Written Answers toQuestions
Monday 30 October 2006
Work and Pensions
Age Discrimination
The Department maintains a clear view of the age profile of its workforce. The position as at June 2006 is in the following table.
Age Range Permanent and Fixed Term Appointments (Headcount) Percentage < 20 592 0.5 20 < 25 5,742 4.7 25 < 30 10,408 8.4 30 < 35 12,703 10.3 35 < 40 18,243 14.8 40 < 45 22,836 18.5 45 < 50 20,903 17.0 50 < 55 15,798 12.8 55 < 60 11,994 9.7 60 < 65 3,802 3.1 65+ 300 0.2 Total 123,321
The Department does not discriminate on grounds of age and recently implemented a policy of having no mandatory retirement age for all DWP employees below the Senior Civil Service. DWP employees in the Senior Civil Service are managed centrally by the Cabinet Office and have a mandatory retirement age of 65.
The Department identifies and supports training which is needed to enable delivery of DWP business, irrespective of an employee's age. All employees, irrespective of age, are able to request flexible working practices to help meet their particular commitments, commensurate with continuing to support delivery of the Department's business needs. Employees who have reached minimum pension age of 60 are similarly able to request to draw their accrued pension benefits and keep working, either on reduced hours or in a lower grade. Any training necessary to support delivery of the Department's business is conducted as part of paid working time.
Benefits
From April 2004 we widened the scope of extended payments by introducing a parallel scheme for people moving into work from either incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance. In 2005, it is estimated that 5,000 customers or their partners who received either incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance received an extended payment when they moved off benefit and into employment.
New claims to severe disablement allowance were stopped on 6 April 2001. From that date new customers need to apply for incapacity benefit or income support on grounds of incapacity. At that time youth rules were introduced to incapacity benefit, whereby those incapable of work before the age of 20 (25 years old in certain circumstances) are eligible for the benefit without needing to meet the national insurance contribution condition.
Existing severe disablement allowance customers, apart from those aged under 20 years old on 5 April 2001, have not been transferred onto incapacity benefit. Instead payment of severe disablement allowance continues as long as the benefit conditions continue to be satisfied.
Entitlement to severe disablement allowance does not passport its recipients to other benefits, such as housing benefit, in the way that income support and income related jobseeker's allowance do. Many customers on severe disablement allowance may also qualify for income support and so be passported to other benefits in that way. People on severe disablement allowance with a low income, but not also receiving income support would need to be considered for housing benefit on low-income grounds.
Earnings disregards apply to all income related benefits: income support; jobseeker's allowance; pension credit; housing benefit and council tax benefit.
Benefits rates are set for the financial year, not the calendar year, and with 1997-98 as the base year, the real terms amounts of the earnings disregards are set out in the table together with the current rates
£ Cash terms Real terms1 Standard earnings (single) 5.00 4.00 Couples earnings 10.00 7.90 Disabled, or carer 20.00 15.90 Lone parent (not HB/CTB) 20.00 15.90 Lone parent (HB/CTB only) 25.00 19.80 HB/CTB 16/ to 30-hour disregard 14.90 11.80 HB/CTB childcare disregard one child 175.00 138.80 HB/CTB childcare disregard two+ children 300.00 238.00 1 Deflated by RPI, base year: 1997-98 Notes: 1. Forecast RPI for 2006-07, from Budget 2006 2. The first three disregards apply to all income related benefits. 3. There are different lone parent rates for housing benefit (HB) and council tax benefit (CTB). 4. The last four disregards apply to HB and CTB only.
There are three levels of the national minimum wage. The rates from 1 October 2006 are: £5.35 per hour for workers aged 22 years and older; a development rate of £4.45 per hour for workers aged 18-21 years inclusive; and £3.30 per hour which applies to all workers under the age of 18 who are no longer of compulsory school age.
At the £5.35 per hour rate, the number of hours required to reach the earnings disregard level for each type of disregard ranges from one hour for a claimant on the standard earnings disregard, to five hours for a lone parent on housing benefit or council tax benefit. However, at 16 hours, such a lone parent would also qualify for an additional earnings disregard amount of £14.90.
Bereavement benefits are payable to both men and women.
They provide fast and direct financial help for immediate needs following bereavement, for widows, widowers and surviving civil partners alike.
Benefits (EU Nationals)
I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 8 March 2006, Official Report, column 1548W.
(2) how many arrivals from the new EU accession countries (a) have claimed and (b) are claiming income related benefits at the latest available date.
The information is not available in the precise format requested. However, information on the number of applications for income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance and pension credit is available in the "Accession Monitoring Report; May 2004 - June 2006", a joint report by the Home Office, Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and Department for Communities and Local Government; copies of which have been placed in the Library.
The report is available online at:
www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/accession_monitoring_report
The available information can be found in table 14 of the Accession Monitoring Report May 2004—June 2006, copies of which have been placed in the Library.
Benefits (York)
The available information is in the following tables.
IS JSA IB/SDA WB PC MIG DLA AA 1997 3,690 3,460 4,040 — — 2,600 2,500 1,900 1998 3,370 2,760 4,144 — — 2,400 2,700 1,900 1999 3,670 2,402 4,040 — — 2,400 2,700 2,000 2000 3,650 2,189 4,020 340 — 2,560 3,000 2,000 2001 3,740 1,903 4,170 340 — 2,610 3,200 1,900 2002 3,710 1,689 4,210 300 — 2,740 3,200 1,900 2003 3,480 1,571 4,150 260 — 2,730 3,140 1,800 2004 3,370 1,580 4,080 210 3,720 — 3,250 2,000 2005 3,250 1,298 4,010 190 4,330 — 3,330 2,100 2006 3,190 1,659 3,890 170 4,470 — 3,420 2,300 Notes: 1. IS figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and exclude MIG cases. 2. JSA figures are un-rounded and are not seasonally adjusted. 3. IB/SDA figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and include IB contributions only cases. 4. WB figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 5. PC figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 6. MIG figures are rounded to the nearest hundred from 1997 to 1999 and to the nearest 10 from 2000 onwards. 7. DLA figures are rounded to the nearest hundred from 1997 to 2002 and to the nearest 10 from 2003 onwards. 8. AA figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 9. WB figures are not available broken down by parliamentary constituency prior to September 1999. 10. WB was replaced by bereavement benefit on 9 April 2001. 11. PC replaced MIG on 6 October 2003. 12. DLA and AA figures exclude suspended cases. Source: 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS); DWP information Directorate 5 per cent. samples; count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer system (including clerically held cases).
CA SP BB March 2000 — 18,400 — March 2001 — 18,000 — March 2002 500 17,800 100 February 2003 500 18,200 70 February 2004 470 18,150 70 February 2005 490 18,150 60 February 2006 510 18,070 80 Notes: 1. CA figures are rounded to the nearest 100 from 2002-03 and to the nearest 10 from 2004 onwards. 2. SP figures are rounded to the nearest 100 from 2000 to 2002 and to the nearest 10 from 2003 onwards. 3. BB figures are rounded to the nearest 100 for 2002 and to the nearest 10 from 2003 onwards. 4. CA figures exclude underlying entitlement cases. 5. CA and SP figures are not available broken down by parliamentary constituency prior to 2000. 6. BB replaced widow's benefit, for new claims, on 9 April 2001. Sources: 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS); DWP information Directorate 5 per cent. samples.
Industrial injuries disablement benefit (IIDB) claimants in the City of York parliamentary constituency, as at date shown each yearNumberMarch 2000200March 2001200March 2002200March 2003205March 2004200March 2005205December 2005205Notes: 1. IIDB figures to March 2002 are based on a 10 per cent sample from clerical forms and are subject to sampling error; they are rounded to the nearest hundred.2. IIDB figures from March 2003 are from a 100 per cent sample from the Industrial Injuries Computer System; they are rounded to the nearest five.3. IIDB figures are not available broken down by parliamentary constituency prior to March 2000.4. The latest available data is for December 2005.
Winter Number 1999-2000 18,600 2000-01 20,140 2001-02 20,090 2002-03 19,980 2003-04 19,850 2004-05 19,440 2005-06 19,340 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Figures are not available broken down by parliamentary constituency prior to winter 1999-2000. Source: DWP Information Directorate, 100 per cent. data.
£ million Income support 13.3 Jobseeker's allowance 6.1 Incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance 9.4 Widow's benefit/bereavement benefit 1.2 Pension credit 9.0 Disability living allowance 10.2 Attendance allowance 5.7 Carer's allowance 1.3 State pension 87.3 Industrial injuries disablement benefit 0.5 Winter fuel payments 5.5 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand. 2. Figures are based on four-quarterly averages for the quarters May 2005 to February 2006. 3. The latest available industrial injuries disablement benefit data relate to December 2005. 4. Bereavement benefit replaced widow's benefit, for new claims, on 9 April 2001. Source: 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS); DWP information Directorate 5 per cent. samples.
Carers
[holding answer 20 October 2006]: The information requested is not available.
Departmental Vacancies
The Department for Work and Pensions uses competencies and selection tests in its processes for both internal and external selection including appropriate literacy and numeracy tests in external selection, rather than formal educational qualifications in mathematics and English.
Events (Risk Assessments)
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recently re-published “Charity and voluntary workers: A guide to health and safety at work” (HSG192). This is mainly concerned with the health and safety of workers employed by the voluntary sector, but does touch upon public events. It was developed in partnership with the Charities Safety Group, which has over 100 member charities, and the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
The guidance makes clear that employers are required to carry out an assessment of risks that result from their undertaking and, if they employ five or more people, that they must record the findings of the assessment. Therefore, where the body organising an event is an employer, as many charities are, the law requires that a risk assessment is carried out.
The guidance also includes advice and case studies to help charities and volunteering organisations decide on the practical steps they need to take.
HSE also supported Volunteering England in the development and recent launch of their risk assessment toolkit which is available free online at www.volunteering.org.uk. It gives detailed guidance on all aspects of risk assessment in volunteering, including health and safety aspects of organising events.
Evidence of Identity
In the year from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006, fewer than 1 per cent. of those who attended a Jobcentre Plus Evidence of Identity interview were referred to the Immigration and Nationality Department as potential immigration offenders.
Adults who require a NINO are asked to bring a number of documents to the Evidence of Identity interview to help prove their identity. These documents are set out in form ISSPA5JP, which is available from Jobcentre Plus and social security offices. Copies have been placed in the Library. It is also available at www.dwp.gov.uk
Government Social Research Service
The Department's expenditure on social research for the last five financial years is given in the following table:
Financial year Expenditure 2001-02 11.8 2002-03 10.2 2003-04 12.5 2004-05 14.2 2005-06 16.92
The number of projects completed during the last five years, based on the number of social research reports published, is 430 (all social research undertaken by the Department is published).
The latest available staffing figures (for the year 2004-05) indicate there are 84 social researchers employed within this Department at a cost of around £4.4 million.
Housing Benefit
Local authorities, who administer housing benefit, have been issued with guidance advising them of the amendments that have been made to the housing benefit regulations as a result of the changes of the entitlement conditions for child benefit. This guidance was contained in housing benefit and council tax benefit circular A6/2006. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Income Support
The Department for Work and Pensions has not made any assessment of the extent to which individuals are able to eat healthily when in receipt of income support. The rates of income support are intended to cover all normal day to day living expenses.
The annual cost of increasing by £1 per week income support levels for single people is estimated to be £1,000,000 for people aged 16 to 17 and £14,000,000 for people aged 18 to 24.
International GCSE
The Department for Work and Pensions uses a combination of competencies and selection tests for recruitment purposes and does not use specific educational qualifications as a criterion.
Investment Allowances
Capital limits apply to all income related benefits: income support; jobseeker's allowance; pension credit; housing benefit and council tax benefit.
Capital at or below the lower limit does not affect benefit. For capital between the lower and the upper limit, an amount of ‘tariff income’ is assumed. Claimants with capital above the upper limit are excluded from benefit. Pension credit has no upper limit, nor do housing benefit and council tax benefit when paid with pension credit.
Benefit rates are set for the financial year, not the calendar year, and with 1997-98 as the base year, the real terms capital limit amounts are set out together with the present upper and lower capital limits, which were increased for working age claimants in April 2006, in the table.
£ Cash terms Real terms1 Council tax benefit, housing benefit, income support and jobseeker's allowance Lower limit 6,000 4,750 Upper limit 16,000 12,750 Child's limit 3,000 2,500 Lower limit (RC/NH)2 10,000 8,000 Pension credit Lower limit 6,000 4,750 Upper limit 3— 3— Lower limit (RC/NH)W 10,000 8,000 1 Deflated by RPI base year 1997-98 2 RC = residential care home; NH = nursing home 3 No limit Note: Forecast RPI for 2006-07, from Budget 2006
The maximum allowance for Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) is £7,000 in each tax year (stocks and shares only). The lower capital limit (working age adults and pensioners) capital is broadly equivalent to the ISA allowance. The upper capital limit (working age adults only) is broadly equivalent to twice the annual ISA allowance.
Jobcentre Plus
(2) what discussions have taken place in his Department on the possible closure of Chorlton Jobcentre Plus.
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 30 October 2006:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking whether there are any plans to close Chorlton Jobcentre Plus and what discussions have taken place in his Department on the possible closure of Chorlton Jobcentre Plus. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
There are two Jobcentre Plus sites at Chorlton:
The Benefit Delivery Centre which processes benefits for the Manchester area. This is in the implementation stage and planned to be fully operational in March 2007. There are currently no plans for closure of this site.
Chorlton Jobcentre which provides a customer-facing service.
We are currently reviewing our Jobcentre network, including Chorlton Jobcentre, to ensure that our services are delivered efficiently. Any site identified as a potential closure is referred to the Minister of State for consideration. If the Minister gives permission to proceed, a full consultation will take place with local stakeholders.
Lindsey Harman, the District Manager for Greater Manchester Central will be more than happy to discuss any further concerns you may have, and I have asked Lindsey to keep you informed of developments.
Liability Insurance
Research conducted for Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 2003 indicated that less than 1 per cent. of companies had failed to take out employers' liability (compulsory) insurance (ELCI). The research was carried out to investigate allegations that companies were having problems in obtaining ELCI, because of difficulties in the cost and availability. Due to the low overall level of reported non-compliance no attempt was made to assess regional differences.
With regard to insufficient ELCI, the law is specific about conditions in ELCI insurance policies. HSE is not aware of any complaints concerned with deficiencies in ELCI policies, nor of any prosecutions brought by HSE under the ELCI Act on the grounds of insufficiency.
Muslim Council of Britain
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was formed in June 2001 from the Department of Social Security (DSS), the Employment Service (ES) and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment (DfEE). Any financial information would only be available from that time.
The Department for Work and Pensions has provided neither financial support nor support in kind to the Muslim Council of Britain.
National Insurance Numbers
(2) how many national insurance numbers were issued in each year since 1997.
The available information is in the following table.
Number (Million) 1997 66 1998 67 1999 68 2000 69 2001 70 2002 71 2003 72 2004 73 2005 74.5
In order to maintain the integrity of the system (and for benefit purposes) NINOs are not removed. For example, they are retained after a person dies or moves abroad. This is because individuals who move abroad may at some point have a call upon contributions paid whilst in the UK. In the case of deceased individuals, a partner may make a claim for a contributory benefit, which is dependant on the contribution record of the deceased individual. This means that the number of accounts held on the system accrues as NINOs are allocated each year to all UK children who reach 16 years and persons from abroad requiring a NINO are added.
Number 1997 1,017,500 1998 1,026,885 1999 1,021,776 2000 995,351 2001 928,059 2002 1,082,035 2003 1,141,795 2004 1,250,622 2005 1,486,312
Customers wishing to obtain a new national insurance number are required to attend an interview at a Jobcentre. The Jobcentres providing these services were selected on the basis of historical information on where the largest volumes of applications were made, taking into account the suitability of premises available.
New Deal
At the end of February, there were 63,370 participants on New Deal for Lone Parents, of which, 5.6 per cent. (3,590) declared themselves as disabled. Since the start of the programme in 1998, 4.3 per cent. of those starting New Deal for Lone Parents have declared themselves as disabled, and of the 457,850 lone parents helped into work through the programme, just over 4 per cent. were disabled. All participants on New Deal for Lone Parents are parents.
All New Deal for Lone Parent advisers receive disability awareness training, and if a lone parent needs extra support because of a disability or health condition, they can be referred to a Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Adviser (DEA). DEAs support recently disabled people, or those whose health condition or disability has deteriorated and who need employment advice. They can refer people, where appropriate for occupational health assessments, or to access to work advisers, as well as the full range of Jobcentre Plus disability programmes. In addition, DEAs support people who encounter barriers in the workplace associated with disability, and also provide advice and support to employers regarding the employment and retention of disabled people and those with health conditions.
Pension Credit
The information requested is not available.
I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave him on 18 April 2006, Official Report, column 431W.
Pensioner Incomes
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 October 2006:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, what estimate has been made of the Pensioner Prices Index in each year from 1976-77 to 2006-07 (96313).
The Retail Prices Index (RPI) covers the expenditure of UK private households only, excluding the top four percent by income and those pensioner households where the head of the household is retired and economically inactive and where at least three-quarters of the household income is derived from state benefits.
Since 1969, RPI pensioner indices have been compiled on a quarterly basis for these pensioner households excluded from the RPI (separately for one and two pensioner households). These indices are based on the spending patterns of these specific households, and contain some pensioner specific items such as OAP bus and rail fares. They exclude items such as canteen meals, which are not relevant due to very small expenditure levels. They also exclude housing costs on the grounds that the price indicators used in the RPI would overstate the price increases experienced by these pensioners, because no allowance is made for rebates e.g. on council tax and local authority rents.
Table 1 shows the RPI Pensioner Indices for 1976 - 2006 based on January 1987 = 100.
Quarterly Indices (January 1987=100) 1 pensioner 2 pensioner Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 1976 39.4 41.0 41.8 44.3 39.4 40.9 41.8 44.3 1977 46.3 48.4 49.4 50.2 46.6 48.5 49.3 50.1 1978 51.1 52.4 53.1 53.6 51.0 52.3 53.0 53.6 1979 55.6 57.1 60.0 62.0 55.5 57.1 60.2 62.1 1980 64.9 67.8 69.6 71.2 64.8 67.8 69.3 70.7 1981 73.3 75.6 76.9 78.8 73.0 75.6 76.9 78.9 1982 81.3 83.4 83.6 84.7 81.2 83.1 83.2 84.4 1983 85.7 86.5 87.2 88.6 85.2 86.3 87.0 88.4 1984 89.7 91.5 91.5 92.5 89.5 91.5 91.4 92.4 1985 94.0 96.1 96.1 96.9 93.9 96.0 96.0 96.8 1986 97.9 99.0 99.0 99.4 97.7 98.8 98.9 99.4 1987 100.3 101.2 100.9 102.0 100.3 101.3 101.1 102.3 1988 102.8 104.6 105.3 106.6 103.1 104.8 105.5 106.8 1989 108.0 110.0 111.0 113.2 108.2 110.4 111.3 113.4 1990 115.3 118.1 119.9 122.4 115.4 118.3 120.2 122.6 1991 123.8 127.4 128.5 129.9 123.7 128.0 128.9 130.4 1992 130.8 132.2 131.6 132.6 131.5 133.2 132.6 133.7 1993 133.6 135.0 134.8 135.0 134.7 136.8 136.8 136.8 1994 135.1 137.7 137.4 137.8 137.3 139.6 139.4 139.9 1995 139.1 140.7 141.0 141.7 141.4 143.1 143.5 144.2 1996 142.8 144.3 144.1 144.3 145.5 147.2 147.1 147.6 1997 144.4 145.4 145.6 146.1 147.9 149.0 149.5 150.1 1998 146.0 147.5 147.5 148.6 150.1 151.8 151.9 152.8 1999 148.9 149.9 149.5 150.1 153.3 154.5 154.2 154.9 2000 150.0 151.0 151.1 151.2 154.9 156.2 156.5 156.9 2001 150.6 153.3 153.0 153.9 156.5 159.3 158.9 159.3 2002 154.7 155.3 155.0 156.1 160.1 161.0 160.7 161.7 2003 156.7 157.9 158.3 159.4 162.6 163.7 164.0 165.0 2004 159.7 160.9 160.5 162.3 165.4 166.6 166.1 167.6 2005 163.4 164.8 165.1 167.1 168.3 169.8 170.1 171.7 2006 168.2 171.6 173.6 — 172.4 175.4 177.2 —
1 pensioner 2 pensioner Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 1976 25.6 17.9 15.9 18.1 25.2 17.4 15.4 17.9 1977 17.5 18.1 18.4 13.4 18.1 18.4 18.0 13.0 1978 10.3 8.3 7.3 6.6 9.4 7.8 7.5 7.1 1979 8.8 8.9 13.1 15.8 9.0 9.2 13.5 15.8 1980 16.7 18.8 16.0 14.7 16.6 18.8 15.3 14.0 1981 13.0 11.4 10.5 10.7 12.6 11.4 11.0 11.5 1982 10.9 10.4 8.7 7.5 11.2 10.0 8.2 7.0 1983 5.4 3.7 4.3 4.6 5.0 3.8 4.6 4.8 1984 4.7 5.8 5.0 4.4 5.0 6.0 5.1 4.5 1985 4.8 5.0 4.9 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.0 4.7 1986 4.2 3.1 3.0 2.6 4.1 2.9 3.0 2.7 1987 2.4 2.2 1.9 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.2 2.9 1988 2.5 3.4 4.4 4.5 2.8 3.5 4.4 4.4 1989 5.1 5.2 5.4 6.2 4.9 5.3 5.5 6.2 1990 6.8 7.4 8.0 8.1 6.7 7.2 8.0 8.1 1991 7.4 7.9 7.2 6.1 7.2 8.2 7.2 6.4 1992 5.7 3.8 2.4 2.1 6.3 4.1 2.9 2.5 1993 2.1 2.1 2.4 1.8 2.4 2.7 3.2 2.3 1994 1.1 2.0 1.9 2.1 1.9 2.0 1.9 2.3 1995 3.0 2.2 2.6 2.8 3.0 2.5 2.9 3.1 1996 2.7 2.6 2.2 1.8 2.9 2.9 2.5 2.4 1997 1.1 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.6 1.2 1.6 1.7 1998 1.1 1.4 1.3 1.7 1.5 1.9 1.6 1.8 1999 2.0 1.6 1.4 1.0 2.1 1.8 1.5 1.4 2000 0.7 0.7 1.1 0.7 1.0 1.1 1.5 1.3 2001 0.4 1.5 1.3 1.8 1.0 2.0 1.5 1.5 2002 2.7 1.3 1.3 1.4 2.3 1.1 1.1 1.5 2003 1.3 1.7 2.1 2.1 1.6 1.7 2.1 2.0 2004 1.9 1.9 1.4 1.8 1.7 1.8 1.3 1.6 2005 2.3 2.4 2.9 3.0 1.8 1.9 2.4 2.4 2006 2.9 4.1 5.1 — 2.4 3.3 4.2 — 1 Separate indices are produced for 1 and for 2 pensioner households that are excluded from the RPI. That is households where the head of the household is retired (at least 65 years of age for men and 60 years or more for women) and economically inactive, and where at least three quarters of the household’s income is from state benefits. Source: National Statistics
Pensioners (Benefit Payments)
The Pension Service has written to every pensioner household to tell them about pension credit. A direct mail initiative “You're missing out” was targeted at 1.5 million households identified as highly likely to be eligible for pension credit, as a result of data matching. A further ‘reminder’ postcard was sent to one million households who did not respond. Since 5 December 2005 customers who contact the pension credit application line to make an application for pension credit are also able to claim housing benefit and council tax benefit during the one phone call.
During 2005-06 Local Service visited approximately 23,000 households each week, focusing on those customers who were most likely to be eligible for pension credit and working closely with partners (e.g. Help the Aged, Age Concern) to encourage pensioners to take up their entitlement to pension credit.
In addition, we are currently improving our service by enabling new customers who call to claim their state pension, to also apply for pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit in a single call.
Pensioners (Council Tax Benefit)
People aged 60 or over who are receiving the guarantee part of pension credit will normally be entitled to full council tax benefit, less deductions for any non-dependants in the household.
There is no capital limit within pension credit although a notional rate of income for capital over £6,000 (£10,000 for those in care homes) is assumed at a rate of £1 for each £500 or part of £500.
Someone in ill-health may also be entitled to an additional amount in pension credit for severe disability if they qualify for attendance allowance or the middle or highest rate of the care component for disability living allowance. This would increase the level of the guaranteed minimum income that would be applied and increase the amount of income (including notional income from savings) that someone could have and still qualify for pension credit.
People over the age of 65 who are severely disabled and have personal care or supervision needs can claim attendance allowance. It is non-contributory, tax free and is not affected by income or savings.
We want to make sure pensioners claim all the benefits to which they are entitled and know that some pensioners need support in doing so. The Pension Service Local Service, local authorities and sometimes the voluntary sector are joining forces nationally so that older people will receive a full and joined up service that can deal with a variety of issues and queries. Many older people dislike having to go through claim processes over and over again with different organisations and these joint teams can help reduce this by providing a single access point to social care and benefit entitlements such as pension credit, housing benefit and attendance allowance.
