Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 29 June 2006
House of Commons Commission
Departmental Finance Directors
The House’s director of finance and administration since 1997 is Andrew Walker. He has over 20 years experience in the Inland Revenue and HM Treasury in a variety of tax and management positions. He is assisted in his duties as finance director by appropriately qualified and experienced staff in the Financial Management Directorate. He is due to complete an accountancy qualification course (CIPFA) during 2007-08.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The total quantity of carbon dioxide emissions produced on, or attributable to, the House of Commons element of the parliamentary estate in 2005-06 is estimated at 10,300 tonnes. The released quantities of the other five greenhouse gasses are not measured but the quantities are estimated to be small.
Parliamentary Papers
The Library already indexes all unprinted Command Papers in PIMS. Unprinted (or unnumbered) commands appear in the Vote as being laid “by Command”, (as opposed to “by Act”), and are treated accordingly. They are given running numbers which start each session, for ease of retrieval. These numbers appear in PIMS. Each unprinted Command Paper is also retrievable by subject, issuing department, date or name of organisation etc.
Deputy Prime Minister
Rural Post Offices
As Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on the Post Office Network (MISC 33) set up in May of this year, I have a key role in bringing together different Departments to discuss issues relating to rural post offices and to deliver agreement on actions.
The Government remains committed to rural post offices as demonstrated by our £750 million package of support—£150 million per year for five years to 2008—through the Social Network Payment.
I will continue to work with ministerial colleagues to ensure that Government policy-making in this area is coordinated effectively.
Solicitor-General
Honour Crimes
The CPS is determined that when these crimes are uncovered they will be prosecuted firmly, fairly and robustly. The CPS wishes to encourage victims and witnesses of honour crimes to come forward and send out a message that this behaviour will not be tolerated. They are working closely with partners in the criminal justice system and the community and voluntary sector to raise awareness and develop strategies for tackling and preventing honour crimes.
Sentencing
The Prosecutors’ Pledge, introduced by the Attorney-General in October 2005, requires prosecutors to support victims from point of charge through to any appeal. The Pledge underpins the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, implemented in April 2006. The Code requires Witness Care Units to explain to victims the effect of the sentence within one working day. Further information may be provided to victims who require it by the CPS or the Probation Service.
Craig Sweeney
My right hon. Friend the Attorney-General is considering the papers in this case, and will reach a decision shortly. As in all cases of this type, he has to comply with a strict time limit of 28 days from the date the sentence was passed in making his decision.
The power to refer is exercised in the public interest. The Attorney will make his decision purely on the merits of the case and not in response to political or public pressure.
International Development
Departmental Finance Directors
Richard Calvert is Director of Finance and Corporate Performance at DFID. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and has a masters degree in law. He has held a range of policy and operational posts in DFID including serving in the UK Delegation to the EU in Brussels, as Private Secretary to the Secretary of State, and as Head of the Information and Civil Society Department.
Before taking up his present post in September 2003, he worked on secondment as Head of Service Quality in the Children, Schools and Families Directorate at Hertfordshire county council.
Departmental Websites
The information requested is as follows:
Overall costs maintaining DFID websites are as follows:
Main DFID website and two country office sites—£127,097 for 2005.
Developments magazine—£11,500 for 2005.
Research for Development portal—£293,464 set up costs for 2005.
Specialist audience sites include:
AIDSPortal—£355,000 since 2004.
Sending Money Home—£9,650 to set up. There are no maintenance costs.
Good Humanitarian Donorship initiative—£1,500 to set up. There are no maintenance costs.
Financial Deepening Challenge Fund’s website—average costs are £2,000 per year.
Illegal-Fishing.info—£40,000 to maintain in 2005.
Asia 2015 Conference website—£14,000 to set up and maintain in 2005.
PASS Livelihoods—£36,824 from October 2005-September 2006
The Business Linkages Challenge Fund—£2,565 for January-December 2005.
EC-PREP—£2,500 for January-December 2005.
There are a number of websites set up as part of DFID funding to contractors or professional organisations. Contractors are responsible for maintaining these and have therefore not been included here. Figures are included as part of the overall contract.
HIV/AIDS
The United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting agreed a Political Declaration which met virtually all of the UK’s objectives, including: committing countries to develop, by the end of 2006, ambitious national plans to scale up towards universal access by 2010 to comprehensive HIV prevention programmes, treatment, care and support, with interim targets for 2008; to ensure that no credible, sustainable national plan should go unfunded, recognising the need to provide from donor countries, national budgets and other sources $20-23 billion annually by 2010 for AIDS responses; and to intensify efforts to develop new technology especially microbicides and vaccines.
Middle East
(2) what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts about the sums of money the EU expects to commit to the temporary international mechanism to channel assistance directly to the Palestinian people set out in the European Council Presidency Conclusions of 15 and 16 June.
The UK has encouraged contributions to the temporary international mechanism for Palestinian basic needs from the European Union, Arab donors and other members of the international donor community. The European Community is making a contribution of €105 million. We are expecting individual EU member states to release statements regarding their contributions shortly. The mechanism is open to any donor that wishes to contribute.
Plant Breeding
(2) if he will list the public sector projects his Department has funded for plant breeding in developing countries in the last three years;
(3) whether his Department has (a) undertaken and (b) commissioned research into (i) the extent of the role of the private sector within the global seed industry and (ii) the impact of the private sector’s role on (A) developing new plant varieties for poor farmers and (B) the diversity of genetic resources available to public plant breeders.
DFID has allocated a total of £15.8 million to support public sector research on improved seed varieties, including plant breeding, over the past three years. The vast majority of research supported has been carried out overseas, with some advanced research being carried out at UK institutions, including the John Innes centre and the university of Leeds.
DFID is already working with the World Bank and other donors to see how we can increase the quality and quantity of aid given for agricultural research. For example, we are working in Africa to support regional agricultural research programmes. We expect this will lead to increased grants and loans for research from the World Bank and other donors. We expect some of these funds will be used to support plant breeding and development of new seed varieties that meet the needs of poor farmers.
DFID’s Plant Sciences Research Programme managed by the centre for arid zone studies at the university of Wales at Bangor allocated £3.6 million over the last three years for plant breeding research with overseas partners. This included work on: resistance of pearl millet to downey mildew, nematode resistance of rice, banana and potato, aluminium tolerance in wheat, new breeding methods based on farmer participation in design and selection of varieties of rice, maize and cassava, and genetic marker assisted methods for pearl millet improvement.
DFID also provides core funding to the international agricultural research centres of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Centres vary in the proportion of their budgets devoted to plant breeding. Of the core support DFID has given to centres, over the last three years, we estimate that £12.2 million has been used to support research on plant breeding and improving crop varieties for the benefit of poor people in developing countries.
DFID has not undertaken, or commissioned, research into the extent of, and impact on, the role of the private sector within the global seed industry. However policy research has been carried out which examined the pros and cons of revenue generation from public plant breeding and links to the private sector. (Tripp and Byerlee 2000, http://www.odi.org.uk/NRP/57.html). DFID is also supporting the Seeds of Development Programme managed by the university of Cornell. The purpose of this programme is to better understand the role of private sector in achieving agricultural growth which benefits poor people by improving their access to better quality seeds.
Somaliland
We are aware of Loughborough university’s links with Somaliland. We do not support these directly but are funding a number of projects with UNICEF who have supported some of Loughborough university’s activities in Somaliland. UNICEF also undertake considerable work in water and sanitation with the authorities in Somaliland on behalf of DFID and a number of other donors.
Water Provision
DFID’s assessment is that there are circumstances when the private sector can play a role in meeting the needs of poor people. This is because, in spite of extensive technical assistance, public water utilities in developing countries have found it difficult to improve their performance and outreach. This has come about for a variety of reasons that we need to understand and learn from. DFID continuously assesses and learns from examples of public and private sector participation in delivering water.
There are good and bad examples of both public and private service provision. The best approach often involves partnerships between the public sector, the private sector and communities. An important factor for success is effective regulation, with enforceable contracts that set out clearly what is expected. One example is a four-year public-private partnership in South Africa focusing on poor rural communities, which has brought water to more than nine million people in five provinces.
Trade and Industry
Animal Experiments
The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3RS) received £954,402 from its funders during 2005-06 as follows:
£ Medical Research Council (MRC) 600,000 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 66,667 Home Office 125,000 Industry 75,000 Charity 75,000 Other 12,735 Total 954,402
The Centre’s budget for 2006-07 funding is projected to increase by 141 per cent.
Copyright Infringement
The Department, especially through the Patent Office, helps businesses to combat copyright infringement in a number of ways, for example through raising awareness of the intellectual property system and the value of intellectual property, as well as coordinating enforcement action against intellectual property crime. However, as our awareness activities usually cover the whole range of intellectual property and as copyright infringement on a commercial scale is usually associated with other offences, we do not have figures available relating specifically to copyright infringement.
I have not received any recent representations specifically relating to copyright infringement, apart from the hon. Member, although I am aware of the concerns of the creative industries in this area.
In December last year the Chancellor asked Andrew Gowers to lead an independent review of the Intellectual Property Framework. The review is looking at practical issues affecting businesses and consumers and will report to the Government this autumn.
The following figures are the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts under the various copyright offences in England and Wales.
Number of defendants 1997 169 1998 158 1999 152 2000 151 2001 110 2002 97 2003 111 2004 134 Notes: Figures for 2005 are not yet available. Figures relating to specifically copyright offences before the crown court are not available.
Statute Offence description 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, Sec. 198 1a, b, d.iii. and Sec. 107 1a, b, d.iv and E. Makes, imports or distributes illicit recordings. Makes for sale or hire, imports possesses or distributes articles which infringes copyright. 78 86 65 72 59 38 47 65 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Triable either way offences except sections included in 84/09. 2 2 2 2 2 2 8 9 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 S.107 2A and 4A as added by Copyright and Related Rights Regulations Reg. 26(1) Person infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public. 2 2 2 2 2 2 — 6 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 S.198 2A and 5A as added by Copyright and Related Rights Regulations Reg. 26 (3) Person who infringes a performer’s making available right in the course of business/otherwise 2 2 2 2 2 2 — 3 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Summary offences. 91 72 87 79 51 59 56 51 1 These data are on the principal offence basis. 2 Not applicable as these offences were part of the 2003 Copyright and Related Rights Regulations. Source: RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform
Currently there are no reliable estimates of the value of counterfeit goods being sold in the UK. This lack of evidence makes it impossible to estimate the cost of copyright infringement to both the UK and the EU economies. But our recently published National Intellectual Property Enforcement Report provides a general assessment of the threats and challenges faced by IP rights’ owners and how our IP crime strategy is dealing with these issues.
The Patent Office and the DTI are helping to sponsor the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in an international study to develop methodologies and a clearer assessment of the scope and scale of counterfeiting and piracy throughout the world. The Study is scheduled to produce its first results towards the end of 2006.
The EU-US action strategy for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights statement issued last week recognised the need for the OECD study to provide reliable data.
Counterfeit Goods
There are currently no reliable estimates of the value of counterfeit goods being sold in the UK. But our recently published National Intellectual Property Enforcement Report provides a general assessment of the threats and challenges faced by IP rights’ owners and how our IP crime strategy is dealing with these issues.
The Patent Office and the DTI are helping to sponsor the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in an international study to develop methodologies and a clearer assessment of the scope and scale of counterfeiting and piracy throughout the world. The Study is scheduled to produce its first results towards the end of 2006.
Defence Industry
The information is as follows:
(a) The Enterprise and Business Group of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is responsible for the Government’s manufacturing strategy. In this role, it promotes the legitimate interests of a wide range of UK businesses including the UK defence industry and its supply chain and also works to secure investment and research and development that bring benefits to the UK economy. It is Government policy, as set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy, for wider industrial factors to be taken into account on major defence equipment procurements and DTI contributes to this industrial analysis.
(b) Separately, the Department discharges the statutory functions vested in the Secretary of State by the ‘Export Control Act 2002’. Principally, this is to process applications for licences to export items whose export is controlled by that Act. This function is carried out by the Export Control and Non-Proliferation directorate, a part of Energy Group.
Departmental Websites
We operate one core DTI website, www.dti.gov.uk, within which there are links to a wider community of websites managed by partner agencies and other arm’s length bodies. We are aware of 48 DTI websites hosted by other domains.
The support for the Department’s core website is included in the overall service charge paid monthly under the IT service contract in place since 1 April 1999. There is no separation of website costs in this charge.
Information about the Department’s other websites is not held centrally and to gather it would involve disproportionate cost.
Energy Review
We received over 5,300 responses to the Energy Review consultation, expressing a range of views on many aspects of the energy industry. Releasing figures for only some of the responses to the consultation, out of context and without accompanying analysis, has the potential to mislead the public by focusing on the views and comments of only one section of the respondents.
We will publish a summary of the responses to the Energy Review consultation in the coming weeks. The responses are currently being posted in full on the DTI website: www.dti.gov.uk/energy/review.
Nuclear Power Industry
The Government’s expenditure on civil nuclear energy from 2001 to 2006 is set out as follows.
Figures for direct Government expenditure (but not including spending by the Research Councils) on nuclear fission are given in the following table:
Financial year Nuclear fission (£ million) 2001-02 2.0 2002-03 2.1 2003-04 2.1 2004-05 2.2 2005-06 2.3 Note: Expenditure is in support of emergency support arrangements provided by the Met Office in the event of a nuclear release into the atmosphere, and includes a contribution towards the cost of the underpinning meteorological modelling capability
In addition, expenditure by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council on research in aspects of nuclear fission is as follows:
Financial year Nuclear fission (£ million) 2001-02 0.33 2002-03 0.31 2003-04 0.21 2004-05 0.11 2005-06 0.95
Figures for nuclear fusion R and D are given in the following table:
Financial year Nuclear fission (£ million) 2001-02 14.4 2002-03 14.6 2003-04 15.6 2004-05 19.5 2005-06 17.0
In terms of British Energy, a loan facility was provided to the company in 2002 to support it through its restructuring. This loan was re-paid in full with interest in December 2003 and no further drawings can be made. As a result of the restructuring which completed in January 2005, the Government have taken direct financial responsibility for BE’s historic spent fuel liabilities. The following payments have been made since restructuring to meet those historic spent fuel liabilities: 2004-05— £185 million; 2005-06—£189 million. The Government are also underwriting British Energy’s decommissioning fund to the extent that its liabilities outweigh its assets. In return the company is making enhanced payments into the fund. On current valuations, the assets of the fund exceed the liabilities.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) assumed responsibility for the UK’s historic nuclear legacy on 1 April 2005. The legacy is made up of experimental facilities created 30 and 40 years ago and which were built without any consideration at the time for future decommissioning and clean up. About 80 per cent. of the total legacy costs relate to Sellafield and Dounreay—neither of which ever produced much electricity. In its approved Strategy the NDA set out its proposals for nuclear clean up which is estimated to be £62.7 billion. This is the life time cost of clean up—likely to take up to 100 years plus to implement.
Under the 2004 Spending Review the NDA received a budget of £2.2 billion for 2005-06—about half of which was to be raised by the NDA’s commercial activities. Following the successful conclusion of the EC State Aid Review on 4 April 2006, financial responsibility for decommissioning BNFL sites has passed to the NDA under the Energy Act 2004. Until this point BNFL held nuclear funding assets of some £17.3 billion on its balance sheet to fund future decommissioning costs. Following the transfer of the nuclear decommissioning liability to the NDA, these assets have been transferred back to the Government.
Figures relating to spend by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs are unavailable and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
Racial Abuse Complaints
The number of formal complaints of discrimination on the grounds of race investigated and upheld in the past five years is contained in the following table:
Complaints made Complaints upheld 2006 (to date) 0 0 2005 3 0 2004 5 2 2003 2 1 2002 3 0
Renewable Energy
This type of scheme is the application of conventional technology therefore the primary mechanism for Government support is the Renewables Obligation.
The Department has received a number of representations from two organisations regarding a single tidal lagoon project in the U.K.
The Government have set a target of 10 per cent. of electricity in the UK to come from renewables by 2010. However, we have not specified what level of contribution should come from individual technologies. That is left to industry, being consistent with the Government’s policy of an open and competitive energy market.
I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Leominster (Bill Wiggin) on 12 September 2005, Official Report, column 2262W.
Rural Post Offices
With a funding support package of £150 million a year for the rural network in place until 2008, we believe it is more important to ensure that we have the fullest possible data and information on which to assess future options than to work to a prematurely predetermined consultation timetable.
Small Arms Trade
Trade control licence applications are made to the Government in confidence and the information they contain is therefore exempt from disclosure. Further, the Government can neither confirm nor deny that an export licence has been applied for in this instance.
The Government publish details of trade control licences issued, in their annual and quarterly reports on strategic export controls. The Government’s annual reports are available from the Libraries of the House and the DTI Export Control Organisation website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/europeandtrade/strategic-export-control/index.html.
Smart Grids
The joint DTI/Ofgem/industry ‘distributed generation co-ordinating group’ (DGCG) commissioned a key study on this topic that was led by the Institution of Electrical Engineers to work with all parties in the sector to form a vision for future networks. This work reported last year—the “Technical Architecture” report is available at:
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/temp/ofgem/cache/cmsattach/11732_ TA.pdf
The group’s work continues under the re-formed Electricity Networks Strategy Group (ENSG).
Separately, Ofgem and British academics, supported by DTI and British companies, have been active participants in the European Union’s Technology platform that has developed a vision for Europe’s Electricity Networks of the Future. Their ‘SmartGrids’ report was published recently and is available at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/energy/pdf/smartgrids_en.pdf
Defence
Aerospace Industry
The Government’s decision to acquire the Hawk 128 for the Royal Air Force helped to secure in 2004 a major order from India for 66 aircraft. The Government of Bahrain has also ordered the aircraft. The Ministry of Defence, through the Defence Export Services Organisation, is giving BAE Systems strong support to win further export orders.
My noble Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement (Lord Drayson) has regular meetings with BAE Systems to discuss a range of topics, including matters affecting the company’s plans for work to be undertaken at their Brough site where the Hawk aircraft is manufactured.
Afghanistan
The number of reservists serving in specific areas of an operation’s Joint Operational Area (JOA) is not recorded. However, the number of reservists serving in the Operation HERRICK JOA on 31 May 2006 was:
Number Royal Navy 2 Army 142 Royal Air Force 10
Aldermaston
It is planned to spend in the order of £5 million on hydrodynamic testing at the Atomic Weapons Establishment this year, rising to around £6 million by the end of 2007-08. The precise budget beyond that has not been finalised.
Mature costings are not available and disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice commercial interests.
Mature costings are not available and disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice commercial interests.
Petaflop technology is not expected to be available before the end of the decade.
Ballistic Missile Interceptors
Officials work closely with the United States on joint technology programmes and to further our understanding of the US ballistic missile defence system. Their discussions include the modelling of possible missile defence architectures. However, we have had no discussions about the use of specific sites for interceptors in the United Kingdom.
Defence Training Review
To my knowledge, no members of the Ministry of Defence who are involved with the Defence Training Review have met employees or consultants of Foresight Communications in the last 12 months. I cannot answer for everyone within the Department on this matter as the information is not held centrally and would incur disproportionate costs to retrieve.
Departmental Staff
The increase in numbers year on year was partly due to the introduction of industrial staff to performance appraisal as part of the Ministry of Defence four year pay deal. Also, the figures provided in the answer of 20 June 2006, Official Report, column 709W, were, as explained, a snapshot at the end of the reporting year. We have, throughout the pay deal, raised line manager awareness of the impact on pay of failing to address poor performance at the end of the reporting year and the increase in numbers show that managers were responding to this. The Department remains keen for line managers to deal with poor performers and to manage them out if they do not respond to encouragement and assistance to improve their performance.
Departmental Televisions
The information requested on the total number of televisions, their locations and licenses is not held centrally and could not be collected without disproportionate cost and effort. However, in respect of the Department's three central London office buildings, there are 100 televisions in the Main Building—of which there is one in the office of each of the four Ministers; 83 in the Old War Office Building; and 10 in St. George's Court. Two TV licences are held for the Main Building, and one each for the Old War Office Building and St. George's Court.
Future Aircraft Carrier Project
[holding answer 27 June 2006]: We remain optimistic that our negotiations with the US administration on the transfer of technology and software for the Joint Strike Fighter will be successful and as such will have no impact on the Future Aircraft Carrier programme. We remain fully committed to the Future Aircraft Carrier programme which represents a quantum step up in military capability for the UK’s armed forces.
Hutton Report
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 June 2006, Official Report, columns 1524-25W.
Iraq
On 31 May 2006 each service had the following number of reserve personnel serving in the Operation TELIC Joint Operational Area:
Number Royal Navy 1 Royal Marines 2 Army 422 Royal Air Force 63
The Service Police Report resulting from the Royal Military Police (Special Investigation Branch) investigation into the fatal attack of 13 May on British troops serving in Basra is not yet complete. Service Police Reports are not made public, although they are provided to the relevant Coroner’s Office for use at the inquest.
It has yet to be decided whether a Service Board of Inquiry into this incident will be held. If there is to be a Board of Inquiry, its findings will be made available to the next of kin of the deceased once it is complete.
The Army is in contact with the families of the deceased soldiers and is keeping them informed of developments.
Joint Personnel Administration
Due to the amount of information requested I have placed a detailed response in the Library of the House.
Joint Striker Fighter
[holding answer 27 June 2006]: As part of the continuing process of preparing to operate the Joint Strike Fighter as a sovereign capability, Ministers and senior officials have had a wide range of discussions with US counterparts on all aspects of the Joint Strike Fighter programme. As my noble Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement, has previously explained in another place, those discussions have raised the issue of information access and explained the UK’s requirements for operational sovereignty. These detailed discussions continue and we remain optimistic that they will be successful.
