To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will instruct the Highways Agency to make improvements to junction 10a of the M1 to reduce congestion; what assessment he has made of the effect of such congestion on the flow of traffic on the M1; and if he will make a statement. (316066)

Junction 10a is the responsibility of Luton borough council as the Local Highway Authority. Improvement of the junction was not included as a priority in the East of England's February 2009 Regional Funding Allocation advice to Government.

The Highways Agency is working closely with Luton borough council to find an appropriate proposal for improvements.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many miles of road have been detrunked in each of the last 10 years. (316003)

The lengths of road detrunked in the last 10 years under the New Deal Detrunking Programme are given in the following table:

The road lengths given above are for the New Deal Detrunking Programme and do not include the more routine detrunking that will occur after construction of a bypass or new road.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the percentage change in real terms of the cost of travelling by (a) private car, (b) bus, (c) train and (d) domestic aeroplane since (i) 1980 and (ii) 1997. (315796)

Between 1980 and 2009 the real cost of motoring, including the purchase of a vehicle, declined by 17 per cent., bus and coach fares increased by 54 per cent. and rail fares increased by 50 per cent. in real terms. These figures are based on the transport components of the Retail Prices Index.

Between 1997 and 2009 the real cost of motoring, including the purchase of a vehicle, declined by 14 per cent., bus and coach fares increased by 24 per cent. and rail fares increased by 13 per cent. in real terms.

The costs of travelling by air are not available from the Retail Prices Index. However, the cost of the average UK one-way air fare, including taxes and charges, covering domestic flights fell by 35 per cent. between 1997 and 2008, the latest date for which figures are available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how much (a) his Department, (b) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and (c) other public bodies spent on each category of agricultural research in each of the last 10 years; (315151)

Over the last 10 years research programmes and public funders of agricultural R and D (including DEFRA) have been restructured and comparable data across this period are not available by categories. The following table presents the food and farming R and D funding by the main sponsors (DEFRA, BBSRC and DFID) since 2003-04.

National statistics on R and D spend are presented per calendar year, and the latest year available is 2007. The following table compares the combined DEFRA, BBSRC and DFID funding on farming and food R and D with total spend on R and D between 2003 and 2008, indicating that Government expenditure in food and farming research has represented on average 1.2 per cent. of total R and D investment.

In 2007-08, over 68 per cent. of public investment on food and farming research and development supported applied (strategic and specific) research (based on the international Frascati coding definitions), with the remainder for basic research.

Source:

http://www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/publications/GO-Science/UK-Cross-Government-Food-Research-Strategy

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the return on investment in agricultural research and development. (315152)

DEFRA has not carried out a full assessment of return on its investment on agricultural R and D. DEFRA R and D has been commissioned to develop evidence to inform policy development or develop solutions which underpin policy objectives.

In 2006 DEFRA assessed the rationale for investment in animal and plant genetics to underpin breeding. A review of returns on R and D investment¹ was commissioned to inform this assessment, which considered relevant UK studies and their estimates of the rates of return on agricultural R and D. These studies showed a great deal of variance in rates of return, which reflects both the length of time period studied and improvements in the estimation method employed, but the three most recent reported internal rates of return between 22-44 per cent.

Part of the economic benefit of investment in R and D arises from the support of research facilities which maintain strategic capabilities, and this is equally difficult to quantify. An independent report by DTZ consultants in 2008 estimated that the Institute for Animal Health work on bluetongue virus potentially saved the UK economy £485 million and 10,000 jobs in that year².

¹ DEFRA (2006). The rationale for DEFRA investment in R and D underpinning the genetic improvement of crops and animals—Project IF0101:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module =More&Location=None&Completed=0&ProjectID=14403

² The economic and social impact of the Institute for Animal Health’s work on Foot and Mouth Disease:

http://www.iah.bbsrc.ac.uk/ecosoc/docs/Foot-and-Mouth-Case-Study.pdf

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the average length of time taken by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies to pay invoices from (i) small and medium-sized enterprises and (ii) all creditors in the last 12 months. (315131)

The Department produces statistics each month on the time taken to pay invoices and specifically within the 10 day target. This is reported to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which collects 10 day payment performance data for 22 Departments and shares collated data with key external stakeholders (such as the CBI and IoD).