We now have 118 teams that are able to visit some of the most vulnerable people in the country, people who historically may never have applied for any entitlement or benefit and who would not be aware of referral routes or even the names of the many benefits they could receive.
State pension, winter fuel payments and free television licences are not affected by health or savings and are available to everyone who satisfies the qualifying conditions.
Pensions
(2) to what extent the cost of setting up the proposed new system of personal accounts will be met by savers through the annual management charge; and whether part of the cost will be met by the Exchequer.
We are currently undertaking work to consider funding structures of personal accounts and will bring forward proposals in due course.
Post Office Card Account
Information is not available in the format requested.
Information showing the number of DWP benefit and pension payment accounts paid by Direct Payment into a Post Office card account in (a) the London Borough of Bexley and (b) Greater London is shown in the following table.
Greater London authorities Number of accounts Barking and Dagenham 15,250 Barnet 11,630 Bexley 10,700 Brent 13,560 Bromley 12,570 Camden 11,020 City of London 230 Croydon 15,950 Ealing 13,160 Enfield 15,810 Greenwich 16,400 Hackney 17,270 Hammersmith and Fulham 9,940 Haringey 14,800 Harrow 6,190 Havering 13,070 Hillingdon 10,310 Hounslow 8,850 Islington 15,900 Kensington and Chelsea 6,280 Kingston upon Thames 4,450 Lambeth 17,020 Lewisham 15,810 Merton 6,910 Newham 18,360 Redbridge 11,410 Richmond upon Thames 4,490 Southwark 16,050 Sutton 7,670 Tower Hamlets 16,740 Waltham Forest 14,590 Wandsworth 12,170 Westminster 9,530
My Department has taken no steps, other than those built into the original contract, to either reduce the cost of each transaction into a Post Office card account or to reduce the range or quality of services provided to customers.
Remploy
The annual average productivity-related subsidy paid to companies that employ a person through Remploy Interwork is £503.24.
(2) how many people have transferred from Remploy businesses to Remploy Interwork in each of the past five years.
The available information is in the following tables.
April to March Number 2001-02 1,048 2002-03 1,743 2003-04 2,486 2004-05 3,576 2005-06 4,285 1 Information is not available to differentiate between mainstream employers and other companies.
April to March Number 2001-02 98 2002-03 93 2003-04 58 2004-05 12 2005-06 22
(2) how many people have undertaken work-related training schemes through Remploy Interwork in each of the last five years.
Remploy Interwork provides vocational skills development programmes to build up knowledge of specific work sectors and training to develop basic work and presentational skills.
All disabled people entering a Remploy Interwork programme receive an individual tailored programme of support and training.
The available information is in the table.
April to March Number 2001-02 1— 2002-03 3,422 2003-04 8,995 2004-05 7,061 2005-06 7,167 1 Information is not held by Remploy.
Leader of the House
Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund
(2) what recent estimate he has made of the (a) rate and (b) annual cost of employer contributions to the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund; and if he will make a statement.
The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) is a fully-funded pension scheme whose costs are met from Members' contributions, investment returns and an Exchequer contribution. The Government Actuary undertakes a triennial valuation in which he makes recommendations as to the necessary Exchequer contribution to the PCPF. This can rise or fall depending on factors such as predicted investment returns and longevity assumptions. The value of the Exchequer contributions since 1978-79 is as follows:
Financial year PCPF exchequer contribution rate (Percentage of Members' salaries) PCPF exchequer contribution rate (Percentage of office holders' salaries) PCPF exchequer contribution (£ million) 1978-79 18.5 18.5 4.07 in aggregate over a 3-year period 1979-80 16 16 See above 1980-81 16 16 See above 1981-82 16 16 5.55 in aggregate over a 3-year period 1982-83 16 16 See above 1983-84 20 14 See above 1984-85 20 14 8.21 in aggregate over a 3-year period 1985-86 20 14 See above 1986-87 20 14 See above 1987-88 19 13 6.65 in aggregate over a 3-year period 1988-89 19 13 See above 1989-90 4.4 4.4 See above 1990-91 4.4 4.4 0.88 1991-92 4.4 4.4 0.94 1992-93 6.8 6.8 1.52 1993-94 6.8 6.8 1.54 1994-95 6.8 6.8 1.59 1995-96 7.6 6.8 1.83 1996-97 9.6 6.8 2.75 1997-98 9.6 7.6 3.04 1998-99 7.6 6.8 2.49 1999-2000 7.5 7.5 2.56 2000-01 7.5 7.5 2.66 2001-02 7.5 7.5 2.86 2002-03 7.9 7.9 3.26 2003-04 24 24 9.82 2004-05 24 24 9.96 2005-06 24 24 10.17 Notes: 1. The above costs include contributions payable in respect of pensions provided for MPs, Ministers and office holders. 2. Contribution rates for 1978 to 1981 were based on a notional salary figure.
In the triennial valuation report laid before the House in March 2006, the Government Actuary's Department (GAD) calculated the Exchequer contribution should be 26.8 per cent. of pensionable pay from 2006-07 until 2020-21 and then 18.1 per cent. of pensionable pay thereafter. The estimated cost of contributions payable by the Exchequer for 2006-07 to 2008-09, the period until the next triennial valuation, is £11.9 million per annum. As at 31 March 2006 the membership of the PCPF was as follows:
Number Current members 668 Deferred members (former MPs, Ministers and office holders not yet in receipt of a pension) 228 Pensioners 908
(2) what the current rate of ill-health retirement is for the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund; and if he will make a statement.
The granting of early retirement is a matter for the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) trustees. A current Member who ceases to serve as an MP or Office Holder prior to age 65 and who applies to retire because of ill-health, is required to be examined by a medical practitioner appointed by the trustees to advise on whether his or her ill-health would prevent him or her from performing adequately the duties of a MP. The resulting medical report is considered by the trustees. A former MP or Office Holder may also apply to receive an ill-health pension, subject to confirming that he or she does not intend to seek election to the House or accept any future offer to serve as an Office Holder, and the medical practitioner confirming that the former member has retired from ‘gainful work’ as a direct consequence of ill-health.
The incidence of ill health retirements of current and former Members from the Fund between 1987 and 2005 is shown in the following table.
Statistics for each individual year are not available.
Period (as at 1 April each year) Total retirements Retirements paid early on ill health grounds Percentage paid early on ill health grounds 1987-1990 101 6 6 1990-93 104 5 5 1993-96 40 2 5 1996-99 168 8 5 1999-2002 99 6 6 2002-05 58 2 3
Serving Members who are awarded an ill-health pension are provided with a pension that they could have expected to receive had they served as an MP up to age 65. Former Members awarded an ill-health pension receive their pension built up to the date of retirement without actuarial reduction for early payment.
(2) what the (a) present and (b) future retirement age arrangements are for the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund.
The accrual rate for the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) is 1/40th of final salary for each year of service with an option to pay a lower contribution rate for 1/50th accrual. The normal retirement age in the PCPF is 65. There are no plans to change the normal retirement age.
Members who have served as an MP since 2 April 1991 can receive a pension on retirement before 65, subject to having completed 15 years as an MP. The pension is actuarially reduced to take account of early payment. Members elected before 4 November 2004 can also currently draw an early retirement pension without any reduction being applied for early payment if they are aged 60 or above and their combined age and service under the scheme totals 80 or more at date of retirement. In agreeing to phase out this retirement provision, the House decided in 2004 that only service up to 1 April 2009 or the next General Election, whichever was the later, would count towards the qualifying period for early retirement.
The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) is a fully funded pension scheme. Following the triennial actuarial valuation report laid before the House in March 2006 by the Government Actuary, the Exchequer contribution was increased from 1 April 2006 to the equivalent of 26.8 per cent. of Members’ salaries. There is no unfunded liability.
September Sittings
The House held normal sittings in September in 2003 and 2004 for eight and seven days respectively. There were emergency recalls in 1990 (two days), 1992 (two days), 1998 (two days), 2001 (three separate days) and 2002 (one day). The information for 2003 and 2004 is as follows:
Date Business Hours sat Divisions and number voting Monday 8 September Second Reading: Water Bill 8.34 Three: 492; 485; 474 Tuesday 9 September Opposition Day (Con) (Iraq and Teacher Shortages) 9.26 Two: 448; 438 Wednesday 10 September Opposition Day (Lib Dem) (Old Age and Iraq) 8.15 Three: 373; 389; 338 Three deferred: 390; 295; 388 Thursday 11 September Government adjournment: Defence 7.00 None Monday 15 September Lords Amendments: Local Government Bill 7.57 Four: 338; 377; 412; Tuesday 16 September Opposition Day (Con) (Electricity and EU Constitution) 8.22 Three: 456; 427; 406 Wednesday 17 September Remaining Stages: Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc) Bill and Lords Amendments: Local Government Bill 13.20 Six: 332; 328; 337; 346; 343; 333 Thursday 18 September Second Reading: Arms Control and Disarmament (Inspections) Bill [Lords] 4.56 None
There were also sittings in Westminster Hall on eight days and 2,888 parliamentary questions were dealt with.
Date Business Hours sat Divisions and number voting Tuesday 7 September Second Reading: Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Bill [Lords] 6.52 None Wednesday 8 September Opposition Day (Con) (Pensions and MRSA) 8.30 Three: 501; 497; 468 Thursday 9 September Government adjournment (European Constitution) 7.02 None Monday 13 September Second Reading: Children Bill [Lords] 8.40 One (programme motion): 313 Tuesday 14 September Opposition Day (Lib Dem) (Higher Education and Older Women) 8.30 Four: 441; 442; 432; 423 Wednesday 15 September Remaining Stages: Hunting Bill 11.18 Eight: 468; 477; 467; 466; 522; 357; 337; 494 Thursday 16 September Lords Amendments: Employment Relations Bill; Government adjournment (HIV/AIDS) 7.00 None
There were also sittings in Westminster Hall on six days and 2,201 parliamentary questions dealt with.
International Development
Age Discrimination
DFID regularly monitors the age profile of its workforce as part of our wider approach to diversity monitoring. DFID produces an Annual Diversity Report. This looks at age data for recruitment, promotions, staff satisfaction and staff leaving DFID.
The Department has reviewed its policies to ensure we comply with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations introduced on 1 October 2006 and promote good practice on age. The trade union side and the chair of the General Advisory Group on Diversity were consulted.
DFID applies the same training needs assessment procedures to all staff, irrespective of age. All DFID staff have the right to request to work flexibly and the right to training with paid time off.
Older staff can choose to either work reduced hours or downgrade as part of their preparations for retirement. DFID’s procedure for considering requests to work beyond our default retirement age of 65 includes the option of agreeing flexible working options.
Conflict Affected/Low Income States
The primary source of global data on out of school children is the Education for All Global Monitoring Report. The 2007 report was launched on 26 October. Using the data in the report of the numbers of primary school age children and those out of school, the percentages of primary aged children enrolled in school are calculated as (a) conflict-affected fragile states 79 per cent. and (b) low income countries 84 per cent. The report does not have data for seven conflict affected fragile states and 18 low income countries.
The designation of conflict-affected fragile states used in the calculation is from the Failed States Index (2005) and the Heidelberg Institute on International Conflict Research (2004). DFID is currently reviewing its use of a list of fragile states because countries frequently move in and out of conflict and political circumstances in a country can rapidly change. DFID uses the World Bank’s Country Income Groups for the classification of low income countries.
The designation of conflict-affected fragile states is taken from the Failed States Index (2005) and the Heidelberg Institute on International Conflict Research Conflict Barometer (2004). These countries are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Laos, Nigeria, Nepal, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen. DFID is currently reviewing its use of a list of fragile states because countries frequently move in and out of conflict and political circumstances in a country can rapidly change.
DFID uses the World Bank’s Country Income Groups for the classification of low income countries. DFID, in line with the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD, update income group classifications every three years. For the purposes of the 2003-06 and 2005-08 Public Service Agreements, DFID use the World Bank thresholds based on GNI per capita in 2001 of less than US$746. Latest figures in our publication “Statistics on International Development” use the 2004 classification.
The list of 2004 low income countries, which includes 59 countries, appears in “Statistics on International Development”, published on 26 October 2006 on the DFID website (www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/sid2006/sid06-full.pdf, Annex 1, page 142). Hard copies will be available in the House of Commons Library.
Expenditure in conflict-affected fragile states and low income countries in each of the last five years can also be found in “Statistics on International Development” (table 12, pages 65-101).
Departmental Dress Code
DFID’s policy on religion or belief outlines that staff are welcome to display religious artefacts or symbols, or wear cultural or religious dress. This is part of our wider efforts to encourage the celebration of religious diversity.
However, it does make clear that religious materials should only be sent to other staff if there is a clear DFID business need, or if it improves the understanding of culture or diversity within the organisation or countries with which DFID work. It should not be circulated for missionary purposes or to achieve converts to any religion or belief.
DFID did not hold a central disciplinary record until October 2004. Data show there have been no cases of disciplinary action taken against staff in respect of our religion or belief policy.
Departmental Mail
Approximately 60 per cent. of DFID’s mail is sent via a private sector contractor, point-to-point between our two UK offices. The cost of this service for the last financial year was £24,897. All remaining post is sent via the Royal Mail.
HIV/AIDS
DFID has recently completed a study on the links between sexual and reproductive health and rights and the AIDS response. The study included a review of the experience of programmes to link sexual and reproductive health and HIV and AIDS services. For example a South African NGO, LoveLife, provided youth friendly services for sexual and reproductive health and HIV in combination with a multi-media information campaign aimed at young people. Changes in HIV prevalence and sexual behaviour were tracked through the National Youth Survey. The survey results demonstrated that participation in the programme was associated with decreased odds of HIV infection and increased the odds of young men and women using condoms.
The DFID review concluded that there is emerging consensus, backed up by growing evidence, on the main priorities for developing links between sexual and reproductive health and HIV and AIDS services. The challenge now is to support national governments to scale up the provision of evidence based and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services for all vulnerable groups including women and girls, men who have sex with men and sex workers.
IT Projects
DFID is currently undertaking three major IT projects.
The contract for the Quest Electronic Document and Records Management project was signed in March 2004. The main rollout was originally estimated to be completed in December 2005. Detailed planning carried out in early 2005 led to a revised target date of March 2006, which was met. The projected supplier base cost at tender was £8.98 million. The projected total supplier cost is now £11.52 million, which includes implementation of a number of options available under the original contract but not included in the base cost.
The contract for the ARIES Finance, Procurement and Reporting System was signed in November 2005. The rollout is estimated to be complete by October 2008. The projected supplier base cost at tender was £11 million. A number of additional cost options are available under the contract. The ARIES project is currently on track to deliver to time and budget.
The HR Transformation project was initiated in March 2005 and has a budget of £6.5 million. It is primarily a business change project but it includes enhancements to the existing HR system and a number of smaller IT enabled components. The planned completion date is the March 2008. The project is currently on track to deliver to time and budget.
DFID has also let a number of small IT related contracts. However, our central records do not distinguish IT contracts, so provision of details for these contracts would incur disproportionate costs.
Pakistan
I have recently visited the earthquake affected areas and was able to see first hand the current situation and changes that have taken place one year on from the earthquake. Much progress has already been achieved, including semi-permanent shelters for thousands of affectees and all transitional health and education facilities made functional through the provision of interim structures like pre-fabricated buildings and weather proof tents.
The immediate challenge for the Pakistani Government is the on-coming winter for which, in collaboration with NGO’s and donors, they have prepared a comprehensive winter contingency plan. The UK stands by to provide additional assistance if required during this period.
Water and Sanitation
Countries receiving the most bilateral assistance from DFID in the sector:
2005-06 (£ million) India 27.2 Sudan 11.3 DR Congo 6.7 Pakistan 6.7 Iraq 6.1
DFID works with the UN, governments and others on programmes with a range of factors including public utilities, local civil society and private sector operators. It is difficult to break down country level expenditure to distinguish between public, private and community based support using our standard reporting procedures. DFID hires consultants to produce detailed analysis of its water and sanitation expenditure. They reported around 95 per cent. of DFID’s bilateral support to the sector was predominantly through governments and not-for-profit or humanitarian agencies in 2003-04. 2005-06 figures are expected by end 2006.
DFID committed £1.05 million for 2006-07 to support the World Bank led programme, the International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities (IBNET). This measures the performance of water service providers across the world. DFID has recently met with representatives of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation who are developing Water Operators’ Partnerships. These are intended to enable well-performing utilities to support utilities that are struggling to provide adequate water and sanitation services. DFID is considering how it might support this programme.
West Bank and Gaza
The UK Government are extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This is caused by the conflict with Israel; an economic downturn due to restrictions on movement and access and the Palestinian Authority’s fiscal crisis, which has meant it has been unable to pay salaries. The fiscal crisis is mainly the result of the withholding of clearance revenues by Israel and a downturn in domestically generated revenues. The suspension of budgetary support by donors has played a less significant role.
The suspension of budgetary support has been necessary following the Hamas-led Government’s failure to renounce violence, recognise Israel and sign up to previous peace agreements. However, the international community is doing what it can to address the humanitarian situation. The European Community has increased its aid from €250 million to €340 million this year. UK bilateral aid levels have remained constant at £30 million this financial year.
A Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) has been set up to support Palestinians directly instead of going through the Palestinian Authority. DFID intends to contribute up to £12 million to the TIM and the European Community is contributing €105 million. So far the TIM has delivered 2.6 million litres of fuel to keep water, sanitation and health care facilities running; allowances for over 63,000 Palestinian Government workers; and welfare payments to over 40,000 of the poorest Palestinians.
DFID has provided £15 million this financial year to support Palestinian refugees, through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA). DFID also gives core funding to other UN agencies which are helping to address the humanitarian situation including the World Food Programme and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Furthermore, we have deployed two experts to OCHA to improve its ability to monitor the humanitarian situation in Gaza. These experts will help to make sure that aid gets to those who need it the most.
World Poverty Day
DFID supports the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October because it highlights the tremendous support shown by people all over the world for the world’s poor. I marked World Poverty Day by publishing a statement on the DFID website, which featured progress made by DFID and the G8 countries since Gleneagles in fighting world poverty. In the run-up to World Poverty Day we used the DFID website to promote the UN Millennium Campaign’s Stand Up Against Poverty initiative. I congratulate them on setting a Guinness World Record: 23.5 million people in more than 100 countries took part in the challenge.
Transport
Airports
“The Future of Air Transport” White Paper sets out the conclusions of the Government on the case for future expansion at airports, following extensive study and consultation. The Government's consultation document on the future demand for regional air services in the north of England preceded the White Paper and informed its content.
“The Future of Air Transport” White Paper made clear that the future development of Robin Hood airport Doncaster Sheffield and Sheffield city airport would need to be determined through the normal regional and local planning processes. Surface access provision will be addressed alongside other planning considerations.
The Government’s policy on the development of airport capacity in the United Kingdom is contained in “The Future of Air Transport” White Paper, following extensive study and consultation. The White Paper made clear that the future development of Robin Hood airport Doncaster Sheffield and Sheffield city airport would need to be determined through the normal regional and local planning processes.
Robin Hood airport Doncaster Sheffield is owned and operated by Peel Airports Group. Peel Airports and Sheffield Business Park Ltd. are joint owners of Sheffield city airport.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is responsible for regulating civil airports in the United Kingdom. The CAA is not aware of any legal provisions that prevent access to the runway at Sheffield city airport by general aviation. In licensing Sheffield city airport, the CAA does not confer on any person the right to use the aerodrome without the consent of the licensee.
Aviation Noise
Databases (Security Breaches)
There have been no confirmed security breaches from external sources to databases controlled by the Department for Transport and its agencies in the last five years.
Confirmed breaches committed by staff over this period are:
Number of breaches Number of records compromised Estimate of total number of records accessible 2002 1 20 1— 2003 2 3 1— 2004 1 13 1— 2005 2 20 1— 2006 2 40 1— 1 Unknown.
Departmental Estate
The Department was formed in 2002. In the period since then to date we have not owned, leased, rented or occupied any properties at 42-48 Wigmore Street, London.
Dual Carriageways
(2) what plans there are to dual additional stretches of the A303 over the next decade; and if he will make a statement.
We are currently considering the inter-Departmental Review Group's report on options for improving the A303 past Stonehenge and will announce our conclusions in due course. The timing of other proposed improvements to the A303 to the west of Stonehenge, and the A358 between Ilminster and Taunton, will be influenced by our conclusions on the Stonehenge scheme. In considering the timetable for these scheme we will also take account of the south-west region's advice that, within the regional funding allocation for major transport schemes in the south-west, a start should be made on either the A303 Stonehenge scheme or on the A303 Ilminster bypass improvement and improvements to the A358 to Taunton within the next 10 years, and that other A303 schemes are for the longer term, beyond 2016. The Highways Agency is continuing to prepare the A303 Ilminster bypass improvement and improvement to the A358 from Ilminster to Taunton so that these schemes can be considered for entry into the targeted programme of improvements in due course.
Eurostar Services
Any changes to Eurostar service patterns are a matter for Eurostar. The Department for Transport has no plans to undertake any review of the viability of extending Eurostar services to regional destinations.
Funeral Limousines
No. The exception from the compulsory use of child seats or boosters by children permitted by the directive is for taxis. Updated regulations came into force on 18 September 2006 in Great Britain. For this purpose, they apply the exception to licensed taxis and licensed private hire vehicles only. Drivers of these vehicles cannot be expected to know in advance which and how many child seats or boosters may be required by child passengers. However, funeral directors do liaise with bereaved families over arrangements and therefore can arrange to take into account the need for child seats/boosters for child passengers when travelling in dedicated funeral vehicles.
Government Social Research Service
The total cost of the Government Social Research Service since the Department for Transport was established in May 2002 is estimated as follows:
Amount (£) 2002-03 2,671,087 2003-04 2,503,123 2004-05 2,622,204 2005-06 3,053,447
During this period 64 projects have been completed. The Department employs 15 Government Social Research Service staff.
Highways Agency (Animal Welfare)
The Highways Agency is committed to minimising the impact of the trunk road network (in England) on both the natural and built environment and to playing a full role in implementing the Government’s Biodiversity Action Plan. Where appropriate, the agency undertakes works to mitigate for the impact of its operational, maintenance and improvement works, which may include the provision of animal welfare measures. These measures include the provision of animal crossings in the form of tunnels and adapted farm crossings and underpasses. Appropriate fencing may be included to both prevent animals crossing the carriageway and direct the animals to a safe crossing facility. They also undertake specific enhancement measures, such as the provision of bat boxes as part of commitments set out in the Highways Agency Biodiversity Action Plan (HABAP). Finally, the agency also undertakes research to support the development of advice in relation to the effectiveness of such measures.
With respect to expenditure, mitigation and enhancement measures are often provided as part of larger scheme budgets and specific costs are not available. However as part of its HABAP commitments, the agency has installed in excess of 920 bat boxes since 2002. Each of these enhancement schemes has been evaluated through a value management process, to ensure that works are appropriate and represent value for money. Other works are evaluated through cost challenge workshops or similar procedures for assessing value for money.
Laser Speed Meters
I have been asked to reply.
A number of representations have been received since the introduction of the LTI.20.20 the exact number could not be extracted from our records without disproportionate cost.
M1
There are an average of 372 operatives and supervisors working on the M1 widening scheme between junctions 8 and 10. Of these, 347 work during the daytime and 25 during the night.
Railway Services
The root cause of the event that resulted in service disruption on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) on 1 September is still the subject of investigation by Network Rail. It is known that a train pantograph clashed with the overhead wiring structure to bring the wiring down. Following a detailed review of this and other incidents resulting in overhead line failures, a number of actions are being implemented to improve the monitoring and future maintenance of the equipment.
GNER have had discussions with officials in the Department, they have had none with Ministers.
A subsidy is to be paid to SWT for the first three financial years of the franchise:
2006-07: £16.2 million;
2007-08: £61.2 million; and
2008-09: £23.2 million.
Thereafter SWT pay a premium to the DfT:
2009-10: £36.5 million;
2010-11: £74.4 million;
2011-12: £117.4 million;
2012-13: £160.1 million;
2013-14: £193.9 million;
2014-15: £223.6 million;
2015-16: £250.4 million;
2016-17: £235.2 million.
All the above are Net Present Value.
Railway stations are owned by Network Rail and managed by Network Rail or Train Operators. It is for these parties, in consultation with stakeholders, to plan the facilities at stations and decide upon what charges might apply.
At present, Oyster Pay As You Go is not valid on national rail, and the only rail stations equipped for Oyster Pay As You Go are those which are also served by Underground trains. However, in May we announced that agreement has been reached with Transport for London to fund installation of Oyster equipment at all the remaining national rail stations in London. Coupled with the new simplified rail fares for London which we announced on 19 October 2006, Official Report, columns 61-62WS, this paves the way for Oyster Pay As You Go to be rolled out across national rail in London over the next few years.
Network Rail is responsible for monitoring the performance of passenger rail services. Since July 2004, punctuality of passenger trains has improved from 81.5 per cent. to 87.4 per cent.
This information is not held by the Department for Transport but by the British transport police who can be contacted at:
British Transport Police,
25 Camden Road,
London NW1 9LN,
E-mail: general.enquiries@btp.pnn.police.uk.