Meteor Beyond-visual-range Air-to-air Missile
The first firing of a Meteor missile took place on 9 May. The missile maintained full guidance control throughout its planned flight. Data were successfully collected during the flight and the debris was recovered. A second firing was successfully conducted on 20 June, the data from which are now being analysed.
The Meteor programme remains on schedule to achieve the in-service date declared in the Major Project Report 2005.
Missile Effectiveness
The Ministry of Defence conducts assessment of its weapons systems on a regular basis. Details of these assessments cannot be released as this could prejudice the safety and security of our armed forces.
Project Hyperion
I hope to be able to make an announcement before the recess.
Suicide Vulnerability
Service personnel are not discharged from the armed forces as a result of being discovered to be at risk following an assessment made as part of suicide risk management policies.
There are a number of reasons why service personnel could be discharged from the armed forces, such as for medical reasons, on compassionate grounds, or because the individual is thought to be temperamentally unsuitable to service life. If a service person does not agree with the reason for their discharge, they have the right to submit a redress of complaint. If an individual is discharged on medical grounds they may also submit an appeal to a Medical Appeal Board.
Training Exercises
Of the 548 training events recorded in the Defence Exercise Programme for the period 1 July 2005-30 June 2006, 63 (11 per cent.) were suspended.
Trident
Evidence from hydrodynamics experimentation, both current and future, represents an essential supporting element in all decisions in connection with UK warhead assurance and in-service life.
The expected life of each element of the UK’s nuclear deterrent was set out in a memorandum provided by the Ministry of Defence to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, which was published on the Committee’s website on 20 January 2006 (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm20 0506/cmselect/cmdfence/835/835m04.htm).
Work and Pensions
Child Poverty
We believe that work is the best route out of poverty. It builds family aspirations, fosters greater social inclusion and can improve an individual’s health and well-being. Our Green Paper sets out proposals aimed at achieving an employment rate equivalent to 80 per cent. of the working age population. We will do this by reducing the number of people on incapacity benefits, by helping lone parents into work and by increasing the number of older workers.
We propose to significantly reduce the number of people claiming incapacity benefits through a three pronged approach: reducing the number of people who leave the workplace due to illness; increasing the number leaving benefits and better addressing the needs of all those on benefit with additional payments to the most severely disabled people.
Work is still under way in relation to the proposals, and an assessment of the potential impact on child poverty will form part of this. We are currently reviewing the DWP contribution to reducing child poverty across all current and planned policies and, in the autumn, we will be setting out our new strategy for how we can make faster progress towards reaching our goal of halving child poverty by 2010.
Child Support Agency
For those cases with a full maintenance assessment on the child support computer system (CSCS) in February 2006, we estimate that around (a) 60 per cent. would have an increased liability and (b) 40 per cent. would have a decreased liability if the new scheme rules were applied to their current reported circumstances.
We estimate that the majority of changes in maintenance liabilities will be for less than £10 per week. To give non-resident parents and parents with care time to adjust to their new amount, most changes are phased in by fixed annual steps.
Source: Child support computer system five per cent. extract, February 2006.
The information requested is not available.
(2) what his latest estimate is of the backlog of new claims held by the Child Support Agency.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his latest estimate is of the backlog of new claims held by the Child Support Agency.
You also asked how many unprocessed cases were held by the Child Support Agency during each month of the last year for which figures are available.
As at March 2006, the Agency had a total 333,000 uncleared potential applications. This consisted of 66,000 old scheme applications and 267,000 new scheme applications. These figures can be found in table 1 and table 2.1 of the latest issue Agency’s ‘Quarterly Summary Statistics’ (QSS), a copy of which is available in the House library.
The following table shows the number of uncleared potential applications across both schemes for each month of the last year.
Although the total volume of uncleared potential applications fell by 8% between January 2005 and March 2006, the Agency recognises that this remains unacceptably high. The Agency therefore has a 2006/07 target to ensure that, by March 2007, the volume of new scheme uncleared applications outstanding at March 2006 is reduced by 25 %.
Total agency uncleared applications New scheme uncleared applications Old scheme uncleared applications April 2005 352,000 266,000 86,000 May 2005 346,000 265,000 82,000 June 2005 341,000 263,000 78,000 July 2005 340,000 263,000 76,000 August 2005 339,000 264,000 75,000 September 2005 333,000 261,000 73,000 October 2005 331,000 262,000 70,000 November 2005 328,000 259,000 69,000 December 2005 327,000 259,000 68,000 January 2006 327,000 260,000 67,000 February 2006 332,000 265,000 67,000 March 2006 333,000 267,000 66,000 Notes: 1. The definition of an uncleared potential application differs between new and old schemes. Old scheme cases are considered cleared when they have been processed through to an assessment. New scheme cases are only considered cleared when they have received a calculation and have a payment schedule in place. 2. These figures include all uncleared potential applications from those received in the latest month to those received more than a year ago. 3. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.
(2) how many and what proportion of eligible parents received their first payment from the Child Support Agency within the target time of six weeks in each month of the last year for which figures are available.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your Parliamentary Questions about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his latest estimate is of the average time it takes the Child Support Agency to bring cases from first application to assessment.
You also asked how many and what proportion of eligible parents received their first payment from the Child Support Agency within the time limit of six weeks in each month of the last year for which figures are available.
As at the end of March 2006, of those cases that progressed to calculation since the introduction of the new scheme, the average time from first contact to calculation was 181 days (26 weeks). Of such cases, 24 per cent received a calculation in less than 6 weeks; 48 per cent between 6 weeks and 6 months; 16 per cent between 6 months and a year; and 12 per cent took more than a year.
It should be noted, however, that the Agency does not regard an application as being cleared once a calculation alone has been carried out, but only once collection arrangements have been agreed with the non resident parent. Additionally, since not all Child Support Agency applications result in a calculation, an application is also defined as cleared if the case is closed; the parent with care is identified as claiming Good Cause or is subject to a Reduced Benefit Decision; or the application is identified as being a change of circumstances on an existing case as opposed to a new application.
As of the end of March 2006, for all cases cleared since the introduction of the new scheme, the mean average time taken to process a new-scheme application from the date of first contact to clearance, as defined above, was 204 days (29 weeks). Of those cases cleared, 25 per cent did so in less that 6 weeks; 41 per cent between 6 weeks and 6 months; 17 per cent between 6 months and a year; and 17 per cent took more than a year. These figures exclude 126,000 applications that came through the Jobcentre Plus interface and which have been cleared, but for which insufficient management information exists to enable age at clearance to be determined.
The Agency does not have a time limit for the time taken for a parent with care to receive their first payment. Information regarding the number and percentage of cases receiving a first payment within six weeks or longer is attached.
Once a case has received a calculation, a method of collection must be agreed with the non-resident parent and set up by the Agency which, in the cases of a Direct Debit or a Standing Order, may take a few weeks. The day on which payment is due from the non- resident parent is then specified by the Agency having taken in to account the date of any other income payable to the non-resident parent, which may result in a delay of up to 4 weeks to make payment to the Agency. The Agency then has to process the payment from the non-resident parent and make payment to the parent with care.
Delays may occur if a non resident parent does not comply. For an employed non-resident parent the Agency can then impose a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). Where this occurs, the Agency must contact and liaise with the employer to set up the DEO, wait for the subsequent payment from the employer, which in itself can take over 20 days, before money is available to be paid to the parent with care.
The elapsed times between a payment request by the Agency and actual payment by the non resident parent mean that, it is unlikely that it would be possible for many parents with care to receive maintenance payments within 6 weeks of their first contact with the Agency.
The Agency published its 2006 Client Charter on 28th April 2006. This sets out the minimum standards of service which we aim to meet in future for each of our main business areas. The first three service standards which relate to first contact and payments are attached.
I hope you find this helpful.
Number of cases receiving payment in Date of intake Less than 6 weeks 6 weeks or longer Number of cases where payment not yet received Total January 2005 500 5,000 1,000 6,500 February 2005 500 5,000 1,500 7,000 March 2005 500 5,000 1,500 7,000 April 2005 500 5,000 1,500 7,000 May 2005 500 4,500 1,500 6,500 June 2005 500 5,000 1,500 7,000 July 2005 500 4,500 1,500 6,500 August 2005 500 4,000 1,500 6,000 September 2005 500 4,000 2,000 6,500 October 2005 500 3,500 2,000 6,500 November 2005 500 3,500 2,500 6,500 December 2005 500 2,000 2,000 4,500
Percentage of cases receiving payment in Date of intake Less than 6 weeks 6 weeks or longer Percentage of cases where payment not yet received Total January 2005 5 76 19 6,500 February 2005 6 76 19 7,000 March 2005 5 74 21 7,000 April 2005 6 73 21 7,000 May 2005 6 73 21 6,500 June 2005 7 70 23 7,000 July 2005 7 69 23 6,500 August 2005 8 66 26 6,000 September 2005 9 64 28 6,500 October 2005 10 57 33 6,500 November 2005 10 54 36 6,500 December 2005 7 47 46 4,500 Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 500, and percentages to the nearest whole percent. As such, components may not sum to totals.
Child Support Agency Client Charter—Service standards relating to first contact and payment
Standard 1
If the parent with care can give us contact details for the non-resident parent, we will start gathering information from the non- resident parent within four weeks of the application being received. We will aim to make an accurate decision on the application within 12 weeks, but in some cases this may take as long as 26 weeks.
If we do not have current contact details for the non-resident parent, we will trace them as quickly as we can. These applications may take longer to progress. In the small number of cases where we cannot trace the non-resident parent, we will not be able to progress the application.
Standard 2
Where we are collecting child maintenance, we aim to make a first payment to the parent with care within six weeks of making the initial payment arrangements with the non-resident parent.
If the non-resident parent has a job but either fails or refuses to pay, we will aim to obtain payment via a Deduction from Earnings Order (DEO) within four months of making initial payment arrangements.
Where the non-resident parent has still not paid four months after initial payment arrangements were made, we will refer the case to our specialist enforcement unit.
Standard 3
We will make maintenance payments to parents with care within a week of receiving the money from the non-resident parent.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average administration cost per case on (a) the new scheme and (b) the old scheme was in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
The Child Support Agency is funded to administer child support applications and payments regardless of whether the case is administered on the new scheme or the old scheme. The actual costs of administering child support cases under each scheme are not separately identified and as such we cannot supply information to the level of detail required.
The cost of administering the Child Support Agency in 2004/05 was £325.6 million. Figures for 2005/06 will be available when the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts are published. A change in accounting policy proposed by the Department for Work and Pensions, will lead to a restatement of 2004/05 expenditure reported in the Agency's annual accounts. This reflects the incorporation of costs associated with the Modernisation Programme in the accounts of individual Agencies rather than charging such costs directly to the central Departmental Resource Account. It is expected that the restated 2004-05 figure will increase expenditure to around £425 million. Costs for 2005/06 will be prepared on the same basis.
I hope you find this response helpful.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the requested information.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints were made to the Child Support Agency in each year for which figures are available.
The volumes of complaints received direct from clients, their representatives and MPs to the Child Support Agency or to our Ministers, for which information is available, are in the attached table.
It should be noted that it is difficult to use this information to make meaningful comparisons over time due to changes in the way that information has been recorded. In particular whilst the volume of stage 1 written complaints undoubtedly rose between 2002-03 and 2003-04, this is likely to have been due in part to more rigorous recording of complaints received at the time, and the introduction by the Agency of a three tier complaints process during 2003-04.
It should also be noted that the volume of complaints has stabilised. In the twelve months up to March 2006, the Agency received a total of 55,000 complaints. This compares to 55,000 for the 12 months up to May 2005 (the earliest period for which comparable data for total numbers of complaints received is available).
Further, to put the attached figures into context, the 55,000 complaints received in the 12 months to March 2006 represent less than 4% of the 1.5 million cases dealt with by the CSA.
I hope you find this answer useful.
1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Stage 1 complaints received (Written) 27,875 28,073 21,015 19,634 15,493 15,182 24,809 29,213 27,344 Stage 1 Complaints received (telephone) 1— 1— 1— 1— 1— 2— 7,458 10,570 10,660 Chief Executive Complaints 3— 3— 3— 4,096 4,555 7,804 4— 5— 5,887 Treat Official Complaints6 3— 3— 3— 2,609 2,869 1,344 1,521 1,108 1,278 MP Complaints to Business Units 3— 3— 3— 4,175 4,818 4,537 5,317 8,871 9,729 1 Whilst the Agency did receive stage 1 telephone complaints prior to 2002-03, their volumes were not recorded. 2 Although 671 stage 1 telephone complaints were recorded between December 2002 and March 2003, their volumes were not recorded throughout the whole year, thus preventing meaningful comparison with later years. 3 Whilst the Agency did receive complaints directly to the Chief Executive, treat official complaints, and MP complaints to Business Units prior to 2000/01, their volumes were not recorded. 4 During 2003-04 complaints sent directly to the Chief Executive were not recorded separately from those complaints that were escalated to him as part of the 3-stage process. Therefore, although 7,183 complaints in total were received during 2003-04, it is not possible to separate out those complaints received by the Chief Executive directly (as opposed to those escalated via the complaints process), thus preventing meaningful comparison with data for earlier years. 5 In April and May of 2004, the Chief Executive received a total of 1,435 complaints however, is not possible to separate out those complaints received by the Chief Executive directly, as opposed to those escalated to stage 3 of the complaints process). From June 2004-March 2005, after which time such complaints were recorded separately, the Chief Executive received 4,393 direct complaints and 2,549 complaints escalated upwards from stage 2. Again, these recording issues prevent meaningful comparison of this category with earlier years. 6 Treat official letters are those received by a Minister from a member of the public, and referred for initial consideration to an official of the agency.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his latest estimate is of the average time taken to resolve complaints to the Child Support Agency about (a) old scheme cases and (b) new scheme cases.
The Agency had a 2005/06 internal target to ensure that 68% of stage one client complaints were resolved or had a resolution plan in place within 15 working days of receipt of the complaint from the client.
I cannot provide the average time taken to resolve complaints but information on the Agency's 2005/06 performance against this standard is set out in the table below.
Percentage of complaints which have been resolved, or have a resolution plan within 15 working days of receipt of the complaint for 2005/06 Old child support scheme 90 New child support scheme 88 Overall 89
Note: This target is measured by checking a 10% sample of cases which have been resolved or have a resolution plan in place.
I hope you find this response helpful.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken to process compensation payments made by Child Support Agency clients for administrative errors was in 2005-6.
Financial redress is made to clients in cases where maladministration has occurred. The Agency does not hold robust information to distinguish administrative errors from other acts of maladministration.
However, in the 2005/06 financial year 80% of financial redress payments for maladministered cases were processed within 30 days
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds, dated 29 June 2006:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the 10 largest total (a) compensation and (b) maladministration payments made by the Child Support Agency to a single individual including separate payments made in relation to a single case requiring compensation have been since May 1997; and if he will make a statement.
The Agency does not have sufficient robust information to give you precisely the information you requested. I apologise for this but can give you information on the ten highest financial redress payments awarded due to maladministration between the period 1 December 2001 to 31 May 2006.
The table below contains the available information.
£ 1 41,000.00 2 27,961.66 3 22,160.08 4 19,965.36 5 19,056.49 6 18,980.90 7 16,000.00 8 14,905.97 9 14,732.40 10 14,648.55
Maladministration and compensatory payments in excess of £10,000 represent a small fraction (just over 0.01%) of the total number of such payments made by the Agency.
I hope you find this response helpful.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds, dated 29 June 2006:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total cost of compensation payments made to clients of the Child Support Agency for administrative errors was in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Financial redress is made to clients in cases where maladministration has occurred. The Agency does not hold robust information to distinguish administrative errors from other acts of maladministration.
The following table summarises the financial redress payments made to clients in each of the last five years, as outlined in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts. Figures for 2005-06 will be available in the Agency's 2005-06 Annual Report and Accounts.
Financial redress paid to clients (£) 2000-01 3,053,000 2001-02 2,590,000 2002-03 2,478,000 2003-04 2,331,000 2004-05 3,043,000
I hope you find this response helpful.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of (a) harassment (b) bullying and (c) discrimination have been reported to the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years.
The numbers of harassment, bullying and discrimination cases formally reported to the Agency in the last five years are as follows:
Number of cases reported 2001/02 49 2002/03 32 2003/04 44 2004/05 22 2005/06 18
The nature of the complaints does not allow separation of the data into the constituent elements of harassment, bullying and discrimination.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive.
He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds, dated 29 June 2006:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As the Chief Executive is out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the proportion of sickness absence days taken at the Child Support Agency in the last five years that were due to stress and other mental health problems.
The table below shows the absences broadly due to stress and other mental health problems as a percentage of total sickness absences.
Percentage January 2001-December 2001 28.8 January 2002-December 2002 28.3 April 2003-March 2004 31.8 April 2004-March 2005 32 April 2005-March 2006 26.7
Figures for January 2003 to March 2003 are unavailable as a change in methodology for collection of sickness data was introduced in April 2003.
I hope you find this response helpful.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As the Chief Executive is out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) absence rates due to sickness and (b) turnover rates for Child Support Agency staff were for each year since 1995-96.
The tables below provide the information requested.
Year ending Annual sickness rate (average working days lost per member of staff, expressed in full-time equivalent terms) December 1999 12.5 December 2000 11.9 December 2001 12.3 December 2002 12.9 March 2003 13.7 March 2004 15.6 March 2005 15.9 March 2006 12.0
Year ending March: Turnover rates (Percentage) 1999 27.6 2000 17.1 2001 14.6 2002 14.6 2003 13.0 2004 14.9 2005 16.6 2006 13.6 Notes: 1. Data prior to 1999 are not available. 2. Due to a change in methodology for collection of sickness data introduced in April 2003, the year end dates have changed from December to March.
I hope you find this response helpful.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply for the Chief Executive. As he is out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the key performance metrics are for measuring the success of the EDS contract with the Child Support Agency.
In August 2005, the Department realigned its IT contracts with Electronic Data Systems (EDS), including that covering the Child Support Reforms (CSR), into the Standard Services Business Allocation (SSBA). The realigned contract is intended to deliver industry standard services at market competitive prices to the Department as a whole including Child Support Agency.
Under the SSBA, EDS is required to meet contractual levels for live operational services across a full range of industry standard measures. The key criteria on which EDS' performance is measured in respect of CS2 (the principal IT system used by the CSA) are:
The level of system availability (where the current target is 99.2%, rising to 99.6% over time);
The level of desktop infrastructure availability (where the current target is 99.2%, rising to 99.4% over time);
Accuracy and timeliness of payments to parents with care (where the target is 100%).
The Department is entitled to financial remedies if these targets are not met. In addition, the Department can benchmark EDS services against external industry comparators to help achieve ongoing performance and value for money.
The general contract realignment included resolution of outstanding CSR contractual issues with EDS. As part of this agreement, EDS is required to deliver a staged programme of work to fix agreed defects on CS2. The Department is monitoring delivery of this programme to planned milestone dates and to agreed testing acceptance and implementation quality criteria. Once all the relevant services have been transformed, application reliability, which affects processing times, will also become a contractual service level.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your recent parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will place in the Library the latest list of change requests made to EDS by the Child Support Agency.
The following table shows the latest list of change requests made by the Child Support Agency.
Change requests Benefits CR1 (chargeable defects) This allows the business to prioritise and approve small IT fixes during the testing phase which are identified as chargeable, without delaying the current testing and delivery timescales. Change Release 1.1 (Integration Test Project) To ensure continuity of the development activity for Change Release 1.1 whilst business requirements are re-affirmed. Management Information Improvement Project This will supply management information for the key core process areas of the business to assist performance management. Call Off Scans This will allow the Agency to meet its legal requirement to maintain the accuracy of data on the CS2 system and also allow the business to obtain detailed case information. HSBC Bank Files This updates and changes the way bank files are handled between the Agency/Department and HSBC and creates an automatic link between the banking system and Agency systems. Programme Launch This will ensure that a defined and contracted programme of work is accepted, is jointly regarded as representing the best IT solution to support of the Agency’s change programme. In turn this will mean that relevant EDS resource can be effectively and efficiently managed and projects implemented. Year- end scans on FMS This will allow the analysis of Agency debt to support year- end accounting activities, the development of policy proposals and emerging plans. Weeding and Archiving This allows the Agency to maintain efficient weeding and archiving of data. Data Management System Performance Changes This will reduce the overall time of the Data Management System batch run, and thereby minimise impact on the online working day start time. Notifications Survey - DWP (CSA) This will improve clarity of client notifications.
I hope you find this response helpful.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many telephone calls to the Child Support Agency (a) were received, (b) received an engaged tone, (c) were disconnected during the interactive voice response process in the period April 2002 to May 2006.
The latest information is contained in the table. Please note that point (c) has been interpreted as referring to the total number of calls abandoned (for example, by clients who do not have a National Insurance number to hand and hang up to go and find it before calling back) or lost during the automated part of the process.
Further information on the Agency’s telephony performance is available in Table 16 of the latest edition of the Agency’s Quarterly Summary of Statistics. A copy of this document is available in the House library, as well as on the internet, at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/csa.asp.
The Agency has shown significant and sustained improvement in telephony performance. Specifically:
Average waiting times to answer calls from the queue improved in 2005/06 compared to 2004/05, from 2:29 minutes to 1:21 minutes for new system calls; and 0:56 seconds to 0:28 seconds for old system calls.
In 2005/06, 91% of the calls available in queues for Agency employees were answered. This is up from 84% in 2004/05.
