recycle or compost 50 per cent. of household waste by 2020, with annual figures up to the first quarter of 2008-09 showing 35 per cent. of household waste being recycled or composted.
Departmental Manpower
The equivalent of approximately 97 members of staff are employed to deal with animal welfare, while a total of approximately 2,084 deal with a variety of animal related matters as part of their wider remit.
Floods
I have been asked to reply.
The Government published a detailed response to Sir Michael Pitt’s recommendations in December, and on this point, said that the new Committee would hold its inaugural meeting in the new year. Good progress is being made on the recommendations of the Pitt Review, and the Government will publish a progress update in the summer.
It is established practice that information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including exactly when they are to meet, is not disclosed.
Floods: Property Development
The Environment Agency has no powers to waive restrictions on buildings in flood risk areas. As a consultee, it provides advice on the flood risk implications of development proposals. The Environment Agency's advice is intended to ensure that new development will be safe from flooding, does not increase flood risk elsewhere and takes into account climate change. This is in line with Planning Policy Statement 25—Development and Flood Risk.
Food Supply
DEFRA does not hold information on the total food held in the country.
Food: Packaging
Neither DEFRA nor the Waste Resources Action Programmes holds this information.
Incinerators: Hazardous Substances
[holding answer 18 March 2009]: Incinerator operators are required to test and assess their bottom ash for all hazards including H14.
[holding answer 18 March 2009]: The responses to the Environment Agency's consultation on H14 ecotoxicity will be placed in the Library of the House once each consultation response has been checked for confidentiality.
[holding answer 18 March 2009]: Assessments for hazardous waste by waste producers are not submitted to the Environment Agency. There is no legislative requirement for producers to do this and hence no inclusion on registers.
Metals: Recycling
[holding answer 16 March 2009]: I have recently responded to a letter from the British Metals Recycling Association agreeing to meet them to discuss a range of issues affecting the metal recycling sector.
Patagial Tagging
DEFRA is in the final stages of producing an exemption order under the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 to permit non-veterinarians to wing and web tag non-farmed birds for conservation and research purposes. We hope that the new legislation will be in force within the next couple of months.
Pigs
As Minister for Farming and the Environment I have met representatives of the pig industry and producers on a number of occasions to discuss what the Government can do to help the industry achieve profitability and long-term economic sustainability.
It is clear from my discussions that it is most important that all segments of the pig meat supply chain should come together in a spirit of co-operation to jointly address a number of issues that have a significant impact on the economic health of the pig industry. These include public sector procurement policy; country of origin labelling and the burden of environmental regulations.
In response I have therefore set up the Pig Meat Supply Chain Task Force which brings together for the first time producers, processors, retailers, consumer groups and the Government. The first meeting of the task force took place on 18 March when a work programme of outcomes and targets will be agreed. The work will be remitted to –sub-groups of co-opted experts who will urgently take the work forward to completion by the end of the task force's planned lifetime.
Plastics: Recycling
The DEFRA-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) works to develop new markets for waste in the UK. WRAP has supported several companies, through a range of financial and technical assistance mechanisms, in developing new and existing plastic recycling businesses.
Since its creation, WRAP has provided over £3.1 million in capital grants to plastics recycling businesses. In the next five years, these will divert a total of over 270,000 tonnes of plastic waste from landfill.
Plastic bottle recycling has significantly expanded in recent years, with around 132,000 tonnes of plastic bottles collected and recycled from UK households in 2006. WRAP'S focus has therefore moved on to mixed plastics (plastic packaging other than plastic bottles).
WRAP has undertaken trials with a number of technologies, with the aim of understanding the best ways to handle mixed plastics from an environmental, economical and technological perspective. The programme has investigated three main areas: collection, reprocessing, and end markets. The trials showed clearly that it is economically viable to recycle the vast majority of the mixed plastics we currently send to landfill, and there are clear environmental gains in doing so. WRAP is now working with councils and industry partners to deliver mixed plastics reprocessing in the UK.
Recycling: North West
The following table shows the available local authority level data for household recycling tonnages and the amount of household waste recycled per person for each local authority in the North West of England for the last three financial years. The data for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are either incomplete or unreliable at local authority level.
Authority 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Allerdale Borough Council 13,656 14,227 15,619 143.29 147.74 165.63 Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council 6,025 5,790 6,703 85.46 82.59 93.35 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council 16,483 18,328 20,833 117.57 130.73 147.54 Blackpool Borough Council 19,050 22,567 22,970 133.50 157.92 160.97 Bolton MBC 25,793 31,751 33,572 97.40 119.63 127.94 Burnley Borough Council 9,061 10,151 10,445 102.85 115.74 118.69 Bury MBC 16,531 18,466 20,550 90.78 100.63 112.35 Carlisle City Council 14,043 16,282 22,405 135.68 154.77 216.89 Chester City Council 14,362 15,543 16,095 120.69 131.05 134.46 Chorley Borough Council 15,650 18,224 19,455 151.94 175.74 187.61 Congleton Borough Council 14,370 16,000 18,938 156.54 174.29 204.96 Copeland Borough Council 9,535 9,693 10,490 135.06 135.57 149.22 Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council 11,540 15,220 16,775 101.77 133.98 144.86 Eden District Council 9,021 10,487 11,059 173.47 198.61 213.91 Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council 11,793 15,425 16,134 145.77 191.37 197.23 Fylde Borough Council 11,793 12,562 13,233 155.58 164.42 174.80 Halton Borough Council 15,235 16,538 17,545 128.14 139.21 146.82 Hyndburn Borough Council 6,747 8,251 8,769 82.69 101.11 106.67 Knowsley MBC 8,443 10,704 11,909 56.36 71.65 78.71 Lancaster City Council 9,055 13,253 16,390 66.24 96.04 114.62 Liverpool City Council 20,348 24,223 41,994 45.78 54.13 96.30 Macclesfield Borough Council 15,305 26,016 30,475 101.76 172.86 202.35 Manchester City Council MBC 34,419 37,021 42,423 78.76 83.91 93.86 Oldham MBC 10,065 13,001 16,292 46.11 59.31 74.19 Pendle Borough Council 9,872 10,856 11,527 110.55 121.57 127.93 Preston City Council 13,012 14,925 15,683 99.33 113.67 118.81 Ribble Valley Borough Council 4,053 4,909 5,744 71.60 86.27 99.38 Rochdale MBC 9,256 14,053 17,880 44.82 68.09 86.59 Rossendale Borough Council 5,896 6,988 8,293 89.47 105.88 124.34 Salford City Council MBC 12,768 18,261 22,568 59.00 84.38 103.52 Sefton MBC 22,184 26,272 31,650 78.72 93.53 114.10 South Lakeland District Council 11,527 16,416 20,037 112.02 159.54 191.19 South Ribble Borough Council 13,746 18,157 18,582 130.29 171.61 174.65 St. Helens MBC 14,982 17,218 20,071 84.79 97.66 113.01 Stockport MBC 37,853 37,217 39,748 134.13 132.16 141.65 Tameside MBC 12,395 20,259 22,408 58.00 94.62 104.52 Trafford MBC 15,722 23,489 25,202 73.92 110.17 118.99 Vale Royal Borough Council 21,370 24,067 25,026 171.65 193.15 198.62 Warrington Borough Council 19,485 28,871 34,072 100.59 148.28 175.63 West Lancashire District Council 13,463 16,585 18,512 123.29 151.46 168.60 Wigan MBC 28,914 35,097 42,043 94.68 114.44 137.62 Wirral MBC 16,306 19,889 43,381 52.08 63.52 139.40 Wyre Borough Council 15,808 19,849 20,338 144.63 180.61 184.22 Source: WasteDataFlow
Renewable Energy: Waste
Environment Agency records indicate that there are at least 68 landfills with an identified landfill gas utilisation scheme. I am arranging for a list of these sites to be placed in the Library of the House.
Soya: Imports
According to HMRC official overseas trade statistics, in 2008, 45 per cent. of UK imports of soya were recorded as originating in Brazil. This is based on the volume of trade and includes both soya beans and soya meal. 2008 figures are provisional.
Culture, Media and Sport
Cultural Relations
(2) what recent assessment he has made of the Connections through Culture programme; and if he will make a statement;
(3) what financial contributions have been received from other organisations for the Connections through Culture programme;
(4) what financial contributions to the Connections through Culture programme have been received from other organisations;
(5) how much his Department has spent on the Connections through Culture programme in each of the last three years; and how much he expects to spend on it in each of the next two years;
(6) what assessment he has made of the performance against objectives of the first term of the Connections through Culture programme; and if he will make a statement;
(7) what plans he has to extend the Connections through Culture programmes to further countries.
The China: UK Connections through Culture programme is a three-year programme led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the British Council, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government. The programme has cost just under £1 million, spread equally over the last three years.
The programme runs from 2006-09 and aims to build long-lasting cultural connections. It has been hugely successful in promoting and encouraging sustainable cultural partnerships between the UK and China. A second term of Connections through Culture from 2009-12 has been agreed to ensure a lasting and tangible legacy in the run up to the Shanghai Expo and London 2012.
An independent evaluation of the first term of the programme was completed at the end of 2008. It concluded that Connections through Culture is a successful and responsive model of exchange unmatched by any overseas government agency in China and that the implementation of the programme has been exemplary.
Funding contributions in the first three-year cycle of the programme were as follows:
£ DCMS 300,000 FCO 300,000 British Council 300,000 Scottish Government 45,000 Welsh Assembly Government 15,000
The budget for 2009-12 has not yet been agreed.
We are currently looking at options to transfer this model to India with which the UK seeks to strengthen cultural ties.
Departmental Data Protection
There is no connection between the visitor and test wireless networks and the test wireless network does not carry any work or protectively marked traffic. No wireless network is connected to the main office network.
All wireless connections are protected by hardware firewalls and are covered as part of the regular annual audit process. Security vulnerabilities are addressed immediately they are notified.
Our Security Operating Protocol is reviewed by external auditors on an annual basis.
Internal auditing of compliance takes place at least annually. Independent external auditing is carried out on an annual basis. A number of criteria are used including the GSi Code of Connection, the Security Policy Framework, industry best practice and relevant Info Sec Memoranda.
We do not report on the scope of security testing nor the full list of test criteria for security reasons.
My Department does carry out social engineering vulnerability testing.
My Department's password policies conform to central standards.
A full range of guidance on security policies and best practice is available to staff via my Department's intranet.
We are currently deploying additional training and compliance testing for all staff.
Departmental Lost Property
No officials in my Department have lost laptops in the past 12 months.
Departmental NDPBs: Pay
We have been advised by the following organisations that spend on staff bonuses in each of the years is as follows:
Organisation Spend on staff bonuses (£) (a) Big Lottery Fund 2005-06 197,739 2006-07 210,184 2007-08 221,665 (b) Heritage Lottery Fund 2005-06 31,291 2006-07 35,161 2007-08 37,083 (c) English Heritage 2005-06 253,000 2006-07 303,000 2007-08 243,000 (d) Arts Council England 2005-06 140,371 2006-07 159,121 2007-08 280,675 (e) UK Sport 2005-06 144,317 2006-07 160,310 2007-08 199,156 (f) The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council 2005-06 17,578 2006-07 26,965 2007-08 57,095 (g) Sport England 2005-06 21,222 2006-07 24,258 2007-08 0
Departmental Public Consultations
Information on all public consultations undertaken by my Department is available on the DCMS website:
www.culture.gov.uk
13 such consultations were launched in 2008, 24 in 2007 and 27 in 2006. Details of these consultations, broken down by year of consultation launch are as follows:
2008
The Draft Categories of Gaming Machine (Amendment) Regulations 2009 and The Draft Gambling Act 2005 (Limits on Prize Gaming) Regulations 2009.
World Heritage for the Nation: Identifying, Protecting and Promoting our World Heritage.
Council of Europe Transfrontier Television Convention (TTV): Preliminary Consultation September 2008.
The Gambling Act (Variation of Monetary Limits for Gaming Machines) Order 2008.
Core Receiver Requirements for the Digital Switchover Help Scheme Consultation.
Licensing consultation—proposals to introduce a new minor variations process, and remove certain requirements at community premises.
Video Games consultation.
Public consultation on implementing the EU audiovisual media services directive.
Gambling Act 2005 (Variation of Monetary Limits) Order 2008.
Proposed Gambling Act 2005 (gaming machines in bingo premises) Order 2008.
Consultation on Television Multiplex Services (Reservation of Digital Capacity) Order 2008.
Consultation on Community Radio.
Gambling Act 2005—Proposals for Gambling Commission Fees from 1 August 2008.
2007
Consultation on proposal to introduce a simplified process for minor variations to premises licences and club premises certificates.
McMaster Review—Assessing excellence in the arts.
Consultation on draft regulations for museums on the publication of information about cultural objects on loan under Part 6 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.
Regulatory Reform Order: Proposal to Remove the Requirement for the Designated Premises Supervisor for Community Premises.
The Governance of Britain, Flag Flying.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a European agenda for culture in a globalising world.
The Gambling Act (Small Society Lotteries) (Registration of Non-Commercial Societies) Regulations 2007.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation on Temporary Use Notices.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation on Draft Regulations under sections 235(5), 240 and 241 of the Gambling Act 2005.
DCMS Equality Scheme 2007-2010 Consultation.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation on the Review of Premises Licence Regulations.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation on Lottery Machine Interval Order.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation on Gambling at Non-commercial Events.
Consultation—Gambling Act 2005: Licensed Premises Gaming Machine Permits Regulations.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation on Club Gaming and Club Machine Permits.
Consultation on DCMS Welsh Language Scheme 2007-2011.
Consultation on The Gambling Act 2005: (Limits on Prize Gaming) Regulations.
Heritage Protection for the 21st Century—White Paper.
Gambling Act 2005: Definition of Dual-Use and Domestic Computers
Sports Ground Safety Legislation.
Gambling Act 2005: Gambling (Inviting competing applications for Casino Premises Licences) Regulations.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation on Gaming Machine Regulations.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation on Gaming in Clubs and on Alcohol licensed Premises.
Consultation on draft revised Guidance to be issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003.
2006
Gambling Act 2005: Premises Licence and Permits Fees Consultation.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation on Prize Gaming Permits and Family Entertainment Centre Gaming Machine Permits.
Consultation on Community Audio Distribution Systems.
Understanding the Future: Priorities for England's Museums.
Gambling Act 2005: Responsible Authority for Vulnerable Adults Consultation.
Gambling Act 2005: Consultation Document: Inspections.
Consultation and partial Regulatory Impact Assessment on extending the remit of the Football Licensing Authority to the Football Conference.
Gambling Act 2005: Premises Licence Regulations Consultation.
Gambling Act 2005: Premises Licence Hearings Regulations Consultation.
Proposals for Personal Licences—Consultation Paper.
The Gambling Appeals Tribunal Draft Rules 2006.
Draft Gambling (Premises Licences: Mandatory and Default Conditions) Regulations for the implementation of the Gambling Act 2005—Consultation Document.
Categories of Gaming Machines—Consultation Paper.
Gambling Act 2005: Fees—Costings Exercise.
Proposals for Gambling Commission Fees—Consultation Paper.
Welcome Legacy: Tourism Strategy for the 2012 Games—A Consultation.
Consultation Paper on Future Sponsorship Arrangements for the Museum of London.
Consultation on Restitution of Objects Spoliated in the Nazi-Era.
Gambling (Categories of Casino) Regulations and draft Order for the implementation of the Gambling Act 2005—Formal Consultation Exercise.
Proposal by the European Commission for the Revision of The “Television Without Frontiers” Directive (Directive 89/552/EC, amended by Directive 97/36/EC).
Data Limits and Data Services on Radio Multiplexes.
Consultation Paper on Amendments to the Treasure Act 1996 Code of Practice (Revised) England and Wales.
Consultation on Welsh Language Forms and Documents to be prescribed under the Licensing Act 2003.
BBC White Paper—“A public service for all: the BBC in the digital age” and Draft Royal Charter and Framework Agreement.
Consultation on providing immunity from seizure for international works of art on loan in the UK.
Consultation on the European Commission's proposal for European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008.
Transitional Arrangements and Draft Order for the implementation of the Gambling Act 2005—Consultation Paper.
Details of all consultations are routinely published on the DCMS website at:
www.culture.gov.uk
In the 2008 calendar year DCMS launched 13 consultations. Full details for these consultations are supplied in the table. All consultations launched by the Department in 2009 are still open, and because of this data are continually changing and are not included.
Most consultations do not incur costs other than staffing time, as duties are usually undertaken by in-house teams, with the DCMS website as the mechanism recording representations. Where additional costs were incurred, details are listed in the following table—these mostly relate to costs incurred in translating material into Welsh.
Consultation Consultation period Number of responses received Cost (£) World Heritage for the Nation: Identifying, Protecting and Promoting our World Heritage 2 December to 25 February 2009 115 14,750 The Draft Categories of Gaming Machine (Amendment) Regulations 2009 and The Draft Gambling Act 2005 (Limits on Prize Gaming) Regulations 2009 22 December 2008 to 9 January 2009 157 0 Council of Europe Transfrontier Television Convention (TTV): Preliminary Consultation September 2008 1 to 31 October 2008 1 0 The Gambling Act (Variation of Monetary Limits for Gaming Machines) Order 2008 5 September to 31 October 2008 15 0 Core Receiver Requirements for the Digital Switchover Help Scheme Consultation 1 September to 13 October 2008 7 0 Licensing consultation - proposals to introduce a new minor variations process, and remove certain requirements at community premises 4 August to 1 September 2008 (closing date for Welsh stakeholders: 9 September 2008) Minor Variations responses 83 2,456.93 Community Premises responses 67 13,116.10 Video Games consultation 31 July to 20 November 2008 181 223,578.23 Public consultation on implementing the EU audiovisual media services directive 25 July to 31 October 2008 59 0 Gambling Act 2005 (Variation of Monetary Limits) Order 2008 17 July to 9 October 2008 10 0 Proposed Gambling Act 2005 (gaming machines in bingo premises) Order 2008 26 June to 26 September 2008 26 0 Consultation on Television Multiplex Services (Reservation of Digital Capacity) Order 2008 18 April to 9 May 2008 9 0 Consultation on Community Radio 31 March to 6 June 2008 96 0 Gambling Act 2005 - Proposals for Gambling Commission Fees from 1st August 2008 10 March to 2 June 2008 27 0 1 This cost was incurred through translation into Welsh 2 These costs were incurred through translation into Welsh and for payment of research with a focus group comprising parents. Note: In all cases quoted costs do not include VAT, as this is recoverable.
Gaming Machines: Coastal Areas
There were 157 responses to a second public consultation on revised prize limits for category C and certain types of category D gaming machines, which closed on 19 January 2009. The Draft Categories of Gaming Machine (Amendment) Regulations 2009 were laid in Parliament on 4 March 2009.
Government Olympic Executive
The Government Olympic Executive (GOE) currently comprises 89.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff of whom 27.6 have been recruited from other DCMS teams. Following a major restructuring of the Department last year we are unable to provide detailed information on the individual units in which staff worked before joining GOE. However, staff have joined the GOE from each of the main areas of the Department, including those responsible for policy, programmes, corporate services, external relations and private office.
Hotels: Fires
Department for Communities and Local Government in consultation with DCMS and VisitBritain, recently published 'Do You Have Paying Guests' which provided additional information to help small accommodation providers comply with fire safety legislation. The booklet seeks to address specific difficulties that the hospitality industry, specifically B and Bs, guest houses and self catering properties, have faced in understanding the new rules. It is designed to encourage compliance, by giving the owners of these businesses practical advice on reducing fire risks in their establishments. It explains the risk assessment process, sets out sources of further advice and guidance and offer some practical information for owners on what may represent appropriate and proportionate fire safety measures in these types of premises.
Research: Finance
[holding answer 13 March 2009]: The Department has commissioned three projects:
(i) University of London’s EPPI-centre and Matrix Knowledge Group have been appointed to conduct research on participation in culture and sport. The research will draw together current evidence to address fundamental questions for public policy development in this area: what drives engagement and how do we understand and maximise the value and benefits it brings. It will report in winter 2009-10.
(ii) Identifying and exploring options for developing a comprehensive national cultural and sporting assets database, building on active places http://www.activeplaces.co.uk/ and related datasets to look at supply across DCMS sectors. The scoping exercise will also explore the definition of a cultural and sporting asset. Contractors BOP Consulting will report in spring 2009.
(iii) Understanding regional evidence needs. With the advent of Integrated Regional Strategies, and the wind up of the Regional Cultural Consortiums. BMG have been commissioned to identify and appraise options for meeting research and evidence needs shared by the four agencies at regional level, ensuring that common research questions can be addressed consistently within a national framework. The work should propose a number of different models to achieve this. It will report in June 2009.
We are also working with the Economic and Social Research Council to place culture and sports engagement questions in Understanding Society:
http://www.understandingsociety.org.uk/
the new household longitudinal study. This will deliver initial data in 2011.
Royal Parks Agency: Repairs and Maintenance
[holding answer 9 March 2009]: The Royal Parks advise that expenditure on roads and parking areas is not disaggregated for each park. The combined expenditure figures on roads and parking areas over the past five years are as follows:
(a) Budgets
(i) and (ii) The provisional annual allocation for road and parking area maintenance was £500,000 per year for each year since 2004-05. This budget is not park specific. Expenditure is prioritised annually and the allocation adjusted accordingly.
(b) Expenditure
£ 2004-05 Richmond Park 369,000 Regent's Park 71,000 St. James's Park 30,000 Hyde Park 76,000 Total 546,000 2005-06 Richmond Park 11,000 Regent's Park 642,000 Greenwich Park 25,000 Hyde Park 6,000 Bushy Park 473,000 Total 1,157,000 2006-07 Regent's Park 290,000 St James's 58,000 Hyde Park 516,000 Total 864,000 2007-08 Richmond Park 125,000 Regents Park 5,000 St James's Park 24,000 Hyde Park 1627,000 Total 781,000 2008-09 Richmond 46,000 Regent's Park 65,000 St. James's Park 440,000 Hyde Park 135,000 Bushy Park 2789,000 Total 1,475,000 Total for period 4.823 million 1 Includes TfL funding. 2 Includes Heritage Lottery funding. Notes: 1. All figures relate to major works and exclude expenditure on annual ‘reactive maintenance’ costs on roads and parking areas which is accounted separately as part of wider upkeep costs. 2. The figures also do not include expenditure on tracks, footpaths and rides that are available for the use of pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders.
Sports: Grants
[holding answer 12 February 2009]: Sport England is responsible for the national strategy to develop a world-leading community sport system. The Big Lottery Fund provides support for community sport through its funding of health, education, environment and charitable purposes, and shares its experience with all its stakeholders, including Sport England. The strategy has been informed by the Big Lottery Fund’s experience of funding community sport.
