Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 10 December 2009
Church Commissioners
Church of England: Green Issues
In promoting strategic development opportunities, the commissioners use a wide range of professional advisers, including public consultation consultants, and I can confirm that Green Issues is one of the firms used.
The firm’s primary role is to organise the public consultation associated with the promotion of major development proposals, including exhibitions and workshops, as well as liaising with various third parties such as local councillors. However, the terms of engagement are commercially sensitive and therefore cannot be deposited in the Library.
Public consultation is, of course, part of the statutory planning process but we also view it as a welcome opportunity to engage with local communities.
Defence
Armed Forces: Costs
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Charges for personnel services are levied against outside bodies in accordance with the principles set out by HM Treasury in chapter 6 of Managing Public Money which requires that full costs should normally be recovered for any goods and services provided by MOD.
Armed Forces: Manpower
(2) what the (a) required and (b) actual trained strength is of each (i) regular infantry and (ii) Royal Marine battalion.
Unfit for duty has been interpreted as medically unfit to perform any duty. Personnel unfit for duty in their primary role but who can perform a role in an alternative capacity are not included in the following tables.
The figures given include personnel filling all roles within each battalion, not just infantrymen. Separate figures for infantry officers and soldiers are not held centrally.
As at 1 October, the figures requested for the infantry are provided as follows.
Division Unit Required strength Actual strength Number unfit for duty Guards 1 Grenadier Guards 632 586 4 1 Coldstream Guards 626 606 6 1 Scots Guards 753 665 1 1 Irish Guards 633 629 6 1 Welsh Guards 626 608 12 SCOTS 1 SCOTS 630 556 2 2 SCOTS 627 518 3 3 SCOTS 630 625 11 4 SCOTS 686 584 1 5 SCOTS 657 542 2 Queens 1 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 755 722 2 2 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 671 600 2 1 Royal Regt Fusiliers 660 573 6 2 Royal Regt Fusiliers 626 548 13 1 Royal Anglian 713 734 9 2 Royal Anglian 629 628 2 Kings 1 LANCS 757 721 8 2 LANCS 612 622 5 1 YORKS incl. Gurkha Reinforcement Company 3 686 605 2 2 YORKS 623 493 2 3 YORKS 751 608 15 Prince of Wales 1 Mercian incl. Gurkha Reinforcement Company 2 731 648 2 2 Mercian 623 614 10 3 Mercian 678 606 4 1 Royal Welsh 623 611 4 2 Royal Welsh 751 687 6 RIFLES 1 RIFLES 623 712 5 2 RIFLES 623 730 35 3 RIFLES 623 662 12 4 RIFLES 711 752 8 5 RIFLES 752 770 3 Royal Irish 1 Royal Irish 650 586 9 PARA 2 PARA 650 624 14 3 PARA 650 625 7 Royal Gurkha Rifles 1 Royal Gurkha Rifles 643 619 8 2 Royal Gurkha Rifles 758 658 4
In addition to the battalions shown above there are three incremental guards companies which are primarily for public duties but which can also be used to augment the other guards battalions as required;
Unit Required strength Actual strength Number unfit for duty Nijmegen Coy Grenadier Gds 108 107 1 7 Coy Coldstream Gds 108 97 1 F Coy Scots Guards 110 106 4
The figures in both tables include personnel filling all roles within each battalion, not just infantrymen.
Figures for Royal Marine Commandos units are shown in the table below. Due to changes in the way in which the Royal Navy records its sick personnel, it is not possible to identify the number of Royal Marine personnel who are currently unfit to perform any duty.
Unit Required strength Actual strength 40 Commando Officers 1703 33 Other ranks 1— 626 42 Commando Officers 1703 37 Other ranks 1— 617 45 Commando Officers 1703 33 Other Ranks 1— 637 1 Represents a brace
Work and Pensions
Motability
Motability is an independent charitable company and is responsible for the administration of the Motability Scheme. They have written separately to the hon. Member with such information as they have available.
New Deal for Young People
The availability of places on the new deal for young persons is demand-led; therefore the new deal providers ensure there are sufficient placements to meet the needs of Jobcentre Plus customers requiring the support given by any particular option.
New Deal Schemes
To date, the Department has not received any bids. The deadline for flexible new deal phase 2 bids to be submitted to DWP is 6 January 2010.
The number of full-time equivalent staff likely to be involved in the evaluation will be influenced by the number of tenders that are actually returned and will include staff from across several expert domains.
Remploy: Public Relations
Remploy has made total payments to Portland PR of £174,680 between 2007 and 2009.
In 2007-08 the amount was £160,665 for public affairs strategy and communications work. £35,000 of this spend was specifically for factory closure communications.
In 2008-09 the amount spent was £14,015 for the public affairs strategy and communications programme.
In 2007 Remploy made a payment to Greenhause Public Communication to a total of £12,277.50. This was paid for public affairs work.
Scotland
Departmental Freedom of Information
Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice on Freedom of Information in central Government for 2008 show that of a total of 111 non-routine requests received by the Department (based on aggregated quarterly data) 71 per cent. (79) received a substantive response within 20 days. 78 per cent. (87) of requests were dealt with ‘in time’, that is within 20 days by meeting the deadline or other permitted extension deadline.
The statistics can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/freedomof informationquarterly.htm
and copies are available in the Library.
Departmental Official Hospitality
The information is not held in the form requested; however, in 2008-09 the Scotland Office spent £15,158 on hospitality.
Departmental Publicity
The Scotland Office has incurred no expenditure on ministerial photoshoots or production of videos in the last three years.
Departmental Written Questions
Details of the number of questions tabled for answer on a named day and those that received a substantive answer on the day named are shown in the following table:
Number of named day questions tabled Percentage of named day questions that received a substantive answer on the day named December 2008 2 100 January 2009 1 100 February 2009 0 n/a March 2009 11 90 April 2009 5 100 May 2009 1 0 June 2009 0 n/a July 2009 6 100 August 2009 0 n/a September 2009 0 n/a October 2009 0 n/a November 2009 2 100
Central guidance on answering parliamentary questions is now available in the “Guide to Parliamentary Work”, at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/parliamentary-clerk-guide.aspx
In the response to the Procedure Committee Report on written parliamentary questions, the Government accepted the Committee’s recommendation that Departments be required to provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics in a standard format on the time taken to respond to written parliamentary questions, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out any factors affecting their performance. This will be taken forward as soon as possible.