In December 2009 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs paid 99.92 per cent. of invoices within 10 days. From data held centrally, the performance of Natural England was 100 per cent., Animal Health Agency was 100 per cent. and Marine and Fisheries Agency was 99.62 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the average length of time taken by his Department to pay invoices from (a) small and medium-sized enterprises and (b) all creditors in the last 12 months. (315127)

The Prime Minister announced in October 2008 that all central Government Departments will aim to pay invoices within 10 days. The Scotland Office does not differentiate between creditors and endeavours to pay all valid invoices within 10 days of receipt. The Scotland Office have managed to meet this target so far in 99.1 per cent. of cases in 2009-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many performance reviews were undertaken in respect of staff of (a) his Department in each of the last five years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a direct result of such a rating; and what percentage of full-time equivalent staff this represented. (313825)

All the staff in the Scotland Office are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice. The Office follows the relevant performance appraisal schemes for each of those parent bodies, and as such, all staff are subject to annual performance review. Details of the exact number of performance reviews undertaken would be a matter for the parent bodies. No staff are currently subject to poor performance procedures nor have there been any instances in the last five years.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the average purchase price, excluding value added tax was of a 500 sheet ream of white A4 photocopier paper for use in the House of Commons; and how much the House of Commons Commission spent on photocopier paper in the latest year for which figures are available. (314938)

The House Administration spent a total of £129,506 excluding VAT on A4 80 gsm paper for use in photocopiers at an average cost of £2.15 per 500 sheet ream during the period 1 January to 31 December 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether any written instructions have been provided to his Department's Accounting Officer in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code since 1997. (315322)

There have been no instances since 1997 when the Minister in charge of the Department has provided the Department's Accounting Officer with written instructions in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) how many job vacancies in his Department and its agencies were filled through using external recruitment in the last year for which figures are available; (315213)

Six vacancies were filled by DCMS through external recruitment during 2009. Our agency the Royal Parks have filled 14 jobs through external recruitment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department and its agencies spent on external recruitment consultants in the last 12 months. (315214)

In the last 12 months neither DCMS nor the Royal Parks have used recruitment consultants for external recruitments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 26 January 2010, Official Report, column 777W, on digital broadcasting: Scotland, how many meetings with small local radio stations in Scotland have been held to date; and with which stations meetings have been held. (315682)

My Department has held two local radio summits with the commercial radio representative body RadioCentre, to discuss the effects of the Digital Radio Switchover with small station owners. This included representatives of radio stations in Scotland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether he plans to review the power of local authorities to monitor the activities of licensed social clubs in respect of gambling and gaming. (315427)

There are no specific plans to review the power of local authorities to monitor the activities of licensed social clubs in respect of gambling and gaming. However, together with the Gambling Commission and local authority representatives, we will continue to monitor the operation and effectiveness of the regulatory regime established by the Gambling Act 2005.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether a club premises certificate enables social clubs to facilitate the playing of poker games with cash prizes. (315428)

A Club Premises Certificate is issued under the Licensing Act 2003 (the 2003 Act) and does not authorise social clubs to facilitate the playing of poker games with cash prizes. A certificate relates solely to licensable activities under the 2003 Act and does not confer any entitlements provided for by the Gambling Act 2005, such as offering facilities for gambling.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many prosecutions of unlicensed poker rooms by the Gambling Commission resulted in a conviction in each of the last three years. (315429)

To date, there have been no prosecutions by the Gambling Commission against unlicensed poker rooms that have resulted in convictions. However, the Commission continues to work closely with local authorities to tackle illegal poker including, where appropriate, making objections to club gaming permit applications and taking enforcement action against poker played without the necessary authorisation. The Commission has also been working with the licensed trade to provide guidance on the regulations governing the playing of poker in pubs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport of 13 January 2010, Official Report, column 290WH, on local authority newspapers, what the timetable is for asking (a) the Office of Fair Trading and (b) Ofcom to consider the potential impact of local authority newspapers on the paid-for newspaper market. (314941)

The Government are still considering their response to the Audit Commission's report on this subject and will respond in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to retain playing fields in Coventry. (315943)

Playing fields now enjoy the best protection ever through Government planning regulations and arrangements overseen by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Schools in England need permission from the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families before they can sell any school playing fields or any part of a school playing field.