Sports: Public Consultation
The Whole Sport Plan process was conducted by Sport England. It provided the national governing bodies of 46 sports with the opportunity to present their vision for the whole of their sport, and many will have consulted widely as part of this process. The plans then went through a rigorous process of review by the Sport England engagement team, peer review and finally a national advisory panel, including representatives of the National Equality Partners (Sporting Equals, the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation and the English Federation of Disability Sport).
Tourism: Coastal Areas
The number of jobs in British seaside resorts dependent on tourism is unavailable. The number of jobs dependent on tourism is available only for the UK as a whole and is as follows:
Employee jobs Self-employed jobs All jobs 2001 1,261.6 119.0 1,380.5 2002 1,277.9 119.8 1,397.7 2003 1,294.2 119.0 1,413.1 2004 1,326.8 129.6 1,456.4 2005 1,330.8 120.2 1,450.9 2006 1,316.2 126.9 1,443.1 2007 1,308.1 132.4 1,440.4 2008 1,317.7 146.0 1,463.7 Notes: 1. This table provides estimates of the number of people working whose jobs are supported by tourism. 2. The figures above are calculated by summing employee jobs and self-employment jobs (including self-employed as second job). 3. These estimates are based on the ‘UK Tourism Satellite Account—First Steps Project’ (TSA), which assesses the proportion of employment that is supported by tourism. 4. Due to revisions to the Workforce Jobs Survey in December 2008, back data have been revised.
VisitBritain have advised that they do not hold the information in the format requested. Research methodology changed mid-way through 2005 and full year data for overnight trips are only available for 2006 and 2007.
There were 20.7 million domestic overnight trips to the English seaside in 2006 and 20.4 million domestic overnight trips to the English seaside in 2007. No data detailing the purpose of these visits are held.
For day visits, the latest data are from Natural England's 2005 survey and include the purpose of these visits, details of which can be found at the following web link:
http://livelink/livelink/livelink.exe/fetch/2000/51254/246618/51948/51949/110303/England_Leisure_Day_Visit_Survey_ 2005.pdf?nodeid=2909669&vernum=-2
Communities and Local Government
Community Relations
The total value of the contract for the research conducted by the Tavistock Institute is £24,500 plus VAT. The total cost for the De Montfort University research contract is £65,600 plus VAT.
The research that the Tavistock Institute is carrying out for Communities and Local Government has two phases. The first phase was finished in February, and the second phase, setting out guidelines for carrying out evaluation, is due to be available in April.
The final report for the Rapid Evidence Assessment research being carried out by De Montfort University is due to be completed in May.
Council Housing: Rents
Communities and Local Government wrote to local authorities on 11 March with further information following the announcement on 6 March by the Minister for Housing, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby, South (Margaret Beckett), of the reduction by half in the national average guideline rent increase for 2009-10.
The letter sets out a broad timetable for implementation of the changes for those authorities accepting our offer. After a short period of consultation on new guideline rents for each authority, we envisage issuing the final 2009-10 amending Housing Revenue Account (HRA) subsidy determination with reduced rental income for participating authorities in May. It would then be for those authorities to introduce the changes to their own timetables for reducing their tenants' rents.
Home Ownership Incentive Schemes
The average price of property purchased through Own Home is £175,000.
This information is not held centrally. However, there is no interest to pay on the loan for the first three years following purchase.
The First Time Buyers Initiative programme is funded through a government-only equity loan. The maximum level of investment under the programme will be £250 million. To date, around £137 million of the total budget has been committed. The investment phase of the programme will end in March 2010. The final level of investment will be dependent on the number of purchasers that buy a home on one of the programme's designated new build schemes.
The Government have provided £33.8 million for OwnHome in 2008-09. This was augmented with funding from Places for People. Over the three years 2008-11, we are investing over £8 billion in affordable housing through the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). We have not allocated specific funds for OwnHome for each of the next two years to allow full flexibility within the Affordable Housing Programme operated by the HCA. Future levels of funds beyond 2010-11 will be dependent upon the next spending review.
Homebuy Scheme
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 31 January 2008, Official Report, columns 585-86W to the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Andrew Stunell).
Homelessness
Information about English local housing authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level.
Data collected include the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes so.
Information on the numbers of households housed in temporary accommodation is reported quarterly by local authorities as at the last day of each quarter. The figure includes: those households which have been accepted as owed the main homelessness duty; those for which enquiries are pending; those being accommodated for a limited period because they have been found intentionally homeless and in priority need; those being accommodated pending possible referral to another authority, and those being accommodated pending the outcome of a local authority review or county court appeal.
The number of households in temporary accommodation, housed in private sector properties leased by local authorities and registered social landlords at the end of the each year since 1997, is shown in the following table:
Private sector properties leased by: (a) Local authorities (b) Registered social landlords 1997 3,950 7,400 1998 4,370 10,380 1999 5,140 11,140 2000 4,530 17,080 2001 4,180 16,420 2002 6,990 18,950 2003 16,890 21,850 2004 21,530 24,610 2005 27,890 22,020 2006 29,920 18,930 2007 26,590 15,140 2008 26,620 12,160 Source: CLG P1E Homelessness returns (quarterly)
Housing: Construction
The Department publish quarterly information on the number of new house building starts and completions in England. The latest National Statistics release “House Building: December Quarter 2008, England” was published on 19 February 2009, and is available on the Department's website at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/housebuildingq42008
New house building completions are the main component of net supply of housing, which measures the absolute change in the dwelling stock between 1 April and 31 March the following year.
Net supply to dwelling stock is published annually. The latest statistical release “Net supply of housing: 2007-08, England” was published on 27 February 2009, and is available on the Department’s website at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/netsupplyhousing200708
A national system for collecting information about surplus public sector land did not exist in 1997. In 2004, the Government established the Register of Surplus Public Sector Land which now requires Government Departments to register land that is to be disposed of, for any future use including housing.
However, as part of the Surplus Public Sector Land programme, the Homes and Communities Agency (previously English Partnerships) has been working with Government Departments and other bodies to collect information about land they have sold that has subsequently been used for housing. The information available does not include schools but shows that the number of homes built since 1997 on the following bodies’ surplus land were as follows:
Number Ministry of Defence 10,871 National Health Service/Department of Health 30,474 Government bodies (British Waterway, DEFRA, Homes and Communities Agency) 18,160
These figures are likely to under-represent the number of homes built on land formerly owned by Government bodies. However, more detailed information cannot be provided without disproportionate cost.
Housing: Low Incomes
Information on the number of affordable homes on the market is not collected centrally.
The following table shows the number of additional affordable homes provided in England in each of the last five years. These figures are not available quarterly.
Number of affordable homes provided 2003-04 38,070 2004-05 37,470 2005-06 45,980 2006-07 44,570 2007-08 53,730
The affordable housing figures are from the Homes and Communities Agency Investment Management System (IMS), and Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) returns and P2 house building returns submitted to CLG by local authorities and the National House-Building Council.
The Design for Manufacture Competition was announced by the then Deputy Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott), on 26 September 2004. The Prior Information Notice was issued on 15 February 2005, and the Contract Notice (which formally opened the competition process) was issued on 29 March 2005. This allowed consortiums to register their interest in participating and to request the necessary initial documents. The last of the 10 site contracts was awarded in July 2006, and that brought the competition stage of the programme to a close. A document called ‘Designed for Manufacture—lessons learnt’, which explained the competition process and the individual projects in detail, was published in June 2006.
The “Up2U/First Steps” scheme announced by the Mayor of London on 3 March was potentially novel and therefore my approval was required before funding from the Homes and Communities Agency could be committed. I immediately asked my officials to work with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to ensure that the scheme offered good value for money and that there were no practical or legal barriers to it proceeding.
This detailed work showed that there was scope to reduce the delivery risk and improve the value for money offered by the “Up2U/First Steps” scheme. I have now approved a revised deal between the HCA and London and Quadrant (L&Q). This deal will involve the properties that were to be covered by the “Up2U/First Steps” scheme being delivered through the Government’s existing intermediate market products (including Rent to HomeBuy, Intermediate Rent and New Build HomeBuy).
As a result of this deal, all of the properties that were to be covered by the “Up2U/First Steps” scheme will now be made available at completion as affordable housing and will not instead be sold outright. As such, the deal will not only unlock development by L&Q and support the construction industry—it will also offer a better deal for both first time buyers and taxpayers.
Housing: Prices
The ratio of lower quintile house prices to lower quintile earnings in England for the years 1997 to 2008 is presented in the following table:
Lower quintile house prices to lower quintile earnings, England 1997 3.51 1998 3.52 1999 3.66 2000 3.79 2001 3.97 2002 4.31 2003 4.94 2004 6.14 2005 6.66 2006 7.10 2007 7.37 2008 7.03 Source: Land Registry and the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ONS).
Communities and Local Government does not make forecasts of the housing affordability ratio.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
The Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme is expected to open in April with the first lenders. The scheme will help ensure hard working people who suffer a temporary loss of income can stay in their home. It enables households that experience a redundancy or significant loss of income to reduce their monthly payments to a more manageable level, by deferring a proportion of the interest payments on their mortgage for up to two years. Further detail, including the eligibility criteria is available at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/buyingselling/mortgagesupportscheme/
Multiple Occupation
There are no planning powers conferred on local authorities specifically in relation to the development of houses in multiple occupation in areas identified as tourist destinations. But local authorities may make use of their general planning powers in such areas.
The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) is intended to be a deregulatory mechanism which removes the need for planning permission between certain specified uses by grouping into classes land uses which have similar implications for local amenity. The Use Classes Order defines dwelling houses under the C3 use class as houses used by a single person, any number of persons living together as a family, or by no more than six people living together as a single household.
HMOs do not fall within any of the specified use classes, and therefore are “sui generis” (in a class of its own) in terms of use. Planning permission is needed for a change of use to or from a sui generis use. Therefore, planning permission would be needed for a proposed change of use from a private dwelling to a HMO, or if such is deemed to have occurred.
The current definition of a dwelling house implies that up to six people living together as a single household should not, prima facie, be considered as a HMO. However local planning authorities may determine individual cases on the basis of “fact and degree” and may decide that a dwelling with fewer than six people living together other than as a single household constitutes a HMO.
In addition, local authorities have powers under the Housing Act 2004 to licence certain HMOs. These measures concern the condition and management of these properties and, again, are not specifically related to areas identified as tourist destinations.
I have been asked to reply.
The Government remain committed to tackling the problems arising from rogue landlords providing private rented accommodation to illegal migrants. Having consulted the Local Government Association and the professional local government regulatory services body LACORS, we concluded that there are more effective alternative ways of promoting joint working between United Kingdom Border Agency officials and their local government counterparts across a broader spectrum of common interests than proceeding with the proposed National indicator 12. That includes the development of partnership working between local authorities and the new network of UK Border Agency local immigration teams, the majority of which will be in place by the end of next year. We will consider whether it would be appropriate to devise and consult on alternative indicators relating to immigration as part of the refresh of the National Indicator Set which is due to conclude in 2011.
Planning Obligations
Planning obligations (also known as section 106 agreements of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act) will remain available to local planning authorities after CIL regulations come into force. However, the Government are considering whether there is a case to restrict the scope of planning obligations in the future. Further details were set out in Chapter 5 of the Government’s policy document, “The Community Infrastructure Levy” (August 2008) available on the Communities and Local Government website.
Planning Permission
Since 1 January 2005, we and our precursor Department (The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) have published approximately 3,254 pages of national planning guidance. This total includes Planning Policy Statements, Circulars and other guidance documents. Some of these are available only in electronic form, on the web. Documents published since 2005 but subsequently cancelled have been omitted. We announced in the Planning White Paper (2007) that we would significantly streamline the planning policy framework.
Planning: Horticulture
This information is not held centrally.
Property Development
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, during the last five years the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has published twice yearly the VOA Property Market Report. The report gives opinions of value each year, as at 1 January and 1 July, for land for development for residential use. The reports for this period are available to view on the VOA website at:
www.voa.gov.uk/publications
The report gives values for 97 separate locations in England, plus 10 in Scotland and eight in Wales, where significant residential development is considered to be most likely to occur.
Property Transfer
The following table lists the number of local authorities that have undertaken large scale voluntary transfer of housing stock in each financial year since 1997. The figure for 2008-09 is the number we expect to complete transfers.
Number of local authorities 1997-98 15 1998-99 21 1999-2000 25 2000-01 18 2001-02 14 2002-03 22 2003-04 10 2004-05 14 2005-06 12 2006-07 16 2007-08 26 2008-09 6
The Department does not keep any central records of the total cost of large-scale voluntary transfers to local authorities.
Two separate payments can be made when a local authority transfers its housing stock to a registered social landlord (RSL).
If a local authority's attributable housing debt is not cleared either in part or in entirety by receipts from an RSL through Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) arrangements, the debt that remains is transferred from the local authority sector to central Government through a payment made to the Public Works Loan Board. Overhanging debt (OHD) payments to the Public Works Loan Board under these debt transfer arrangements since 2000-01 are shown in the following table. The Department began payments to the PWLB in 2000-01.
OHD amount (£ million) 2000-01 276 2001-02 0 2002-03 548 2003-04 91 2004-05 591 2005-06 386 2006-07 544 2007-08 1,213 2008-09 1515 1 Includes transfers expected to complete by the end of financial year 2008-09.
Grant funding payments can be made to RSLs taking negatively valued housing stock from local authorities under LSVT arrangements. Since 1 December 2008, the Homes and Communities Agency has assumed responsibility for the housing transfer programme and will continue to make payments as required.
These gap funding grant payments enable RSLs to lever in sufficient private finance to enable full Decent Homes investment programmes to be undertaken after transfer. Gap funding payments by the Department to registered social landlords to support large scale voluntary transfers commenced in 2004-05. The following table sets out those payments.
£ million 2004-05 7.6 2005-06 3.8 2006-07 22 2007-08 80 2008-09 1120 1 Forecast.
Gap funding grant payments by the Department to registered social landlords taking negatively valued housing stock under Large Scale Voluntary Transfer arrangements commenced in 2004-05. Responsibility for the housing transfer programme passed to the Homes and Communities Agency on 1 December 2008, who assumed responsibility for these grants, making payments from that date. In 2008-09, we expect that grant payments of around £120 million to be made in respect of gap funding agreements entered into for that year.
The following table sets out the gap funding grant expenditure in each year.
£ million 2004-05 7.6 2005-06 3.8 2006-07 22 2007-08 80
Regional Planning and Development
‘Local development framework’ is the collective name for the various spatial planning-related documents that local planning authorities have prepared. To date the Planning Inspectorate has considered and found sound:
43 Core Strategies
30 Area Action Plans
Seven Site Allocation Policies
Seven Development Control Policies
11 Minerals and Waste Policies
Nine other plans dealing with specific themes
385 Statements of Community Involvement.
Supplementary Planning Documents do not need to be approved by the Planning Inspectorate and there is no central record of the number adopted.
The Government agree timetables for the delivery of plans (Local Development Schemes) with local authorities and hold regular discussions with them about progress. Sector-led support is provided through the Planning Advisory Service to authorities who decide they require assistance in the preparation of their plans and the Government also fund a programme of visits by Planning Inspectors to authorities to help with plan preparation.
Repossession Orders
We continue to monitor trends in numbers of repossessed and empty homes. Information on repossessions is available separately from the Council of Mortgage Lenders and Financial Services Authority. These data are available at the UK level only. Information on mortgage and landlord possession orders at county court level are available via the Ministry of Justice website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/stats-landlord-mortgage-historic-20-02-09.xls
For trends in long-term (over six months) vacant dwellings at England and local authority level, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 16 December 2008, Official Report, column 586W. We have strengthened local authorities’ powers to deal with empty homes through:
Use of Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) that allow councils to bring homes back into use without forcing change of ownership;
Supporting the publication on 10 March of the independent Empty Homes Agency’s Guidance on Empty Dwelling Management Orders, for which my right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning provided the foreword;
Promoting best practice among local authorities by hosting a seminar.
Shared Ownership Schemes
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 3 March 2009, Official Report, columns 1540-42W. The new build Homebuy figures in the first table show the number of shared ownership completions in England, by region. These figures are only available annually, not by month.
Social Rented Housing
The information requested is not readily available for the United Kingdom.
Estimates of the number of households in England who were living in social housing in each year since 1997 are set out in the following table.
Number (Thousand) 1997 4,170 1998 4,148 1999 4,072 2000 3,953 2001 3,983 2002 3,972 2003 3,804 2004 3,797 2005 3,696 2006 3,736 2007 3,755 2008 3,797 Source: ONS Labour Force Survey
In England, over the three years 2008 to 2011, we are investing over £8 billion in affordable housing through the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). Around £6.5 billion of this will be directed towards social rented homes.
We have not allocated specific funds in each of the next three years to allow full flexibility within the Affordable Housing programme operated by the HCA. This has allowed us to bring forward £550 million from 2010-11 into earlier years for social rented homes.
Future levels of funds available for social rent and all affordable housing beyond 2010-11 will be dependent upon the next spending review.
Tenant Services Authority
Indicative funding allocations for the Tenant Services Authority between 2009-11 is as follows:
£ million 2009-10 35.623 2010-11 35.173
This excludes any additional resources that may be allocated for specific initiatives at a later date. Following completion of the exercise to disaggregate the Housing Corporation spend, there was some late adjustments to the 2009-10 TSA budget. The £35.623 million is the latest position and this is reflected in the information submitted to the HM Treasury.
Budget allocations for the period after 2010-11 will be set as part of the next comprehensive spending review. Final budgets will be agreed with the TSA on an annual basis.
The National Conversation events organised by the TSA for tenants commenced in Leeds on 27 January and finished on 5 March in Bristol.
The complete list of regional National Conversation events for tenants is as follows:
Date of event Leeds 27 January Manchester 3 February Birmingham 4 February Durham 5 February Leicester 11 February Cambridge 12 February Gatwick 24 February Twickenham 25 February London 26 February Plymouth 4 March Bristol 5 March
The TSA also hosted National Conversation events for landlords. A complete list of these is as follows:
Date Venue Location 11 March 2009 Aston Villa Stadium Birmingham 12 March 2009 Corn Exchange Exeter 17 March 2009 Ramside Hall Durham 18 March 2009 City of Manchester Stadium Manchester 19 March 2009 Emirates Stadium London
Further information on the National Conversation can be found on the website at:
http://www.nationalconversation.co.uk/Conversations.aspx
Section 114 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 allows the Secretary of State to make an order to bring local authorities within the Tenant Services Authority's regulatory regime. We intend to publish a draft order for consultation later this year. Following consideration of consultation responses we intend to lay an order and, subject to parliamentary approval, we expect that the TSA will be regulating local authority landlords from April 2010.
Work and Pensions
Children: Maintenance
The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to how many occasions on which the Child Support Agency was not able to make deductions directly from non-resident parents' benefit due to technical difficulties in the last three years it was (a) possible and (b) not possible to establish why the technical fault occurred. [258647]
In child maintenance cases where the non-resident parent is in receipt of state benefit, the Child Support Agency may issue a request to Jobcentre Plus to make a flat rate maintenance deduction from their benefits. This automated request may initially be rejected when the information the Child Support Agency holds differs from that held by Jobcentre Plus; for example, the benefits are now being administered by a different office from where the original request was sent, or the benefits are suspended pending a decision. These reasons are in fact administrative in nature and unfortunately are sometimes perceived to be and explained as technical issues. I understand that such a misunderstanding may have occurred in relation to a constituent's case, for which I apologise.
In such cases, the revised request will often be accepted before affecting maintenance deductions, which are carried out bi-weekly in accordance with benefit payments. Therefore, even if a request to deduct maintenance is initially rejected for an administrative reason, this does not necessarily mean that the maintenance payment was not received by the parent-with-care on time. The Agency does not hold information on the number of rejections which resulted in a deduction being missed or the different reasons why a request may be rejected.0
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Departmental Absenteeism
The number of staff absent due to non-medical reasons is not held centrally. This is because it includes annual leave, flexi leave and special leave. Therefore, to provide the data for 2 and 3 February in respect of our total staffing of over 100,000 would incur disproportionate cost.
In addition to the policies governing absence and leave, specific HR advice was issued to cover absences on 2 and 3 February due to the adverse weather. Where employees attempted to come into work but were unable to do so because of the adverse weather and travel disruption, they were credited with the hours normally worked on these days. Overall the Department is grateful to the very many of its staff who made considerable efforts to get into work on the days in question.
Departmental Official Engagements
[holding answer 12 March 2009]: I am depositing a table of information in the Library.
Accurate information on the length of time spent on each engagement could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Postal Services
DWP postal volumes delivered by Royal Mail Group over the past two years were approximately 200 million items to customers (2008-09) and were approximately similar volumes in the previous financial year (2007-08).
DWP postal volumes delivered by other postal providers over the same period are as follows:
UK Mail—volume 95 million items (2008-09) and 80 million items (2007-08) 2nd class postal output to DWP customers from DWP’s regional delivery centres (RDCs) at Washington and Norcross sites.; the final mile is still delivered by Royal Mail;
Spring Global Mail—volume 2 million items (2008-09) and 1.9 million items (2007-08) for international mail to DWP customers.
Since the liberalisation of the UK mail market in January 2006, the Department for Work and Pensions has taken the opportunity to source alternative suppliers (who must hold appropriate licences from Postcomm) to deliver UK postal services via Down Stream Access (DSA). The National Audit Office (NAO) also endorses the use of DSA across public sector postal requirements.
DWP remains committed to using Royal Mail postal services and we have developed a range of joint initiatives to further enhance our relationship and deliver postal efficiencies. DWP is also monitoring the developing postal marketplace for best value for money opportunities for taxpayers
Departmental Press
DWP was formed in June 2001 from Department of Social Security (DSS) and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment, including the Employment Service (ES). Information for the periods prior to June 2001 is not available.
Information on the amount spent in each financial year from 2001 onwards is set out in the following table.
Financial year Newspaper/magazine spend Periodical spend 2001-02 24,757.96 228,207.11 2002-03 1— 314,328.85 2003-04 1— 266,764.89 2004-05 54,298.68 164,068.43 2005-06 66,265.94 122,040.63 2006-07 73,794.25 134,642.74 2007-08 56,364.35 138,063.72 1 Included in Periodical spend.