I hope you find this helpful.
April 2002- March 2003 April 2003- March 2004 April 2004- March 2005 April 2005- March 2006 Attempted client calls to both CS2 and CSCS numbers 4,145,000 6,051,000 5,738,000 5,352,000 Calls for which outcome not recorded 45,000 145,000 48,000 42,000 Calls for which outcome recorded 4,100,000 5,906,000 5,689,000 5,310,000 Of which: Calls that received an engaged/busy tone See note 498,000 126,000 50,000 Calls abandoned/lost during the IVR process. 528,000 362,000 320,000 317,000 Notes: 1. Data is presented for calls made regarding cases on the new system (CS2) and the old system (CSCS) combined. 2. “Attempted client calls” excludes calls attempted outside working hours. 3. “Calls for which outcome not recorded” are those that were received but for which, due to data problems, the eventual outcome was not recorded. The volume of such calls has decreased significantly in the last 3 years as management information systems have improved. 4. “Calls for which outcome recorded” are those which were received and for which there is management information to track the eventual outcome. 5. IVR denotes the automated touch tone part of the process where clients enter their details via the telephone key pad. Once callers have cleared this part of the process, they enter a queue to be answered by a CSA employee. Note that there is no IVR process on the old system. 6. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding.
We have always said that we would not consider transferring the bulk of the old scheme cases onto the new scheme until the new scheme was working well.
Child support legislation allows an old scheme case to transfer to the new scheme where an old scheme case has prescribed links to a new scheme application.
There is no policy for converting cases back to the old scheme. But where a re-application for child support maintenance is made within 13 weeks of an old scheme application ceasing, “linking rules” will provide for the new application to be assessed under old scheme rules.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply form the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what total amount of outstanding debt is owed to parents with care via the Child Support Agency; and what proportion of this is deemed uncollectable.
The outstanding debt balance for 2004/05 is £3,252.75 million for both new scheme and old scheme cases, of which £1,984.42 million has been classified as probably uncollectable. This information is shown the table below.
2004-05 Debt Position (£ million) Collectable 637.79 Possibly uncollectable 599.54 Deferred 31.00 Probably uncollectable 1984.42 Total 3252.75
I am unable to provide the outstanding debt amount owed to the parent with care as there is no differential applied to the outstanding debt balance between the Secretary of State and the parent with care.
This response is based on the position at the end of the financial year 2004/05. The 2005/06 figures are currently being audited by National Audit Office and will be published in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts.
Definitions of Collectability of Debt
Collectable
Amount outstanding which the debt analysis exercise revealed is likely to be collected. This takes into account factors such as regular contact with the non-resident parent, where regular payments are being made or an arrears agreement has been set up.
Possibly Uncollectable
Amounts outstanding which the debt analysis exercise revealed some uncertainty over whether it will be collected. The amounts are considered doubtful where, for example, payments have been infrequent or it has not been possible to establish an arrears agreement or impose a deduction of earning order.
Deferred Debt
Debt deferred by the Agency, provided non-resident parents meet certain conditions on payment of regular maintenance and the remaining debt outstanding.
Probably Uncollectable
Amount outstanding which the debt analysis exercise revealed is likely to be very difficult to collect due, for example, to the lack of contact with, or the personal circumstance of, the non-resident parent. In many of these cases the Agency has suspended recovery action until such time as the individual's circumstances change.
I hope you find this response helpful.
[holding answer 22 June 2006]: The information requested is not available.
The information requested is not available.
The information requested is not available.
Child Support Agency (Scotland)
The information requested is not available at the geographical level specified.
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
No estimates of fraud and error are available for industrial injuries disablement benefit.
Mesothelioma
(2) what the occupations were of claimants of industrial injuries disablement benefit for mesothelioma in the last three years.
[holding answer 20 June 2006]: The available information is in the following table. Although included in the table, information on the number of posthumous claims for backdated benefit is not available separately.
Number 2002 2003 2004 2005 All occupations 1,000 1,170 1,345 1,175 11 Corporate managers 15 25 15 15 12 Managers and proprietors in agriculture and services 5 5 — — 21 Science and technology professionals 60 95 105 90 22 Health professionals — — — 5 23 Teaching and research professionals 5 10 10 10 24 Business and public service professionals 5 5 5 5 31 Science and technology associate professionals 45 40 50 35 32 Health and social welfare associate professionals 5 5 — 10 33 Protective service occupations 10 10 10 5 34 Culture, media and sports occupations — — 5 — 35 Business and public service associate professionals 10 10 15 5 41 Administrative occupations 20 20 35 20 42 Secretarial and related occupations 5 5 10 10 51 Skilled agricultural trades 5 5 10 10 52 Skilled metal and electrical trades 270 310 350 290 53 Skilled construction and building trades 265 285 335 315 54 Textiles, printing and other skilled trades 15 25 20 30 61 Caring personal service occupations 5 5 5 5 62 Leisure and other personal services occupations 5 5 10 10 71 Sales occupations 5 10 10 5 72 Customer service occupations 5 — 5 — 81 Process, plant and machine operatives 115 150 160 140 82 Transport and mobile machine drivers and operatives 20 35 35 45 91 Elementary trades, plant and storage related occupations 90 110 115 100 92 Elementary administration and service occupations 20 15 20 15 Notes: 1. The table uses the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-8). 2. Figures for 2005 are for nine months only and are provisional. 3. — Nil or Negligible. 4. Numbers are rounded to the nearest five. Source: All figures are from a 100 per cent. sample of clerical forms received from the Disablement Benefit offices.
National Insurance
As part of our package of proposed reforms, published in Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system (Cm 6841), we want to make the state pension scheme fairer and more widely available. The changes would give people more certainty about what state pension entitlement they are building up, while retaining the contributory principle.
Replacing home responsibilities protection with national insurance credits for those reaching state pension age on or after 6 April 2010 means the person awarded child benefit for a child under age 12—whether that is a man or a woman—would be entitled to national insurance credits. The credits, which would count towards both the basic and additional state pension in the same way as paid contributions, would therefore be available to men on career breaks if they were awarded the child benefit.
Pension Credit
The information is in the following table.
Ward name1 Individual beneficiaries2 Belah 225 Belle Vue 295 Botcherby 380 Burgh 45 Castle 305 Currock 255 Dalston 190 Denton Holme 365 Harraby 385 Morton 585 St. Aidans 320 Stanwix Urban3 230 Upperby 505 Yewdale 250 Carlisle constituency total 4,280 1 Wards are based on 2003 ward boundaries. 2 The number of individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners. 3 Only part of Stanwix Urban ward falls within Carlisle parliamentary constituency. Note: Number of individual beneficiaries are rounded to a multiple of five, therefore ward totals do not always sum to area totals. Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data.
The information is in the following table.
Pension credit individual beneficiaries for wards in Luton South parliamentary constituency, November 2005Ward name1Individual beneficiaries2Barnfield3170Biscot950Crawley285Dallow885Parley830High Town350Round Green540South630Stopsley305Wigmore360Caddington, Hyde and Slip End305Luton South constituency total5,420 1 Wards are based on 2003 ward boundaries. 2 The number of individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners. 3 Only part of Barnfield ward falls within Luton South parliamentary constituency. Note: Number of individual beneficiaries are rounded to a multiple of five, therefore ward totals do not always sum to area totals. Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data.
Pensioner Poverty
The seventh annual ‘Opportunity for all’ report (Cm 6673) sets out the Government’s strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and reports progress against a range of indicators.
The Government have introduced a number of measures since 1997 to help older people enjoy a better standard of living, such as minimum income guarantee, and then its successor, pension credit, winter fuel payments, free TV licences for over 75s and increases above inflation in the basic state pension. The minimum level of income pensioners are expected to live on has increased by a third in real terms since 1997. As at November 2005, 4,800 people in Coventry South constituency were receiving pension credit.
Between 1996-97 and 2004-05 numbers of pensioners in Great Britain in relative low income, after housing costs, have fallen by over a third from 2.8 million to 1.8 million. Pensioners are now less likely to be in low-income than younger people, on an after housing costs basis. Information on the numbers of pensioners in low income is not available at constituency level.
The Pensions White Paper “Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system” (Cm 6841) announced our commitment to uprate the pension credit standard guarantee and the basic state pension in line with earnings growth ensuring that we continue to tackle pensioner poverty.
Prescribed Disease A11
Our current plans are to introduce the changes in June 2007.
State Pension
The proposals, published in the White Paper, Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system (Cm6841), are designed to enable more women and men to maximise their state pension entitlement, while retaining the contributory basis of the system.
Under these proposals, women with no childcare responsibilities who reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2010 would qualify for a full basic state pension on the basis of 30 years' contributions. The thirty qualifying years could be achieved through paid national insurance contributions, the award of credits, or a combination of both, including our proposed more generous crediting arrangements. The proposals would apply equally to men in this position.
Work Search Premium Pilots
The Work Search Premium (WSP) pilots are running in eight Jobcentre Plus districts. Lone parents participating in the pilots are paid a £20 a week premium for a maximum of 26 weeks to help with the costs associated with searching for work. Participation is voluntary and certain eligibility criteria must be met. Participants agree to undertake intensive work search and will also be entitled to help with the cost of formal childcare while undertaking work search activities.
The evaluation of the pilots aims to assess the long and short term effect of the pilots on lone parents and movements off benefit and into work. It consists of a quantitative impact assessment which will estimate the net impact of the WSP pilots on patterns of flows off Income Support and other working age benefits like jobseeker’s allowance, as well as other outcomes like entry into work.
The first published report, which we expect to publish in the autumn, will use 12 months of programme data and will examine the impact of the WSP on those lone parents already claiming benefit at the time of introduction of the pilot. A report covering 30 months of data will be published in autumn 2008, and one covering 48 months of data will be published in spring 2010.
In addition, qualitative evaluation will explore the impact of the pilots on the attitudes, motivations and responses of eligible lone parents, and examine the effectiveness of delivery. This will include interviews with lone parents and Jobcentre Plus lone parent advisers. We expect this report to be available in spring 2007.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Energy Efficiency
The Energy Efficiency Innovation Review, published jointly by Her Majesty's Treasury and DEFRA last December, assessed the barriers to the increased take-up of energy efficiency measures. These include high up-front investment costs, lack of access to capital, split incentives, other market failures, the hassle factor, lack of consumer information and mistrust of suppliers or installers. Further information can be found on the DEFRA website:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/energy/review/.
This evidence has been used to inform the Review of the UK Climate Change programme, published in March this year, and the ongoing Energy Policy Review. For example, in the household sector, the Energy Efficiency Innovation Review identified consumer misapprehension of the costs and benefits of energy efficiency as a key barrier. The Government have subsequently announced a £20 million initiative to promote consumer uptake of energy efficiency measures, working with energy suppliers and local authorities.
Environmental Liability Directive
The first public consultation on the implementation of the Environmental Liability Directive will be launched later this year.
The Government are still considering how best to present the options for transposing the Directive. The Directive raises many issues because of its relationship with existing domestic environmental protection legislation. The Government want to ensure that the issues are clearly set out for optimum stakeholder engagement.
Municipal Waste
A full report of all of the demonstration projects will be published as soon as DEFRA have completed due diligence and agreed contracts with technology providers.
At present DEFRA have completed four contracts and it is anticipated that a number of others will be completed by the end of June 2006.
The four signed contracts are with Bioganix, Greenfinch/South Shropshire, Premier Waste and Novera. Further information on these technologies is available on the DEFRA website at the following address:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/wip/newtech/dem-programme/index.htm
Rural Stress
[holding answer 22 June 2006]: In 2003 DEFRA funded a study by Exeter university reviewing research on rural stress. In 2005 a study into “The Wider Social Impacts of Changes in the Structure of Agricultural Businesses” also considered issues of stress in the farming community.
Copies of these reports are available online at:
http://www.centres.ex.ac.uk/crr/pdf1/reports1/StressReview FinalReport.pdf
http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/research/soc_impact.htm
DEFRA is closely involved with a number of voluntary and community organisations working to alleviate the level of stress in rural areas through the Rural Stress Action plan. The plan supports £300,000 worth of projects each year, and funds are committed until March 2008.
Since it began in 2000 there have been two full evaluations of the Rural Stress Action plan. Copies of these can be found on the DEFRA website.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/stress/default.htm
Thames Water (Leaks)
The failure of Thames Water to meet its leakage targets for the regulatory year 2005-06 is disappointing. The Economic Regulator, Ofwat, has already said that it views the issue as serious and will carefully scrutinise the company's annual return before deciding on regulatory action. Ofwat is responsible for setting leakage targets and has powers to deal with poor performance. I will not pre-empt Ofwat's response on this issue.
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies
[holding answer 26 June 2006]: It is not possible to define research specifically in the context of the above regulations; indeed, it is not deemed necessary to do so. My Department, in collaboration with other funding bodies, seeks to facilitate investigations that will further scientific knowledge on Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE) but has to take into account the likelihood of success, scope for sound interpretation of data and relevance to policy needs before funds can be committed. Investigations that are specifically addressed by the above regulations and which are statutory obligations would normally be classed as surveillance, namely investigations that determine the existence of TSEs in individual animals or targeted populations. Research and surveillance are complementary, and evidence arising in one area inevitably impacts on the other.
Transport
Departmental Staff
The figures for the Department for Transport and its agencies for periods of sick leave of less than five days in the last three years are as follows:
Periods of sick leave 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Five or more 1,395 1,378 1,516 Four 780 733 919 Three 626 602 826 Two 1,044 1,066 1,525
The Department is committed to managing sick absence effectively and to putting in place the recommendations of the ‘Managing Sickness Absence in the Public Sector’ report. The DfT Board takes an active interest in the issue of attendance management, and a number of steps have already been taken.
Overseas Visits
Information about overseas visits undertaken by Ministers in the Department for Transport on official business, during 2004, 2005 and to date in 2006, has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the ‘Ministerial Code’ and ‘Travel by Ministers’, copies of which are available in the Library. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500. Copies of the lists are available in the Library. Information for 2005-06 is currently being compiled and will be published when it is ready.
Rail Services (Cheltenham Spa)
The earliest and last trains (direct) to/from Cheltenham Spa and London Paddington on weekdays were as follows:
1986 1996 2006 First Services London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa 06:40 05:30 06:48 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington 05:18 06:03 05:59 Last Services London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa 22:05 21:00 19:45 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington 21:10 21:00 22:10
The number of direct and indirect train services on weekdays to/from Cheltenham Spa and London Paddington was as follows:
1986 1996 2006 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa Direct 14 4 8 Indirect 0 15 14 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington Direct 13 4 9 Indirect 0 13 16 Note: The connecting services shown are where connections are made at Swindon.
Reorganisation Strategies for DfT
The Department and its agencies will follow the principles of fairness and transparency set out in that document.
Road Safety
The number of personal injury road accidents reported to the police involving heavy goods vehicles in each year from 2001 to 2005 is shown in the following table. Identification of foreign registered vehicles involved in personal injury road accidents is possible only from 2005, the latest year for which data are available.
Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) Foreign registered HGVs 2001 13,631 — 2002 12,427 — 2003 12,205 — 2004 11,542 — 2005 11,162 1,098 1 Heavy goods vehicles are goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes maximum gross weight.
South West Trains
The specification for the new South Western franchise has been developed to build upon the current franchise operation. The future levels of forecast demand have been based on standard rail industry modelling assumptions.
A new and improved service will operate between Salisbury and Romsey via Southampton Central and Southampton Airport Parkway, replacing the Romsey-Totton service via Eastleigh. The new service will create a regular half-hourly Salisbury-Southampton service, create new travel opportunities between Salisbury and Southampton airport, and allow stops to be made at Dunbridge and Dean.
In addition, services in South Hampshire and Dorset have been enhanced to provide a second train each hour through to Weymouth from London, and cross-Bournemouth services to be improved. It is also proposed that an hourly semi-fast Southampton-Brighton service be introduced to connect these major urban areas.
Franchise replacements are not vehicles for significant infrastructure investment. However, they do need to consider infrastructure schemes that have committed funds to enable their delivery, and the South Western franchise process has adhered to this approach.
Vandalism
The British Transport Police do not record vandalism offences by either Government office region or constituency and therefore this data can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Constitutional Affairs
Coroners (Northern Ireland)
The number of coroners and deputy coroners in Northern Ireland since 1997 is set out in the following table:
Presiding judge Full-time coroners Part-time coroners Deputy coroners 1997 — 1 6 5 1998 — 1 6 5 1999 — 1 6 5 2000 — 1 6 5 2001 — 3 6 5 2002 — 3 6 5 2003 — 3 6 5 2004 — 3 6 5 2005 — 3 6 5 2006 1 3 0 1
With the exception of one part-time coroner who was a barrister, all coroners and deputy coroners who served between 1997 and 2006 were solicitors. Of the two full-time coroners appointed in April 2006, one was a barrister and the other was a solicitor. In addition a High Court judge was appointed to the office of coroner in May 2006 to be the presiding judge for the Coroners Service.
With effect from 15 October 2002 in order to be eligible for appointment to the position of coroner or deputy coroner in Northern Ireland a person must be a barrister or a solicitor of at least five years standing.
The professional standing of coroners appointed since 15 October 2002 is as follows:
Date appointed Barrister/solicitor Number of years standing 3 April 2006 Solicitor 19 3 April 2006 Barrister 13
Prior to 15 October 2002 eligibility for appointment as a coroner or deputy coroner in Northern Ireland was based on having practised for not less then five years as a barrister or solicitor. Details of the number of years in practice of individual coroners appointed prior to 15 October 2002 are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Court Service (Suffolk)
Figures are provided to cover performance against key targets over financial year 2005-06 compared with the previous year. The information is as follows:
Ineffective trials
2005-06 Crown—4 per cent. Improved from 10 per cent. last year. Target 15 per cent.
2005-06 Magistrates—12 per cent. Improved from 15 per cent. last year. Target 16 per cent.
Crown Court Timeliness
2005-06—84 per cent. of cases dealt with within target (Trials 16 weeks, Section 51 26 weeks, Committals for Sentence 10 weeks, Appeals 14 weeks). Up from 81 per cent. last year. Target 78 per cent.
Persistent Young Offenders (Crown and Magistrates)
2005-06—37 days arrest to sentence. Down from 25 days last year. Target 71 days or less.
Payment rate (Magistrates Courts)
2005-06—109 per cent. Up from 102 per cent. last year. Target 89 per cent.
Family Public Law
Percentage cases completed within 40 weeks.
2005-06 County Court—64 per cent. Up from 61 per cent. last year. Target 70 per cent.
2005-06 Magistrates—73 per cent. Down from 77 per cent. last year. Target 70 per cent.
County Court Small Claims
2005-06—90 per cent. of cases dealt with within 15 weeks. Up from 73 per cent. last year. Target 80.5 per cent.
County Court Fast Track
2005-06—79 per cent. of cases dealt with within 30 weeks. Down from 91 per cent. last year. Target 78 per cent.
County Court Multi Track
2005-06—100 per cent. of cases dealt with within 50 weeks as last year. Target 78 per cent.
Community Penalty Breach Warrants
Percentage of proceedings resolved within 25 days.
2005-06—72 per cent. Up from 41 per cent. last year. Target 50 per cent.
Departmental Pensions
The hon. Member is referred to a technical Note by HM Treasury which was placed in the Library of the House on 2 March 2006, Official Report, columns 388-90, following an oral statement in Parliament by the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Pension liabilities are not estimated for individual departments, they are estimated for individual pension schemes, as shown in the breakdown of liabilities per pension scheme given in Table 1 of the technical Note.
Dr. David Kelly
Dr. Kelly’s death was registered on 18 August 2003 following the adjournment of the inquest at the request of the Lord Chancellor under Section 17A of the Coroners Act 1988. My officials met the coroner on 11 August 2003. At the outset of Lord Hutton’s inquiry the coroner was in contact with the inquiry secretariat to explore the boundaries of their respective jurisdictions and to provide the inquiry with information relating to Dr. Kelly’s death. No other discussions took place between the coroner, the deputy coroner, the assistant deputy coroner of Oxfordshire and anyone else responsible to the Oxfordshire coroner and either my Department or Lord Hutton.
Electoral Fraud
Information in this detail is not collected centrally. However, I refer my hon. Friend to the previous answer on 13 June 2005, Official Report, column 181W, for information on electoral fraud convictions. Since then, I am aware that in Halton, in May 2006 a former Labour councillor was convicted and fined for electoral fraud offences relating to the local and European parliamentary elections in 2004.
Judges (Part-time)
Following the implementation of the Constitutional Reform Act in April 2006, the Judicial Communications Office, in supporting the Lord Chief Justice, has taken over responsibility for maintaining and publishing lists of the judiciary from my Department. On the Judicial website, there are currently lists of full-time judiciary down to and including circuit judges (www.judiciary.gov.uk). I understand that they are considering what further information can be included and whether in due course these lists can be extended to include all salaried or fee-paid holders of judicial office.
Magistrates
The management information currently available within DCA and HM Courts Service is not able to easily extract the data for the periods requested. Therefore, this information cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. With the inception of HMCS last year, consistent systems and processes to merge magistrate courts are being established to ensure that the data are easily captured and will be available for the future period.
MMR Vaccine
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is still awaiting confirmation of the outcome of the final detailed assessment by the court. Once this has been completed, and the LSC has settled the claims, I will write to the hon. Member.
Final assessment for the advocates involved with this litigation have yet to be made by the courts. I will therefore write to the hon. Member with the information requested, when the final payments have been settled.
Personal Protection (Judiciary)
It is the policy of this Department not to disclose details or the cost of security provided to individuals as to do so may compromise their security.