Road Freight
Estimates for the UK are not available. Annual figures for the level of road freight activity by GB-registered goods vehicles in Great Britain, excluding foreign vehicle activity, (measured both in tonnes and tonne kilometres) are published in Table 4.1 of Section 4 of the Department of Transport's annual statistical compendium “Transport Statistics Great Britain 2005”. This publication can be accessed on the Department's website. The link to Section 4 is:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_transstats/documents/page/dft_transstats_041493.pdf.
Roads Funding
The average cost for constructing a mile of motorway is £29.9 million. I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer of 13 June 2006, Official Report, column 1116W, for the cost of an additional kilometre of lane of motorway in the period of 2005-06 as the latest available. The equivalent rate per mile is £10 million. The average cost for trunk roads of constructing a mile of dual carriageway is £16.2 million and single carriageway £10.6 million.
Shiplake Level Crossing
The Office of Rail Regulation's Her Majesty's Railways Inspectorate (HMRI) has inspected the crossing both before and after the recent incident, of 24 July 2006, involving a train collision with a road vehicle. HMRI found that the protective measures for the crossing were in line with published guidance for this type of crossing and that there were no significant irregularities.
The Office of Rail Regulation and the industry continue to work to improve safety at all level crossings by addressing the root causes of accidents. However, as an estimated 96 per cent. of all level crossing accidents are caused by user misuse, level crossing users also have a role to play.
Speed Humps
Local authorities have the power to introduce or modify traffic calming schemes without approval from the Department. As such there are no central records which contain this information.
Thameslink 2000
Network Rail, in their Initial Strategic Business Plan (July 2006) has estimated the cost of the Thameslink Programme to be £3.5 billion (at 2006 prices).
However, a funding decision will be considered over the next few months in the light of the emerging conclusions of the cross-government Comprehensive Spending Review and the development of the new High Level Output Specification for Network Rail.
A funding decision on the Thameslink programme cannot be made in isolation and will be considered over the next few months in the light of the emerging conclusions of the cross-government Comprehensive Spending Review and the development of the new high level output specification for the railway.
Transport Security
The Government take the security of all transport systems very seriously. Protective security programmes exist for the aviation, maritime and land transport sectors. These security programmes are kept under continuous review. Regular meetings are held with each of the industries about the measures and procedures in place.
Communities and Local Government
Affordable Housing
[holding answer 26 October 2006]: The Government have already put in place policy for the provision and protection of open spaces and play areas. Planning Policy Guidance Note 17: “Open Space, Sport and Recreation” requires local planning authorities to make rigorous assessments of the existing and future needs of their communities for open space, including play areas. They should set standards in their plans which ensure adequate provision for open space as part of new housing developments.
Planning Policy Statement 3: “Housing”, when it is published later this year, will further emphasise the need for local planning authorities to assess the extent to which new housing development provides, or enables access to, community green space and open space, as well as private outdoor areas such as gardens. It will also emphasise that local planning authorities should take account of the need to provide play space for family housing in determining the size and type of affordable housing needed for their areas.
Age Discrimination
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has a personnel information system which holds staff records and therefore DCLG is aware of the age breakdown of its workforce.
There is no default age for retirement for staff below the senior civil service grades allowing an individual to continue work providing they receive satisfactory reports and have a good attendance and conduct record.
All staff irrespective of age are encouraged to access the learning portal which is available on their desks via the intranet to help them identify their development needs and select a suitable learning intervention.
Staff of any age may apply to work more flexibly and DCLG currently offers the following wherever practicable:
Reduced hours
Working at home
Condensed hours
Part year working
Term time working
Job share
This is in addition to the normal flexi time arrangements which are also available to all staff.
Building Standards
Earlier this year the Government amended the Building Regulations to increase the mandatory standards for energy efficiency. The new measures taken together with changes to strengthen Building Regulations in 2002 improve standards by 40 per cent. These tough new standards which came into effect on 6 April 2006 apply to all new buildings and when building work is carried out in existing buildings
The Building Regulations set minimum standards, but in addition from 1 April 2006, all new homes receiving Government funding will have to meet the new Ecohomes Very Good 2006 standard.
Departmental Expenditure
The Department for Communities and Local Government has not spent any money on external speechwriters.
(2) how much the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister spent on taxi fares in 2005-06.
In 2005-06, the most recent year for which figures are available, the Department of Communities and Local Government spent £148,080 on taxi fares.
Departmental Redundancies
Information prior to the creation of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on 5 May 2006 is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
From 5 May 2006 there have been no compulsory redundancies in DCLG. DCLG has employed 74 temporary staff. 221 staff from outside organisations have been seconded into DCLG.
Deputy Prime Minister
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister on 9 October 2006, Official Report, column 72W.
Disabled Facilities
The interdepartmental report “Reviewing the disabled facilities grant programme” was published in October 2005. This was an independent report on the operation of DFG prepared by Bristol University. The Government undertook to respond to this report’s recommendations in the form of a consultation paper, which will be published shortly.
Empty Dwellings
An unoccupied dwelling that is the principal residence of a person who is temporarily resident elsewhere is exempt from the legislation on Empty Dwelling Management Orders by virtue of exceptions in the Housing (Empty Dwelling Management Orders) (Prescribed Exceptions and Requirements (England) Order 2006. Second homes are also exempt. Where a dwelling is not exempt by virtue of the order the decision whether to make an Empty Dwelling Management Order is at the discretion of the local authority and is subject to approval by a Residential Property Tribunal.
Energy Efficiency (Building Regulations)
[holding answer 25 October 2006]: Amended Building Regulations were introduced in April 2006 to improve mandatory standards for energy efficiency and encourage the use of low energy technologies. In advance of this amendment a comprehensive review took place, including a formal public consultation exercise, involving a wide range of stakeholders. Improving compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations featured prominently in this review.
EU Directive 2002/91/EC
I apologise that administrative oversight meant that a copy of the National Energy Services report “An accreditation scheme for energy inspectors Phase 1: Scoping Study” was not placed in the Library on 10 July as we had intended. The report was correctly placed in the Library on 16 October
Home Condition Reports/Information Packs
The promotion of voluntary home condition reports from June will be informed by the area trials beginning next month.
More than 15,500 partial home information packs have been produced since the first phase of the home information pack dry-run commenced in November 2005.
The Department has not provided any funding to the Association of Home Information Pack Providers and has no plans to do so.
We will be using local media to inform sellers of the opportunity to have a Home Information Pack (HIP) and the benefits of doing so. We would also expect participating estate agents to explain the benefits of HIPs when discussing new instructions with clients.
More than 200 organisations have come forward to participate in the dry run. Of these, more than 70 are involved already. A list of organisations participating in the national dry run is available on our website and we will shortly be publishing details of participants in the six area trials. Both of these websites will be updated on an ongoing basis.
Home Ownership Schemes
Our new HomeBuy scheme offers three products based on equity sharing. Social HomeBuy enables tenants of local authorities and housing associations to buy a share in their current home at a discount, New Build HomeBuy enables people to buy a share of a newly built property paying a rent on the remainder, (including the First Time Buyers Initiative, which uses public sector land) and Open Market HomeBuy enables people to buy a property on the open market with the help of an equity loan.
Priority groups for our HomeBuy products are social tenants, key workers as defined under the Key Worker Living Programme and other first time buyers nominated by the Regional Housing Boards. We aim to help 35,000 people into homeownership through our HomeBuy programme over the next two years with increased investment of £970 million through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme.
The average grant rate for Open Market HomeBuy and New Build HomeBuy products in the Corporation's 06-08 programme at the time of allocation was £26,828.
Between 1999 and 2005 Low Cost Home Ownership assistance enabled 40,000 people to buy their own home. In 2005-06 the average household income of those purchasing homes under our equity loan and shared ownership schemes, on which our new HomeBuy products are based, was £30,000 and £26,000 respectively.
Homelessness
Information about local authorities’ actions under homelessness legislation is collected in respect of households, rather than persons, and at local authority rather than constituency level.
This is summarised in a quarterly Statistical Release on Statutory Homelessness, the latest of which was published by the Department for Communities and Local Government on 11 September. A supplementary table presents key information at local authority level, including the number of households accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need (and therefore owed a main homelessness duty) during the most recent quarter (April to June 2006), and the number of households in temporary accommodation arranged by the authority under homelessness legislation as at 30 June. This is available on the DCLG website:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/777/Supplementarytables_idl502777.xls
The duty owed to a person accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need is to secure suitable accommodation. If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority may secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available. As an alternative to the provision of temporary accommodation some authorities arrange for households to remain in their current accommodation (homeless at home), until a settled solution becomes available.
Financial year data from 1997-98 to 2005-06 on the number of acceptances and households in temporary accommodation, at local authority level, has already been placed in the Library in response to a question from the hon. Member for the Vale of Clwyd (Mr. Ruane) on 23 October 2006, Official Report, columns 1663-64W.
Information is also collected separately by the Department on the number of people who sleep rough, that is, those who are literally roofless on a single night. This information, from 1998 onwards and at local authority level, is also presented in the tables already placed in the Library.
Household Numbers
Updated estimates of the number of households in England in each year from 1991 to 2004 will be published on the Department for Communities and Local Government website in November 2006. Projections of household numbers from 2003 to 2026 were published on the DCLG website on 14 March 2006:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=l002882&PressNoticeID=2097
Housing
The percentages of affordable housing units provided by registered social landlords as a result of section 106 agreements in England in the financial year 2004-05 are tabulated as follows. Information on section 106 agreements in 2005-06 is being finalised and will be made available on the Department for Communities and Local Government website shortly.
Total affordable housing units provided Number of affordable units with contributions through S106 agreements Percentage North East 728 186 26 North West 2,220 483 22 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,360 592 44 East Midlands 1,880 1,165 62 West Midlands 3,153 1,531 49 East 3,818 2,569 67 London 9,388 3,634 39 South East 8,020 5,038 63 South West 3,304 1,756 53 England 33,871 16,954 50 Notes: 1. Affordable housing is defined as social rent and low cost home ownership. 2. Units includes dwellings and bed spaces. 3. Information refers to registered social landlords only and excludes other housing associations not registered with the Housing Corporation. Source:Housing Corporation. Annual returns (HSSA) from local authorities to DCLG.
The Government are already taking forward many of the recommendations of the Affordable Rural Housing Commission. Its proposals are being fed into a series of processes, including the Comprehensive Spending Review and the forthcoming planning policy statement on housing. We have also set up a website to report on the progress we are making towards improving access to affordable housing in rural areas, including examples of best practice, in response to the Affordable Rural Housing Commission’s report.
Land Use
The Department made a contribution of £35,000 in October 2004 to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council sponsored project Sustainability of Land Use and Transport in Outer Neighbourhoods.
Muslim Council of Britain
[holding answer 20 October 2006]: Since its creation in May 2006, the Department for Communities and Local Government has not given any financial support, or support in kind, to the Muslim Council of Britain.
Omega
[holding answer 26 October 2006]: The planning application referred to is for the development of part of a site known as Omega, situated in Warrington. It covers approximately 100 hectares and lies on either side of the M62 motorway. The application includes the provision of offices, light industry, warehousing and distribution facilities, and makes up the first two phases of the proposed development of the whole Omega site, which covers some 230 hectares in total. Warrington borough council resolved on 19 October that it was minded to approve the application, and in accordance with the terms of a Direction made under Article 14 of the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995, the council has consulted the Secretary of State and sought her authorisation to grant planning permission for the application. A decision on how the Government will proceed (about whether it will call in the application for further public scrutiny and determination by the Secretary of State, or alternatively allow the council to determine the application itself) will be made in the near future.
[holding answer 26 October 2006]: The planning application referred to is for the development of part of a site known as Omega, situated in Warrington. It covers approximately 100 hectares and lies on either side of the M62 motorway. The application includes the provision of offices, light industry, warehousing and distribution facilities, and makes up the first two phases of the proposed development of the whole Omega site, which covers some 230 hectares in total. Warrington borough council resolved on 19 October that it was minded to approve the application. The nature and scale of this proposal is such that it raises significant strategic planning and transport issues. They are of a type which require a decision to be made as to whether the application should be called-in for further public scrutiny and determination by the Secretary of State, or alternatively left with the council for determination. It was for this reason that a Direction was made under Article 14 of the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995—the Direction requires the council not to grant permission for the application unless and until authorised by the Secretary of State.
Pensions
The amount spent on the local government pension scheme (LGPS) involving contributions paid by employers and employees, plus investment income, and the amount spent annually on pension benefits between 1995-96 and 2004-05 is shown at columns two and three respectively in the following table. Information before 1995-96 is not available.
Total income Expenditure on benefits 1995-96 4.2 2.6 1996-97 4.7 2.7 1997-98 5.0 2.9 1998-99 5.5 3.0 1999-2000 5.9 3.1 2000-01 6.3 3.3 2001-02 6.7 3.5 2002-03 7.0 3.6 2003-04 7.6 3.8 2004-05 8.3 4.0
No forecasts have been made of how much will be spent between 2007-08 and 2050-51. Future pension liabilities, and the amount of employer contributions, taking into account the expected level of investment returns needed to match future liabilities, are determined by fund actuaries every three years. The next fund valuation exercise takes place in England and Wales on 31 March 2007.
At 31 March 2005, the number of active members, pensioners with deferred benefits and pensioners in the local government pension scheme was 1.6 million; 757,000 and 952,000 respectively. All the above data are derived from annual returns submitted to the Department by LGPS administering authorities in England and Wales.
DCLG holds data on the actual amount spent by Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) on the firefighters pension scheme for the years 2003-04 to 2005-06 as well as estimates, provided by the FRAs, of the amount that will be spent on both the 1992 and 2006 firefighter pension schemes for the years 2006-07 until 2010-11. These data are shown in the following table.
Financial year Pensions expenditure by FRAs 2003-04 Actual 376,117 2004-05 Actual 415,286 2005-06 Actual 455,474 2006-07 Estimate 460,303 2007-08 Estimate 481,671 2008-09 Estimate 530,586 2009-10 Estimate 553,283 2010-11 Estimate 570,732
These figures are only for the amount spent in England on the firefighter pension scheme by FRAs.
There were 31,062 members of the 1992 firefighter pension scheme at the 31 March 2006.
Planning
(2) how many developments have been made by statutory undertakings using powers contained in schedule 2, part 5 of the General Permitted Development Order 1995 in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement;
(3) what rights of appeal residents have to a proposed development by a statutory undertaking in accordance with schedule 2, part 5 of the General Permitted Development Order 1995; and if she will make a statement.
There is no right of appeal against a statutory grant of planning permission which has been enacted by Parliament and part 5 of the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO), in particular, contains no powers, only entitlements. We have no records of part 5 permitted development rights being exercised by statutory undertakers. Statutory undertakers have their own permitted development rights in part 17 of schedule 2 of the GPDO, though there is nothing to prevent a statutory undertaker from enjoying the benefit of any of the other permitted development rights in the GPDO that might apply to their land in a particular case. Were there to be a dispute about whether permitted development rights applied in a particular case, it might be resolved either by an application made to the local planning authority for a certificate of lawfulness to confirm the existence of such rights in respect of a particular development proposal, or by enforcement action taken by the local planning authority.
[holding answer 26 October 2006]: The development plan is the starting point in the consideration of planning applications, together with any other material considerations, including national planning policy, where relevant. The degree to which the creation of employment opportunities and the impact of proposals on the regional economy are considered will depend on the circumstances of the case, but they may well be material considerations for the decision-taker to weigh in the balance with other factors when determining planning applications for major employment sites.
Population Projections
No. I consulted widely on the implementation of multi year settlements for local government. This consultation included the option, which was largely supported and subsequently adopted, to use sub-national population projections instead of the mid-year population estimates as the main driver of population in the local government funding distribution system.
Regeneration (Thames Gateway)
Good design is a prerequisite for creating sustainable, cohesive communities and is therefore central to delivering regeneration objectives in the Thames Gateway.
My Department is working closely with others in the Thames Gateway Strategic Partnership to secure improved design quality. We will be setting out our expectations for high quality design in the Thames Gateway, along with a package of measures to support good design in our Interim Strategic Framework, which will be published on 22 November 2006.
Supporting People Programme
As I announced on 19 July 2006, Official Report, columns 22-23WS, Supporting People grant allocations to local authorities have been confirmed for 2007-08. Funding for Supporting People beyond that year will be determined through the Comprehensive Spending Review.
We have also consulted on a number of funding-related issues, including approaches to future grant distribution and to new investment, as part of our on-going work to develop a Supporting People strategy. Our initial response following that consultation was set out in “Supporting Independence: Next Steps in our Supporting People Strategy” published on 11 July 2006, and we will publish our full Supporting People strategy in due course.
Sustainable Homes
The proposed water efficiency levels in the code for sustainable homes are currently being finalised.
I hope to launch the code for sustainable homes before the end of the year.
Taskforce Data
[holding answer 12 October 2006]: The information requested in respect of the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, the Social Exclusion Unit and the Urban Policy Unit is available in the Department for Communities and Local Government Annual Report and on the Department’s website at www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1501648. On item (i) the Urban Task Force reported in July 1999 and information can be found in the annex to the 2000 Urban White Paper “Our Towns and Cities: the Future”.
Local Strategic Partnerships are voluntary partnerships which bring together, at a local authority level, the different parts of the public sector as well as the private, business, community and voluntary sectors. They were formally introduced in the Local Government Act 2000 alongside the duty for local authorities, in partnership with the community and local agencies and organisations to produce a Community Strategy to improve the well-being of their area.
The work of the Active Communities Unit was part of the Home Office. It has now been incorporated in the office of the third sector in the Cabinet Office. Information on the performance of the former Active Communities Unit is available in the Home Office departmental report available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/annual-report-06.pdf?view=Binary.
Valuation Office Agency
I have been asked to reply.
ACORN™ data acquired by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) relates to all households in England. This is held centrally at an aggregated level and not by reference to individual households. The data are not incorporated into the VOA's database.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Abattoirs
The following table shows, as at September 2006, the number of abattoirs in England approved or authorised to serve the cattle, the sheep or the poultry sectors. The figures indicate the number of abattoirs approved or authorised to slaughter each species, some slaughter more than one species.
Species slaughtered Number of abattoirs Cattle 205 Sheep 214 Poultry 95
[holding answer 24 October 2006]: There are 55 plants in England registered to process organic meat. Forty-five are red meat slaughterhouses, 38 are red meat cutting plants, six are white meat slaughterhouses, 10 are white meat cutting plants and seven deal with meat preparation. The majority of cutting plants are co-located with the slaughterhouses.
This number excludes meat processors registered on the license of an organic producer.
[holding answer 24 October 2006]: There are currently 246 red meat abattoirs and 95 poultry meat abattoirs authorised to operate in England. Of these, 233 red meat and 82 poultry meat abattoirs were operating during the month of September 2006. A number of abattoirs may not be operating at any one time for a variety of reasons, such as seasonal operation, refurbishment or commercial reasons.
The hon. Gentleman will recall the answer I gave to him on 14 July 2006, Official Report, column 2173W. This noted that the number of slaughterhouses in England has fallen in recent years, reflecting a longer-term trend for consolidation, and that the Government recognise the importance of an adequate network of slaughterhouses to ensure that all sustainable production needs can continue to be met. I also refer my hon. Friend again to the answer given by my predecessor on 9 November 2005, Official Report, column 476W.
Agency Budgets
[holding answer 23 October 2006]: The (a) original and (b) revised resource budgets for 2006-07 for the named bodies were as follows:
(i) British Waterways—£52.461 million to £48.527 million
(ii) Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science—£33.3 million to £32.4 million
(iii) Natural England—£207.751 million to £193.551 million
(iv) Food from Britain—£5.358 million to £4.965 million
(v) Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB—No change at £230,000
(vi) Marine Fisheries Agency—£31.233 million to £29.511 million
(vii) Pesticides Safety Directorate—£11.2 million to £10.361 million
(viii) Rural Payments Agency—£214.031 million to £237.031 million
(ix) State Veterinary Service—£91.347 million to £88.347 million
(x) Veterinary Laboratories Agency—£94.769 million to £92.419 million.
No changes have been made to the original capital budgets for 2006-07 for these bodies other than an increase for the (viii) Rural Payments Agency—£4.99 million to £27.99 million.
Planned budgets for 2007-08 are still being discussed with the relevant bodies.
[holding answer 23 October 2006]: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has confirmed that advance payments were made to this applicant on 10 May 2006 and 7 July 2006. A further payment is due following an award from the National Reserve. The RPA is unable to give a date for the payment but this will be as soon as it is possible.
Agricultural Support
The following tables show subsidies and other payments paid direct to farmers in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2005 in current prices (or “actual terms”) and in real terms at 2005 prices with the retail prices index.
The data include subsidies and other payments funded by the EU. They exclude compensation for losses due to foot and mouth disease in 2001 and other capital transfers.
£ million Coupled subsidies1 Decoupled subsidies and other payments2 Total subsidies and other payments 1997 2,588 189 2,777 1998 2,436 210 2,646 1999 2,373 318 2,692 2000 2,187 297 2,484 2001 1,923 536 2,459 2002 2,132 562 2,694 2003 2,174 622 2,796 2004 2,369 585 2,955 20053 212 2,831 3,043
Retail prices index (2,000=100) Coupled subsidies1 (£ million) Decoupled subsidies and other payment2 (£ million) Total subsidies and other payments (£ million) 1997 92 3,154 230 3,384 1998 96 2,871 247 3,118 1999 97 2,755 369 3,124 2000 100 2,465 334 2,800 2001 102 2,129 594 2,723 2002 103 2,323 612 2,935 2003 106 2,302 659 2,961 2004 110 2,436 602 3,038 20053 113 212 2,831 3,043 1 Payments directly linked to the production of agricultural products, eg sheep annual premium, beef special premium scheme, less levies, eg milk superlevy. 2 Payments not linked to the production of agricultural products, eg single payment scheme, agri-environment schemes, support for less favoured areas. 3 Data for 2005 are provisional. Note: Excludes compensation for losses due to foot and mouth disease in 2001 and other capital transfers.
Looking ahead, expenditure on coupled subsidies is largely demand led and, therefore, difficult to estimate. Expenditure on decoupled subsidies will arise largely from the single payment scheme, for which the UK’s financial ceiling for years 2006 onwards is shown in the following table:
Budget for single payment scheme: United Kingdom (£ million)1 2006 2,673 2007 2,684 2008 2,695 2009 2,701 2010+ 2,694 1 Calculated using the euro/ exchange rate which applies in the 2006 scheme year (1€ = 0.67770).
The European Commission has also recently announced that the UK will receive approximately £1.3 billion for expenditure on rural development programmes over the seven-year period 2007-13. These European Funds must be matched, or near-matched, pound for pound with domestic exchequer money.
Animal Welfare
The information requested is set out in the following table:
Complaints Legal action taken Resolved Not yet resolved 2001 69 21 21 0 2002 125 46 46 0 2003 130 54 54 0 2004 140 51 51 0 2005 142 50 49 11 2006 to date 82 34 33 21 1 (case is subject to further investigation) 2 (prosecution pending)
Legal action can include prosecution, provision of a statement, serving an Enforcement Notice under Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations 2000 (as amended), issuing a caution or advisory letter and a revisit to monitor compliance.
Battery Cages
There have been no recent developments on this issue in the European Union Agriculture Council. Under Council Directive 99/74/EC, conventional cages will be banned from 2012.
The European Commission's report on the various rearing systems for laying hens is overdue, but is expected by the end of the year. Further information is available on the DEFRA website at:
www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/farmed/layers/index.htm.
Carbon Fund for Africa
The second meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Nairobi, this November, presents an ideal opportunity to explore how Africa’s participation in investment in projects through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) can be enhanced. There are several alternative proposals on the table for discussion in Nairobi, and the UK is keen to see a positive outcome.
The CDM market has grown enormously in the last year, with an estimated 1,000 projects, and 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the pipeline to 2012. The UK is the major private sector participant in the CDM market, with UK companies participating in some 25 per cent. of currently registered CDM projects.
Africa does not have a record of attracting significant private investment in the CDM, so the Government are arguing for the development of a fund which could assist in building capacity within Africa to develop and identify projects that could attract carbon finance. I am discussing the idea with colleagues from within the EU as well as from Africa. In parallel, I have asked officials to examine how a carbon fund for Africa could be best designed to deliver on this objective.
The challenge is to ensure that any fund is designed to deliver long-term benefits to the countries concerned. As well as pressing the fund we need to look at the full range of measures to support and enhance Africa’s participation in the CDM.
There is already considerable international experience of support for CDM-related investment.
The UK already supports several initiatives that assist African participation in CDM:
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Global Opportunities Fund supports many projects designed to enhance developing countries’ capacity to participate in CDM. There are several projects supporting CDM investment in Africa; in Angola, Nigeria and South Africa.
As a Government, we are also investing in the Kuyasa township CDM project in Cape Town, South Africa, to offset the emissions of the G8 presidency. I hope that we can build on this investment in the tender for the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund which we have set up to offset emissions from official travel.