Departmental Surveys
[holding answer 20 March 2009]: The most recent DWP Survey results (January 2008) are already available in the House of Commons Library. All previous DWP surveys can be viewed on the following site under the heading ‘The Way We Work’:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/resourcecentre/corporate-publications.asp
Over 1,200 reports are produced for all the teams participating in the survey. Therefore these could be collated and placed in the Library only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Temporary Employment
Temporary staff may be recruited into the Department for Work and Pensions only for a maximum period of 39 weeks. Such appointments are renewed on an exceptional basis, up to a total period of employment not exceeding 12 months—as stipulated by the civil service recruitment code. Where the need is anticipated to be more than 39 weeks at the onset; recruitment should be through fair and open competition on fixed term or permanent appointments.
Agency workers are engaged by the Department to fill identified skills gaps or to provide support not currently available. Such appointments should be short term and in response to specific business requirements. Controls are in place to ensure any renewal of contracts beyond six, or exceptionally 12, months can be authorised only at a very senior level. Agency workers are brought into the Department via interim personnel framework agreements.
Departmental Training
The Department for Work and Pensions does not have a separate or identifiable account code in departmental finance records to distinguish expenditure on either staff or ministerial away days. To try and identify any such expenditure would incur a disproportionate amount of time and cost.
Spending on staff away days is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, which is based on the principles set out in Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety. All spending on ministerial away days is made in accordance with the principles set out within Ministerial Guidance.
Disability Living Allowance
The measure extending the higher rate of the mobility component of disability living allowance to people who are severely visually impaired will not be introduced before April 2011. We are confident that by the date of its introduction the Department will have re-prioritised annually managed expenditure to ensure that funding is available.
Disability Living Allowance: Tamworth
At August 2008, 4,940 people in Tamworth constituency were claiming disability living allowance.
Notes:
1. Figure is rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Figure shows the number of people in receipt of the allowance, and excludes people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital.
3. This figure is published on the DWP website:
www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp
Source:
DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
Disability Living Allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber
The information is in the following table.
Barnsley Doncaster August 1997 13,700 15,200 August 1998 14,200 15,700 August 1999 14,200 16,200 August 2000 14,900 17,000 August 2001 16,400 17,200 August 2002 16,660 18,140 August 2003 17,290 18,910 August 2004 17,730 19,320 August 2005 17,930 19,560 August 2006 18,230 19,860 August 2007 18,590 20,310 August 2008 18,910 20,700 Notes: 1. August 2002-08 figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Pre-August 2002 figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 3. There are no data available for disability living allowance in the WPLS before May 2002. 4. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. Sources: 1. August 2002-08: 100 per cent. work and pensions longitudinal study. 2. Pre-August 2002: 5 per cent. sample data adjusted to be consistent with 100 per cent. WPLS totals.
Employment and Support Allowance
An Equality Impact Assessment was published in December 2008 on initiatives covered in the White Paper “Raising expectations and increasing support: reforming welfare for the future”. This included a focus on disability in the new specialist disability programme replacing Workstep, Work Preparation and Job Introduction Scheme. The Equality Impact Assessment was published on-line, in December 2008, at:
www.dwp.gov.uk/raisingexpectations
and is being kept under review.
The available information is in the table.
Bexleyheath and Crayford parliamentary constituency Bexley local authority London Government office region August 2004 Attendance allowance 1,720 4,370 121,700 Disability living allowance 2,800 7,140 262,050 August 2005 Attendance allowance 1,780 4,560 124,750 Disability living allowance 2,960 7,500 270,310 August 2006 Attendance allowance 1,790 4,640 127,800 Disability living allowance 3,080 7,790 276,290 August 2007 Attendance allowance 1,860 4,840 130,400 Disability living allowance 3,240 8,180 285,940 August 2008 Attendance allowance 1,960 5,100 133,680 Disability living allowance 3,440 8,680 296,600 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Figures show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 3. Figures are published on the DWP website at: www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp Source: DWP Information Directorate: 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
Incapacity Benefit: Employment Schemes
(2) what the minimum level of expected participation will be for incapacity benefit claimants covered by the invest to save pathfinders.
In the 'invest to save' pathfinders, we plan to provide support to existing incapacity benefits claimants once they have transferred to the employment and support allowance. Participation in activities such as work focused interviews and work-related activity will be mandatory for claimants in the Employment and Support Allowance Work-Related Activity Group.
Consistent with the 'Progression to Work' model recommended in the Gregg Review, we expect that all claimants participating in the 'invest to save' pathfinders will:
have an action plan;
be required to undertake work-related activity; and
have regular contact with their provider to ensure a minimum level of contact and engagement.
Claimants placed in the Employment and Support Allowance Support Group will not be required to undertake any mandatory activities, although they will be able to volunteer for back-to-work support.
Industrial Health and Safety: Sellafield
There are three extant specifications (No's 324, 325 and 326) relating to Intermediate Level Waste stored in facilities in legacy ponds and silos at the Sellafield site.
The specifications are worded in such a way that they require radioactive wastes to be removed from their current locations and placed in safer storage conditions by particular dates. HSE is monitoring progress towards these dates and its Nuclear Installations Inspectorate wrote to Sellafield Ltd. on 29 September 2008 seeking information to inform future enforcement decisions should the work not be completed by the due dates.
Jobseeker's Allowance
[holding answer 6 March 2009]: This information is not held centrally by DWP.
Members: Correspondence
[holding answer 4 February 2009]: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 17 March 2009.
Social Security Benefits
The available information is in the tables.
Disability living allowance Attendance allowance August 1999 2,135,100 1,258,600 August 2000 2,213,300 1,262,200 August 2001 2,326,800 1,285,900 August 2002 2,454,340 1,300,090 August 2003 2,573,540 1,336,210 August 2004 2,672,160 1,397,300 August 2005 2,749,480 1,440,090 August 2006 2,814,290 1,484,580 August 2007 2,909,980 1,525,610 August 2008 2,999,650 1,565,000 Notes: 1. August 2002 to August 2008: 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. There are no data available for disability living allowance and attendance allowance in the WPLS before May 2002. Pre August 2002: 5 per cent. sample data rated up to be consistent with 100 per cent. WPLS totals. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 3. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 4. Figures may include a small number of cases where the recipient lives abroad. 5. Data are published at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp. Source: DWP Information Directorate
Claimant count August 1999 1,180,100 August 2000 1,019,700 August 2001 911,900 August 2002 910,100 August 2003 898,500 August 2004 804,600 August 2005 839,800 August 2006 924,800 August 2007 825,200 August 2008 880,400 February 2009 1,349,100 Notes: 1. Data are seasonally adjusted and relates to claimants who are over 18 only. 2. Data have been rounded to the nearest 100. 3. Data are published at https://www.nomisweb.co.uk. Source: 100 per cent. count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus Computer Systems.
Social Security Benefits: Disabled
The available information is in the table.
Jarrow parliamentary constituency South Tyneside local authority North East Government office region Great Britain August 1997 4,300 8,200 134,000 1,982,900 August 1998 4,400 8,300 139,600 2,073,400 August 1999 4,300 8,200 141,600 2,145,300 August 2000 4,500 8,800 144,900 2,223,800 August 2001 4,800 9,300 151,100 2,337,900 August 2002 5,030 9,280 152,850 2,452,290 August 2003 5,140 9,490 156,120 2,571,470 August 2004 5,200 9,650 157,890 2,669,970 August 2005 5,310 9,780 159,000 2,747,100 August 2006 5,420 10,010 160,810 2,811,890 August 2007 5,580 10,340 165,710 2,907,650 August 2008 5,730 10,660 170,170 2,996,820 Notes: 1. August 2002 to August 2008: 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 2. Pre August 2002: 5 per cent. sample data rated up to be consistent with 100 per cent. WPLS totals. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 3. There are no data available for disability living allowance in the WPLS before May 2002. 4. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. Sources: DWP Information Directorate.
State Retirement Pension
The precise information requested is not available.
The cost of making payments to pensioners depends on the payment method they choose. The average costs of each payment method are:
Cost (£) Payment into a bank account 0.01 Payment into a Post Office card account 0.80 Payment by cheque 1.79 Source: Corporate Banking and Methods of Payment.
Making payments less frequently (four weekly, rather than weekly) would appear, on the face of it, to reduce the Department's payment costs as fewer payments would be made each year. It is not possible to say exactly what impact on costs this would have as it would depend on a variety of factors—including customer behaviour and third party charges.
Treasury
Banks: Finance
On 19 January, the Government announced measures designed to reinforce the stability of the financial system, to increase confidence and capacity to lend, and in turn to support the recovery of the economy. Further information is available at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/press_05_09.htm
These build on measures announced on 8 October last year.
The Government are negotiating quantified lending agreements with the banks participating in the Asset Protection Scheme and extended Credit Guarantee Scheme as announced in January this year. The Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in his statement to Parliament on 26 February that Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed lending agreements with the Government. The Financial Secretary to the Treasury set out in his statement to Parliament on 9 March that Lloyds Banking Group has agreed lending agreements with the Government.
The Government will report to Parliament annually on the delivery of these agreements.
As announced in the 2008 pre-Budge report, the Government have established a new lending panel, which will improve monitoring of lending to households and businesses. The remit of the panel is set out in the 2008 pre-Budget report.
Asset purchases undertaken by the Bank of England will increase the flow of money within the economy. This will help to revive the flow of credit within the economy, encourage spending and support economic activity. A prosperous and stable economy is vital for pension funds to meet their obligations.
To the extent that asset purchases by the Bank of England lead to movements in bond yields, this will affect the present value of pension funds liabilities, and also the present value of bonds and other assets held by the fund. The overall effect on an individual fund's financial position will depend on how closely the fund's assets and liabilities are matched in terms of their exposure to interest rate risk. This will vary across funds, reflecting differences in the composition of each fund's assets and liabilities.
The Government have set out four basic principles to be applied to remuneration policies:
Rewards for failure are not appropriate.
Bonus payments should be based on long-term sustainable performance.
Bonuses are not just about past performance but are designed to shape future performance and thus should be subject to appropriate claw back.
The regulator is to take bank remuneration policy into account when supervising a bank.
The Government are clear that going forward, remuneration policies must be based on long-term sustainable performance in the interests of shareholders, taking proper account of risk.
Child Tax Credit
Estimates of the number of families with tax credit awards, including those entitled to the family element of child tax credit only are published in table 2.1 of our provisional awards snapshot publication, “Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics, December 2008”. The publication is available on the HMRC website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-dec08.pdf
The information requested is available only at a disproportionate cost.
However, estimates of the number of families in receipt of tax credit, including information on lone-parent families by age bands, are published in table 3.1 of the HMRC snapshot publications, “Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics” as at 4 December of each year. The publications are available on the HMRC website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-quarterly-stats.htm
Departmental Bank Services
HM Treasury have contracted with the following banks for the provision of financial advice during the financial year 2008-09:
Citigroup
Credit Suisse
Deutsche Bank
Goldman Sachs
Morgan Stanley.
Departmental Meetings
Treasury Ministers attend a wide range of meetings as part of carrying out their duties in line with the “Ministerial Code”. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1891W.
Departmental Visits Abroad
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer that the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley, South (Ian Pearson), gave to the hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson) on 12 March 2009, Official Report, column 718W.
Equitable Life: Compensation
Sir John Chadwick has begun the work the Government asked him to undertake on aspects of the ex gratia payments scheme for Equitable Life policyholders announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 15 January At this stage, it is not possible to determine how long it will take to make payments under the scheme. The Government will keep the House updated and report back on progress at regular intervals.
Income Tax
All taxpayers who pay any income tax at the basic rate would benefit. A reduction in the basic rate would result in a loss of tax revenue which can be approximated from table 1.6 ‘Direct effects of illustrative tax changes’ on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_expenditures/table1-6.pdf
The figures exclude any estimate of behavioural response.
There would need to be a corresponding reduction in income tax deducted at source on interest.
Members: Correspondence
A reply has been sent to the right hon. Member.
A reply has been sent to the right hon. Member.
A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.
A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.
I have replied to the hon. Member.
Mortgages
The Government have not provided guarantees in respect of new mortgage lending.
The Government have announced a comprehensive package designed to reinforce the stability of the financial system, to increase confidence and capacity to lend, and in turn to support the recovery of the economy. Details are available at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/press_05_09.htm
Moscow
(2) how many visits were made by staff of his Department to Beijing in the financial year 2007-08.
The Treasury's accounting system does not hold travel information by destination but the Department's travel provider confirmed that staff made three visits to Beijing and one to Moscow in 2007-08. All visits by staff are undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Code and the Civil Service Management Code.
Revenue and Customs
Since December 2007, HMRC has co-located face to face advice services with six Jobcentre Plus branches, and two local authority offices. There are four further co-locations currently planned for 2009, three with local authorities and one with a Jobcentre Plus office. When an HMRC inquiry centre is relocated, the preferred option is to co-locate face to face services with central and local government departments, in line with the wider government service transformation agenda. Customers can also access HMRC information through the Directgov and Business Link websites.
Tax Allowances: Cultural Heritage
(2) when the database of tax-exempt heritage assets was last updated to include access arrangements; when he expects it next to be updated; and if he will make a statement.
Details of the public access arrangements for land, buildings and chattels granted conditional exemption from tax are shown on a database on the HM Revenue and Customs Heritage website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/heritage/
The website was last updated on 21 August 2008 and is expected to be updated again in April 2009.
Tax Credit Office: Costs
HM Revenue and Customs delivers tax credits through a number of its business units including tax credit office (TCO). For information relating to the full costs of managing and paying the child and working tax credits, I refer the hon. Member to the annual departmental trust statements published at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/hmrc-dep-acct0708.pdf
and the Comptroller and Auditor General’s standard reports available at:
www.nao.org.uk/publications.aspx
TCO staffing costs for the last five years are shown in the following table.
£ million 2003-04 61.28 2004-05 73.74 2005-06 61.86 2006-07 184.30 2007-08 87.64 1 Staff costs increased from 2006-07 when operational support staff transferred to TCO.
Taxation: Arms Trade
There are no export taxes, duties or levies in force on goods exported from the UK.
The value of exports of military equipment to all destinations is published in the UK’s Strategic Export Controls Annual Reports, which are available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s website at:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/publications/publications/annual-reports/export-controls1
Taxation: Overpayments
HMRC do not have a target time specifically for repayments of overpaid tax. HMRC do not hold information on time taken to repay overpaid taxes.
Taxation: Pensioners
The information requested is in the following tables.
Number of pensioners paying HR income tax (Thousand) Proportion of all pensioner taxpayers (Percentage) Proportion of all pensioners (Percentage) 2001-02 210 4 2 2002-03 220 4 2 2003-04 230 5 2 2003-04 290 6 3 2004-05 300 6 3 2005-06 330 6 3 2006-07 370 6 3 2007-08 210 4 2
Number of pensioners paying non-HR income tax (Thousand) Proportion of all pensioner taxpayers (Percentage) Proportion of all pensioners (Percentage) 2001-02 4,570 96 42 2002-03 4,700 96 43 2003-04 4,470 95 41 2003-04 4,830 95 43 2004-05 4,790 94 43 2005-06 5,250 94 46 2006-07 5,420 94 47 2007-08 4,570 96 42 Notes: 1. Figures up to 2006-07 are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes in that year. 2. Figures for 2007-08 are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes in 2006-07 projected forward one year in line with pre-Budget 2008 report. 3. Figures for the number of pensioners paying income tax have been rounded to the nearest 10,000. 4. Pensioners have been defined as men aged 65 and over and women aged 60 and over. 5. All pensioners figures are mid-year population estimates supplied by the Office for National Statistics.
VAT: Clothing
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 20 March 2009, Official Report, column 1414W.
VAT: Stationery
(2) how many pre-paid business reply envelopes for value added tax returns were issued in each of the last three years;
(3) what his estimate is of the number of businesses that used pre-paid business reply envelopes for value added tax returns in each of the last three years.
HMRC stopped issuing pre-paid business reply envelopes (BREs) with VAT returns and assessments (and for most other tax functions) from 1 October, when it introduced its National Direct Debit Service for payments.
HMRC estimates that in the period 1 November 2008 to 28 February 2009, it achieved savings of £1,060,358 as a result of the withdrawal of pre-paid BREs, of which £170,000 related to pre-paid envelopes issued with VAT returns or assessments. It is not possible to disaggregate the savings on VAT returns from those on assessments.
HMRC issued 19,538,704 VAT returns during the last three years, and approximately 47,500 assessments a year, and a business reply envelope would have been included with each up to 30 September 2008.
HMRC does not keep a record of the number of businesses that use pre-paid BREs to submit their VAT returns.
Welfare Tax Credits: Death
(2) how much has been reclaimed from tax credits overpaid to deceased claimants in each year since tax credits were introduced; and what proportion of this sum was (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit;
(3) what the policy of the Tax Credit Office is on recovery of tax credits overpaid as a consequence of the death of a child included in the claim.
Tax Credit Office has a dedicated team to handle notifications of bereavement. Procedural guidance for HM Revenue and Customs processing staff can be found at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ntcmanual/changes_cofc/ntc0170482.htm
Guidance for Debt Management staff is published at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/dmbmanual/DMBM555000.htm
For information about HMRCs approach to recovering tax credits overpayments when a customer has died, I refer the hon. Member to the answer my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Wavertree (Jane Kennedy), gave the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) on 6 December 2007, Official Report, column 1501W.
For information about the amount of overpaid tax credits, attributable to deceased claimants, I refer the hon. Member to the answers my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Jane Kennedy), gave the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) on 8 October 2007, Official Report, column 244W and on 10 July 2008, Official Report, column 1786W. Information for 2007-08 will be available in May 2009.
In order to allow bereaved families more time to notify the Department, HMRC pay child tax credit for up to eight weeks following the death of a child.
Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments
The tax credits IT system does not have the facility to record the reason(s) why HMRC believe an overpayment has arisen.
Working Families Tax Credit
I refer the hon. Member to page 19 of the HMRC publication “WTC2—Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits—A Guide” which is available on the HMRC website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/wtc2.pdf
Working Tax Credit
Latest estimates of the number of tax credit recipients, including those families receiving working tax credits, are available in Table 1.1 of the HMRC provisional awards snapshot publication, "Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics" as at December 2008. Table 2.4 also gives the number of families benefiting from the child care element of working tax credit. The publication is available on the HMRC website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-dec08.pdf
Children, Schools and Families
Children: Databases
[holding answer 19 March 2009]: We continue to take a prudent and incremental approach to delivering ContactPoint. Local authorities have been doing preparatory work around shielding for several months, which included assessing how much time would be required to undertake initial shielding activity. We asked local authorities to provide a progress update by 13 March including whether they have robust arrangements in place to deal with shielding requests on an ongoing basis.
Two-thirds of local authorities have reported, as part of this progress update, that they have undertaken the required shielding actions. We continue to work closely with local authorities in order to help them to complete this first phase as soon as possible.
[holding answer 19 March 2009]: In cases where a child's adoptive arrangement may be at risk or the child may be at risk of significant harm if their whereabouts was identified there is a facility to shield the ContactPoint record, i.e. to hide from view information relating to the whereabouts of the child. Shielding decisions should be made on a case by case basis and it would not be appropriate automatically to shield a ContactPoint record simply because a child was in the process of being adopted or had been adopted.
Children: Protection
(2) when he expects revisions to the framework for serious case reviews to have been made;
(3) what steps he plans to take together with the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Justice to establish explicit strategic priorities for the protection of children and young people;
(4) what estimate he has made of the cost of implementing Lord Laming's recommendations on safeguarding children;
(5) with reference to page 65 of The Protection of Children in England: a progress report, HC330, what changes he plans to make to existing practice to ensure that serious case reviews focus on the effective learning of lessons and implementation of recommendations and the timely introduction of changes to protect children;
(6) with reference to page 16 of The Protection of Children in England: a progress report, HC330, what new statutory targets for safeguarding and child protection he plans to introduce.
[holding answer 19 March 2009]: The Government have accepted all the recommendations made by Lord Laming in his recent report, ‘The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report’. These include recommendations relating to the revision of statutory guidance in ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’, strengthening the framework for serious case reviews, setting strategic priorities by Government for the protection of children and young people, and establishing new statutory targets for safeguarding and child protection. As confirmed in the Government's immediate response to Lord Laming on 12 March, the Government will publish a detailed action plan in response to all his recommendations by the end of April.
Although schools are generally safe places for pupils and staff, the Department has given head teachers a power to search, without consent, any pupil they suspect to be carrying a weapon. This increases the options available to schools, and we issued guidance in May 2007 which includes what to do when an illegal weapon is discovered: confiscating and storing the weapon, informing the police, and delivering the weapon to the police. (The guidance also advised on the existing power, announced in October 2006, to screen pupils at random.) Determining the appropriate sanction to apply is a matter for the head teacher, who has the power to permanently exclude pupils for carrying an offensive weapon, including if this is a first or 'one off' offence.
Departmental Surveys
Staff Survey results for the Department and other government departments are published on the Cabinet Office website
(http://beta.civilservice.gov.uk/about/who/statistics/staff-surveys.aspx).
I have arranged for copies from that website to be placed in the Library of the House.
National Curriculum Tests
In September 2008, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) became statutory for all Ofsted Registered Early Years settings and early years provision in schools. It contains a number of elements, focused around tailoring provision, to help summer born children reach their full potential.
Furthermore, the Secretary of State has asked Sir Jim Rose to undertake a review of the primary curriculum. As part of his remit, Sir Jim will be looking at supporting better transition from EYFS to primary school, and considering personalised learning, both of which have shown to help summer-born children make a better start to school and learning. The final report and recommendations will be published this spring.
Parenting Contracts
(2) how many parenting orders have been issued under section 98 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006.
The Department collects and publishes data on the use by local authorities of parenting contracts and parenting orders. Although we do not collect data directly from schools, we do ask local authorities to include data collected from schools in their returns to the Department. Local authorities are not asked to report separately on parenting contracts and parenting orders issued by schools and those they issue themselves.
For the school academic year 2007/08 when the changes under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 came into force, the number of parenting contracts agreed by local authorities and schools with parents to tackle poor behaviour was 2,546.
Use of parenting orders is intended to be a last resort, after local authorities and schools have used a wide range of strategies to address poor behaviour in schools such as voluntary parenting contracts for behaviour. To date, no local authority or school has applied to the courts for an order following a pupil’s serious misbehaviour or exclusion from school.
Primary Education
There is currently no plan to commission research to look at the link between children born in August and the time they spend with their parents, at nursery, or at school. However, the Department has funded a number of projects that have looked at the impact of children’s date of birth on their educational performance, and support children to make the transition between Early Years and Primary. These include:
When You Are Born Matters: The Impact of Date of Birth on Child Cognitive Outcomes in England. Institute of Fiscal Studies (October, 2007);
The Effective Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education project; and,
The National Strategies Communication, Language and Literacy Development programme.
As part of his independent review of the primary curriculum, Sir Jim Rose will be drawing on findings from these projects in his final report, on proposals to allow more choice and flexibility in start dates for children entering school.