Hotels
The Scotland Office does not separately record expenditure on hotel accommodation from other forms of subsistence such as meal allowances, day subsistence, incidental expenses and motor mileage.
All travel and subsistence is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers and the Civil Service Management Code.
House of Commons Commission
Department of Resources: Finance
It is not possible to provide the figures requested as at 1 September, except at disproportionate cost. This is because the database changes every day and the figures are only readily available if the data for a particular day have been retained. Reconstructing the data for a past day for which the data have not been retained would be an extremely time-consuming exercise involving a lot of manual adjustments to the data.
Speaker’s Adviser
No expenses of any kind have been claimed.
Culture, Media and Sport
Creativity and Business International Network: Finance
The gross costs of planning and staging the event at The Grove accounted for approximately 40 per cent. of the budget allocated to c&binet during 2009-10. The investment to develop a network of key professionals in the creative industries also contributed to the success of the event. DCMS is currently in discussions with private sector companies to take forward the project. This has allowed us to reduce the overall budget from £3 million to £2 million over the period 2008-09 to 2010-11.
Departmental Sick Leave
The information is as follows:
DCMS The Royal Parks Total 20008 December 134 52 186 2009 January 152 37 189 February 88 33 121 March 115 32 147 April 154 9 163 May 148 20 168 June 149 15 164 July 175 54 229 August 215 52 267 September 211 64 275 October 149 95 244 November 76 60 136 Total 1,766 523 2,289
£ DCMS The Royal Parks Total 20008 December 23,852 9,256 33,108 2009 January 27,056 6,586 33,642 February 15,664 5,874 21,538 March 20,470 5,696 26,166 April 28,182 1,647 29,829 May 27,084 3,660 30,744 June 27,267 2,745 30,012 July 32,025 9,882 41,907 August 39,345 9,515 48,860 September 38,613 11,712 50,325 October 27,267 17,385 44,652 November 13,908 10,980 24,888 Total 320,733 94,938 415,671
Film: Israel
We hope to conclude negotiations with Israel on a film co-production agreement and to be able to announce arrangements for the signing of this agreement soon.
Grayling Political Strategy: Public Relations
Arts Council England has advised the following position on the subject of expenditure relating to Regional Cities East (RCE).
Regional Cities East is a partnership between Colchester borough council, Ipswich borough council, Luton borough council, Norwich city council, Peterborough city council, Southend-on-Sea borough council, Arts Council England East and the East of England Development Agency.
In 2008-09, RCE had an overall budget of £120,000 from the partners, including a £60,000 contribution from Arts Council East, to promote the world class arts and cultural assets of these key cities.
In November 2008 Colchester borough council, as budget holder for Regional Cities East, contracted Grayling to deliver the first stage of this programme. Their fee was £90,876.00 + VAT for an initial 12 months from 1 November 2008 to 31 October 2009 and this resulted in press coverage equivalent to an editorial value of £334,000.
ACE East has had no contract with Grayling.
Olympic Legacy Board
The Sport Legacy Delivery Board is made up of senior representatives from:
London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
UK Sport
Youth Sport Trust
Sportscoach UK
Sport England
Sportscotland
Sports Council for Wales
Sport Northern Ireland
Local Government Association
Nations and Regions Board
Paralympics GB
British Olympic Association
British Paralympic Association
National Governing Bodies of Sport
Central Council of Physical Recreation
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Government Olympic Executive.
Sir Steve Redgrave is also a member, and the Department of Health and Department for Children, Schools and Families are auxiliary members.
The board has met twice since October 2009 and is due to meet again in January, February and March 2010. Sir Steve has attended one meeting; the School Sports Ambassadors have not attended either meeting.
Northern Ireland
Christmas
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO), including its arms length bodies and the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its agencies and NDPBs, does not hold the information required to answer this question because budget information is not broken down to this level of detail.
Employment: Religion
Employment figures for the total number of Catholics and Protestants employed by the private and public sectors in Northern Ireland and for the proportions of each community that these figures represent are a matter for the Northern Ireland Administration; figures relating to the Fire Service and Northern Ireland Civil Service are also a matter for the Northern Ireland Administration.
The Chief Constable has provided the following table which gives the number of Catholics and Protestants employed as police officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years.
Protestant Catholic Not determined As a percentage of total economically active Protestants1 As a percentage of total economically active Catholics1 2000 7,517 713 286 1.87 0.24 2001 7,365 706 281 1.83 0.24 2002 6,334 642 251 1.58 0.21 2003 6,117 840 236 1.52 0.28 2004 6,088 1,018 226 1.52 0.34 2005 6,025 1,265 206 1.50 0.42 2006 5,868 1,427 197 1.46 0.48 2007 5,759 1,588 195 1.43 0.53 2008 5,480 1,743 185 1.36 0.58 2009 5,305 1,904 184 1.32 0.64 1 This information has been derived from the Summary Report of Northern Ireland 2001 Population Census. Economically active persons are those aged 16 to 64. Total number of economically active Protestants—401,473; Total number of economically active Catholics—299,218.
Irish Language
Annex B of the St. Andrews Agreement committed the Government to introducing an Irish Language Act, reflecting on the experience of Wales and Ireland, and to work with the Executive to enhance and protect the development of the Irish language.
The Government took forward this commitment through the publication of two consultation papers in December 2006 and March 2007 setting out their proposed approach to an Irish Language Act. The latter included draft clauses.
Following the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly on 8 May 2007, the responsibility in this area passed to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive.
The Northern Ireland Executive was placed under a statutory duty, by the Northern Ireland (St. Andrews Agreement) Act 2006, to adopt a strategy to enhance and protect the development of Irish language. The Executive has a similar statutory duty to enhance and develop the Ulster Scots language, heritage and culture.
The Government recognise the close connection between language and identity issues, and understand the concern of individuals to see that the language in which they were brought up, or which is used in their communities, is respected. They therefore believe that these statutory duties are of particular importance and encourage the Executive to complete and publish their strategies.