There are also several existing multilateral, European and bilateral initiatives on support capacity building and project investment, agreed at a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change level, through the World Banks and bilaterally. This is something we need to learn from and build on.
Cheese Production
Precise estimates for the gross value added from UK cheese production are not available. However, based on the value of sales, it is estimated that the manufacture of cheese, including grated and processed cheese, represented (a) less than 0.05 per cent. of national gross domestic product, and (b) about 1.5 per cent. of gross value added for food and drink manufacturing, in 2004.
Common Land
Rights of common remain rooted in the common law. The Commons Act 2006 reforms legislation relating to the registration, management and protection of common land, but leaves these common law rules largely unchanged. The Act enables the improved agricultural management of common land by statutory commons councils consisting of representatives of commoners and others with interests in the land at a local level.
Dairy Farming
The following table shows the imports of liquid milk from Poland over the last 12 months to August 2006 as recorded in the Official Trade Statistics. Imports of liquid milk were recorded for five of these months as shown in the table. There were no recorded imports for the other months in this period.
For the period January to August 2006 the total liquid milk imported from Poland accounts for 0.02 per cent. of total imports of liquid milk into the UK.
Tonnes £000 January 0.7 0.2 March 2.0 0.1 April 4.3 1.1 May 0.9 0.7 August 0.3 0.1 Grand total 8.2 2.1 1 2006 data are subject to amendments Source: HM Revenue and Customs
The information requested is in the table.
Holder’s age breakdown Number of holders Percentage of total Dairy farmers Less than 35 years 403 3.2 35-44 years 2,123 17.0 45-54 years 3,649 29.3 55-64 years 3,827 30.7 65 years and over 2,449 19.7 All years 12,450 100.0 All farmers Less than 35 years 4,882 2.6 35-44 years 23,769 12.9 45-54 years 42,897 23.2 55-64 years 54,050 29.2 65 years and over 59,310 32.1 All years 184,909 100.0 Source: EC Farm Structure Survey 2005. Data prepared by Surveys, Statistics and Food Economics, Defra, York
The Farming Regulation and Charging Strategy for England, published in November 2005, details a number of commitments to reduce bureaucracy and make regulatory controls more effective and easier to comply with, including through the Whole Farm Approach. The strategy is available on the DEFRA website at:
www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/regulation/charge/pdf/farm-regulation-strategy.pdf
DEFRA has made a commitment to reduce the administrative burdens its regulations impose on business by 25 per cent. by 2010. We have recently participated in a cross-Government exercise to measure this burden and are now in the final stages of finalising our Simplification Plan to be published in November 2006. This plan outlines a range of simplification initiatives, including many that impact on farmers, which will reduce the burden on business and reach our 25 per cent. target.
Some of these approaches will offer benefits to dairy farmers. In addition, the Government are continuing to press for the abolition of the milk quotas system, which will help to simplify existing arrangements in this sector.
Databases (Security Breaches)
The Department has no records of breaches of databases in any of the last five years.
Departmental Expenditure
The Department's budget for 2006-07 has not been changed in the last six months. Budgets have been changed for a number of associated non-departmental public bodies within the last six months.
A detailed finance report is reviewed monthly by the Department's Management Board (including non-executive directors) and all Ministers. This report compares spend to budget for all major programmes and addresses the forecast out-turn for the year, comparing to parliamentary and Treasury control totals. Actions are taken as appropriate following this review process.
Further specific analysis is prepared from across the Department to support decision-making as required.
Departmental Funding
The Department publishes planned funding allocations by areas of work for future years in the “core tables” included in the annual Departmental Report. Information on allocations set for 2005-06 is shown on pages 277 to 280 of the Departmental Report 2005, and that for 2006-07 is shown on pages 255 to 259 of the Departmental Report 2006. Further detail on the Department's agencies is given in the body of both reports.
Departmental Mail
None of the Department’s mail is shipped using private companies. 100 per cent. is shipped using Royal Mail.
Departmental Redundancies
DEFRA was created in June 2001, and the following information relates to the period since then.
Number of redundancies Cost of redundancies Temporary staff (as at 1 April) Inward secondees (as at 1 April) 2001-02 — — — — 2002-03 0 0 890 26 2003-04 0 0 380 28 2004-05 0 0 290 36 2005-06 0 0 332 40 Note: Defra has only just announced that 30 wildlife officers in the wildlife units near Truro and Stroud will be issued with compulsory redundancy notices in late October.
Departmental Staff
As at 30 September 2006, 24 per cent. of the staff employed by DEFRA and its agencies worked in London offices.
Emissions (Steel Works)
Installations for the production of steel with a production capacity of more than 2.5 tonnes per hour are subject to the integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) Directive (96/61/EC), which is transposed through the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000.
Under those Regulations, the regulator (the Environment Agency in most cases, the local authority in the remainder) has to set emission limits for any pollutant likely to be emitted in significant quantities. The regulator has to do so on the basis of the application at the installation of the best available techniques (BAT) and taking into account the installation’s technical characteristics, location and the local environmental conditions.
Emission limits therefore vary between installations. Each installation’s limits are set out in its permit issued under the Regulations. A copy of each permit is held on the public register maintained by the regulator.
Farm Gate Prices
The following table shows monthly average farm gate milk prices in pence per litre for the last 12 months for the United Kingdom. The average prices are calculated from monthly surveys of milk purchasers conducted in England and Wales by DEFRA, in Scotland by the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department and in Northern Ireland by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The farm gate price is the average price received by producers, net of delivery charges. No deduction has been made for super-levy.
Units: pence per litre Excluding bonus payments Including bonus payments 2005 September 19.46 19.47 October 19.71 19.71 November 19.76 19.77 December 19.27 19.27 2006 January 18.65 18.67 February 18.34 18.36 March 18.11 18.13 April 17.34 17.36 May 16.81 16.83 June 16.83 16.83 July 17.18 17.18 August 17.60 17.61
Farm gate prices are primarily a matter for the buyers and sellers concerned. However, the implications for the dairy industry of downward pressure on producer prices was one of the items discussed at a recent meeting between the Secretary of State and supermarket chairmen.
Farm Subsidies
Additional costs, in the form of reduced EU funding, may arise in relation to payments under the 2005 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) which are made after the end of the regulatory payment window on 30 June 2006. However, it is not yet possible to say what if any costs may arise in practice, as that depends on the outcome of ongoing discussions with the European Commission and the amount and timing of outstanding payments across the UK.
As announced on 22 June 2006, Official Report, column 1478, the Rural Payments Agency is also paying interest payments to those claimants who had not received their full SPS payment by 30 June 2006 subject to a £50 de minimis. As at 11 October 2006, £318,201 in interest payments had been made.
Food Stocks
[holding answer 24 October 2006]: The Department works with the Institute of Grocery Distribution to carry out a Food Stocks Survey across all levels of the food industry every two years. The last survey was completed in 2005 and work on the 2007 survey is underway. The information gathered allows Defra to better represent the food industry in any discussions with other Government Departments during incidents which could impact the industry.
Government Social Research Service
There were no Government Social Researchers in DEFRA prior to December 2003. Since that date, the requested figures are as follows:
Financial year Project cost Staff cost Total cost Completed projects1 GSR staff (min-max) 2003-04 175 23 198 0 0-1 2004-05 1,222 109 1,331 9 1-4 2005-06 1,803 263 2,066 22 5-5 2006-07 21,034 2234 21,268 10 4-5 1 These figures do not include the considerable outputs of the Rural Evidence Research Centre, which take a variety of forms (including conference papers and workshops/seminars) and which are therefore more difficult to enumerate. 2 Forecast.
The expenditure recorded does not necessarily reflect the total expenditure on social research across the whole of DEFRA, as sometimes work is commissioned and funded directly from policy budgets without the knowledge or involvement of Government Social Research staff.
Local Authority Charges
The basis for the increase to the application fees for existing dry cleaners was set out in the consultation paper which is available on the DEFRA website at the following website address:
www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/drycleaners-pollutionfee/index.htm
Approval of the Treasury was secured.
Meat Imports
[holding answer 26 October 2006]: No. European Community legislation sets the criteria which must be met by meat imported from third countries:
the country must be approved to export to the European Union (EU)
there must be agreed animal and public health certification in place
the product must come from an approved plant.
Meat products from Tanzania cannot be imported into the EU because the country does not meet any of the above criteria.
Media Advisers
A review of the Department’s press office was carried out earlier this year. This resulted in a reduction of four posts. There are no plans for a further review.
Minimum Wage
The information requested is as follows:
(a) No staff in core-Defra, or its executive agencies (Central Science Laboratory; Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science; Rural Payments Agency and Veterinary Laboratories Agency) who operate delegated pay arrangements, were affected by the increase in the national minimum wage on 1 October i.e. minimum salaries were already set at a level above the new rate quoted.
(b) In respect of the Department’s non-departmental public bodies, I am unable to comment on them, as this information is not readily available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Monopoly Food Processors
(2) what plans the Government have to regulate the activities of larger processors and retailers in the food chain.
Processors and retailers in the food chain are already subject to a wide range of regulatory requirements, most of which are of wider applicability. The adequacy of these controls is kept under review. Where new controls are needed, the Government’s policy is to examine all options, including alternatives to regulation such as voluntary agreements.
Competition law already prohibits companies that are in a dominant position in their markets from abusing their dominance. Responsibility for enforcing the law in this area rests with the Office of Fair Trading.
Natural England
The establishment of Natural England delivered £0.8 million of efficiencies in 2005-06, and is currently expected to deliver £3 million of efficiencies in 2006-07 (in line with original estimates). The Modernising Rural Delivery programme as a whole, of which the establishment of Natural England is a significant part, was originally expected to deliver (and is still on target to deliver) annual efficiencies of £21 million by 2009-10. Natural England is expected to deliver efficiencies of £6.5 million by 2007-08. Latest estimates are that in 2009-10 approximately £13.5 million of efficiencies will result from the establishment of Natural England, and from its decision to outsource its corporate service functions to DEFRA’s Shared Service Organisation.
Private Finance Initiative Projects
There have been no DEFRA- sponsored PFI projects postponed pending further consideration or stopped in the last 12 months.
Poultry Farms (Pollution Prevention)
The Environment Agency (EA) is required, in accordance with HM Treasury's guidance and the “polluter pays principle”, to recover the full costs of regulation from those it regulates. The EA has worked with the farming sector to develop a straightforward, least-cost approach for farmers. It is for the EA, as the regulator, to assess the level of effort required to meet the pollution prevention and control requirements. In parallel, my Department continues to encourage the EA to demonstrate full transparency on what costs are for. The EA is also being set targets to drive efficiency throughout the organisation and gains will in turn offset charges as appropriate.
In response to concerns raised by the industry, the EA presented a proposal on subsistence charging in February this year. The EA's proposals were accepted by the British Poultry Council as well as other intensive livestock trade associations in May. A subsistence charge of £1,471 for an existing small farm and £1,844 for an existing large farm will therefore be charged to the industry from August 2007 until March 2008, provided that the industry stages its applications over the three month application window (from 1 November 2006 to 31 January 2007).
The annual subsistence fee covers not only the EA's costs for inspections, but also the costs of providing guidance, scheme infrastructure and permit maintenance.
The Department has been working closely with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to improve our understanding of how Campylobacter infection develops and spreads. We have also considered effective methods of controlling the spread of this bacteria at all levels of the food chain, including controls on farm and best practice guidance in the kitchen.
For the period 2005-08, DEFRA has committed £2.65 million towards research on the control of Campylobacter and the development of intervention practices to reduce the incidence of the bacterium within poultry production systems. This includes a DEFRA/FSA joint-funded three year survey, starting in 2007, to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter in UK flocks of chicken for meat production.
A report published by the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food in July 2005 concluded that the control of Campylobacter is a practical proposition in housed flocks where producers maintain rigorous biosecurity measures and high flock management standards. As a result, priority action at farm level has focused on the importance of meeting good biosecurity standards. This action reinforces wider food hygiene initiatives in the commercial and domestic food handling settings.
These research and education projects will help to support the FSA and the poultry industry in meeting their target to achieve a 50 per cent. reduction in the incidence of UK-produced chicken testing positive for Campylobacter by 2010.
Recycled Waste
In March 2005, DEFRA wrote to all waste collection and disposal authorities in England, pressing them to ensure that any waste collected from households is managed in accordance with national, European and international obligations.
Local authorities should assure themselves that waste that is exported is in compliance with the relevant environmental legislation, including that which applies to waste exports, and the duty of care.
The Environment Agency has also published a guide on the international shipment of waste, “The Transfrontier Shipment of Waste”, which is available from its website: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/ep235tsw_446853.pdf.
The Department does not hold the information requested. It is the responsibility of each local authority to decide how to manage household waste sustainably and meet its targets. We are aware that authorities, such as the London borough of Barnet, are using compulsory recycling schemes. This is to ensure recycling services provided are used well, not to raise revenue.
Rural Payments Agency
The opening and final allocations for the running costs of the Rural Payments Agency for each year since 2003-04 are shown in the following table.
Opening allocation Final allocation 2003-041 151,649 168,769 2004-052 194,789 219,011 2005-06 210,277 213,210 1 RPA's running costs allocation was increased in-year by £16.6 million to reflect the merger with the British Cattle Movement Service. 2 Running costs allocation increased in-year by £16.7 million end-year- flexibility (carry forward of underspends incurred in previous years).
Tree Planting
Incentives to promote the planting of trees in England are part of the Forestry Commission's English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS). Defra's Environmental Stewardship Scheme builds on past achievements by providing incentives for small-scale tree planting. Defra's Energy Crops Scheme has provided the option for farmers to plant short rotation coppice willow species, as part of the Government's support for diversifying resources for renewable energy initiatives.
In addition to these England-wide schemes there are various regional and local initiatives aimed at increasing tree cover; notably the National Forest in the Midlands and the 12 Community Forest partnerships based close to urban areas.
Waterways
I have consulted closely with the chairman and chief executive of British Waterways about the in-year cut of about 7 per cent. of grant in aid amounting to £3.94 million. They accept that Government have provided £524 million in funding for British Waterways since 2000, of which £452 million was for waterways in England and Wales. Over this period, British Waterways has substantially improved the state of its waterways and has eliminated the safety backlog. It has also concluded substantial regeneration and property projects and facilitated the restoration of some 200 miles of derelict canals. The current assessment of the effect of the reduction in the 2006-07 budgets is that there is likely to be some delay to capital works and a setting back of the date by which British Waterways will be able to reduce year-on-year the requirements for grant in aid from Government.
I will be meeting the chief executive again and will look further at the implications of the cuts in funding and how British Waterways can continue to contribute to Government priorities.
British Waterways received an additional £42 million between 1999 and 2004, which has enabled it to clear its backlog of safety maintenance. There remains a general maintenance arrear of £119 million. It is responsible for about 60 per cent. of the navigable waterways in England and Wales, about three quarters of which are canals.
The Environment Agency manages about 1,000 kilometres of waterways in England and Wales, roughly 25 per cent. of the total. Its backlog of safety maintenance work to its waterways assets, all of which are on navigable rivers, is currently approximately £50 million.
The Broads Authority manages about 3 per cent. of the waterways of England and Wales. It has a backlog of dredging estimated at £21 million, but the costs of disposal and maintenance are still being evaluated.
Information on the condition of waterways owned or managed by non-public navigation authorities is not available.
British Waterways is restructuring its organisation in order to deliver improvements in its customer service and business efficiency.
As part of this there are proposals for the merger of the West Midlands and Central Shires business units which include Sandwell. These proposals are currently subject to consultation with the trade unions. The impact on the canals in Sandwell will be assessed in parallel.
This process of restructuring has been accelerated by the recent reduction in Government funding.
Whaling
The UK will continue to protest at the highest diplomatic level against Iceland’s activities. I have called the Icelandic ambassador to my office to explain this decision and to voice our strong opposition to Iceland’s commercial whaling. We will continue our efforts, along with other countries, to urge Iceland to reconsider its position and reverse this unjustified and unnecessary decision.
House of Commons Commission
Parliamentary Papers
inHouse is the staff magazine of the House of Commons and the House of Lords and is produced five or six times per annum depending on the pattern of the parliamentary year. The current print run is 3,000 copies at a typical net cost of some £6,200 per edition (including VAT). Thirty per cent. of this cost is met by the House of Lords. Copies are provided to all current staff of the two Houses including contractors, some retired staff and others (for example those featured in a particular issue). Copies are provided to Members and their staff on request to the editor. As inHouse is not connected to business of the House and is primarily intended for the staff of the two Houses, it would not be appropriate to distribute it via the Vote Office. The Printed Paper Office is a matter for the House of Lords. The Library keeps a reference copy of each edition for use by Members and others.
September Sittings
The works programme for each year is planned to fit with the expected parliamentary timetable. Over the past three years approximately £17 million has been spent in each summer recess on works projects across both Houses, of which approximately 60 per cent. (£10 million) has been in the Commons. The Commission has estimated the effect of a two-week sitting period in September 2006 on the basis that such sittings and the works programme were planned from the previous November.
If projects in the Palace and in those buildings housing Members stopped work for two weeks, an additional one/two week period would be required for project close down, making safe, then restarting. This means the overall impact on the works programme would equate to a total delay of up to three or four weeks out of the period over the summer recess from the end of July to mid October.
Assuming that the aim would be to complete most projects in the shorter recess, the overall additional cost of an early September two-week return might be in the order of 15 per cent. (an additional £2.5 million across both Houses or £1.5 million for the Commons) of the cost of recess works in a normal summer. The additional costs would arise primarily from the need to increase evening and weekend working to complete projects more quickly.
This figure for 2006 is substantially higher than the figure of £90,000 for additional works costs in 2003 and 2004 given in my written answer of 5 July 2006, Official Report, column 1083W, because it is impossible to determine with any accuracy what the actual costs of alternative contracts might have been. The £90,000 refers only to direct costs incurred in tidying up for the return including the dismantling of scaffolding and essential health and safety issues.
There are also substantial but unquantifiable long-term costs and risks involved in delaying some projects and not tackling the backlog of maintenance work required for the parliamentary estate. The Parliamentary Estates Board has expressed the view that the Palace structure and infrastructure will need a higher level of maintenance and refurbishment over the next few years to halt further deterioration in its condition. Key elements are the needs for a major overhaul of the cast iron roofs, renewal of much of the internal infrastructure of pipes and cabling, fire compartmentation and automatic fire detection systems, and further stone restoration. It is unlikely that this can be completed effectively if all the work is confined to recesses, whether or not there are September sittings.
It is not possible meaningfully to identify other additional costs arising from September sittings because major costs including accommodation and staffing continue throughout the year irrespective of whether or not the House is sitting. The overall daily resource cost of running the House administration in 2005-06 was £560,000.
The cost of the two-day emergency recall in September 1998 was estimated at the time to have cost about £375,000 in works costs. There were other staff costs, mainly for security and some overtime, amounting to £33,200—22 October 1998, Official Report, column 1189.
Voters Pack
Between the launch in July 2006 up to the end of September 2006, a total of 95,756 copies of the Voting Times have been distributed across the United Kingdom to new voters, as they have reached their 18th birthday, at a cost of approximately £1 per recipient.
Each copy of Voting Times is personalised for the recipient, as research carried out indicated that this was important to maximise the impact of the guide. Because of this personalisation, it is not possible to separate production from distribution costs for the guide. While the House does not hold stocks of Voting Times the content is published electronically on the parliamentary website at http://www.parliament.uk/votingtimes/index.html from where a generic version of the guide may be downloaded or printed.
Following a resolution of the House on 26 January 2005, the House of Commons Commission was authorised to fund the publication and distribution of a new voters’ guide. Draft versions of the guide were tested with young people. The Modernisation and Administration Committees were consulted on the design and content of Voting Times prior to final approval being given by the Commission on 24 April 2006.
A further programme of research with recipients of the guide is currently under way to determine its effectiveness and any potential areas of improvement. This research will be completed by the new year. In addition, the House of Commons Information Office would welcome suggestions and feedback from hon. Members to improve future versions of the publication.
Culture, Media and Sport
Alcohol
It is an offence under s.149(1) of the Licensing Act 2003 for an individual under 18 to buy or attempt to buy alcohol anywhere, including shops. A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on conviction to a fine of up to £1,000.
An offence is not committed if the individual is acting at the request of a constable or a weights and measures inspector acting in the course of his duty.
BBC
The Department has no single estimate of the contribution made by the BBC or other individual broadcasters to the economy. In 2004, however, the TV and radio sector accounted for 0.9 per cent. of the UK’s total Gross Value Added and 10 per cent. of the £13 billion total exports of the UK’s creative industries.
Departmental Contracts
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not placed any contracts with Hobsbawm Macauley Public Relations, HMC Public Relations, Brunswick Arts or Sarah Brown since 1997.
With regard to our non-departmental public bodies, the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Dress Code
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has no specific policy governing the display of religious artefacts, symbols or dress. No staff have been subject to disciplinary proceedings in relation to the display of religious artefacts, symbols or dress in the last five years. In order to ensure it does not unfairly discriminate on the grounds of religion, the Department widened its diversity employment monitoring categories in June this year to include religion and belief. Guidance on understanding ethnic and religious diversity can be found on the DCMS intranet and on the civil service diversity website:
www.civilservice.gov.uk/diversity/religion/index.asp.
Departmental IT
(2) how many information technology projects her Department has undertaken in each year since 2001.
This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
All my Department's information technology projects since 2001 have been delivered to time and to budget.
My Department has had two web-related information technology projects since 2001, both of which involved the redevelopment of the Department's main website (www.culture.gov.uk).
The first was carried out using standard framework agreements so there were no qualified tender proposals. The contract was awarded to Amaze.
The second project was subject to a limited tender of four companies:
Precedent;
DMA;
Iconzest; and
Rufus Leonard.
The contract was awarded to Precedent.
There have been no such projects.
My Department has no databases either wholly or partly operated by external organisations or individuals.
My Department has no databases located wholly or partly outside the UK.
Departmental Telephone Inquiries
This information is not held centrally.
Since July 2006 the Department has increased by 50 per cent. the opening hours for its central telephone line, and has developed a new automated answering service so that inquirers can be called back more rapidly after leaving messages.
Departmental Vacancies
In the last 12 months the Department ran one external competition for 18 administrative vacancies where candidates were required to have at least five GCSEs at grade C level or equivalent, which had to include English; however, mathematics was not stipulated. A further six singleton vacancies advertised externally during the year did not set any minimum educational qualifications.
Digital Dividend Review
The Department has not consulted with industry representatives on proposals for the Digital Dividend Review.
On 17 November 2005 Ofcom announced the beginning of the Digital Dividend Review project. This is to examine the options arising from the release of spectrum afforded by the digital switchover programme. It is for Ofcom to consult with stakeholders on plans for the Digital Dividend Review.
On 17 November 2005 Ofcom announced the beginning of the Digital Dividend Review project to examine the options arising from the release of spectrum afforded by the digital switchover programme.
It is for Ofcom to decide when to publish a report.
The Department has not consulted with industry representatives on proposals for the Digital Dividend Review.
On 17 November 2005 Ofcom announced the beginning of the Digital Dividend Review project. This is to examine the options arising from the release of spectrum afforded by the digital switchover programme. It is for Ofcom to decide who to consult in relation to the Digital Dividend Review.
Digital Switchover
The information is not available in the format requested. We estimate that around 510,000 households in the East Midlands will be eligible for the digital switchover help scheme. The details are in the following table.
Category Number Households where the eligible person is 75 or over 305,000 Households where the qualifying person qualifies because of eligibility to disability living allowance or attendance allowance 205,000 Total 510,000 Notes: 1. Eligibility for help from the digital switchover help scheme will be by benefit unit rather than the whole household definition used by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Office to forecast future household growth. The scheme definition of eligible households mirrors Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) definition of a benefit unit: a couple (which from December 2005 includes gay couples) and any dependent children. It excludes adults deemed to be non-dependents who, if eligible, will be able to claim assistance from the help scheme in their own right. 2. The estimates use data from the Department for Work and Pensions Client Group Analysis for November 2005 adjusted by changes in future household and benefits growth for the period from 2005 until the date switchover takes place in the relevant area. 3. The figures do not include households where the person qualifying for help under the scheme is registered blind or registered partially sighted who qualify on grounds of registration rather than on grounds of age or entitlement to disability benefits.
The information is not available in the format requested. We estimate that around 28,000 households in the London borough of Bexley will be eligible for the Digital Switchover Help Scheme. The details are in the following table.
Category Number Households where the eligible person is 75 or over 17,000 Households where the qualifying person qualifies because of eligibility to disability living allowance or attendance allowance 11,000 Total 28,000 Notes: 1. Eligibility for help from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme will be by benefit unit rather than the whole household definition used by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Office to forecast future household growth. The scheme definition of eligible households mirrors Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) definition of a benefit unit: a couple (which from December 2005 includes gay couples) and any dependent children. It excludes adults deemed to be non-dependents who, if eligible, will be able to claim assistance from the help scheme in their own right. 2. The estimates use data from the Department for Work and Pensions Client Group Analysis for November 2005 adjusted by changes in future household and benefits growth for the period from 2005 until the date switchover takes place in the relevant area. 3. The figures do not include households where the person qualifying for help under the scheme is registered blind or registered partially sighted who qualify on grounds of registration rather than on grounds of age or entitlement to disability benefits.