The remit for the Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum, asks Sir Jim Rose to consider whether it would be appropriate to allow more choice and flexibility in start dates for children entering school. Ministers will give careful consideration to his final report and recommendations, which are due to be published this spring.
Pupils: Bullying
We are unable to provide figures for the number of homophobic bullying incidents in either primary or secondary schools as we do not collect these data centrally.
We intend to introduce a new statutory duty on schools to record all incidents of bullying between pupils later this year, and will specifically consult on whether schools should be obliged to record homophobic bullying incidents and report these incidents to their local authority.
Pupils: Disadvantaged
The information requested is shown in the following table: this relates to 2008 and to state funded secondary schools (including local authority maintained secondary schools, CTCs and academies).
Percentage Percentage of pupils in state funded secondary schools eligible for free school meals1 13.1 Percentage of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 obtaining five or more A* to C GCSEs, including English and mathematics2 47.8 Percentage of pupils receiving free school meals and at the end of Key Stage 4 obtaining five or more A* to C GCSEs, including English and mathematics3 23.5 1 The percentage of all pupils in state funded secondary schools known to be eligible for free school meals as at January 2008. Information is taken from SFR 09/2008: Pupil Characteristics and Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England: January 2008 (Provisional) (Table 2c) which can be found at: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/index.shtml 2 The percentage of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 who achieved five or more A* to C GCSEs, including English and mathematics in 2008. Information is taken from SFR 32/2008 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2007/08 (Table 12) which can be found at: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000822/index.shtml 3 The percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals who at the end of Key Stage 4 achieved five or more A* to C GCSEs, including English and mathematics in 2008. Information is taken from SFR 32/2008 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2007/08 (Table 12) which can be found at: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000822/index.shtml
Special Educational Needs
The information can be found in Table 3a of the Statistical First Release 'Special Educational Needs in England: January 2008' and can be found at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000794/index.shtml.
Special Educational Needs: Barnsley
The requested information is shown in the table:
England Yorkshire and the Humber Barnsley Doncaster 1997 35,650 4,050 130 350 1998 36,180 3,580 120 300 1999 35,420 3,840 160 270 2000 33,750 3,770 190 210 2001 32,470 3,130 170 170 2002 30,720 2,870 110 170 2003 28,780 2,550 90 170 2004 25,990 1,910 90 140 2005 24,040 1,990 100 170 2006 22,600 1,830 120 140 2007 23,510 1,830 110 100 Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: SEN2 Survey
Figures for 2007, which is the latest year for which information is available, are contained within Table 18 of SFR 15/2008: Special Educational Needs in England: January 2008 which can be found at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000794/index.shtml
Special Educational Needs: National Curriculum Tests
The requested information is not available for 1997 as prior to 2002 individual pupil characteristic information was not collected. The introduction of the pupil level annual school census (PLASC) in January 2002, which collects such information, meant that from 2002, pupil characteristic data could be matched to attainment data, allowing analyses of different groups of pupils.
The 2004 information are shown as follows:
English Maths Science English Maths Science Number of pupils achieving level 5 in all three subjects Non-FSM 483,573 483,842 483,902 143,011 164,078 223,803 92,266 FSM 105,452 105,537 105,583 11,864 15,074 23,202 5,871 All pupil1 592,159 592,516 592,629 155,356 179,703 247,783 98,398
The 2007 information are shown as follows:
English Maths Science English Maths Science Number of pupils achieving level 5 in all three subjects Non-FSM 475,767 475,905 475,904 173,009 167,087 237,385 109,277 FSM 93,197 93,218 93,249 13,989 14,295 24,699 6,787 All pupil1 571,345 571,501 571,531 187,438 181,761 262,688 116,267 1 Includes pupils for which information was not sought or for which information was refused.
The above figures are based on ‘final’ KS2 data.
The National Curriculum Assessments by Pupil Characteristics, GCSE and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2004 can be found in SFR08/2005 at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000564/index.shtml
The National Curriculum Assessments by Pupil Characteristics, GCSE and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2006/07 can be found in SFR38/2007 at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000759/index.shtml
However, figures in SFR08/2005 and SFR38/2007 are based on provisional data and do not contain figures for pupils achieving level 5 in English, mathematics and science.
Specialist Schools
The table provides details of the nine schools that applied in the most recent application round which were unsuccessful.
School Name Proposed specialism Percentage of students achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE including English and Mathematics Kilgarth School Business and Enterprise 1— The Mailing School Combined Science and Sports 26 Blessed Robert Johnson Catholic College Humanities 35 The Causeway School Humanities 31 The Robert Napier School Humanities 30 Sheringham Woodfields School Special Educational Needs 1— St Ann's School Special Educational Needs 1— The Willoughby School Special Educational Needs 1— Round Oak School Special Educational Needs 1— 1 Not applicable – special needs.
The following table provides details of the 11 successful schools that have been approved in the most recent application round and which will become operational from September 2009.
School name Specialist status Percentage of students achieving five GCSE A*-C including English and mathematics Oak Lodge School Arts 1— The Duston School Combined Business and Enterprise and Science 35 Newman Catholic School Engineering 32 Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School Humanities 67 Hutton Church of England Grammar School Mathematics and Computing 73 Putteridge High School Mathematics and Computing 44 Branksome School Science 39 Beaucroft Foundation School Special Educational Needs 1— Castle Hill School Special Educational Needs 1— Dee Banks School Special Educational Needs 1— Methwold High School Sports 45 1 Not applicable—special school.
Teenage Pregnancy
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many women under 16 years became pregnant in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last 10 years. (264415)
Available figures are estimates of the number of conceptions that resulted in a live birth and/or stillbirth (a maternity) or a legal termination.
Numbers of conceptions to women aged under 16 in England, the North East Government Office Region (GOR) and the Tees Valley district, for the years 1998- 2007 (the most recent year for which figures are available), are shown in the attached table. Figures for 2007 are provisional.
Information on conceptions is not routinely published for parliamentary constituencies. Hence figures cannot be provided for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency because of the risk of disclosing individual's information, due to small differences between the parliamentary constituency and local authority boundaries. Figures are instead provided for Middlesbrough UA and Redcar and Cleveland UA for 1998-2007, in the attached table.
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 England 7,855 7,408 7,620 7,407 7,395 7,558 7,181 7,473 7,330 7,715 North East GOR 570 499 522 460 460 498 481 481 475 531 Tees Valley District 178 159 150 124 136 165 169 140 148 164 Middlesbrough UA 56 49 39 25 36 47 36 32 33 35 Redcar and Cleveland UA 41 38 37 32 28 28 54 27 23 31 Note: Figures for 2007 are provisional.
Written Questions: Government Responses
PQs 243012, 243014, 243015, 243049, 243051 and 243053 on diabetes and schoolchildren have been answered on 20 March. The reason for the delay was due to an administrative error.
Home Department
Special Constables
In August 2008, the Home Secretary announced a three-year, £2.25 million funding programme, for the National Policing Improvement Agency, to increase numbers of special constables in England and Wales, through the establishment of nine regional co-ordinators.
These will utilise and develop further the existing Employer Supported Policing programmes, including ShopWatch.
Class A Drugs
The importation of drugs is targeted through strengthened border controls, international co-operation, intelligence from a network of overseas liaison officers, and the use of detection technology.
Within the UK, intelligence gathering, the use of new powers such as crack house closure orders, and the seizure of the assets of drug dealers are all used to reduce the supply of drugs.
Neighbourhood Policing Schemes
Thanks to Neighbourhood Policing every community in England and Wales now has its own team dedicated to working with the local community to tackle the issues that matter to local people.
The Policing Pledge reinforces this offer. It guarantees national minimum standards of service, alongside a commitment to making Neighbourhood Policing teams accountable to the public through monthly public meetings and other public consultations.
Child Trafficking
Alongside robust policing, we are implementing the trafficking convention, improving identification and support to child victims, piloting an assessment tool for practitioners, and introducing a national referral mechanism from April.
Statistics
My independent Chief Statistician discusses any relevant professional statistical issues with the National Statistician who advises the UK Statistical Authority on such matters.
Border Security
We have taken significant steps to improve border security through the integration of immigration and customs functions in the formation of the UK Border Agency. Legislation, presently in another place, will complete this process.
Increasingly close working between the agency and the police service will further enhance border security.
Online Crime Maps
The provision of local crime maps is designed to strengthen Community Engagement and public confidence by ensuring that the public understand how crime is being tackled in their local area, what the local priorities are, who their local officers are and how they can get involved.
All 43 forces in England and Wales delivered crime mapping by the start of the year, and the NPIA is now evaluating progress—but with a primary focus on ensuring that crime maps deliver for the public.
Antisocial Behaviour
Independent reports confirm the effectiveness of ASB tools and powers, including the National Audit Office report that two thirds of people stop committing ASB after a single intervention, rising to nine out of 10 after three.
The British Crime Survey and Audit Commission Survey found that perceptions of ASB as a problem fell between 2003 and 2006.
Identity Information: Cross-Border Travel
The e-Borders system will allow us to count people in and out of the country by screening all passenger and crew data against watch lists in advance of travel. This will help us to identify those persons, including serious criminals and terrorists, who pose a risk to the UK and take action where appropriate.
These checks make up just one part if Britain’s triple ring of security alongside fingerprint visas for three-quarters of the world’s population and the roll-out of ID cards for foreign nationals locking them to one identity.
Departmental Spending
The Home Office budget for 2008-09 is £9.8 billion, and in 2009-10 it will rise to £10.1 billion, which represents real terms growth of 1.5 per cent. A growth in real terms of 1 per cent. would reduce the budget by £54 million.
Domestic Violence Victims
We continue to improve service provision by extending the network of specialist domestic violence courts, independent domestic violence advisers and multi-agency risk assessment conferences. We also continue to fund helplines supporting victims of domestic violence.
In addition, the Violence Against Women and Girls Consultation includes specific questions about services available for victims of violence.
Trafficking of Women: Sexual Exploitation
We have in place a comprehensive victim-centred strategy to tackle human trafficking contained within the UK Action Plan, published in March 2008 and updated in July 2008. This contains 85 actions across four key areas of prevention; investigation enforcement and prosecution; assistance and support for adult victims of human trafficking and child trafficking.
Human trafficking is a across-border crime. Internationally, we continue to work with our partners, especially the European Union and the United Nations to increase co-ordination and maintain a robust approach to the trafficking of women.
We recognise also the need for more to be done within the UK to tackle the demand for prostitution, and to this end, we have introduced clauses into the Policing and Crime Bill to criminalise the purchase of sex with a woman who has been trafficked or is controlled for gain.
London Olympics: Security
I refer the hon. Gentleman to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s written statement to the House of 26 February, which sets out the Government’s strategy for securing the 2012 Games and the positive progress made on security planning.
S and Marper: DNA Data
The Home Secretary indicated in her speech to the Intellect Trade Association on 16 December 2008 that we will comply with the judgment.
That remains our position and we will publish a public consultation paper before the summer on implementation of the Court’s decision.
Cocaine
The Government’s strategy to tackle the supply of all illegal drugs is to bear down on all points in the drug supply chain, to disrupt criminal gangs, stifle drug supply and reduce the harm caused to communities in the UK.
The importation of drugs is targeted through strong border controls, including those operating in drug transit countries, international co-operation, intelligence from a network of overseas liaison officers, and the use of detection technology.
Within the UK, innovative approaches to intelligence gathering, the use of new powers such as crack house closure orders, seizing more assets from drug dealers, and measures to prevent drug dealers from re-establishing their businesses are all used to reduce the supply of drugs. The extension of Neighbourhood Policing is also enabling the police to tackle the drug issues of concern to local communities, providing a visible local response.
Anti-Semitism
From April this year the Home Office will receive data within the annual data requirement which will cover all hate crime. This new system will enable us to identify the number of crimes reported due to an individual being targeted because of their race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, although it is currently not possible to break down the data by the specific ethnicity or religion of the victim. The Association of Chief Police Officers will be publishing shortly a refreshed version of their “Hate Crime: Delivering a Quality Service” which provides good practice examples and tactical guidance to officers dealing with these crimes at the front line.
Separate data on levels of anti-Semitism are not centrally collated, although Home Office Ministers have discussed the issue on a regular basis with chief constables and key interest groups.
Asylum: Deportation
We do not accept that there is currently any country in the world where it is unsafe for returns to take place on a blanket basis because of conflict or generalised violence. Instead, all cases are considered on their individual merits in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Asylum: Finance
[holding answer 18 March 2009]: The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) no longer exists, although its functions continue to be exercised by the UK Border Agency.
Information on the number of asylum seekers that have applied for and exited support in each North East local authority area over a period is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Statistics on the numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support at the end of the quarter are published in tables 5 and 6 of the quarterly bulletin Control of Immigration; these statistics are broken down by Government office region and local authority.
Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
Further breakdowns by parliamentary constituency are available from the Library of the House.
Asylum: Palestinians
The requested information is unavailable and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records.
However, information on the number of nationals from the Palestinian Territories that have applied for asylum in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2008, broken down by main applicant and dependants have been provided in the table.
Information on asylum is published annually and quarterly. Statistics for the first quarter of 2009 will be available in May 2009 from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
Of whom: Year/month Total Principal applicant Dependant 2004 Total 540 460 80 2005 Total 445 370 75 2006 Total 340 260 80 2007p Total 480 425 55 2008p January 30 30 — February 35 35 — March 35 25 10 April 20 20 * May 20 20 — June 10 10 — July 30 25 5 August 30 25 5 September 25 20 5 October 30 30 — November 25 25 — December 30 25 * Total 2008p 320 295 25 1 Provisional figures rounded to nearest 5, (— = 0, * = 1 or 2). Figures may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding.
Borders: Personal Records
The e-Borders Programme has engaged with carriers from its inception, and continues to have ongoing consultations with the industry. A regulatory impact assessment was undertaken between August and October 2007, in which carriers had the opportunity to highlight the costs that would fall to them in connection with discharging their e-Borders obligations.
The programme has developed a wide range of methods to enable the carriers to transmit data to the e-Borders system. These have been created to align, as far as possible, with industry standards and current data transmission methods.
This allows carriers to continue to use systems already in use for transmitting data to other countries who collect passenger data, e.g. US and Spain, and has minimised the need to develop new systems.
Other passenger information (OPI) is known in the airline industry as passenger name record data and relates to details collected for a carrier’s own commercial purposes. It may include information such as passenger’s name, address, telephone number, ticketing information and travel itinerary.
There are currently no plans to collect OPI data for every passenger movement; however, it will be collected incrementally over five years to reach a maximum of 100 million passenger movements by the end of December 2013.
Currently, e-Borders obtains and processes advance passenger information (API) provided by carriers. This includes details available from travel documents such as a passport and scheduled departure and arrival information.
The e-Borders Programme remains on track to meet the milestone of capturing 60 per cent. (equivalent of 120 million passenger movements) of all passenger movements by December 2009.
The long-term vision of the UK Border Agency is to establish the capability to automatically deny authority to carry (ATC) at the point of check-in to certain categories of individuals seeking to travel to the UK. The e-Borders programme will provide the ATC capability.
There will be a manual trial period to assess the benefits, impact and costs for the ATC capability. Following this trial, consideration will be given to the funding required.
The total cost of the other passenger information (OPI) element of the e-Borders contract is £89,025,118.
Departmental Data Protection
Since November 2007, any personal data losses are reported to the Information Commissioner. Home Office data is not available for earlier years.
The Home Office has publicised details of personal data-related incidents notified to the Information Commissioner’s Office in 2007-08 in its resource accounts published in August 2008. In the first half of 2008-09 a notification was made to the Information Commissioner regarding the PA Consulting data loss incident.
The Identity and Passport Service has published details of the personal data-related incidents notified to the Information Commissioner’s Office in 2007-08 in its annual report and accounts published on 26 June 2008. In the first half of 2008-09 no notifications were made to the Information Commissioner.
The Criminal Records Bureau did not report any notification of loss or mishandling of any personal data to the Information Commissioner’s Office for the period 2007-08 or for the first half of 2008-09.
The senior information risk owner (SIRO) for the Home Office was appointed in April 2005. She is a board level director-general. The role fully accords with the recommendations contained in the report on Data Handling Procedures in Government published in June 2008.
Information is a key asset to Government and its correct handling is vital to the delivery of public services and to the integrity of HMG. The Security Policy Framework, the Data Handling Report and the National Information Assurance Strategy produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handle and put in place a set of mandatory measures which Departments must adhere to.
It is not in the interest of the security of the Department, or that of the public, to disclose detailed information pertaining to electronic breaches of security of Department’s IT systems. Disclosing such information would enable criminals and those who would attempt to cause disruptive threats to the Department to deduce how to conduct attacks and therefore potentially enhance their capability to carry out such attacks.
Detainees: Children
The requested information is not held centrally and would be available through the detailed examination of individual case files only at disproportionate cost.
The following table shows the numbers of children detained within the UK Border Agency detention estate solely under Immigration Act powers on a snapshot basis as at the last Saturday of each quarter of 2008, broken down by length of detention.
National Statistics on children detained solely under Immigration Act powers on a snapshot basis are published quarterly. This information is published in tables 9-11 of the Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom bulletins which are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office’s Research, Development and Statistics website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
Children are detained only in the following limited circumstances: most usually, as part of a family group whose detention is considered necessary; exceptionally, when unaccompanied, while alternative care arrangements are made and normally just overnight; to facilitate supervised escort of an unaccompanied child, who is being removed, from his/her normal place of residence to the port where removal will take place—detention occurs only on the day of the planned removal to enable the child to be properly and safely escorted to his/her flight and/or to their destination; and in exceptional circumstances where it can be shown that an ex-foreign national prisoner aged under 18 poses a serious risk to the public and a decision to deport or remove him/her has been taken.
The Government’s stated policy on detention of families with children is set out in the 1998 White Paper “Fairer, Faster and Firmer—A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum”. In all cases there is a presumption in favour of temporary admission or temporary release and all reasonable alternatives to detention are considered before detention is authorised.
Number of children1 Length of detention4,5 29 March 28 June 27 September 27 December Seven days or less 10 15 30 5 Eight to 14 days * 5 * 15 15 to 28 days 5 20 20 15 29 days to less than two months 15 15 5 5 Two months to less than three months 5 — — * Three months to less than four months — — — — Four months to less than six months — — — — Six months to less than one year — — — — One year or more — — — — Grand total 35 55 55 40 1 People recorded as being under 18 on the last Saturday of each quarter. These figures will overstate if any applicants aged 18 or over claim to be younger. 2 Figures rounded to the nearest 5 (— = 0, * = 1 or 2), may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding and exclude persons detained in police cells, Prison Service establishments and those detained under both criminal and immigration powers. 3 Figures include dependants. 4 Relates to most recent period of sole detention. 5 Two months is defined as 61 days; four months is defined as 122 days; six months is defined as 182 days.
Domestic Violence: Cumbria
The Home Office has collected the number of recorded domestic violence incidents for police force areas since 2003-04, before that the figures were collated by HMIC.
The figures for Cumbria police force are included in the following table, the data for Copeland constituency are not held centrally.
Number 2003-04 4,343 2004-05 4,937 2005-06 4,280 2006-07 4,372 2007-08 4,515
Drugs: Crime
Offence categorisations as used in police recorded crime have always been broader than those used in court proceedings and the detailed returns on cautioning. From 1 April 2004, it was agreed that recorded offences of cannabis possession be separated from other drug possession offences to better monitor the use of police powers to issue cannabis warnings. It has not been considered necessary to record more detailed breakdowns on other drug possession offences as overall detection rates for these offences are high.
Information on court proceedings and cautioning give a good picture of the extent of other drug possession offences that come to the attention of the police by type of drug.
Dual Nationality
This information is not held centrally.
Entry Clearances: South Africa
UK Border Agency Customer Service Standards for processing settlement visa applications (which include family reunion applications) are to complete 95 per cent. of applications in not more than 12 weeks (60 working days) and 100 per cent. in not more 120 working days. Processing times for settlement visas at our Visa Application Centre in Pretoria in the last quarter of 2008 were as follows:
Settlement (Percentage) Days 57 5 70 10 81 15 95 30 100 60
Human Trafficking: Children
We are issuing identity cards for foreign nationals to children for the same purpose as adults. This is to provide more secure and reliable evidence of children’s immigration status and identity. By requiring children to be subject to the biometric registration provisions we are also able to fix their identities. This will help tackle child trafficking, as well as making it harder for those intending to exploit a child’s identity, for example, by placing a child into a family they claim to be theirs, for the purposes of fraudulently claiming public funds.
We will request DNA evidence from the guardians or carers who present with unaccompanied asylum seeking children to establish the credibility of claimed relationships in an attempt to stop child trafficking. This evidence or a failure to provide it will form part of the information we send to the police and Children’s (social) services where we suspect the child to be a trafficking victim. It can also be used as evidence towards an immigration application.
Illegal Immigrants
[holding answer 10 March 2009]: The Home Office has not commissioned or carried out any further research on the likely number of illegal immigrants in the UK since the Home Office Online Report 29/05, “Sizing the unauthorised (illegal) migrant population in the United Kingdom in 2001” was published in 2005.
We are determined to bear down on illegal immigration both on and after entry to the UK and as part of the Government’s 10-point plan for delivery by 2010 over 95 per cent. of non-EEA foreign nationals will be counted in and out of the country. This is part of a sweeping programme of border protection which also includes the global roll-out of fingerprint visas, watch-list checks for all travellers before they arrive or depart from the UK and ID cards for foreign nationals.
Illegal Immigrants: Arrests
(2) how many illegal immigrants were arrested in UK Border Agency operations on restaurants in 2008.
The system on which the details of enforcement operations conducted by the UK Border Agency are recorded categorises the nature of the facility visited into one of several broad groups. Therefore, it is not possible to differentiate between hospitals and care homes without examination of individual records at disproportionate cost, as these are recorded together under one category (along with nursing homes); restaurants and takeaway food outlets are similarly categorised.
In 2008 there were a total of 58 enforcement visits made to hospitals, care homes and nursing homes, as a result of which 96 arrests of immigration offenders were made. In the same period, a total of 12 visits were made to colleges, and 18 immigration offenders were arrested as a result. There were no enforcement visits made to schools or child care facilities in 2008.
In 2008 there were a total of 1,685 enforcement visits made to restaurants and takeaway food outlets, as a result of which 3,168 arrests of immigration offenders were made.
These figures do not constitute part of National Statistics as they are based on internal management information. The information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, and should be treated as provisional and is subject to change.
Illegal Immigrants: Deportation
The procedures the UK Border Agency has in place for the removal and deportation of all categories of immigration offenders are set out in the Enforcement Instructions and Guidance (EIG) manual available to view on the UK Border Agency website via the link below. Procedures for deportation can be found in chapters 11-15; illegal entrants at chapter 47 and those subject to administrative removal at chapters 50 and 51. This is a ‘live’ document which is subject to constant change.