The Government reaffirmed, at the British-Irish Council on 13 November 2009, their commitment to work with the Executive to support the development and implementation of strategies for Irish language and Ulster Scots and are continuing to work with other Administrations through the British-Irish Council to share best practice on the enhancement and protection of minority languages.
In addition, the Government are seeking views in their consultation paper “A Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland: Next Steps” on what additional legislative protections in relation to the Irish language might be included in a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights.
Work is also being taken forward in relation to Irish language broadcasting. The British and Irish Governments hope shortly to sign a memorandum of understanding which will contain commitments to the continuing widespread availability of TG4 in Northern Ireland following the digital switchover, and to exploring the increased availability of RTE in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Courts Service: Public Relations
I have been asked to reply.
The Northern Ireland Court Service has not had a contract with Stratagem since March 2009. Between December 2008 and March 2009 the Court Service made payments totalling £1,479.50 to Stratagem for the provision of political monitoring.
Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission: Public Relations
I have been asked to reply.
During the last 12 months the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission has made payments to Weber Shandwick—Belfast totalling £52 582.84 for communication services for the period May 2008 to August 2009.
A statement of the remit, scope and terms of reference for the contract has been placed in the Library.
Offenders: Deportation
(2) what circumstances would constitute grounds of national security for the purpose of exercising a reserve power to block the repatriation of foreign national prisoners from Northern Ireland following the devolution of criminal justice and policing; and if he will make a statement.
While the repatriation of foreign prisoners will become the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Minister for Justice after the devolution of criminal justice and policing, decisions on the grounds of national security will, however, remain excepted.
New primary legislation would not be required. The grounds of national security would be interpreted consistently with case law.
Terrorism: Compensation
The Compensation Agency is unable to provide the information requested, as the records held do not identify separately claims made as a result of terrorist activity.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Climate Change
Since the Climate Change Act came into force earlier this year, we have:
launched the UK Climate Projections 09
established the Adaptation Sub Committee; and
set out the strategy for using the Adaptation Reporting Power
The Adapting to Climate Change Programme is driving work on the first UK Climate Change Risk Assessment which will report in January 2012, in line with the timetable set out in the 2009 Act.
Food Labelling
I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues and the Food Standards Agency to ensure that we have tighter, clearer and more accurate origin labelling.
Waste-to-Energy Plants
The Government’s Renewable Energy Strategy sets out current and future policies to divert biomass waste from landfill, support the supply of biomass waste for energy, and drive the delivery of the necessary infrastructure.
DEFRA has established the Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme to support local authorities and accelerate the building of the infrastructure needed to treat residual waste.
Biodiversity
The most recent assessment of the status of Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Species and Habitats was published in April 2009, as part of the update to the UK Biodiversity Indicators in Your Pocket. This can be found on the website of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
We are fully committed to identifying a new challenging ‘post 2010’ biodiversity target and we are playing a leading role in establishing it. For example, earlier this year, we hosted an international workshop in Reading which reviewed the 2010 indicators and considered implications for post 2010 indicator development. We have also been feeding into key discussions at EU and global level on the development of the post 2010 framework. Linked to this, we will co-host an international workshop with Brazil in January. This will be a key stepping stone on the path to agreeing a post 2010 target, or targets, in Japan next October.
Within the UK, we have published targets to increase the population and range of our priority species and restore and expand priority habitats by 2015.
The European Commission and member states are currently compiling data to allow an assessment next year of progress against the targets in the EU Biodiversity Action Plan. We measure our progress towards the EU's 2010 target to halt biodiversity loss through the UK Biodiversity Indicators. This was reported in the National Statistics publication “Biodiversity Indicators in Your Pocket 2007”, which was updated most recently in April 2009. Statistics for wild birds were updated in October 2009 and those for sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) are updated monthly.
Overall, 23 (72 per cent.) of the 32 measures that comprise the UK Biodiversity Indicators are “improving” or show “little or no overall change” since the year 2000. In particular, 89 per cent. of SSSIs are in favourable or recovering condition, agri-environment schemes are leading to significant improvements, and we have made great strides with the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.
Fisheries: White Fish
No formal consultation exercise was undertaken with the 10 metre and under fishing industry about the allocation of the additional 18 tonnes of cod quota in area VIId. It was not possible given the very short time available to arrange access to the additional fishing opportunity and still allow fishermen a reasonable chance to catch the fish before the end of the year.
The Marine and Fisheries Agency did, however, consult a number of individual fishermen on the south coast of England on a strictly informal basis on alternative allocation approaches before the final method of allocation was decided upon.
The additional 18 tonnes of quota the Marine and Fisheries Agency was able to obtain for the inshore vessels to fish for cod in area VIId will prove a valuable, if limited, fishing opportunity for those vessels that received the quota. It is estimated that the additional quota will have a total value of c.£36,000 at current market prices, or £1,000 for each vessel that receives an allocation of 500kg of quota. An allocation of 500kg of quota per vessel should allow those vessels to undertake normal fishing activity and minimise discards in a mixed fishery until the end of the year.
Given the strictly limited quota available, it was not possible to open the fishery to all the licensed vessels that may have wished to take part in the fishery and remain confident of meeting the UK obligations in ensuring there is no overfish of this quota.
Flood Control
Water companies have to provide a safe and secure water supply. It is for the companies themselves to take responsibility and make decisions on how best to protect the essential services they supply.
In its final determination Ofwat included over £414 million to improve the resilience of water and sewerage services against external hazards such as flooding.
Companies are also obliged to have emergency plans in place to maintain supply either through network resilience or deployment of bowsers, for which Ofwat has also allowed funding.
DEFRA has given the Environment Agency a strategic overview of flood and coastal erosion risk management and, in line with this, passed it the management of the capital improvements programme. The chief engineer and regional engineers were primarily focused on this work.
To facilitate this transition the Environment Agency has strengthened its role at both regional and area levels, for example, by recruiting additional coastal engineers. DEFRA also seconded staff to the Environment Agency to ensure continuity of work and training.
DEFRA retains a smaller cadre of engineers and other experienced professionals who provide input to policy development and an intelligent client function for the flood and coastal erosion risk management programme.
The Environment Agency has over 450,000 registered users on Floodline Warnings Direct.
The Environment Agency's Floodline Warnings Direct is a free service that provides flood warnings direct to users by telephone, mobile, email, SMS text message and fax.
