Written Answers toQuestions
Monday 6 November 2006
Defence
“Not to Exceed” Dates
The term ‘not to exceed’ was not used during the approvals process for the majority of the projects as they predated the use of this concept. The values and dates used in the following table are those approved at Main Gate.
Similarly, not all of the projects broke the cost down into Indirect Resource DEL, Direct Resource DEL and Capital DEL. The table therefore reflects the values approved in the relevant Main Gate, many of which are for service based contracts, not a demonstration and manufacture phase.
Indirect RDEL Direct RDEL Capital DEL White Fleet PFI Implementation of Service: April 2001 Maximum initial contract cost - 540.9 Single Living Accommodation November 2004 786 Digitisation of the Battlespace (Land-Corn BAT, Infra and Platform) December 2004 379 Otterburn Training Area November 2005 12.22 64.79 Project Aquatrine,Water and Wastewater services PFI August 2004 (A) 1000 — June 2005 (B) 392.2 — April 2005 (C) 1001. 8 — Hayes Record Office July 2005 28.10 — SSN Berthing HMNB Clyde November 2007 12.44 147.09 Defence Estates Regional Prime Contracting, Scotland March 2004 467 153 Project NEPTUNE Approved as an element of Defence Estates Regional Prime Contracting-Scotland Defence Information Infrastructure (Army) March 2005 212
Afghanistan
I refer the hon. Member to the statements I made on 10 July 2006, Official Report, columns 1131-35, and 24 July 2006, Official Report, columns 74-76WS. The additional CH-47 Chinooks were drawn from the UK and from the Falklands Islands.
I can confirm that, as announced on the 10 July 2006, Official Report, column 1133, the additional force package deployed to the Helmand Province contained 320 engineers from 28 Regiment Royal Engineers (28 Regt RE), an Infantry Company from the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (2 RRF), two Platoons from the 1st Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment (1 R IRISH) and one company from three Commando Brigade Royal Marines. The armed forces harmony guidelines recommend a tour interval of 24 months between each six month operational tour. The average tour interval for 28 Regt RE as a whole is 24 months, although, 35 individuals deployed facing a tour interval of between six and 24 months. The average tour interval for 2 RRF is 34 months, although one individual will have deployed for 15 months in a 30 month period. The average tour interval for 1 R IRISH is 25 months but most of the 60 personnel who deployed will now experience a tour interval of six months. The company of three Commando Brigade Royal Marines who deployed as the force protection unit for 28 Regt RE have a tour interval of 28 months.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 October 2006, Official Report, column 2013, to my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn).
Similar principles apply to the number of civilians injured as to the number of civilians killed.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor on 27 March 2006, Official Report, column 670W to the hon. Member for Gravesham (Mr. Holloway).
Figures for the number of UK regular forces deployed in Afghanistan from December 2005 are shown in the following table. Figures for the number of UK service personnel deployed before December 2005 are not held centrally.
Date2 Total December 2005 820 January 2006 840 February 2006 870 March 2006 1,900 April 2006 2,330 May 2006 3,880 June 2006 4,370 July 2006 4,590 August 2006 4,950 September 2006 5,220 October 2006 5,850 1 Figures include UK regular forces and mobilised reservists. They exclude civilians and Royal Fleet Auxiliary. 2 Figures are collated from a manual headcount of personnel in theatre, reported on a weekly basis. The figures shown are the closest available to the first of each month. Note: Due to the rounding methods used, totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
Figures for the number of UK service personnel deployed before December 2005 is not held centrally on a month to month basis and only an average for the year can be provided. These data have not been statistically verified.
Average number of UK personnel in Afghanistan 2005 970 2004 660 June-December 2003 380
[holding answer 30 October 2006]: There are links of convenience between the Taliban and traffickers based on personal relationships, tribal loyalties and business interests. The Taliban and drug traffickers share a common interest in resisting the Afghan Government and coalition forces. The Taliban are also attempting to exploit the continued existence of the drugs trade to undermine the central Government’s authority. Given these links we continue to monitor their development and to support the Afghan Government in disrupting them.
NATO supports the Afghan counter narcotics effort by securing the future stability of Afghanistan and creating the environment in which counter narcotics activities can have greatest impact, but it does not take direct action against the drugs trade.
[holding answer 30 October 2006]: We regularly hold discussions on all aspects of the international community’s efforts in Afghanistan with the US and other nations that contribute to the international security assistance force.
[holding answer 30 October 2006]: The vast majority of UK forces in Afghanistan are part of the NATO led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which is currently headed by a British officer. Regardless of the nationality of the commanding officer, ISAF remains under NATO command.
I discuss regularly with the NATO Secretary General and with NATO Ministerial colleagues the need to ensure that NATO commanders in Afghanistan have the forces they need to fulfil their mission, including British forces in Helmand Province. NATO Defence Ministers last met collectively on 28 September.
[holding answer 2 November 2006]: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister indicated during Prime Minister’s Question Time on 1 November 2006, Official Report, column 294, Ministers have not received any formal requests for Warrior armoured fighting vehicles. Requests from operational commanders are considered first by the Permanent Joint Headquarters and by the Chiefs of Staff before they are presented to Ministers.
(2) which air force was responsible for the recent bombing in which up to 60 Afghan civilians are reported to have died; what assistance has been offered to the survivors; and what plans there are to compensate the victims.
NATO has commissioned a report into the accidental bombing of Afghan civilians on 24 October has still to be completed. Until the investigation is complete, it would be inappropriate to comment on the incident. In recognition of its responsibility to the Afghan people, however, the International Security Assistance Force has already provided medical assistance to a number of the injured.
I have been asked to reply.
Women’s rights are fully considered in the UK Provincial Reconstruction Team’s efforts to improve the lives of the people of Helmand. Gender awareness is an integral part of our effort to assist the national and provincial Afghan Government in laying the platform for lasting reconstruction and development across the province.
The Afghan Government is engaging with a wide range of groups to ensure proper engagement in the democratic process, but remains fully aware of its obligations under the Constitution, which provides for women’s equality and their right to participate in the political process, and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
We continue to maintain a regular dialogue with the Afghan Government’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, to ensure that women’s rights are not sidelined during the process of reconciliation and integration.
Aircraft
[holding answer 13 September 2006]: I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests.
The programme to fit explosive suppressant foam to Hercules aircraft continues as planned, and two aircraft have been fitted so far.
The Nimrod MRA4 support solution is currently being developed and costed.
Armed Forces Pension Scheme
The 1975 Social Security Act required all occupational pension schemes to introduce pensions for widows who married their husbands after they retired from service. The change was introduced in April 1978 for future service only. The change for widowers was not introduced until April 1989. Widows of men who joined the armed forces after April 1978 and widowers of women who joined after 1989 are not affected by this issue and are eligible for pension benefits in respect of their entire service.
The Government Actuary confirmed a figure of £50 million to extend benefits to all post-retirement widows and widowers in the armed forces pension scheme 1975 (AFPS 75) as part of the review which led to the introduction of the Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Act 2004. This figure should not be viewed in isolation: if the concession were to be made for affected members of AFPS 75, there would be pressure to extend it across other public sector pension schemes at an estimated cost of between £300 million and £500 million.
The cost for AFPS 75 represented the total capitalised value of future widows' and widowers' benefits which would be payable if marriages after leaving service were treated on the same basis as if the marriage had taken place in service. The value has been assessed using data relating to membership of pensioners and deferred pensioners of AFPS 75 and marriage patterns adopted for costing the scheme as a whole.
Armoured Vehicles
To meet the requirement for a medium protected patrol vehicle, a number of factors were taken into consideration. These included mine protection, vehicle capacity and payload, and the ability to be modified to meet the demanding UK protection requirements in the fastest possible time.
A wide range of vehicles were briefly considered but discounted because we judged that they could not be modified to meet the UK requirement in the necessary timescale. Three options were considered in detail: the ADI Bushmaster, the BAES OMC RG-31 and the Cougar, which is manufactured by Force Protection Inc. The Cougar was selected and will be known as MASTIFF when in service with the United Kingdom armed forces.
Operating costs for armoured vehicle fleets are calculated on peacetime usage, and based on an average cost per kilometre. The full capitation cost for the Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle (all variants) for financial year 2006-07 is calculated as £154.04 per kilometre. Specific mileage data on operations is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
(2) what the maintenance problems were which led to the RG-31 being withdrawn from service following deployments in Bosnia.
The RG-31 Mamba was procured in the mid-late 1990s to meet Urgent Operational Requirements for specialist vehicles for use by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams in the Balkans. It was replaced in service by the Mine Protected Vehicle in 2001-02. The RG31 Mamba suffered from safety and reliability problems caused by the additional weight of the appliqué armour affecting the vehicle’s steering and braking systems. These problems were exacerbated by a lack of commonality between the vehicles, which were bought in three separate batches, and poor availability of spare parts.
The MOD does not own or lease any RG-31 armoured vehicles and currently has no plans to do so.
Army Personnel
I refer the hon. Member to Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 1—Strength, Intake and Outflow of UK Regular Forces. TSP 1 is published monthly. The most recent publication shows figures at 1 September 2006.
Copies of TSP 1 are available in the Library of the House and at www.dasa.mod.uk.
The following table provides a breakdown, by cap badge, of the Regular Army strength against liability as at 1 August 2006. A detailed breakdown of Territorial Army posts by cap badge within unit establishments is not currently available; however strengths are given as follows against the overall Territorial Army liability of 42,000.
Arm/Service Liability3 Strength1 Liability Strength2 Total 97,710 96,460 42,000 36,260 Staff 720 820 — 100 Household Cavalry/Royal Armoured Corps 5,760 5,460 — 1,260 Royal Regiment of Artillery 7,510 7,240 — 2,280 Corps of Royal Engineers 9,180 8,780 — 2,460 Royal Corps of Signals 8,500 8,450 — 3,990 Infantry 24,450 23,720 — 7,350 Army Air Corps 2,060 2,010 — 100 Royal Army Chaplains Department 150 140 — 60 Royal Logistics Corps 15,720 15,590 — 6,060 Royal Army Medical Corps 3,180 2,910 — 2,660 Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 9,700 9,690 — 2,200 Adjutant General’s Corps 6,250 6,660 — 1,240 Royal Army Veterinary Corps 210 190 — 10 Small Arms School Corps 140 150 — 10 Royal Army Dental Corps 420 360 — 60 Intelligence Corps 1,650 1,480 — 500 Army Physical Training Corps 430 450 — 4— General List 4— 4— — 340 Queen Alexandra’s Royal Auxiliary Nursing Corps 1,190 840 — 1,030 The Corps of Army Music 890 900 — 4— Long Service List 600 620 — 4— Officer Training Corps 4— 4— — 4,540 1 Figures include trained Officers and Soldiers; full-time Reserve Service (full, limited and home Commitment) but exclude home service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, mobilised reserves, Territorial Army and other reserves. 2 TA Personnel include Group A & B, Mobilised TA and Officer Training Corps (OTC), and exclude non regular permanent staff and full-time Reserve Service. 3 Liability is based on the Regular Army Liability 2006. 4 Represents zero of rounded to zero. Notes: 1. The Adjutant General’s Corps consists of: Adjutant General’s Corps (Provost), Adjutant General’s Corps (Staff & Personnel Support), Adjutant General’s Corps (Education & Training Services) and Adjutant General’s Corps (Army Legal Services). 2. All data have been rounded to the nearest 10. Due to the rounding methods used totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. Numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
Belize
Records in respect of British Army personnel trained at the British Army Training Support Unit Belize do not go back 20 years however, I am able to give the detail from 1997 onwards:
Event Number of Exercises Number of trained personnel 1997 Exercise Native Trail 6 840 Sub Aqua Expedition 3 48 Exercise Sailfish 1 130 1998 Exercise Native Trail 6 840 Sub Aqua Expedition 5 80 Exercise Sailfish 1 130 Exercise Caribbean Fury 1 500 1999 Exercise Native Trail 8 1,120 Sub Aqua Expedition 8 128 Exercise Western Rhumba 1 500 Operation Windbreak 1 40 Exercise Devils Hat 1 50 Exercise Global Links 1 30 Exercise Sailfish 1 130 Exercise Tarzan Rock 1 75 2000 Exercise Western Rhumba 1 500 Exercise Native Trail 4 560 Sub Aqua Expedition 5 80 2001 Exercise Native Trail 7 980 2002 Exercise Native Trail 2 280 2003 Exercise Panther Cub 3 420 Exercise Mayan Warrior 1 700 Exercise Sailfish 1 130 Sub Aqua Expedition 4 64 2004 Exercise Windbreak 1 40 Exercise Mayan Warrior 2 1,400 Exercise Green River 1 150 Sub Aqua Expedition 5 80 Exercise Panther Cub 1 140 Exercise Civil Bridge 1 40 Exercise Green Parakeet 1 150 2005 Exercise Green River 1 150 Sub Aqua Expedition 8 128 Exercise Civil Bridge 1 40 Exercise Cygnet Coral 1 30 Exercise Tropical Storm 4 2,800 Exercise Windbreak 1 40 Exercise Roman Devil 1 140 Exercise Green Emerald 1 150
Boarding School Allowance
The recently published report on the Defence Committee inquiry “Educating Service Children” (HC1054 published 6 September 2006) has recommended research be conducted on the take-up of continuity of education allowance. The formal Government response to this report will be made shortly. I refer the hon. Member to the Third Memorandum from the MOD made to the Committee for their inquiry (HC1054 Ev77-78). This includes background on why the demographic profile of service personnel by age, rank and length of service will have an impact on take-up and explains that it may be more meaningful to consider the age of a child and their stage of education rather than the age/rank profile of a service person.