The information is not available in the format requested. We estimate that around 191,000 households in Lancashire will be eligible for the Digital Switchover Help Scheme. The details are in the following table.
Category Number Households where the eligible person is 75 or over 104,000 Households where the qualifying person qualifies because of eligibility to disability living allowance or attendance allowance 87,000 Total 191,000 Notes: 1. Eligibility for help from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme will be by benefit unit rather than the whole household definition used by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Office to forecast future household growth. The scheme definition of eligible households mirrors Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) definition of a benefit unit: a couple (which from December 2005 includes gay couples) and any dependent children. It excludes adults deemed to be non-dependents who, if eligible, will be able to claim assistance from the help scheme in their own right. 2. The estimates use data from the Department for Work and Pensions Client Group Analysis for November 2005 adjusted by changes in future household and benefits growth for the period from 2005 until the date switchover takes place in the relevant area. 3. The figures do not include households where the person qualifying for help under the scheme is registered blind or registered partially sighted who qualify on grounds of registration rather than on grounds of age or entitlement to disability benefits.
Islam and Muslim Affairs
Where appropriate, officials in the relevant policy area provide advice on matters relating to Muslim communities.
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the lead Department on domestic matters relating to Muslim communities and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is the lead Department on international matters. Where appropriate officials seek advice from these Departments.
The Department has used networks of faith groups in the past to help plan major policies and events, and intends to investigate establishing more permanent networks in various communities in future.
Licence Fee
The Government are conducting a funding review to determine the level of the licence fee to apply from April 2007. All relevant factors are being considered as part of the review.
Muslim Council of Britain
My Department provides no financial support or support in kind to the Muslim Council of Britain.
Olympic Games
In his speech at the HMRC Corporate and Social Responsibility Conference on 24 October, the Chancellor referred to a separate announcement of 1 million new young volunteers to be recruited by an independent charity, v, which has already created over 55,000 new volunteering opportunities in just over six months of operation.
My Department is separately working with the Office for the Third Sector in Cabinet Office on a cross- government action plan to ensure that volunteering is embedded in the Olympics as well as its legacy, including support for the London Organising Committee of the Games strategy to recruit 70,000 volunteers needed at the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Some 100,000 people have already registered their interest in volunteering at the Games.
Places of Worship (VAT)
No discussions have taken place on extending the Listed Places of Worship Grant scheme to unlisted churches. The scheme is focused on those places of worship that are formally recognised as having special architectural or historic interest, and recognises that their repair and maintenance generally requires specialist craftsmen and costly materials, the cost of which often falls on small congregations.
Radio Spectrum
I have been asked to reply.
The Office of Communications (Ofcom), the independent regulator of communications, is responsible for managing civil radio spectrum in the UK including the allocation and licensing of frequency bands used by programme making and special events (PMSE). In accordance with general directions made under section 22 of the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom also represents the UK in relevant international meetings to discuss proposals for agreeing harmonised use of frequencies for particular applications.
The European Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) has previously considered the case for harmonisation of PMSE frequencies in Europe and the findings were published in an ECC report in 2002. The report made recommendations on preferred frequency sub bands for video links for Services Ancillary to Programme making (SAP) and Services Ancillary to Broadcasting (SAB). Ofcom is wherever possible assigning SAP and SAB services in the identified bands.
Ofcom is also working with other European regulators to determine the scope for global harmonisation of frequency bands for Electronic News Gathering (ENG) with a view to developing a common European position in response to a study being undertaken by the International Telecommunication Union.
Religious Organisations (Grants)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport makes grants to faith groups via the Listed Places of Worship Grant scheme. The scheme returns the equivalent of the VAT incurred in making repairs to listed buildings used primarily for worship. All grants are non-repayable. The amounts disbursed since the start of the scheme in 2001 to the faith groups listed are in the table. Grants to other Christian denominations are excluded from the table.
Faith group Amounts disbursed (£) Church of England 35,067,908.75 Islamic Organisations 12,885.78 Jewish 253,344.92 Buddhist 149,734.86 Hindu 7,740.01 Sikh 21,537.70
English Heritage, sponsored by the Department, contributes to the Repair Grants for Places of Worship in England scheme, operated and funded jointly with the Heritage Lottery Fund. The scheme funds repairs to listed places of worship. All grants are non-repayable.
Since the launch of the scheme in April 2002, 1,035 offers have been made over four annual bidding rounds. These offers were made up as follows:
928 offers totalling £82,778,000 to Church of England congregations;
no offers to Islamic organisations;
one offer totalling £175,000 to the Buddhist congregation;
one offer totalling £116,000 to the Sikh congregation;
seven offers totalling £881,000 to the Jewish congregations.
The remaining offers were made to Christian congregations other than those of the Church of England.
In addition, English Heritage operates a grant scheme for cathedrals, under which around £7 million has been offered in the last five years.
Sarah Brown
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Seaside Piers
This Department has not carried out an assessment of the condition, viability or cultural significance of English seaside piers. However, English Heritage’s Seaside Research Project, to be published in autumn 2007, is assessing the broad historical contribution of the pier to the story of England’s seaside. Seventy-five English piers are listed as having special architectural or historic interest, of which two are included in the current English Heritage register of Buildings at Risk.
Responsibility for piers in Scotland and Wales lies with the relevant devolved Administrations.
Sport England
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2006, Official Report, column 1452W. In order to avoid any possible conflict of interests, the Minister for Sport was open with me and officials from the outset about the fact that one of the candidates was personally known to him.
Website Security
The Department has made no assessment of verification procedures for age restricted sales over the internet.
However, the Government's reform of the licensing regime has brought internet sales of alcohol in line with those in shops and pubs so that anyone who sells alcohol to someone under 18 is committing an offence, as is anyone under 18 who attempts to buy alcohol over the internet.
Trading Standards Officers have enforcement powers for illegal sales of alcohol and videos and games, and they have not expressed any concerns. Internet sales have to be made with a credit or debit card and increasingly, to prevent fraud, can only be delivered to the address at which the card is registered. Only over-18s have credit cards. It is true that younger people may have debit cards, but goods delivered to a home address will be monitored by parents.
It is in retailers' interests to ensure that they put proper checks in place to ensure that they are not selling age restricted products illegally. I have every confidence that the police or trading standards will clamp down on individuals or companies that do not put in place sufficient safeguards to prevent such sales.
Prime Minister
Air Fuel Taxes
I have had no recent discussions with EU counterparts on this issue. However, the Government recognise that the exemption of aviation from fuel tax is anomalous, and continue to argue for change on an international level.
Departmental Staff
For these purposes my Office forms part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-East (Mr. McFadden), the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office today.
Diaries/Memoirs
Guidance relating to the publication of memoirs is set out in the Ministerial Code.
As my answer to my hon. Friend of 12 October 2006, Official Report, column 862W, made clear, any discussions between an author and the Cabinet Office on a draft manuscript are confidential.
Iraq
Prime Minister al-Maliki and his Government have our full support. They were chosen by the democratically elected Iraqi Parliament, under the permanent new Iraqi Constitution, which was overwhelmingly endorsed by a national referendum last year.
Ministerial Meetings
My officials and I have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals on a wide range of subjects. Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
Ministerial Statements
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on 23 June 2003, Official Report, column 616W.
Deputy Prime Minister
Departmental Staff
Two of my staff are Senior Civil Servants. The remainder are in a range of grades from Administrative Officer to Grade 6.
Diplomatic Gifts
It would not be appropriate to provide details of gifts and their cost as to do so could cause offence and discourtesy.
Overseas Visits
Details of the cost of overseas travel undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more are published annually. Information for 2005-06 was published on 24 July 2006. Copies of the lists are available in the Library for the reference of Members.
All Ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the “Ministerial Code” and “Travel by Ministers”, copies of which are available in the Library for the reference of Members. All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the “Civil Service Management Code”, a copy of which is also available in the Library for the reference of Members.
Trade and Industry
Airbus
Details of the discussions with the co-CEOs of EADs on 23 October 2006 are commercially confidential.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry announced at the press conference following the Airbus ministerial meeting at the Farnborough Airshow on 17 July 2006 that
"...EADS, in principle, have agreed: 1—that the original undertakings regarding UK industrial workshare given by EADS to the UK when Airbus was formed in 2000, will survive any shareholding sale;..."
On 12 October, the co-CEOs of EADS confirmed to us that they would respect these undertakings.
The Government are working hard to safeguard British interests and will remain in close contact with EADS and Airbus as they work through the implications of ensuring that Airbus remains competitive.
Animal Experiments
[holding answer 23 October 2006]: No UK Government funded research is undertaken at Long Than monkey farm and testing centre in Vietnam.
Balance of Payments
Regional statistics are not available on a balance of payments basis.
HM Revenue and Customs publish regional data on international trade in goods. Their latest figures for 2005, combining European Union and non-EU trade on an overseas trade statistics basis, are:
Exports of goods Imports of goods Difference United Kingdom 211,756 272,287 (60,531) North East 8,379 6,270 2,109 North West 19,307 19,618 (310) Yorkshire and the Humber 11,873 12,832 (959) East Midlands 16,015 13,251 2,764 West Midlands 15,206 19,640 (4,434) East 19,131 34,357 (15,226) London 26,371 43,342 (16,971) South East 32,231 62,897 (30,666) South West 10,347 11,552 (1,205) England 158,860 223,758 (64,898) Wales 8,645 6,394 2,251 Scotland 12,661 9,060 3,601 Northern Ireland 4,614 4,015 599 Unknown 26,975 29,059 (2,084)
These data exclude internal UK trade between regions and countries.
Partial figures for regional exports of services are included in the DTFs annual publication ‘Regional Competitiveness and State of the Regions’. Regional figures for imports of services or for other components of the balance of payments current account are not available.
Carbon Capture
None. There are currently no European Commission proposals to require all new coal fired plants built in the European Union to be made ‘capture ready’.
Construction Industry
The Department has not made such an assessment.
Corus
There have been no meetings with either party to discuss these issues. My officials have been keeping in close touch with developments. As the takeover proposal is now a matter for Corus’s shareholders we do not plan to hold any meetings with the companies at this stage.
Counterfeit DVDs
Although the Government have not made a recent assessment of the specific effect of DVD piracy, we recognise that there is a significant effect on legitimate traders and consumers from counterfeiting and piracy in general. In order to ensure a joined up industry and Government response to counterfeiting and piracy, the Government launched the National IP Crime Strategy in 2004. The Annual Enforcement Report, published by the Patent Office, sets out the range of action being taken by Government and industry bodies to tackle this problem.
Departmental Expenditure
[holding answer 24 October 2006]: In 2005-06 the Department's expenditure on the Employment Tribunals Service was £69.023 million, on the Insolvency Service £24.048 million and on the National Weights and Measures Laboratory £2.285 million. The figures for the latter two organisations reflect the Department's contribution, not the full cost of these bodies, which are partly funded by charges for their services.
Companies House and the Patent Office are trading funds, and in the case of the Patent Office its costs are entirely covered by fee income. The only funding provided by the Department for Companies House was £3.600 million to cover the costs of collecting late filing penalties. All other Companies House costs are met by fee income.
Departmental Redundancies
Staff considering voluntary early departure or who may be made compulsorily redundant are able to access the Cabinet Office pensions website which explains the benefits available under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, and leavers are invited to attend either a pre-retirement course or a course covering job search, setting up a business and pursuing self-employment.
The Department's strategy is to become a more streamlined, influential, policy-making Department, with delivery through our agencies and arm’s length bodies. We are constantly looking at providing better value for money and greater efficiency in all our activities, but especially our own running costs. To this end, we are currently looking at how we can use our accommodation and ICT resources most efficiently, as well as examining whether our organisational structure is the most appropriate to deliver on our objectives in the medium term. This work will bring savings next year and in following years, and is being carried out as an integral part of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Departmental Travel
No costs have been incurred by the Department in the last five years on chartering aircraft for internal flights, or on non-scheduled air travel. There is only one instance in the last five years of a DTI Minister using a non-scheduled flight (PQ 20047 213446), and the cost in that case was met by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s Office.
In respect of overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. Where non-scheduled aircraft are used this is shown in the list. Information for 2005-06 was published on 24 July 2006. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House for the reference of Members. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the “Ministerial Code” and “Travel by Ministers”, copies of which are available in the Library of the House for the reference of Members. All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the “Civil Service Management Code”, a copy of which is also available in the Library of the House for the reference of Members.
Energy Review
A number of consultations have already been launched and work is under way to take forward the ambitious package of measures outlined in the Energy Review report. This work will feed into an Energy White Paper next year.
For further details see the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/index.html.
Energy Technologies Institute
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry published a Prospectus for the Energy Technologies Institute on 14 September. By 11 October the following organisations from Wales had expressed an interest:
(a) one large company, Corus;
(b) two SMEs: OpTIC Technium/Optropreneurs Ltd. an IQE plc; and
(c) one NGO, the Centre for Alternative Technology.
In addition, the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, was mistakenly omitted from the response to my hon. Friend’s earlier question.
Enterprise Capital Funds
To date, the Government have awarded six Enterprise Capital Funds and have agreed in principle to invest £106.2 million. Taken together with the private investment expected to be raised by each Enterprise Capital Fund, there will be a total of £162.5 million being available for investment over the 10-year life of each fund.
Enterprise Insight
According to DTI internal records this question was answered on 24 July. However, it did not appear in the Official Report for that day. I have sent the hon. Member a copy of the original answer.
Farepak
I cannot make any comment on the particular case but I do sympathise with any customers who may lose money they have invested with Farepak.
The company went into administration on 13 October and my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Trade has already been in contact with the administrators.
The administrators have a statutory duty to report to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if they consider that the conduct of any of the directors makes them unfit to be the directors of a limited company. The Secretary of State then has a discretionary power to seek to have the directors disqualified if it appears to him to be in the public interest. My right hon. Friend hopes hon. Members will appreciate that these are very early days in the administration. If any Member has constituents with concerns about the conduct of the company's affairs, they should contact the administrators.
[holding answer 25 October 2006]: First let me say that I sympathise with any customers who may lose money as a result of this failure of Farepak.
The company went into administration on 13 October and my right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade met the administrators on 21 October to discuss the situation. They told him that they are working hard to establish the extent of the company's liabilities and the whereabouts of any assets.
The administrators have a statutory duty to report to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if they consider that the conduct of any of the directors makes them unfit to be the directors of a limited company. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State then has a discretionary power to seek to have the directors disqualified if it appears to him to be in the public interest.
Also, directors do not enjoy absolute immunity from personal liability when a company goes into liquidation. If there is evidence in liquidation cases to indicate that there has been fraudulent or wrongful trading, a liquidator can ask the court to declare that those responsible should make a personal contribution towards the assets of the company.
My right hon. Friend hopes hon. Members will appreciate that these are very early days in the administration. If any Member has constituents with concerns about the conduct of the company's affairs, they should contact the administrators.
My right hon. Friend has also asked officials to make further inquiries as to the circumstances of the company's failure.
My right hon. Friend has been discussing with the British Retail Consortium the possibility of their members making some form of goodwill gesture to the customers of Farepak who have lost the money they had been saving towards Christmas. I am pleased to say that the BRC has accepted in principle this suggestion, given the exceptional circumstances, and are contacting their members to consider further the practical steps required. This will not be a compensation package, and members of the BRC are under no legal obligation to provide any help, but they have had a lot of interest from many large retailers, who are keen to try and do something, and I am grateful to them for their co-operation.
[holding answer 25 October 2006]: I have great sympathy for those people who have lost money they saved over the year as a result of the collapse of Farepak and feel badly let down.
My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Trade met the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and administrators of Farepak on 21 October to assess the level of the problem caused by the company going into administration.
It was a productive meeting and the BRC accepted in principle the idea of a goodwill gesture, given the exceptional circumstances surrounding Christmas. The discussion focused on the number of people affected and how my right hon. Friend wants to ensure that any package would be simple, not derisory, fraud free, easy to administer at store level and providing as much choice as possible for the customers to shop where they want.
This will not be a compensation package and members of the BRC are under no legal obligation to provide any help but they have had a lot of interest from many large retailers, who are keen to try and do something. The BRC is in discussion with its members so that retailers can decide what they might be able to provide and to consider further the practical steps required to take this matter further.
My right hon. Friend would like to thank personally both the Administrators and the BRC for their co-operation so far.
In the meantime, customers who have paid money to Farepak either directly or through an agent should contact the Administrators, BDO Stoy Hayward, to register a claim. Contact details are:
Website: www.farepak.co.uk
Telephone: 0870 830 6010
Fax: 01793 606057
E-mail: customer.claims@farepak.co.uk
Postal: Farepak Food & Gifts Limited—In Administration
Kings Wharf
20-30 Kings Road
Reading
RG1 3EX
Customers should ensure that their payment books are up to date and that they retain the books as evidence of their claim.
I have great sympathy for those people who have lost money they saved over the year as a result of the collapse of Farepak and feel badly let down. There is wide public interest in this case and that has been reflected in a range of representations from individuals, MPs and business.
The company went into administration on 13 October. The administrators are required to act in the interests of all of the creditors and should seek the best outcome for them. They also have a statutory duty to report to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if they consider that the conduct of any of the directors makes them unfit to be the directors of a limited company. In addition, as the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry announced to the Trade and Industry Committee, an investigation under the Companies Act 1985 is now under way.
My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Trade met the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and administrators of Farepak on 21 October to assess the level of the problem caused by the company going into administration.
It was a productive meeting and the BRC accepted in principle the idea of a goodwill gesture, given the exceptional circumstances surrounding Christmas. The discussion focused on the number of people affected and how my right hon. Friend wants to ensure that any package would be simple, not derisory, fraud free, easy to administer at store level and providing as much choice as possible for the customers to shop where they want.
This will not be a compensation package and members of the BRC are under no legal obligation to provide any help but they have had a lot of interest from many large retailers, who are keen to try and do something. The BRC is in discussion with its members so that retailers can decide what they might be able to provide and to consider further the practical steps required to take this matter further.
My right hon. Friend would like to thank personally both the Administrators and the BRC for their co-operation so far.
In the meantime, customers who have paid money to Farepak either directly or through an agent should contact the Administrators, BDO Stoy Hayward, to register a claim. Contact details are:
Website: www.farepak.co.uk
Telephone: 0870 830 6010
Fax: 01793 606057
Email:customer.claims@farepak.co.uk
Postal:Farepak Food and Gifts Limited—In Administration
Kings Wharf
20-30 Kings Road
Reading RG1 3EX
Customers should ensure that their payment books are up to date and that they retain the books as evidence of their claim.
Furniture Industry
None. Fire safety of furniture imported to the UK is governed by the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. These Regulations are enforced by Trading Standards. HM Revenue and Customs liaises with Trading Standards on furniture imports as appropriate.
The European Commission's policy on standards is reflected in the General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC, where European standards are recognised as a means by which products can be shown to meet the general safety requirement. However, the directive also acknowledges that the requirements of national legislation (including mandatory compliance with national standards) take precedence in the absence of product-specific Europe legislation.
International Trade Advisers
[holding answer 26 October 2006]: Through UK Trade and Investment, the Department funds 264 international trade advisers across the English regions.
Lancaster Vision Board
Annual staffing support costs for the Lancaster and Morecambe Vision Board are £37,194.
The North West regional development agency has agreed to provide Lancaster city council with £200,000 in support of Vision Board activity for the period 2004-05 to 2006-07.
Miners' Compensation
There have been no claims made for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or vibration white finger (VWF) in the name of John Mann of Nottinghamshire.
The number of claimants' representatives who submitted more than 100 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) claims on 31 March 2004 is shown as follows:
Practice name Number of claims submitted Number of deceased claims Raleys Solicitors 3,258 1,984 Delta Legal 1,999 1,307 Avalon Solicitors 1,433 642 Thompsons Solicitors 918 520 Browell Smith & Co 458 259 Hugh James 281 161 Beresfords Solicitors 271 197 Union of Democratic Mineworkers 242 3 1 Legal Solicitors 208 134 Meloy Whittle Robinson 205 89 Recompense Ltd. 205 137 Cordner Lewis Solicitors 195 134 BRM Solicitors 195 164 Bailey Bravo Jobling 183 139 Ryan Carlisle Thomas Lawyers 179 89 Corries Solicitors 149 86 Ingrams Solicitors 142 86 Birchall Blackburn 124 86 The Legal Warehouse 114 62 Total claims 10,759 6,279
None of these firms are based in Bassetlaw.
Nuclear Power
The Department is working with the independent nuclear regulators to develop a system for the pre-licensing of generic nuclear power plant designs, in line with the commitments given in the 2006 Energy Review report. Details of these arrangements will be included in the guidance for applicants to be issued in early 2007.
The UK has a robust licensing regime enforced by HSE's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) which places a clear legal duty on the nuclear power plant licensees to ensure that safety is maintained at all times throughout a nuclear plant's operational life and its decommissioning. This requires regular assessments by the licensees which are submitted for regulatory scrutiny by the NII. The NII will not allow the continued operation or restart of a nuclear reactor unless it is satisfied that it is safe to do so.
Olympic Games
[holding answer 19 October 2006]. The Government were required to provide guarantees to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the availability of spectrum as part of the London bid to stage the games. DTI officials are therefore working with the Office of Communications (Ofcom), the independent regulator of communications, responsible for managing civil radio spectrum in the UK including the allocation and licensing of frequency bands used by programme making and special events, to ensure that sufficient and suitable spectrum is available to meet the essential requirements of users at the 2012 Olympics.
Power Stations
The DTI website details current applications at: www.dti.gov.uk/energy/markets/electricity-developments_-_consents/applications/page23224.html. Decisions on these applications will be made when they have completed scrutiny in the process, which may or may not include consideration at a public inquiry. Should approval be given, actual commissioning is a commercial matter for the developer.
The Countryside Council for Wales and the Environment Agency Wales have both lodged holding objections to the application subject to further work being undertaken to show that the cooling water discharge will not have a detrimental impact on the Haven.
Retirement Age
Our decision to provide for a default retirement age of 65 took into account evidence from a number of sources including responses to extensive consultations–‘Towards Equality and Diversity’ in 2002 and ‘Age Matters’ in 2003–and research conducted on behalf of the Department.
(2) if he will increase the size of the sample used to assess the effectiveness of the default retirement age over the next five years;
(3) what evidence he examined from other countries on developing his Department's policy on a compulsory retirement age.
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 introduce a default retirement age of 65 together with procedures whereby the employee has a right to request that he or she be allowed to continue in work beyond the employer's normal retirement age. The employer has a duty to consider this request, and if both employer and employee agree the employee can continue in work. This will move towards a culture where a retirement decision is influenced by the individual circumstances and preferences of employers and employees, rather than an assumption about the norm. These arrangements were introduced in order to deliver the Government's labour market objectives recognising the need for workforce planning and avoiding adverse impact on the provision of occupational pensions and other work-related benefits.
In March this year we published the Survey of Employers' Policies, Practices, and Preferences Relating to Age that will provide the baseline for assessing the impact of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. Once the legislation has bedded in, we intend to carry out a follow-up survey, to inform the review of the default retirement age in 2011. We will also explore, with the Office for National Statistics and the Department for Work and Pensions, the process for collating better statistical data on employee retirement intentions and behaviour.
The default retirement age has been developed as a result of extensive consultation. We have been interested in how other countries have approached age discrimination and seeing what lessons we could draw on. However, we have developed legislation that is right for Britain and which takes into account our own particular domestic and economic circumstances.
Retraining Initiatives
[holding answer 26 October 2006]: The Department is working closely with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to drive up skills by implementing the Government's Skills Strategy. The Learning and Skills Council (a DfES non-departmental public body) is responsible for planning and funding initiatives to retrain low skilled workers.
As part of its Skills Strategy, the Government are providing funding for basic skills provision and first full Level 2 qualifications (equivalent to 5 GCSEs A-C). Employers can access this support for their low skilled workers via Train to Gain, a new service run by the Learning and Skills Council, designed to help businesses get the training they need to succeed and delivered at a time and place that suits their business.
Furthermore, in the North West and West Midlands, subsidised level 3 qualifications (equivalent to two A levels) are also being offered in this flexible way through Train to Gain and in London a third trial offering subsidised training to achieve a Level 3 qualification to women at a disadvantage is in place in response to the Women and Work Commission's recommendations of earlier this year.
Shoes (EU Duties)
The UK opposed the imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of footwear with uppers of leather originating in China and Vietnam. We did so after examining the economic case for imposing duties and carefully considering the representations made to us by UK retailers and importers.
Small Business Service
The Small Business Service currently has two managing director posts. One is concerned with small business policy matters and the other with service development issues.
UK Competitiveness
For international comparisons of educational attainment and skill levels, the main source of comparable international data is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's annual publication, ‘Education at a Glance’. The most recent statistics available are for 2004 and the relevant figures for the United Kingdom and Korea are presented in the following table.
Percentage of the adult population with their highest qualification classified as: Low Intermediate High United Kingdom 35 36 29 Korea 26 44 30 Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2006. Low, intermediate and high are derived from the International Standard Classification of Education. Low relates to the successful completion of compulsory schooling with the skills required for further study; intermediate skills prepare an individual for higher education; high skills are degree or equivalent qualifications.