Under planning guidance, local authorities are required to protect all open space which communities need. Sport England is a statutory consultee on all planning applications affecting local authority owned playing fields. The latest published statistics for 2007-08 show that out of 1,287 planning applications proposing development on playing fields referred to Sport England in 2007-08, 96.3 per cent. led to improved or protected sports provision.

From 6 April 2009, the protection the Government provide for larger playing fields was also extended to cover smaller fields.

As a result of this change a local authority now has to consult Sport England on any planning application in relation to playing fields where the playing field includes a playing pitch of 0.2 ha where the proposal is likely to prejudice the use or lead to the loss of use of land being used as a playing field.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 19 January 2010, Official Report, column 13WS, on the UK Foreign Bribery Strategy, which Departments and agencies will be regular members of the Foreign Bribery Strategy Board. (313743)

The following Departments and agencies are regular members of the Foreign Bribery Strategy Board:

Attorney-General’s Office, Association of Chief Police Officers, Cabinet Office, City of London Police, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Office, Crown Prosecution Service, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Department for International Development, Export Credit Guarantee Department, Financial Services Authority, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency, Office of Government Commerce, Serious Fraud Office and UK Trade and Investment.

Other Departments and agencies are invited as required by the agenda.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Lewes of 1 February 2010, Official Report, column 113W, on the David Kelly death inquiry, whether Lord Hutton made that recommendation after consultation with Dr Kelly's family; and whether Dr Kelly's family has been given access to the post mortem examination report. (316102)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 1 February 2010, Official Report, column 113W. No determination has been made that the medical reports and photographs connected to the death of Dr. David Kelly should be closed for 70 years. Rather, Lord Hutton requested that the post mortem examination report relating to Dr. Kelly not be disclosed for 70 years because he was aware of the distress that could be caused to Dr. Kelly's wife and daughters. Disclosure of information during the course of the inquiry to any party to the proceedings was a matter for the inquiry and is not a matter on which the Government are able to comment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any written instructions have been provided to his Department's Accounting Officer in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code since 1997. (315324)

Since 1997 no written instructions have been provided to accounting officers of the Ministry of Justice or its predecessors, the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Lord Chancellor's Department, in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much consultants employed by his Department and its agencies have been paid (a) in total and (b) in reimbursable expenses in each of the last 10 years. (313998)

The information requested is as follows.

(a) The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) collates dates on consultancy expenditure as part of its Consultancy Value Programme which assists Departments in driving greater value from Government’s use of consultants. The Ministry’s expenditure on consultancy for 2007-08 is reported as £56 million and can be found in the following link:

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/professional_services_consultancy_ value_programme.asp

Expenditure for 2008-09 is £49.7 million and will be reported soon on the same website.

The OGC definition of consultancy is broad and includes professional services provided by, for example, lawyers, surveyors and architects and the employment of specialists on an interim basis to deliver project solutions, providing expertise for a defined period of time that is not available in-house.

Both the 2007-08 and 2008-09 figures reflect expenditure by the Ministry of Justice headquarters, Her Majesty’s Courts Service, the Tribunals Service, and the National Offender Management Service (except for the Probation Service).

The Ministry was established in May 2007 so data are not available prior to 2007-08 in their current form.

(b) Expenses incurred by consultants in the course of Ministry of Justice business are normally included within their overall bills and are therefore included within the figures stated in part (a). The amount attributable to expenses can be disaggregated from the total only at disproportionate cost.

The costs of business related travel and accommodation by consultants may sometimes be met directly by the Ministry through contracted booking agents or by Government Procurement Card. Occasionally consultants may also claim for reimbursement of expenses met, in the first instance, from their own pocket. It is not possible to identify amounts relating specifically to consultants in any of these cases without incurring the disproportionate cost of examining huge numbers of supporting records held locally across the business.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many consultants his Department and its predecessors and its agencies have employed in each of the last 10 years; and how many hours were worked by such consultants for his Department and its agencies in each such year. (314020)

The Ministry of Justice was formed on 9 May 2007. This merger included the former Department of Constitutional Affairs and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). NOMS previously formed part of the Home Office.

Availability of the data requested is therefore incomplete due to several machinery of Government and organisational changes which meant that procurement for my Department was not centralised prior to April 2009, and these data could therefore be gathered only at disproportionate cost.