A fully developed National Flood Emergency Framework will be in place by June 2010, in line with the commitment given in response to Sir Michael Pitt’s review on the 2007 floods. The Framework will provide the basis for Exercise Watermark—our planned national exercise in March 2011.
DEFRA provides funding to operating authorities for flood defences from the allocation of funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management. Over the past five financial years this allocation totalled:
Financial year DEFRA funding (£ million) 2008-09 568.1 2007-08 507.5 2006-07 506.0 2005-06 514.8 2004-05 415.4
Forests
The National Assessment of Forestry and Climate Change published on 25 November does not put forward any specific sites for tree planting and we have not received any representations.
Our Strategy for England's Trees, Woods and Forests puts a strong emphasis on planting the right tree in the right place and we will be taking an integrated approach to see where additional woodland can complement other activities.
Forests: West Midlands
As part of the Low Carbon Transition Plan announced in July, the Forestry Commission and DEFRA are working to develop the framework that would be needed to enable 10,000 hectares of new woodland to be created each year for the next 15 years. As part of this, the Forestry Commission will be working with partners in each region to identify the scope for increasing the area of woodland.
Horticulture
On 21 October I chaired the first meeting of the fruit and vegetable task force. It will look at how we can boost domestic production and consumption of fruit and vegetables in England. This is in addition to the support already provided which includes funding up to £7 million of research and development last year on horticultural crops.
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
The Secretary of State co-hosted this roundtable event along with Ashok Khosla, the President of the International Union of Conservation and Nature, in support of the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration. In the co-chairs' summary, “The London Challenge”, they recognise the progress made by the partnership since its establishment in 2003, the considerable potential for forest restoration globally and the important role of forest restoration in both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Work on restoration complements the work we are doing to tackle deforestation and forest degradation. The summary goes on to reflect issues raised by participants and actions to take forest restoration forward in the coming months. The final summary will be posted on the partnership's website following its distribution to participants.
Marine Management Organisation
DEFRA has paid £6,900 in respect of property consultancy, including the site search and financial appraisal of the property options, for the Marine Management Organisation headquarters building in Newcastle.
Since the beginning of October 2009, interim accommodation for Marine and Fisheries Agency staff based in Newcastle has been the Government Office North East. Additional accommodation from 14 December will be in city centre commercial offices. It is estimated that the cost of this interim accommodation will amount to approximately £150,000.
In the 12 months up to November 2009, approximately £153,000 of expenditure had been incurred on recruitment agencies as part of a continuing exercise to recruit Marine and Fisheries Agency staff.
Salmon: River Dee
The Environment Agency carries out an annual assessment of the number of adult salmon entering the River Dee using data from a fish trap at Chester Weir. The latest available assessment indicates a population of 5,437 adult salmon entering the River Dee in 2008.
Transport
Bridges: Workington
Following the recent floods in Cumbria an immediate priority in Workington is to improve transport links for communities on either side of the River Derwent, which have been significantly curtailed.
The Government are working closely with Cumbria county council on re-establishing those transport links. An additional rail station has been built at North Workington to allow a shuttle rail service to operate. The Army have also built a temporary footbridge, which opened on 7 December. These facilities are being supported with Government funding.
Cumbria county council are considering what measures would be appropriate to restore road vehicle links across the River Derwent at Workington. The Department for Transport is funding project management support to assist the authority with their infrastructure recovery planning. When Cumbria county council decides on how to restore road vehicle links, they will be able to include the costs in their claim to the Department for emergency capital highway maintenance funding.
Bus Services: Finance
The Department for Transport received 105 bids for funding, totalling £63 million, from local authorities across England. An announcement will be made in due course.
Bus Services: Lincolnshire
In the last 12 months, The Department for Transport has made payments totalling £614,039 in respect of concessionary travel special grant to North East Lincolnshire. The special grant provides funding solely to cover the extra costs that followed from the improvement to the statutory concession to all-England travel in April 2008. The Department for Communities and Local Government continues to provide the bulk of concessionary travel funding to local authorities through Formula Grant.
Crossrail Line
It is estimated that there will be around 60 lorry movements carrying waste from tunnelling as part of the Crossrail project per day during 2012. The need to reduce the number of such movements during the periods of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is recognised and is being actively considered by Crossrail Ltd. in consultation with the Olympic Delivery Authority, although the precise details will not be known until nearer the time.
85 per cent. of the excavated material from the tunnel drives will be removed by rail and boat, removing an estimated 500,000 lorry movements from the streets of London during the life of the project.
Virtually all of the 7.3 million m3 of excavated material is expected to be clean and non-contaminated and can be reused elsewhere. A significant proportion of this material will be transported to Wallasea Island in Essex to enhance a nature reserve for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). This will be one of the largest new wetland nature reserves in Europe for some 50 years. Other sites being considered for this material include South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA) regeneration sites in Kent.
If any contaminated material or waste of indeterminate quality is found it will be transported to a specialist treatment facility.
It is anticipated that all categories of excavated material will be transported straight to its intended destination without the need for stockpiling. However, each construction site will have limited stockpiling capacity in case of unforeseen incidents on the rail, water or road networks.
The carbon footprint and environmental impacts of Crossrail during both construction and operation were assessed and presented in the Crossrail Environmental Statement, which was published in February 2005.
As a sustainable transport project Crossrail forms part of the Mayor of London's ‘London Plan’ which was itself subject to a sustainability assessment.
In addition Crossrail has worked with the Building Research Establishment to develop a BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) for its sub-surface stations and is using that and the Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Award Scheme (CEEQUAL) to benchmark the environmental performance of its designs.
Crossrail Ltd. and the Olympic Delivery Authority are working together to ensure that the Games proceed unhindered, and to ensure that the impact of Crossrail works is minimised during the Olympic/Paralympic Games periods.
The need to reduce the number of lorry movements during the periods of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is recognised and is being actively considered. The precise details will not be known until nearer the time.
Departmental Plants
The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, the Department for Transport spent £87,401 on pot plants and £3,419 on cut flowers in 2008-09. This excludes spend incurred at the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency as the information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Spend on pot plants includes provision, maintenance and replacement of plants.