Post-mortem Reports
There is no recommended time within which a family should be sent a copy of a coroner’s post-mortem report, although good practice recommends that a copy should be sent on request to the immediate next of kin in advance of the inquest. There are accordingly no central records kept relating to the post-mortem reports sent by coroners.
Private Members' Bills
Members will consider a range of possible subjects before introducing their Private Members’ Bills.
Government draftsmen do draft some Bills in advance which are available as one of the options for Members to consider before they make their selection.
However, Members may make subsequent amendments or revisions to a Government drafted Bill, or use it as the basis for a Private Member’s Bill in the future.
The information requested is therefore not collected.
Queens's Counsel (Northern Ireland)
Queen’s Counsel have been appointed in Northern Ireland since 1997 as follows:
Number of Queen’s Counsel appointed 1999 12 2001 13 2006 16
Prior to the 2006 Silk round the community background on appointees was not recorded.
Of the 16 Queen’s Counsel appointed this year, seven are Protestant, six are Roman Catholic, and three did not indicate their community background.
During the recent selection process one member of the panel absented himself from the panel’s deliberations in respect of one applicant who was his daughter-in-law.
Special Advisers
Special advisers conduct themselves in accordance with the requirements of the code of conduct for special advisers.
Culture, Media and Sport
European Sports Review
The first step following publication of the Review is for all interested parties to consider its recommendations very carefully before deciding whether these should be implemented and, if so, how.
My officials and legal advisers are consulting with other Government Departments, the football authorities and other interested sporting bodies. I intend to respond formally to the review in September.
Olympics
I have written to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to draw his attention to the impact that the current firearms legislation places upon our elite shooters' ability to train for major international shooting competitions in Great Britain. I have asked ask him to consider how this situation could be improved within the parameters of the existing firearms legislation. To date I have not received a response.
In line with its investment model UK Sport has confirmed the indicative value of existing EIS services for each funded summer Olympic sport through to 2009. In addition, these sports now have a guideline figure to be spent on Sports Science and Sports Medicine within their total World Class Performance Pathway funding.
Those sports that already have a relationship with the EIS are in the process of determining how best to allocate the additional financial resource they have received for Sport Science/Sports Medicine services for the period 2006-09. These decisions are likely to be finalised after the summer competition season, in September or October this year.
The new sports with no existing relationship are at the very early stages of planning their performance activity and are unlikely to finalise their Institute service requirements until later in the year.
UK Sport, the EIS and the Summer Olympic Sports will continue to discuss the role of the Institute network in supporting athletes throughout the build up to the Beijing Olympic games and beyond.
Rowing Safety
Since the adjournment debate on rowing safety in March, I have met with my hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (David Heyes) and his constituents Stephen and Jane Blockley to hear their concerns on the issue. I have also written to the Amateur Rowing Association to ask them to clarify the matter of boat buoyancy and to the international rowing governing body FISA to better understand its position on that issue.
Safety in any water sport is paramount and given that there is divided opinion on the issue I consider that it would be helpful to have an objective view of the current guidance and evidence available. I have therefore asked Sport England to identify an appropriate organisation to undertake an independent review of rowing safety.
Shrewsbury
I am aware of plans to build a new theatre in Shrewsbury and understand that Arts Council England's West Midlands office is in contact with the council over the project.
I do not have plans to visit Shrewsbury at the current time. However, representatives from the DCMS and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic games (LOCOG) will be visiting Much Wenlock in Shropshire as part of the forthcoming 2012 Regional Roadshow on 10 July.
The Roadshow aims to ensure that local communities and businesses are fully engaged with the cultural, sporting, economic and social aspects of the games. It forms a valuable part of the work currently being taken forward by the Nations and Regions Group, chaired by Charles Allen and supported by LOCOG, to maximise benefits in every nation and region of the UK.
Special Advisers
Special advisers conduct themselves in accordance with the requirements of the code of conduct for special advisers.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
32 (The Royal) Squadron
The then Ministers for Europe used 32 (The Royal) Squadron to fly to Brussels to attend the General Affairs and External Relations Council, on behalf of the then Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Jack Straw) on both 29 September 2003—my right hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Mr. MacShane)—and 30 September 2002—my right hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr. Hain). The flight details on each occasion were as follows:
Departed Time Arrived Time Departed Time Arrived Time RAF Northolt 6.45 am Brussels 7.35 am Northolt 6.00 am Brussels 6.55 am Brussels 3.15 pm Bournemouth 4.45 pm Brussels 3.30 pm Blackpool 4.30 pm Bournemouth 5.5 pm RAF Northolt 5.30 pm Blackpool 4.45 pm RAF Northolt 5.25 pm
Carbon dioxide emissions arising from 32 Squadron flights are included in the Government's carbon offsetting commitment. Carbon emissions arising from the use of these flights have been recorded and offset in the same way as the use of scheduled flights since April 2005.
In accordance with the guidance in “Travel by Ministers”, other transport options were considered on each occasion. On both occasions, the option of the Minister and officials travelling by 32 (The Royal) Squadron to Brussels was chosen to enable Ministers to meet their commitments in an efficient way. The rules on the use of special flights are set out in “Travel by Ministers”. The annual lists of overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500 set out when special flights are used, and the purpose of each trip. Copies are available in the Library of the House.
Afghanistan
In light of the security situation in Helmand detailed education statistics are difficult to obtain.
According to a 2005 survey by the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, there were 253 schools in Helmand. Of 117,000 students, approximately 8,900 were girls. According to Helmand provincial Government's Department of Education there are now 224 Government of Afghanistan approved schools in the province. Of those, only 64 are currently operating in dedicated buildings. 66 schools are currently closed due to destroyed facilities or threats against teachers. To date we have been unable to obtain a more detailed breakdown of how many of these schools were closed because of Taliban action.
The UK and other international partners are working closely with the Afghan Government to improve the quality and accessibility of education for all children across Afghanistan, in particular girls who were deprived of the opportunity under the Taliban.
Algeria
The Government have received a range of representations on the deportation of persons to Algeria, including from international human rights institutions and non-governmental organisations such as the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and Amnesty International.
The Government continue to believe that memoranda of understanding or comparable arrangements provide a framework to deport foreign nationals whom we believe threaten our security, in a manner consistent with our international human rights obligations. Any decision to deport is subject to appeal through the UK court system.
In the case of Algeria, such deportation takes full account of the provisions of the Algerian Charter for Peace and Reconciliation, its accompanying provisions for clemency and the particular circumstances of each case.
The deportation of persons who pose a threat to the UK's national security is a subject of discussion between the British and Algerian Governments.
The Government continue to believe that memoranda of understanding or comparable arrangements provide a framework to deport foreign nationals whom we believe threaten our security, in a manner consistent with our international human rights obligations. Any decision to deport is subject to appeal through the UK court system.
In the case of Algeria, such deportation takes full account of the provisions of the Algerian Charter for Peace and Reconciliation, its accompanying provisions for clemency and the particular circumstances of each case.
Belarus
Our trade relations with Belarus are conducted through the EU. All EU restrictions imposed in response to the fraudulent presidential elections are designed to target the regime, not the people of Belarus. As such, a unilateral trade ban in response to the fraudulent elections is not being considered at the moment.
Separately, Belarus faces possible withdrawal of the general system of preferences (GSP)—the system of preferential trading arrangements through which the EU extends preferential access to its markets to developing countries. Eligibility for GSP benefits depends on International Labour Organisation monitoring of labour standards and an investigation last year uncovered serious and systematic violations.
Darfur
On 25 June, the Government of Sudan suspended all UN activity in Darfur apart from humanitarian assistance provided by the World Food Programme and the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF. They lifted the suspension the following day. There has been some impact on the UN’s humanitarian work in West Darfur, but minimal disruption elsewhere.
This was a provocative act by the Sudanese Government in response to the UN helping a prominent Darfur rebel. The Government of Sudan should allow all UN humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organisations unimpeded access in Darfur.
The Sudanese Government currently oppose an international force for Darfur. However the UN Secretary-General has said he hopes to see a UN force in Darfur, the Security Council has taken a strong line in favour and the African Union wants to see the UN take over in Darfur, as do many prominent African countries. We will continue to press the Government of Sudan to accept it.
The UK led the recent UN Security Council mission to Sudan. That visit was important in securing Sudanese Government agreement for a joint UN/African Union Technical Assessment Mission (TAM) to deploy to Darfur. The TAM has now made its visit. It will make detailed technical recommendations shortly to the UN Secretary-General on establishing a UN force for Darfur, who will then report to the Security Council. Once he has done so, the Security Council will debate the mandate of a future UN force. We are continuing to press the Government of Sudan to accept such a force.
We continue to press the Government of Sudan to neutralise and disarm the Janjaweed and expel foreign fighters from Darfur as soon as possible. On Friday 23 June, the Government of Sudan publicly began disarming a small group of Janjaweed in South Darfur. We welcome this step, and call on the Government to continue this work and to present a plan for neutralising and disarming the Janjaweed/armed militias, which they are required to do under the Darfur Peace Agreement.
Ethiopia
We remain concerned about the internal situation in Ethiopia. We have made representations to the Government of Ethiopia on numerous occasions both at ministerial and official level. Most recently our ambassador to Ethiopia had discussions with Prime Minister Meles on 24 April.
We have also raised issues of respect for human rights, freedom of expression and the cases of those detained in connection with the political disturbances in 2005. We welcome the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into the events of last June and November and look forward to its report.
Falkland Islands
Only further exploratory drilling will allow for a dependable estimate on the size of the reserves of oil and gas in Falkland Islands waters. Initial exploratory drilling was unable to ascertain the level of oil and gas reserves and is unlikely to restart before 2007.
Only further exploratory drilling will allow for a dependable estimate on the size of the reserves of oil and gas in Falkland Islands waters. It is not therefore possible currently to assess the potential contribution to the provision of energy in the UK. Initial exploratory drilling was unable to ascertain the level of oil and gas reserves and is unlikely to restart before 2007.
The Government are committed to the offshore prospecting policy pursued by the Falkland Islands Government.
Human Rights
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had specific discussions with China on human rights in Africa. We continue to develop our dialogue with China on Africa, and to encourage China to engage with Africa in a way that promotes human rights, conflict prevention, sustainable development and democratic and accountable governance. I raised these issues with the Chinese ambassador on 21 June and urged China to develop a wider strategic concept of its engagement in Africa commensurate with its growing economic presence. I also raised China’s engagement in Africa with the Chairman of the UK Friendship Group of the China National People’s Congress during my meeting with him on 13 June.
Iraq
We are committed to Iraq for as long as the Iraqi Government judge that the coalition is required to provide security and to assist the Iraqi security forces. All decisions on the presence of multinational forces in Iraq reflect regular and intense consultation with the Iraqi authorities. Recommendations on the transfer of security responsibility in each of Iraq's provinces and cities from coalition to Iraqi security forces are made jointly, with the ultimate decision being made by the Iraqi Prime Minister.
This process was reflected in Prime Minister Maliki's 19 June statement announcing the forthcoming transfer of security responsibility in Muthanna province and Mowaffak al-Rabaie's article of 20 June. We remain committed to providing what support we can to help the Iraqi authorities achieve our shared goal of a stable and democratic future for Iraq.
Libya
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had personal discussions with the Libyan Government about WPC Fletcher's case. I raised this with the Libyan authorities during my visit to Libya on 25 to 27 June. We continue to press for progress in our contacts with Libya.
My hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Middle East, Kim Howells, raised the situation on Darfur with Abdulrahman Shalgam the Libyan Secretary of Foreign Affairs in Tripoli on 26 June. The UK's Special Envoy for Darfur also visited Libya earlier in June to hold talks about Sudan.
Student Visas
The number of student visas issued in Russia and the Ukraine in each of the last eight years are as follows:
Russia Ukraine 2004-05 3,734 2,098 2003-04 8,900 1,895 2002-03 2,757 2,715 2001-02 7,131 3,325 2000 2,450 4,218 1999 3,525 3,319 1998 6,036 3,867 1997 9,267 3,590
Prior to 2001-02, entry clearance statistics were published by calendar year, rather than financial year.
Education and Skills
Every Child Matters
We have made good progress. 863 children’s centres are now operational. We are on track to deliver 2,500 centres by 2008. Over 1,500 schools are offering access to a core menu of extended services, and we are on track to have 2,500 extended schools in place by this September. From April this year £115 million has been available in support of our ‘Youth Matters’ reforms to radically improve opportunities and support for young people.
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Kali Mountford) earlier today.
Language Learning
Our commitment is that by the end of this decade every key stage 2 pupil will have the opportunity to learn a foreign language.
Between 2005 and 2008 we are investing £115 million to support our National Languages Strategy, £60 million of this will specifically support primary schools in introducing language learning programmes. This includes initial teacher training for new primary teachers with a language specialism, and in service training for teaching and non-teaching staff.
Teenage Pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy rates are declining steadily. Between 1998 and 2004, the under-18 conception rate fell by 11.1 per cent. and the under-16 conception rate fell by 15.2 per cent. Both rates are now at their lowest level since the mid-1980s. We know from the best performing areas what works, and will be sharing these lessons with all local authorities to accelerate progress towards our target to halve the under-18 conception rate by 2010.
Building Schools
I am eager for the chance to visit Northumberland to discuss school building programmes and school budgets in the county. I am looking in my diary to find a suitable opportunity.
Youth Opportunity Card
Progress is being made in establishing the Youth Opportunity Card pilots. We have chosen the ten local authorities where the pilots will run and are working closely with them and with other key partners to develop a workable delivery model. As with all initiatives there is a lot of detailed work to be done and we need to take the time to ensure we get it right.
Treasury
Air Passenger Duty
The UK is committed to developing innovative financing mechanisms to support accelerated progress towards the millennium development goals, and has announced that it will hypothecate part of the existing air passenger duty to provide a long-term stream of finance to the International Finance Facility (IFF) and its pilot the IFF for Immunization (IFFIm).
The UK air passenger duty revenue is published on an annual basis at: http://www.uktradeinfo.com/index. cfm?task=airpass. The UK contribution to IFFIm will average £71 million a year over 20 years. The UK contribution to the IFF will be determined when it is launched. With the IFF, the UK could reach the equivalent of the 0.7 per cent. ODA-GNI target, which could be achieved as early as 2008-09.
Batteries (VAT)
Batteries which have been designed solely for use with a wheelchair or mobility vehicle are VAT zero-rated when purchased by: a disabled person for his or her domestic or personal use; or a charity for making available to a disabled person for his or her domestic or personal use; or certain eligible bodies which pay for them with charitable funds; or a charity which will donate them to one of those eligible bodies.
In some circumstances, the supply to a disabled person, charity or eligible body of any batteries as part of the repair and maintenance of a wheelchair or mobility vehicle is also zero-rated.
There have been no recent changes to the VAT rules in this area.
Child Poverty
The Government’s strategy to reduce child poverty was set out in the ‘Child Poverty Review’, published in July 2004. It consists of:
financial support for families, with more support for those who need it most, when they need it most;
work for those who can, helping parents participate in the labour market;
tackling material deprivation;
delivering high quality public services that improve children’s life chances.
Across the UK, these measures have helped 700,000 children out of poverty, since 1998-99. Tax credits are benefiting more than 420,000 families in the West Midlands region, and in Coventry South claimant unemployment has fallen by over 30 per cent. since 1997.
Correspondence
I have done so.
Customs (Cornwall)
No estimate is available specifically in relation to the Cornish coast.
Information on operational results is published in the Annual Reports of HM Revenue and Customs. The most recent Annual Report was published on 19 December 2005. The figures for the year ending 31 March 2006 will be published in the next Annual Report.
Death Certificates
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 29 June 2006:
As Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent question, pursuant to the Answer of 2nd May 2006, Official Report, column 1387W, on death certificates, who possesses the authority legitimately to alter a certified copy of a registration of death. (81213)
The law provides for the registration officer who has custody of the death register containing the relevant record to make a correction. The register is kept by the registrar of births and deaths until all the entries in the register have been completed (there are usually 300 entries in a register). Once the register is filled it is deposited with the Superintendent Registrar for the district, who then assumes responsibility for correcting any of the records it contains. A certified copy (or certificate) is a copy of the entry in the register and must be a true copy of that entry. If an entry in a death register is corrected a certified copy of the corrected entry may be issued by the person with custody of the register.
Death Statistics
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 29 June 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the most recent rate of (a) cancers and (b) stroke was in (i) Stoke-on-Trent, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England. [80605]
A: Cancers
The latest available rates for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2003. Registration rates per 100,000 population, by site and sex, for (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England for the year 2003 are available in Table 5 of the Annual Reference Volume, Cancer statistics: Registrations, Series MB1. These are available on the National Statistics website:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=8843 &Pos=l4&ColRank=2&Rank=272
The most recent cancer incidence rates for all malignant cancers excluding non-melanoma skin cancer are given in Table 1 below for (i) Stoke on Trent Unitary Authority (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England.
B: Stroke
There is no complete register of stroke cases. Information is available centrally on emergency admission to hospital from the NHS Hospital Episode System (HES), and on death registrations.
Figures on emergency admissions to hospital for strokes can be found on the Clinical and Health Outcomes Knowledge Base website: http://www.nchod.nhs.uk/. (Table reference numbers: 10C_5281SR7CM_04-V2 (males) 10C_5281SR7CF_04-V2 (females)). Figures are available for England, Government Office Regions, Strategic Health Authorities, Unitary Authorities and County Districts. The latest year for which data are available is for the financial year 2003/04.
The latest year for which death rates for stroke are available is 2004 and these are given in Table 2 below.
Incidence rate per 100,000 All cancers excluding nmsc Stoke on Trent West Midlands England Male 518.0 478.0 462.0 Female 490.0 450.0 451.0 1 Crude rates per 100,000 population. 2 ‘All malignant cancers’ are defined by codes C00-C97 excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (nmsc) code C44 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). Source: Office for National Statistics
Death rate per 100,000—Stroke All cancers excluding nmsc Stoke on Trent West Midlands England Male 71.0 66.0 59.0 Female 61.0 58.0 55.0 1 Rates per 100,000 population standardised to the European Standard Population. 2 The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The codes used are listed as follows: Cerebrovascular diseases—ICD-10160-169; Deaths were selected using the original underlying cause. 3 Usual residents of these areas. 4 Deaths registered in each calendar year
Departmental Papers
A list in date order of Command Papers published by the Treasury since November 2001 can by found on the website of the Office of Public Sector Information (www.opsi.gov.uk). Information relating specifically to White Papers and to Green Papers—terms which are not formally defined—is not available.
Deposited Papers
The Treasury acts in accordance with the guidance issued by the House of Commons Library and makes available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office multiple copies of deposited papers that are likely to be required by a large number of Members.
The Treasury does not maintain a database of the numerous documents deposited in the Library each session. However, deposited papers are available to Members from the Library of the House.
Household Incomes
(2) what the lower limit of the top decile for household earnings was in the latest year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 29 June 2006:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking what the (a) median and (b) mean household income was in the latest year available and what is the lower limit of the top decile for household earnings for the latest year for which information is available. I am replying in her absence. (80640, 80641)
This response is based on the article titled ‘The effects of taxes and benefits on household income’ which takes account of all household income and can be found at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits, as well as in the May 2006 edition of Economic Trends.
Disposable income is the income available for spending. It includes income from all sources after the deduction of income tax, National Insurance Contributions and council tax/Northern Ireland rates.
Using data based on the above analysis the median household disposable income for 2004/05 was £20,398.
Looking at table 14, appendix 1 (page 20), the mean household disposable income for 2004/05 was £25,360 per year.
The article does also show the means for various other definitions of income, such as gross income. However, the analysis does not show the medians for these other definitions of income. These medians can be obtained on request.
The analysis is based on an “equivalised” household disposable income distribution. “Equivalised” household disposable income distribution is a process that adjusts household income to take into account the different size and composition of households.
Using table 14 in appendix 1 (page 20) from the above analysis, the lower limit of the top decile for household disposable income was £40,385 per year (2004/05). An equivalent figure for household earnings has not been provided as this is only one part of income and would show a large variation of earnings within the top decile (and other deciles).
This detailed analysis is based on the Expenditure and Food Survey, which has a sample covering approximately 7,000 households in the UK.
Income Tax
(2) how many upper rate income tax payers had a gross income of less than £50,000 in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
The estimated additional cost of introducing the proposed changes for 2006-07 is in the table.
Current regime Proposed option Personal allowance (£) 5,035 7,185 Starting rate (percentage) 10 20 Basic rate (percentage)1 22 20 Basic rate limit (£) 33,300 42,815 Additional cost (£ billion) — -17.1 1 The marginal rate on earnings.
The figure excludes any estimate of behavioural response to the tax changes which could be significant given the scale of the changes.
There are an estimated 2.3 million taxpayers with total income below £7,185 and 1.4 million higher rate taxpayers with total income below £50,000.
The estimates are based on the 2003-04 Survey of Personal Incomes projected forward to 2006-07 in line with Budget 2006 assumptions.
Israel
Decisions on natural gas in the area are for commercial negotiation.
Not-for-profit Organisations
Charities, including those that provide social care, benefit from VAT relief on the goods and services that they purchase worth some £200 million per year. These reliefs include a zero rate for medical, sterilising and laboratory equipment purchased by charities for use in the course of medical research, diagnosis or treatment.
VAT is not chargeable on the construction of new buildings used for a relevant charitable purpose, or for the provision of residential care to elderly or disabled people. Similarly, the construction of a hospice for a charity is zero-rated.