For R and D, data collected by the Office for National Statistics from the UK Business Enterprise R and D Survey shows that in 2004, £13.5 billion was spent on R and D performed within UK businesses. This represents 1.15 per cent. of gross domestic product. The OECD reports the equivalent business enterprise R and D statistics for Korea.
UK Korea 2000 1.20 1.77 2001 1.23 1.97 2002 1.24 1.90 2003 1.23 2.00 2004 1.15 2.19 Source: ONS (UK) and OECD (Korea)
UK Trade and Investment
The published accounts for UK Trade and Investment, formerly British Trade International, show the spend (net resource outturn) over the past five years as follows:
Financial year £000 2001-02 257,121 2002-03 278,863 2003-04 288,705 2004-05 285,672 2005-06 284,396
UKTI is a joint operation of the FCO as well as the DTI, and the expenditure figures above include directly managed programme funds as well as administration costs funded by the DTI and FCO.
Vision Boards
[holding answer 24 October 2006]: Vision Boards were established on an informal basis and as such governance arrangements are entirely their responsibility. The North West regional development agency has not provided model constitutions for the boards but would provide advice and guidance if requested.
[holding answer 24 October 2006]: There are no strict criteria for the selection of representatives on to the Vision Boards, although the North West Regional Development Agency recommends appointment of a private sector chair, and good private sector representation. The composition of the board is ultimately agreed locally; therefore membership is a matter for each individual board.
[holding answer 24 October 2006]: The North West regional development agency has discussed both the Northern Bypass and Lancaster Castle with the Vision Board and its chair. The agency has expressed its support for the Northern Bypass. The potential future use of Lancaster Castle to support City’s heritage tourism and visitor offer has also been discussed.
Watson Burton Solicitors
The number of cases of payment for vibration white finger (VWF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) settled by Watson Burton solicitors and the costs paid to Watson Burton are set out in the following table:
Number of claims settled by payment Solicitors costs paid on claims settled by payment (£ million) VWF 3,294 2.8 COPD 11,137 24.6
The average award for all claims settled by payment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared to those processed by Watson Burton solicitors, is shown in the following table:
Average settlement value for COPD claims settled by payment (£) Overall 4,978 Watson Burton 4,123
Working Time Directive
[holding answer 26 October 2006]: The UK's negotiating priorities remain a solution for problems caused by the ECJ rulings on SiMAP and Jaeger and the retention of the individual right to opt out. We are working hard with the Finnish presidency and other member states to achieve these aims, and will be keeping Parliament through both scrutiny committees closely informed of progress.
Defence
Veterans' Badges
There have been in excess of 321,000 veterans badges issued up to and including 20 October 2006.
Arctic Emblem
The Arctic Emblem was officially launched at a ceremony on HMS Belfast in London on 11 October, during which I presented a small number of emblems to eligible veterans and next of kin. Similar ceremonies were held around the country.
Some 5,000 emblems were despatched to eligible applicants by post on 16 October and a further 900 applications received in recent weeks are currently being processed by the Department.
Hercules
The programme to fit explosive suppressant foam to Hercules aircraft continues as planned and two aircraft have been fitted so far.
We take the protection of our armed forces very seriously. We have already spent over £0.5 billion on a range of force protection measures to support operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. We continue to do all that we can to ensure troops get the equipment they require.
Operational Tour Bonus
Further to my statement to the House on 10 October, I can confirm that all service personnel have now been given full details of the scheme. Our aim is to pay the allowance as soon as possible to all those who have already returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is estimated that the new operational bonus, to be called "Operational Allowance", will cost in the order of £60 million for 2006-07. The subsequent cost will be dependent upon the type, and duration, of future military operations.
Afghanistan
There are currently no plans to deploy Warrior to Afghanistan, although we keep our force package under constant review to ensure our commanders on the ground have the tools that they need to do the job.
(2) what progress has been made in the preparations on the ground in Helmand province for a possible UK deployment; and if he will make a statement.
I refer the House to my recent statement on 10 October 2006, Official Report, columns 173-76, detailing British military operations in Helmand province in support of a wider cross-Governmental programme of reconstruction.
My most recent statement, and previous ones on 26 January 2006, Official Report, columns 1529-33, 10 July 2006, Official Report, columns 1131-35, and my written ministerial statement of 24 July 2006, Official Report, columns 74-76WS, announcing the deployment of elements of the Helmand Task Force always made clear that we recognized that Helmand was a dangerous operating environment.
The number of Harrier sorties in Afghanistan for each month of 2006 to September is as follows:
Number of sorties January 104 February 104 March 98 April 142 May 120 June 125 July 131 August 134 September 248
When compensation claims are received they are considered on the basis of whether or not the UK Ministry of Defence has a legal liability to pay compensation. Where there is a proven legal liability, compensation is paid.
From the outset of operations in Afghanistan we have recognised our duty to provide compensation to Afghan civilians where this is required by the law. The procedures for handling compensation claims are straightforward and have been tested in other operational theatres. An area claims officer based in Helmand Province handles routine claims, but to ensure a consistent approach those cases involving death or serious injury of Afghan civilians are handled by claims staff in UK.
The standard tour length is six months for Army and Royal Navy personnel, and four months for Royal Air Force personnel within all theatres, including Afghanistan.
Iraq
The Department conducts regular reviews of UK force levels in Iraq, the results of which inform the six monthly roulement process. The next roulement of UK troops in Iraq begins next month and upon completion, will maintain around 7,100 UK forces in Iraq. We continue to keep our force levels in Iraq under review and will confirm force levels for the next routine roulement around the turn of the year.
I have regular discussions with each of the service chiefs on all aspects of current operations, including the security situation in Iraq.
[holding answer 12 June 2006]: It is with very deep regret that I can confirm that, as of 27 October, a total of 120 British Forces personnel have died, or are missing presumed dead, while serving on Operation Telic since the start of the campaign in March 2003.
The Ministry of Defence publishes data on battle and non-battle casualties that have resulted from our operations in Iraq, dating from March 2003. The best centrally available casualty statistics can be found on the Ministry of Defence website http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets.
(2) how many serious injuries were sustained by British troops serving in Iraq in (a) 2003, (b) 2004, (c) 2005 and (d) 2006.
The Ministry of Defence publishes data on battle and non-battle casualties that have resulted from our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, dating from March 2003 for Iraq and January 2006 for Afghanistan. The best centrally available casualty statistics can be found on the Ministry of Defence website http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets.
Between March 2003 and 31 December 2005 there were 230 UK military and civilian personnel treated at UK medical facilities in Iraq for wounds received as a result of hostile action. These figures are derived from the best records currently held centrally but do not include those treated in the medical facilities of Coalition partners.
Separate records, from notification of casualty reporting (NOTICAS), for the same period in Iraq, show that some 40 UK military and civilian personnel have been categorised as Very Seriously Injured (VSI) from all causes, and that some 70 personnel have been categorised as Seriously Injured (SI) from all causes including as a result of hostile action.
Since the beginning of the year, we have sought to collect better information on those suffering wounds as a result of combat. Between 1 January and 30 September 2006, 47 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to the Shaibah Role 3 Medical Facility in Iraq categorised as Wounded in Action, including as a result of hostile action.
The cost of operations are calculated on a net additional basis and audited figures are published each year in the MOD’s annual report and accounts. The annual audited figure for the costs of operations in Iraq for the year 2005-06 was £958 million.
Hospital Facilities
I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh).
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes (Shona McIsaac).
Aircraft
Equalised maintenance packages for the RAF's Harrier GR7/9 fleet were introduced in 2005. This has improved aircraft availability by an average of two aircraft per day. The airworthiness of the aircraft is also considered to have benefited from equalised maintenance packages but this aspect has yet to be quantified. The total technical support and man hour requirement of the new scheduled maintenance cycle is similar to the previous arrangements, albeit delivered more effectively; accordingly, there have been no measurable cost savings to date.
Equalised maintenance packages are currently being introduced for the RAF's Nimrod MR2/R1 fleet. At this stage it is too early to measure accurately the full benefits of this change, but it is forecast that the new scheduled maintenance regime will deliver significant improvements in aircraft availability, and financial savings of approximately £2 million per annum from financial year 2008-09. Before implementing this change a full safety assessment was carried out on the Nimrod MR2/R1 fleet and further safety assessments will be undertaken as the transition to equalised maintenance moves forward.
Animal Welfare
QinetiQ performs research under contract to the Ministry of Defence to support the Department's duty of care to submariners during both normal operations and in an emergency. Over the last five years, this research has included experiments that involve goats in hyperbaric chambers. The Defence Scientific Advisory Council (DSAC) reviewed this work in 2003 and confirmed the need for continued investigation into sequential improvements in escape and rescue procedures and the necessity of experiments on large animals.
Army Numbers
Under future army structures, the established requirement for the British Army is 101,800 (as at 1 April 2008). Current manning levels are 98 per cent. of this requirement (as at 1 September 2006). Overall, the Army is able to meet current operational commitments.
Battle Deployment
Units of the armed forces are routinely allocated to more than one order of battle deployment. For example, 33 Engineer Regiment (EOD) supports operations in the UK, Afghanistan and Iraq simultaneously with Explosive Ordnance Detachments which are grouped according to the specific theatre requirement.
Ceremonial Duties/Parades
There have been no occasions during the last five years when either public duties or state ceremonial duties have been cancelled.
Cluster Munitions
In all recent conflicts, the UK has complied with International Humanitarian Law in the use of all munitions, including cluster munitions. The decision to use all munitions, including cluster munitions against a target is based on a comprehensive assessment that takes into account the UK's legal obligations under International Humanitarian Law, the nature of the target, and the weapons available to attack it.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 March 2006, Official Report, column 2515W, to the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew).
Colombia
De-mining training accounted for 42 per cent. of the expenditure earmarked for military assistance given to Colombia for the disposal of explosive devices in financial year 2005-06. Some 47 per cent. of the allocation for financial year 2006-07 is earmarked for the same purpose.
Departmental Budget
The defence budget for 2005-6 was £30,888 million, as set in Spending Review 2004. The net additional costs of operations are funded from the Treasury special reserve and the conflict prevention pool, not the Defence Budget.
Further information on Defence expenditure in 2005-06, including on operations, is contained within the Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2005-2006 (HC1394) which is available in the Library of the House.
Departmental Project Approvals
The information requested is as follows:
Date of approval Name of project Date of approval Name of project 10 December 2004 Munitions Acquisition Supply Solution 24 November 2005 Chinook T55 Capability Sustainment and Future Support Programme 28 April 2005 UK Intelligence Web and SCOPE connection 27 June 2006 Future Transport Aircraft (A400M) Support 18 May 2005 Nimrod Future Support 19 July 2006 Defence Logistics Organisation/Defence Procurement Agency Collocation 27 July 2005 Maritime Air Surveillance and Control 27 July 2006 Programme to Rationalise and Integrate Defence Intelligence Service Estate (PRIDE) l August 2005 Future Rotorcraft Capability
Date of approval Name of project Date of approval Name of project 13 December 2004 Defence Information Infrastructure (Future) DII(F) (Approval for Initial Work) 8 September 2005 Defence Estates Regional Prime Contracting—Central l February 2005 Defence Estates Regional Prime Contracting—South East 8 November 2005 Defence Housing Executive—Prime Contract 9 February 2005 Sea King Integrated Operational Support 9 November 2005 Defence Estates Regional Prime Contracting—East 24 February 2005 Offshore Patrol Vessel (Helicopter) 21 December 2005 Future Carrier (Demonstration Phase) 25 February 2005 Typhoon (Tranche 2) 7 February 2006 Chinook Future Support 4 March 2005 Defence Information Infrastructure (Future) (Contractor Downselect and Main Investment) 10 February 2006 Future Provision of Marine Services 15 March 2005 Project PICASSO (Increment 1) 24 February 2006 Merlin Future Support Programme (IMOS—Integrated Merlin Operational Support) 19 April 2005 Human Resources Service Delivery Organisation 9 March 2006 Combined Aerial Target Service 20 April 2005 Tornado Future Support Programme (ATTAC) 28 March 2006 Merlin Capability Sustainment Programme 14 July 2005 Future Military Aviation Radar Service 4 April 2006 Defence Medical Information Capability Programme 20 July 2005 Future Defence Supply Chain Initiative 04 April 2006 Project FALCON 21 July 2005 Northwood PFI 31 May 2006 Hercules Future Support Project 22 July 2005 Watchkeeper 08 June 2006 Battlefield Reconnaissance Helicopter/Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft 31 July 2006 MOD Estates London 20 July 2006 C-17 Strategic Airlift (Lease Buy Out) 2 August 2006 Advanced Jet Trainer
Date of approval Name of project Date of approval Name of project 3 November 2004 Defence Travel Modernisation (DTM) 5 October 2005 Tornado GR4/4a Collision Warning System 7 December 2004 Project Eagle 17 November 2005 Gnome Engine Future Support Project 24 January 2005 Project Hyperion—Land and Adjutant General collocation and estate rationalisation 17 November 2005 RTM 322 Engine Future Support Project 5 August 2005 Material Flow—Management of Joint Deployed Inventory (MJDI) 4 May 2006 Tornado Capability Upgrade Strategy 9 August 2005 Rapier Support 28 July 2006 Project DMETA/MMA (Defence Medical Training Agency—Midlands Medical Accommodation) 9 August 2005 High Velocity Missile Support 19 September 2006 Personal Equipment and Common Operational Clothing
Date of approval Name of project Date of approval Name of project 22 November 2004 Improved 105mm Light Gun Ammunition 18 July 2005 Joint UAV Experimental Programme 4 January 2005 Secondary Healthcare Germany 21 December 2005 Tornado Future Support Programme RB199 (ROCET) 5 January 2005 Defence Academy Shrivenham Campus Integrator 17 July 2006 Project PICASSO (Increment 2) 26 January 2005 Defence Resource Management Programme Increment 4 25 January 2006 Anti-Structures Munition 3 May 2005 Defence Academy Shrivenham Academic Provider 25 July 2006 C-17 Strategic Airlift (5th Aircraft) l June 2005 Oracle Enterprise Agreement 3 August 2006 J1/J4 Interim Op Support—Interim fit (raised to Cat B for Main Gate due to cost) 2 June 2005 AS90 Equipment Support Project
Date of approval Name of project Date of approval Name of project 14 January 2005 UK Integrated Broadcast Service 10 May 2006 UK Air Surveillance Command and Control System 19 May 2005 DNA(2)—T23 Frigate Command System Update 5 June 2006 Computer Network Defence (CND) 24 May 2005 Digital Diagnosis Repair 8 August 2006 Joint Command and Control Support Programme (JC2SP) Application Migration Project 1l July 2005 Surveillance Systems and Range Finding 17 August 2006 Project Listener 16 November 2005 J1/J4 Interim Op Support—Interim fit 11 September 2006 Small Arms Range Targetry Systems
Date of approval Name of project Date of approval Name of project 17 December 2004 Army Training and Recruitment Agency -Digitised Classroom Project 23 June 2006 Command, Control and Information System for Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps 22 December 2004 Armed Forces Compensation Scheme 26 July 2006 DNA(2)—T23 Frigate Command System Update 21 February 2005 Defence Fixed Telecommunications System (Cyprus) 25 August 2006 Dismounted Counter Mine Capability 13 May 2005 Temporary Deployed Accommodation l September 2006 Project CUTLASS 26 August 2005 Maritime Composite Training System 11 September 2006 JC2SP Interoperability Project 7 September 2005 Defensive Anti-Surface Warfare 1 One project has been excluded from the list as it relates to Special Forces. 2 Three projects have been excluded from the list as they relate to Special Forces.
EUFOR
There are currently no UK submarines flagged under EUFOR.
Far East War Prisoners
[holding answer 23 October 2006]: The position as at 20 October 2006 is as follows:
Claims paid Rejected Awaiting decision Total claims (includes both Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees) 25,293 6,880 369 Civilian claims considered under the 20-year UK Residence criterion1 86 0 87 Civilian claims considered under the Birthlink criterion1 1,186 2, 31,194 3 1 Military claims are considered under separate criteria with respect to definition of the required close link to the United Kingdom. 2 Rejections under the Birthlink criterion include cases where the claimant: was not British; or failed to meet either the initial criterion based on eligibility under the1950s scheme that made payments from liquidated Japanese assets or the Birthlink criterion introduced in March 2001; or did not provide evidence to show that he or she was interned in a recognised camp. 3 Since March 2006, a number of these rejections have been eligible for reconsideration under the 20-year UK residence criterion and a number have claimed and received an award; the precise number affected in this way is not known since we do not routinely collect information on the Birthlink criterion; however, we would expect most of the 86 claims accepted under the 20-year UK residence criterion to have been rejected previously and further consideration of claims under this criterion are expected to reduce the number of rejections further.
Fischer-Tropsch Process
The MOD is closely engaged with major oil companies, original equipment manufacturers and the scientific and technical community to further the use of non-fossil fuels.
As part of this ongoing work, the MOD is currently assessing the utility, compatibility and availability of fuels produced by the Fischer-Tropsch process for a range of military platforms. The Department led the way in the international aviation fuels community on the introduction of synthetic fuels, from specific sources, into the technical specification for aviation fuels.
Flight Training
In the period October 2005 to September 2006 the average monthly flight training hours and simulator training hours for the Red Arrows were 132 and three respectively.
In the period September 2005 to September 2006 training flying hours flown by front line fast jet pilots average as follows:
Hours/pilot/month Tornado F-3 16.8 Tornado GR4 16.1 Jaguar 17.5 Harrier 16.1
General Sir Richard Dannatt
Yes.
Helicopters
There are sufficient numbers of helicopters in Iraq to carry out the allocated tasks. The precise number of helicopters cannot be disclosed as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the security of our armed forces. We keep under constant review how best to sustain and refresh the helicopter capability provided to operations.
There has been no recent discussion between the Secretary of State for Defence and Boeing on the return to flight of the eight Mk3 Chinook helicopters, although there has been recent senior level engagement with Boeing, including by the Minister for Defence Procurement.
Joint Strike Fighter Programme
We are continuing to work hard together to deliver President Bush and the Prime Minister's joint intent for UK operational sovereignty for the Joint Strike Fighter.
Military Vehicles
Vector and Mastiff (the United Kingdom armed forces name for Cougar) will complement our existing fleet of vehicles. This will give commanders the flexibility to select the appropriate vehicle to achieve their missions and tasks.
Missiles
Harpoon is the Royal Navy's only long-range anti-surface warfare missile. It is a potent element of the Royal Navy's anti-surface capability.
The Harpoon missile is designed for long-range anti-ship warfare and would be employed against hostile units (normally frigate size and above) posing a threat against Royal Navy or coalition units, whether as an individual unit or as part of a larger task group.
There is no current requirement for the Type 45 Destroyer to operate Harpoon missiles, and so there are no plans at present to equip them with these weapons.
Harpoon is a sophisticated anti-ship missile which uses a combination of inertia guidance and active radar homing attack targets out to a range of 130 km.
All Type 22 and Type 23 frigates are fitted with the Harpoon surface-to-surface missile system. They are:
Type 22 frigates
HMS Cornwall
HMS Cumberland
HMS Campbeltown
HMS Chatham
Type 23 Frigates
HMS Argyll
HMS Iron Duke
HMS Kent
HMS Lancaster
HMS Monmouth
HMS Montrose
HMS Northumberland
HMS Portland
HMS Richmond
HMS Somerset
HMS St Albans
HMS Sutherland
HMS Westminster
Munitions
Sufficient stocks of ammunition are available in Iraq and Afghanistan to support all current and contingency operations. The Defence Logistics Organisation continues to ensure that sufficient ammunition supplies are delivered on time to our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan during a specific attack our operation units in remote locations have occasionally exhausted supplies of a particular ammunition type. In such instances, the ground forces are re-supplied by helicopters. At no time, however, have troops on the ground run out of all ammunition types available to them.
Naval Dockyards
A review of infrastructure at each of the three naval bases is currently being undertaken. The review will recommend ways in which we might optimise the use of the naval bases individually and collectively provide support to the front line. The review will consider a broad range of options so it is too early to determine its impact on the future of the individual bases.
Nimrod MR2
Following the loss of Nimrod MR2 XV230 in September this year, additional maintenance and safety checks have been undertaken on all of the RAF’s Nimrod MR2 aircraft. The board of inquiry is under way and it would be inappropriate to speculate on the cause of the crash. Given that the crew had, however, received indications of a fire it was deemed prudent to conduct a fleet-wide examination of areas where flammable materials (such as fuel or hydraulic fluid) may be placed in relative proximity to potential sources of ignition should a leak occur. These examinations included visual inspections of the inboard wing and bomb bay areas, and pressurised functional and leak checks of the aircraft’s fuel system.
PFI Projects
The Ministry of Defence has not postponed pending further consideration or stopped any PFI projects (as defined by the HM Treasury document ‘Meeting the Investment Challenge’ of July 2003) in the past 12 months.
Sponsored Students
The number of university bursaries awarded, and their associated costs, in each of the last five years are as follows:
Financial year Sponsorship Number awarded Total cost (£000) Naval service 2002-03 Bursary 58 174 Cadetship 8 9 2003-04 Bursary 58 631 Cadetship 7 28 2004-05 Bursary 47 548 Cadetship 2 19 2005-06 Bursary 36 465 Cadetship 2 12 2006-07(i) Bursary 48 424 Cadetship 2 1— Army 2002-03 Bursary 230 946 Cadetship 53 1,841 2003-04 Bursary 224 999 Cadetship 56 2,084 2004-05 Bursary 228 1,070 Cadetship 50 2,009 2005-06 Bursary 178 907 Cadetship 57 2,337 2006-07(i) Bursary 124 560 Cadetship 29 1,352 RAF 2002-03 Bursary 289 604 Cadetship 51 71 2003-04 Bursary 286 653 Cadetship 55 51 2004-05 Bursary 218 566 Cadetship 71 50 2005-06 Bursary 210 556 Cadetship 59 52 2006-072 Bursary 113 331 Cadetship 36 8 1 Not yet known. 2 Figures for financial year 2006-07 show the position as at 30 September 2006.
The officer entry section of the Admiralty Interview Board maintains records of all recipients of RN Bursaries who are also supported while at university either by the university training officer or by the Defence technical undergraduate scheme.
The Army's direct entry bursary is worth £1,000 per year at university plus a £3,000 lump sum at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
All RAF data on bursaries is captured on a database at RAF Cranwell.
Theatre-wide Missile Defence
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 7 June 2006, Official Report, column 627W.
Trident Replacement
It remains our intention that decisions on the future of the UK’s nuclear deterrent will be taken later this year, following which we will publish a White Paper.
Typhoon
The Eurofighter Typhoon is already fitted with a cannon. There is at present no requirement for it to be operational but the Department has the option that, should operational circumstances change, it can be brought into service.
Vessels
The sale price for the three Sandown class ships to Estonia was £32 million (the gross return to MOD). The net return to MOD will, however, be adjusted by costs for regeneration of the vessels and training of crew prior to delivery. Regeneration is being carried out under incentivised arrangements and thus the final costs will not be known until completion of the work.
Warships
Work is in progress to review the infrastructure required at each the three HM naval bases to support the Royal Navy as part of the Naval Base Review. Until this work has been completed, options for basing policy for HM ships cannot be determined.
Weaponry (Collateral Damage Predictions)
A collateral damage estimation (CDE) is conducted for all pre-planned targets by qualified targeteers who are trained to carry out this process. For targets where there is an obvious risk of collateral damage, a computer-based collateral damage model (CDM) is used, as a guide to military judgment, to determine the estimated effects of a range of weapons against differing structures in a variety of locations (rural, semi-rural, urban, etc). When it is not operationally feasible to conduct a full and formal CDE, Commanders must still apply the basic principles of the Laws of Armed Conflict (Distinction, Discrimination, Proportionality and Necessity).
Duchy of Lancaster
Civil Service Pensions
(2) what recent estimate she has made of the annual saving from increasing the employee contribution rates to the civil service pension scheme by 1 per cent.; and if she will make a statement.
Members of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme made normal contributions of £280 million in the year to 31 March 2006 plus additional contributions of £32 million for the purchase of added years.
If contribution rates had been one percentage point higher than they are, the contributions received by the Civil Superannuation Vote would have been some £141 million higher than was the case. However, the overall impact on public finances would have been less than this as members do not pay income tax on pension contributions.
(2) what the current (a) accrual rate and (b) normal retirement age is for each public sector pension scheme for which her Department is responsible; and if she will make a statement.
The Principal Civil Service Pension scheme is in two sections. Section 1—the “2002 section”—is referred to as the premium scheme and has a pension accrual rate of 1/60th. Section 2—the “1972 section” is referred to as the classic scheme. Classic has a pension accrual rate of 1/80th plus a lump sum accrual rate of 3/80th.
The current normal pension age for members of both schemes is 60. However, some prison officers who are members of classic have a normal pension age of 55.
In line with the principles agreed with the trade unions at the Public Services Forum in 2005, a new pension scheme will be introduced for new entrants tothe civil service which will have a pension age of 65.