However, a manual data collection exercise for the period April 2008 to March 2009 was concluded on 31 October 2009. The scope of the manual data collection exercise was limited to NOMS (excluding Probation) and Access to Justice (excluding Legal Services Commission) and did not cover any non-departmental public bodies.

Using the data received, there were 694 consultants/interim managers working for the Ministry of Justice in the financial year of 2008-09.

Limitations with the collected data only make it possible to provide the total number of consultants/interim managers for 2008-09 without any breakdown of the specific hours worked.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employees in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies are in transition prior to being managed out; how long on average the transition window between notification and exit has been in (i) his Department and its predecessors and (ii) each of its agencies in each of the last five years; what estimate he has made of the salary costs of staff in transition in each such year; and what proportion of employees in transition were classed as being so for more than six months in each year. (313237)

Currently, there are 520 employees in the Ministry of Justice (including all agencies) who are in transition after accepting a voluntary early departure on severance or retirement terms. The breakdown of staff across the Ministry is as follows: two from the Office for the Public Guardian, 308 from the Access to Justice group, 199 from the National Offender Management Service and Her Majesty's Prison Service, 11 from the Corporate Performance Group. The majority are due to leave the Ministry within the next two to three months and the terms are governed by the Civil Service Compensation scheme. There are also 185 employees across the Ministry actively seeking permanent re-deployment following organisational change programmes.

For the early departure, the term 'transition time' is defined as the elapsed time from a formal agreement to leave to the actual date of departure. For redeployment, it is the elapsed time from the re-organisation occurring to the individual taking up a new work post. The average transition time is 90 days. There are 10 staff who have remained on the redeployment list, as an exceptional basis, for longer than 6 months. Whilst employees are on the redeployment list, or have accepted voluntary early departure, they continue to undertake meaningful work duties.

The average transition time in previous years has been 90 days.

The department is unable to provide the average salary costs for staff in transition in each year. This information is not held centrally and obtaining it would incur a disproportionate cost as the department currently operates several pay and HR structures and would be reliant on a number of different sources to establish the information requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many performance reviews were undertaken in respect of staff of (a) his Department and its predecessors and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a direct result of such a rating; and what percentage of full-time equivalent staff this represented. (313827)

Staff employed by the Ministry are subject to differing performance management arrangements according to their terms and conditions and depending on which part of the Ministry of Justice or its agencies they are employed in.

For all employees, performance management is a continuous process with annual and mid-year formal performance reviews of progress against objectives. The Ministry’s performance management system requires poor performance to be addressed when it occurs and not simply at specific points in the reporting year. Where appropriate, additional coaching and support is provided to employees to enable them to reach and maintain the required standards of performance appropriate to their roles. However, when employees are unable to meet and maintain acceptable standards of performance, sanctions up to and including dismissal are available.

Senior civil servants

Members of the senior civil service (SCS) are subject to a common performance management system based on relative assessment of achievement. Since 2007, the system has had four performance categories. Performance group four denotes performance not meeting the required standard. Prior to this, the performance management system had three performance categories: top, middle and lower tranche. The number of SCS employees receiving either a lower tranche or performance group four assessment is set out as follows.

Non-SCS employees

Separate performance management arrangements (both in respect to in year and end of year assessment) exist for staff in grades below the SCS. Unlike the SCS, where employees are subject to relative peer group assessment with a guideline distribution between performance groups, below the SCS performance assessment is linked solely to the achievement of an individual’s work objectives. Ministry of Justice (excluding the National Offender Management Services) employees receive annual performance appraisals that indicate one of three performance markings—“Outstanding”, “Effective” and “Improvement Required”. The number of employees receiving an “Improvement Required” or equivalent during the past five years is as follows:

As the award of an unsatisfactory performance marking invokes poor performance procedures but does not directly result in dismissal it has not been possible to provide information on the number of staff who have left as a direct result of an “Improvement Required” rating during the past five years without incurring disproportionate costs. However, we can confirm that in 2009, of the 134 staff below the SCS who were judged “Improvement Required”, 22 are no longer employed by the Ministry of Justice.