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/policyandlaw/guidance/enforcement/
Appendix A of the UK Border Agency business plan for April 2008-March 2011 contains a table which shows the overall budget allocation and staffing plans for the agency for the current financial year. This document is available to view in the Library of the House and at the following website:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/businessplan/
There are many staff involved, including seconded police officers, in the enforcement process across the UK Border Agency and the funding and other resources in place to support the removals process can not be disaggregated from the overall budget and resources. However, UK Border Agency plans for enforcing the immigrations laws including removing the most harmful first and the additional resources put in place to support enforcement and compliance activities are set out in the enforcement business plan, ‘Enforcing the Deal’, copies of which are available to view in the Library of the House and at the following web-link:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/managingourborders/enforcementbusinessplan08_09/enforcementbusinessplan08_09.pdf?view=Binary
The UK Border Agency is not able to provide the average cost of a removal because there are many different factors which may or may not be involved in the cost of a case (such as detention costs, travel costs, and the cost of escorting the individual in question). We are therefore unable to disaggregate the specific costs and any attempt to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
However, the National Audit Office (NAO) gave a breakdown of what it costs to enforce the removal of a failed asylum seeker in appendix 2 of their report “Returning Failed Asylum applicants”, published on 19 July 2005. In this they estimated the average cost of an enforced removal as being £11,000. This report has since been superseded by their report “Management of Asylum Applications by the UK Border Agency” which was published on 23 January 2009. This does not give a single average figure for the cost of removal but instead (on page 36 of the report) breaks it down into upper- and lower-end estimates for a range of people in different circumstances (for example, a single undetained adult who is removed after exhausting his/her appeal rights, the cost range given is between £7,900 and £17,000 excluding accommodation and support costs, and between £12,000 and £25,600 including accommodation and support costs). This report is available to view at the following website:
http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/0809/management_of _asylum_appl.aspx
There is no central pool of information on the numbers awaiting a removal/deportation decision on their case and this information could be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records only at disproportionate cost.
The destination country to which the most number of people were removed or departed voluntarily from the UK in 2008 was France; this includes non-asylum cases refused entry at port (including cases dealt with at juxtaposed controls) and subsequently removed. Excluding such cases, the destination country to which the most number of people were removed or departed voluntarily from the UK in 2008 was India. This is the latest 12 month period for which published statistics are available; the information is provisional.
The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of persons removed and departed voluntarily from the UK, broken down by destination, on a quarterly and annual basis. National Statistics on immigration and asylum are placed in the Library of the House and are available from the Home Office’s Research, Development and Statistics website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
Immigration
I will write to the right hon. Gentleman.
Immigration Controls: Freight
The Government have committed to a full consultation period on the introduction of an Authority to Carry Scheme (ATC). This consultation period will be launched in due course following the completion of ongoing development work and initial discussions with stakeholders.
The introduction of an ATC Scheme will only be brought forward for parliamentary approval, once the full 12 week consultation period with all stakeholders has taken place.
Members: Correspondence
I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 16 March 2009.
Police: Translation Services
(2) how much her Department spent on reimbursing police forces for the detention of illegal immigrants in 2008.
The following table sets out the recharge payments made to police forces in the last two financial years. Final costs for 2008-09 are not yet available.
£000 2006-07 7,000 2007-08 8,000
The figures above include translation costs. We are unable to split out these costs as they are included in the final invoice received from each force.
Sexual Offences
Home Office Counting Rules (HOCR) provide guidance to police forces about how crime reported to the police should be recorded and detected. The HOCR were updated in 2004 to reflect changes made to legislation governing sexual offences in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. This change in recording practice means that direct comparisons between reporting rates over the last 10 years cannot be made.
Sexual Offences: Forensic Science
The Home Office do not collect this information.
Standing Advisory Committees
The Home Office do not centrally hold information about all the personnel involved in research projects it commissions.
Theft: Motor Vehicles
The available information is given in the following table. Statistics relating to the number of recorded offences of vehicles stolen during robberies or domestic burglaries are only available for 2007-08.
These data are normally used for management information only and are not subject to the detailed checks that apply for National Statistics. The data are provisional and may be subject to change.
The Policing Green Paper announced that Sir David Normington, Permanent Secretary to the Home Office, would lead a review of the strategic data collection burden placed by the Home Office on police forces in England and Wales. Sir David's report was published on 16 February. As a result, the Home Office propose to cease the collection of data on vehicles stolen during robberies and domestic burglaries during Phase 2 between 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.
Police force area Stolen during a robbery Stolen duringa domestic burglary Avon and Somerset 33 335 Bedfordshire 26 248 Cambridgeshire 52 138 Cheshire 23 349 Cleveland 1 27 Cumbria 0 28 Derbyshire 17 285 Devon and Cornwall 6 63 Dorset 4 52 Durham 1 81 Dyfed-Powys 0 25 Essex 79 579 Gloucestershire 5 96 Greater Manchester 627 1,851 Gwent 0 63 Hampshire 23 159 Hertfordshire 16 407 Humberside n/a n/a Kent 37 278 Lancashire 30 338 Leicestershire 20 225 Lincolnshire 2 90 London, City of 0 0 Merseyside 92 783 Metropolitan Police 1,000 2,479 Norfolk 1 16 North Wales 6 63 North Yorkshire 4 201 Northamptonshire 27 310 Northumbria 23 153 Nottinghamshire 47 434 South Wales n/a n/a South Yorkshire 45 605 Staffordshire 32 252 Suffolk 1 43 Surrey 5 157 Sussex 0 25 Thames Valley 40 843 Warwickshire 28 173 West Mercia 12 178 West Midlands 377 1,134 West Yorkshire 112 2,113 Wiltshire 4 62 England and Wales 2,858 15,741 n/a = Not available
Vetting
The chief executive of the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) meets regularly with Home Office Ministers to discuss the performance of the agency. The CRB works closely with all its data sources and stakeholders to deliver a fast and effective disclosure service.
Duchy of Lancaster
Birth Certificates
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your request for information on how many birth certificates did not include the name of the child’s father in each of the last five years. (264348)
The table below shows the number of live births in England and Wales that were registered solely by the mother from 2003 to 2007. The latest year for which figures are available is 2007.
Sole registered live births Sole registrations as percentage of all live births 2003 44,875 7.2 2004 45,372 7.1 2005 45,170 7.0 2006 45,455 6.8 2007 45,701 6.6 Source: FM1 Birth Statistics no.36, tables 1.1a and 3.9
Cancer: Barnsley
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people in (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster have been diagnosed with lung cancer in each of the last 10 years. [264545]
The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2006. Numbers of newly diagnosed cases of lung cancer for each year from 1997 to 2006 for (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster local authorities are in Table 1.
Barnsley Doncaster 1997 196 232 1998 208 241 1999 171 236 2000 205 264 2001 183 233 2002 169 270 2003 184 256 2004 178 244 2005 189 256 2006 188 267 1 Lung cancer is coded to C34 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Source: Office for National Statistics
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people in (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster have been diagnosed with breast cancer in each of the last 10 years. (264546)
The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2006. Numbers of newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer for each year from 1997 to 2006 for (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster local authorities are in Table 1.
Barnsley Doncaster 1997 135 193 1998 142 176 1999 160 250 2000 140 225 2001 162 202 2002 149 196 2003 168 202 2004 190 223 2005 204 221 2006 174 228 1 Breast cancer is coded to C50 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Source: Office for National Statistics.
Children
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many families there were with (a) one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four or more dependent children in each of the last 10 years. (264170)
Estimates of the number of families with dependent children are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Table 1 shows figures for the UK for the last ten years.
Figures for 2009 are not yet available.
Thousand Number of dependent children in family One Two Three Four or more Total 1997 3,071 2,947 986 319 7,323 1998 3,102 2,976 966 317 7,361 1999 3,135 3,001 932 322 7,389 2000 3,063 2,992 986 303 7,344 2001 3,143 3,003 919 308 7,374 2002 3,170 2,991 927 293 7,381 2003 3,130 3,018 904 298 7,349 2004 3,213 3,031 886 276 7,405 2005 3,378 2,932 883 266 7,458 2006 3,346 2,961 877 272 7,456 2007 3,382 2,941 874 271 7,468 2008 3,432 2,911 878 266 7,488 Source: Labour force survey household data, April to June quarters, not seasonally adjusted.
Colorectal Cancer
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many residents of (a) Tamworth, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England were diagnosed with bowel cancer in each of the last 10 years. [264528]
The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2006. Numbers of newly diagnosed cases of bowel cancer for each year from 1997 to 2006 for (a) Tamworth, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England are in Table 1.
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Tamworth 25 39 30 31 35 25 26 30 45 35 Staffordshire 450 537 501 497 472 479 531 518 544 510 England 28,112 28,750 29,058 28,951 28,216 28,218 28,496 29,430 29,945 30,046 1 Bowel cancer is coded to C18-C20 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Source: Office for National Statistics
Death: Drugs
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many drug-related deaths in (a) North Wiltshire constituency, (b) London and (c) England there were in each year since 2000. (264866)
The table attached provides the numbers of deaths for which the underlying cause was drug poisoning, in North Wiltshire parliamentary constituency, London government office region and England, from 2000 to 2007 (the latest year available).
Deaths (persons) North Wiltshire London England 2000 2 427 2,758 2001 5 428 2,884 2002 5 335 2,624 2003 5 338 2,425 2004 3 342 2,606 2005 5 399 2,589 2006 3 366 2,396 2007 3 341 2,433 1 Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for the year 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) for 2001 onwards. Deaths were included where the underlying cause was due to drug poisoning (corresponding ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes are shown in Box 1 below). 2 Based on boundaries as of 2009. 3 Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.
Description ICD-9 ICD-10 Mental and behavioural disorders due to drug use (excluding alcohol and tobacco) 292, 304, 305 2-305.9 F11-F16, F18-F19 Accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances E850-E858 X40-X44 Intentional self-poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances E950.0-E950.5 X60-X64 Assault by drugs, medicaments and biological substances E962.0 X85 Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, undetermined intent E980.0-E980.5 Y10-Y14
Departmental Buildings
One flat has been vacant since 27 June 2007 and the other since 30 June 2006. Along with other shared costs, utility costs are calculated on the basis of a share of those for Admiralty House as a whole and are not held separately for individual flats. For the flat vacated in 2007 council tax to end March 2009 is £1,700 and for the other flat the cost is £3,153.
Departmental Pay
The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
The amount of money allocated for non-consolidated variable pay awards for the Cabinet Office, based on performance in 2008-09 is yet to be determined.
Departmental Public Relations
I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Byrne) gave to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 14 January 2009, Official Report, column 750W.
Disabled: Barnsley
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people registered as disabled have been employed in (a) Barnsley, (b) Doncaster and (c) South Yorkshire in each of the last 10 years. (264544)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not compile estimates of the number of persons registered as disabled who were employed. As an alternative we have provided estimates of the number of persons resident in the areas specified, who identified themselves as having a limiting health problem lasting more than 12 months, and were employed.
These estimates in Table 1 are from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessor the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) which follow the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition of employment. Figures have been provided for periods up to June 2008 which is the latest period for which figures are available.
As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in Table 1.
Thousand 12 months ending Doncaster Barnsley South Yorkshire February 1999 11 14 63 February 2000 16 14 77 February 2001 13 16 71 February 2002 14 14 79 February 2003 13 16 76 February 2004 12 19 82 March 2005 15 20 89 March 2006 15 18 87 March 2007 15 18 81 March 2008 15 19 85 June 20082 ***20 ***15 *87 1 Persons age 16+ who had a limiting health problem lasting more than 12 months. 2 Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent., we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220 Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Statistical Robustness * 0 [le] CV<5 Estimates are considered precise. ** 5 [le] CV <10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise. *** 10 [le] CV <20 Estimates are considered acceptable. **** CV ≥ 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes. Source: Annual Population Survey and Annual Labour Force Survey.
Disabled: Greater London
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people identifying themselves as disabled have been employed in (a) the London Borough of Bexley and (b) Greater London in each of the last 10 years. (264973)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles estimates of the number of persons resident in the geographical areas specified, who identified themselves as having a limiting health problem lasting more than 12 months, and were employed.
These estimates in Table 1 are from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessor the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) and follow the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition of employment. Figures have been provided for periods up to June 2008 which is the latest period for which figures are available.
As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in Table 1.
Thousand 12 months ending Bexley London February 1999 12 301 February 2000 10 340 February 2001 11 345 February 2002 13 363 February 2003 15 386 February 2004 12 354 March 2005 13 355 March 2006 12 371 March 2007 14 384 March 2008 14 354 June 2008 ***15 *375 1 Persons age 16+ who had a limiting health problem lasting more than 12 months. Note: Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220 Key CoefficientStatistical Robustness * 0 [le] CV<5 Estimates are considered precise ** 5 [le] CV <10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 [le] CV <20 Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≥ 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes Source: Annual Population Survey/Annual Labour Force Survey
Foreigners
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to respond to your question concerning how many non-British EU nationals have entered the UK since 2004. (265300)
Official estimates show that there were 640,000 international immigrants of non-British EU citizenship to the UK between 2004 and 2007.
An international migrant is defined as someone who changes their country of usual residence for at least a year so that the country of destination effectively becomes the country of usual residence.
Thousand European Union1 European Union1 15 European Union1 A8 Inflow 2004 128 75 53 2005 149 70 76 2006 167 71 92 2007 197 79 112 1 European Union estimates are for the EU25 (EU1S and A8 groupings plus Malta and Cyprus) from 2004 to 2006, and for the EU27 (EU25 plus Bulgaria and Romania) from 2007. Estimates are also shown separately for the EU15 (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the Irish Republic, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden) and the A8 (the Czech Republic. Estonia. Hungary. Latvia. Lithuania. Poland. Slovakia and Slovenia). Note: This table is published as table 2.01a on: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15053 Source: International Passenger Survey, Home Office, Irish Central Statistics Office.
Government Departments: ICT
The Cabinet Office provides access to one external IT network from its internal corporate IT network via the Government Secure Intranet (GSI) service. The GSI is an accredited network that enables over 200 Government Departments and agencies to communicate securely with other connected Government organisations. In order to meet the arrangements for connection to the GSI; Departments and agencies must give assurance that they meet relevant security policies and have external access controls in place.
There can be a number of external access points to internal IT networks dependent on the business need of the particular Government Department or agency. Each Department is responsible for setting, implementing, recording and maintaining its own controls where applicable.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd’s Bush (Mr. Slaughter) on 24 February 2009, Official Report, columns 592-93W. The Government seek to actively and fairly consider open source solutions alongside proprietary ones in making procurement decisions. The lifetime cost-effectiveness of open source or proprietary software depends on the individual circumstances of the business requirement. It is evaluated by Departments on a case-by-case basis to ensure overall best value for money for the taxpayer.
The Open Source, Open Standards and Re-Use: Government Action Plan is available via the following link at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/government_it/open_source.aspx
Copies are also available in the Libraries of the House.
Leukaemia
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people diagnosed with leukaemia there are in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency [264407]
We do not have an estimate of how many people there are at any one time, but the numbers of new cases in the latest year for which figures are available for are for the year 2006. Numbers of newly diagnosed cases of leukaemia in 2006 in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency are in Table 1.
Number England 6,025 North-east 200 Tees Valley 63 Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland 10 1 Leukaemia is coded to C91 to C95 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). 2 Tees Valley is defined as the Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees and Darlington local authorities. 3 Based on boundaries as of 2007. Source: Office for National Statistics.
National Minimum Wage
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to ask what the most recent estimate is of the number of workers receiving below the national minimum wage in each (a) region and (b) local authority area. (264509)
Estimates for the number of jobs paid below the national minimum wage by Local Authority area are not available. However, I attach a table showing the number of jobs earning less than the national minimum wage by Government Office Region.
A guide to measuring low pay and associated articles can be found on the National Statistics website at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5837
2008 Government office region Number (thousand) Percentage North East **13 **1.2 North West (including Merseyside) *27 *1.0 Yorks and Humber *29 *1.4 East Midlands *21 *1.2 West Midlands *27 *1.2 Eastern *30 *1.2 London *21 *0.6 South East *37 *1.0 South West *23 *1.0 Wales **16 **1.4 Scotland *27 *1.1 Northern Ireland *17 *2.3 All 288 1.1 Guide to quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an average of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population average to be within the range 180 to 220. Key: CV <= 5% * CV > 5% and <= 10% ** CV > 10% and <= 20% Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics. 2008
Redundancy: Barnsley
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people have been made redundant in (a) Barnsley East and Mexborough constituency, (b) Barnsley and (c) Doncaster in the last six months, (264554)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles labour market statistics for local areas from the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. However, this source does not support analysis of redundancies at these geographic levels.
Small Businesses: Tamworth
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what estimate has been made of the number of small to medium- sized enterprises that were registered in (a) Tamworth constituency and (b) Staffordshire. (264529)
Annual statistics on business size and location are available from the ONS release on UK Business: Activity, Size and Location. The table below contains the enterprise counts for 2008.
Employment size band 0-49 50-249 250+ Total Tamworth constituency 3,150 45 15 3,210 Staffordshire county 28,990 370 95 29,455
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Burma: EU External Trade
Eurostat's databases give the following figures for European Union trade in goods with Burma:
EU 27 exports of goods to Burma EU 27 imports of goods from Burma 2006 81 306 2007 164 263 2008 105 184
EU 27 exports of goods to Burma EU 27 imports of goods from Burma 2006 62 73 2007 30 54
Data for trade in services for 2008 are not yet available.
Burma: Overseas Trade
HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics data on recorded trade in goods with Burma are shown in the following table:
UK exports of goods to Burma UK imports of goods from Burma 2007 4 28 2008 4 36
ONS data published in the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book 2008 were:
UK exports of services to Burma UK imports of services from Burma 2007 34 1
Geographical estimates of trade in services in 2008 are likely to be published on 31 July.
The UK Government discourage trade and investment with Burma. We offer no commercial services to companies wishing to trade with or invest in Burma. British companies who inquire about trade with Burma are informed of the grave political situation, the regime's atrocious record on human rights and the country's dire economic prospects.
Colombia: Overseas Trade
HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics data on recorded trade in goods with Columbia are shown in the following table:
UK exports of goods to Columbia UK imports of goods from Columbia 2007 140 370 2008 156 651
ONS data published in the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book 2008 were:
UK exports of services to Columbia UK imports of services from Columbia 2007 70 37
Geographical estimates of trade in services in 2008 are likely to be published on 31 July.
Consumers: Fees and Charges
The Government have not made any such assessment. The decision on whether to accept certain payment methods, and whether or not to charge a fee for accepting certain payment methods, is a commercial one for banks and retailers. However, in doing so, they must take account of legal obligations which are relevant to the giving of information about prices. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 prohibit traders from engaging in unfair commercial practices which harm consumers’ economic interests. In broad terms, commercial practices are acts or omissions by a trader directly connected to the supply of products to consumers. The giving of information about prices is one form of commercial practice.
Cost of Living
The Government take the view that their role is to facilitate competition by promoting open and competitive markets, enforced by strong and independent competition authorities, and empowered consumers, rather than to control directly the price setting behaviour of the firms.
Hence, apart from a limited number of exceptions, no price controls operate in the UK and no restrictions are placed on the prices which business may charge consumers. Retailers are free to set their own prices, but they are required to display them in an unambiguous, easily identifiable way in order to enable consumers to compare prices in different outlets and so obtain the best value for money.
Regulation may be necessary where competition is not working effectively or is not fully developed. Under UK competition law it is the responsibility of the Office of Fair Trading to investigate allegations of anti-competitive behaviour and possible abuses of market power.
Overseas Trade: Western Sahara
The Government regards the status of Western Sahara as undetermined pending a negotiated outcome providing for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. In this respect it continues to support fully the efforts of the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy to the Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, and the negotiation process currently underway.
Sudan: Overseas Trade
HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics data on recorded trade in goods with Sudan are shown in the following table:
UK exports of goods to Sudan UK imports of goods from Sudan 2007 115 21 2008 142 5
ONS data published in the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book 2008 were:
UK exports of services to Sudan UK imports of services from Sudan 2007 35 35
Geographical estimates of trade in services in 2008 are likely to be published on 31 July.
United Arab Emirates: Debts
We have made no estimate of the debt owed to British companies by the Government of the United Arab Emirates.
Uzbekistan: Overseas Trade
HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics data on recorded trade in goods with Uzbekistan are shown in the following table:
UK exports of goods to Uzbekistan UK imports of goods from Uzbekistan 2007 37 42 2008 27 29
ONS data published in the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book 2008 were:
UK exports of services to Uzbekistan UK imports of services from Uzbekistan 2007 16 11
Geographical estimates of trade in services in 2008 are likely to be published on 31 July.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Adult Education: Finance
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects continue to attract institutional funding when studied as an equivalent or lower qualification. Therefore, there need be no change in the level of fees charged for these courses as a result of our decision to redistribute some of the funding from those who have already benefited from higher education to first time entrants.
Apprentices
When an apprentice is made redundant, the first option that training providers and the National Apprenticeship Service will explore is finding immediate alternative employment. We recognise that the current economic climate can make it even more challenging to find a new employer place. We have agreed new flexibilities to allow apprentices who cannot find immediate alternative employment to move into full-time further education for up to six months while maintaining their existing apprenticeship framework and maintaining their status as an apprentice. The Learning and Skills Council have advised providers of this new flexibility which allows redundant apprentices to maintain their framework for an extended period while they and their provider seek a new employer.
Departmental Manpower
Information on lengths of contract is not held electronically and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Permanent staff on fixed term appointments will typically be on contracts of more than 12 months. Temporary staff are on contracts of up to 12 months. Length of contracts for agency workers will vary and depend on business need. The latest information on staff numbers in each directorate employed on a permanent, temporary or agency contract is set out in the following table.
Directorate Permanent Agency Temporary Business Operations 18 — — Change Programme 22 — 1 Finance and Performance 13 — — Further Education and Skills Directorate 302 2 2 GO Science 76 — — Government Skills 26 — — HE Directorate 145 1 — HR 14 — 1 Innovation Directorate 74 — — Private Office 52 5 4 Science and Research 80 — — Strategy and Comms 46 1 —
Departmental Recruitment
The Department was created on 28 June 2007. Since it was established, the estimated annual salary cost of new recruits and agency costs are as follows:
Total new recruits (permanent and temporary) Agency 2007-081 1,074,421 124,296 2008-09 1,365,124 137,402 1 From 28 June 2007.
Departmental Temporary Employment
The recruitment of temporary staff is governed by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Code.