All expenditure was incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Departmental Public Relations
This is a matter for the British Transport Police who can be contacted at 25 Camden Road, London, NW1 9LN, e-mail:
parliament@btp.pnn.police.uk
Blue Rubicon has been contracted through the Central Office of Information (COI) to provide public relations services to Cycling England. The agency delivers a programme of activity targeting consumers and engaging stakeholders with the aim of getting more people cycling, more safely, more often. A key focus of Blue Rubicon’s work is the promotion of Bikeability cycle training for children (supporting the Government’s goal of training an additional 500,000 children by 2012).
In the 12 months from November 2008 to October 2009, £493,177 was paid to Blue Rubicon in connection with the provision of such services. A further £432,985 was spent on external expenses (such as the supply of Bikeability badges) associated with the Cycling England campaign and procured through Blue Rubicon. In total, £926,162 was spent over the 12 months. During this period, the contract was retendered and refocused. As a result, the total value of work for the seven months from April to October 2009 was just over £321,000.
Blue Rubicon’s contract is with the COI who have released a copy of the terms and conditions of the contract and their brief for the work. These have been placed in the Libraries.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) informs us that they have paid Waterfront Public Affairs a net amount of £96,019.80 in the last 12 months. This was for providing a public affairs and public relations consultancy service to the CAA. No payments have been made to AS Biss/Mandate Communications in the last 12 months. A copy of the Waterfront Public Affairs contract will be made available in the Libraries of the House.
Departmental Rail Travel
The travel policies of the central Department and of its agencies allow claims for first class travel in circumstances on which standard class seats are unavailable.
East Coast Railway Line: Rolling Stock
In order to provide a comparison with the costs of the new Super Express Trains, which will operate on the East Coast Main Line from 2014, the Department for Transport has prepared an estimate of the costs of the alternative: of continuing to operate the existing intercity rolling stock beyond that time. This includes the period leading up to as well as the period beyond 2019. Release of this comparator information at this stage would diminish the Department's commercial position in negotiations with the preferred bidder, Agility Trains. We therefore remain convinced of the value for money of replacing the old rolling stock with the new Super Express Train, especially in the context of an extensive electrification programme.
Road Salting and Gritting
It is for each local authority to determine how best to set and deliver a winter service strategy for the highway network for which they are responsible. The Department for Transport has not issued formal guidance to local authorities on this, but endorses the UK Roads Liaison Group's (UKRLG) code of practice on highways maintenance management, “Well-maintained Highways”, which includes guidance on winter service. The code is available free from:
www.ukroadsliaisongroup.org
Following the severe weather in February this year, the then Secretary of State commissioned the UK Roads Liaison Group to identify the lessons that should be learnt regarding highway authorities' preparedness for extreme weather events. I will respond to the UKRLG's report shortly.
Roads: Accidents
The information requested is not collected.
Transport: Expenditure
The Department for Transport publishes estimates of its total expenditure on services per head by region and country in its annual report. These figures rest on a number of assumptions, for example about how total expenditure on strategic highways and rail should be attributed to different regions, and figures are not available below regional level. The report does not include the split between revenue and capital schemes.
However, a further analysis showing the breakdown between revenue and capital schemes per capita for the Department since its formation in May 2002 is provided in the following table:
Region CAP or CUR 2002-031 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 North East CAP — 5 5 6 9 9 CUR 65 79 70 77 111 109 North West CAP — 8 9 9 14 16 CUR 81 102 114 111 148 153 Yorkshire and the Humber CAP — 5 5 6 10 9 CUR 67 82 73 76 119 114 East Midlands CAP — 6 7 8 10 9 CUR 90 100 94 104 127 114 West Midlands CAP — 7 9 9 12 12 CUR 85 105 125 121 143 142 East CAP — 5 5 6 8 8 CUR 86 92 73 75 104 99 London CAP — 30 12 13 19 20 CUR 135 285 116 107 141 142 South East CAP — 12 13 13 17 16 CUR 90 155 153 146 182 175 South West CAP — 5 7 9 11 10 CUR 71 89 100 113 148 134 England CAP — 6 6 7 10 10 CUR 89 133 107 107 141 136 1 The figures proved for 2002-03 are aggregate.
These figures do not include grant support provided by the Department to local authorities. Revenue support to authorities for transport is generally provided through the Revenue Support Grant. Amounts provided to York city council in these years are as follows:
LTP funding Pre-LTP funding Major projects Total capital funding 2009-10 4.856 — — 4.856 2008-09 5.116 — — 5.116 2007-08 5.560 — — 5.560 2006-07 5.864 — — 5.864 2005-06 6.225 — — 6.225 2004-05 6.302 — — 6.302 2003-04 5.981 — — 5.981 2002-03 5.555 — — 5.555 2001-02 5.995 — — 5.995 2000-01 2.262 — — 2.262 1999-2000 — 1.983 — 1.983 1998-99 — 1.127 — 1.127 1997-98 — 2.212 0.977 3.189 1996-97 No data No data 2.262 2.262
Transport: Per Capita Costs
The Department for Transport publishes estimates of its total expenditure on services per head by region and country in its annual report. These figures rest on a number of assumptions, for example about how total expenditure on strategic highways and rail should be attributed to different regions.
These figures exclude grant to local authorities, including Greater London Authority Transport Grant, as this information is collated separately by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Department for Work and Pensions and devolved Administrations.
The report does not provide a specific breakdown per capital for light rail, heavy rail, bus and roads.
To provide a detailed estimate of the figures on the basis sought would incur disproportionate cost.
Written Questions: Government Responses
A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 9 December 2009.
Prime Minister
Departmental Security
It has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on security matters.
Dept for Business, Innovation and Skills
I refer the hon. Member to the machinery of government press notice issued by my Office. Copies are available in the Library of the House and are also available on the No. 10 website at:
http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19525
Iraq Committee of Inquiry: Disclosure of Information
I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Cabinet Office press release of 29 October publishing the information sharing protocol the Government have agreed with the Iraq Inquiry. This is the only protocol agreed between the Government and the Inquiry.
Members: Surveillance
I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave on 30 November 2009.
Trinidad and Tobago: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
I refer the hon. Member to my written ministerial statement of 30 November 2009, Official Report, column 113WS.