Appraisals are held annually for staff in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) in grades below the SCS and there are four possible ratings: “Exceeded”, “Achieved”, “Almost Achieved”, and “Unacceptable”. The number of staff in NOMS who received an “Unacceptable” marking during the past five years, and the total number of recorded markings is as follows:

Information on the number of staff who received an “Unacceptable” marking and then left NOMS within the following year is contained in the following table (departures could be for any reason).

NOMS processes mirror those in the rest of the Ministry in that performance management is a continuous process, based upon agreed objectives and in-year reviews. The “Unacceptable” marking does not automatically result in dismissal. However, employment may be terminated where the employee fails to meet the appropriate standard despite appropriate warnings and support. It has not been possible to provide information on the number of NOMS employees who have left the service as a direct result of an “Unacceptable” rating as the information is unavailable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department and its agencies spent on recruitment consultants in the last 12 months. (315292)

The majority of permanent recruitment is managed internally by the Ministry's HR function. For specialist or senior vacancies, it is sometimes necessary, however, to use recruitment consultants to access a wider pool of talent.

The Ministry's accounting systems do not separately identify expenditure on recruitment consultants. Payments to recruitment consultants are recorded within the wider categories of recruitment expenditure. To specifically identify expenditure on recruitment consultants would involve the disproportionate cost of examining a large number of invoices held locally across the business.

Additionally, recruitment consultants are usually involved in the continuing supply of temporary and contract staff where the fee paid represents the amount paid directly to the contractor, plus the agency's management fee which includes their charge for recruiting the contractor. The management fee element can vary depending on the terms negotiated for individual contracts. Fees to recruitment consultants for the continuing supply of contract and agency staff can only be distinguished from fees for specific recruitment campaigns at a disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department and its agencies have spent on font licensing in the last three years. (315331)

Payments by the Ministry of Justice for software application licences, for example for Microsoft Windows, include an amount in respect of core fonts used within the application. Software publishers license fonts from foundries and are responsible for passing on the royalty to the foundries from the licence fee. The element of the total licence amount that relates to fonts is not identifiable to the Ministry of Justice as the purchaser of the software application licence.

The Ministry of Justice does, however, make some payments directly in respect of the licence of specialised fonts used in publications. The amounts are not separately identified in accounting records. Payments are normally made via the Government Procurement Card and could be identified only at disproportionate cost by examining thousands of statements held locally around the business.

However, we are aware that £437 has been paid in respect of five font licences in the 2009-10 year to date by the Ministry's central design team which is responsible for group wide publications.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many job vacancies in his Department and its agencies were filled through external recruitment in the last 12 months. (315332)

For the period 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009 the Ministry of Justice and its agencies, including the National Offender Management Service, filled a total of 4,175 job vacancies through external recruitment. The vacancies advertised were for permanent as well as fixed-term posts.

The Ministry recruits in line with the Civil Service Commissioners' recruitment principles and is committed to recruitment on merit through fair and open competition.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in other EU member states on the implementation of the Council Framework Decision 2005/214/JHA on the cross-border collection of fines for motoring offences. (316000)

My officials have been in contact with officials at the European Commission, the Scottish and Northern Irish Ministries of Justice both prior to and post-implementation of this EU directive. They conducted a webcast on 9 October 2009 in conjunction with SPARKS in which a member of the EC responsible for MRFP also participated; they attended a European workshop in Stockholm on 15 October 2009 organised by the Commission; and they visited their counterparts in the Netherlands' Central Authority (CJIB) on 4 December 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications have been received from other EU member states for the payment of fines under the terms of the Council Framework Decision 2005/214/JHA on the application of the principle of mutual recognition of financial penalties; and how many such applications have proceeded to court. (315999)

The Central Authority for England and Wales has received four mutual recognition of financial penalties (MRFP) applications from EU member states since the Framework Decision was implemented on 1 October 2009. These applications concerned offences in the Netherlands which were convicted prior to the implementation date and therefore had to be returned to the originating state. No applications have yet proceeded to court.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2009, Official Report, column 351W, on freedom of information, if he will bring forward proposals to ensure that public bodies which enter into partnership with other public bodies are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. (315621)

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives the Secretary of State the power to extend the coverage of the Act, by way of a section 5 order, to organisations that he considers to exercise public functions or deliver public authority services under contract.