The information requested is shown in the following table:
Service 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Navy 1,281 1,326 1,357 1,435 1,377 Army 4,383 4,356 4,405 4,374 4,289 RAF 1,466 2,255 2,219 2,220 2,220 Total 7,130 7,937 7,981 8,029 7,886
The above data cannot be separated out into officers and other ranks due to disproportionate cost.
The sum paid annually in respect of service education allowances by the MOD, broken down by single-service is shown in the following table:
£ 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Navy 17,588,014 12,781,113 13,002,607 16,278,396 16,878,279 Army 37,450,741 37,754,069 49,046,403 49,840,780 51,004,877 RAF 16,388,267 22,515,029 24,381,279 24,653,301 25,813,795 Total 71,438,022 73,050,211 86,429,289 90,772,477 93,696,951
The above data cannot be separated out into officers and other ranks.
British Troops (Supplies)
The Defence Logistics Organisation continues to work extremely hard to ensure that sufficient supplies and ammunition are delivered to our forces in Afghanistan. They ensure that in the vast majority of cases adequate re-supply to theatre takes place in a timely fashion.
In the case of ammunition, there have been occasional instances where units in remote locations have exhausted supplies of a particular ammunition type during a specific attack or operation. At no time, though, have troops on the ground run out of all ammunition types available to them. In such instances, ground forces are re-supplied by helicopters.
In the case of food supplies, most of our troops are fed to a very high standard by the Royal Logistic Corps. In some of the more remote locations this service will not always be available. In such instances, troops are supplied with nutritious, fit-for-purpose ration packs, which can also be augmented by local supplies.
It is departmental policy that all troops deploying to Op HERRICK are provided with enhanced combat body armour (ECBA) as standard. In addition, Kestrel and Osprey variants of body armour, which provide additional protection, are available against specific threats and for specific roles, such as top cover sentry duty. The current combination of ECBA, Osprey and Kestrel provides Commanders with a flexible system of personal protection so that personnel can conduct their tasks effectively, while retaining a level of protection commensurate with the threat assessment. Such flexibility is deemed important because Commanders need to balance the benefits of increased protection body armour against risks such as constraint of movement.
Cadets (Totnes)
[holding answer 12 October 2006]: To date, the Department has received no approach or inquiry by representatives of Totnes Youth Centre. However, I understand that there may well be an opportunity for the Totnes Cadet Centre to be made available for use, and I would advise the representatives of the Totnes Youth Centre to approach the Wessex Reserve Forces and Cadets Association:
Chief Executive,
Wessex RFCA,
Mount House,
Mount Street,
Taunton,
Somerset TA1 3QE
Casualty Reports
I receive a daily report on significant developments relating to UK military operations, including serious casualties to UK personnel deployed on operations. In addition, I am informed as soon as possible about fatalities of UK personnel.
Cluster Munitions
We regard cluster munitions as being used properly when they are used against legitimate targets, and when their use against such targets is based on an assessment that takes into account the nature of that target, the weapons available, and the legal requirements. Prior to the use of any munitions, the UK follows a detailed targeting procedure, to ensure that the UK complies with the rules of proportionality, non-discrimination and distinction in International Humanitarian Law.
The lawful use of any weapon system, including cluster munitions, is scrutinised as part of operational planning, and during the targeting process. This includes consideration of International Humanitarian Law, including the principles of discrimination, proportionality, necessity and humanity.
Defence Organisations (UK Membership)
[holding answer 31 October 2006]: The UK remains firmly committed to our membership of both the Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en Matiere D’Armement (OCCAR) and the European Defence Agency (EDA). These two organisations have differing purposes and memberships, and complement each other.
OCCAR is a project management organisation, managing a number of collaborative armament acquisition programmes, including the A400M programme. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK are members. OCCAR programmes are open to participation by non-member nations.
The EDA does not manage collaborative acquisition programmes. It works to promote and enhance such collaboration, by providing contractual services for collaborative research projects, through the identification of common military requirements, and by improving the transparency of the European Defence Equipment Market. All EU member states except Denmark are members of the EDA, and there is also an administrative agreement with Norway, enabling their involvement in EDA facilitated projects.
Departmental Staff
The Ministry of Defence does recognise the International GCSE as an acceptable equivalent to a GCSE for purposes of recruitment.
Engagements
I have regular discussions with the Foreign Secretary on a wide range of issues.
European Defence Co-operation
The UK has an interest in three projects being managed by the Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement. These are the A400M project, the COBRA (COunter Battery RAdar) project and the Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS) element of the Famille des systèmes Surface-Air Futurs (FSAF) project.
In the European Defence Agency (EDA) a number of Research and Technology (R and T) projects have been transferred from the Western European Armaments Organisation, 13 of which involve the UK. Work in the EDA is still developing and we have so far confirmed interest in one ad hoc category B (in which not all EDA member states participate) R and T project on Scalable Multi-Function Radar which has yet to be contracted. The EDA’s role in this area is one of facilitating collaboration and providing contractual services.
Falklands War
(2) what grants are available to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Falklands war at Chorley Cenotaph;
(3) what discussions he has had with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on preparations for the 25th anniversary of the Falklands war;
(4) what steps have been taken to ensure that all veterans of the Falklands war have the opportunity to participate in commemoration of the 25th anniversary.
I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my predecessor on 27 April 2006, Official Report, column 54WS in which he outlined plans to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict both here in the UK and in the Falkland Islands. Preparations for these events are proceeding well and more details, including how veterans can apply for tickets, will be provided to the House on 13 November, in parallel with a media launch the same day.
We are having close discussions with a range of stakeholders, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and veterans’ organisations, about the nature of the commemorations planned.
Grants are not available from my Department for local commemorations but the organisers of the Chorley event may wish to consider applying to the Awards for All scheme (A4A) which is run by the Big Lottery Fund.
Future Aircraft Carriers
[holding answer 1 November 2006]: The projected programme dates for the Future Aircraft Carriers, including when they will be ordered and the in-service dates (ISDs), will only be set following the main investment decision, and once they have been approved by Ministers. This decision has not yet been taken, and will only be taken when we know with confidence the risks, the costs and the associated contractual framework involved in building the carriers.
Future Rotacraft Coherency Study
I am unable to provide a copy of the document requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests. However some elements of the Future Rotorcraft programmes were reported in the Defence Industrial Strategy and announcements were also made earlier this year. In summary we plan to prosecute the following:
A contract has been placed with Lockheed-Martin to ensure continuity of capability and introduce an open-systems architecture (to enable cost-effective management of obsolescence) on the Merlin Mkl—the Royal Navy's airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare capability.
A contract has been placed with AgustaWestland to provide new Future Lynx aircraft in order to meet the Army's Battlefield Reconnaissance Helicopter and the Royal Navy's Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft requirements.
A package of work, known as the Chinook Mk2/2A coherence programme, is being progressed to establish a single configuration baseline and reduce the overall cost of supporting the Chinook fleet.
A competition has been launched under the Private Finance Initiative, joint with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, for the provision of a UK-based peacetime helicopter Search and Rescue capability.
A programme of work, known as the Lift Advanced Concept Phase, is being undertaken to determine how best to invest further in the battlefield helicopter Lift capability, including the balance between Medium and Large lift aircraft.
On Chinook Mk3, we continue to work with Boeing to identify a robust, affordable and value for money approach before taking decisions on how best to proceed.
The Apache Attack Helicopter is presently being successfully deployed on operations and work is ongoing to determine how this capability can be best sustained through-life, including investigations to extend the out-of-service date of the aircraft.
We also keep under constant review how best to sustain and refresh the helicopter capability provided to operations.
In addition, we are also pursuing work with a number of helicopter suppliers to implement revised and novel arrangements to support our current platforms through long-term, partnered contracts that require industry to provide serviceable aircraft at the front line. These arrangements have already been contracted for Sea King, Merlin and Chinook aircraft. Similar arrangements are being explored for other aircraft and we intend to focus efforts on ensuring convergence and that lessons are learnt, shared and implemented.
Helicopters
[holding answer 1 November 2006]: The MOD’s Disposal Services Agency sold six helicopters between September 2005 and September 2006. Three Sea Kings, which were not in an airworthy condition, were sold via Agusta Westland, under a Commercial Marketing Agreement, to Australia for spares recovery; one Army Sioux was sold privately; and one Wessex and one Sea King were sold as scrap.
Negotiations with Boeing have not yet been concluded.
The MOD does not use the terms fit for service and battleworthy in describing helicopters. We use the term “fit for purpose”, which means those that are available, reliable, airworthy and capable of carrying out their planned missions on a given date.
Helicopter type Fit for purpose (Percentage) A109 77 Apache 60 Chinook 61 Gazelle AH1 76 Lynx MK 3 and 8 57 Lynx MK 7 and 9 59 Merlin MK 1 48 Merlin MK 3 53 Puma 73 Sea King MK 3/3A 53 Sea King MK4/6C 51 Sea King MK 5 53 Sea King MK 7 56
The percentages shown in the table indicate the proportion of the helicopter fleet available to front-line commands, which are considered “fit for purpose”. These numbers will vary; the figures shown are the average for the period from 1 June to 30 September 2006.
All UK helicopters deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are considered fit for purpose, but not all will be available for operational flying each day due to routine maintenance requirements. However, these factors are taken into consideration, and sufficient helicopters are provided to meet current operational requirements. We continue to review these operational requirements and adjust as necessary.
Hercules Aircraft
In prioritising the fitment of explosive suppressant foam (ESF) to Hercules C-130 aircraft, the Department considered a range of factors including: the safety of RAF crews and passengers; the nature of the threat to Hercules C-130 aircraft deployed on operations; the impact on the operational availability of the aircraft; and the capacity of industry to fit ESF to the aircraft.
HMS Southampton
At no time has HMS Southampton been without fresh water.
On three separate occasions between 17 and 29 October the ship experienced difficulties with the distillation system that produces fresh water and restrictions were imposed to conserve stocks.
On 17 and 26 October 2006 the use of showers was stopped for a period of less than 12 hours each day. No other restrictions were imposed. On 28 October 2006 the use of fresh water for activities other than drinking, cooking and washing hands was restricted for a period of 14 hours.
The availability of fresh water for the ship’s galley, drinking supplies and personal hygiene remained unaffected throughout.
The problems were rectified by the ship’s company using on board resources.
Information Technology
The information requested is as follows:
Contract Originally estimated cost (£ million) Most recently estimated cost (£ million) Outturn cost (£ million) Comments Skynet 5 (Satellite Communication Services) 2,775 3,660 137 Expenditure does not include expenditure from other areas within the Department that call up SATCOM services. 'Most recent cost' reflects revised contract to include a third satellite and a fourth satellite in the event of the failure at the launch stage of one of the three satellites. Should there be no loss the cost will reduce to £3,273 million. Defence Information Infrastructure (Future) (DII(F)) 2,297 2,313 252 This relates to the Increment 1 contract only. Increments 2 and 3 have not yet been let. Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) 237 237 106 These estimates comprise all extramural costs for JPA and include the cost of personnel administration services using JPA up to the end of financial year 2008-09. Outturn costs cover extramural expenditure to the end of financial year 2005-06. Joint Asset Management and Engineering Solutions (JAMES) Up to 200 90 to 100 10 to 20 This includes JAMES 1 and 2, Whole Fleet Management and Engineering and Asset Management. Defence Medical Information Capability Programme (DMICP) 98 82 0 No outturn yet—contract placed in April 2006. Note: Purely voice communications systems are not considered to fall within the scope of the question.