No VAT is chargeable on certain adaptations designed to facilitate entry to, or movement within, certain charitable buildings by a disabled person. This includes the installation of lifts, the installation or adaptation of bathrooms and lavatories and the widening of doorways and passageways. Approved alterations to protected buildings that are used for a relevant charitable or communal residential purpose are also zero-rated.
A reduced VAT rate of 5 per cent. is also available for the conversion of a non-residential building into a communal residential building, such as a care home, and for the installation of certain energy-saving materials in certain charitable and residential buildings.
Public Service Employment
Data on public employment sector employment levels since 1997 can be found in the National Statistics quarterly publication “Public Sector Employment First Release”, published on the ONS website. The latest release can be found at the following web address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pse0406.pdf. Data on departmental work forces are currently published on the Cabinet Office website. The latest release can be found at the following web address:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/employment/index.asp.
Data are not held on a measure of the productivity of Government Departments. ONS’s UK Centre for the Measurement of Government Activity publishes analyses in a regular series of Public Service Productivity articles which present and discuss estimates of the productivity performance of the key public services. These can be found at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/data/methodology/specific/PublicSector/output/default.asp.
At the same time, in the 2004 Spending Review Departments were set challenging targets for achieving annual efficiency gains totalling over £20 billion by March 2008. In the 2006 Budget the Chancellor announced that the Government had achieved provisional annual efficiency gains of £6.4 billion by December 2005, before the first year of the efficiency programme had been completed.
Staff Absenteeism
Staff absenteeism recorded as sickness absence, in each year since 1997 is given in the table as the average annual number of days absent per employee. The departments/agencies cannot disaggregate other elements of absenteeism.
Figures regarding sickness absence are contained in the annual report, “Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service”, published by the Cabinet Office. Reports for each year since 1999 are available in the Library and on the civil service website at:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/occupational_health/publications/index.asp.
Information on the cost of sickness absence could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Department/Agency 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Inland Revenue 11.9 11.0 11.5 10.9 9.5 10.5 10.8 12.2 HM Customs and Excise 8.9 9.4 9.6 9.0 8.7 9 9.2 7.4 Office of Government Commerce (OGC) — — — 10.0 8.4 6.3 3.3 3.2 OGC Buying Solutions — — — — 7.7 5.9 6.4 6.4 National Savings and Investment — — 4.7 8.8 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.5 Valuation Office Agency — — 10.1 9.2 7.0 8.1 7.9 8.6 Royal Mint 5.8 6.2 6.5 5.3 5.8 8.0 6.0 5.4 Government Actuary’s Department — 9.3 6.7 6.6 6.9 3.1 5.3 4.5 Debt Management Office — — — — — 3.0 3.7 3.2 Office for National Statistics 9.1 9.6 8.8 8.0 7.9 6.6 6.7 6.8 HM Treasury 4.9 3.9 5.5 3.9 4.7 4.4 5.2 4.1 Notes: 1. OGC was created in 2000 and OGC Buying Solutions, an Executive Agency of OGC, was created in 2001. 2. Royal Mint figures refer to non-industrials only. 3. HM Treasury included the DMO in its sickness absence reporting before 2002.
The information on average working days sickness absence is derived from the annual report “Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service” published on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
Stamp Duty
(2) if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £125,000 or less, (b) 1 per cent. on sales between £125,000 and £249,999, (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and (d) 6 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above;
(3) if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £150,000 or less, (b) 2 per cent. on sales between £150,000 and £249,999, (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and (d) (i) 5 and (ii) 6 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above;
(4) if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £125,000 or less, (b) 2 per cent. on sales between £125,000 and £249,999, (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and (d) 5 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above;
(5) if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £150,000 or less, (b) 1 per cent. on sales between £150,000 and £249,999, (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and (d) (i) 5 and (ii) 6 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above.
The estimated revenue cost, in 2007-08, of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales according to the seven marginal rate schemes (where each rate only applies to consideration above the threshold for each range) described in the question is given in the following tables:
Percentage rate Tax regime 1 thresholds 0 £0-124,999 1 £125,000-249,999 5 £250,000-499,999 5 £500,001 and above Revenue cost (£ billion) 2.4
Percentage rate Tax regime 2 thresholds 0 £0-124,999 1 £125,000-249,999 5 £250,000-499,999 6 £500,001 and above Revenue cost (£ billion) 2.2
Percentage rate Tax regime 3 thresholds 0 £0-149,999 2 £150,000-249,999 5 £250,000-499,999 5 £500,001 and above Revenue cost (£ billion) 2.1
Percentage rate Tax regime 4 thresholds 0 £0-149,999 2 £150,000-249,999 5 £250,000-499,999 6 £500,001 and above Revenue cost (£ billion) 1.8
Percentage rate Tax regime 5 thresholds 0 £0-124,999 2 £125,000-249,999 5 £250,000-499,999 5 £500,001 and above Revenue cost (£ billion) 1.6
Percentage rate Tax regime 6 thresholds 0 £0-149,999 1 £150,000-249,999 5 £250,000-499,999 5 £500,001 and above Revenue cost (£ billion) 2.7
Percentage rate Tax regime7thresholds 0 £0-149,999 1 £150,000-249,999 5 £250,000-499,999 6 £500,001 and above Revenue cost (£ billion) 2.4
These figures do not include any allowance for behavioural changes.
Tax Credits
(2) what bonuses have been paid to managers in the tax credits department since 1 April 2005; and if he will make a statement.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 12 December 2005, Official Report, columns 1792-93W. Information is not available relating to managers.
Widows (Financial Support)
I have been asked to reply.
Our proposals, published in the White Paper, Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system (Cm6841), are a bold blueprint for reform, which include delivering fair outcomes for women and continuing to target resources on those most in need.
We intend to continue to uprate the pension credit standard guarantee in line with earnings over the long-term, securing pensioners, including widows, against poverty.
The White Paper also sets out our commitment to strengthen retirement incomes for all pensioners by linking the uprating of basic state pension to average earnings. A widow, who claims a state pension based on her husband's national insurance record, will benefit from this proposed uprating strategy.
In addition, our intention is that the proposed new crediting arrangements for carers from 2010, including the replacement of home responsibilities protection with a weekly credit and the introduction of a new carer's credit, would also apply to bereavement benefits.
Communities and Local Government
Fire Service
The available information covers items (b), (c) and (d) of the question.
Information for Southend is not available centrally.
Essex Hertfordshire England and Wales 1995 1,923 1,011 102,730 1996 1,684 660 99,308 1997 1,922 714 88,813 1998 1,607 531 74,200 1999 1,655 508 70,446 2000 1,717 578 63,842 2001 2,009 686 63,371 2002 2,112 646 55,388 2003 1,600 438 48,685 2004 1,485 234 41,017 Note: Excludes any malicious false fire alarm calls in November 2002 and January-February 2003 strike periods Source: Fire and Rescue Service returns to DCLG
Housing
Information on new houses built is available by local authority area and not constituency. Figures are as reported by local authority and the national house building council. Published information is available for 2002-03 to 2004-05 on the DCLG website:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/66/Table253Excel860Kb _id 1156066.xls
As part of the public service agreement with Treasury (PSA7) my Department already has a target to increase the percentage of vulnerable households in the private sector who live in decent homes. The target is to increase this percentage to 70 per cent. by 2010 and we are ahead of trajectory to achieve this. This target includes households in the private rented sector.
In order to meet this target local authorities have a wide range of powers to improve housing conditions in the private rented sector, in particular the Housing Health and Safety Rating system and the licensing system for high risk houses in multiple occupation introduced by the Housing Act 2004.
IT
The Department for Communities and Local Government was formed in May 2006, (previously the ODPM was formed in May 2002). The five largest information technology contracts agreed with outside suppliers over the last five years are as follows.
£ million (a) Original estimate 28 (b) Recent estimate 28 (c) Outturn cost 1n/a 1 Contract completes in 2011.
£ million (a) Original estimate 13.018 (b) Recent estimate 13.018 (c) Outturn cost 22.516 1 To deliver system 2 System delivered. Full outturn costs including annual support and hosting charges n/a as contract completes in 2007 or 2009 depending on whether a two year extension option is exercised.
£ million (a) Original estimate 3.6 (b) Recent estimate 14.6 (c) Outturn cost 4.5 1 Contract complete
£ million (a) Original estimate 2.42 (b) Recent estimate 2.4 (c) Outturn cost 1— 1 Framework contract ends in 2008. Phased development, with phase 1 complete and phase 2 planned. Specification and hence cost of phase 2 to be agreed. Figures provided for original and recent estimates are for infrastructure purchase and phase 1 development only.
£ million (a) Original estimate 1.5 (b) Recent estimate 1.43 (c) Outturn cost 1n/a 1 Contract ends in June 2007
Neighbourhood Management/Renewal Schemes
The neighbourhood management pathfinder programme is subject to a comprehensive national evaluation. The most recent report (Neighbourhood Renewal Unit Research Report 23) stated that neighbourhood management is capable of delivering better outcomes for deprived areas, and is a valuable tool that deserves to be developed and adopted more widely. Planned future research will address more directly the costs and benefits of the programme, though it should be noted that quantifying the impact of neighbourhood management is made harder because it works by influencing existing service providers rather than delivering and funding new services and projects directly.
Over £34,149,397 of Neighbourhood Renewal funding has been spent in the Bristol, East constituency between 1 April 2000 and 31 March 2006.
This is made up of:
Funding stream Area Amount (£) New Deal for Communities Barton Hill 30,975,000 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Easton and Lawrence Hill 2,866,589 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Barton Hill 148,444 Community Chest/Community Learning Chest Easton and Lawrence Hill 123,214 Community Chest/Community Learning Chest Barton Hill 36,150 Total NR Funding Bristol, East 34,149,397
The Neighbourhood Renewal Fund allocation above only includes the funding spent on direct neighbourhood projects. In addition to this the area has benefited substantially from city-wide projects, including the £1.35 million city-wide education allocation in 2004-06 and from the £1,036,955 spent on projects working with equalities groups over 2001-06. Funding from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund has also provided a neighbourhood-based team for the area since 2001.
Future Neighbourhood Renewal Funding
£17,105,237 has been allocated for the area from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2008. This is made up of £15,277,000 New Deal for Communities Funding and £1,828,237 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.
Planning
[holding answer 16 June 2006]: The Ashford growth area has been allocated a total of £5.72 million in 2006-07 and £15.29 million in 2007-08 from the Growth Areas Fund. The Milton Keynes/South Midlands growth area has been allocated a total of £66.07 million in 2006-07 and £62.83 million in 2007-08 from the Growth Areas Fund. In addition, the Milton Keynes/South Midlands growth area has also been allocated a total of £96.8 million across these two years from the Community Infrastructure Fund. The split between 2006-07 and 2007-08 has yet to be decided. This funding is in addition to infrastructure funding from other Government Departments, for example for schools, healthcare facilities and transport.
No allocations have been made beyond 2007-08, as budgets cannot be set beyond the Government’s Spending Review horizon.
Second Homes
[holding answer 28 June 2006]: The number of second homes and the number of second homes as a proportion of the housing stock in each region in England are shown in the following table. The data are from a snapshot taken in October 2005, as recorded on CTB1 forms submitted by each local authority for council tax purposes.
Number of second homes Second homes as a percentage of total number of dwellings North East 7,188 0.6 North West 18,295 0.6 Yorkshire and the Humber 16,267 0.7 East Midlands 9,968 0.5 West Midlands 14,774 0.6 East of England 28,181 1.2 London 49,820 1.6 South East 41,588 1.2 South West 50,250 2.2 Total 236,331 1.1
There are 446 properties in the Lewes district council area and 956 properties in the Wealden district council area designated as second homes and claiming a discount in council tax as at 19 September 2005, the latest date for which figures are available.
Northern Ireland
Academic Selection
The abolition of academic selection is one element of a whole package of reforms of post-primary education. The focus of the new arrangements is on the educational needs of the child. The new arrangements will be implemented locally by schools and school managing authorities working together, taking account of local needs and circumstances. Until local arrangements are developed, the financial implications cannot be assessed. £24.7 million has been made available over the period 2005-06 to 2007-08 to support the preparation for and phased introduction of, key elements of the new post-primary arrangements.
Breast Cancer
Predictive genetic testing for breast cancer is available to women at the regional Genetics Centre at Belfast City hospital. I have been advised that predictive genetic tests for breast cancer are treated as a high priority and are generally reported within four to six weeks. There is no significant waiting list for this service.
The CDH1 (E-Cadherin) mutation is associated with familial diffuse gastric cancer. Approximately 10 to 15 families in Northern Ireland have been tested for the CDH1 mutation. None has tested positive consequently. There has been no pre-emptive surgery performed in Northern Ireland for this disease.
Call Centres
Invest NI figures from a survey of customer contact centres in Northern Ireland conducted in May 2006 show that there are currently over 10,500 employed in the sector. Three years ago the number employed was around 8,000.
The customer contact sector in Northern Ireland has been developed largely by inward investment but also contains a number of locally owned companies trading in international markets. It remains a key target sector for Invest NI.
Cocaine
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) records information on problem drug users presenting to treatment services for the first time, or for the first time in six months or more. The number of people presenting to treatment services in 2004-05 (the latest year for which figures are available) where they reported cocaine (including crack cocaine) use, by health and social services board, is recorded as:
Health and social services board Number Eastern 138 Northern 56 Southern 53 Western 75 Northern Ireland1 369 1 Includes 47 people from Northern Ireland prisons who have reported using cocaine at some stage. Source: NI Drug Misuse Database.
The DHSSPS report entitled ‘2002-03 Drug Prevalence Survey: Cocaine Results’ reported lifetime prevalence figures for cocaine (those who reported that they had ever used cocaine, including crack cocaine) use in Northern Ireland. Lifetime Prevalence figures, for adults aged 15 to 64 years, for each of the four health and social services boards in Northern Ireland were reported as:
Health and social services board Percentage of lifetime prevalence Eastern 2.4 Northern 1.0 Southern 0.8 Western 1.6
Consultant Referrals
Official waiting list information is collected by time band. It is therefore not possible to calculate the average (arithmetic mean) and longest waiting time. It is however possible to identify the median or mid point waiting time band.
The latest available waiting list statistics show the position at 31 March 2006. It is not possible to provide waiting lists by clinical conditions as waiting list information is aggregated by specialty. The median waiting time band for patients waiting for their first outpatient consultant appointment at 31 March 2006 for each individual specialty is provided in the following table.
Specialty Median waiting time for first outpatient consultant appointment at 31 March 2006 (months) General Surgery 0-2 Urology 3-5 T and O Surgery 9-11 ENT 3-5 Ophthalmology 3-5 Oral Surgery 6-8 Restorative Dentistry 9-11 Paediatric Dentistry 12-14 Orthodontics 3-5 Neurosurgery 6-8 Plastic Surgery 21-23 Cardiac Surgery 0-2 Paediatric Surgery 3-5 Thoracic Surgery 0-2 Accident and Emergency 0-2 Anaesthetics 0-2 Pain Management 6-8 General Medicine 3-5 Gastroenterology 3-5 Endocrinology 0-2 Haematology ( Clinical) 0-2 Audiological Medicine 0-2 Clinical Genetics 0-2 Rehabilitation 0-2 Palliative Medicine 0-2 Cardiology 3-5 Dermatology 3-5 Thoracic Medicine 0-2 Genito-Urinary Medicine 0-2 Nephrology 3-5 Medical Oncology 0-2 Neurology 3-5 Rheumatology 3-5 Paediatrics 0-2 Paediatric Neurology 0-2 Geriatric Medicine 0-2 Dental Medicine Specialties 9-11 Obstetrics 0-2 Gynaecology 0-2 GP Other 0-2 Mental Handicap 3-5 Mental Illness 0-2 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 0-2 Psychotherapy 3-5 Old Age Psychiatry 0-2 Clinical Oncology 0-2 Chemical Pathology 0-2 Haematology 0-2 Joint Consultant Clinics 0-2 All Specialties 3-5 Source: Departmental Information Return CH3 Parts 1 and 2
Deafblind Children (Goverment Guidance)
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is currently developing a strategic framework for services for people with a sensory or physical disability. It will consider the application of this guidance as part of the strategy development process.
Depression
The information requested is not available.
Donor Cards
It is impossible to know how many people in Northern Ireland carry donor cards. However, the following figures show the number of people in Northern Ireland who have registered with the NHS organ donor register.
Total Northern Ireland registrations Pre-1999 136,262 1999 to date 198,801 On NHS organ donor register 335,063
Education
Article 90 (2) of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 as amended by the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 and the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 prohibits special schools from attaining controlled integrated status. While it is accepted that most special schools have both Protestant and Roman Catholic children, integrated status is not appropriate for the special school sector, where developmental needs are necessarily assessed on the basis of specialised criteria, related to the individual special educational needs of the child.
The requested information is as follows.
Nursery Primary Post primary Special 1995-96 22 26 17 n/a 1996-97 26 29 18 n/a 1997-98 25 31 19 n/a 1998-99 21 28 16 n/a 1999-2000 23 23 15 n/a 2000-01 21 28 16 n/a 2001-02 23 28 16 n/a 2002-03 20 29 12 n/a 2003-04 23 25 14 34 2004-05 25 27 14 24 2005-06 25 25 12 28 Note: The answer is based on those schools with over 50 per cent. Protestant pupils and 10 per cent. or more Catholic pupils, and those schools with over 50 per cent. Catholic pupils and 10 per cent. or more Protestant pupils. Source: NI school census
Home Helps
There are at present no plans to review the working practices of home help and domestic care workers for elderly and infirm people in Northern Ireland. However, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is currently developing regulations and minimum care standards for domiciliary care agencies. These standards will specify minimum supervision and appraisal requirements, mandatory training requirements and safe and healthy working practices. These new regulations and standards are expected to come into effect on 1 April 2007 and will form the basis for inspections carried out by the Regulatory and Quality Improvement Authority.
House Fires
In the period January 2005 to December 2005 there were 203 cases of house fires where a smoke alarm was not fitted and 152 cases where the smoke alarm was faulty.
Invest Northern Ireland
The amount of land held by Invest Northern Ireland in each of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland is set out in the following table. It amounts to 2,803 acres (1,134 hectares).
Council area Acres Hectares Antrim 110 45 Ards 31 13 Armagh 33 13 Ballymena 81 33 Ballymoney 13 5 Banbridge 27 11 Belfast 139 56 Carrickfergus 108 44 Castlereagh 13 5 Coleraine 74 30 Cookstown 38 16 Craigavon 360 146 Derry 419 170 Down 134 54 Dungannon 93 38 Fermanagh 126 51 Lame 36 14 Limavady 51 21 Lisburn 313 127 Magherafelt 72 29 Moyle 6 2 Newry and Mourne 100 41 Newtownabbey 283 115 North Down 63 25 Omagh 47 19 Strabane 29 12 Total 12,803 11,134 1 Figures do not add precisely due to founding
Lung Cancer
Table 1 details information on the incidence of lung cancer (ICD-10 C33 and C34) in Northern Ireland for the last five years for which data was available.
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Male 520 520 569 505 508 Female 360 344 316 364 337 Total 880 864 885 869 845
This information has been provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry and is the most up to date currently available.
Medical Training
The information is as follows.
(a) All overseas medical students will be able to continue their medical studies, as training up to registration with the General Medical Council (GMC) is not affected by the new immigration rules.
(b) Non-European economic area (EEA) doctors already in training posts will now be considered as being employed rather than in training, and therefore will need to meet the work permit provisions. Transitional arrangements are in place for those who have been offered a post starting on or before 4 August 2006.
The new immigration rules introduced by the Home Office that came into effect on 3 April 2006 will not prevent doctors from training in the United Kingdom, but are designed to bring the employment of doctors into line with other sectors of the UK economy.
The number of (a) nurses and (b) doctors who commenced training and completed training in each of the last 10 years is presented in the following tables. All available training places have been filled in each of the 10 years.
Academic year Number commencing training 2005-06 815 2004-05 851 2003-04 811 2002-03 763 2001-02 643 2000-01 484 1999-2000 482 1998-99 460 1997-98 460 1996-97 341
Academic year Number qualifying 2005-06 1n/a 2004-05 662 2003-04 571 2002-03 471 2001-02 410 2000-01 378 1999-2000 303 1998-99 424 1997-98 376 1996-97 230 1 The completing figures for academic year 2005-06 are not yet available. 2 Students completed training via the five colleges of nursing for 1996-97. Note: University of Ulster completed the above number. Source: Queens University Belfast, University of Ulster and Open University
The following table shows the number of medical places available in the period requested.
Academic year Number of places/students 2005-06 250 2004-05 188 2003-04 169 2002-03 170 2001-02 169 2000-01 161 1999-2000 160 1998-99 154 1997-98 169 1996-97 152
The numbers of medical students qualifying in each year is set out in the following table.
Academic year Number of students 2005-06 1n/a 2004-05 148 2003-04 162 2002-03 151 2001-02 169 2000-01 139 1999-2000 141 1998-99 149 1997-98 135 1996-97 137 1 The figures for 2005-06 will not be available until mid-July.
MS Treatment
Patients with MS who are assessed as eligible to receive treatment with disease modifying therapies are placed on the waiting list following assessment by, and in consultation with, their neurologist. There is no waiting period to be added to the list.
Waiting list information for disease modifying therapies is collected by time band. While these cannot be used to calculate the average length of time waiting, it is possible to identify the median or mid-point waiting time band. The median waiting time band for MS patients in the Western Board area at 30 April 2006 was six to eight months. An additional £2 million has been allocated to Health and Social Services Boards in 2006-07 and 2007-08 which will, by March 2008, allow all those who are currently waiting for disease modifying therapies to start their treatment and ensure that new patients who are eligible for treatment do not face long waits.