Civil Service Sports Council
In common with many other responsible large employers, the civil service acknowledges the real benefits to the health and welfare of its staff of the provision of sport and recreational activities. The Cabinet Office has made a grant to the Civil Service Sports Council of £1,332,211 for each of the last three years on behalf of the entire civil service, currently numbering in excess of 500,000 civil servants. This grant enables the provision of sports facilities at local, regional, national and departmental level. The grant has remained the same since 1994.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given today to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles).
Crown Copyright
All UK legislation can be accessed free of charge online on the Office of Public Sector Information website at www.opsi.gov.uk. Legislation is subject to Crown Copyright protection but can be reproduced free of charge and without requiring any prior approval or formal licensing. Crown Copyright protects the integrity of official material and ensures that it is not misused.
Departmental Staff
The Cabinet Office is committed to a diverse and professional work force that is provided with opportunities for personal growth and for acquiring the skills and competences essential for timely and effective delivery of the Department’s business. Its policies actively promote equality of opportunity for all employees irrespective of age.
In implementing the Employment Equality (Age) Legislation 2006 Cabinet Office carried out an age audit and, with the support of the union, introduced an age management policy that takes account of the legislation and pension scheme provisions. Cabinet Office policies on training, paid time off and working flexibly are available to all employees irrespective of age.
Muslim Dress
There is no central record of how many civil servants wear veils, or any other type of dress.
Public Appointments
This information is not held centrally. Individual Departments are responsible for making appointments to their own public bodies. Information on the public appointments held by former Ministers who served in the Government since May 1997 for Cabinet Office bodies is shown in the following table. The three main political parties may nominate one person to serve on two of the bodies listed: the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.
Body Former Minister Dates Committee on Standards in Public Life right hon. Chris Smith MP 15 October 2001 to 31 October 2004 right hon. Baroness Jay of Paddington 1 November 2004 to 30 November 2005 right hon. Alun Michael JP MP 1 October 2006 to 30 September 2009 Advisory Committee on Business Appointments right hon. Lord Morris of Aberavon KG QC 1 January 2002 to pending outcome of review of body Capacitybuilders Chris Pond 21 November 2005 to 1 April 2008
Service Provision (Voluntary Organisations)
[holding answer 20 October 2006]: The relevant target, as set out in the 2002 cross-cutting review into the role of the third sector in public service delivery is:
“Funders should recognise that it is legitimate for providers to include the relevant element of overheads in their cost estimates for providing a given service under service agreement or contract”.
The associated recommended action was that by April 2006, all Departments and agencies should recognise that it is legitimate for organisations to include relevant elements of overheads when seeking funding or bidding for contracts. Her Majesty’s Treasury’s Invest to Save programme now reflects full cost recovery in its bidding rounds; the Department of Health’s third sector commissioning taskforce report emphasises the importance of reflecting the full cost of services in grants and contracts, and as set out in the Local Government White Paper, the Department of Communities and Local Government is working with local authorities to ensure relevant Compact principles (including full cost recovery) are reflected in local government finance codes.
The principle of full cost recovery and funding of legitimate overheads is reinforced in “Improving Financial Relationship with the third sector: Guidance to Funders and Purchasers” published jointly by Her Majesty’s Treasury, the Cabinet Office, The Office for Government Commerce and the National Audit Office on 15 May 2006.
We recognise there is further to go in ensuring that full cost recovery is fully implemented in practice. Further details of the Government’s work in this area will be set out in the Office of the Third Sector’s Public Service Delivery Action Plan later this year. In addition, the independent Commissioner for the Compact will champion implementation of the Compact principles at all levels, national, regional and local, including those relating to sound funding and procurement practice.
Constitutional Affairs
Age Discrimination
My Department produces an annual workforce composition diversity statistics report which includes information on permanent staff by responsibility level and age.
The Department for Constitutional Affairs Equality and Diversity Policy forbids age discrimination and prior to 1 October 2006 all our polices and procedures were reviewed to ensure they were not age discriminatory. On 1 April 2005 a corporate retirement policy was introduced with a normal retirement age of 65 for all staff along with the right to ask to continue working beyond the age of 65. These changes were discussed with the departmental trade union side.
All employees within my Department are regularly encouraged to upgrade their skills and knowledge. Pre-retirement training is part of a standard prospectus open to all staff. Under my Department's flexible working policy, in addition to the statutory provision, all DCA employees regardless of their length of service have the right to apply for flexible working. Employees may make an application whenever their circumstances require. Any reasonable request will be considered.
Bailiffs
Activities of county court bailiffs employed by Her Majesty's Courts Service are governed by the terms of their contracts of employment. Private bailiffs are currently self-regulated.
My Department published the draft Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Bill on 25 July 2006, which proposes an improved regulatory regime for all private sector bailiffs. The Government's long-term intention is to introduce full-scale regulation of the entire bailiff industry by way of an independent statutory regulatory body.
The Bill will be introduced to Parliament as soon as time allows.
Coroners Service
At 25 October 2006 there were 1,305 outstanding cases in Northern Ireland. Of these, 108 cases are awaiting an inquest. It is not possible for the coroners to reach a decision on the remainder of cases until they are in possession of the necessary information such as a post mortem report, police statement or the outcome of a pending prosecution.
Records are not kept by parliamentary constituency. There are 126 outstanding cases, four of which have inquests listed, for the Coroners District of Londonderry.
A rota is maintained under which a Coroner is contactable outside office hours. A telephone answering service provides guidance for those requiring assistance outside office hours.
Criminal Justice (Youth Cases)
The information requested is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Redundancies
My Department is committed to making every effort to avoid compulsory redundancies in line with the Efficiency and Relocation Support Programme developed by the Cabinet Office. Policies in place to achieve this include reviewing the use of agency staff and consultants, a redeployment register for surplus staff, looking to make savings through natural wastage, and voluntary redundancy schemes.
(a) The number of employees who have taken compulsory redundancy since 1997 is set out in the following table. These figures are for the period 1 April to 31 March.
Early Retirement Early Severance 1997 118 251 1998 24 45 1999 3 0 2000 2 1 2001 0 0 2002 0 0 2003 0 0 2004 3 1 2005 3 1
(b) Information about redundancy costs is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
(c) The number of temporary staff (i.e. those on short-term contracts) in each year that records are available is set out in the following table. These figures are as at 1st April for each year and appear on the Cabinet Office website:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/archive/index.asp
Headcount 1999 502 2000 290 2001 450 2002 480 2003 470 2004 500 2005 497
(d) The number of staff seconded to the DCA by outside organisations in each year since 1997 is set out in the following table.
Headcount 1998 0 1999 6 2000 0 2001 1 2002 1 2003 1 2004 1 2005 1
Departmental Vacancies
The majority of vacancies within the Department for Constitutional Affairs require either GCSE's (including English Language) at Grade C and above or equivalent or relevant administrative experience. We would incur disproportionate costs on providing proportionate figures on vacancies that have required a grade C in (a) English and (b) Maths.
For posts within the senior civil service the requirement is professional qualifications and/or a proven track record of skills and experience.
Ineffective Trials
The number of ineffective trials recorded in the magistrates courts for each quarter since June 2001 are as follows:
Cambridgeshire England and Wales July-September 2001 n/a n/a October-December 2001 n/a n/a January-March 2002 n/a n/a April-June 2002 92 12,544 July-September 2002 91 12,577 October-December 2002 99 12,685 January-March 2003 64 13,226 April-June 2003 80 12,340 July-September 2003 93 13,308 October-December 2003 69 13,502 January-March 2004 81 13,637 April -June 2004 54 12,831 July-September 2004 51 12,431 October-December 2004 58 11,475 January-March 2005 67 10,493 April -June 2005 72 10,083 July-September 2005 72 9,775 October-December 2005 57 9,283 January-March 2006 62 9,922 April-June 2006 59 8,247
Ineffective trial data prior to June 2002 were not collected in the magistrates courts. In Cambridgeshire based on the aforementioned figures, performance since quarter ending June 2002 has improved by 35.8 per cent.
The number of ineffective trials recorded in the Crown courts for each quarter since June 2001 are as follows:
Cambridgeshire England and Wales July-September 2001 27 3,239 October-December 2001 31 3,169 January-March 2002 32 3,056 April-June 2002 24 3,131 July-September 2002 45 3,290 October-December 2002 46 3,166 January-March 2003 28 3,227 April-June 2003 20 2,910 July-September 2003 20 2,871 October-December 2003 20 2,358 January-March 2004 19 2,431 April-June 2004 4 1,912 July-September 2004 13 1,905 October-December 2004 14 1,644 January-March 2005 16 1,514 April-June 2005 18 1,330 July-September 2005 14 1,266 October-December 2005 13 1,199 January-March 2006 17 1,222 April-June 2006 14 1,069
Cambridgeshire performance based on the aforementioned figures has improved since quarter ending September 2001 by 48.1 per cent.
Reducing the ineffective trial rate is a key supporting indicator in ensuring that more offences are brought to justice and provides evidence of our drive to improve the quality of service to victims and witnesses. Nationally, the CJS has reduced the ineffective rate in the magistrates court by 34.3 per cent. and in the Crown court by 67 per cent. Over the last four years this has cut waste in the CJS by £84 million.
Information Technology
In common with any large organisation, IT based change projects in my Department range in scale from the very small, involving just a small number of new PCs, to those supporting major strategic business developments for the Department. For the strategic group, there have been three change programmes covering the courts and headquarters. These areas are covered by separate contracts, details of which are as follows:
LOCCS (Local County Court System) provides operational IT systems to Her Majesty's Courts Service (Crown and County courts).
ARAMIS (Resource Accounting and Management Information System) provides accounting, financial, HR/payroll and management information services to the Department.
The Libra contracts cover the provision of IT infrastructure and office automation for the magistrates courts and development and implementation of a national case management system.
Total IT spend under these contracts over the last five years is as follows:
£ million 2001-02 73.8 2002-03 110.24 2003-04 149.6 2004-05 121.38 2005-06 158.51
In addition, the Transition project was launched on 26 October 2006 to manage the transfer of responsibility for the IT Services provided under the LOCCS, ARAMIS and LIBRA contracts to new suppliers. Project plans are currently being developed so I am unable to provide you with any information to your detailed questions.
International GCSE
My Department recognises international GCSEs as an acceptable substitute for GCSEs for the purposes of recruitment.
Legal Aid
51 prisoners giving their permanent address as HMP Peterborough received civil legal aid in the 12 months to 30 September 2006.
The cost of legal aid for the 35 prisoners advised by solicitors was £29,187.80. The cost of legal aid for the 16 prisoners who were advised by a not-for-profit agency cannot be given as the work was contained within a larger contract with these agencies and not accounted for separately.
Magistrates
There are no plans to change the account taken of age in the appointment of magistrates. The minimum age for a candidate to be considered for appointment by the Lord Chancellor is 18 years and magistrates are required to retire from the bench at 70 years of age by virtue of Section 13 of The Courts Act 2003. The suitability of all eligible candidates is assessed according to the six key qualities as set out in the Lord Chancellor’s directions. The Human Rights Act 2000 has no direct bearing on this system.
Magistrates Courts
Up until 1 April 2005 magistrates courts were the responsibility of locally managed Magistrates Courts Committees who were statutorily independent. They were not required by statute to inform the Department of any magistrates courts closures that were not subject to an appeal under Section 56 (3) of the Justices of the Peace Act 1997 (now repealed).
The following tables detail the magistrates court closures and openings that the Department has been notified of since 1995.
Courthouse closed 1995 Nottingham (Guildhall) Nottingham (Sand Field House) Bala Hunstanton Pembroke Tywn Whitminster 1996 Bromley (South Street) Mansfield (Commercial Street) Hornsea Howden Market Weighton Old Street Halstead Biddulph Kidsgrove Cheadle Tonbridge Amlwch Colwyn Bay Bedale Easingwold East Dereham Bleanau Festiniog Ingleton Leyburn Llangollen Thirsk 1997 Ellesmere Port Hampstead Marylebone Otley Seaham Bromsgrove Ledbury Hebburn South Shields (Kepple Street) Chippenham (Market Place) Ashton Under Lyne (Manchester Road) Duckinsfield Thorne Pontardawe Braintree Stokeley Clacton on Sea Bargoed Monmouth Pontlttyn Pontypool 1998 Malton Marlborough Street Bishop's Stortford Hatfield Hitchin Market Rasen Chertsey Farnham Oxted Lutterworth Ripon Barnard Castle Clerkenwell Sheerness West Malling Lytham Diss Corwen Felixstowe Haverhill Saxmundam Stowmarket Newmarket March Saffron Walden 1999 Christchurch Abingdon Henley on Thames Windsor Morley Pudsey Stow on the Wold 2000 Ampthill Biggleswade Dunstable Leighton Buzzard Lichfield Keighley Keswick Windermere Wigton Appleby Gravesend Wootton Bassett Abergele 2001 Alfreton Ashbourne Bakewell Matlock Leigh Middleton Leek Worcester Warrington Patten Hall Macclesfield Park Green Bideford Exmouth Kingsbridge South Molton Teignmouth Tavistock Axminster Tiverton Newquay Southampton (Commercial Road) Womborne Gillingham Bridlington Brough Driffield Hull (Guildhall) Hull (Lowgate) Pocklington Withensea Arundel 2002 Bridgenorth Leominster Fakenham Tunbridge Wells Beaconsfield Buckingham Evesham 2003 Thame Droitwitch Machynlleth Chester Le Street Rugeley Lampeter Tenby Camberley Trowbridge Whitchurch Long Sutton Caistor Horncastle 2004 Richmond, Yorks Stourbridge 2006 Wetherby Bow Street
Courthouse opened 1995 Newham Shrewsbury Rhondda Barrow Bexley Milton Keynes Bromley 1996 Mansfield Lyndhurst Tottenham Grantham Swindon Greenwich Nottingham Oswestry St. Helens 1997 York St. Albans Stevenage Skegness 1998 West London Ashton Under Lyne Birmingham (youth court) South Shields Chippenham 2001 Hereford Kidderminster Beverley Bridlington 2002 Worcester Southampton Hull 2003 Haverfordwest Redditch 2004 Manchester Derby Chesterfield Nuneaton 2005 Worle
Non-able-bodied Judges
The current judicial database indicates that since 1 January 1997, 2.4 per cent. of new appointees to the judiciary have declared they have a disability. This figure may not fully represent the number of disabled judges appointed since 1997 as it is for the individual to decide whether or not to make a declaration of disability.
When the first judicial database came into existence in 1999 all available data on Judicial Office Holders was inputted onto the system. However information on judges appointed in 1997 but who subsequently left office before the creation of the database was excluded.
Pensions
(2) what the current (a) accrual rate and (b) normal retirement age is for each public sector pension scheme for which her Department is responsible; and if she will make a statement.
The current accrual rates for the judicial pension schemes are set out in the Judicial Pensions Act 1981 and the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993.
A judge is normally required to retire at the age of 70, subject to the transitional provisions in the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993.
(2) what the current estimate is of the unfunded liability, in present value terms, of each public sector pension scheme for which her Department is responsible; and on what assumptions for (a) discount rate and (b) longevity the estimate is based;
(3) what recent estimate she has made of the (a) rate and (b) annual cost of employer contributions in each public sector pension scheme for which her Department has responsibility; and if she will make a statement.
I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer of 23 October 2006, Official Report, column 1653W.
(2) what the arrangements are for the payment of pensions to people who retire early through ill-health for each pension scheme for which her Department is responsible; what the incidence of ill-health retirement was as a percentage of all retirement for such schemes for each year since 1988-89; and if she will make a statement.
The judicial pension schemes make provision for the immediate payment of accrued pension benefits to judges who are required to retire on grounds of ill health. Under the 1993 Judicial Pension Scheme there is an enhancement of service in the event of ill-health retirement prior to the age of 65. According to the available information, about 9.7 per cent. of judicial retirements in the period between 1992-93 and 2005-06 have been on health grounds. In the first six months of 2006-07 the corresponding figure has been 8.8 per cent.
PFI Projects
Court building projects typically span more than one spending round. There are 12 PFI schemes whose funding over the next spending round will not be determined until the settlement is reached and consequently are positioned awaiting financial confirmation. £1.4 million has been spent on development and proprietary work for these projects in the last 12 months.
Home Department
Antisocial Behaviour
[holding answer 24 October 2006]: British Crime Survey (BCS) respondents who have been victims of criminal damage are asked about the nature of such damage. However, it is not possible to publish robust estimates of the number of incidents of graffiti due to the relatively low incidence and thus high variability of the estimates.
Criminal damage measures from the BCS are published in line with those from recorded crime, and thus will be reviewed if any changes are made to police statistics. We will explore whether police recorded crime returns could be amended to include the information requested, without placing an undue burden on police forces. The reviews of crime statistics (Statistics Commission and Smith, forthcoming) may also affect how measurements of criminal damage and graffiti are made in future years of the BCS and police recorded crime statistics.
Anti-terrorism
The police service has a duty to carry out its operations in a manner which does not discriminate against particular communities on the grounds of race or faith. All counter-terrorist policies and strategies are assessed for impact on racial groups, in accordance with the Race Relations Act 1976 (as amended). In addition, major counter-terrorist operations are subject to community impact assessments to ensure that potentially adverse impact is identified and measures taken to reduce or negate it.
Biometric Passports
I understand that you no longer wish to pursue this PQ.
Burglary
The available information is given in the following table. Statistics specifically for commercial premises are not available. Such offences are included in the ‘Burglary in a building other than a dwelling’ offence classification and cannot be separately identified.
Number of offences Period 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 North Yorkshire Burglary in a dwelling 4,936 2,931 2,623 Burglary in a building other than a dwelling 6,126 4,836 4,709 Yorkshire and the Humber region Burglary in a dwelling 58,928 40,206 36,564 Burglary in a building other than a dwelling 62,247 46,969 46,520 England and Wales Burglary in a dwelling 402,345 321,461 300,555 Burglary in a building other than a dwelling 417,668 359,621 344,563
The available information is given in the following table. Statistics specifically for commercial premises are not available. Such offences are included in the ‘Burglary in a building other than a dwelling’ offence classification and cannot be separately identified.
Number of offences Period 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Chorley Burglary in a dwelling 479 338 299 Burglary in a building other than a dwelling 506 509 468 Lancashire Burglary in a dwelling 8,821 6,695 6,184 Burglary in a building other than a dwelling 10,750 9,579 8,445 North West Region Burglary in a dwelling 66,922 50,553 47,041 Burglary in a building other than a dwelling 61,797 51,937 49,225
Cannabis
A widespread education campaign on the harms of cannabis and all illegal drugs is underway. In partnership with DfES the Home Office has produced ‘Understanding Drugs’, a comprehensive teacher and pupil information pack which is now available to every secondary school in England. The FRANK campaign has updated its cannabis information resources with new TV and radio ads and information leaflets coming on stream. In addition, the Department of Health will be issuing a toolkit for mental health practitioners on the links between cannabis and mental health in the autumn.
Control Orders
We are not prepared to give a running commentary on the obligations imposed in individual control order cases.
Crime (Coventry)
(2) how many people were arrested for car theft in Coventry South in the last 12 months.
The information requested is not available centrally. Information on arrests held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform is based on persons arrested for recorded crime “notifiable offences” by main offence group (i.e. theft and handling stolen goods, drugs, robbery, sexual offences, violence against the person, criminal damage etc.) at police force area only. Information is therefore not available to the detail required.
Deepcut
The following requests for documents originating from Surrey police, relating to deaths in the Deepcut barracks, have been received:
1. Request for the report on recommendations made by Surrey police to the army.
2. A request for any reports on Deepcut.
3. Two requests for details of the ballistic reports.
4. A request for copies of reports of investigations by the Surrey Police Professional Standards Department into two specific officers.
5. A request for copies of all documents provided to Mr. Gray by the MOD which originated from Surrey Police.
6. A request for copies of all reports into the deaths written by Dr. Logan.
7. A request for copies of all Gold Group meetings.
These requests have resulted in the following actions:
1. This information and report had already been published on the force internet site.
2. The 5th report had already been published on the force internet site.
3. Both refused as part of an ongoing investigation. However, an appeal has been made to the Information Commissioner's Office.
4. These were refused as part of an ongoing investigation.
5. The documents were MOD documents provided to Surrey Police—They were already in the public domain and were released by the force.
6. These were refused as part of an ongoing investigation and are currently under appeal with the Information Commissioner's Office and awaiting decision.
7. This was refused and exempted as the release of copies could compromise future policing operations.
Departmental Contracts
[holding answer 7 September 2006]: The value of the Department’s contracts with (a) ER Consultants and (b) Praesta in each of the last three years is as follows:
Financial year ER consultants Praesta 2004-05 51,688 0 2005-06 291,831 96,938 2006-07 10 142,676 1To date.
Ministers have not made use of the services provided by either company.
DNA Database (Hendon)
The information requested is not available. The National DNA Database records, inter alia, the police force which took the person’s DNA sample but not the person’s address.
Drinking Offences
Data from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform showing the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for the offences requested, in England and Wales from 1997-2004 are provided Table 1. The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally.
In addition to this, the penalty notice for disorder (pnd) scheme was introduced in England and Wales in 2004. Under the scheme, the police are able to issue to persons suspected of committing specified minor offences, including (i) being found drunk in a highway, public place or licensed premises, and (ii) drunk and disorderly with a fixed penalty notice. No admission of guilt is required and payment of the penalty discharges all liability to conviction for the offence. Data on the number of pnds issued for these offences in 2004 and 2005 can be found in Table 2.