On 16 July 2009, the Government published their response to the consultation on extending the scope of the FOIA to cover additional bodies by way of a section 5 order. The Government response proposed an initial, focused section 5 order and noted their intention to consult Academies, ACPO, Financial Ombudsman Service and UCAS on their possible inclusion in such an order.

The Government are keeping the possibility of further section 5 orders under review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme of 28 October 2009, Official Report, column 422W, on Trafigura: injunctions, when he expects to announce the result of his assessment of the effects of the practice of granting injunctions which prohibit the reporting of the grant of the injunction. (315309)

At my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor’s (Mr. Straw) request, senior officials at the Ministry of Justice have met with representatives of the national press to discuss the issues raised by the Trafigura case and the use of so-called super-injunctions generally. The Justice Secretary is considering matters in the light of this, including engaging with the senior judiciary. He will make a statement to the House after that.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many retailers have been (a) cautioned, (b) fined and (c) imprisoned for selling knives to people under the necessary purchasing age in each police force area in each year since 1998-99. (315060)

The requested information is shown in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many properties registered with the Land Registry have changed ownership in each month since January 2009. (315654)

Land Registry is able to provide information on the total number of registered properties sold in each month from January 2009 to December 2009. As these figures are extracted using price paid data, no information is available for any properties which have not been sold. The only way to identify other changes of ownership would be to extract data regarding every application event over the time period asked for. This could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The figures are reflected in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) mean and (b) median sale price in 2008-09 prices was of house sales registered with the Land Registry in each year since 2000. (315655)

Land Registry is able to provide data on the mean price paid of all residential sales registered in each year since 2000. Details of the percentage change on annual average prices has been calculated on the basis of the 2008 calendar year prices as the RPI data covering the 2008-09 financial year are not yet available.

This question has been answered on the basis of recorded sales figures in England and Wales. Land Registry does not hold the information requested on median price paid and could not produce it except at disproportionate cost.

The figures are reflected in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of working days lost per employee at (a) the Legal Services Commission and (b) the Youth Justice Board in the latest period for which figures are available; and what steps he is taking to reduce levels of staff absence at each body. (312509)

The average number of days taken as sickness absence at the Legal Services Commission during 2008-09 was 7.98 per employee. This has decreased from 9.17 in 2007-08 and 10.7 in 2006-07.

The LSC has been reviewing its absence policy year-on-year in order to reduce absence levels. The target for 2009-10 is 7.66 days (a 4 per cent. reduction on 2008-09). Following the most recent review in 2009, online training has been further developed to support managers and absence trigger points (where the return to work meeting between the manager and employee become a more formal process) have been lowered to seven days. An absence panel has been set up to review any long-term sickness absence and ensure support systems such as occupational health referrals, home visits and the employee assistance programme are in place.

No days are recorded as having been lost as a result of staff being unable to make it to work due to adverse weather conditions or travel disruption as it is the LSC’s policy to give line managers the flexibility to authorise home working where appropriate or convert any absences in these circumstances into annual, flexible or special leave.

In 2008-09, the average number of days taken as sickness absence at the Youth Justice Board was 3.7 days per employee. It has a robust attendance management policy in place outlining clearly line managers’ responsibilities to support staff, manage absence and the actions they need to take at different trigger points. This includes interventions at cumulative absence and consecutive absence points, the requirement to conduct documented “return to work” interviews, line manager and/or occupational health and welfare services contact and formalised case conferences.

The YJB’s HR team works closely with line managers across the business to monitor instances of sickness absences and provide advice, support and interventions, where necessary, to reduce the level of sickness absence even further. Sickness absence figures are also included in the YJB’s “Organisational Health Indicators”.

In addition the YJB runs a health and well-being programme to encourage staff to be aware of the health and fitness and take steps to improve their well-being. This includes access to eye tests, cycle to work schemes, discounted gym memberships, advice on tackling stress and access to health screening.

No days are recorded as having been lost as a result of staff being unable to make it to work due to adverse weather conditions or travel disruption as it is the YJB’s policy to give line managers the flexibility to authorise home working where appropriate or convert any absences in these circumstances into annual, flexible or special leave.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the reason for the cost of (a) IT for his Department and (b) the finance function for the British Council referred to in the publication Benchmarking the Back Office: Central Government; and if he will make a statement. (312682)

The information requested is as follows:

Cost of IT for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)

The figures reported in ‘Benchmarking the Back Office: Central Government’ equate to costs of £115 million in running and maintaining the FCO IT estate in 2008-2009. This reflects the fact that the FCO operates over a substantial global network on behalf of the Government overseas and needs to conform to strict security standards. The figure also includes temporary costs related to the transformation of our IT platforms. We expect IT costs to reduce following completion of this transformation.