In the three month period from 1 March 2006 to 31 May 2006, two multiple sclerosis patients from the Western Health and Social Services Board area started treatment with disease modifying therapies. Over the same period, two Western Board patients were added to the waiting list.
Respite Care Charges
The need for respite care and any associated charge is a matter for assessment on a case by case basis. There are currently no plans to review the charging arrangements.
School Transport
In 2004-05 the education and library boards used 1,393 taxis to transport pupils to and from school, at a total cost of £8,012,000, broken down in the following table.
Number of taxis Cost (£) Belfast board 195 633,000 North-Eastern board 259 2,095,000 South-Eastern board 298 2,216,000 Southern board 335 2,022,000 Western board 306 1,046,000
Education and library boards only transport pupils via taxi where an existing bus service is not available and it is more cost effective to provide a taxi rather than introduce a new route. In addition, pupils with a statement of special needs may have specialised transport requirements that can only be met through the provision of a taxi. Medical experts make this decision and the requirement to provide transport via taxi is detailed on the pupil’s statement of special needs.
Four of the five education and library boards have confirmed that there have been no children reported injured by other children while travelling to and from school in shared taxis in the last two years. The Southern education and library board has also confirmed that there have been no serious injuries to children during this period but is not able to provide details of minor incidents.
Schools
Proposals to close a school are subject to the publication of a development proposal, which ensures that all interested parties are informed, and have the opportunity to comment, before a decision is made.
The Department has approved the closure of seven primary schools, six of which are due to close in August 2006 and one to close in August 2007. The Department has also approved the closure of one post-primary school to take effect in August 2006.
There are currently four other recently published development proposals each for the closure of a primary school, with three proposed to take effect in August 2006 and one in August 2007, on which decisions have not yet been made. There are also two recently published development proposals for the closure of two post-primary schools in August 2007, on which decisions have not yet been made.
In addition, the Department has previously approved the amalgamations of 12 primary schools into four schools—these are all planned to take effect before the end of 2007, and approved a further proposal to support the amalgamation of two post-primary schools to form one school with effect from September 2006. Two Development proposals each for the amalgamation of two primary schools to form one school have recently been published and currently under consideration.
Security Checks
It is the responsibility of those contracted by the education and libraries board or other employing authorities, to provide services on school premises, to ensure that their staff pose no risk to children by carrying out a vetting check.
The employing authority must, at the tender stage, make it clear to private contractors that vetting must be carried out on employees before any work is undertaken on school premises.
The arrangements for the vetting and selection of persons to work with children in an educational setting were the subject of an urgent review early in 2006 and new guidance covering all aspects was issued to employing authorities, among others, in March in circular 2006/06, Child Protection: Recruitment of People to work with Children and Young People in Educational Settings (available at www.deni.gov.uk)
Seroxat
On 7 December 2005 the Chief Medical Officer issued an urgent communication to the Health and Social Services in Northern Ireland attaching a letter from the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) which highlighted new evidence relating to a possible risk of congenital malformations following maternal use of Paroxetine (Seroxat) in the first trimester. The CHM letter contained advice to prescribers and patients on the use of Paroxetine (Seroxat) in pregnancy. The advice indicated that Paroxetine should only be used in pregnancy when strictly indicated and only if the benefits of treatment for the mother are thought to outweigh the potential risk to the foetus.
There is ongoing discussion at a European level on the safety of all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), including Paroxetine (Seroxat) in pregnancy. Any new advice will be issued as necessary.
Vandalism
The cost of repairing vandalism met by each education and library board in controlled and maintained schools in the last three years is as follows:
£000 2003-04 831 2004-05 639 2005-06 679
The information for voluntary grammar and grant maintained integrated schools is not readily available and is being requested. I will write to the hon. Lady with the information as soon as possible.
Health
Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation
The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) is an independent body consisting of national health service management, general practitioners and academics.
ACRA members are shown in the table.
Organisation Chair Mr. D. Fillingham Chief Executive, Bolton Hospital NHS Trust Members Members Mr. K. Derbyshire Department of Health, Senior Economic Advisor Professor I. Diamond Chief Executive, Economic and Social Research Council Mr. F. Dickinson Department of Health, Economic Advisor Dr. S. Drage General Practitioners Committee, BMA Dr. M. D’Souza Head of the Unit of General Practice, NH and LI Imperial College, Surrey Professor H. Glennerster Professor Emeritus of Social Administration and Co-Director of CASE, London School of Economics Dr. R. Hussey Director of Health Strategy, Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority Professor Sir B. Jarman Emeritus Professor of the Department of General Practice, Imperial College of Medicine Mr. P. Lilley Chief Executive, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Ms R. MacDonald Chief Executive, Bath and North Somerset Primary Care Trust Mrs. Candy Morris Chief Executive, Surrey and Sussex SHA Dr. N. Rice Reader, University of York Mr. D. Roberts Unit Manager, NHS, Health and Social Care Information Centre Dr. I. Trimble General Practitioner, Nottingham Mr. C. Vincent Department of Health, Finance
Audiology Services
The 18-week referral to treatment target covers hospital pathways.
As a result of innovation, the majority of audiology and adult hearing services are accessed directly from primary care and are outside the scope of the 18-week pathway. However, hearing and balance conditions that do need to be referred to a medical consultant will be subject to 18 weeks.
There is no intention to reconsider or review this principle. However, reducing the time that patients wait for directly accessed services is important and an action plan is being developed to improve access to audiology services outside the 18-week pathway.
The Department does not collect waiting time data for hearing aid/audiology services. However, since January 2006 we have been collecting waiting time and activity data for 15 diagnostic tests/procedures, including pure tone audiometry. These data have been shared with the national health service, for performance management purposes since 2 June 2006. These data will be routinely published from July 2006.
Audit Commission Act
Section 8 of the Act requires auditors in auditing the accounts to consider whether, in the public interest, they should report on any matter coming to their notice in the course of the audit, in order for it to be considered by the body concerned or brought to the attention of the public. The auditor can issue an immediate report if the public interest requires it, or can issue a report at the conclusion of the audit.
Section 19 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 requires an appointed auditor to refer matters to the Secretary of State if he/she has reason to believe that a national health service organisation has made a decision which involves, or may involve, unlawful expenditure, known as referrals to the Secretary of State. These reports are not published.
The number of reports and referrals made under sections 8 and 19 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 are shown in the table.
Section 8 reports Section 19 referrals Qualifications on accounts section 19 referrals1 1998 2 1 0 1999 1 3 0 2000 0 1 0 2001 0 3 0 2002 1 1 0 2003 2 0 0 2004 2 2 53 2005 23 7 93 20062 16 20 n/a n/a = not available 1 Introduced from April 2000. The section 19 referrals issued to these NHS organisations took the form of regularity reports on the 2004-05 and did not constitute a full report to the Secretary of State. 2 To date.
(2) pursuant to her answer of 21 June 2006, Official Report, column 1943W, on the Audit Commission Act, what the dates are of each report.
Section 19 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 requires an appointed auditor to refer matters to the Secretary of State if he/she has reason to believe that a national health service organisation has made a decision which involves, or may involve, unlawful expenditure, known as referrals to the Secretary of State. These reports are not published.
Auditors made the following referrals, on the dates shown, under section 19 for:
The organisation breaking its resource allocation limits
Bedfordshire Heartlands Primary Care Trust (PCT)1
Bexley Care Trust PCT1
Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford PCT1
Blackwater Valley and Hart PCT1
Broadland PCT1
Burntwood, Lichfield and Tamworth PCT1
Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire PCTs (December 2005)
Cambridge City PCT1
Cannock Chase PCT1
Canterbury and Coastal PCT1
Central Cornwall PCT1
Central Suffolk PCT (February 2006)
Central Suffolk PCT1
Charnwood and North West Leicestershire PCT1
Chelmsford PCT1
Cherwell Vale PCT1
Cheshire West PCT (February 2006)
Cheshire West PCT1
Chiltern and South Bucks PCT1
Colchester PCT1
Cotswold and Vale PCT1
Dacorum PCT (April 2006)
Dacorum PCT1
Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley PCT1
E Elmbridge and Mid Surrey PCT1
East Hampshire PCT1
East Lincolnshire PCT1
Eastbourne Downs PCT1
Eastleigh and Test Valley PCT1
Fareham and Gosport PCT1
Guildford and Waverley PCT1
Harrow PCT1
Havering PCT1
Hertsmere PCT (April 2006)
Hertsmere PCT1
Hillingdon PCT1
Hounslow PCT1
Huntingdonshire PCT1
Ipswich PCT1
Isle of Wight PCT1
Kennet and North Wiltshire PCT1
Kensington and Chelsea PCT1
Kingston PCT1
Leicester City West PCT1
Luton PCT1
Maidstone Weald PCT1
Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT1
Medway PCT1
Mid Hampshire PCT1
Milton Keynes PCT1
North East Oxfordshire PCT1
North Hertfordshire and Stevenage PCT1
New Forest PCT1
Newbury and Community PCT1
Newcastle under Lyme PCT1
North and East Cornwall PCT1
North Birmingham PCT1
North Devon PCT1
North Hampshire PCT1
North Norfolk PCT1
North Somerset PCT1
North Stoke PCT1
Norwich PCT1
Oldbury and Smethwick PCT1
South and East Dorset PCT1
South Cambridgeshire PCT1
South West Oxfordshire PCT1
South Western Staffordshire PCT1
Selby and York PCT1
South East Hertfordshire PCT1
South Leicestershire PCT1
South Stoke PCT1
South Wiltshire PCT1
Southampton City PCT1
Southern Norfolk PCT1
St. Albans and Harpenden PCT (April 2006)
St. Albans and Harpenden PCT1
Staffordshire Moorlands PCT1
Suffolk Coastal PCT (February 2006)
Suffolk Coastal PCT1
Suffolk West PCT (February 2006)
Suffolk West PCT1
Sussex Downs and Weald PCT1
Swale PCT1
Thurrock PCT1
Vale of Aylesbury PCT1
Waltham Forest PCT1
Wandsworth PCT1
Watford and Three Rivers PCT (April 2006)
Watford and Three Rivers PCT1
Waveney PCT1
Welwyn Hatfield PCT1
West Gloucestershire PCT1
West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority (SHA)1
West Norfolk PCT1
West of Cornwall PCT1
West Wiltshire PCT1
Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead PCT1
Witham, Braintree and Halstead PCT1
Wycombe PCT1
Wyre Forest PCT1
Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT1
1 The section 19 referrals issued to these NHS organisations took the form of regularity reports on the 2004-05 accounts and did not constitute a full report to the Secretary of State. These referrals do not have a specific date associated with them.
The organisation having little prospect of achieving balance within a three or five year period
Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust (July 2005)
Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (April 2006)
Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust (June 2006)
North Bristol NHS Trust (April 2006)
Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust (April 2006)
Royal West Sussex NHS Trust (June 2005)
Royal West Sussex NHS Trust (April 2006)
Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust (September 2005)
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (June 2006)
United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust (April 2006)
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (April 2006)
Weston Area Health NHS Trust (April 2006)
Worcester Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (April 2006)
Other reasons including fraud and suspicious payments
Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA—employment issues (February 2006)
Avon Ambulance Service NHS Trust—employment issues (June 2006)
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority
The role of the Department is to ensure that strategic health authorities (SHAs) comply with the operating framework guidance published on 26 January 2006. Individual SHAs are responsible for the performance management of their national health service organisations and for ensuring that they achieve financial balance. The aim is for the NHS as a whole, is to have returned to financial balance by the end of 2006-07. In addition, we are aiming for all overspending organisations to have monthly balance of income and expenditure (run rate balance) by the end of 2006-07.
There will be some exceptional cases where an organisation cannot achieve run rate balance in 2006-07 without an undue impact on patient services.
However, where one organisation overspends, an organisation elsewhere in the system needs to underspend for the NHS as a whole to be in financial balance. It is important, therefore, that organisations return to financial balance as quickly as possible.
Bowel Cancer
Bowel cancer is one of several cancers linked to diet and other lifestyle factors, including physical activity. Government advice on how to reduce cancer risk is to eat a healthy, balanced diet that is high in fibre, fruit and vegetables, low in fat, and containing a moderate amount of red and processed meat. Other known risk factors include obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption.
Breast Cancer
Cancer is a Government priority. However, decisions on the provision and funding of cancer services are a matter for the national health service and individual primary care trusts to consider as part of their local priority setting.
In the ‘NHS Cancer Plan’, published in 2000, the Department confirmed its commitment to increasing investment in cancer research and breast cancer trials constitute the largest proportion of trials in the national cancer research network’s portfolio.
In 2004-05, £3.8 billion was spent on cancer services. However, figures are not routinely collected centrally on the treatment of individual cancers, including inflammatory breast cancer.
It is for individual clinicians, in discussion with a patient, to decide whether or not it is suitable to prescribe a specific drug, taking into account any relevant guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Primary care trusts may need to be involved to decide whether to support the clinician's decision and supply the drug at the national health service expense.
On 9 June 2006, NICE published its draft guidance on Herceptin. This recommends the drug for women with early stage HER2-positive breast cancer, except where there are concerns about cardiac function.
However, there may be other individual patients for whom it is not suitable—for example, if the woman is too frail to tolerate chemotherapy. This will be a matter for discussion between a woman and her clinician.
These recommendations are subject to an appeal period which closed on 28 June 2006. Final guidance is expected to be issued at the beginning of July, assuming there are no appeals. There are no national restrictions on the NHS using Herceptin in the interim.
Care Homes
The information requested is not available centrally.
Child Malnutrition
Malnutrition occurs when a deficiency, excess or imbalance of energy, protein, and other nutrients causes measurable adverse effects on tissue, function and clinical outcome.
Data on child malnutrition levels in each of the last 10 years can be obtained from the hospital episodes statistics (HES) which uses the international classification for diseases (ICD) to record and collate hospital admissions data. Malnutrition is defined by a primary diagnosis between the ICD-10 codes E40 to E46. The data from HES for child malnutrition in each of the last 10 years is shown in the table.
Finished admission episodes Patient counts 1995-96 22 n/a 1996-97 38 n/a 1997-98 43 21 1998-99 26 14 1999-2000 24 18 2000-01 24 20 2001-02 15 14 2002-03 22 19 2003-04 18 14 2004-05 16 15 Source: HES, The Information Centre for health and social care
Contracts (Termination Clauses)
All national health service organisations should have appropriate clauses for the termination of contracts that they give based on legal advice. Where termination of a contract is necessary this should be done on the basis of the terms within that contract and any further legal advice the commissioner may need. The Department will be issuing guidance to NHS commissioners for framework contracts later this year.
Deafblind People (Care Services)
There are no plans to review the implementation by local authorities of the statutory guidance for deafblind children and adults. It is the responsibility of councils to identify the number of deafblind people in their area.
There are no plans to review the implementation by local authorities of fair access to care services (FACS), which is published as statutory guidance under section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970.
As part of the consultation on the adult social care Green Paper “Independence, Well-being and Choice”, we asked for views on the impact on FACS of shifting the balance of services from high-level need to earlier, preventative interventions. Following analysis of consultation, we believe that FACS is compatible with a preventative approach to social care.
Dentistry
Contractors only provide orthodontic treatment to a person who is assessed as having a treatment need in grade four or five of the dental health component of the index of orthodontic treatment need (IOTN) or grade three of the dental health component of that index with an aesthetic component of six or above. This is unless the contractor is of the opinion that orthodontic treatment should be provided to a person who does not have such a treatment need by virtue of the exceptional circumstances of the dental and oral condition of the person concerned.
Research has shown that IOTN grades four and five constitute about 30 per cent., of the 12 year old child population, the age most suitable for treatment. Although many orthodontic practitioners based their treatment planning on IOTN, all grades could be treated in the general dental services. It should also be noted that children do not necessarily receive orthodontic treatment within the primary care trust which they reside.
(2) whether her Department collects statistics on referrals to hospital-based orthodontists by dentists; and if she will make a statement.
Where the referral is from a general dental practitioner it is recorded in the same way as a referral from a general medical practitioner. If the referral is from a primary care dentist other than a general dental practitioner, it is recorded as a consultant to consultant referral.
The table shows the number of referral requests for first out-patient appointments in orthodontics between 2002-03 and 2005-06. The information collected is split by written referrals by general practitioners (GPs) and other. GP referrals include referrals by general dental practitioners and other referrals include consultant to consultant referrals and referrals to optometrists.
Quarter GP written Other Percentage GP written 2005-06 3 17,894 3,607 83.2 2 18,359 4,188 81.4 1 19,752 4,631 81.0 2004-05 4 17,798 4,293 80.6 3 19,614 4,371 81.8 2 18,451 4,825 79.3 1 19,365 4,516 81.1 2003-04 4 20,485 4,441 82.2 3 19,197 4,318 81.6 2 18,451 4,825 79.3 1 19,365 4,516 81.1 2002-03 4 19,336 5,148 79.0 3 19,225 4,829 79.9 2 19,704 4,496 81.4 1 19,658 4,351 81.9 Total 286,654 67,355 81.0
Primary care trusts are responsible for local resolution of contract and pre-contract disputes for all national health service services that they commission. From April 2006, primary care dentistry has become one of these locally commissioned services. Information is not collected centrally on the costs or the time involved in the local resolution of disputes.
Data on the number of dentists who rejected the new contract on or since 1 April and who have therefore ceased to treat national health service patients is not available centrally.
Management information is held centrally on the number of contracts rejected or accepted by primary care trusts (PCTs). A contract may be for either a practice or an individual dentist so the information is not a guide to the number of dentists who accepted or rejected the contract. As of April, 35 contracts were agreed and three rejected in the South West Oxfordshire PCT area while 23 contracts were signed and 13 rejected in the Swindon PCT area. The signed contracts represent 98.1 per cent. and 93.1 per cent. of dental services respectively. This reflects that fact that many of those who rejected new contracts were dentists who treated relatively few NHS patients. PCTs are using the funding associated with the rejected contracts to commission additional services from other dentists.
Dermatology
The Department is not responsible for setting curricula for health professional training; that is rightly the responsibility of the statutory and professional bodies. However, we do share a commitment with those bodies that all health professionals are trained so that they have the skills and knowledge to deliver a high quality health service to all groups of the population with whom they deal.
Post-registration training needs for national health service staff are decided against local NHS priorities, through appraisal processes and training needs analyses informed by local delivery plans and the needs of the service.
Access to training is affected by a number of factors such as the availability of funding. Whether staff can be released, the availability of appropriate training interventions, mentors and assessors. It would not be practical for the centre to be prescriptive on this.
European Health Insurance Cards
The first European health insurance cards were issued in mid July 2005. Up to 17 June 2006 19.4 million cards had been issued. The quarterly breakdown is shown in the table.
Number of cards issued July to September 2005 7.26 October to December 2005 6.8 January to March 2006 3.08 April to 17 June 2006 2.28
Food Supplements
(2) whom she intends to consult in preparing a response to the Discussion Paper on the Setting for Maximum and Minimum Amounts of Vitamins and Minerals in Foodstuffs recently published by the European Commission; and what her objectives are for that process;
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has raised with the European Commission why its recent discussion paper on setting maximum levels of vitamins and minerals in foodstuffs did not include the report from the United Kingdom expert group on vitamins and minerals (EVM). The Commission has explained that the EVM work provided recommended levels for individual vitamins and minerals rather than presenting a model for establishing such levels. The annexes in the Commission document provides examples of such models.
The FSA will consult stakeholders and independent scientific experts, and draw on the work carried out by the EVM in responding to the discussion paper on the setting of maximum and minimum amounts of vitamins and minerals in foodstuffs. The FSA will hold a meeting to discuss these points as part of this consultation.
GP Vocational Training Scheme
Funding for investment in education and training is allocated to strategic health authorities (SHAs) for them to use according to local priorities. It is for the SHAs and their deaneries, in this case London, to determine their priorities and allocate resources accordingly. I understand there has been no reduction in the number of funded training places by the London Deanery.
Health Care Support Workers
Assimilation to the agenda for change pay system has recently been completed with just under 99 per cent. of staff on the new system by the end of March. Data are not collected centrally on the number of staff in each band, but the computer aided job evaluation system can provide data on the frequency with which particular types of job have assimilated to the various pay bands.
Health care support worker is not a commonly used job title. In the case of nursing health care assistants, which are the largest group of support worker, the data show that there have been 12,694 nursing health care assistant matches to band two, 9,255 to band three and 365 to band four. There have been no matches to band five.
Planned changes in staff numbers in jobs at different levels are determined locally.
Health Trusts (Gloucestershire)
Information on the count of patients residing in the Cotswold and Vale primary care trust (PCT) and the Cheltenham and Tewkesbury PCT areas, by site of treatment, has been placed in the Library.
Insulin
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 2 March 2006, Official Report, column 919W.
Maternity Services
(2) what steps she is taking to encourage NHS trusts (a) to support existing birth centres and (b) to establish new birth centres;
(3) if she will list the birth centres in England; and which birth centres have been closed (a) permanently and (b) temporarily in the last three years.
The information requested on the cost of a normal birth in a birth centre and consultant-led maternity unit is not collected centrally. Reference cost data are collected against three specific health care resource groups: normal delivery with or without complications or co-morbidities, assisted delivery with or without complications or co-morbidities and caesarean section with or without complications or co-morbidities. This information is shown in tables one and two.
The maternity standard of the national service framework for children, young people and maternity services requires national health service maternity care providers and primary care trusts to ensure that the range of services available locally constitutes real choice for women, including care in midwife-led units either in the community or on a hospital site. It is for primary care trusts and NHS trusts to determine the appropriate pattern of service provision locally, taking into account the needs of local people, evidence of effectiveness and available resources.