Iraq
Given the covert nature in which they operate it is extremely difficult accurately to assess how many foreign fighters have entered Iraq. We currently estimate that a few hundred foreign fighters may have entered Iraq from Saudi Arabia and Iran since March 2003, with the vast majority of them entering from Iran.
Maintaining records of civilian deaths in Iraq is ultimately a matter for the Government of Iraq and we believe they are best placed to monitor the situation. The Lancet report is one of a number of recent studies that attempts to estimate the numbers of civilian casualties in Iraq, none of which can be regarded as definitive. The figures in The Lancet report are significantly higher than other casualty estimates.
Alongside our coalition partners we continue to press the Iraqi authorities, both at a national and provincial level, to recognise and take action on the issue of militias. The process of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration forms a key part of tackling armed militia groups. We are ready to support this process in any way we can.
This is a matter for the US Government.
The US does not provide direct funding for the UK military deployment in Iraq. However, the UK does have access to US Commander’s Emergency Response Programme funding. Between 1 October 2004 and 30 September 2006 $145.3 million was drawn from this and allocated directly to reconstruction projects in MND(SE).
Coalition partners also share logistical support and may make available military assets in support of specific military operations. Where payment is required for these activities, it is provided on a repayment basis.
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 total of the annual audited figures for the cost of operations in Iraq for the years 2002-03 to 2005-06 was £4,026 million.
Language Skills
It is not possible to provide details of how many personnel in each unit stationed in Iraq speak Arabic or have received formal Arabic language education as the information is not held centrally and to collate the information would be at disproportionate cost. However, PJHQ have identified a formal requirement for 30 official interpreters. These are both civilian contractors and military personnel. I should stress this does not include locally employed personnel, many of whom provide interpretation and translation services and those individuals who might speak Arabic but are not official interpreters.
In terms of troops receiving Arabic instruction, there are three courses specialising in Iraqi language training open to troops prior to deployment to Iraq; Survival Standard (one soldier per sub-unit/four gunners per squadron), Basic Patrol Arabic (Junior Commanders and soldiers) and Operational Linguist. Details of those deployed to Iraq that have undertaken this training is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
All personnel deploying to Iraq will receive some form of language training in the form of their unit level pre-deployment training, known as Cascade training. Once deployed, further continuation training for all ranks is conducted. In addition, every soldier is issued with a language card which is taught during pre-deployment training.
MAMBA/Cobra
Equipment for battlefield surveillance and target acquisition is available in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I am withholding details on the precise number of MAMBA (Mobile Artillery Monitoring Battlefield Radar) and COBRA (Counter Battery Radar) and information on how they are used tactically as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the security of our armed forces.
Media Access
The MOD has dedicated staff, processes and systems designed to provide balanced access for UK and international correspondents. These processes are laid out in the MOD ‘Green Book’ (“MOD Working Arrangements with the Media for use Throughout the Full Spectrum of Military Operations”) a copy of which is available on the MOD website (www.mod.uk). The ‘Green Book’ provides details of how correspondents should apply for operational media assignments. Applications for operational assignments are assessed on a case by case basis and decisions to approve applications are based on a range of factors, such as the ability of the military to facilitate the media visit. The MOD aims at all times to ensure a fair and balanced approach by ensuring that a wide a variety of responsible media organisations are represented.
Mental Health
The MOD uses the Medical Employment Standard (MES) as the main measure of outcome of its medical treatment including for mental health. The MES gives an indication of the employability of Service patients from the beginning (diagnosis) through to the end of their care pathway. The MES is derived from a medical assessment of the patient’s illness, the treatment course required and various occupational factors. The MES indicates whether the Service person can carry out full service, serve in some restricted form/role for a temporary period or, in some cases, a permanent basis or whether they should be discharged from the Service on medical grounds.
With regard to outcomes, in the majority of cases, personnel treated at the MOD's Departments of Community Mental Health are able to return to Service. Medical discharge rates for mental health conditions are low—out of 2000 personnel medically discharged annually from the UK armed forces, only about 150 will have a mental health problem. Of these, 20-25 will meet the criteria to be diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
With regard to veterans, upon leaving the armed forces or on demobilisation for reservists it is the long established practice that responsibility for medical care passes to the NHS. This has been the case since 1948 under successive Governments. Responsibility for assessment of mental healthcare for veterans provided by the NHS rests with the UK Health Departments.
For veterans who are also war pensioners, under the War Pensions Scheme the MOD has a discretionary power to meet the cost of any necessary expenses in respect of the medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment of ex-members of the armed forces that arise wholly or mainly arise as a result of the disablement due to service, before 6 April 2005. It cannot be used to fund treatment provided under other UK legislation. Where appropriate “remedial treatment” at homes run by the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society (Combat Stress) is funded by this route for pensioned psychological conditions.
Over the last few years research evidence of effective best practice treatment and interventions for mental health disorders has been published and officials of MOD, the UK Health Departments and Combat Stress are currently working to develop and implement a new community mental health service for veterans. This will involve public, private and charitable providers working together to deliver evidence based interventions and will be subject to appropriate clinical governance.
In addition, the department recently announced that reservists demobilised since January 2003 will be entitled to a mental health assessment by Defence Medical Services personnel, and out-patient treatment if appropriate. A further announcement will be made later this year to confirm the details of the service that will be provided including the location(s) at which the assessments will be provided, and the date on which the service will commence.
Military Exercises
During financial year 2004-05, a total of 379 training events were scheduled on the Defence Exercise Programme (DXP) of which 79 (20 per cent.) were cancelled. While specific reasons for cancellation are not available in many cases, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost, the Programme was affected by competing operational priorities. Since that time, improved data capture has enabled a more detailed review of the DXP.
During FY 2005-06, a total of 533 training events were scheduled on the DXP of which 58 (10.8 per cent.) were cancelled. In detail, 30 exercises were cancelled due to operational commitments, 13 were removed as savings measures and 10 were cancelled by other nations. The remaining five events were cancelled in response to changing priorities or rescheduling.
During the period 1 April 2006 to 31 October 2006, a total of 438 training events were scheduled on the DXP of which 30 (6.8 per cent.) were cancelled. In detail, 13 exercises were cancelled due to operational commitments, two were removed as savings measures and 11 were cancelled by other nations. The remaining four events were cancelled in response to changing priorities or rescheduling.
Further details of the military exercise cancelled since 1 April 2005 are set out as follows.
Exercise name Location Type Reason for cancellation Exercises Cancelled in FY 2005-06 Catt 05 Salisbury Plain Trg area, UK Land Operational priorities Bass Rock Canada Land Cancelled by Lead Nation Pathfinder Czech Republic Land Cancelled by mutual consent: operational commitments Lone Kestrel 05 Poland Air Cancelled by Lead Nation Gruflex 05 Spain Air Cancelled by Lead Nation Fwit 05 Norway Air Cancelled by Lead Nation Air Warrior 05-10 PX USA Air Cancelled by Lead Nation Smart Search 05 USA Air Cancelled by Lead Nation Lucky Sentinel 05 Canada Air Cancelled by Lead Nation Lone Osprey 05 Ukraine Air Cancelled due insufficient time to resolve Ukrainian requirements. JTP 05-5 UK General Air Operational commitments Cross Check 05 Canada Air Operational commitments Baltops 05 Baltic Air Operational commitments Trident Door 05 Mediterranean Air Operational commitments Wycombe Warrior 05-07 (Day 1) High Wycombe, UK Air Operational commitments Wycombe Warrior 05-07 (Day 2) High Wycombe, UK Air Operational commitments Cygnet Gold France Land Cancelled due to MOU issues Nomad 05 Waddington, UK Air Cancelled due to withdrawal of 3 nations Snow Leopard 06 Norway Air Operational priorities Air Cadre 06-1 Cyprus Joint Revised priorities Flycatcher 05-2 UK General Joint Revised priorities Red Corvette 06 UK General Joint Revised priorities Fidae 06 Chile Air Operational commitments; not cost effective 1 Div CT5 Ex Poland Land Operational commitments 3 Div CT5 Ex Salisbury Plain Trg Area, UK Land Operational commitments Czech Pineapple Czech Republic Land Operational commitments Eagles Resolve Salisbury Plain Trg Area, UK Operational commitments Fingals Cave Canada Operational commitments Iron Anvil 05 Canada Operational commitments Joint Falcon 06 South Cerney, UK Air Operational commitments Kimmons Post Cyprus Land Operational commitments Kleiber France Land Operational commitments Medoc UK General Land Operational commitments Quicksand 05 Africa Joint Operational commitments Snow Chute 06 Norway Air Operational commitments Swordfish 05 Mediterranean Air Operational commitments Templar Forge 05-1 Cyprus Air Operational commitments Templar Forge 05-2 Cyprus Air Operational commitments Templar Forge 05-3 Cyprus Air Operational commitments Aswex 05 Kinloss, UK Air Operational commitments Eagles Resolve-Air UK General Air Operational commitments Lemon Peel 05-2 UK General Joint Operational commitments Target Flame 05-3 Cyprus Air Operational priorities (Opeval) Initial Link 05 Bahrain Air Re-scheduled Eagles Flight 06 UK General Air Rescheduled as Eagles Eye 06 Danex Denmark/North Sea Maritime Savings measure Druids Dance Salisbury Plain Trg Area, UK Land Savings measure Flotex Silver Norway Maritim Maritime Savings measure Lone Cheetah 05 France Air Savings measure Lone Civet 05 Europe General Air Savings measure Lone Eagle 05 Spain Air Savings measure Lone Egret 05 Slovakia Air Savings measure Lone Feat 05 Europe General Air Savings measure Lone Flap 05 Norway Air Savings measure Lone Kite 05 Europe General Air Savings measure Lone Knot 05 Europe General Air Savings measure Medicine Man Batus Canada Land Savings measure Snow Goose 05-2 Norway Air Savings measure Exercises cancelled during period 1 April-31 October2006 Czech Pineapple 06 Czech Rep Land Operational Commitments Gaulish 2/06 Not Specified Land Operational Commitments Paper Chase 06/07 Germany Land Operational Commitments Path Finder 06/07 Czech Rep Land Operational Commitments Alberts Rapport 06-1 North America Air Operational Commitments Gaulish 1—06/07 France/UK Land Operational Commitments JTP 2—06/07 UK Land Operational Commitments Dragons Nest 06 Europe Air Cancelled by Lead Nation Javelin 06/07 Nepal Land Revised Priorities Airlift Rodeo 06 North America Air Cancelled by Lead Nation Heavy Ferry 06/07 Germany Land Revised Priorities Fingals Cave 06/07 Canada Land Cancelled by Host Nation Express Three 06/07 (Russian Express 06) Russia Land Cancelled due to coord issues with Host Nation Gaulish 5—06/07 France/UK Land Operational Commitments Lone Knot 06 Europe Air Postponed by Lead Nation Tunuk Warrior 06/07 Turkey Land Cancelled by Lead Nation Wet Gap 06/07 Germany Land Revised Priorities Grand Prix 1—06/07 Kenya Land Savings measure Cossack Steppe 06/07 Ukraine Land Cancelled due insufficient time to resolve Ukrainian requirements Night Hawk 2/06 Denmark Joint Operational commitments Wycombe Warrior 09-06 (Day 1 and 2) United Kingdom Air Cancelled by NATO Blue Cypriot Cyprus Land Operational Commitments Aphrodite 06/07 Cyprus Land Revised Priorities Assegai Eyes 06 United Kingdom Joint Operational Commitments Rainbow Serpent 06/07 Australia Land Ex reduced in scope due to Australian operational commitments Eagles Eye 06/07 UK Land Operational commitments Cockfight 2/06 UK Joint Operational commitments Rock Challenge USA Joint Savings measure Triplex Flame 06.1 Europe Air Cancelled by Lead Nation Lone Flap 06 Europe Air Cancelled by Lead Nation
Military Research
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down undertakes research involving non-human primates as part of the overall research programme to provide the UK and its armed forces with safe and effective countermeasures in the event of chemical or biological agents being used against them.