The Department's general policy is to use its own staff to cover any unfilled posts on a temporary basis. Temporary staff are normally only engaged where specific skills or expertise are required. External agency staff are used for short-term placements, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Education
Table 1 shows the number of 18 to 24 year-old Further Education learners in Bexley local authority, London region and England from 2003-04 to 2007-08 by mode of delivery.
Area Mode of delivery 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Bexley local authority Full-time Full-year 610 650 690 740 760 Full-time Part-year 200 100 100 100 100 Total 800 800 800 800 800 London region Full-time Full-year 33,000 34,800 35,600 37,300 38,600 Full-time Part-year 8,300 7,900 6,900 5,900 5,300 Total 41,300 42,700 42,400 43,100 43,800 England Full-time Full-year 161,200 166,800 170,300 186,700 193,100 Full-time Part-year 47,100 43,000 35,700 30,500 30,100 Total 208,300 209,800 206,000 217,200 223,300 Other Full-time Full-year 2,800 2,600 2,400 2,600 2,800 Full-time Part-year 1,700 1,900 1,400 1,100 1,000 Total 4,400 4,500 3,700 3,700 3,800 Total (England and other) Full-time Full-year 164,000 169,400 172,700 189,300 195,900 Full-time Part-year 48,800 44,900 37,000 31,600 31,200 Total 212,700 214,300 209,700 220,900 227,100 Source: Individualised Learner Record
Table 2 shows the number of 18 to 24 year-old Work Based Learning and Train to Gain starts in Bexley local authority, London region and England from 2003-04 to 2007-08.
Area 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Bexley Local Authority 300 320 300 370 550 London region 19,700 18,300 17,900 35,000 65,100 England 124,700 102,100 102,800 127,100 160,600 Other 2,600 1,900 1,600 2,400 3,800 Total (England and Other) 127,300 104,000 104,300 129,500 164,400 Notes: 1. Bexley local authority numbers are rounded to the nearest 10, all other numbers are rounded to the nearest 100. 2. Learner numbers are shown for provision funded through the FE budget. 3. Number of starts include Work Based Learning and Train to Gain data. 4. Train to Gain was launched in April 2006, so comparable data do not exist for 2003-04 and 2004-05. 5. The field for delivery mode is not mandatory in the Individualised Learner Record collection for Work Based Learning and Train to Gain. Therefore we have provided starts information for contextual purposes. 6. This table uses programme starts as a measure for comparative purposes. Full-year numbers are a count of the number of starts at any point during the year Learners starting more than one course will appear more than once. 7. Area is based upon the home postcode of the learner. Where the postcode is outside of England, learners are included in the 'Other' category. Where postcode is not known this is also included in the 'Other' category. Source: WBL and TtG Individualised Learner Record
Table 3 shows the number of 18 to 24 year-old Higher Education enrolments in Bexley local authority, London region, and England from 1997-98 to 2007-08.
Area 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Bexley LA 2,115 2,265 2,215 2,395 2,450 2,655 2,825 2,920 3,035 3,165 3,365 London 93,925 100,370 102,345 107,600 113,710 119,925 123,740 128,330 132,905 138,110 142,240 England 596,530 613,805 623,120 635,105 657,685 683,355 698,870 708,825 731,195 741,265 758,760 Other 135,925 137,260 137,660 140,490 143,390 154,770 165,305 171,895 176,575 182,130 190,135 Total (England and Other) 732,455 751,065 760,780 775,595 801,075 838,130 864,175 880,720 907,765 923,390 948,900 Notes: 1. Figures are on a snapshot basis as at the 1 December and have been rounded to the nearest five. 2. Local Authority, and Government Office Region is defined by full and valid postcodes only. 3. London figures for the 1997-98 academic year refer to Greater London. 4. Students in the ‘England' category are defined as domiciled in England. 5. Students in the ‘Other' category are defined as studying at English Higher Education Institutions but domiciled outside of England. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
Liverpool University
(2) if he will assess the effectiveness in encouraging political engagement of the parliamentary attachment schemes of (a) the School of Politics and Communication Studies of the University of Liverpool and (b) other university politics departments.
Parliament decided in passing the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 that universities should be autonomous and that Ministers should have no role in deciding how individual subjects and courses are funded. This independence is a great strength of our world class sector. But it also means that judgments have to be made by universities themselves in developing their own priorities and sense of mission.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England has made no recent assessment of the teaching provided by the School of Politics and Communications Studies at the University of Liverpool.
Unemployed: North East
The tables show the number and percentages of 16 to 18, 19 to 39 and 40 to 59-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) for local authorities in the North East. Figures for 16 to 18-year-olds are from the Client Caseload Information System (CCIS) maintained by Connexions services. Local authority level information is only available from 2006 onwards. NEET figures for 2008 are due to be made available on 26 March.
Details for 19 to 39 and 40 to 59-year-olds are from the Annual Population Survey. These wide age ranges are required to give larger sample sizes for each local authority, giving more robust estimates.
NEET Number1,2 Percentage 2006 2007 2006 2007 County Durham 2,060 1,670 12.9 10.4 Northumberland 980 790 10.0 8.1 Darlington 330 370 6.7 7.5 Stockton-on- Tees 610 590 9.9 9.5 Middlesbrough 870 690 13.7 11.1 Hartlepool 400 300 11.1 8.5 Redcar and Cleveland 610 600 11.9 12.1 Sunderland 1,320 1,260 13.3 12.8 Gateshead 750 640 12.3 10.4 Newcastle 1,120 1,140 9.4 9.3 North Tyneside 700 530 11.4 8.8 South Tyneside 550 510 11.3 10.6 North East 10,300 9,120 11.3 10.0 England 126,150 109,300 7.7 6.7 1 16 to 18-year-olds known to be undertaking a gap year, or in custody, are not recorded by Connexions as NEET. 2 The percentage and number NEET has been adjusted to assume that a proportion of young people whose current activity is not known are NEET. Source: Client Caseload Information System (CCIS)
NEET Number Percentage 19-39 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Gateshead 8,000 9,000 10,000 11,000 10,000 15 17 20 22 20 Newcastle upon Tyne 13,000 15,000 15,000 16,000 12,000 16 17 17 17 14 North Tyneside 7,000 8,000 7,000 7,000 8,000 15 14 14 14 15 South Tyneside 9,000 9,000 9,000 9,000 7,000 21 23 22 24 20 Sunderland 16,000 13,000 14,000 11,000 14,000 22 19 19 15 19 Hartlepool 7,000 6,000 5,000 6,000 5,000 25 26 22 23 22 Middlesbrough 10,000 9,000 7,000 7,000 8,000 25 24 19 20 21 Redcar and Cleveland 8,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 7,000 23 18 19 19 21 Stockton-on-Tees 11,000 10,000 11,000 9,000 9,000 22 21 21 17 17 Durham 30,000 25,000 31,000 24,000 18,000 25 19 24 19 14 Darlington 4,000 3,000 4,000 4,000 5,000 13 13 15 15 19 Northumberland 10,000 12,000 11,000 12,000 11,000 14 17 15 17 17 North East 134,000 125,000 130,000 122,000 115,000 20 19 19 18 17 England 2,245,000 2,217,000 2,265,000 2,271,000 2,245,000 16 16 16 16 16 Note: Academic age 19 was used as a lower bound, which is the respondent’s age at the preceding 31 August. Source: Annual Population Survey
NEET Number Percentage 40-59 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Gateshead 13,000 13,000 13,000 13,000 13,000 26 27 25 25 24 Newcastle upon Tyne 18,000 18,000 16,000 16,000 17,000 27 28 25 26 26 North Tyneside 12,000 12,000 13,000 13,000 12,000 24 23 23 23 21 South Tyneside 11,000 11,000 11,000 12,000 10,000 30 28 26 28 24 Sunderland 24,000 24,000 22,000 24,000 20,000 30 29 27 29 25 Hartlepool 7,000 7,000 8,000 7,000 7,000 31 30 30 29 28 Middlesbrough 10,000 10,000 11,000 10,000 10,000 28 28 30 28 25 Redcar and Cleveland 12,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 9,000 30 26 25 26 24 Stockton-on-Tees 12,000 11,000 9,000 10,000 12,000 24 22 18 19 23 Durham 40,000 38,000 34,000 33,000 35,000 29 27 24 23 24 Darlington 6,000 5,000 6,000 5,000 5,000 24 20 22 18 18 Northumberland 19,000 20,000 19,000 21,000 16,000 21 21 20 22 17 North East 186,000 180,000 171,000 175,000 164,000 27 26 24 25 23 England 2,627,000 2,617,000 2,557,000 2,612,000 2,591,000 20 20 19 19 19 Source: Annual Population Survey
Vocational Training: ICT
The Government recognise that information communication and technology (ICT) training has a major role to play in helping to deliver our ambition to become a world leader in skills. With regard to ICT user skills, the recent publication “Skills for Life: Changing Lives” outlines how DIUS is considering with partners the development of a national strategy for ICT as a skill for life. More details will be provided shortly when the Informal Adult Learning White Paper is published. Plans for the development of digital skills more widely are being prepared with advice from sector skills councils following publication of “Digital Britain: The Interim Report” in January 2009 and will be presented in the final report to be published by the summer.
With regard to Kent Thameside more specifically, it is recognised that a mismatch between skills and opportunities could be a significant potential barrier to local regeneration. The Kent Thameside Regeneration Framework has a specific objective to raise the standards of learning and skills.
IT training will play a critical part in up-skilling local residents to take advantage of the opportunities that will become available through regeneration. There is a range of projects located in local communities across Kent Thameside aimed at raising the skills of local people. The Gateway Knowledge Alliance is part of a partnership delivering targeted IT provision with Learn IT to unemployed learners in deprived communities. It is also working as part of Employ North Kent on a SEEDA funded initiative. Starting from April 2009, the project will involve jobs-matching and the delivery of suitable courses that have been identified, which could include IT. In Dartford, a new state-of-the-art adult education centre was officially opened in February. The centre includes a new IT suite and aims to allow adults to gain the skills that employers are looking for, particularly during this economic downturn. There has been a big uptake in the number of people taking part in courses for the key employability skills of maths, IT and basic English. In Dartford alone, there has been a 20 per cent. increase in the number of people enrolling on these courses since September.
Young People: Unemployment
[holding answer 17 March 2009]: Data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) suggest that the employment rates for 18 to 24-year-olds not in full-time education have fallen slightly faster than for other age groups. However, it is too early to say that young people are or will be disproportionately affected by the current downturn, and the data may be affected by sample size fluctuations.
Over the last year increases in ILO unemployment have been spread quite evenly across different age groups. The claimant count, which tends to be more reliable than the LFS for looking at short-term economic trends, shows that the rise in inflows to job seeker’s allowance (JSA) has also been spread evenly by age.
There has been an increase in the percentage of 18 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training from 2007 to 2008, from 14.6 per cent. to 15.6 per cent., however due to the small samples involved, this is likely to include some degree of sampling error.
Health
Antidepressants: Children
This information is not collected centrally.
Arthritis: Waiting Lists
Clinical priority is, and remains, the main determinant of when patients should be treated. We have repeatedly stated that those patients who are in greatest need should continue to be treated first. Good waiting list management is based on treating clinically urgent patients urgently and all other patients in turn chronologically. Working with their lead commissioner, primary care trusts need to ensure they have the necessary capacity in place to support this.
Baby Care Units: Nurses
It is not possible to identify from central data the average annual salary of a neonatal nurse employed by the national health service in England. The role of a neonatal nurse can vary locally and any particular role would need to be job evaluated, based on the demands of the job. From 1 April 2009 under Agenda for Change, the terms and conditions on which neonatal nurses are employed, salaries can range from Band 5 for a newly qualified nurse (£20,710 minimum) to Band 9 for a nurse/midwife consultant higher level (£95,333 maximum).
Dementia
The impact assessment for the National Dementia Strategy assumes implementation of the strategy over a five year period.
The decisions about implementation of the Department’s commitments in the National Dementia Strategy will be taken during 2009-10.
Departmental Buildings
Details of the larger properties sold by the Department in each of the last five years are provided in the following table. While it will be up to the purchaser to decide on the future use of the properties, information is provided where it is considered the properties may be developed for housing. No properties were sold by the Department’s agencies during this period. Information is not held centrally in respect of properties sold by national health service trusts.
Property Sold Possible development for housing 2004-05 18 Brydon Road, Redditch — 21/23 Coulter Lane, Burntwood — 7 Wells Lane Terrace, Cheddleton — Land at Mickledale Lane, Bilsthorpe — 317 Mansfield Road, Nottingham — Watling Street Clinic, Bishop Auckland — Land at Burnhill Way, Newton Aycliffe Yes Land at Newton Aycliffe Hospital Yes Gables and land Winterton, Sedgefield — 7 Springfield Street, Warrington — 113 Coldharbour Road, Sherbourne — Holsworthy Ambulance Station and Health Centre — Part Western Hospital, Crediton — Land at Hanham Hall, Hanham — Land at Lord Mayor Treloar, Alton — 10 Gunn Street, Reading — Land at Langney, Eastbourne — Land at St Ebba’s, Epsom — St Ebba’s Cottage, Epsom — Land at Joyce Green, Dartford — Warley Lodge, Warley — 2005-06 Land at Princess Royal, Telford — St. Margarets, Walsall Yes St. Crispin’s Social Club, Northampton — Land at Towers Hospital, Leicester Yes 1/3 Nightingale Close, Mulbarton — High Royd’s, Menston Yes Killingbeck, Leeds Yes Land at Neville Drive, Sedgefield Yes 30 Windermere Gardens, Gateshead — St. Oswald’s Hospice, Newcastle — New Lodge, Whittingham — Middleton Hospital, Ilkley Yes 10 Mayroyd Avenue, Tolworth — 47 Gainsborough Road, Epsom — Conolly House, Napsbury Yes Colvend, Napsbury — 121 Cranleigh Mead, Cranleigh — 19 Netherne Lane, Coulsdon — 24 Park Road, Maidstone — 40 Park Road, Maidstone — 46 Park Road, Maidstone — 2 Brambletye Park Road, Redhill — Land at Joyce Green, Dartford — Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Banstead — Silverlands, Chertsey — Bungalow, Woodplace Lane, Coulsdon — Glenside, Bristol — Part Severalls Hospital Site, Colchester Yes Turner Village, Colchester Yes Land at St. Mary’s Axminster Yes Cashes Green Hospital, Stroud Yes St. Leonards, Ringwood Yes Tiverton District Hospital, Tiverton Yes Belmont Hospital, Tiverton Yes Cottages 1 to 5, Herrison — Lower Farm Buildings, Herrison — Sewer Field, Herrison Hanham Hall, Bristol Yes Part Countess of Chester, Chester Yes Whittingham, Preston Yes Winwick Farm, Warrington Yes Winwick Social Club, Warrington — Land at Lancaster Moor, Lancaster Yes Homelands Hospital, Crook Yes Killingworth Stores, Killingworth — Maiden Law Hospital, Durham Yes Part St. Georges Hospital, Morpeth Yes Land at Aycliffe Hospital, Newton Aycliffe Yes Birney Hill Farm, Ponteland — Stannington Children's Hospital, Stannington Yes Ashington General Hospital, Ashington Yes Part Shotley Bridge Hospital, Consett Yes Tindale Crescent, Bishop Auckland Yes Hull Maternity Hospital, Hull Yes Land at Seacroft Hospital, Leeds Yes Part Wharfdale Hospital, Otley Yes Land at Springfield, Grimsby Yes Scartho Hall, Grimsby — Scartho Hall - site opposite, Grimsby — Land at Norton Aerodrome, Sheffield — Lord Mayor Treloar, Alton Yes Park Prewett, Basingstoke Yes St Augustines, Chartham Yes Mabledon, Dartford Yes Alpha House, Droxford — Part St Ebbas, Epsom Yes Horton Farm, Epsom — Retail Centre site, Horton, Epsom Yes Part West Park Hospital, Epsom Yes Part Coldeast Hospital, Fareham Yes Part Knowle Hospital, Wickham — Land at St. Francis Hospital, Haywards Heath Yes Leyboume Grange, Maidstone Yes Linton Hospital, Maidstone Yes Part Milford Hospital, Milford Yes Land at Royal Earlswood, Redhill — Land at Hill House, Rye Yes Sheppey Hospital, Sheppey Yes Part Southlands Hospital, Shoreham Yes Hazel Farm, Southampton Yes Land at St Johns Hospital, Stone Yes Part Tatchbury Hospital, Calmore Yes Fair Mile Hospital, Cholsey Yes Land at Celsea Place, Cholsey — Renny Lodge, Newport Pagnell Yes Stretton Hall Farmland, Oadby Yes Ashover House, Lincoln — Carey House, Skegness — Derby City Chest Clinic, Derby — Barnsley Hall Land, Bromsgrove Yes Land at the Limes, Himley Yes Part Lea Castle Hospital, Kidderminster Yes Ledbury Cottage Hospital, Ledbury Yes Smallwood, Redditch — Royal Shrewsbury — South Yes Land at Chemsley, Solihull Yes Land at Middlefield, Knowle Yes Land at Bucknall, Bucknall Yes 2006-07 11 Edith Road, London — Bridge Wharf, London — 48 Park Road, Maidstone — 31 Pathfields, Shere — 40 Princes Road, Redhill — 42 Princes Road, Redhill — 9 Princes Road, Redhill — Orchard Field, Virginia Water — 42 Redan Road, Aldershot — 44 Redan Road, Aldershot — Hollywood Lodge, Epsom — Eastwood Park, Falfield — 9 Highbury Villas, Bristol — Oakleigh, Plymouth — Okehampton Castle Hospital, Okehampton — 57 Park Road, Loughborough — Land at Sedgefield — Fieldside, Workington — Land at St. Catherine’s, Doncaster Yes Compton Hospice, Wolverhampton — Broseley Hospital, Broseley — Wellington Cottage Hospital, Telford — Stone House Hospital, Dartford Yes St. Margarets Hospital, Epping Yes Runwell Hospital, Wickford Yes Part Prudhoe Hospital, Prudhoe Yes Part Manor Kingsway Hospital, Derby Yes Cane Hill Hospital, Coulsdon Yes Part Grimsby General Hospital, Grimsby Yes St. Clements Social Club, Ipswich — Graylingwell Hospital, Chichester Yes The Beeches Hospital, Telford Yes 2007-08 Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hackney Yes 337-339 Hackney Road, Hackney — 18 Paddington Green, London — Eastry Hospital, Eastry Yes 35 Higher Kingston, Yeovil — 10 Woodside, Plymouth — St. Mary’s Hospital, Stannington Yes 103 Oakwood Drive, Ulverston — Sedgefield Hospital, Sedgefield — Agricultural land, Winterton — Willowburn, Maiden Law Hospital, Lanchester Yes 112 Northbourne Road, Jarrow — 140 Hedworth Lane, Jarrow — 27 Willow Grange, Jarrow — Land at South Elmsall, Wakefield Yes 18 Battlefield Lane, Holbeach — Holbeach Hospital, Holbeach — Land at Honey Lane, Waltham Abbey — Cherry Knowle Hospital, Sunderland Yes Part Towers Hospital, Leicester Yes 2008-09 10 Houses in Surrey — 30 Paul Road, Bodmin — Land at Cronehills, West Bromwich — Laverneo, Grindon — Horton House, Epsom Yes
Departmental ICT
No information and communication technology (ICT) projects costing more than £1 million have been initiated and abandoned by the Department since 2002. This includes all ICT projects initiated by the Department's Information Services, NHS Connecting for Health, NHS Choices, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency , and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency.
The initial estimated costs and delivery dates of the information and communication technology (ICT) projects costing over £1 million that were initiated by the Department's Information Services function since 2002 are as follows:
Name of project Initial estimated delivery date of project Initial estimated cost of project (£ million) DOTP October 2003 3.165 CSC Transformation March 2004 9.1 Vista April 2004 6.9 UNIFY1 September 2005 2.179 SP2 Upgrade February 2006 0.882 Quarry House LAN March 2006 3.0 Delphi June 2006 2.324 The Club July 2006 1.949 Notes Upgrade September 2006 1.993 UNIFY2 April 2007 2.404 MEDBEN February 2008 0.68 BMS July 2008 10.5 Ref Costs 2008 October 2008 0.875 Delphi 2 January 2009 2.198 UNIFY Enhancement November 2009 2.057 ACCEA December 2009 1.5
The initial estimated costs and delivery dates of the ICT projects costing over £1 million that were undertaken by NHS Choices since 2002 are as follows:
Name of project Initial estimated delivery date of project Initial estimated cost of project (£ million) NHS Choices Technical Build July 2007 3.7
The initial estimated costs and delivery dates of the ICT projects costing over £1 million that were undertaken by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency since 2002 are as follows:
Name of project Initial estimated delivery date of project Initial estimated cost of project (£ million) Sentinel Pharmacovigilance Casefolders April 2006 1.342 Sentinel Server Upgrade January 2009 3.5 Sentinel Component Software Development June 2009 1.6
The ICT projects undertaken by NHS Connecting for Health are as follows:
Name of project Initial estimated delivery date of project Initial estimated cost of project (£ billion) National Programme for IT (NPfIT) —1 26.2 1 NPfIT comprises a number of separate systems and services for which, as a whole, there is no single national completion date. 2 This is the initial estimated cost of the core contracts. It was included in the estimated cost of the entire programme (£12.453 billion, at 2004-05 prices, including local and other costs) as reported by the National Audit Office in its June 2006 report on NPfIT.
Cost of providing the above information
The cost of obtaining and collating the above information is approx £650. There are ICT elements to some of the business area programmes within the Department (e.g. Influenza Pandemic Preparedness) but the additional cost to obtain and collate this information would be disproportionate and exceed the £750 threshold for answers to parliamentary questions.