International Development
Bangladesh: Climate Change
The Department for International Development (DFID) works closely with the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) on climate change issues. DFID:
Assisted the GoB in developing a national Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan and provided £60 million to help implement them.
Provided more than £6 million since 2004 to support disaster preparedness in the regions of Bangladesh most vulnerable to severe climate shocks. We are providing a further £12 million to support this work over the next five year, covering a wider area. This programme is implemented by UNDP and co-financed by the European Union. It is also part of Bangladesh's Climate Change Strategy.
Is providing £690,000 to research institutions and universities in Bangladesh to increase national capacity to assess the impacts of climate change and improve Bangladesh's climate adaptation strategy and activities.
Is building the country's resilience to climate change through improved governance, health, education and job opportunities.
Bangladesh: International Assistance
The UK provided around £20 million in response to three natural disasters in 2007, including Cyclone Sidr. Approximately £2 million has been used to repair damaged coastal defences and build shelter homes in areas affected by Cyclone Sidr.
The World Bank has launched a special project called the Emergency Cyclone Recovery and Restoration Project (ECRP). This is a £138 million (US $226 million) project of which £19 million (US$ 30 million) has been specifically allocated to repair the embankments damaged by Cyclone Sidr. The UK has contributed £19.6 million to this project through our support to the World Bank International Development Association 15 fund.
Departmental Telephone Services
The Department for International Development (DFID) has one telephone number with the prefix 0845. This is used by the Department's Public Enquiry Point in our office in Scotland. DFID pay a fixed annual fee for this telephone line which includes rental and all outgoing call charges. This line is managed via the Governments Management Telecoms Service and DFID does not receive any payment for calls made to this number. Calls to this number are charged at the local rate.
DFID does not keep a record of calls made to the 0845 number, this information would need to be specifically requested from our supplier.
DFID do not have any telephone lines with the prefix 0800 or 0870.
Health
Autism: Health Services
Neither the Department nor the Medical Research Council (MRC) is currently supporting or evaluating research relating to cerebral inhibition soothing behaviours and the compromised capacity of persons who are autistic. Both fund a portfolio of other research relating to autism on which the MRC, for example, spent over £2.4 million in 2008-09.
Christmas
The Department has budgeted for £3,250 for Christmas trees in 2009.
Departmental Finance
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 8 December 2009, Official Report, column 296W, to the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds).
Departmental Public Expenditure
The 2009 Child Health Strategy, ‘Healthy lives, brighter futures’, confirmed that £340 million was included in primary care trust (PCT) baseline allocations by the Department of Health for disabled children for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11, to support the implementation of the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme and the children's palliative care strategy, ‘Better Care: Better Lives’. This figure includes £30 million to deliver the priorities for children's palliative care. Neither the programme nor the strategy broke down the funding by year. It is for PCTs to determine how best to use this funding based on local needs.
Copies of both documents have already been placed in the Library.
Mental Capacity Act 2005
This information is not collected.
Mental Health Services
No recent assessment has been made of the level of implementation of the National Service Framework (NSF). However, we know that the NSF has led to an impressive range of policy initiatives in a previously neglected area of service provision. We have seen many benefits for people who use mental health services in the form of more money, with real terms investment in adult mental health services increasing by 44 per cent. (or £1.7 billion), since 2001-02. We also know that more patients have been helped, with crisis resolution teams providing over 106,000 home treatments to patients in the year 2007-08.
Further, because of the NSF the national health service now has 64 per cent. more consultant psychiatrists, 71 per cent. more clinical psychologists and 21 per cent. more mental health nurses than it had in 1997, and over 740 new community mental health teams offering home treatment, early intervention, or intensive support for people who might otherwise have been admitted to hospital.
Mental Health Services: Finance
The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme's principal aim is to support primary care trusts (PCTs) in implementing National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines for people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders.
To date, IAPT has focused solely on the provision of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). IAPT has allocated funds centrally to the national health service in each of the last two years, rather than directly and individually to each PCT.
This centrally allocated money has seen £33 million allocated in 2008-09, with 35 IAPT services established. A further £70 million (to a total of £103 million) has been centrally allocated in 2009-10, with 115 IAPT services established. In 2010-11, a further £70 million (to a total of £173 million) will be allocated.
The expansion of sites are part of a phased roll-out and services will be beginning to be implemented in every PCT by 2011 and the NHS is committed to delivering universal coverage in the period after 2011. Prior to the start of the IAPT programme in 2008, CBT provision was not funded through centrally allocated money. Information about spending on CBT prior to 2008-09 is not collected by the Department but is held by PCTs.
Neuroblastoma
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has not issued any guidance on monoclonal antibody therapy for the treatment of neuroblastoma.
In the absence of NICE guidance, it is a matter for local national health service organisations to decide whether to fund a particular drug or treatment. The NHS Constitution gives patients the right to expect local funding decisions on the availability of drugs and treatments to be made rationally following consideration of the available evidence.
Information on the number of patients with neuroblastoma (prevalence) is not held centrally, nor has any estimate been made.
However, the following table shows the number of children and young people aged 19 and under diagnosed with an unspecified adrenal gland cancer, which could include neuroblastoma, during 2007. This is the latest year for which incidence data are available.
Age of person diagnosed (years) Number of cancers diagnosed Less than 1 7 1-4 19 5-9 5 10-14 0 15-19 4— 1 Adrenal gland, unspecified cancer (including neuroblastoma) is coded as C74.9 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). 2 Based on boundaries as of 2009. 3 Newly diagnosed cases registered in 2007. 4 For young people aged 15-19, the reported incidence levels indicate less than three individuals. Due to this small cell count, the data have been suppressed to avoid the risk of disclosure. Source: Office for National Statistics
The Department's National Institute for Health Research is undertaking translational research specifically concerned with neuroblastoma at two of its Biomedical Research Centres; and via its national cancer research network is currently supporting some nine studies into the condition. The Department has additionally invested over £1 million in experimental cancer medicine centres specifically to support early-phase clinical trials for children with cancer, including trials for children with neuroblastoma. It is not possible to disaggregate the cost of these research activities.