Dstl Porton Down submits annual returns to the Home Office detailing the number of procedures undertaken which involve the use of animals as defined in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. In the years 2001 to 2005 the annual returns to the Home Office for non-human primates are detailed in the following table.
Number of procedures on non-human primates 2001 68 2002 42 2003 23 2004 30 2005 54
The use of animals is only a very small aspect of the overall military research programme. The role of Dstl protecting the UK and its armed forces requires it to answer questions and develop solutions to problems that cannot currently be addressed without the use of animals in research. The use of animals is only undertaken if there is no suitable non-animal system which can be used.
Dstl continually seeks alternatives to working with animals and specifically addresses ways in which animal use can be reduced and refined.
Dstl pays particular attention to the relative strengths and weaknesses of different animal models. Species selection is a critical feature in optimising the confidence with which animal-derived data can be extrapolated to man. Non-human primates are reserved for pivotal bridging studies designed to answer questions primarily concerned with nervous system function, behaviour and aspects of immunology.
Over the last five years non-human primates (marmosets or rhesus monkeys) have been involved in research:
(i) to refine nerve agent pre-treatments and therapies,
(ii) to assess vaccines and therapies against anthrax,
(iii) to develop an effective animal model for hookworm infection with a view to utilisation in vaccine studies,
(iv) to evaluate the hazard to man of new, emerging threat agents,
(v) to investigate the possible interactions of multiple vaccinations.
Wherever possible, the results of this research has, or will be, published in the open technical literature.
Military Vehicles
Commanders need a range of vehicles to be used as they see fit to meet the mission and counter the threat. The Snatch Land Rover will remain an appropriate vehicle for some tasks, but the need to provide enhanced protection against the threats currently faced in Iraq and Afghanistan was a key factor in the decision to procure rapidly a suite of new Protected Patrol Vehicles.
We announced on 24 July 2006, Official Report, column 74WS, the procurement of almost 400 vehicles with improved protection for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, including Mastiff (the UK variant of the Cougar), Vector and Bulldog (up-armoured FV430). These will provide commanders with a range of vehicles of varying protection, mobility and profile, to be used according to operational circumstances.
Ministerial Visits
Defence Ministers have made the following number of official visits to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the last 12 months.
Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Secretary of State 4 1 0 Minister of the Armed Forces 12 1 3 Minister for Defence Procurement 2 0 0 Under Secretary of State 1 3 0
Missiles
The expenditure on such research, spent through the UK Missile Defence Centre, was £6.411 million in financial year 2004-05, and £2.733 million in financial year 2005-06. The current financial year budget is £5.345 million, and the planned budget for 2007-08 is £5 million.
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 25 July 2006, Official Report, column 1545W, to the hon. Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth). There are no current plans to change these numbers in 2007.
The Missile Defence Centre continues to focus on providing scientific and technical advice to the Ministry of Defence on strategic missile defence matters, and supports UK industrial opportunities in this area. It also supports US work on high technology programmes related to their own missile defence programme, including assessments of the consequences of missile intercepts, and the demonstration and testing of hardware.
Since 1977 the total estimated spend on the Harpoon missile system is some £250 million.
Nuclear Weapons
No United Kingdom nuclear deterrent material was compromised.
Officials are working to prepare for decisions on the future of the UK’s nuclear deterrent. This work is considering the implications for support infrastructure. It remains our intention that these decisions will be taken later this year, following which we will publish a White Paper.
Operation Enduring Freedom
The UK's detachment of Harrier GR7 aircraft continue to support both the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and coalition operations.
UK trainers supporting Afghan National Army development in Kabul will also remain under coalition command, and the UK will continue to provide a number of embedded staff officers in the coalition headquarters. Overall, this amounts to around 180 personnel.
Parachute Regiment
On 1 October 2006, nine members of 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment were unfit for any form of duty.
Parliamentary Questions
I replied to the hon. Member earlier today. The Ministry of Defence strives to provide an answer to all parliamentary questions within the required time frame.
Pensions
Ex-service and widows' groups continue to campaign to make retrospective certain pension improvements that have been made since they left the armed forces. One such improvement is in respect of the change in 1978 to the requirement for a widow/widower to have been married to the ex-serviceman or woman during their service in order to receive certain benefits.
Successive Governments have considered retrospective changes to public sector pension schemes to be unaffordable. For this reason, the Government opposed the amendments.
The armed forces pension schemes are final salary based, non-contributory, contracted-out occupational pension schemes open to most members of the armed forces. The MOD does, however, make a substantial contribution into the schemes each year for current members, currently the overall contribution equates to 24.8 per cent. of the armed forces pay bill.
The non-contributory nature of the schemes was last reviewed as part of the major overhaul of the schemes which were introduced through the Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Act 2004. The Government decided against an employee's contribution at that time because of the complexity of introducing a contributory scheme alongside a non contributory scheme, the administrative complexity and the cost of the change, the impact on personnel of issuing different rates of pay for the same job and the effect on morale, recruitment and retention (HC1155 dated 25 July 2002). The changes made as a result of the review addressed the matter of long term affordability, such as increases in longevity, by rebalancing the provision to take account of modern pension practices and legislative change, and by changing the preserved pension ages.
The Armed Forces Pay Review Body, in their recommendations on the total remuneration package for the armed forces, makes an adjustment to comparator earnings figures to take account of the higher relative value of the armed forces pension scheme benefits against that of pension schemes of comparator private sector organisations. The non-contributory nature of the scheme is one of the factors taken in to account. The level of the adjustment made is currently 7 per cent.
The MOD has not previously made an estimate of the annual revenue yield from introducing an employee contribution of 6 per cent. Taking the armed forces pay bill for 2005-06 as a basis for the calculation, a 6 per cent. employee contribution would equate to £342 million.
Projects Haven and Scribe
(2) what steps he has taken to increase awareness among ex-service personnel of their possible entitlement to compensation under the Project Haven and Project Scribe initiatives;
(3) what criteria were set by his Department for the assessment of eligibility for compensation under the Project Haven and Project Scribe initiative;
(4) how many ex-service personnel have been paid compensation under Project Haven and Project Scribe; and what the cost of such compensation was;
(5) what procedures he plans to put in place to ensure that ex-service personnel whose claim for compensation under Project Haven or Project Scribe is refused can have their case independently assessed;
(6) how many assessments of entitlement under the Project Haven and Project Scribe initiatives resulted in no compensation being paid;
(7) what procedures he has put in place to ensure that the assessment of entitlement to compensation under Project Haven and Project Scribe is subject to independent scrutiny.
The Ministry of Defence fully publicised Project Haven in the national media and in ex-service organisations publications, along with information on our websites. All material advised how an individual could make a claim to correct their tax status. In Project Scribe there was no national media campaign; however, information about the error regarding Armed Forces Pension Scheme invaliding pensions, was sent to all individuals who were in receipt of a War Pensions Scheme disablement pension, widows or widowers pension, in the form of a “War Pensions Newsletter”. This group of pensioners were at risk and therefore they were advised how to make a claim. In addition, information was posted on our websites, and towards the end of the review ex-service organisations kindly published details about the error and how to make a claim in their publications.
In both projects individuals were not invited to make a claim for compensation but to contact the Department to correct the tax status or level of their pension and claim any back payments of pension or tax. Once an individual had been identified as receiving incorrect payments etc. interest was paid in accordance with Government Accounting and HM Revenue and Customs rules and additional recompense as agreed by the Department.
This publicity was considered the most appropriate at the time the errors were established and during the review period. There are no plans to increase the level of awareness for Projects Haven and Scribe as we are confident that we have identified all those affected and have made the necessary corrections plus interest and compensation payments where appropriate.
The criteria for the payment of compensation in Project Haven and Scribe was set out in written ministerial statements on 15 December 2003, Official Report, column 130WS, and 15 June 2004, Official Report, column 26WS, respectively.
In his written ministerial statement of 11 July 2006, Official Report, columns 60-61WS, my predecessor reported that some 5,500 pension awards under both projects had been corrected at a cost of £32.4 million plus some £18.2 million paid in compensation. Approximately 1,600 individuals whose pension or tax status was corrected did not receive compensation. There are a number of reasons why an individual may not have received compensation, for example, an individual's pension was recorded as “taxable”, however, as the value of the pension was below the tax threshold, they had not paid tax.
The Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency (AFPAA) was responsible for assessing the entitlement to compensation in each case according to the methodology set by the Department. There are no independent procedures in place to ensure that the individual's assessment is correct; however, AFPAA’s own internal project team undertook an audit on a proportion of the cases. The compensation methodology was available to all individuals and if an individual considers that this has not been followed AFPAA will investigate and provide a detailed breakdown of the compensation. Likewise where an individual has not received compensation and they consider that they should have, the appeal will be considered initially under the Department's statutory Internal Dispute Resolution procedures. Following this appeal route an individual may seek the services of the Occupational Pensions Advisory Service and the pensions ombudsman, both of whom are independent.
Proliferation Security Initiative
The Royal Navy has not taken part in any operations as part of the Proliferation Security Initiative in 2005 or 2006.
QinetiQ
None of the current members of the Ministry of Defence's Investment Approvals Board (IAB) are, or ever have been, directors of QinetiQ.
Service Personnel
The two key outputs of the Defence Medical Services (DMS) are medical support to deployed operations, and the provision of health care to the armed forces to ensure that the maximum possible numbers of armed forces personnel are fit for purpose. The DMS will continue to deliver both outputs, working where appropriate with coalition partners, the NHS, private health care providers and the charity sector. The DMS have met all operational requirements placed on them. Medical support to deployed operations is absolutely vital and there is no question of British forces deploying on military operations without the appropriate medical support.
The current official, formally endorsed DMS manning requirement figures were drawn up as a consequence of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) in 1998. Since then, however, overall defence planning assumptions have changed and DMS manning requirement figures have evolved. In order to support the defence planning assumptions contained within Defence Strategic Guidance 03, the Defence Medical Capability (DMC) Phase 2 Study was carried out. The DMC study produced interim revised DMS manning requirement figures which more accurately reflect defence planning assumptions and have thus overtaken the SDR figures. Indeed, the Ministry of Defence has previously released elements of the interim revised manning requirements, in anticipation of a new definitive set of figures (as in a previous answer to the hon. Member for the Forest of Dean on 9 February 2006, Official Report, column 1402W).
However, the DMC figures are themselves only interim. The overall DMS manning requirement is currently under review against the strategic requirement, and the figures will change. I anticipate that new endorsed DMS manning requirement figures will be available later this year.
The following table show the manning levels as at July 2006 in the specialties of general medical practitioners, nurses and dental officers (requirement figures shown are the SDR figures and the DMC figures, but as explained, these are being revised):
SDR Requirement DMC Requirement Trained Strength General Medical Practitioners RN 71 54 53 ARMY 250 120 130 RAF 130 94 73 Nurses RN 320 220 290 ARMY 1,080 1,000 590 RAF 490 450 420 Dental Officers RN 58 62 57 ARMY 140 120 130 RAF 63 55 67 Notes: 1. Figures above 100 have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Figures are the trained strength for each cadre in each service and include some specialists working out of specialty in headquarter posts. Source: DMSD
Prior to Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) rollout to the RAF on 20 March 2006, pay complaints were dealt with by the individual's unit human resources staff and details of the number of complaints received were not held centrally. This will continue to be the case for the Royal Navy and the Army until rollout on 23 October 2006 and March 2007 respectively.
As at 10 October 2006, 526 complaints had been received from RAF personnel via the centralised JPA complaints process about real or apparent problems with pay or the handling of a query.
Stress
The MOD provided £2.3 million funding to Combat Stress in 2005-06. Funds are provided through the War Pensions Scheme’s discretionary power to meet the cost of any necessary expenses in respect of medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment of ex-members of the armed forces that arise wholly or mainly as a result of disablement due to service before 6 April 2005 where it is not provided for under other UK legislation. This includes the individual costs of war pensioners undergoing “remedial treatment” at homes run by Combat Stress for conditions related to their individual pensioned disablement and of related expenses such as travel costs. In addition, Combat Stress receives separate funding from the Scottish Health Board for war pensioners treatment at Hollybush House.