Finance function for the British Council

The figures reported in ‘Benchmarking the Back Office: Central Government’ report were based on the British Council's published 2008-09 statutory accounts and include all UK and overseas transaction processing staff, corporate finance, management accounting, tax, treasury and training staff together with their share of IT and accommodation costs.

The British Council has embarked on a programme to double its cultural relations impact. This includes a global finance transformation project to ensure effective and efficient support services, which will deliver improved service quality and increased efficiency with significantly lower transactional costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the average length of time taken by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies to pay invoices from (i) small and medium-sized enterprises and (ii) all creditors in the last 12 months. (315132)

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced in October 2008 that all central Government Departments would aim to pay invoices within 10 days.

In December 2009, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and FCO Services (its Trading Fund) together paid 97.5 per cent. of invoices within 10 days. This performance is an increase of 27.2 per cent. points compared to November 2008, when 70.3 per cent. of invoices were paid within 10 days.

We do not differentiate payments by supplier size as we have determined to pay all suppliers within 10 days.

This response relates to the FCO in the UK. Information regarding the status of suppliers overseas is not available without incurring disproportionate costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department and its agencies have spent on font licensing in the last three years. (315504)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has no font licensing agreements and no expenditure was incurred on font licensing in the last three years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in his Department and its agencies have the status of (a) embedded communicators and (b) are members of the Government Communications Network and are not listed in the Central Office of Information White Book. (315567)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold this information centrally and it is available only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many employees in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies are in transition prior to being managed out; how long on average the transition window between notification and exit has been in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies in each of the last five years; what estimate he has made of the salary costs of staff in transition in each such year; and what proportion of employees in transition were classed as being so for more than six months in each year. (313241)

As there were fewer than five cases, in line with Cabinet Office guidance, details are not provided to avoid revealing the identity of individuals and on grounds of confidentiality.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many job vacancies in his Department and its agencies were filled through external recruitment in the last year for which figures are available. (315503)

Since February 2009 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has filled 211 vacancies through external recruitment.

In the same period the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has also filled one vacancy at the Imperial War Museum through external recruitment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will propose at the next meeting of the European Council at which the proposed inter-governmental conference is to be discussed, amendments under Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union to (a) assert the sovereignty of the UK and (b) ensure that the Declaration of Primacy No. 17 of the Lisbon Treaty shall not be deemed as being capable of being construed by UK courts as preventing Parliament (i) legislating expressly and inconsistently with and (ii) amending or overriding European legislation. (315344)

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reasons he agreed at the meeting of the European Council in December 2009 to request that the European Parliament should not convene an intergovernmental conference; and if he will make it his policy to seek such a conference to be convened. (315345)

The European Parliament has no power to convene an intergovernmental conference.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he has made to the UN in respect of the rules of engagement in the (a) Southern and (b) Northern No Fly Zones in Iraq between 1998 and 2002; (315619)

During the period in question the Department had a number of discussions with the UN and allies on the No Fly Zones in Iraq. The zones, established in support of UN Security Council Resolution 688, were justified under international law in response to a situation of overwhelming humanitarian necessity due to Saddam Hussein’s violent oppression of Iraq’s minority communities. Between 1998 and 2002 Saddam Hussein waged a systematic campaign against UK (and US) aircraft carrying out patrols—violating the No Fly Zones—designed to prevent a return to the brutal repression of the Kurdish and other minorities in the north and the Shi'a in the south. Our aircraft were authorised to respond to attacks solely in self-defence. All such defensive action was strictly limited to proportional responses against Iraqi weapons and facilities that posed a direct threat to coalition forces. My hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Lewis) will write to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley with more detail on the representations made between 1998 and 2002.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2010, Official Report, column 468W, on Palestinians: overseas aid, what assessment he has made of whether Israel is in compliance with its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention in respect of the population of Gaza; and if he will make a statement. (314058)

We have serious concerns about the Israeli restrictions on Gaza and the impact they have on the lives of Gazans. Although there is no permanent physical Israeli presence in Gaza, given the significant control that Israel has over Gaza's borders, airspace and territorial waters, Israel retains obligations under the fourth Geneva convention as an occupying power. The fourth Geneva convention is clear that an occupying power must co-operate in allowing the passage and distribution of relief consignments. The restrictions currently imposed on the passage of relief supplies are, as we see it, a disproportionate response to the security threat.