Social Services
The Department is working towards publishing a White Paper on care and support in early 2010. They have been working with the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) to provide the modelling and analysis to underpin our policy development. We were provided with an interim report from PSSRU in November but that report was based on a view of the system when the Green Paper was published. Our core modelling assumptions have changed quite significantly since then as a result of our stakeholder engagement, responses to our consultation and developments such as the Prime Minister’s announcement on free personal care. The report is therefore only part of the story and we have come to the conclusion that to publish it now could be unhelpful to the wider debate on the future of care and support.
PSSRU continue to model the costs and benefits of a new National Care Service based on revised assumptions.
The whole methodology of the interim report was published in July on the PSSRU’s website at:
www.pssru.ac.uk/pdf/dp2644.pdf
The top level costs and benefits are in the impact assessment published with the Green Paper and available on the Big Care Debate website at:
http://careandsupport.direct.gov.uk/greenpaper/the-green-paper-and-supporting-documents/
Setting charges for social care is a matter for local authorities. Free personal care will be funded by an additional £420 million from central Government and £250 million from local government efficiency savings.
The impact assessment published alongside the current consultation document, “Personal Care at Home: a consultation on proposals for regulations and guidance”, sets out the current considerations on the impact on small firms. Both documents have already been placed in the Library.
The consultation will close on 23 February 2010 and a response to the document will be published subsequently. We will also be undertaking direct stakeholder engagement alongside the consultation process and this will be considered as part of this.
The different sections of text referred to are intended to detail differing aspects of the Personal Care at Home Bill. Therefore, differing explanations are required to appropriately define each section of the text. There are no inconsistencies between them.
Paragraph 5.6 of the impact assessment recognises that the costs of meeting personal care needs will be greater for individuals in higher need and that, if these costs are incurred over an extended period of time, they may sum to a significant and in some cases catastrophic, amount.
It is this risk, which cannot be well insured against in the current market, that the Personal Care at Home Bill is seeking to reduce for individuals in highest need.
In formulating policy proposals as part of the Personal Care at Home Bill, there were appropriate ministerial level discussions and clearances.
(2) what models his Department has commissioned to assess the future provision of free personal care for those people with the highest needs; and if he will make a statement.
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) on 7 December 2009, Official Report, column 166W.
I refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave to the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) on 8 December 2009, Official Report, column 294W.
Eligibility in relation to the provision of free personal care is set out in the consultation document, “Personal Care at Home: a consultation on proposals for regulations and guidance” and comments are invited. The consultation will close on 23 February 2010 and will inform the drafting of regulations which will define the scheme.
The consultation document has already been placed in the Library.
Energy and Climate Change
Christmas
The Department has purchased no Christmas trees.
Climate Change
Two Ministers and 38 officials from the Department of Energy and Climate Change are in Copenhagen, or will be shortly arriving in Copenhagen, to attend the UNFCCC summit on Climate Change. Seven delegates travelled by rail, 28 by plane, and five have yet to determine their method of travel. All of DECC’s travel emissions are offset.
Departmental Electronic Equipment
The Department has purchased no plasma screen televisions.
Departmental Official Hospitality
The cost of the 12 October 2009 DECC 1st anniversary party was £21,937.71 +VAT.
Departmental Publications
The Planning Act 2008 requires the Government to consult the public and stakeholders on the National Policy Statements (NPSs) before they can be designated. The waste assessment summary evidence paper is part of a suite of documents supporting the draft Nuclear NPS, which is currently subject to a wide ranging national consultation lasting 15 weeks. As part of this programme the Government have corresponded with statutory consultees, have set up a dedicated NPS website and are conducting national and local engagement events targeting key stakeholders and members of the public. These have been widely advertised through print, broadcast and online media, as well as by generating PR coverage and targeted communications including leaflets and an email campaign.
The waste assessment summary evidence paper has not been printed in large quantities The document is available on the NPS consultation website for viewing or download, and DECC has so far printed over 100 copies from this source and made them available at local exhibition events.
Departmental Taxis
The Department has no contracts with private hire taxi companies.
Industrial Diseases: Compensation
Capita became the Department’s claims handling contractor in 2004. Information held by the Department on hospitality received since 2004 related to officials in the Coal Liability Unit (CLU) is provided in the following table:
Date received Section Staff by grade Hospitality received Total value (£) October 2005 CLU SCS plus staff below SCS (x 3) Dinner 120.00 23 June 2006 CLU SCS Lunch 10.00 26 July 2006 CLU SCS plus staff below SCS (x 1) Dinner 45.00 August 2006 CLU SCS Dinner 25.00 29 March 2007 CLU SCS Lunch 10.00 18 September 2007 CLU SCS plus staff below SCS (x 1) Lunch and dinner 50.00 13 December 2007 CLU Staff below SCS (x 3) Lunch 90.00 30 July 2008 CLU Staff below SCS (x 3) Lunch 90.00 22 September 2008 CLU Staff below SCS Meal 20.00 22 July 2009 CLU Staff below SCS Dinner 25.00
I can confirm that there is no financial benefit to Capita in respect to (a) or (b) under the Department’s contractual arrangements for claims handling for the vibration white finger and respiratory disease schemes.
The Coal Health Compensation Schemes have been closely scrutinised by a range of reviews including the Boys Smith Review conducted in 2005 for the then Minister for Energy, my right hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, North (Malcolm Wicks); the Trade and Industry Select Committee Review in 2005; and the National Audit Office report in 2007 on the schemes and the subsequent Public Accounts Committee hearing in 2007 and Committee's Report in 2008.
I am proud that we are now moving towards the conclusion of these schemes under my ministerial ‘watch’. We believe these are the biggest personal injury schemes in British legal history. They are complex schemes that were set up in agreement between the Department and the miners' solicitors’ representatives following the original judgments in the 1990's and then endorsed by the High Court. This ensured that miners and their families received the level of compensation to which they might reasonably have been entitled had they pursed their claim in common law.
I believe that objective has been achieved as we now draw near to the completion of the vibration white finger (VWF) and respiratory disease schemes. In all almost 760,000 miners' claims have been processed and compensation now totalling £4.1 billion has been paid out.