Trident
[holding answer 1 November 2006]: The Vanguard-class submarines were procured with a designed operational life of 25 years.
[holding answer 31 October 2006]: 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. In this context, previously we have indicated in our response (published on 26 July 2006) to the First HCDC report on the Future of the UK’s Strategic Nuclear Deterrent, that one of the early decisions required relates to possible UK participation in the life extension programme for the Trident D5 missile. The estimated costs of the options available for maintaining our nuclear deterrent will be set out in the White Paper.
[holding answer 1 November 2006]: Decommissioning of the current Trident system is still some way off. It is therefore too early to discuss the precise methods that will be used to decommission Trident and over what time scales this will take place. Officials are however investigating these as part of the work to prepare for decisions, which will be taken later this year, on the future of the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent.
UN Security Resolution 1325
(2) what steps have been taken by his Department to increase awareness of UN Security Council resolution 1325 throughout the armed forces;
(3) what measures are in place to promote among members of the armed forces recognition of the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls.
The provisions of UNSCR 1325 are reflected in the training of UK service personnel in the Law of Armed Conflict and in the pre-deployment preparations. In addition, pre-deployment planning covers social and cultural issues, including specific gender issues that should be taken into account. The MOD has also commissioned an audit of the existing training provision, against both the resolution itself and the training outcomes identified in the UN’s own training package on the resolution. The results of the audit should allow us to show more clearly how training is compliant, while also helping us identify any further training needs.
Veterans
Health care for veterans of the Falkland Islands conflict who are still serving is provided by the Defence Medical Services. Once they leave the armed forces, responsibility passes to the NHS, as it does for all former UK-based service personnel. If a veteran is also a war pensioner then he or she will be entitled to priority NHS treatment for the accepted condition(s); priority is decided by the clinician in charge and is subject to clinical need. The Government also funds care provided by the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society (Combat Stress) for those with an appropriate condition accepted as being caused or made worse by service.
Treasury
Climate Change
The Chancellor will incorporate discussions of the review of the economics of climate change into his regular discussions with UK business, environmental stakeholders, the EU and international decision makers.
Departmental Estate
[holding answer 30 October 2006]: The net internal area of 1 Horse Guards Road is 31,200 sq m. The building is occupied by staff of the Cabinet Office and the Office of Government Commerce as well as by the Treasury, and also provides support facilities shared with HMRC staff in 100 Parliament Street.
Departmental Expenditure
The Treasury provides accommodation for the gym in 1 Horse Guards Road. Running costs and equipment costs are met from membership subscriptions.
Departmental IT
I refer the hon. Member to the answerI gave to the hon. Member for Angus (Mr. Weir) on9 October 2006, Official Report, column 285W.
The information requested is not readily available as the Department’s financial systems do not separately record all amounts spent on consultancy for IT projects, or the element of consultancy that is given to web-facing projects.
Departmental Staff
The Treasury carries out regular age audits of its staff and has established an age profile of its work force. All human resources policies are under review, in consultation with the trade unions, to ensure that they comply with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.
There is no record of any member of staff of the Treasury having left the Department in the last 12 months as a result of bullying, discrimination or harassment.
The latest available data on leavers and joiners is for 2004-05 and is published at the Cabinet Office statistics website http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/reports/2005/tables_and_charts/index.asp
More up-to-date information on total headcount and joiners is available in the HM Treasury Departmental Report 2006 at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/departmental_reports/dept_report2006.cfm
Departmental Websites
HM Treasury spent £135,592 maintaining its websites in the financial year 2005-06.
Visits for each website during this period were as follows:
Site address Visits www.hm-treasury.gov.uk 1,303,359 www.thegfp.treasury.gov.uk1 14,266 www.euro.gov.uk 3550,000 www.financialreporting.gov.uk 4— www.financialinclusion-taskforce.org.uk2 6,901 www.ges.gov.uk 114,664 www.csren.gov.uk 19,209 www.isb.gov.uk 4— www.redbox.gov.uk 66,457 www.stakeholdersaving.gov.uk 22,873 1 Statistics from the date site was launched—October 2005. 2 Statistics from the date site was launched—19 May 2005. 3 Approximate figure. 4 No statistics recorded.
Fraud
[holding answer 2 November 2006]: The Treasury is responsible for the overall institutional structure of financial regulation and the legislation which governs it.
The Financial Services Authority's powers and responsibilities are set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. These include the authorisation and prudential supervision of banks, building societies and credit unions.
The FSA's rules require firms to take reasonable care to establish and maintain effective systems and controls for compliance with applicable requirements and standards under the regulatory system and for countering the risk that the firm might be used to further financial crime. The definition of financial crime includes fraud.
The Chief Secretary, along with the Attorney-General, commissioned a review of the UK response to fraud which reported in the summer and has just been subject to consultation. The Attorney-General's office is assessing the responses to this consultation and we will work closely with them to identify any appropriate action.
Fuel (Duty/Prices)
The duty rate for both ultra-low sulphur petrol and ultra-low sulphur diesel is 47.10 pence per litre.
When taking decisions on fuel duty rates, the Chancellor of the Exchequer takes account of all relevant social economic, environmental and social considerations, including the rates of duty in other member states.
[holding answer 2 November 2006]: Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with oil producers and their representatives. Such meetings will cover a range of issues relating to the oil industry including fuel prices.
Pensions
I have been asked to reply.
It is not possible to provide a breakdown of the information requested by region.
(2) how his Department treats (a) increases and (b) decreases in employee contributions to public sector pension schemes for accounting purposes; and what effects would such changes have on Government (i) spending and (ii) receipts; and if he will make a statement.
Total Managed Expenditure (TME), the Government’s preferred measure of expenditure drawn from the National Accounts, nets employee pension contributions off gross expenditure on pensions paid. This means that an increase in employee contribution rates without any commensurate increase in salaries or pension benefits would reduce TME. Government receipts, which finance TME, are unaffected by pension contributions, as these net off within TME.
Contributions that employees make to funded public service pension schemes, such as the Local Government Pension Scheme and funded pension schemes in the wider public sector, are treated as income to the individual funds and are not netted off in TME as described above.
Population Statistics
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 6 November 2006:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question about how many births were registered in each local authority in the North East Region in each of the last 10 years. I am replying in her absence. (99857).
The latest year for which figures are available is 2005. The numbers of births to women resident in each of the local authorities requested in the years 1996 to 2005 are shown in the attached table.
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Darlington UA 1,189 1,177 1,163 1,188 1,053 1,078 1,139 1,179 1,254 1,218 Hartlepool UA 1,130 1,107 1,096 1,081 1,063 1,031 1,010 1,065 1,073 1,116 Middlesbrough UA 1,937 1,919 1,802 1,827 1,781 1,666 1,695 1,786 1,849 1,916 Redcar and Cleveland UA 1,705 1,602 1,559 1,490 1,365 1,432 1,357 1,446 1,509 1,577 Stockton-on-Tees UA 2,226 2,107 2,097 2,066 1,963 1,942 2,016 2,115 2,117 2,241 Chester-le-Street 640 687 659 600 595 523 551 540 536 537 Derwentside 1,014 969 955 899 911 872 840 877 899 922 Durham 835 831 829 857 780 715 801 790 806 788 Easington 1,202 1,179 1,165 1,058 928 933 987 921 1,103 1,069 Sedgefield 1,040 985 1,040 964 913 918 889 974 1,045 958 Teesdale 227 247 230 223 216 183 185 188 229 193 Wear Valley 743 702 683 661 644 624 647 639 726 722 Alnwick 323 321 336 309 265 290 270 275 281 296 Berwick-upon-Tweed 231 194 196 217 165 180 175 200 176 194 Blyth Valley 955 928 921 921 866 883 807 868 865 975 Castle Morpeth 459 463 429 407 372 378 382 379 396 368 Tynedale 540 533 565 537 506 522 512 531 562 516 Wansbeck 768 719 752 686 624 628 616 681 672 675 Gateshead 2,300 2,327 2,162 2,109 2,070 1,995 2,012 2,020 2,128 2,118 Newcastle upon Tyne 3,249 3,188 3,034 2,879 2,887 2,875 2,941 2,895 2,918 2,979 North Tyneside 2,179 2,145 2,171 2,006 2,052 1,949 2,042 2,101 2,160 2,274 South Tyneside 1,761 1,763 1,653 1,643 1,521 1,479 1,467 1,523 1,540 1,529 Sunderland 3,448 3,311 3,223 3,111 2,959 2,853 2,930 3,012 2,971 3,068 Total north east 30,101 29,404 28,720 27,739 26,499 25,949 26,271 27,005 27,815 28,249 1 Figures relate to local and unitary authority area boundaries at 1 April in the year in which the birth was registered. Source: ONS Key Population and Vital Statistics, Local and Health Authority Areas, Series VS nos. 23-31 and Population Trends no. 124.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 6 November 2006:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the mortality rates were for social classes (a) I, (b) II, (c) III, (d) IV and (e) V in each year since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (100061)
Mortality rates by social class are calculated as three year averages. It is sometimes necessary to combine social classes, and to restrict the analysis to certain age groups, to produce reliable estimates. The table below provides, for men and women aged 35-64, the mortality rates in social classes (a) I and II combined, (b) III non-manual, (c) III manual, and (d) IV and V combined, in 1997-99 (the latest period available).
Deaths per 100,000 Male Female Social class Mortality rate 95 per cent. confidence interval4 Mortality rate 95 per cent. confidence interval I and II Professional and intermediate 347 (302-399) 237 (201-281) IIIN Skilled manual 417 (352-494) 253 (211-304) IIIM Skilled non-manual 512 (472-556) 327 (290-369) IV and V Partly skilled and unskilled 606 (546-672) 335 (289-388) 1 Age-standardised rates are used to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. 2 These figures are based on the ONS Longitudinal Study, a representative 1 per cent. sample of the population of England and Wales. 3 Three year averages, based on deaths of members of the ONS Longitudinal Study in the years 1997-99 and the study population at risk of death during that period. 4 Confidence intervals are a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and show the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. Calculations based on small numbers of events are often subject to random fluctuations. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two figures.
Public Spectrum Sale
The Government will publish a strategic Forward Look, assessing the public sector’s current spectrum use and forecasting future needs, in March 2007.
Research Contracts
I have been asked to reply.
The Government do not collate figures regarding the total value of public sector research contracts granted to small technology intensive companies. The cost and effort involved would be disproportionate given the number and variety of authorities and organizations involved.
However, there are figures for a subset of public sector spend, namely Government expenditure on extramural R and D under the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), which is designed to stimulate and increase the demand for research and development from high tech small firms. The participating Departments purchase at least 2.5 per cent. of their extramural R and D from SMEs. The value of contracts made with SMEs was £269.1 million, representing 10.6 per cent. of the baseline budget. SBRI figures for 2005-06 will be published shortly.
Sale of Assets
In 2004-05, local authorities in the United Kingdom secured fixed asset sales of £5.2 billion as set out in Table C16, Budget 2006. Apart from certain housing land and dwellings receipts in England that are required to be pooled, local authorities are free to use the proceeds of asset sales to fund new capital expenditure, reduce indebtedness or to increase investments. The level of receipts retained by each individual authority on 2004-05 is set out in the tables that are available from DCLG, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly and the Department for Finance and Personnel Northern Ireland and have been deposited in the Library of the House.
Terrorist Finance
I have been asked to reply.
On 13 February, the Chancellor announced that the Government would
“review how best to strengthen the safeguards to protect the charitable sector from terrorist abuse and protect donor confidence in so doing”.
The terms of reference were agreed in July 2006. The review will report to the Home Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer in November.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan
I have been asked to reply.
Developing effective Afghan National Security Forces is crucial to lasting stability in Afghanistan. So far, good progress has been made, with the Afghan Minister for Defence recently stating that there are now 34,000 officers, NCOs and soldiers in the Afghan National Army (ANA). The ANA is ethnically balanced and well trained, factors that contribute to the high regard it is held in by the population. Those troops deployed in Helmand have fought bravely and effectively alongside our own, enduring considerable sacrifice in pursuit of their own country’s security. ANA leadership and capabilities are developing well but it will take time and continued support before they are ready to take on this task independently.