DA06 drunk and disorderly DB05 drunk in a highway Police force area 2004 2005 2004 2005 Avon and Somerset 176 286 22 92 Bedfordshire 144 265 13 43 Cambridgeshire 189 357 34 90 Cheshire 409 190 13 13 Cleveland 368 722 2 — Cumbria 403 657 7 21 Derbyshire 372 558 9 13 Devon and Cornwall 988 1,519 158 195 Dorset 82 127 2 2 Durham 441 762 17 21 Essex 714 634 24 38 Gloucestershire 282 320 10 31 Greater Manchester 333 491 31 82 Hampshire 1,074 967 73 79 Hertfordshire 208 319 9 30 Humberside 604 679 1 5 Kent 498 1,514 45 89 Lancashire 2,869 4,651 79 105 Leicestershire 67 79 6 12 Lincolnshire 174 71 7 7 London, City of 32 101 3 12 Merseyside 2,728 3,619 20 55 Metropolitan 4,081 3,058 1,159 930 Norfolk 79 93 34 56 North Yorkshire 373 697 106 113 Northamptonshire 246 618 12 39 Northumbria 126 1,426 3 9 Nottinghamshire 477 661 8 9 South Yorkshire 1,590 2,261 10 9 Staffordshire 452 380 52 74 Suffolk 267 377 35 27 Surrey 80 278 25 123 Sussex 1,029 1,419 65 143 Thames Valley 396 258 7 74 Warwickshire 250 123 8 4 West Mercia 141 423 10 27 West Midlands 1,580 1,664 100 94 West Yorkshire 923 1,961 105 93 Wiltshire 346 311 63 71 Dyfed Powys 183 315 37 103 Gwent 127 222 22 9 North Wales 639 1,173 14 33 South Wales 69 432 37 63 England and Wales 26,609 37,038 2,497 3,138 1 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Statute: Licensing Act 1872 Sec 12 Offence: Being found drunk in a highway or other Public place whether a building or not, or a licensed premises 1997 1998 1999 2000 Police force area Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Avon and Somerset 61 52 63 51 92 83 83 75 Bedfordshire 53 47 153 149 94 88 52 50 Cambridgeshire 36 30 31 29 37 36 44 43 Cheshire 69 60 63 58 48 45 34 31 City of London 5 1 1 1 1 6 5 Cleveland 4 3 13 13 ? ? 2 2 Cumbria 38 34 36 34 22 19 13 11 Derbyshire 38 35 42 38 46 35 64 63 Devon and Cornwall 284 251 300 272 331 312 249 229 Dorset 12 11 14 10 18 16 28 26 Durham 23 17 39 31 38 27 22 17 Essex 227 200 209 185 169 140 137 124 Gloucestershire 53 48 90 86 56 53 34 32 Greater Manchester 7 7 14 10 9 9 3 3 Hampshire 346 303 481 444 346 322 232 209 Hertfordshire 20 20 47 46 65 58 42 38 Humberside 11 11 12 12 14 12 6 5 Kent 155 129 145 138 145 130 148 133 Lancashire 213 181 213 188 188 159 248 228 Leicestershire ? ? 1 1 6 6 4 4 Lincolnshire 34 29 49 41 26 24 25 24 Merseyside 44 41 46 35 38 36 34 28 Metropolitan Police 253 217 286 256 244 216 160 130 Norfolk 65 60 65 61 68 64 67 58 North Yorkshire 81 72 94 86 85 76 133 121 Northamptonshire 6 6 6 6 6 4 7 7 Northumbria 21 16 28 23 41 34 23 22 Nottinghamshire 1 ? 8 7 6 6 3 3 South Yorkshire 18 16 12 10 21 17 32 28 Staffordshire 81 67 70 63 41 41 12 12 Suffolk 108 104 81 77 97 95 72 69 Surrey 91 72 97 89 108 94 119 106 Sussex 226 208 226 189 130 116 81 67 Thames Valley 214 186 246 215 207 180 173 153 Warwickshire 8 8 98 11 17 14 9 9 West Mercia 97 80 64 52 73 64 19 17 West Midlands 61 45 51 40 29 23 19 16 West Yorkshire 46 35 103 81 67 49 70 43 Wiltshire 68 65 73 67 65 62 48 43 Dyfed-Powys 92 78 152 130 134 116 138 128 Gwent 21 15 25 24 21 21 25 17 North Wales 17 8 13 10 14 12 7 7 South Wales 113 102 241 215 250 219 251 232 England and Wales 3,421 2,970 4,101 3,583 3,513 3,134 2,978 2,668
Police force area Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Avon and Somerset 72 70 84 77 84 71 91 88 Bedfordshire 31 27 20 19 47 38 28 20 Cambridgeshire 51 47 51 47 71 68 47 44 Cheshire 18 17 23 22 24 22 13 12 City of London 1 ? ? ? ? ? 2 2 Cleveland 3 3 2 1 3 3 3 3 Cumbria 17 16 15 14 8 8 20 19 Derbyshire 60 52 52 46 40 37 11 11 Devon and Cornwall 215 189 228 204 185 179 106 93 Dorset 12 9 12 11 15 12 11 9 Durham 45 40 20 19 6 6 7 5 Essex 114 99 52 44 12 11 13 11 Gloucestershire 35 29 34 30 20 17 14 13 Greater Manchester 8 8 4 1 10 8 4 4 Hampshire 164 154 127 118 71 61 57 50 Hertfordshire 31 27 18 17 18 18 17 16 Humberside 3 3 4 4 5 5 2 2 Kent 142 127 154 136 153 140 123 107 Lancashire 182 159 177 158 69 63 35 29 Leicestershire — — 2 2 — — — — Lincolnshire 11 8 15 15 10 10 9 9 Merseyside 39 26 29 23 18 15 8 6 Metropolitan Police 304 265 185 160 141 118 113 97 Norfolk 58 49 57 55 72 61 40 37 North Yorkshire 136 120 143 128 120 111 53 45 Northamptonshire 1 1 9 8 3 2 4 4 Northumbria 10 9 12 12 9 7 17 17 Nottinghamshire 10 9 9 9 12 12 — — South Yorkshire 13 12 8 6 5 4 13 12 Staffordshire 17 15 15 12 34 31 40 36 Suffolk 51 48 61 57 57 52 66 61 Surrey 120 94 81 67 86 79 93 89 Sussex 129 107 102 93 88 78 44 40 Thames Valley 144 124 123 112 127 97 97 87 Warwickshire 7 7 7 7 6 4 1 1 West Mercia 22 19 9 9 4 3 7 5 West Midlands 11 6 7 6 22 21 16 13 West Yorkshire 26 16 34 20 90 67 75 54 Wiltshire 59 55 52 43 48 46 64 60 Dyfed-Powys 77 70 72 68 78 77 62 60 Gwent 38 35 50 46 25 21 11 8 North Wales 3 2 9 8 7 6 1 1 South Wales 228 207 206 184 218 190 206 192 England and Wales 2,718 2,380 2,374 2,118 2,121 1,879 1,644 1,472
Offence: Drunk in, or when entering, a designated sports event 1997 1998 1999 2000 Police force area Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Avon and Somerset 6 3 23 19 6 4 5 4 Bedfordshire 15 14 5 4 11 10 9 5 Cambridgeshire 9 9 6 6 5 4 5 5 Cheshire 4 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 City of London — — — — — — — — Cleveland 9 6 7 6 26 21 4 3 Cumbria 4 3 1 1 — — — — Derbyshire 2 1 5 5 — — 5 4 Devon and Cornwall 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 Dorset 6 6 13 11 3 2 11 7 Durham — — — — 1 1 1 1 Essex 1 — — — — — 1 1 Gloucestershire — — — — 3 3 7 5 Greater Manchester 9 9 28 28 9 9 13 13 Hampshire 41 28 15 14 8 8 16 12 Hertfordshire — — 1 — 1 1 — — Humberside — — — — 5 4 3 3 Kent 2 2 1 1 10 10 3 1 Lancashire 61 43 33 28 24 23 26 19 Leicestershire — — 2 2 2 1 3 3 Lincolnshire — — 1 1 — — — — Merseyside 3 3 9 8 13 11 10 9 Metropolitan Police 198 168 191 146 115 92 73 62 Norfolk 12 5 14 10 7 5 1 1 North Yorkshire 6 6 2 1 3 3 15 12 Northamptonshire — — — — 1 1 — — Northumbria 102 85 43 35 26 22 20 18 Nottinghamshire 40 37 34 34 42 39 19 11 South Yorkshire 48 28 20 13 27 23 23 21 Staffordshire 3 2 1 1 — — — — Suffolk 5 5 5 5 3 2 2 2 Surrey — — — — — — — — Sussex 1 1 — — 1 1 3 — Thames Valley 15 9 21 15 6 4 3 2 West Mercia 2 2 — — 1 1 2 2 West Midlands 59 36 52 41 25 19 15 11 West Yorkshire 32 22 33 29 30 29 53 29 Wiltshire 12 8 22 13 2 2 18 18 Dyfed-Powys — — — — — — — — Gwent — — — — — — — — North Wales 2 2 3 3 7 7 5 4 South Wales 2 1 6 4 3 1 2 2 England and Wales 713 548 601 488 430 366 381 293
Police force area Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Avon and Somerset 3 2 3 3 9 7 10 5 Bedfordshire 4 2 2 2 2 1 3 2 Cambridgeshire 8 6 4 4 2 1 4 4 Cheshire 1 1 2 2 5 5 4 2 City of London — — — — — — — — Cleveland 15 14 26 22 14 11 13 12 Cumbria 2 2 1 1 1 1 Derbyshire 3 3 11 10 4 3 15 13 Devon and Cornwall 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 2 Dorset 12 10 8 5 3 2 1 1 Durham 3 3 — — — — 2 2 Essex — — — — — — 4 4 Gloucestershire 6 4 7 3 1 1 — — Greater Manchester 7 7 13 11 11 9 14 14 Hampshire 16 13 9 9 19 15 22 14 Hertfordshire 2 2 1 1 — — 2 2 Humberside 5 5 1 1 2 2 1 — Kent 3 2 — — — — 1 1 Lancashire 26 22 23 18 16 8 11 7 Leicestershire — — — — 4 1 2 — Lincolnshire — — 2 2 1 — 2 — Merseyside 9 8 8 7 7 6 7 6 Metropolitan Police 37 31 61 52 72 59 59 45 Norfolk 11 9 10 10 7 5 8 6 North Yorkshire 13 8 4 4 3 3 1 1 Northamptonshire — — — — 1 1 1 1 Northumbria 44 42 42 41 44 41 16 14 Nottinghamshire 26 16 20 15 13 12 28 25 South Yorkshire 41 28 31 13 17 11 30 23 Staffordshire — — 5 5 2 2 5 2 Suffolk 7 6 5 4 6 6 29 25 Surrey — — — — — — — — Sussex — — — — — — — — Thames Valley 9 7 3 3 2 2 4 3 West Mercia 1 — — — 1 1 1 — West Midlands 55 45 85 67 72 55 84 61 West Yorkshire 68 29 47 24 25 18 34 28 Wiltshire 11 10 1 1 1 1 5 4 Dyfed-Powys — — — — — — — — Gwent — — — — — — 1 1 North Wales — — 2 2 4 4 1 1 South Wales 5 3 — — 3 2 3 3 England and Wales 452 339 439 344 376 298 432 335
Offence: Any person who in any public place is guilty, while drunk, of disorderly behaviour 1997 1998 1999 2000 Police force area Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Avon and Somerset 361 301 374 310 383 326 363 309 Bedfordshire 166 143 314 185 220 199 186 161 Cambridgeshire 122 99 144 125 159 133 148 132 Cheshire 586 502 714 629 652 589 590 515 City of London 26 13 31 21 54 29 43 24 Cleveland 774 565 707 519 708 551 684 525 Cumbria 808 703 812 721 802 707 521 448 Derbyshire 294 250 286 257 231 206 254 229 Devon and Cornwall 888 753 771 681 709 636 704 617 Dorset 272 224 390 322 343 290 406 344 Durham 406 308 504 390 491 368 538 435 Essex 515 415 490 381 553 447 584 472 Gloucestershire 147 123 200 178 153 126 158 145 Greater Manchester 1,415 1,221 1,307 1,103 1,206 1,016 1,215 982 Hampshire 1,270 1,151 1,393 1,276 1,306 1,161 1,133 1,004 Hertfordshire 296 246 337 292 388 342 381 338 Humberside 250 222 225 195 255 228 234 206 Kent 560 493 720 637 865 777 900 772 Lancashire 1,618 1,219 1,673 1,304 1,827 1,436 2,165 1,673 Leicestershire 27 23 27 23 37 31 24 21 Lincolnshire 478 390 624 528 584 492 458 389 Merseyside 2,967 2,106 2,940 2,181 2,151 1,621 1,979 1,540 Metropolitan Police 1,449 1,147 1,550 1,221 1,440 1,188 1,219 981 Norfolk 108 99 114 106 115 106 131 127 North Yorkshire 342 302 382 336 411 355 459 380 Northamptonshire 26 20 24 21 21 18 29 25 Northumbria 3,122 2,693 3,567 3,153 3,548 3,141 3,859 3,400 Nottinghamshire 563 428 570 431 526 419 482 376 South Yorkshire 1,186 843 968 717 1,148 835 1,264 909 Staffordshire 320 273 305 268 247 225 330 281 Suffolk 269 249 212 193 213 194 228 201 Surrey 208 172 208 173 280 248 412 307 Sussex 522 409 512 424 398 325 512 422 Thames Valley 1,086 859 1,305 999 1,161 917 979 758 Warwickshire 309 244 666 368 286 239 228 188 West Mercia 654 521 574 451 561 477 488 395 West Midlands 1,102 764 846 625 522 404 472 355 West Yorkshire 2,655 1,383 2,764 1,431 3,097 1,446 2,809 1,149 Wiltshire 370 319 426 370 267 249 275 253 Dyfed-Powys 200 166 198 176 153 133 145 122 Gwent 748 651 532 458 420 368 360 317 North Wales 824 704 1,006 917 949 854 799 678 South Wales 1,582 1,224 1,583 1,295 1,212 1,020 1,162 994 England and Wales 31,891 24,940 33,295 26,391 31,052 24,872 30,310 23,899
Police force area Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Proceeded against Found guilty Avon and Somerset 399 343 408 350 427 364 371 323 Bedfordshire 187 159 197 168 219 187 136 100 Cambridgeshire 151 136 154 135 189 174 167 155 Cheshire 563 475 648 545 652 582 505 454 City of London 44 28 53 38 70 49 53 45 Cleveland 621 465 630 427 715 500 631 465 Cumbria 558 487 514 463 525 459 471 418 Derbyshire 292 257 357 304 425 362 342 316 Devon and Cornwall 817 711 895 760 672 601 477 420 Dorset 469 418 551 473 520 451 166 142 Durham 563 427 541 436 603 499 406 348 Essex 513 433 409 338 194 174 204 186 Gloucestershire 164 142 180 160 201 180 139 124 Greater Manchester 1,067 825 1,005 792 965 787 505 420 Hampshire 1,072 954 1,117 1,001 977 890 590 534 Hertfordshire 406 352 508 437 449 387 365 315 Humberside 247 214 213 175 213 174 127 118 Kent 911 744 928 760 1,107 930 1,118 952 Lancashire 2,366 1,806 2,210 1,628 2,180 1,564 908 670 Leicestershire 26 23 26 24 19 16 18 15 Lincolnshire 506 400 528 424 556 464 484 394 Merseyside 1,926 1,465 2,118 1,766 2,039 1,734 1,348 1,116 Metropolitan Police 1,494 1,189 2,464 2,017 2,466 2,053 1,182 972 Norfolk 146 133 151 135 183 170 94 80 North Yorkshire 482 377 452 348 512 427 195 167 Northamptonshire 33 27 29 16 25 17 32 23 Northumbria 3,516 3,077 3,587 3,138 3,944 3,530 3,939 3,602 Nottinghamshire 529 358 507 364 501 368 261 199 South Yorkshire 1,248 854 1,271 827 1,497 999 1,204 839 Staffordshire 215 181 251 212 343 292 223 185 Suffolk 267 240 333 299 357 314 337 291 Surrey 473 330 477 332 439 376 289 255 Sussex 631 509 733 596 801 689 474 416 Thames Valley 997 697 979 660 1,090 756 895 613 Warwickshire 195 155 125 105 162 140 111 101 West Mercia 543 440 455 355 413 327 483 377 West Midlands 437 331 463 373 307 253 531 437 West Yorkshire 2,101 853 2,071 867 2,260 1,050 714 483 Wiltshire 262 233 284 249 426 385 290 254 Dyfed-Powys 162 144 173 153 223 193 214 201 Gwent 308 262 273 226 207 182 263 221 North Wales 839 755 669 588 545 479 436 383 South Wales 998 843 802 672 725 637 903 819 England and Wales 29,744 23,252 30,739 24,136 31,343 25,165 22,601 18,948 1 These data are on the principal offence basis. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Identity Cards
The Government plan to introduce biometric residence permits for foreign nationals from 2008. Identity cards incorporating biometric data for British citizens will be issued from 2009.
Laser Speed Meter
The LTI 20.20 has been through the usual testing by an independent test house against specifications set and published by the Home Office scientific development branch. We have no plans for further independent testing.
Information held centrally on prosecutions for speeding offences detected by camera does not distinguish between the different types of camera used.
Motoring Offences
Available information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, for the offence of “using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks”, from 1997-2004 (latest available) is provided in the following table.
2005 data will be available early in 2007.
Number of offences Police force area 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 20032 2004 Avon and Somerset 15,354 16,892 15,098 14,609 13,022 15,124 17,163 17,489 Bedfordshire 4,724 4,449 3,479 3,594 4,651 4,731 5,041 4,534 Cambridgeshire 3,440 3,425 3,058 2,929 2,508 2,875 3,301 3,120 Cheshire 4,838 4,961 5,463 5,729 4,975 5,765 6,385 6,515 Cleveland 3,925 4,204 4,331 4,793 4,789 5,994 5,575 6,597 Cumbria 4,223 3,787 3,597 3,507 3,595 3,540 3,488 3,446 Derbyshire 5,565 5,137 5,120 5,318 5,429 5,614 5,793 6,326 Devon and Cornwall 8,422 7,232 7,493 9,234 8,648 9,598 9,676 8,943 Dorset 5,271 4,198 4,776 6,035 5,262 6,176 7,034 6,075 Durham 3,992 4,261 5,899 5,470 5,394 5,840 5,802 5,300 Essex 7,161 7,025 7,336 7,898 7,708 7,811 7,489 7,132 Gloucestershire 3,577 4,465 4,443 4,174 4,683 4,417 4,412 3,695 Greater Manchester 30,655 30,836 33,228 33,783 37,088 36,337 38,208 34,942 Hampshire 11,768 11,557 11,553 10,559 10,349 10,912 10,619 9,750 Hertfordshire 4,580 5,799 4,748 5,258 5,816 6,612 7,216 7,463 Humberside 4,408 4,279 4,894 5,024 4,730 4,464 5,509 5,170 Kent 6,935 6,958 6,151 9,033 9,592 10,059 9,788 10,673 Lancashire 20,334 18,794 18,111 18,354 16,280 17,555 21,229 16,065 Leicestershire 9,706 9,481 11,054 10,263 10,475 10,699 11,304 10,833 Lincolnshire 4,589 5,000 5,345 4,500 4,083 4,242 5,883 6,621 London, City of 2,671 3,127 2,521 1,738 1,826 2,353 2,563 2,812 Merseyside 10,896 9,747 8,932 10,054 9,467 10,360 12,776 13,023 Metropolitan Police 42,283 35,064 31,285 29,649 32,032 36,485 43,100 47,806 Norfolk 3,932 3,434 3,468 3,951 4,744 5,563 6,322 5,084 Northamptonshire 4,999 4,849 5,571 3,949 2,028 1,211 4,157 5,804 Northumbria 12,470 11,837 13,296 13,195 12,504 12,309 12,951 11,685 North Yorkshire 3,926 3,744 4,003 3,905 3,545 3,340 3,774 4,065 Nottinghamshire 8,078 8,726 7,957 7,748 7,856 7,460 9,224 9,224 South Yorkshire 11,228 11,553 11,763 12,690 14,623 13,859 13,745 11,416 Staffordshire 8,180 8,210 8,021 8,777 6,027 7,056 7,214 7,439 Suffolk 3,258 3,743 4,189 3,923 4,123 4,759 5,808 5,718 Surrey 4,942 3,908 4,436 4,941 5,101 5,554 4,657 3,927 Sussex 9,333 8,202 7,415 6,796 6,814 6,413 5,808 4,371 Thames Valley 11,887 11,948 13,543 12,816 11,728 12,842 14,516 12,920 Warwickshire 4,316 3,769 3,523 4,135 4,204 3,711 3,756 4,160 West Mercia 7,082 8,207 7,450 7,686 7,787 7,849 7,735 7,249 West Midlands 29,878 30,928 27,409 28,148 27,010 32,339 36,409 39,696 West Yorkshire 23,980 23,549 25,776 26,529 27,618 24,873 26,966 32,404 Wiltshire 3,463 4,820 4,708 4,901 5,292 5,326 4,794 4,641 Dyfed-Powys 3,079 2,852 3,017 3,072 2,953 3,316 3,094 2,244 Gwent 4,097 4,478 4,451 4,680 4,758 4,508 4,083 3,474 North Wales 4,859 4,452 4,102 3,697 3,376 4,048 5,968 6,022 South Wales 14,829 16,187 15,406 14,615 13,805 16,499 16,932 15,946 England and Wales 397,133 390,074 387,419 391,659 388,298 410,398 447,267 441,819 1 An offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 143 (2). 2 As from 1 June 2003, “driving a motor vehicle while uninsured against third party risks” became a fixed penalty offence. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Police
[holding answer 20 October 2006]: I understand this an operational matter for Cambridgeshire Constabulary, however, the relevant data are contained in the table.
Operational support Operational Organisational Support Total 31 March 2003 Cambridgeshire Central 20 318 1 339 Cambridgeshire Northern 25 333 2 360 Cambridgeshire Southern 34 357 6 397 31 March 2004 Cambridgeshire Central 25 334 1 360 Cambridgeshire Northern 33 322 1 356 Cambridgeshire Southern 32 359 3 394 31 March 2005 Cambridgeshire Central 19 291 2 312 Cambridgeshire Northern 30 276 2 308 Cambridgeshire Southern 22 342 2 365 31 March 2006 Cambridgeshire Central 23 296 3 322 Cambridgeshire Northern 28 288 1 317 Cambridgeshire southern 44 321 2 367 1. Full time equivalent. This figure includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. 2. Recorded functions are “Operational”, “Operational support” and “Organisational support”. 3. Data available at the basic command unit level. 4. Data not available prior to 2002-03
[holding answer 20 October 2006]: This is a matter for the chief constable.
The 2006 police officer pay award is now subject to arbitration.
The administration of the Police Pension Schemes is the responsibility of individual police authorities.
The statistics for negligence or oversight in investigating a crime and following up leads with diligence are not specifically captured or held centrally.
However, Police Complaints statistics for England and Wales up to 31 March 2004 are available on the Home Office website (www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds). With effect from 1 April 2004, the responsibility for the guardianship of the police complaints system and the collation and publication of these statistics passed to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and they are available on (www.ipcc.gov.uk/index/resources/research/stats).
It is for the relevant authorities to set the police precept for 2007-08.
There are currently 10 dedicated teams in the M2 operational command unit which covers the Coventry South parliamentary constituency.
West Midlands police are on target to introduce neighbourhood policing to every community by April 2007, and to ensure that every community has an embedded neighbourhood policing team by April 2008.
I understand this is an operational matter for the police constabularies concerned. However, the relevant data are contained in the following table.
31 March 2003 31 March 2004 31 March 2005 31 March 2006 Bedfordshire 75 80 80 81 Cambridgeshire 85 99 101 99 Essex 241 242 243 243 Hertfordshire 150 151 149 149 Norfolk 120 121 107 112 Suffolk 68 72 76 80 1 Full time equivalent. This figure includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. 2 Data not available prior to 2002-03.
[holding answer 20 October 2006]: I understands this is an operational matter for the chief constable of Lancashire. However, the relevant data are contained in the following table.
Lancashire Number 31 March 2003 198 31 March 2004 187 31 March 2005 190 31 March 2006 197 1 Full time equivalent. This figure includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. 2 Data not available prior to 2002-03.
Professional Standards Investigations
The statistics for the ethnicity of police staff involved in professional standards department investigations is not specifically captured or held centrally.
However, police complaints statistics for England and Wales up to 31 March 2004 are available on the Home Office website (www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds). With effect from 1 April 2004, the responsibility for the guardianship of the police complaints system and the collation and publication of these statistics passed to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and they are available on: www.ipcc.gov.uk/index/resources/research/stats).
Psychiatric Units
I have been asked to reply.
The information available centrally does not identify medium secure psychiatric unit places separately, but the following table gives the average daily number of available beds for adults, excluding the elderly, in all secure mental illness and secure learning disability wards for 2005-06. The figures are broken down by strategic health authority (SHA) rather than by county.
SHA Mental illness: other ages: secure unit Learning disabilities: other ages: secure unit Population Secure unit beds per 100,000 population (mental health and learning disability) Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 84 32 2,264,913 5.11 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 37 36 1,630,799 4.48 Essex 82 8 1,645,924 5.50 North West London 250 0 1,871,187 13.38 North Central London 208 0 1,243,437 16.73 North East London 138 0 1,542,634 8.95 South East London 130 16 1,524,646 9.58 South West London 97 0 1,335,822 7.26 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 59 31 1,406,509 6.38 County Durham and Tees Valley 75 44 1,151,799 10.33 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 71 10 1,659,750 4.88 West Yorkshire 174 9 2,118,579 8.63 Cumbria and Lancashire 124 205 1,938,136 16.99 Greater Manchester 66 0 2,547,647 2.58 Cheshire and Merseyside 85 15 2,360,466 4.23 Thames Valley 105 10 2,139,263 5.38 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 106 0 1,811,057 5.84 Kent and Medway 51 0 1,621,011 3.16 Surrey and Sussex 46 0 2,592,893 1.77 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 60 0 2,221,019 2.70 South West Peninsula 30 0 1,629,358 1.84 Dorset and Somerset 12 0 1,217,417 0.99 South Yorkshire 19 0 1,285,615 1.48 Trent 471 54 2,701,341 19.45 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 20 0 1,604,994 1.25 Shropshire and Staffordshire 39 0 1,505,599 2.59 Birmingham and the Black Country 163 15 2,287,069 7.78 West Midlands South 4 42 1,572,770 2.92
The individual national health service trust information on which this table is based can be found on the Department’s website at: www.performance.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/data_requests/beds_open_overnight.htm.
In compiling their returns, NHS trusts are expected to include high, medium and low secure bed number information.
Road Safety
The police have no power to stop a driver specifically to conduct a random eyesight test. Where there is reason to suspect that a driver has defective eyesight, the police may require the driver to undergo an eyesight test. Data relating to eyesight tests are not collected centrally.
Terrorism Legislation
The Terrorism Act 2006 creates a number of new offences including acts preparatory to terrorism; encouragement to terrorism, including glorification of terrorism; dissemination of terrorist publications; and giving or receiving terrorist training. The Act also makes amendments to existing legislation, including extending police powers to detain suspects after arrest for up to 28 days; improved search powers at ports; and increased flexibility of the proscription regime, including the power to proscribe groups that glorify terrorism.
The Terrorism Act 2006 received Royal Assent on 30 March 2006. The majority of its provisions came into force on 13 April 2006, with the exception of sections 23-25 covering pre-charge detention which came into force on 25 July 2006.
We regularly receive representations from interested parties, such as Members of Parliament and members of the public, on the Terrorism Act 2006.
Victim Support/Neighbourhood Watch
The Government funds £30 million to Victim Support annually to provide services to victims and witnesses across England and Wales. This funding has almost trebled from £11.7 million in 1997. Additionally the Government have funded discrete projects run by Victim Support, including £1 million this year to pilot enhanced services to victims of crime. The annual funding for the past 10 years is set out in the following table.
The Government do not provide direct funding to Neighbourhood Watch or other Watch schemes. To fund all local schemes would not be possible and to selectively fund only a proportion would be unfair and divisive. Schemes are advised how to find alternative funding, for example locally via the Safer Stronger Communities funding. The Government provide support to Neighbourhood Watch and the wider Watch movement through the provision of free literature, public liability insurance, training and advice.
The annual funding for the past 10 years is set out as follows.
Financial year Home Office grant to Victim Support (£ million) 1995-96 10.82 1996-97 11.68 1997-98 12.68 1998-99 12.68 1999-2000 17.50 2000-01 18.55 2001-02 25.05 2002-03 29.30 2003-04 30.00 2004-05 30.00 2005-06 30.00 2006-07 30.00