The VWF litigation was wound up in the High Court on 1 May 2009 following the completion of processing nearly all the 170,000 claims. There are now fewer than 10 VWF general damages and 20 special damages scheme claims left to settle. There are also a small number of claims involving individual mediations or court actions to be concluded. For the respiratory scheme where we had nearly 590,000 claims there are now less than 2,000 active claims left to be settled and we are on track to achieving settlement of the majority of these by mid 2010.
However, it has not all been plain sailing. Clearly we have all learnt lessons from the operation of these schemes.
One of the key issues remains the conduct of solicitors in making deductions from compensation. I continue to hold regular meetings with the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) and Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) and I know that this work remains an important focus for both organisations. I welcome recent developments both in terms of action taken against individual firms of solicitors and actions being taken by solicitors to offer repayment of deductions. I would urge firms that have not taken such actions to co-operate with the LCS.
I also recognise that despite the scale of these schemes it has taken too long for some claimants to receive the compensation they were entitled too. I apologise to those people who have had to wait so long. The key lesson here is about making sure information required to process claims is obtained at an early stage and the use of tight and binding timescales for all parties to manage the claims to be settlement. The successful fast track risk offer scheme has also demonstrated how claims can be settled more rapidly for some claimants.
In overall terms, I believe settling the claims has been a major achievement for this Government delivering over £4.1 billion in compensation to miners and their families. I would also like to pay tribute to those that have contributed to delivery of the schemes on behalf of the Department.
Nuclear Power
The Appraisal of Sustainability is intended to assess the environmental and sustainability impacts of the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement and therefore focuses on those impacts which arise from the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement itself. The draft Nuclear National Policy Statement provides guidance to the Infrastructure Planning Commission on the construction and operation of new nuclear power stations. It does not cover mining or milling of uranium.
The Government have previously considered the environmental impacts of uranium mining and milling as part of the 2007 consultation on nuclear power. The Government published their response in the Nuclear White Paper in January 2008. In the Nuclear White Paper, the Government set out that conventional uranium mining do not differ significantly from mining of other metalliferous ores or coal for other types of power stations. Furthermore, an increasing proportion of the world’s uranium now comes from in-situ leaching. This is a process that does not require the ore to be mined and generates much less waste, though it can have a negative impact on the water table and is not suitable for all types of uranium deposits. There are established environmental constraints, such as the regulations governing uranium mining in Australia which cover, among other things, environmental protection and the requirement to meet environmental approvals before mining proceeds. Additionally, most uranium mining companies in Australia and Canada, which supply much of the world’s uranium, have achieved certification from the International Organisation for Standardisation. This body sets the standard for, and undertakes audits of, environmental management systems. These environmental constraints minimise the environmental impacts of mining operations.
The consultation on my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s proposed decisions on the regulatory justification of new nuclear power station designs, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House and are available at:
www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/reg_just_cons/reg_just_cons.aspx
also covers this issue. In the consultation, my right hon. Friend explains that he considers that he is not bound to take practices outside the UK into account in making a regulatory justification decision but he has none the less considered the issue in view of fact that various respondents to the previous consultation on the regulatory justification process had raised concerns about the issue.
Renewable Energy: Heating
We aim to publish the consultation on the renewable heat incentive (RHI) in January 2010. We had previously intended to publish the consultation by the end of 2009, however, we now plan to publish in January.
Home Department
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs
(2) what factors he takes into consideration when assessing recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs;
(3) on what basis he rejected the recommendation of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that cannabis should remain a class C drug.
As my right hon. Friend the former Home Secretary, Member for Redditch (Jacqui Smith), advised in her statement to the House on 7 May 2008, Official Report, column 705, the reclassification of cannabis as a Class B drug against the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) was based on a number of factors, including but not limited to scientific evidence. Reclassification on 26 January 2009 is a preventative measure to protect the public, particularly the future health of young people.
The Government’s Reply to the Fifth Report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Session 2005-06 HC 1031 Drug classification: making a hash of it? can be found at:
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm69/6941/6941.pdf
sets out the factors, including the ACMD’s recommendations, that are considered in relation to drug classification decisions.
The Government have published and will continue to publish responses to the recommendations in the reports of Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
Alcoholic Drinks: Crime
The Home Office has estimated the cost of alcohol-related crime and disorder in England and Wales in 2007-08 as between £8-£13 billion per year. We are unable to break down this estimate by region.
Anabolic Steroids
Information from the court proceedings database held by the Ministry of Justice, showing the number of defendants cautioned, proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to the possession and supply of anabolic steroids in England and Wales, 2005-07 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
The Ministry of Justice do not collect charging data; proceeded against information has been provided in lieu.
Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and robbery. It is not possible to separate data on arrests related to the possession and supply of anabolic steroids from within these offence groups.
Cautioned Proceeded against Found guilty 2005 28 16 15 2006 15 14 12 2007 24 22 14 1Offence descriptions: i. Supplying or offering to supply (or being concerned in supplying or offering to supply) a controlled drug: Anabolic Steroids Statute: Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, section 4(3) ii. Having possession of a controlled drug: Anabolic Steroids Statute: Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, section 5(2) iii. Having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply: Anabolic Steroids Statute: Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, section 5(3). 2 The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time, the principal offence is the more serious offence. 3 From 1 June 2000, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. 4 The court statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence 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. 5 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: Justice Statistics Analytical Services: Ministry of Justice.
Children: Abuse
The Government set up the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) in 2006 to help protect children online. They have tackled both those who abuse children and those who are trading in images of such abuse. Since 2006 the Government have provided funding for the Centre as follows.
£ million 2006-07 5.360 2007-08 5.657 2008-09 6.270 2009-10 6.353
In addition, chief constables have their normal policing budget which they are able to use on the priorities for their forces. Any decision on funding or staffing for child protection activity is a matter for the chief constables for their area.
The Government's efforts on the relationship between viewing images of child abuse online and child abuse focus on the training courses provided by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre for child protection professionals. These courses are designed to do two things. Firstly, to help delegates better understand the nature of sexual offending and secondly to impart the skills and knowledge that can better equip professionals to deal with the difficult and distressing nature of this crime. Many of CEOP's training courses are based on material gathered during investigations, and case studies of sex offenders interviewed by CEOP's dedicated Behavioural Analysis Unit (BAU). The relationship between the use of images and contact offending is a key thread that runs through all of their project areas and something that is considered in all of the interviews that the BAU conduct with offenders.