We have consistently pressed the Israeli Government to comply with their obligations under international law and allow passage of relief supplies. Although aid is entering Gaza, according to the UN this is insufficient to meet the needs of the Gazan people.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to make an official visit to the United States. (315933)

For security and operational reasons, we do not announce visits by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary significantly in advance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the US administration on stockpiles of nuclear weapons; and what his policy is on the steps to be taken by the Government and the US administration on reducing such stockpiles. (315931)

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regularly discuss nuclear issues, and UK officials frequently discuss with the US the implementation of all aspects of the non-proliferation treaty including our article VI disarmament obligations.

We look forward to an agreement between the US and Russia to achieve significant cuts in their nuclear arsenals by agreeing a successor to the strategic arms reduction treaty. This will be a major contribution to our shared endeavour towards a world without nuclear weapons, and will help to build trust and pave the way for greater reductions.

The UK has taken a number of significant disarmament steps in recent years, and is committed to retaining only the minimum credible nuclear deterrent capability; we regularly review the number of warheads in the UK stockpile in that light. The UK firmly believes that sustainable global nuclear disarmament can only be achieved through a multilateral process, and stands ready to engage in a broader multilateral process when the conditions are right.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the US administration on international nuclear proliferation. (315932)

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discusses a range of international nuclear proliferation issues regularly with Secretary of State Clinton and the US Administration and did so most recently on 28 January 2010. My hon. Friend Mr. Ivan Lewis has done likewise with his counterparts. Strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime and re-energising the nuclear non-proliferation treaty is a top foreign policy priority for the Government and the US Government.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list each representation he has received from the US State Department (a) orally and (b) in writing on UK procedures for the issue of arrest warrants in respect of foreign nationals alleged to have committed war crimes in the last 12 months. (315804)

I have not had any direct representations from the US State Department on UK procedures for the issue of arrest warrants in respect of foreign nationals alleged to have committed war crimes in the last 12 months. My officials have been asked by colleagues in the State Department for factual accounts of incidents in which such arrest warrants have been sought. There have been no written representations from the US State Department on this subject during this time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many persons with cancer in Northampton South constituency did not receive drugs designed to prolong their life following a report for such drugs in the latest period for which figures are available. (315007)

This information is not collected centrally. However this information might be available direct from Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether medical practitioners are required to inform local authorities when they administer drugs to children in care. (316072)

There is no requirement on medical practitioners to inform local authorities when administering drugs to child in care. However, treatment of a child, including the prescription or administrating of drugs by medical practitioners, requires consent. In the case of children who lack the capacity to consent for themselves, a doctor would need to ask for consent from those with parental responsibility, which, for those on a care order, would be a local authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has evaluated on the comparative (a) safety and (b) effectiveness of (i) human biology-based testing and (ii) animal testing of new drugs and treatments. (316006)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the competent authority responsible for the issuing on Marketing Authorisations (licences) and assessing Clinical Trial Applications for medicinal products and devices.

The MHRA has not directly evaluated any specific studies on the comparative safety and effectiveness of human biology testing and animal testing of new drugs and treatment. The MHRA has, however, been indirectly involved in a number of initiatives in this field that are actively evaluating the replacement of whole animal studies with suitable alternatives, including the use of human tissue samples. Today’s approaches to drug development, involving an integrated programme of non-clinical testing and clinical trials, have been built up on a rational and scientific basis for more than 30 years. At present there are no validated and established laboratory methods available to totally replace animal testing of medicinal products.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent progress has been made on the Health Protection Agency's Project Chrysalis; and if he will make a statement. (316063)

The Health Protection Agency was given approval of its strategic outline case for Project Chrysalis in August 2008 and since then has been working on the next stage, the outline business case.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the future of the Health Protection Agency site at Porton Down; and if he will make a statement. (316065)