The outturn costs and completion dates of information and communication technology projects (ICT) costing over £1 million that were initiated by the Department’s Information Services function since 2002 are as follows:
Name of project Outturn cost of project (£ million) Completion date of project DOTP 3.328 March 2004 CSC Transformation 12.7 December 2004 Vista 6.9 April 2004 UNIFY1 1.989 September 2005 SP2 Upgrade 1.065 March 2007 Quarry House LAN 2.738 June 2007 Delphi 2.261 June 2006 The Club 1.7 March 2007 Notes Upgrade 2.141 August 2008 UNIFY2 2.580 May 2007 MEDBEN 1.093 October 2008 BMS 10.5 July 2008 Ref Costs 2008 1.235 December 2008 Delphi 2 Ongoing Not yet completed UNIFY Enhancement Ongoing Not yet completed ACCEA Ongoing Not yet completed
The outturn costs and completion dates of the ICT projects costing over £1 million that were undertaken by NHS Choices since 2002 are as follows:
Name of project Initial estimated cost of project ( £ million) Initial estimated delivery date of project NHS Choices Technical Build 4.28 July 2007
The outturn costs and completion dates of the ICT projects costing over £1 million that were undertaken by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency since 2002 are as follows:
Name of project Outturn cost of project (£ million) Completion date of project Sentinel Pharmacovigilance Casefolders 1.587 May 2006 Sentinel Server Upgrade 3.5 January 2009 Sentinel Component Software Development Ongoing Not yet completed
The ICT projects undertaken by NHS Connecting for Health are listed as follows:
Name of project Outturn cost of project (£ billion) Completion date of project National Programme for IT (NPfIT) 6.81 2— 1 The original estimated core contracts cost of £6.2 billion is unchanged. The revised figure of £6.8 billion includes additional functionality. This is included in the cost of the entire programme (£12.656 billion at 2004-05 prices, including local and other costs) as reported by the National Audit Office in its May 2008 report on NPfIT. 2 NPfIT comprises a number of separate systems and services for which, as a whole, there is no single completion date. Note: Cost of providing the above information. The cost of obtaining and collating the above information is approx £650. There are ICT elements to some of the business area programmes within the Department (e.g. Influenza Pandemic Preparedness) but the additional cost to obtain and collate this information would be disproportionate and exceed the £750 threshold for answers to parliamentary questions.
The main contractors for the information and communications technology (ICT) projects costing over £1 million that were initiated by the Department’s Information Services function since 2002 are as follows:
Name of project Name of main contractor Amount paid to main contractor to date (£ million) DOTP Sapient 1.5 CSC Transformation CSC 12.7 Vista Cap Gemini, Ernst & Young 1.6 UNIFY1 No main contractor n/a SP2 Upgrade CSC 1.065 Quarry House LAN CSC 2.738 Delphi CSC 1.263 The Club Xansa (now called Steria) 1.7 Notes Upgrade CSC 2.141 UNIFY2 Sapient 1.592 MEDBEN Sapient 0.630 BMS Sapient 7.4 Ref Costs 2008 Sapient 0.732 Delphi 2 CSC 1.511 UNIFY Enhancement Sapient 0.298 ACCEA Sapient 0.571
The main contractors for the ICT projects costing over £1 million that were undertaken by NHS Choices since 2002 are as follows:
Name of project Name of main contractor Amount paid to main contractor to date (£ million) NHS Choices Technical Build Various1 1.1 1 There were a number of different suppliers for provision of hosting services, software licences, and hardware etc.
The main contractors for the ICT projects costing over £1 million that were undertaken by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency since 2002 are as follows:
Name of project Name of main contractor Amount paid to main contractor to date (£ million) Sentinel Pharmacovigilance Casefolders Accenture 1.587 Sentinel Server Upgrade Accenture 2.754 Sentinel Component Software Development Accenture 0.095
The core contractors for the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) undertaken by NHS Connecting for Health are as follows:
Core contractors Category Projected lifetime costs Amount paid to main contractor1 BT London 1,021 191 Fujitsu South 1,104 81 CSC (to September 2006 Accenture) North East 1,035 214 CSC (to September 2006 Accenture) East 930 200 CSC North West & West Midlands 1,042 185 BT Spine 889 585 BT N3 Network 530 423 Atos Origin Choose and Book 144 103 Amount retained by Accenture2 110 -49 Total 6,805 3,550 1 Expenditure to 31 March 2008 at 2003-04 prices (year of signature of contracts). The figures up to 31 March 2009 will not be available until the Department’s Resource Accounts are compiled later this year. 2 In 2006, Accenture made arrangements to voluntarily novate the company’s contract to another existing supplier under the programme. Of the £179 million Accenture had received to that point the company retained £110 million for work completed. £49 million represents the value, for accounting purposes, of moneys repaid as at 31 March 2008. Note: Cost of providing the above information The cost of obtaining and collating the above information is approx £650. There are ICT elements to some of the business area programmes within the Department (e.g. Influenza Pandemic Preparedness) but the additional cost to obtain and collate this information would be disproportionate and exceed the £750 threshold for answers to parliamentary questions.
Departmental Lost Property
[holding answer 20 March 2009]: The eight items of departmental property reported as lost or stolen that were categorised as miscellaneous to the answer of 13 March were:
Description Number Mobile connection 3G card 1 Portable digital dictation machine 1 USB memory sticks 2 Laptop docking station 1 RSA secure ID token for remote authentication 2 LCD monitor 1
The approximate replacement value is £700.
Disabled: Elderly
No recent estimate has been made of the number of people aged 65 years and over living with a disability.
Diseases
This information has been placed in the Library. Notifications are collected at a local authority level and strategic health authority level, not at a primary care trust level.
Gosport War Memorial Hospital
The report from Professor Baker is not yet in the public domain, and we have to balance the legitimate public interest in openness against the rights of individuals named within the report in respect of personal details relating to them. We consider that there is a legitimate public interest in protecting their rights, at the present time, for those facts not to be disclosed—or at least for them to have a full opportunity to read the report and make their own comments upon it. Performing that assessment and taking all the Freedom of Information and Data Protection Act issues into account, we have concluded that on balance we should not yet issue it.
However, recognising the public interest in this whole issue, we do intend, once the inquests are concluded and the General Medical Council have decided what their action will be, and subject to the appropriate individuals identified in the report’s having had a chance to comment, to publish the Baker report, should publication still be relevant—that is to say, it may in the meantime become public knowledge from another official source, such as the proceedings of an inquest.
Health Centres: Kettering
Northamptonshire Teaching Primary Care Trust successfully opened a general practitioner-led health centre in Corby in December 2008 that is open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, 365 days a year. The primary care trust has put on hold plans for other similar services including the one proposed for Kettering, as these will now form part of a wider integrated plan for primary care developing over the coming years.
Health Centres: Nurses
The precise skill mix is best determined locally by the primary care trust and the appointed local contractors and will depend on the range of services commissioned at the centre. Our guidance to the national health service suggested a general practitioner (GP)-led health centre might have nine practice nurses, and three GPs to reflect the extended hours and walk-in appointments which will predominantly be dealt with by nurses. However there should always be a GP available at all times able to see patients, where appropriate.
Health Services: North East
The Sir Martin Roth Unit, formerly based at Newcastle General Hospital, was transferred to Prudhoe Hospital in May 2008. The North East Strategic Health Authority reports that the transfer took place following consultation with service users, parents, carers, stakeholders and staff. A joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee of local authorities agreed to the proposals on 21 September 2007. The transfer of the unit did not require the approval of the Secretary of State for Health, as proposals for the reconfiguration of services are a matter for the national health service locally, working in conjunction with clinicians, patients and other stakeholders.
Health Visitors: Yorkshire and the Humber
The information is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number of health visitors in each specified organisation as at 30 September in each specified year from 2001.
Barnsley primary care trust (PCT) Doncaster PCT 2001 n/a 96 2002 53 92 2003 65 87 2004 69 94 2005 67 97 2006 60 87 2007 52 92 Notes: 1. n/a denotes not available. Barnsley PCT was formed in 2002 from a merger of Eastern Barnsley primary care group (PCG), Barnsley West PCG and Barnsley Community and Priority Services NHS Trust. It is impossible to accurately map figures for these predecessor organisations. 2. Doncaster PCT was created on 1 October 2006 from a complete merger of Doncaster Central PCT, Doncaster East PCT and Doncaster West PCT. It is impossible to accurately map figures for these predecessor organisations prior to 2001. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care.
Hospitals: Admissions
The number of patients admitted to national health service hospitals in Essex and England in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
Essex England 2003-04 342,596 11,809,017 2004-05 350,506 12,101,986 2005-06 371,713 12,678,628 2006-07 374,850 12,976,273 2007-08 399,921 13,479,828 Notes: 1. The data provided are the number of finished admission episodes for primary care trusts in Essex and for England for the years 2003-04 to 2007-08. 2. The data provided include activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. 3. The number of finished admission episodes is not the same as the number of patients admitted as a patient may be admitted more than once. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the NHS information centre for health and social care.
Hospitals: Infectious Diseases
The Department has not undertaken any work on the efficacy of personal antimicrobial products before entry to hospital for elective patients or during stays in hospital and is not aware of any evidence that these products offer advantages over materials supplied to patients by the national health service.
Our strategy “Clean Safe Care' draws together the measures required to control infections. Generally, normal soap and toiletries are adequate for patients' personal hygiene during their hospital stay, and hospitals will provide special soap and shampoo to prevent bacterial infections as necessary. The decision to provide patients with antimicrobial soap and shampoo is based on local infection prevention and control policies.
Incontinence: Medical Equipment
We have no plans to consult further. We will announce the new arrangements for the provision of stoma and urology appliances in due course, at which time we will publish the summary of the responses to the last consultation.
Injuries: Offensive Weapons
Information has been provided on the age groupings 19 to 25 rather than 18 to 25 (in order to avoid double counting). The data have been broken down by strategic health authority (SHA) of residence and then a further breakdown of individual primary care trusts (PCTs) in London has been provided. As well as this, extra tables showing emergency admissions to hospitals have been provided, as this is the closest thing we can provide to emergency care. Hospital episode statistics datasets are not able to determine whether admissions required intensive care or not.
In 2006-07 SHAs were reconfigured, with 28 SHAs merging into 10. Due to this, data for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are based on the new configuration.
Tables showing a “Count of admissions and emergency admissions by SHA and London PCT of residences broken down by age where there is an external cause of assault by sharp object (X99) and assault by blunt object (Y00) in 2003-04 to 2007-08”, have been placed in the Library.
It should be noted that the number of admissions do not represent the number of patients as someone may have been admitted more than once.
Learning Disability: Care Homes
The information requested is not held centrally.
Malnutrition
The total admissions to hospital where there was a primary diagnosis of malnutrition broken down by strategic health authority (SHA) of treatment from 2003-04 to 2007-08 are shown in the following tables.
Admissions where there was a primary diagnosis of malnutrition 2007-08 2006-07 Total (England) 391 362 Q30 North East Strategic Health Authority 18 27 Q31 North West Strategic Health Authority 50 36 Q32 Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority 39 45 Q33 East Midlands Strategic Health Authority 31 34 Q34 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority 59 56 Q35 East of England Strategic Health Authority 33 32 Q36 London Strategic Health Authority 52 45 Q37 South East Coast Strategic Health Authority 25 19 Q38 South Central Strategic Health Authority 36 27 Q39 South West Strategic Health Authority 48 41
Admissions where there was a primary diagnosis of malnutrition 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 Total (England) 304 261 256 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic HA 14 12 9 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic HA * * * Essex Strategic HA 10 8 * North West London Strategic HA 11 7 7 North Central London Strategic HA 7 6 * North East London Strategic HA 11 13 8 South East London Strategic HA 12 * 16 South West London Strategic HA * 14 6 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic HA 11 7 10 County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic HA 9 6 * North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Strategic HA * * 8 West Yorkshire Strategic HA 9 6 7 Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic HA 9 9 9 Greater Manchester Strategic HA 12 14 20 Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic HA 16 9 18 Thames Valley Strategic HA 16 11 9 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic HA 10 18 10 Kent and Medway Strategic HA * * 10 Surrey and Sussex Strategic HA 13 13 7 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic HA 15 9 22 South West Peninsula Strategic HA 22 21 12 Dorset and Somerset Strategic HA * 7 8 South Yorkshire Strategic HA 11 8 7 Trent Strategic HA 14 9 9 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Strategic HA 10 * * Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic HA 6 19 8 Birmingham and the Black Country Strategic HA 31 18 14 West Midlands South Strategic HA 8 * *
Admissions where there was a primary diagnosis of malnutrition Under 10 10 and over Unknown 2007-08 25 366 1— 2006-07 19 342 1 2005-06 15 289 1— 2004-05 12 249 1— 2003-04 14 242 1— 1 No data available.
Medical Records
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 January 2009, Official Report, column 162W.
Mentally Ill: Children
This information is not collected centrally.
Midwives
This information is not collected centrally.
NHS: Finance
[holding answer 20 March 2009]: There were 17 NHS trusts designated financially challenged in 2006-07 (financially challenged trusts (FCTs)). Long-term financial recovery plans were drawn up for these NHS trusts with the aim of returning them to financial balance while maintaining and improving services to patients. 10 of these trusts have agreed a realistic profile for surpluses going forward and repayment of their historic debt within five years and were no longer therefore designated as FCTs at the beginning of the 2008-09 financial year. One of these trusts was Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS trust.
Capital investment schemes can form part of the recovery plan at FCTs as they can deliver cost efficiency savings at the same time as improvements in patient care. In exceptional circumstances, where a trust urgently requires a level of investment that it cannot afford from its depreciation or from affordable borrowing from the Department, it can receive an exceptional allocation of capital from the Department (referred to as exceptional Public Dividend Capital (PDC)).
At Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS the Department has recently agreed to fund two capital schemes from exceptional Public Dividend Capital: new operating theatres at St. Michael's hospital (total £5.8 million); and £3.8 million to create a ‘central hub' for sexual health services on the Royal Cornwall hospital site.
[holding answer 20 March 2009]: Both public capital and private finance through the private finance initiative (PFI) and NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) (for acute trusts and the primary care estate respectively) is available for both small and large scale capital investment projects.
Information on the amounts of public capital resources so far allocated to strategic health authorities (SHAs), NHS trusts and primary care trusts in 2008-09 has been placed in the Library.
The allocations data provided show the total capital resources allocated up to the end of Quarter 3 (December 2008). Allocations include capital funding for locally prioritised capital expenditure and programme capital for centrally announced initiatives and reflect adjustments for capital grants to third parties.
Some organisations are showing a negative capital allocation. Negative allocations can arise where there are planned asset disposals and the selling organisation does not plan to reinvest the total value of the disposal in capital assets in the selling organisation’s books in the year of disposal.
From resources of £5.6 billion and £4.8 billion of public capital for the NHS announced in the pre-Budget report (November 2008) for 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively, allocations for these years are currently being set as part of NHS trusts’ and PCTs’ financial plans.
Private Finance in the form of senior debt and shareholder capital (equity) under the PFI and NHS LIFT initiatives is raised by private sector project companies which win contracts for schemes put out to tender by the procuring authority (i.e. an NHS Trust or PCT).
NHS: ICT
Comprehensive information is not available centrally in the form requested.
Local information technology (IT) expenditure reported by the national health service in the 2007-08 financial year—the latest period for which information is available—amounted to £1,852 million. This figure comprises revenue expenditure (£1,517 million, including capital charges of £258 million) reported through an annual national survey of IT investment, and capital expenditure (£335 million), identified in NHS accounts and reported by foundation trusts. It does not include expenditure by special health authorities or central expenditure funded by the Department. The information collected does not differentiate between different elements of IT expenditure, for example on hardware or software-related costs, nor include details of the local contractual arrangements.
Contracts covering the core systems and service being provided centrally under the national programme for information technology were entered into during 2003 and 2004. The contract with Fujitsu, the then local service provider for the national programme in the south of England, was terminated in May 2008 because of the company’s failure to meet key contractual milestones and to provide an acceptable remediation plan.
Information about the local financial and resource impact due to the implementation of computer systems are held locally by the NHS organisations involved. However, while the purpose of the new systems being deployed through the national programme is to improve patient services by delivering better, safer care to patients more efficiently, they will in fact also save money by relieving doctors and other staff of unnecessary and time-consuming administrative burdens.
NHS: Statistics
The list of central data returns required from the national health service by the Department in 2004 which have subsequently been discontinued is as follows.
ROCR (Review of Central Returns) approved Department of Health statistical collections of information that have been discontinued since 2004
Discontinued ongoing collections
Collection of data about Prescription Prepayment Certificates
Survey of Registration and Inspection of Local Authority and Health Authority Units
Collection of Controls Assurance Data
Community Dental Health Services
Emergency Dental Services—EDS1
Acute Hospital Patient Centred and Clinical Information Systems Survey
Audited Funds Held on Trust summarisation schedules (12 CTF Forms)
Comprehensive Mental Health Service Mapping
Consultant Outpatient First Attendances (Provider Based)
Demand for Elective Admission (Health Authority Based)
Demand for Elective Admission: Events occurring during the Quarter (Provider Based)
Demand for Elective Admission: Events occurring during the Quarter (Relevant Population Based)
Demand for Elective Admission: Number of People who have Deferred Admission Waiting at the End of the Quarter (Health Authority Based)
Demand for Elective Admission: Number of People who have Deferred Admission Waiting at the End of the Quarter (Provider Based)
Demand for Elective Admission: Position at the end of the Quarter (Provider Based)
Dental Distance Standards
Financial and Workforce Information Return
GMP Calculation of Superannuable Remuneration
Health visiting and other Professional Advice and Support in the community
Landlord’s expenses survey: notional rents and interest on loans
Mapping Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
Mission Critical and High Risk Projects
Mixed Sex Hospital Accommodation (formerly Patients Charter Standard—Single Sex Hospital Accommodation)
Monitoring accidents, violence and harassment targets
Monitoring equalities and education targets
Monitoring the £50 million Central Budget for Specialist Palliative Care
Monthly Monitoring Collection
Newly Reported HIV Infected Persons (Cumulative)
Newly Reported HIV Infected Persons (In Year)
NHS Trusts Annual Accounts Summarisation Forms (34 TAC Forms)
NHS Day Care: Availability and Use of Facilities
NHS Plan Monitoring of Planned Workforce Increases
Nursing Campaign Return
Patient Care in the Community: Community Learning Disability Nursing
Patient Care in the Community: Community Mental Health Nursing
Patient Care in the Community: District Nursing
Patient Care in the Community: Specialist Care Nursing
Patient's Charter Key Standards covering: Emergency Admissions through A and E; Waiting in Outpatient Clinics; Cancelled Operations and Transfer of Medical Records
Personal Medical Services
Practices below a minimum standard
Progress on implementing S21 of the Disability Discrimination Act
Regional Librarians Group (RLG) Statistics
Safety Alert Broadcast System (SABS)
Strategic Health Authority Analysis of Strategic Health Authority Provisions
Summary of Chiropody Services
Summary of Clinical Psychology Services
Summary of Occupational Therapy Services
Summary of Physiotherapy Services
Summary of Speech and Language Therapy Services
Summary of Ward Attenders (KH05)
Unaudited SHA summarisation schedules
Assessment of Consultants’ Performance
Assessment of Contractors’ Performance
Contract Monitoring Following Tender
Contract Tender Reporting
Forms Notifying Capital Scheme Approval
Scheme Monitoring Following Approval
Working Time Directive (WTD)—Gathering Intelligence from SHAs
Cancer Waiting Times: Monitoring the Two Week Target
Sickness Absence Collection
Salaried Doctors Employed under Salaried Doctors Scheme
AIDS (Control) Act 1987 Revised Reporting Arrangements
Consultant Level Prospective Waiting Times Information
Quarterly Monitoring of Cancer Bookings
National Orthopaedics Project—position statement
Survey of Health Professionals' attitudes and experiences with childhood immunisation 2006
Consultants Claiming an Award
Finance Staffing Database
Pharmaceutical, Dental and Ophthalmic Services
Weekly Access Return (inc PTL's)
One-off collections
Consultant Outpatient Clinic Activity and Accident and Emergency Services Activity (KH09)
Consultant Outpatient First Attendances (Health Authority Based)
Childcare arrangements in NHS Trusts
Out of area treatment Welsh Local Health Board
Local Stop Smoking Services
Survey of attitudes to and practice of prevention in primary care
Assessing Variation in Uptake of NICE Approved Cancer Drugs
A Strategy for NHS Information Quality Assurance
Controls Assurance
Audit of Child Information Systems
Data Quality of CAD
Care Programme Approach (CPA) Survey
CAMHS Letters to PCTs
NHS E-Booking Research
Electrical Power in NHS Acute Hospitals
Accounting for NHS Allocations for PACS
Alcohol Treatment Services Audit
HRG (Healthcare Resource Group) Questionnaire
Abortion waiting times and commissioning policies audit
Department of Health Stakeholder Perceptions Audit (DH Stakeholder Survey)
Mental Health Czar: Fact Finding Survey
Alcohol Enforcement Campaign: A and E collection
NHS Euro Preparedness
Tracking Cancer Investment
Enhanced Services Spend
National information strategy research, telephone survey
System Reform Behaviours and Relationships
MORI SHA survey
Consultant Contract Survey
Care Programme Approach (CPA) Survey
Local out-of-hours arrangements
Notes:
1. The list of discontinued collections provided are those that have been through the central approval process, received ministerial approval and had an official licence for the data to be collected.
2. Collections have been included that were discontinued, but were subsequently superseded by new collections that covered or changed the original data requirement.
3. The list of one-off collections relate to requests for data during 2004 that were not scheduled to be repeated in subsequent years.
4. Collections are not included that commenced after 2004 and have subsequently been discontinued.
NHS: Working Hours
Many parts of the national health service have made excellent progress implementing this important legislation, which ensures that patients receive safe, high quality care from staff who have not been forced to work excessive hours. The United Kingdom Government notified the European Commission in January of their assessment of progress in achieving compliance with the European Working Time Directive by doctors in training. A copy of the UK Notification of Derogation for Doctors in Training has been placed in the Library. The Department is working closely with the Medical Royal Colleges, the British Medical Association and the strategic health authorities to ensure trusts are prepared for full implementation.
Occupational Therapy
As at 30 September 2007, there were 17,024 qualified occupational therapy staff employed in the national health service.
Effective work force planning is about delivering the best possible patient care by ensuring high quality staff with the right skills are in the right place at the right time.
No assessment has been made centrally as to the number of occupational therapists required as local NHS organisations are best placed to assess the health care needs of their local populations.
Patients: Surveys
[holding answer 20 March 2009]: The budget for the GP patient survey during 2008-09 is £8 million, a reduction of 20 per cent. on the 2007-08 costs. It is inevitable that with a survey of 5.7 million patients there will be a degree of crossover in the post of completed surveys with reminders. The number of items posted for each wave of the 2008-09 survey was:
5 January: 5,660,236;
9 February: 4,698,854; and
9 March: 3,496,282.
The postage cost of each individual letter works out at 28 pence per letter and it is estimated that due to the printing lead time of the reminders 200,000 questionnaires may have crossed in the post between completion and receipt of the reminders.
Physiology
In the past year we have received at least 69 representations. However, without examining each of these cases, this is only an indicative number. A more accurate answer could be given only at disproportionate cost.
Primary Care Trusts
It is for individual national health service organisations to decide, in conjunction with the direction and priorities agreed with their strategic health authority and priorities set out in the Department’s NHS operating framework, how to spend their resources for the benefit of patients. This principle applies to all expenditure and investment, including expenditure on legal fees.