The information requested to list birth centres in England and on which birth centres have been closed either permanently or temporarily in the last three years is not collected centrally
Interquartile range of costs HRG code HRG label Number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)cost National average unit cost (£) Lower quartile (£) Upper quartile (£) Number of bed days Average length of stay (days Number of data submissions N06 Normal delivery w cc 160 1,226.94 1,119 1,541 647 4.04 18 N07 Normal delivery w/o cc 3,720 902.71 673 1,365 7,098 1.91 106 N08 Assisted delivery w cc 54 1,280.46 1,174 1,635 233 4.31 13 N09 Assisted delivery w/o cc 703 1,137.76 684 1,499 1,822 2.59 31 N10 Caesarean section w cc 346 1,767.19 1,450 2,989 1,933 5.59 35 Nil Caesarean section w/o cc 2,989 1,468.80 1,250 2,237 10,110 3.38 65 Totals 7,972 — — — 21,843 — — Source: 2004-05 Reference costs schedule NSRC4: NHS trust and primary care trust (PCT) combined/TELIP sheet.
Interquartile range of costs HRG code HRG label Number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)cost National average unit cost (£) Lower quartile (£) Upper quartile (£) Number of bed days Average length of stay (days Number of data submissions N06 Normal delivery w cc 21,770 1,576.22 1,112 2,103 75,771 3.48 224 N07 Normal delivery w/o cc 351,662 935.37 682 1,160 653,733 1.86 355 N08 Assisted delivery w cc 6,173 1, 887.17 1,517 2,383 26,458 4.29 179 N09 Assisted delivery w/o cc 61,450 1,309.17 957 1,524 160,860 2.62 217 N10 Caesarean section w cc 20,174 2,880.01 2,140 3,537 127,208 6.31 209 Nil Caesarean section w/o cc 110,213 2,121.77 1,562 2,492 462,024 4.19 241 Totals 571,442 — — — 1,506,054 — — Source: 2004-05 Reference costs schedule NSRC4: NHS trust and primary care trust (PCT) combined/TELIP sheet.
Mental Health Services
The following organisations are piloting the well-being programme:
Wave one—2003
Coventry Primary Care Trust (PCT);
Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust;
Dorset Healthcare National Health Service Trust;
South London and The Maudsley NHS Trust;
East London and the City Mental Health Trust;
Leeds Mental Health Trust;
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Mental Health Trust; and
North Glamorgan NHS Trust.
Wave two
Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care NHS Trust;
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust; and
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey PCTs.
The Department has made £7 million available to spearhead primary care trusts in 2006-07 and in 2007-08 to support the implementation of the “Choosing Health” commitments.
Nappies
Commercial cloth laundering services supplying national health service maternity wards with communally laundered cloth nappies for newborn babies must comply with HSG(95)18, a copy of which is available in the Library. The guidelines set a thermal disinfection wash cycle in which the water temperature has been raised to 65 degrees Celsius for not less than 10 minutes or to 71 degrees Celsius for not less than three minutes.
A hot wash cycle will destroy most vegetative bacteria and enteric viruses. However, water temperature is only one factor in the laundering process as the cleansing effect of the detergent and the dilution effect of the pre-wash, wash and rinse are also important.
Monitoring of laundry services is a local responsibility.
Obesity
The “Choosing Health” White paper, published in November 2004, committed the Government to a range of actions aimed at tackling obesity. Key components of our strategy to encourage people to choose a better diet include the introduction of front of pack labelling on processed foods and restricting promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar to children. Work is underway to increase levels of physical activity, particularly in schools through the school sports strategy, and the setting up of sports partnerships. The Department is currently working with stakeholders to develop a national obesity awareness campaign for launch in early 2007.
To assist people who are obese, general practitioners were sent an obesity care pathway and weight loss guide at the beginning of May. The care pathway is an interim measure pending publication of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on the prevention and treatment of obesity which is due before the end of the year.
Parliamentary Questions
Answers were given on 14 June.
Patient Advice and Liaison Service
Because of the local nature of the service, the Department does not keep central data relating to patient advice and liaison service (PALS) operational activities, including the number of PALS workers in each national health service trust in England.
The following table summarises the number of patients treated per year by the NHS in England over the last five years, and is taken from the NHS annual report 2004-05.
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 Total General and acute admissions 8,944 8,997 9,269 9,719 10,050 46,979 Geriatric admissions 359 347 357 357 368 1,788 Maternity admissions 896 877 924 970 1,000 4,667 New out-patients (first attendances) 12,466 12,613 12,879 13,431 13,371 64,760 New accident and emergency (first attendances) 12,953 12,901 13,253 15,313 16,712 71,132 Yearly total 35,618, 35,735 36,682 39,790 41,501 — Note: Figures relate to thousands
Because of the local nature of the service, the Department does not keep central data relating to patient advice and liaison service (PALS) operational activities. However, one of the core features of PALS is to be identifiable and accessible to patients, their carers, friends and families and strategic health authorities regularly evaluate PALS against this criterion.
Patient Correspondence (Outsourcing)
(2) what audit safeguards are in place to monitor the outsourcing of patient correspondence to non-EU countries;
(3) how many hospitals in (a) England, (b) south-east England and (c) Kent have outsourced the typing of patients' correspondence to agencies outside the EU;
(4) what target time has been agreed for the return of correspondence between consultants and general practitioners sent abroad for typing; and what procedures are in place in the event that the target is not met;
(5) what steps have been taken to ensure the maintenance of patient confidentiality in respect of patients' notes outsourced to non-EU countries for typing.
[holding answers for UIN 80817, 80818 and 80819 27 June 2006]: Information is not held centrally on the number of national health service organisations which outsource the typing of patient correspondence and records to agencies outside of the European Union, nor on the accuracy of subsequent medication or diagnosis where this has been done.
NHS organisations are legally responsible for managing the health records of their patients and are required by data protection legislation, reinforced by guidance issued by the Department, to ensure the accuracy and confidentiality of information held within records. They are expected to take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure this is the case, including the specification of quality standards in contracts for outsourced services and the establishment of appropriate audit safeguards, but compliance remains a local responsibility. Target delivery times and other service performance standards are a matter for negotiation between parties. One of the many benefits of the national programme for information technology is that it will eliminate errors in the transcription of paper notes.
Policy Research Programme
Priorities for the policy research programme (PRP) are determined primarily by the Department’s strategic objectives and public service agreements. The PRP funds approximately 300 policy related research projects at any one time. Currently, these provide evidence to inform policy on:
health protection including antimicrobial resistance, healthcare acquired infections, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, infectious diseases;
health promotion including obesity, nutrition, tobacco, sexual health, drugs, alcohol, foetal alcohol syndrome;
health inequalities;
specific disease areas such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes;
screening policy such as for cancer and hepatitis C;
policy for vulnerable or at risk groups such as child and maternal health, people with physical and learning disabilities, long-term conditions, mental health problems, and older people;
adult social care;
whole systems reform; and
the health and social care work force.
Prescription Charges (Exemption)
(2) what criteria are used to determine eligibility for prescription charges physical disability exemption in the case of people who cannot go out unaided;
(3) how many individuals receive exemption from prescription charges due to a continuing physical disability preventing them from going out of the home unaided; what monitoring of such claims is undertaken; and if she will make a statement.
No guidance has been issued to the national health service specifically concerning the eligibility or verification of patients who apply for a prescription charge exemption on the grounds of a continuing physical disability that prevents them from going outside their home without the help of another person. When applying for a prescription charge exemption, patients are required to declare that they suffer from such a condition and this has to be signed by a doctor or a member of their general practitioner practice with access to the patient's records to confirm the patient's declaration.
The prescription pricing division of the NHS Business Services Authority became responsible for the issuing of medical exemption certificates on 1 October 2002. Since then 70,887 medical exemption certificates have been issued to those declaring a continuing physical disability which prevents them from going outside their home without the help of another person. The certificates are valid for five years from the date of issue.
Primary Care Trusts
Primary care trusts (PCTs) pay for activity, within the scope of payment by results, commissioned from national health service trusts and foundation trusts at prices determined by the national tariff. National rules on applying the tariff in 2006-07 are set out in “Payment by Results—Implementation Support Guide (Technical Guidance)” (published January 2006). There are different rules for out-patients/elective admissions; accident and emergency (A and E); and non-elective admissions.
For out-patients/elective admissions, payments are determined by the number and complexity of cases treated using national tariff prices. This may be expressed as a formula (activity x tariff).
For A and E, payments are determined by the planned number and complexity of cases, with additional funding for over performance at tariff, and withdrawal of funding for underperformance at 20 per cent. of tariff.
For non-elective admissions, a full tariff is paid for activity up to a threshold, which is set nationally. Activity above and below this threshold is paid for using a reduced tariff, that is 50 per cent. tariff in 2006-07.
The national tariff for 2006-07 is published on the Department’s website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/13/66/04/04136604.pdf
Prisons
588 prisoners were estimated as resident at HMP Full Sutton and included in the population of Yorkshire Wolds and Coast Primary Care Trust when revenue allocations were made for 2006-07.
Severe Head Trauma
(2) how much her Department has spent on the provision of specialist rehabilitation services for patients with severe head trauma in each year since 1997;
(3) how many hospitals in the South West region offer specialist services for the rehabilitation of patients with severe head injuries;
(4) how many patients have received treatment for severe head trauma in a specialist centre in (a) Taunton constituency, (b) the South West and (c) England in each year since 2001.
Information on the number of specialist care centres for the rehabilitation of patients with severe head trauma, and the number of hospitals offering such services is not collected centrally.
Information on the number of patients receiving treatment for severe head trauma in England and the South West, and the cost of that provision, is not collected centrally. Data on the number of admissions to the specialist neurological rehabilitation unit Alfred Morris House, Taunton and Somerset national health service trust are shown in the following table.
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Acquired brain injury 33 32 32 39 49 Complex neurological disability 68 81 73 79 67 Total 101 113 105 118 116 Note: The above data exclude day cases and out-patient activity.
Social Workers
Data to track this recommendation of the national taskforce on violence against social care staff are not collected centrally.
The responsibility to protect staff from violence and abuse falls to the employers of the staff, and the final report of the taskforce, ‘A Safer Place’, recommended a number of targets for employers to set themselves, against which to measure progress, and to act where standards were not good enough. One of the recommendations to employers was that they should reduce the incidence of violence to workers by 25 per cent. by March 2005 from a baseline of March 2002.
Spinal Cord Injuries
The Department has conducted censuses of available adult intensive care and high dependency provision since 1999. Details of such provision in spinal units (SUs) on census days in 2000 and 2005, and on the date of the most recent census, are shown in the table.
Date of census SU intensive care beds SU high dependency care beds 16 January 2006 8 24 14 July 2005 6 20 13 January 2005 6 25 14 July 2000 4 15 15 January 2000 4 6 Source: Department of Health, hospital activity statistics, form KHOSa
The table shows the number of available (open and staffed) adult intensive care and high dependency beds in national health service hospitals in England. A census provides a snapshot of provision on one particular day and it should be noted that the number of beds may vary from day to day according to clinical demands and staff availability, with flexibility between general and specialist beds and between intensive care and high dependency.
Streptococcus Testing
The United Kingdom national screening committee has asked the health technology assessment (HTA) programme to undertake two studies on prenatal screening for group B streptococcal disease. These studies are still in progress.
The first study is on prenatal screening and treatment strategies to prevent group B streptococcal and other bacterial infections in early infancy: cost effectiveness and expected value of information analyses.
The second study is on prenatal screening for group B streptococcal disease: protocol development for a possible clinical trial.
Details of all ongoing reports and research outputs can be found on the HTA’s website at www.hta.nhsweb. nhs.uk.
Trans Fats
My previous reply referred to results from the national diet and nutrition survey (NDNS) of adults aged 19 to 641. This survey did not collect detailed information on socio-economic status, but did identify participants living in households in which someone was in receipt of benefits (benefit households).
When intakes are expressed as a percentage of food energy, there were no significant differences in the fat and fatty acid composition of the diets of men and women from benefit and non-benefit households.
Earlier surveys in the NDNS series covering young people aged four to 182 and older adults aged 65 and over3 also found no differences in the fat and fatty acid composition of diets according to socio-economic status.
Notes:
1 Henderson L, Gregory J, Irving K and Swan G. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: adults aged 19 to 64 years. Volume 2: Energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat and alcohol intake. TSO (London: 2003).
2 Gregory J, Lowe S, Bates CJ, Prentice A, Jackson LV, Smithers G, Wenlock R and Farron M. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: young people aged four to 18 years. Volume 1: Report of the diet and nutrition survey (2000). TSO (London: 2000).
3 Finch S, Doyle W, Lowe C, Bates CJ, Prentice A, Smithers G and Clarke PC. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: people aged 65 years or over. Volume 1: Report of the diet and nutrition survey. TSO (London: 1998).
Home Department
Abortion
The Asylum Policy Instructions are published on the IND website at http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/lawandpolicy/policyinstructions/api
Arms Imports
(2) how many UK-based companies are authorised (a) to import and (b) to store AK-47 style weapons.
Information in the form requested is not available from either the Department of Trade and Industry’s database of import licences or from the Home Office records of authorities granted under section five of the Firearms Act 1968 (as amended).
Asylum/Immigration
I am advised that the following table provides management information on the number of main applicants who were supported under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 as at 31 March 2006. Information on the number of children supported under section 4 is not currently available.
A breakdown of those supported by social services authority area in the north east of England is not currently available.
Area Number on support East Midlands 568 East of England 37 London 991 North East 253 North West 807 Scotland 152 South East 73 South West 243 Wales 222 West Midlands 961 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,142 Total 5,449
I am advised that the following table shows the number of principal asylum applicants removed from the UK to a destination that was the same as that of their nationality, broken down by type of removal in each month of the first quarter of 2006.
Number of principal applicants Nationality January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 Q1 2006 Total principal asylum applicants removed5 935 1,205 1,420 3,560 of whom: leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes6 270 355 500 1,125 Persons recorded by IND as voluntary departures7 40 30 45 115 Persons who it is established have left the UK without informing the Immigration Authorities 25 75 80 185 1 Includes persons departing ‘Voluntarily’ after enforcement action had been initiated against them, persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration, and removals on safe third country grounds. 2 Persons who had sought asylum at some stage, excluding dependants. 3 Figures rounded to the nearest five and may not sum due to rounding. 4.Provisionalfigures 5 Including persons departing ‘Voluntarily’ after enforcement action had been initiated against them. 6 Persons leaving under Voluntary Assisted Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration. May include some on–entry cases and some cases where enforcement action has been initiated. 7 Includes persons departing ‘Voluntarily’ after enforcement action had been initiated against them.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
I am unable to comment where wider investigations are still ongoing.
An action plan containing all 54 recommendations from the investigation carried out by Stephen Shaw into the allegations contained in the BBC documentary, ‘Detention Undercover: the Real Story’ was compiled and published. I am advised that all remaining recommendations will be implemented by October 2006.
I am advised that unaccompanied minors are not detained other than in one very limited circumstance: where, exceptionally, it is necessary to detain a child while alternative care arrangements are made (normally overnight).
Families with children may be detained in the following circumstances: initially, whilst their identities and basis of claim are established; where there are reasonable grounds for believing that they will fail to comply with the conditions of temporary admission or release; or to effect removal. In addition, families whose asylum claims appear to be capable of being decided quickly may be detained as part of a fast-track process.
The legal basis for detaining a British-born child in an immigration removal centre is explained in IND’s Family Removals Policy. A copy of this document has been placed in the House Libraries.
Biometric Registration
A number of pieces of biometric research have been completed or commissioned since December 2004. In spring 2005, a large United Kingdom Passport Service biometric enrolment trial reported its findings. In addition, research regarding the effectiveness of facial recognition systems for use in fraud prevention has been completed in March 2006.
Furthermore, the Home Office is funding research by the National Physical Laboratory on biometric minutiae interoperability. This research will develop methodology and tools to assess and improve the interoperability of minutiae-based fingerprint recognition systems. The work is also contributing to international standards on data formats for fingerprint minutiae, conformance testing, and interoperable performance testing. It is anticipated that this research will be completed by mid 2007.
Biometric experts working in the Home Office also receive input and review findings from research conducted by other institutions internationally and examine its implications for the development of Government initiatives. Such work is facilitated by the work of the Biometric Assurance Group, chaired by the Government Chief Scientist, Sir David King and bodies such as the Biometric Experts Group for the National Identity Scheme.
Child Sexual Abuse
The Home Office does not collect statistics for the number of children under the age of 14 recorded as experiencing sexual abuse.
The National Service Framework (NSF) for Children, Young People and Maternity Services Standard five 10.6 sets out that
“Local authorities, NHS Trusts and primary care trusts ensure that integrated services are available to respond in a co-ordinated manner to the assessed needs of children and young people and their families where a child has been or is at risk of being abused or neglected. The types of programmes offered are based on best available evidence of what interventions are effective and are subject to regular audit, the findings of which inform future service provision”.
The NSF for Children, Young People and Maternity Services is a 10 year strategy.
The Department of Health is working with the Home Office, the Department of Education and Skills and voluntary sector organisations providing services for sexually abused children through the joint Department of Health and National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) Victims of Violence and Abuse Prevention Programme (WAPP). This is a two year programme until April 2007. The aim of the programme is to develop national service guidelines based on research conducted by the programme. Guidelines will be published in spring 2007. The programme is intended to equip professionals and services to identify and respond to the mental and physical health effects of child sexual abuse. An expert group on child victims of domestic violence and sexual assault has been established to advise the programme.
The Home Office and the Department of Health supported the development of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) for children: Project Amethyst in London, and St. Mary’s in Manchester. £100,000 from the Victim’s Fund was allocated to this work in 2005-06.
Convicted Foreign Nationals
(2) if he will give a breakdown by nationality of the (a) most serious offenders and (b) more serious offenders identified as not being under control; and in the case of the most serious offenders not under control how long each offender has not been under control.
(2) if he will break down the number of foreign national prisoners detained in England and Wales by countries of origin.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
Correspondence
I wrote to the hon. Member on 12 June 2006.
Departmental Annual Report
The Home Office Departmental Report is planned for completion and publication before the summer Parliamentary recess.
Departmental Finance Directors
Helen Kilpatrick is the Home Office Director General, Financial and Commercial. After graduating from King’s College, she qualified as an accountant as a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). She was appointed to the Home Office in April 2005. She has held a variety of finance and corporate services posts in the public sector, most recently prior to joining the Home Office as Deputy Chief Executive, Strategic Director for Resources and County Treasury of West Sussex county council.
Foreign Offenders
(2) how many foreign criminals have been deported in each of the last 10 years.
(2) how many of the (a) most serious offenders, (b) more serious offenders and (c) other offenders out of the 1,019 identified foreign criminals have (i) applied for bail and (ii) been granted bail since 23 May.
(3) how many individuals have been (a) deported and (b) excluded from the UK on the basis of the guidelines set out by his predecessor in August 2005.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) how many foreign nationals have been released from each prison in Wales over the past two years, broken down by (a) offence committed, (b) nationality, (c) whether deported on conclusion of sentence, (d) whether originally in the country illegally and (e) whether recommended for deportation by the court but released into the community;
(3) what steps he has taken to determine how many foreign national prisoners have been released in Wales without having their deportation status checked; and if he will make a statement.
[holding answers 3 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 3 May 2006]: In his written ministerial statement to the House on 15 May 2006, Official Report, column 41WS, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary explained that he was aware of a number of requests from hon. Members asking for a detailed breakdown of cases by the prison or constituency from which foreign national prisoners have been released. In his subsequent statement to the House on 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 78WS, my right hon. Friend confirmed that further updates would pend the outcome of a thorough rechecking of all the information we hold in this area. We shall update the House with those results as soon as possible.
[holding answer 3 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 3 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 3 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 3 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) who in his Department is responsible for checking whether a foreign prisoner has been recommended for deportation by a court.
(3) what representations his office has received from employees of Immigration and Nationality Directorate on deportations of foreign prisoners since 1997.
(4) what instructions he gave to the Minister of Immigration on dealing with foreign prisoners recommended for deportation since December 2003.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department’s handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality department (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 8 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality department (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 8 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) how many hours he has spent on issues related to the release of foreign criminals to date; and how many hours he expects to spend working on this issue until the end of 2006.
(3) how many meetings he has (a) attended and (b) chaired on the release of foreign offenders since July 2005.
[holding answers 8 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department’s handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
Yes. A foreign national convicted of an offence who has been recommended for deportation can be liable to deportation under section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1971.
(2) what plans there are to release foreign nationals from HMP Wellingborough over the next six months.
[holding answers 8 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My predecessor and I have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department’s handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the right hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where I set out my analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today I have also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
[holding answer 8 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) how many of the 1,019 foreign prisoners released without being considered for deportation have been allowed to stay in the UK after being considered for deportation; and how many of these are subject to review;
(3) how many of the 1,019 foreign criminals released without being considered for deportation and subsequently detained have since been granted bail;
(4) how many of the 1,019 foreign prisoners released without consideration for deportation have been bailed subject to licensing requirements;
(5) how many of the most serious offenders of the 1,019 foreign prisoners released without being considered for deportation have not been detained;
(6) how many of the 83 more serious offenders released without being considered for deportation have been brought under control;
(7) what proportion of foreign criminals subject to deportation orders were deported in each of the last 10 years.