Algeria
The Algerian people voted for the ‘Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation’ in a referendum in 2005. The Charter, which came into force in February 2006, granted an amnesty to those convicted of terrorist offences or who were prepared to surrender themselves to the security services. The amnesty also extended to government security forces. More than 2,000 terrorist prisoners have since been released under the Charter. In addition the Charter provides for the families of victims of terrorism to register the disappearance or death of their relative and obtain compensation.
The EU issued a statement when the Charter was adopted welcoming the participation of the Algerian people in the referendum and expressing the hope that Algeria will achieve lasting peace and reconciliation, based on the rule of law, respect for human rights and ongoing consultations with its citizens.
Promotion of human rights is central to the UK’s foreign policy. We aim to encourage improved standards through a constructive bilateral relationship with Algeria. We regularly raise human rights in our bilateral discussions with the Algerian Government. I did so during the inaugural UK-Algeria Ministerial Dialogue Forum held in Algiers on 7 June, which I co-chaired with the Algerian Deputy Foreign Minister, Dr. Abdelkader Messahel.
In 2005 the Algerian Government introduced legislation making torture a criminal offence. I am pleased that Amnesty International’s memorandum of April 2006 to the Algerian President, highlights that there have been fewer allegations of torture in police custody, and progress has been made on strengthening safeguards to protect detainees.
In February 2006 the UK sponsored a visit by senior Algerian judges and Ministry of Justice officials to the British judicial and penal systems. We have also funded and facilitated the International Centre for Prison Studies at King’s College London in developing links with the Algerian prison system. In September 2006 the UK established a new post of a police attaché in our embassy in Algiers to develop links with the Algerian counter terrorism and police forces.
The Government are aware of reports about the detention and trial of Majid Touati. We have not made an assessment of the case.
Promotion of human rights is central to the UK’s foreign policy and we aim to do so through a constructive bilateral relationship with Algeria. We regularly raise human rights in our bilateral discussions with the Algerian Government. I did so during the inaugural UK-Algeria Ministerial Dialogue Forum in Algiers on 7 June, which I co-chaired with the Algerian Deputy Foreign Minister, Dr. Abdelkader Messahel.
Bolivia
Our relationship with Bolivia is developing all the time. We maintain a dialogue with the Bolivian government and we engage, both bilaterally and through the EU, on a range of bilateral and multilateral issues, including for example counter-narcotics and energy. The UK also supports projects at national and local government level.
Burma
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 1 November 2006, Official Report, columns 465-66W.
We have repeatedly called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners in Burma.
I raised Aung San Suu Kyi’s continuing detention with the Burmese Ambassador on 15 June and in a letter to the Burmese Foreign Minister on 5 July.
I again raised the Governments concerns about the Burmese government’s human rights record with the Burmese Ambassador at a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Ambassadors on 18 September.
Most recently, our Permanent Representative to the UN called for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release during discussions at the UN Security Council on 29 September in the presence of the Burmese Permanent Representative to the UN.
Careers Fairs
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has held one career event in London every year since 1999 with the exception of 2005 when the event was cancelled due to security concerns.
In addition, the FCO attends regional career fairs organised by both educational establishments and external companies. The events attended may be linked to a specific university or region or may target specific groups, for example students from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Number 2006 Total Career Fairs: 6 London 3 Birmingham 1 Bristol 1 Cardiff (confirmed 9 and 10 November) 1 2005 Total Career Fairs: 0 2004 Total Career Fairs: 20 London 5 Lancaster 2 Peterborough 1 Aberystwyth 1 East Anglia 1 Rugby 1 Liverpool 1 Leicester 1 Oxford 1 Middlesex 1 Manchester 1 Cambridge 1 Durham 1 Glasgow 1 Warwick 1 2003 Total Career Fairs: 37 London 12 Glasgow 2 Manchester 2 Edinburgh 2 Liverpool 2 Swansea 2 Lancashire 1 Warwick 1 Sheffield 1 Belfast 1 Lincoln 1 Durham 1 Oxford 1 Bath 1 Brighton 1 York 1 Northumbria 1 Leicester 1 Lancaster 1 Middlesex 1 Aberystwyth 1 2002 Total Career Fairs: 52 London 18 Leicester 2 Birmingham 2 Newcastle 2 Cardiff 1 Swansea 1 Belfast 1 Aberdeen 1 Aberystwyth 1 Bath 1 Bristol 1 Cambridge 1 Lancashire 1 Coventry 1 Durham 1 East Anglia 1 Norwich 1 Edinburgh 1 Exeter 1 Sheffield 1 Southampton 1 Sussex 1 Manchester 1 Warwick 1 Wolverhampton 1 York 1 Lampeter 1 Lancaster 1 Liverpool 1 Middlesex 1 Oxford 1 Glasgow 1
China
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Foreign Minister Li in September and underlined the importance of UK-China partnership on the challenges of achieving climate and energy security. She did not address specifically emissions from underground coal fire, but she did address how to meet China’s energy efficiency and security interests. Discussions were focussed on how to reduce CO2 emissions through the deployment of clean technology for burning coal, such as carbon capture and storage and the UK funded initiative to demonstrate near zero emissions coal in China.
We continue to press the Chinese Government to reduce the number of crimes that carry the death penalty and to improve transparency on the number of people executed in China, which remains a state secret. My noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor raised the death penalty with the Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference on 24 October. We also raised this issue at the last round of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in July. We welcome the announcement that China’s Supreme People’s Court will take back the power of review of death sentences from 1 January 2007, which we hope will reduce the number of sentences carried out.
Cyprus
We are aware of the desecration of Greek Cypriot cemeteries in northern Cyprus since 1974 and sympathise with all those affected by this unacceptable behaviour. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is seized of the issue, and we support them in their efforts. We encourage all parties to make progress towards the protection of these religious sites.
Democracy
A wide range of institutions and organisations receive Government support for activities which promote the development of democratic processes and institutions. The promotion of democracy cannot be separated from wider work to promote human rights, good governance and the rule of law; the Government sees these as interdependent and mutually reinforcing.
One main channel for UK bilateral work is through the grant in aid to the Westminster Foundation for Democracy. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) directly supports institutions and organisations involved in democracy promotion through the Global Opportunities Fund (GOF), in particular the Sustainable Development, Reuniting of Europe, Engaging with the Islamic World, and Economic Governance programmes.
We also provide financial contributions to a number of international multilateral organisations which are involved in promoting democracy, including, in some cases, through election observation missions. These include the European Union, in particular through the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR); the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, in particular its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR); the Council of Europe; and the UN, including the recently established UN Democracy Fund, as well as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Further information on the FCO's work to promote democracy is given in chapter 9 of the 2006 FCO Annual Report on Human Rights, published on 12 October 2006, which can also be found on the FCO website at: http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/hr_report2006.pdf. Copies of the report are also available in the Library of the House. Further details of GOF work will be provided in the GOF Annual Report for 2005-06, to be published as a Command Paper on 14 November 2006, which will also be made available on the FCO website at: www.fco.gov.uk.
Departmental Staff/Secondments
There are currently no BP employeeson secondment to this Department. We have recordsof only one BP employee being on secondmentsince January 2002, and that secondment ended on6 September 2002.
In 2006, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) offered work experience placements to 48 candidates. The total number of student placements was 43, while five candidates were not in full-time education. The regions listed refer to the home location of all candidates.
Region Number Students Bristol 1 London 14 Devon 1 Dorset 1 Leicester 1 Chigwell 1 Middlesex 1 Staffordshire 1 Manchester 1 Oxford 1 Surrey 1 Essex 1 Kent 2 York 1 Jersey 1 Edinburgh 1 Bristol 1 Lincolnshire 1 Aberdeen 1 Glasgow 1 Coventry 1 North Wales 1 Buckinghamshire 1 North Hants 1 Berkshire 1 Bath 3 Non students London 3 Oxford 1 Ilford 1
In 2005, the FCO offered work experience placements to 25 candidates. All candidates were students.
Region Number Students Hainault 1 London 6 Co. Antrim 1 Norfolk 1 Gwynedd 1 Berkshire 1 Hertfordshire 1 Kent 1 Bath 3 Middlesex 1 Durham 1 West Midlands 1 Brighton 1 Edinburgh 1 Suffolk 1 Harrow 1 Manchester 1 Cambridge 1
The FCO information management system does not hold information on the regional location of work experience candidates prior to 2005. Details on the number of candidates placed each year since 2001 are listed for reference.
Student Number 2004 33 2003 30 2002 39 2001 52
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to him on 25 July 2006, Official Report, columns 1272-73W about recruiting a diverse work force. As part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) outreach activities to widen and deepen its policy engagement with UK regions and faith communities to help deliver the UK’s international strategic priorities, we visit areas with significant minority ethnic communities where we meet UK civil society, including local businessmen and women and attend events organised by them. A wide range of people, including representatives of local businesses, are invited to attend events such as seminars in different areas of the UK, aimed at raising awareness of what the FCO does and why it matters. The FCO has also been represented at various ethnic business awards ceremonies held in London but attended by representatives of regional businesses. One of the objectives for all these events is to try to break down stereotypes of FCO staff and to encourage applications which will make our work force more diverse. Events involving business/faith for the period 2005-06 to date (the period for which figures are available) are listed as follows. More than one event was scheduled on certain days, in the interests of value for money. FCO officials could provide further information on outreach on request from my hon. Friend.
Number 2005 Wales (Cardiff, Caerphilly and Bangor) 4 Scotland (Glasgow) 2 North West (Blackburn, Bolton, Preston) 7 North (Leeds, Bradford, Manchester) 4 2006 Wales (Cardiff) 2 Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh) 4 North (Manchester) 1 North West (Bolton) 1 West (Bristol) 1 Midlands (Birmingham, Leicester, West Bromwich) 5
Diplomatic Service
In order to answer this question officials would need to contact all of our overseas missions and the overseas territories. This would incur disproportionate cost.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not hold this data as a matter of course on all its staff. The data has been collected in order to answer this question. Of the 42 current members of internal selection boards to appoint Heads of Mission, 19 (45 per cent.) were educated in the state school sector, 23 (55 per cent.) were educated in the independent school sector, 26 (62 per cent.) went to Oxford or Cambridge universities and 14 (33 per cent.) went to other universities. Two (5 per cent.) did not go to university. We do not keep historical information on the members of selection boards.
All posts in the diplomatic service are filled on the basis of fair and open competition, through the internal selection boards of the FCO or, where appropriate, interview or selection panels involving external stakeholders for the post in question. Information on educational qualifications is of no relevance to the process of appointing Heads of Mission and is not sought by selection boards. The FCO is committed to recruiting a talented and diverse work force which reflects the society it serves, and its recruitment policies are designed to encourage applications from the widest possible range of backgrounds. The Department is active in outreach activities such as career fairs, work experience schemes and community business events, to support this policy.
Ethiopia
We regularly make representations to the Government of Ethiopia about the detention of all those, including civil society representatives, detained in connection with political disturbances in 2005. Most recently, our ambassador in Addis Ababa raised our concerns with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on 5 October 2006. In our discussions we raise the need for the trials of those charged to be transparent, independent and impartial. The international community is monitoring the trials and the internal situation in Ethiopia closely.
EU Finances
The Government as a whole considers it to be a matter of serious concern that the European Court of Auditors (ECA) has been unable to give a positive statement of assurance on the EU’s accounts for the 12th year in succession. Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers have not had the opportunity to discuss last month's European Court of Auditors Report with their EU counterparts, but EU Finance Ministers will consider the ECA Report on the 2005 EC Budget when it is presented at the 7 November Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting. We will continue to work with member states and the Commission to ensure that improvements are made to the management of EC funds for which they are responsible.
Iran
The nature of Iran’s nuclear programme, its history of concealment, its continuing failure to co-operate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its refusal to take the steps required by the IAEA Board and UN Security Council have all contributed to international concern that its ambitions may not be, as it claims, solely peaceful.
We are deeply concerned by Iran’s uranium enrichment programme, which will help it develop the capability to produce fissile material suitable for use in nuclear weapons. While Iran’s enrichment activities would also help it develop the capability to produce fissile material suitable for use as fuel in power reactors, Iran has no production technology that would enable it to manufacture fuel from any enriched material, nor—with the exception of a reactor being built at Bushehr, for which Russia is contracted to supply fuel for 10 years—any power reactors (operational or in construction) requiring fuel.