Strokes: Health Services
Under the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) primary care receives points for having a register of patients who have had a stroke or a trans ischaemic attack (TIA). The QOF also covers a number of indicators which relate to good clinical management of stroke patients, covering referral for further investigation, blood pressure and cholesterol management and the prescribing of anti-platelet or anti-coagulant medicine and flu vaccination. These measures assist primary care practitioners to reduce the risk of patients having a recurrent stroke or TIA.
The stroke strategy outlines the need to ensure systems are in place locally for key prevention measures e.g. management of hypertension and smoking cessation to those who have had a stroke or TIA.
Energy and Climate Change
Biofuels
[holding answer 19 March 2009]: The UK Government’s National Inventory Report to the UNFCCC is due on 15 April. This will provide estimates of historical emissions, by sector, including biomass until 2007.
An assessment of the impact of announced policies by sector will be included in our UK 5th National Communication to the UNFCCC, which we hope to publish this summer.
Carbon Emissions: Buildings
[holding answer 2 February 2009]: Phase two of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme will close to new applications on 30 June 2009. We are currently considering next steps post June 2009.
A feed-in tariffs (FITs) mechanism for small-scale, low-carbon electricity generation is currently being developed. We will consult on the details of the scheme this summer and FITs will be in place in April 2010.
A mechanism for a Renewable Heat Incentive is also being developed and the details of this scheme will also be consulted on. We intend to have the RHI in place in April 2011.
Carbon Sequestration
The Government’s policy on carbon, capture and storage was most recently set out in the Energy White Paper, 2007 and the “Carbon Abatement Technology (CAT) Strategy for Fossil Fuel Use in the UK”, 2005. These policies were underpinned by a number of studies and reports, some specifically commissioned by the Government such as:
Review on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS), 2003:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file21887.pdf
The Role of Fossil Fuel Carbon Abatement Technologies in a Low Carbon Energy System—A Report on Analysis Undertaken to Advise on DTI’s CAT Strategy, 2005:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file19834.pdf
Industrial Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Carbon Dioxide Storage Potential in the UK, 2006:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file35684.pdf.
The Government also take account of the work of others such as the:
IEA Energy Technologies Perspectives http://www.iea.org/Textbase/techno/etp/index.asp
European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Plans—CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) Matrix of Technologies
Advanced Power Generation Technology Forum
Most recently, the Advisory Committee on Carbon Abatement Technologies (ACCAT) has set out its views on how Government should review their CAT Strategy in its advisory document on “Accelerating the Deployment of Carbon Abatement Technologies with special focus on Carbon Capture and Storage, 2009”:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file50028.pdf.
The Government will be taking this into account as they develop their future policies on CCS.
Departmental Art Works
No Minister within this Department has currently selected any works of art from the Government Art Collection for any private office.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
Since the Department’s creation on 3 October 2008 no one has been disciplined in those circumstances.
Departmental Location
In February 2009 DECC had 74 staff whose main place of work was outside London.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Costs incurred on reimbursable expenses in 2008-09 will be available only when the Department's resource accounts are fully audited and laid before Parliament. This is expected to be before the 2009 summer recess.
Departmental Performance Appraisal
DECC was created on 3 October 2008 when staff were transferred from BERR and DEFRA. Work is currently being undertaken to design the DECC pay systems. These will need to be approved by HMT and negotiated with the trade unions for implementation later in the year. In line with civil service pay policy, the DECC pay arrangements will include a performance-based bonus scheme which will cover all staff but no decisions have been taken so far on the proportion of staff in any year who will actually receive a bonus.
Departmental Surveys
Deposited Papers
Since 26 January 2009, when the Department of Energy and Climate Change's Parliamentary Unit was set up, officials from the unit check all written answers to parliamentary questions, written ministerial statements, ministerial correspondence and debates in the Chamber to record instances where a Minister commits the Department to place a document in the Libraries of the House. The Parliamentary Unit then arranges this and maintains an electronic record.
Prior to 26 January 2009 this activity was undertaken jointly by the Parliamentary Units of BERR and DEFRA.
Electric Cables
The Department is unable to provide historical data covering the last 30-year period. Ofgem the industry regulator has provided comprehensive data covering the periods 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 for both transmission and distribution networks across England, Wales and Scotland. These details are contained in the following table.
Total added Overhead Underground Percentage underground 2005-06 10,368 3,162 7,206 70 2006-07 7,685 1,941 5,744 75 2007-08 8,582 2,225 6,357 74
A large amount of new power lines are low voltage distribution lines in urbanised areas.
Electricity Generation
The generation cost of different technologies are measured in terms of levelised costs and are presented on a £ per megawatt hour basis. The Government have carried out analysis on generation costs in some detail in recent years to inform policy decisions. Some of these estimates have been published as part of the Energy Review (2006). 2008 estimates suggest the following indicative costs (£/MWh) associated with generating lMWh of electricity from renewable sources:
£/MWh Onshore wind (80MW) 70 Offshore wind (100MW) 92 Biomass regular 80-90 Biomass energy crop 110-120 Biomass CHP 80-90 Wave 160-190 Tidal stream 150-180 Tidal range 130-160 Biowaste 90-110 Biogas 170-200
Energy: Consumers
The Department has funded with Ofgem the Energy Best Deal, a pilot scheme to train front-line advice workers to help low income householders get the best deal on energy bills. Last year, Ofgem conducted a probe into energy markets, which found that some customers needed more information to help them participate effectively in the market. Ofgem is now considering what other means can be used to increase customers’ involvement in the market.
Energy: Meters
[holding answer 23 February 2009]: Ministers have met with energy suppliers and discussed a range of issues in the energy supply markets. Following the results of the Ofgem probe into energy markets, Ministers have emphasised to suppliers that they expect all consumers to be treated fairly, whatever the method they use to pay for their gas and electricity supply.
EU Emissions Trading Scheme
EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) auction revenues will not be hypothecated to support the construction of new unabated carbon-capture ready coal-fired power plant.
In December 2008, the European Council adopted a political declaration indicating EU member states’ willingness to spend at least half of the auction revenues under the revised EU Emissions Trading System to tackle climate change both in the EU and in developing countries. This will include reducing emissions, adapting to climate change, developing renewable technologies and providing for the environmentally safe capture and storage of greenhouse gases.
In addition to this, the revised Emissions Trading System Directive provides for 300 million emissions allowances to be made available until the end of 2015 from the new entrant reserve to co-fund up to 12 commercial scale demonstrations of environmentally safe carbon capture and storage and innovative renewable energy technologies to provide an incentive for their rapid development.
Government Communications
DECC has 13 members of staff who are classified as Government communicators and have access to the Government Communication Network. These include:
One Director of Communications
One Head of News
One Chief Press Officer
Four Press Officers
Six Marketing officers
DECC has no executive agencies.
Members: Correspondence
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State replied to my right hon. Friend on 17 March 2009.
Natural Gas
Provisional data for 2008 show that the UK’s gross demand (including exports) for natural gas was sourced as follows: (a) Net production of natural gas from the UK Continental Shelf, 65 per cent., (b) from Norway, 25 per cent., (c) from the Russian Federation, negligible, and (d) from other sources, 10 per cent. (8 per cent. from the Netherlands).
Monthly imports and exports of natural gas by country are published in Energy Trends Table 4.3 on the DECC/BERR website at this address
http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/energy/statistics/source/gas/page18525.html.
Nuclear Power Stations
I have been asked to reply.
The amount of time Nuclear Inspectors in the Health and Safety Executive spent on generic design assessment (GDA) in the last two quarters was:
Days Quarter 3 for 2008-09 1,004 Quarter 4 for 2008-09 805.5
This is entirely made up of Nuclear Installations Inspectorate staff working on GDA. Approximately 7 per cent. of this effort is from staff not dedicated just to GDA, so only working part-time on GDA.
We expect around 25 Inspectors to be working on GDA up to mid June 2011. It is too early to estimate how many Inspectors will be working on the new nuclear build programme after that date.
Renewable Energy: Public Consultation
[holding answer 19 March 2009]: The summary of responses to the Renewable Energy Strategy consultation and the full text of responses are available online at:
http://renewableconsultation.berr.gov.uk/consultation
Justice
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
The Department takes data security very seriously and new mandated measures to improve and strengthen controls in the protection of personal data were introduced following the Government’s Review of Data Handling last year. Since the Ministry was established in May 2007, central records show that 19 staff in 2007 and 37 staff in 2008 were subject to disciplinary action for breaches of IT security policy. The types of incidents would have included, but not exclusively, mis-use of e-mail and internet browsing. None of the incidents compromised the integrity of the Department’s IT systems.
Entry Clearances: Appeals
The number of family visitor visa appeals that were received and granted by an adjudicator/immigration judge in each of the last six years is shown in the following table:
Appeal receipts Appeals allowed 2003-04 16,884 17,275 2004-05 30,643 112,384 2005-06 58,495 12,793 2006-07 50,065 24,638 2007-082 64,669 21,755 April to December 20082 50,009 16,143 1 Outcomes data were not published prior to April 2005. The allowed figures for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are estimates based on the distribution of outcomes from an alternative data source. 2 Data are provisional and subject to final reconciliation.
Extradition: USA
HM Courts Service does not maintain records relating to the costs of extradition hearings. HM Courts Service would have to undertake a manual exercise to obtain the data required to answer the question. HM Court Service considers the costs of such an exercise would incur a disproportionate cost.
Firearms: Young People
Information on the number of persons found guilty at all courts for firearm offences in England and Wales 2001 to 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Proceeded against Age 14-17 Age 18-21 2001 496 698 2002 419 643 2003 398 604 2004 538 674 2005 556 685 2006 470 559 2007 501 586 1 These data are on the principal offence basis. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform: Evidence and Analysis Unit.
Haverigg Prison
The full average cost per prisoner at Haverigg prison has not been calculated for each year requested. This information was not until recently gathered in this format and to produce it would incur disproportionate costs. However the direct cost per prisoner at Haverigg is published in the annual accounts of Her Majesty’s Prison Service, and is set out in the following table.
These costs represent the direct costs only; that is expenditure accounted for at prison establishment level. The year on year figures may not be strictly comparable due to accounting changes over the period.
For 2007-08, an overall cost per prisoner has been calculated taking into account costs met centrally by the Prison Service and the National Offender Management Service. These are primarily property costs (in particular depreciation and cost of capital) but also include some headquarter overheads and other costs met centrally. On this basis the overall cost per prisoner at Haverigg, for 2007-08 was £34,815, and includes some estimation.
Cost per prisoner—HM Prison Haverigg (£) 2007-08 24,450 2006-07 22,304 2005-06 21,704 2004-05 21,299 2003-04 20,264 2002-03 18,086 2001-02 17,195 2000-01 21,551 1999-2000 23,464 1998-991 18,207 1997-98 16,700 1996-97 17,300 1 The cost for 1998-99 is cost per prisoner place.
Immigration: Appeals
The number of immigration appeals received and granted in relation to appeals from people from India, Pakistan and Nigeria in the last six years is shown in the following table.
India Nigeria Pakistan India Nigeria Pakistan 2003-04 2,581 2,334 1,392 111 491 622 2004-05 4,288 1,976 4,646 1,622 759 1,308 2005-06 10,791 10,296 17,351 2,220 764 3,366 2006-07 9,762 11,019 13,547 3,862 3,904 5,468 2007-08 13,926 10,240 19,270 4,201 3,175 5,793 2008-09 (April to December 2008)1 12,779 7,289 13,634 4,029 2,180 5,682 1 Data are provisional and subject to reconciliation.
Legal Aid: Housing
The information will take the Legal Services Commission several days to obtain. I will write to the hon. Member once the information becomes available.
A table showing the number of people who have received assistance from Legal Services Commission funded schemes for repossession hearings at courts in Greater London in each month since the scheme's inception at that court has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Libel: Legal Aid
There are no plans to make legal aid available for libel cases. We believe it is not in the public interest to allocate the limited resources available for legal aid to these types of cases, particularly as libel cases can be funded by Conditional Fee Agreements.
Magistrates Courts
My Department and advisory committees undertake continuous work with employers both to encourage them to support employees wishing to serve as magistrates, and to highlight the benefits to them of employees being trained, and serving as, magistrates.
The Government will continue to encourage employers to support employees who wish to serve as magistrates. Attracting those in full-time employment can impact positively on the diversity of the magistracy in respect of age. In 2008, of 1,700 new magistrates, 46 per cent. were under 50 years of age, compared to 19 per cent. in the magistracy as a whole.
Magistrates: Barnsley
There are currently 115 magistrates in the Barnsley local justice area.
(a) 36 magistrates live in the constituency of Barnsley Central
(b) 50 magistrates live in the constituency of Barnsley West and Penistone
(c) 15 magistrates live in the constituency of Barnsley East and Mexborough.
10 magistrates live in other constituencies and four had invalid postcodes recorded.
My Department does not hold a central record of the constituencies in which magistrates live. We are undertaking a manual exercise in order to provide the historical information sought, and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as it is available.
Offenders: Rehabilitation
Integrated Offender Management is a locally agreed, multi-agency approach to reducing crime through punishing and reforming persistent offenders. IOM is a relatively new concept and there was no central funding of West Yorkshire before 2008-09. In 2008-09, the Home Office and Ministry of Justice together allocated £550,000 to support the development of Integrated Offender Management in West Yorkshire. This money was received by the Drugs and Offender Management Unit in West Yorkshire police on behalf of the multi-agency Integrated Offender Management partnership in West Yorkshire. We expect the allocation for 2009-10 to be £395,000. The core funding of criminal justice agencies also supports this work.
Tackling prejudice and discrimination is one of the aims of offender management and it is standard practice for offenders to be advised about the implications of discriminatory behaviour during the induction process. The information requested is not available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, however, in the four probation areas that make up the Yorkshire and Humberside region of the National Offender Management Service, 16,715 offenders started community or suspended sentence orders during 2006 and 18,079 during 2007. Each offender will have gone through an induction process. Section 2c.7 of the National Standards for the Management of Offenders requires probation areas to induct offenders into the sentence at the start of a community order.
Similarly induction procedures into prison establishments require prisons to emphasise the prison policy on the Race Relations Act and establish standards of behaviour. There were 125,881 first receptions into prison establishments in 2007 and 128,986 in 2006. The data are not broken down by region.
For the purposes of this reply, we are taking “restrictive interventions” to mean the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements, Approved Premises, Home Detention Curfew and certain licence conditions.
It is not possible, on the basis of information held by the Yorkshire and Humberside region or by each probation area within that region, to disaggregate and isolate from general probation activity the amount of time spent on the delivery of each of those restrictive interventions to offenders. To require this information to be collected would incur disproportionate cost.
Restrictive interventions are used to manage the risk of harm which offenders in the community present and so protect the public.
Open Prisons: Prisoner Escapes
Absconds have fallen to less than half the levels they were 10 years ago while there have been no prison escapes so far this financial year compared to 10 to 20 escapes per year a decade ago. Escapes occur when prisoners unlawfully absent themselves from custody by overcoming a physical barrier or restraint. Absconds occur from open prisons when prisoners absent themselves without needing to overcome a physical barrier or restraint. Prisoners can escape from an open prison if they are being held temporarily in secure conditions within the open prison such as in segregation.
The following table shows the number of prisoners who have absconded from each open prison since 1997. In addition to the figures shown in this table, one prisoner escaped from HMP Thorn Cross in 1999.
1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Askham Grange 35 17 20 21 19 12 31 12 14 7 11 Blantyre House 1 — — — 1 1 — 1 1 — — Drake Hall 122 134 94 39 33 — 1 — — — — East Sutton Park 5 3 3 3 3 — 1 2 4 2 — Ford 53 40 68 57 57 91 142 110 96 62 47 Grendon/Springhill 20 9 14 14 12 23 60 36 34 11 21 Hatfield 77 80 36 34 50 56 — — — — — Hewell Grange 40 17 32 20 15 23 31 24 24 13 15 Hollesley Bay 13 25 11 24 8 14 36 32 16 21 19 Kirkham 234 202 171 169 163 208 213 120 74 54 65 Kirklevington — 2 — — — 1 — 4 2 — — Latchmere House 2 — — 1 2 1 — — — — — Leyhill 20 25 34 25 19 33 114 102 66 37 55 Moorland 1 1 — — — — 68 73 49 41 23 Morton Hall 20 15 23 6 — — — — — 1 — North Sea Camp 25 32 27 24 36 34 79 33 49 48 46 Norwich (resettlement unit) 2 — — — 1 — — 8 2 2 1 Standford Hill 35 36 43 29 37 83 89 39 58 38 44 Sudbury 81 75 63 69 81 68 75 77 76 78 55 Thorn Cross 168 135 147 110 135 152 130 90 105 82 68 Usk/Prescoed 7 13 19 14 5 8 35 19 9 9 8 Wealstun 48 70 72 105 79 101 144 74 28 46 32 Notes: 1. Colchester closed during 1998 2. Drake Hall changed role to Semi Open in 2001-02 from Open 3. Hatfield merged with Moorland in 2003-04 4. Kirklevington changed role to Semi Open in 2001-02 from Category C 5. Latchmere House changed role to Semi Open in 2001-02 from Open 6. Morton Hall changed role to Semi Open in 2001 -02 from Open 7. Norwich—Open Resettlement Unit
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.
Figures on absconds and a range of other prison performance statistics are available at:
http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/abouttheservice/prisonperformance/performancestatistics/
Police Custody
Under current arrangements both convicted and remand prisoners can be held over night under Operation Safeguard and court cells. Police cells under Operation Safeguard have not been used to house prisoners since 22 September 2008 and court cells have not been used since 28 February 2008.
A list of specific offences that prisoners had been convicted of, or charged with, is not held centrally. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
However (as per Prison Service Instruction 30/2006) every effort is made to avoid the use of police and court cells for certain categories of prisoner including:
prisoners with a crown court trial in progress (including those from the Court of Appeal);
all category A prisoners including potential category A prisoners (a prisoner whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public or the police or the security of the state and for whom the aim must be to make escape impossible).
Police Custody: Food
Under an agreement between NOMS and ACPO there is an upper limit to the amount the police may charge for the provision of meals for prisoners held overnight in police cells under Operation Safeguard. Forces may be paid up to £12 for each prisoner over a 24-hour period. Only under exceptional circumstances can this figure be exceeded.
NOMS is invoiced by police forces in arrears for the use of cells activated under Operation Safeguard. NOMS also receives invoices in arrears from contractors for use of court cells.
Expenditure on meals provided for prisoners held in police and court cells is not readily available from invoices submitted. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners: Mentally Ill
The Government have commissioned my noble Friend, Lord Keith Bradley to carry out a review on offenders with mental health and learning disability problems. There is a Government commitment to publishing the Bradley review report during April 2009.
The most recent estimates for mental health of the prisoner population of England and Wales come from Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction (SPCR), from 2005-06. There is also an older Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (PMS) among prisoners (1997). There is a measure of comparability across relevant results from the two surveys.
Across the two surveys, the range of prevalence rates for any functional psychosis was between 7 per cent. and 9 per cent. for sentenced males, and 14 per cent. and 18 per cent. for sentenced females.
Also across the two surveys, the range of prevalence rates for any personality disorder was between 62 per cent. and 64 per cent. for sentenced males, and 57 per cent. and 59 per cent. for sentenced females.
Figures for neurotic conditions such as anxiety and depression were not obtained in the same way in the two surveys. Focusing just on the more recent SPCR figures (using the Maudsley Addiction Profile), and using a threshold of six symptoms, 34 per cent. of sentenced male prisoners and 56 per cent. of sentenced female prisoners were appreciably affected by anxiety/depression and other neurotic conditions.
Neither set of survey results has been translated from percentage figures into estimates of numbers of prisoners.
Further information on the results of these two surveys can be found in the published reports. These are, for SPCR, “The Problems and Needs of Newly Sentenced Prisoners: Results from a National Survey” Ministry of Justice Research Series 16/08 (2008). For PSM: “Psychiatric Morbidity among Prisoners in England and Wales: Summary Report” (ONS, 1998).
SPCR:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/research-2008.htm
PSM:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/Prisoners_PsycMorb.pdf
Centrally held information is not available to answer all parts of the question posed. The annual statistical bulletin on mentally disordered offenders for England and Wales over the last 10 years for which figures are available gives the number of mentally disordered offenders admitted to hospital from prison, detained in hospital following transfer from prison and transferred back to prison from hospital (while un-sentenced and after sentencing) are shown in the following table.
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Admitted to hospital from prison after sentence 258 267 270 222 223 296 346 356 421 394 Admitted to hospital from prison while un-sentenced 481 464 392 413 421 426 485 478 473 479 Detained in hospital following transfer after sentence 402 385 386 402 410 489 505 561 627 684 Detained in hospital while un-sentenced 168 151 151 160 141 174 189 218 175 284 Returned to prison from hospital to resume sentence 93 130 100 84 100 96 135 113 164 154 Returned to prison from hospital whilst un-sentenced 35 40 32 40 55 54 54 47 58 60
These figures are drawn from tables 2, 6 and 9 of “Statistics of Mentally Disordered Offenders 2007: England and Wales”, which can be downloaded from:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/mentally-disordered-offenders-2007.pdf
It is not possible to differentiate between those held in NHS and independent sector mental health care places.
Prisons: Cleaning Services
While operating within an overall strategic and policy framework laundries within the public Prison Service are not managed centrally, running costs having been devolved to establishment level some years ago. As a result, relatively little information about operating costs is held centrally. To collect this information from each establishment would attract disproportionate cost.
In 2007-08, Prison Industries Headquarters allocated funding to establishments for industrial laundry materials and maintenance to the value of £783,500. A further £376,000 was allocated for capital plant replacement.
In 2007-08 there were 43 industrial laundries together with a significant number of local launderettes.
Prisons: Food
The average public sector Prison Service daily food expenditure per prisoner in England and Wales since 2003-04 to 2007-08 (latest available data) is set out in the table.
Individual governors of public sector prisons have had the authority to set their own catering budgets since 1994 and there is no set financial formula that prisons are required to follow when setting establishment food budgets. Governors make choices on the budget allocated to food based on a variety of issues including the prisoner population and the type of regime.
Average expenditure per prisoner includes all food and beverage requirements. Prisons provide breakfast, midday and evening meal and a supper snack together with all condiments and beverages. Menu requirements vary between establishments and are based on consumer preferences, local regimes and seasonal availability.
Financial year Average public sector Prison Service daily food expenditure per prisoner1 (£) 2003-04 1.81 2004-05 1.87 2005-06 1.93 2006-07 1.97 2007-08 2.12 1 The daily food cost has been calculated using available management information from the Prison Service finance systems and assumes that all transactions have been allocated and recorded against the correct accounting codes.