I have updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My predecessor and I have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department’s handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the right hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where I set out my analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today I have also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) how many (a) meetings and (b) telephone calls he has had with Chief Constables to discuss the release of foreign offenders.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department’s handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
(2) how many foreign nationals who were not deported on release from prison and who have subsequently been located by his Department had reoffended; and if he will make a statement.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) what discussions his Department had with other governments on the deportation of foreign nationals during the period when he has identified failures in following procedures;
(3) what instructions were issued to departmental officials once the failure to deport incarcerated foreign nationals had been identified; when such instructions were issued; and if he will make a statement.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department’s handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
I have updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) on what date he gave police forces the details of the 1,023 foreign national offenders who had been released from prison without consideration for deportation;
(3) how many foreign national offenders had been served with deportation orders but were instead released into the community in each year since 1999; how many of these were (a) monitored, (b) tagged and (c) given probation orders; and what offence each had committed;
(4) how many of the foreign national offenders previously convicted of serious offences have been detained; for what type of offence each was originally convicted; and what the date of detention of each was.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 April 2006, Official Report, column 37WS, on deportation and removal of foreign nationals, how many foreign national criminals were (a) permitted to be in the UK, (b) had exceeded their leave to be in the UK and (c) were in the UK illegally when they were convicted and imprisoned;
(3) how many deportation orders for foreign offenders in UK prisons are awaiting processing by the immigration and nationality directorate; when the cases were brought to the attention of the immigration and nationality directorate; and what crimes had been committed;
(4) how many foreign offenders have appealed against deportation orders served against them in each year since 1999; and how many of these appeals were successful in each year;
(5) pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 April 2006, Official Report, column 37WS, on deportation and removal of foreign nationals, how many foreign national criminals have been detained; for what type of offence each was originally convicted; and what the date of detention was of each;
(6) how many foreign national offenders have been deported having served their sentence in UK prisons in each year since 1999; and what the average length of time taken from the immigration and nationality directorate receiving details of the case to the deportation order being issued was in each year.
I have updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the right hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report 446, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
(2) whether any foreign nationals who were not assessed for deportation on release from prison have been identified as linked with (a) organised crime and (b) international terrorism;
(3) how many foreign nationals released after incarceration since 1997 have not been deported, including those who have been fully processed; and how many have reoffended;
(4) what the nationalities are of the foreign national prisoners he has identified as not having been deported after release.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Departments handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 9 May 2006]: I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary set out in this statement the eight priority areas for management action to deliver our long term agenda for change on radically improving the system for deporting foreign national prisoners. The sixth point deals specifically with the position in Scotland and Northern Ireland concerning foreign national prisoners. We shall update the House with our progress on this point shortly.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department’s handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Members to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
(2) how many foreign national prisoners have been the subject of administrative removal following their sentence in each of the last five years;
(3) how many foreign national prisoners have been the subject of a deportation order issued by the Immigration Service in each of the last five years.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) how many of the foreign nationals recently released convicted of murder have been subject to supervision orders on release; and how many have complied with the terms of those orders.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 4 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) how many foreign prisoners who have completed their sentences and have not been voluntarily deported remain at (a) Bullingdon Prison and (b) HM prisons in England and Wales.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) how many foreign nationals released from HMP Long Lartin since February 1999 have (a) been deported and (b) not been deported; and for what crimes they have been imprisoned.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 2 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 2 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department’s handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
(2) how many foreign national criminals have been released from Gloucestershire prisons in each year since February 1999, broken down by (a) prison and (b) offence;
(3) how many foreign national criminals are being held in prison in Gloucestershire, broken down by (a) prison and (b) offence.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) how many foreign national prisoners have been released from each London prison without the appropriate consideration of deportation or removal, broken down by offence; and if he will make a statement.
[holding answers 2 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) what assessment he has made of the reasons for the non-referral of foreign national criminals for consideration for deportation or removal; and if he will make a statement;
(3) what instructions were issued to prisons on the procedures to be followed in relation to foreign national criminals and their consideration for deportation or removal prior to September 2004; and if he will make a statement;
(4) what target the immigration and nationality directorate sets for the period within which cases of failed asylum applicants in detention for criminal offences which are referred to them should be reviewed.
(5) whether there is an individual officer in the Prison Service with responsibility for referring foreign national criminals for consideration for deportation or removal; and if he will make a statement;
(6) what steps the immigration and nationality directorate has taken to ensure that travel documentation for failed asylum applicants in detention for criminal offences is issued in a timely fashion.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department’s handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
[holding answer 1 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) how many of the foreign nationals released since 1 July 2005 were the subject of a judicial recommendation that consideration should be given as to their deportation; and for what offences offenders subject to such a recommendation were convicted.
[holding answer 2 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) how many visits were made by staff from the immigration and nationality directorate to prisons in England and Wales to process the release of foreign offenders in each month since January 1999; and if he will make a statement.
My predecessor and I have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department’s handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the right hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official report, column 77WS, where I set out my analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today I have also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
(2) how many of the foreign nationals given non-custodial sentences and for whom deportation was recommended to be considered were deported in each of the last five years.
[holding answers 8 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
(2) how many of the foreign nationals released from prison whose whereabouts are known to his Department have been identified as living in the East Riding of Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement;
(3) how many foreign national criminals have been held in prisons in the East Riding of Yorkshire in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) prison and (b) offence; and if he will make a statement.
(2) how many foreign prisoners released without having their cases reviewed for deportation were (a) arrested in Sussex and (b) gave Sussex as their last address.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 11 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 22 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 19 June 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department's handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
(2) what the standard procedure is for identifying the nationality of offenders when they are (a) arrested, (b) sentenced and (c) admitted to prison; and if he will make a statement.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and his predecessor have provided regular updates to the House on all aspects of the recent events concerning the Department’s handling of the deportation of foreign national prisoners who were released without consideration. In particular I refer the hon. Member to the most recent written ministerial statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 77WS, where the Home Secretary sets out his analysis of the Department, the eight priority areas set out for management action to rectify these and required organisational improvements. In a written ministerial statement today my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also updated the House on the latest statistical position in respect of this matter.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
[holding answer 11 May 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on this matter today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has updated the House on these matters today in a written ministerial statement, and the director general of the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) has written to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee today on the number of cases where foreign national prisoners were released without proper deportation consideration. A copy of the letter has been placed in both Libraries.
Foreign Travel
I am advised that the figures for overseas travel for Home Office civil servants since 1998 are as provided in the following table.
The rise in expenditure reflects increased activity in football disorder spending, increased spending due to world cup preparations and banning order operations (CRCSG); increase in overseas travel of Juxtaposed Controls officers and Air Line Liaison officers (IND).
Juxtaposed Controls were set up as part of the strategy to reduce asylum intake and became fully operational from September 2004. The Controls are based at the Channel Tunnel, the French Seaports of Calais, Dunkerque and Boulogne and the Eurostar terminals at Brussels, Paris, Lille and Frethun. The Juxtaposed Controls counter and deter illegal migration, focusing equally on preventing clandestine illegal entrants and fraudulent use of documents.
Juxtaposed Controls in Calais provide a significant layer of security, increasing pressure on facilitators and racketeers who profit from attempting to smuggle people through to the UK. Facilitators are handed to the French Border Control law Enforcement Agency PAF, and appear in court soon after.
Overseas (£) 1998 885,401 1999 1,433,681 2000 1,383,602 2001 2,070,148 2002 2,350,067 2003 4,447,233 2004 5,845,214 2005 7,187,896
Forensic Science Service
The dividends paid by the Forensic Science Service to the Government in each of the past five years are set out in the following table:
Dividends paid £000 Period to 4 December 2005 3,834 Year end 31 March 2005 1,438 Year end 31 March 2004 1,438 Year end 31 March 2003 1,438 Year end 31 March 2002 1,438
The Forensic Science Service (FSS) is no longer an Executive agency of the Home Office but is now a limited company, wholly owned by the Home Office. As such, it is a commercial organisation operating in a competitive environment. The information requested concerning the income generated from individual police forces could have adverse commercial consequences for the FSS if released and could serve to benefit private forensic science service providers who compete for business against the FSS, but who are not subject to parliamentary scrutiny in the same way. I am therefore unable to provide a detailed answer. However, it is open to the hon. Member to take up her inquiry direct with the chief executive of the FSS who, I am sure, will be prepared to provide as much information as is consistent with the principles of commercial confidentiality.
The percentage of the income received by the Forensic Science Service, which came from police forces in England and Wales in each of the last five years, is displayed in the following table:
Percentage Period to 4 December 2005 90.9 Year end 31 March 2005 90.1 Year end 31 March 2004 91.6 Year end 31 March 2003 92.8 Year end 31 March 2002 91.1
Gibraltar
We do not collect data on Gibraltar residents who take up residence in the UK.
Knife Amnesty
Figures for the number of items handed in during the first week of the knife amnesty were published on 16 June 2006. These figures are collected at police force level. The Metropolitan Police reported that 772 items had been surrendered in the first week of the knife amnesty. The total number of items handed in England and Wales was 17,715.
National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit
During the creation of SOCA, discussions took place with stakeholders about the best arrangements for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). It was agreed this particular issue would be led by the police with other agencies working with them.
Research Budget
For the latest Government-wide figures on the percentage of Government expenditure researching new technologies, I refer to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Canning Town (Jim Fitzpatrick) on 21 June 2006 showing R and D expenditure broken down by department for 2003-04. The Home Office figure in that table did not separately identify or estimate the research expenditure on new technologies from the Government services category. Overall the table shows the Home Office spent 0.64 per cent. of its budget on R and D work in 2003-04.
Further breakdowns on planned expenditure on Science and Technology, in the Home Office and its agencies are set out in our latest Science and Innovation strategy 2005-08 available on the Home Office website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/science-strategy. pdf?view=Binary
Primary purpose A1: General support (£ million) As percentage of total department budget Primary purpose B2: Government services (£ million) As percentage of total department budget Primary purpose C3: Policy support (£ million) As percentage of total department budget Civil departments DEFRA 16.9 0.33 6.0 0.12 128.8 2.52 DfES — — 17.0 3.23 33.8 6.42 ODPM 0.3 0.01 3.2 0.07 26.9 0.61 DfT 0.1 0.00 10.6 0.16 41.0 0.61 DH (includes NHS) 2.8 0.00 557.6 0.95 31.4 0.05 DWP (formerly DSS) — — 12.1 0.01 6.4 0.01 HSC — — — — 14.1 7.24 HO — — 42.2 0.56 5.7 0.08 DCMS (formerly DNH) 6.2 0.22 0.8 0.03 7.4 0.26 DFID (formerly ODA) — — 214.9 5.49 0.0 0.00 DTI (ex OST) — — — — 15.7 0.39 NI departments — — 1.6 0.01 19.1 0.16 SE (formerly SO) 17.5 0.13 52.2 0.38 20.5 0.15 NAW (formerly WO) 4.5 0.07 18.1 0.28 8.5 0.13 FSA — — — — — n/a Other departments 1.3 0.00 13.3 0.04 11.4 0.04 Total 49.7 0.03 949.5 0.55 370.8 0.23 MOD — — 2,676.6 8.92 — — Total 3,597.5 1.58 3,733.9 1.64 421.6 0.19
Primary purpose D4: Technology support (£ million) As percentage of total department budget Total R & D (£ million) As percentage of total department budget Civil departments DEFRA 29.2 0.57 181.0 3.55 DfES 1.2 0.23 52.0 9.88 ODPM — — 30.4 0.69 DfT 7.1 0.11 58.8 0.88 DH (includes NHS) 1.1 0.00 593.0 1.01 DWP (formerly DSS) — — 18.4 0.02 HSC — — 14.1 7.24 HO — — 48.0 0.64 DCMS (formerly DNH) — — 15.2 0.54 DFID (formerly ODA) — — 214.9 5.49 DTI (ex OST) 455.0 11.34 470.8 11.73 NI departments — — 20.6 0.18 SE (formerly SO) 38.3 0.28 128.5 0.93 NAW (formerly WO) — — 31.1 0.47 FSA — — — n/a Other departments 4.2 0.01 30.2 0.09 Total 537.0 0.31 1,907.1 1.11 MOD — — 2,676.6 8.92 Total 610.4 0.27 8,363.4 3.68 n/a = not applicable. 1 Primary Purpose A, general support for research-all basic and applied R & D which advances knowledge for its own sake; support for postgraduate research studentships (PhDs). 2 Primary Purpose B, Government services-R & D relevant to any aspect of Government service provision (all defence included here). 3 Primary Purpose C, policy support-R & D which Government funds to inform policy (excluding ppB and ppD) and for monitoring developments of significance for the welfare of the population. 4 Primary Purpose D, technology support-applied R & D that advances technology underpinning the UK economy (but excluding defence). The category includes strategic as well as applied research, and pre-competitive research under schemes such as LINK. Source: ONS Government R & D Survey
Sexual Assaults (Recovery Centres)
(2) what funding for (a) rape crisis and (b) sexual assault recovery centres his Department has provided in each financial year since 1997;
(3) what the (a) purpose is and (b) objectives are of (i) rape crisis and (ii) sexual assault recovery centres funded by his Department.
Details of the names, locations and funding awarded to sexual assault referral centres and rape crisis organisations are provided in the following table. This information dates back to 2001-02 for rape crisis and to 2003-04 for sexual assault referral centres. Information preceding this is not readily available. The overall purpose of sexual assault referral centres is to deliver a holistic and high quality service to victims of rape and sexual assault including medical care, counselling and support, and to provide enhanced facilities for gathering evidence. Rape crisis provides a network of co-ordination, support and advocacy for member voluntary and community organisations. Each rape crisis centre and sexual assault referral centre will have its own objectives.
Location Amount (£) SARC 2003-04 Rowan Centre Walsall, West Midlands 50,000 Renton Clinic Dartford, Kent 30,000 Millfield House Codner, Derbyshire 20,000 Rivergate Centre (now closed) Peterborough, Cambridgeshire 20,000 Hampshire SARC (under development) Portsmouth, Hampshire 50,000 Juniper Lodge Leicester, Leicestershire 16,500 Reach Newcastle, Northumbria 16,500 SAFE Centre Preston, Lancashire 17,000 Total 220,000 2004-05 New Pathways—Willow House Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales 70,000 Meadowfield Suite Durham 70,000 Swindon Sanctuary Swindon, Wiltshire 70,000 St. Mary’s Manchester, Greater Manchester 20,000 SAFE Centre Preston, Lancashire 20,000 Haven Whitechapel and Haven Paddington London 40,000 Millfield House Codner, Derbyshire 20,000 Total 310,000 2005-06 Project Amethyst (children) North West London 50,000 St. Mary’s (children) Manchester, Greater Manchester 50,000 St. Mary’s (adult) Manchester, Greater Manchester 7,000 Calderdale Women's Centre (under development) Calderdale, West Yorkshire 70,000 Kirklees (under development) Kirklees, West Yorkshire 70,000 Cleveland (under development) Middlesbrough, Cleveland 70,000 Laburnum House Risca, Gwent 70,000 North Wales SARC (under development) Colwyn Bay, North Wales 70,000 Lift Project (under development) Hanley, Staffordshire 24,000 Juniper Lodge Leicester, Leicestershire 20,000 Millfield House Codnor, Derbyshire 26,098 New Pathways—Willow House Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales 35,000 Haven Camberwell, Haven Paddington, Haven Whitechapel London 55,500 SAFE Centre Preston, Lancashire 18,408 Rowan Centre Walsall, West Midlands 35,000 Meadowfield Suite Durham 2,474 REACH (adult) Newcastle, Northumbria 14,350 REACH (children) Newcastle, Northumbria 20,000 Renton Clinic Dartford, Kent 1,270 Total 709,100 Grand Total 1,239,100 Rape Crisis Branch 2001-02 Rape Crisis Federation National 406,000 2002-03 Rape Crisis Federation National 432,000 2003-04 Rape Crisis Federation National 209,800 2004-05 Colchester Rape Crisis Line Colchester 35,450 Cornwall Rape and Sexual Abuse Cornwall 8,120 Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse centre Coventry 4,910 Doncaster Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service Doncaster 3,066 Grimsby and Scunthorpe Rape Crisis Grimsby 6,102 Merseyside Rape and Sexual abuse Centre Merseyside 12,672 Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Warrington 5,995 Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Warrington 7,745 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Croydon 27,080 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre North West Wales 7,685 Rape and Sexual Violence Project Birmingham 12,500 The Rape Crisis Co-ordination Group National 18,200 Southampton Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse C.S. Southampton 3,700 South Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre South Essex 31,520 Worcestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Worcestershire 23,439 Total 209,184 2005-06 Barnsley Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis centre Barnsley 40,000 Colchester rape Crisis line Colchester 35,000 Cornwall Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Cornwall 36,110 Doncaster Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service Doncaster 36,150 Grimsby and Scunthorpe Rape Crisis Grimsby 24,405 Manchester Rape Crisis Manchester 30,000 Merseyside rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Merseyside 22,500 Nottingham Rape Crisis Nottingham 26,515 Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Guildford Guilford 40,000 Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Warrington Warrington 40,000 Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Warrington Warrington 35,000 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Croydon Croydon 40,000 Rape and Sexual Abuse support Centre North West Wales North West Wales 35,000 Rape and Sexual Violence Project Birmingham Birmingham 40,000 The Rape Crisis Co-ordination Group National 30,000 Southampton Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service Southampton 35,000 South Essex Rape and Incest Centre — 30,000 West Cumbria Rape Crisis Cumbria 35,000 Worcestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Worcestershire 24,142 Total 634,822 2006-07 The Winchester RASAC South East Winchester 30,000 South Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre East of England (Thurrock Basildon and Brentwood) 30,000 Wycombe Rape Crisis South East (South Buckinghamshire, Reading, Slough and Bracknell) 26,750 Doncaster Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre Yorkshire and the Humber 30,000 Nottingham Rape Crisis Centre East Midlands Nottingham 30,000 Aylesbury Vale Rape Crisis South East Aylesbury 24,300 Bradford Rape Crisis and Sexual Assault Survivors Yorkshire and the Humberside 30,000 Gloucestershire Rape Crisis Centre South West Gloucestershire 10,000 Tyneside Rape Crisis Centre North East Tyneside 29,988 Grimsby and Scunthorpe Rape Crisis Yorkshire and Humberside Grimsby and Scunthorpe 29,930 Rape Crisis Co-ordination Group England and Wales National 30,000 Colchester Rape Crisis East of England Colchester 30,000 Peterborough Rape Crisis Counselling Group East of England Peterborough 20,000 Total 350,968 Grand Total Rape Crisis 1,194,974 Grand Total Rape Crisis and SARCs 2,434,074 Note: Rape crisis organisations (other sexual violence voluntary sector organisations were also given grants but are not detailed here as this information was not requested).
Violent Deaths
The available information relates to offences currently recorded as homicide that were caused by (a) a sharp instrument, which includes other sharp instruments as well as knives, (b) shooting, which includes crossbows as well as guns, and (c) all other methods.
Data on apparent method of killing are released annually in a Supplementary Volume to the ‘Crime in England and Wales’ publication. Information for the period 1990 to 2004-05 are given in the following tables.
Number Apparent method 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Sharp instrument 178 217 218 182 231 243 197 200 Blunt instrument 74 62 50 66 55 78 68 71 Hitting, kicking, etc. 94 116 117 97 94 106 81 99 Strangulation3 81 94 79 89 104 83 77 64 Shooting4 59 50 52 71 63 66 47 58 Explosion 2 1 4 3 — 1 2 1 Burning 28 33 21 14 39 33 24 29 Drowning5 4 8 14 6 13 3 9 7 Poison or drugs6 9 19 11 9 17 16 28 17 Motor vehicle7 12 13 9 9 5 6 2 12 Other 7 8 4 14 4 19 44 37 Not known 7 2 2 5 7 9 6 14 Total 555 623 581 565 632 663 585 609
Apparent method 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 Sharp instrument 202 201 212 214 261 266 234 236 Blunt instrument 68 65 70 76 60 47 68 61 Hitting, kicking, etc. 103 89 94 102 146 147 133 124 Strangulation3 61 78 56 148 77 64 67 60 Shooting4 52 46 61 72 97 75 69 77 Explosion 1 2 4 — 1 4 — 2 Burning 28 32 13 18 29 22 30 34 Drowning5 6 6 6 9 12 6 24 14 Poison or drugs6 17 47 53 32 33 201 22 30 Motor vehicle7 13 14 11 18 20 21 22 20 Other 38 43 41 68 37 51 47 45 Not known 19 23 53 14 31 49 77 117 Total 608 646 674 771 804 953 793 820 1 As at 28 November 2005; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. 2 Data taken from Home Office publications: 1994 to 2004-05 from HOSB 02/06; 1993 from HOSB 02/05; 1992 from HOSB 01/04; 1991 from HOSB 01/03; 1990 from CM 5312. 3 Including asphyxiation. Year 2000-01 includes 58 Chinese nationals who collectively suffocated in a lorry en route into the UK. 4 These figures may not agree with those in the firearms chapter because (a) figures include cases where the firearm was used as a blunt instrument and (b) homicide figures include shooting by crossbows and are compiled at a later date and take into account the results of police and court decisions. 5 Year 2003-04 includes 20 cockle pickers who drowned in Morecambe Bay. 6 Year 2002-03 includes 172 victims of Dr. Harold Shipman. 7 Excluding death by careless/dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking.
War Criminals
There are two prisoners currently serving sentences of imprisonment in the UK for crimes falling within this description. Radislav Krstic is serving a 35 year sentence for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia. The prisoner was transferred to the UK in 2004 in accordance with the Sentence Enforcement Agreement between the UK and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Farayadi Sawar Zardad, serving a sentence of 20 years, was convicted in the UK of crimes committed in Afghanistan. It would be inappropriate for operational reasons to disclose the prisons in which they are held.