The IAEA Director General, Dr. Mohammed ElBaradei, has produced regular reports since 2003 on Iran’s nuclear programme. They have outlined serious outstanding questions that Iran needs to resolve. These include: how Iran came to possess and what use it made of a document on casting uranium hemispheres, whose only application is in nuclear weapons; why Iran conducted experiments on Polonium 210, which has virtually no civil use but can be used as a neutron initiator in nuclear weapons; why Iran’s military has been involved in what it claims is a purely civil programme; and why Iran is constructing a heavy water research reactor for which there is little apparent civil need, yet which would be ideally suited for the production of plutonium for use in nuclear weapons. Successive IAEA reports have made clear that Iran is failing to co-operate fully in answering these questions. Dr. ElBaradei reiterated in his speech to the UN General Assembly on 30 October that
‘the IAEA continues... to be unable to confirm the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme, which is a matter of serious concern’.
Iraq
(2) whether the letter of the Deputy Commander of the Multi National Force-Iraq to the people of Ashraf dated 21st July 2004 was on behalf of the International Coalition;
(3) on what date in February the headquarters of the Multi National Force-Iraq reaffirmed its commitment to Article 45 of the Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of civilian persons, 1949 in respect of the people of Ashraf; whether the communication made reference to the principle of non-refoulment; and if she will make a statement;
(4) on what date the commander of the multi national coalition forces authorised the opening of bank accounts in Iraq by residents of Ashraf city;
(5) whether individuals in Ashraf have abrogated the undertakings they entered into with the commander of the Multi-National Force-Iraq and which were detailed in the signed agreements prepared by the force commander;
(6) if she will publish the communication dated 7th October 2005 from Major General William Brandenburg on behalf of the multi national coalition forces to the people of Ashraf; and if she will make a statement.
I have been asked to reply.
Camp Ashraf, near Baghdad, is outside the UK's area of responsibility in Iraq. As such, the UK has no responsibility for, or involvement with, Camp Ashraf or its residents. These are matters for the US and Iraqi Governments.
IT Projects
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office operates a devolved system of financial responsibility under which Directorates and overseas posts have the freedom to invest in non strategic IT systems designed to meet specific needs. Answers to the hon. Member’s question would require exhaustive searches of records in the UK and overseas, and this could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) undertakes a very wide range of IT-enabled projects. Strategic projects are managed centrally, but many others are delivered under a devolved system of financial responsibility under which Directorates and overseas posts have the freedom, subject to conformity with FCO technical standards and the need to demonstrate effective use of public funds, to invest in non-strategic IT systems designed to meet specific needs. FCO accounting practice does not make a distinction between expenditure on “information technology” and “web-facing information technology”. It is not possible to provide a complete answer without incurring disproportionate cost.
Middle East
The UK has received a number of reports on Israel's compliance with International Humanitarian Law during the recent conflict in Lebanon. These include reports from human rights non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International, and the visit report of the four UN special procedure mandate holders, which accuse both Israel and Hezbollah of serious violations of international humanitarian law.
The UK has not conducted an investigation into Israel’s conduct in Lebanon between 12 July and 14 August. The UK has always recognised Israel’s legitimate right to self-defence. At the same time we made clear during the conflict our deep concern at the deaths of civilians and at the destruction of civilian infrastructure and consistently urged Israel to exercise utmost restraint and act in compliance with international humanitarian law. We believe that any credible allegations of improper conduct should be properly investigated and appropriate action taken by the Governments of Israel and Lebanon.
Ministerial Responsibilities
The responsibilities of my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Mr. Hoon), the Minister for Europe, remain unchanged from those set out in the List of Ministerial Responsibilities in June 2006. Both he and I speak for the Government on European matters in the House as appropriate.
Moldova
Our embassy in Chisinau reports regularly on the political and economic situation in Moldova. We have also seen recent reports from the International Monetary Fund and the Economist Intelligence Unit on the Moldovan economy.
Economic growth has slowed recently due to the impact of sharp increases in the gas price, and the continuing ban on wine exports to Russia. Despite these factors, we expect Moldova to achieve modest growth of 3 per cent. in 2006, down from 6 per cent. predicted earlier in the year, followed by a slight recovery in 2007.
Moldova remains heavily dependent on remittances from Moldovans working overseas. Currently estimated at roughly US $l billion, remittances account for over 30 per cent. of gross domestic product (GDP), and through import taxes provided some 56 per cent. of the state budget. This has enabled the Government to run fiscal surpluses over the last few years, amounts they have used for repaying the principles on their debt. On the downside, this has meant significant proportion of the Moldovan labour force is productively employed outside of the country, leading to serious shortages in skilled labour.
Moldova’s debt remains high, but has fallen sharply in recent years from 100 per cent. of GDP in 2001, to 55 per cent. in 2005. In addition, Moldova received debt treatment from the Paris Club in early 2006, which has reduced debt service to the Paris Club by nearly 60 per cent.. The UK is not a creditor. The total stock of debt looks set to continue to decline over the next few years, despite the slowdown in economic growth.
While generally sound fiscal and monetary policies are being pursued by the authorities, inflation has accelerated to 14 per cent. year-on-year on the back of continuing high remittances, rapid increases in real wages, increasing funds from donors and hikes in energy prices. As both remittances and gas prices are likely to rise again next year, the amount of disinflation the authorities will be able to achieve during 2007 will be limited.
The combined effect of the wine ban and the gas price increase, however, means that we expect to see a worsening of Moldova’s external position, with its current account deficit set to rise to around 18 per cent. of GDP in 2006, up from 5.6 per cent. in 2005.
North Korea
We cannot rule out the possibility of another nuclear test; but we are encouraged by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) commitment to return to the Six Part Talks following talks in Beijing, which suggests a willingness not to escalate the situation further.
We are bound to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1718 (2006), and are taking the necessary administrative and legislative measures domestically and in the EU. The onus is now on the DPRK Government to comply fully with the resolution.
We believe that the current firm response of the international community represents the best means to resolve the current situation.
Sri Lanka
We understand that following irresponsible accusations in recent weeks in the Sri Lankan media of partisanship, and the apparent failure of the Sri Lankan government to regularise the status of their in-country staff, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) felt unable to operate safely in the Jaffna peninsula and withdrew from the area in mid-October. Given the security and humanitarian situation in Jaffna, where it is reported that over 50,000 of the civilian population has been displaced, and the wide international recognition of the impartial work of MSF in conflict areas this is regrettable. Our High Commission in Colombo raised concerns about MSF’s position with Sri Lankan government ministers in early October.
The withdrawal of MSF will unfortunately have a severe impact in the north of the Jaffna peninsula where there is already a shortage of basic medical services and supplies and patients may now have to travel to Jaffna city itself for medical treatment. We continue to urge all parties to allow relief workers and essential supplies access to all conflict affected areas to provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by the continuing violence.
Sudan
A strong peacekeeping force is critical to efforts to resolve this terrible conflict. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and other colleagues have engaged African, Arab and other leaders to help persuade Sudan to co-operate. We have also engaged the Sudanese Government on this: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development met President Bashir on 16 October in Khartoum to press him to stop the violence, accept a UN peacekeeping force, implement the Darfur Peace Agreement and reach a political settlement with the non-signatories. My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, the Secretary of State for International Development and my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, met with the First Vice President of Sudan and President of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, on 30 and 31 October to reinforce this message and to urge him to use his influence with the Sudanese Government.
The Sudanese Government has not yet heeded this international message nor abided by UN Security Council Resolution 1706. We urge it to do so, to bring peace to the long-suffering people of Darfur.
Terrorist Renditions
The Government respect its obligations under UK and international law. We would not assist in any activity if to do so would put us in breach of UK law or our international obligations, including the UN Convention Against Torture.
In respect of the allegations of transfer of persons through the UK, I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the then Foreign Secretary my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) on 20 January 2006, Official Report, columns 37-38WS.
Constitutional Affairs
Consultants
(2) for what purposes her Department employed Issan Ghazni Partnership;
(3) for what purposes her Department employed CIMTECH;
(4) for what purposes her Department employed Design Systems Technology Ltd;
(5) for what purposes her Department employed Horwood Safety Limited;
(6) for what purposes her Department employed Analogue;
(7) for what purposes her Department employed Reshan Sandhu;
(8) for what purposes her Department employed Dennis Battle Associates;
(9) for what purposes her Department employed Rick Evans Ltd.;
(10) for what purposes her Department employed Mandural Ltd.;
(11) for what purposes her Department employed Largos Ltd.;
(12) for what purposes her Department employed Rene Caroyal;
(13) for what purposes her Department employed Elborough Consulting/TSO Consulting;
(14) for what purposes her Department employed Alexander Cameron Ltd.;
(15) for what purposes her Department employed Venn Group Ltd.;
(16) for what purposes her Department employed Professor Susskind;
(17) for what purposes her Department employed GIC Ltd.;
(18) for what purposes her Department employed Tribal MPC;
(19) for what purposes her Department employed Penna;
(20) for what purposes her Department employed Computer Sciences Corporation;
(21) for what purposes her Department employed Craigforth;
(22) for what purposes her Department employed UCL Consultants;
(23) for what purposes her Department employed Adult Learning Inspectorate;
(24) for what purposes her Department employed Hedra;
(25) for what purposes her Department employed Digital Public;
(26) for what purposes her Department employed David Coates;
(27) for what purposes her Department employed Ilogic Ventures;
(28) for what purposes her Department employed Punter Southall;
(29) for what purposes her Department employed Lexicon Ltd.;
(30) for what purposes her Department employed Maitland Consultancy;
(31) for what purposes her Department employed Haygarth Group;
(32) for what purposes her Department employed Ask Europe Plc.;
(33) for what purposes her Department employed IPPR Consulting Ltd.;
(34) for what purposes her Department employed Logica CMG UK Ltd.;
(35) for what purposes her Department employed Cleo Nicolau;
(36) for what purposes her Department employed Parity Resources;
(37) for what purposes her Department employed Synopsis Communication Consulting Limited;
(38) for what purposes her Department employed JMH Consultancy;
(39) for what purposes her Department employed Capita Resourcing;
(40) for what purposes her Department employed Hudson Global Resources;
(41) for what purposes her Department employed VP Treen and Associates;
(42) for what purposes her Department employed Chesterton;
(43) for what purposes her Department employed Cornwell Management Consultants;
(44) for what purposes her Department employed Watson Associates;
(45) for what purposes her Department employed NCC Services Ltd.;
(46) for what purposes her Department employed MORI;
(47) for what purposes her Department employed Assessment and Development Consultancy;
(48) for what purposes her Department employed Communication Engagement and Change Ltd.;
(49) for what purposes her Department employed John Garnett;
(50) for what purposes her Department employed Human Assets Ltd.;
(51) for what purposes her Department employed Methods Consulting;
(52) for what purposes her Department employed Gartner UK Ltd.;
(53) for what purposes her Department employed Anagram;
(54) for what purposes her Department employed Wheelers;
(55) for what purposes her Department employed Insight Consulting Ltd.;
(56) for what purposes her Department employed Hurd Rolland;
(57) for what purposes her Department employed Enodian Ltd.;
(58) for what purposes her Department employed BTF Associates;
(59) for what purposes her Department employed BTA Consulting;
(60) for what purposes her Department employed Ernst and Young LLP;
(61) for what purposes her Department employed The Ingram Partnership;
(62) for what purposes her Department employed DTZ Debenhan Tie Leung;
(63) for what purposes her Department employed ORC International;
(64) for what purposes her Department employed Towers Perrin;
(65) for what purposes her Department employed Mouchel Consulting Limited;
(66) for what purpose her Department employed KPMG;
(67) for what purpose her Department employed PA;
(68) for what purpose her Department employed Deloitte MCS Ltd.;
(69) for what purpose her Department employed PricewaterhouseCoopers.
I refer the hon. Member to the document “Summary of Expenditure on Consultancy in DCA in 2004-05”, a copy of which has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Coroners
Coroners are currently expected to have arrangements in place to ensure a 24 hour, seven day a week service to deal with deaths reported to them, including liaison with bereaved relatives. To reflect this good practice, a requirement to contact the next-of-kin within 24 hours of a death being reported is included in the charter for bereaved people which accompanies the draft Bill on coroner reform. The charter is an “illustrative draft” and its content, including specific targets, will be the subject of further consultation.
In England and Wales there are currently 32 full-time coroners, 86 part-time coroners and around 430 coroners’ officers.
The analysis of the impact on resources of the proposed legislation is set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) that was published alongside the draft Bill.
As the RIA shows, we have concluded that the reform proposals will not materially increase the caseload of the service. Therefore, providing the coroner service is currently being resourced adequately by the relevant local authorities. There should be no requirement to increase the overall hours provided by coroners or coroners’ officers in a particular area.
As we further develop the detail of our proposals, we will be carrying out analysis on the options for new coroner areas, and in particular whether changes in geography affect this position significantly.
The charter included with the draft Bill is an “illustrative draft” and as such its content, including specific targets, will be the subject of further consultation. However, when finalised, the charter is intended to represent a level of service that each area should deliver within current staff numbers, provided that local authorities are, at that time, resourcing the service adequately.
Latest statistics show that, in total, coroners and coroners’ officers dealt with 232,400 cases reported to them in 2005. The draft Bill proposals do not, of themselves, produce any increase in overall caseload or workload.
Coroners are not employees, but independent judicial officers, appointed by local authorities who also pay their salaries. In most cases coroners’ officers are employed by the relevant police force, although a minority are employed by the relevant local authority.
Electoral Arrangements
My Department is currently conducting a procurement exercise to establish a framework of suppliers which was initiated by notice to the Official Journal of the European Union on 1 August.
The framework will last until 2010 and be available to support local authority e-counting and e-voting pilots until that time.
My Department’s head of electoral policy attended the Budapest conference in July 2006 and participated in a debate entitled “Voting in our pyjamas—which channel is best?” This was a debate about the merits of different remote voting methods. He did not make a slide-based presentation or provide any handouts. However, I will place a copy of the notes that he used for his talk in the Library.
The draft Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2006 require a minimum of 20 per cent. of the personal identifiers supplied with postal votes to be verified before the election count. A returning officer has discretion to check more than the minimum 20 per cent.
It is the responsibility of the Electoral Commission to issue guidance to returning officers. The Commission has advised that it intends to do so on the implementation of the Electoral Administration Act 2006. We understand that this guidance will include the Commission’s advice to returning officers on the checking of identifiers.
Funding being provided to local authorities in England and Wales for elections in 2007 is expected to be in the region of £34 million. The final figure will depend on the precise cost of the new postal voting identifier arrangements.
Parliamentary Boundaries
I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 24 October 2006, Official Report, column 1775W, in relation to the timetable for laying the draft Order to give effect to the new English constituencies.
The subsequent timing of debates on the draft Order and the making of the Order in Council are matters for the Parliamentary Business Managers and the Privy Council respectively.
Once the Order is made, it does not take effect until the next general election thereafter.
Political Donations
The Electoral Administration Act 2006 provides for the removal of the requirement for a Member of the House of Commons to report a donation to the Electoral Commission, where it is received either in his capacity as a Member of the House of Commons or in his capacity as a member of a registered political party.
Section 59(3) and 59(4) of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 provide that the Electoral Commission must be satisfied that the House of Commons has the necessary arrangements in place to meet the requirements of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 and the Secretary of State may not make a commencement order unless he is informed by the Commission that those arrangements are in place.
The Department understands that the Electoral Commission and House of Commons authorities will be liaising closely in order to allow the Electoral Commission to make an assessment as to whether the House of Commons has the necessary arrangements in place to meet the requirements of the 2000 Act and—when appropriate—to recommend to the Secretary of State that the provisions of the 2006 Act may be commenced.
Prime Minister
Department of Trade and Industry
The allocation of responsibilities across Government is kept under close review and changes to the machinery of government are made as and when necessary.
Departmental Expenditure
For figures before 2005-06, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) on 21 July 2005, Official Report, column 1935W.
Figures for 2005-06 are set out in the following table.
£ million 2005-06 Running costs excluding infrastructure 16.7 Running costs including infrastructure 17.8
The increase in running costs (excluding infrastructure) was largely as a result of the UK’s Presidency of the EU and G8 Conferences.
Departmental Telephone Numbers
I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given by the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Paul Boateng, to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis) on 16 December 2004, Official Report, columns 1237-38W.
Minister for Europe
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire (Mr. Vara) on 18 May 2006, Official Report, column 1140W.
Ministerial Code
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner) on 9 October 2006, Official Report, column 5W.
Ministerial Travel
I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given by my noble Friend the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 10 July 2006, Official Report, House of Lords, column WA95, and 25 July 2006, Official Report, House of Lords, columns WA265-66.
North Korea
I discussed a wide range of issues with the Chairman of the National Committee, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Jia Qinglin, during his recent visit, including North Korea’s nuclear test and China’s commitment to a denuclearised Korean peninsula. I also welcome the agreement in Beijing last week on North Korea’s return to the six-party talks.
Deputy Prime Minister
Climate Change
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 November 2006, Official Report, column 285.
Departmental Travel
I refer the hon. Member to the letter from the Cabinet Secretary to the hon. Member for East Devon (Mr. Swire) of 6 July 2006, a copy of which has been made available in the Library for the reference of Members.
Johnny Gallagher
My Department has no record of any meetings with Mr. Gallagher.
Ministerial Facilities
Staff have access to a gym operated on behalf of the Cabinet Office, for which they pay a subscription charge to the operator.
Post Office
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 November 2006, Official Report, columns 280-81 to the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone).
Minister for Women
Community Facilities
[holding answer 26 October 2006]: I have had no such representations on establishing female-only community facilities in Leicestershire, England or the United Kingdom.
Duchy of Lancaster
Better Regulation for Civil Society
[holding answer 20 October 2006]: The Government's formal response to the Better Regulation Task Force's report “Better Regulation for Civil Society” provides full details of how they are responding to each of the recommendations in the report. It is available on the Cabinet Office website at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/publications/index.asp. Copies have also been placed in the Library for the reference of Members and are also available in the Vote Office.
Bulgarian/Romanian Immigrants
It has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on allegedly leaked documents.
Departmental Expenditure
Information for the Cabinet Office is not collected in the format requested. To provide a breakdown would incur disproportionate costs.
Owing to the way that accommodation and subsistence related costs are recorded on the Cabinet Office accounting system, it is not possible to extract the requested information from it.
All official travel in the Department is undertaken strictly in accordance with the rules contained in the Cabinet Office Management Code. All ministerial travel-related costs are undertaken fully 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.
Departmental IT
According to available records, the number of information technology projects the Department has undertaken in each year since 2001 is shown in the table.
Number of Projects 2001-02 42 2002-03 22 2003-04 23 2004-05 14 2005-06 19 2006 to date 21
According to available records the Department has eight databases, which are operated wholly or partly by external organisations; all are owned by the Department. These are shown as follows.
Database Title
Fast Stream Recruitment—graduate recruitment.
E-Payfact—payroll administration.
Forward Look—regulations management.
Cabinet Committee Papers—management and distribution of Cabinet Committee papers.
Cross-Government Exercise—crisis management.
Government Communications Network—member database.
Government IT Profession—member database.
Central Application Repository—Civil Service pensions administration.
With the exception of the Fast Stream Recruitment Database, which is wholly operated, the rest are partly operated by external organisations.
Departmental Staff
I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on Thursday 19 October, Official Report, column 1387-8W.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on Monday 23 October 2006, Official Report, column 1624W.
Mandatory Retirement
Responsibility for the setting of retirement ages for staff below the Senior Civil Service is delegated to individual Departments under the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992. The Cabinet Office does not maintain a record of those Departments which have chosen, as a result of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, to introduce a mandatory retirement age for their staff below the Senior Civil Service.
Retirement age for members of the Senior Civil Service is not delegated to Departments to decide on and is 65.
Official Residence
My right hon. and noble Friend the Lord Chancellor has been allocated one of the flats in Admiralty House. He will not take up residence but will use it for official entertaining and other engagements. The arrangements for the Lord Chancellor were effective from Monday 16 October 2006.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Mr. Hoon) vacated his official ministerial residence in Admiralty House on Friday 30 June 2006.
Pensions
Information on the most recent estimate of unfunded liability for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme is available in the Resource Accounts 2005-06 of Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation, a copy of which is available in the Library for the reference of Members. This contains details of the present value of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme's liabilities at Friday 31 March 2006 and the discount rate assumption.
The scheme actuary used the same longevity assumptions as applied at the last full valuation as at Monday 31 March 2003. A copy of this report, “Review of the Accruing Superannuation Liability Charges (ALSCs) as at Monday 31 March 2003” is available on the Civil Service Pensions website at http://www.civilservice-pensions.gov.uk/upload/assets/www.civilservice_pensions.gov.uk/aslc_review 31mar03.pdf.
Copies have also been placed in the Library for the reference of Members.
Employer contribution rates for Members of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) are assessed for each of four ranges of pay levels and are set at a level which together with employee contributions is intended to meet the costs of benefits accruing in the year. This approach is set out in Resource Accounts 2005-06 of Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation, a copy of which is available in the Library for the reference of Members. The current employer contribution rates expressed as a percentage of pensionable pay are shown in the table.
Salary band (£) Rate of employer contribution as a percentage of pensionable pay 18,500 and under 17.1 18,501 to 38,000 19.5 38,001 to 65,000 23.2 65,001 and over 25.5
The average employer contribution is estimated at 19.4 per cent. of pensionable pay. A higher rate, of 26.5 per cent. of pensionable pay, is payable by the Prison Service for prison officers employed before September 1987 and who are entitled to enhanced benefits. The total employer contributions for 2006-07 are estimated at £2.6 billion.
Most civil servants joining the civil service on or after Tuesday 1 October 2002 can, as an alternative to joining the PCSPS, opt for a partnership pension account which is a stakeholder arrangement with an age-related employer contribution varying between 3 per cent. and 12.5 per cent. of pensionable pay. In addition, the employer will match individual contributions up to a maximum of 3 per cent. of pay. In 2005-06, employers contributed a total of £7.7 million to partnership pension accounts.
Information on total spending on the Civil Service Pension Scheme for the years 2001-02 to 2005-06 is shown in the Resource Accounts of Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation. The Resource Accounts for 2005-06 also include information on scheme membership. Information on total spending for earlier years is shown in the Appropriation Accounts for the Civil Superannuation Vote. Her Majesty's Treasury accounted for this Vote before 1995, when responsibility moved to the Cabinet Office. Copies of these documents are available in the Library for the reference of Members.
Future estimates for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme are included in the total figures for gross spending on unfunded pensions in payment as a percentage of GDP that were published in the December 2005 Long-term Public Finance Report by Her Majesty's Treasury. Copies are available in the Library for the reference of Members.
SCOPE Programme
SCOPE is an information systems enabled programme to improve collaboration across the intelligence community. It is not the practice to publish the costs of intelligence-related programmes. They are subject to scrutiny by the Intelligence and Security Committee, whose reports are available in the Library for the reference of Members.
Special Advisers
I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 24 July 2006, Official Report, column 86WS.
Strategy Unit
Strategy Unit costs for 2005-06 were £3,348,000. For Strategy Unit costs in each year since its establishment up to and including 2004-05, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend, the Member for East Renfrewshire (Mr. Murphy), then Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office, on 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 43W.
Communities and Local Government
Accidents (Electrical Equipment)
I have been asked to reply.
The numbers of fatalities over the last five years are shown in the following table.
Number of home accidents 2001-02 (1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002) 4 2002-03 (1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003) 5 2003-04 (1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004) 3 2004-05 (1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005) 10 2005-06 (1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006) 13
Aviation Noise
I have been asked to reply.
The Government consulted on this proposal in their publication “Control of Noise from Civil Aircraft” before the White Paper “The Future of Air Transport” in 2003. Our conclusion, following consultation, was that such involvement of local authorities in small airports' noise control measures would be too bureaucratic. Not all local authorities in which an airport is situated would be resourced to take a fully informed view of an airport's proposals; there might also be conflicts between the interests of the authority that played host to the airport and those of other neighbouring authorities whose residents were also affected by the presence of the airport.
However, it is possible for airports voluntarily to enter into binding agreements with local authorities.
Back Gardens
[holding answer 31 October 2006]: It is for local planning authorities to develop, through their local development frameworks, appropriate policies which set out the criteria against which planning applications for the development and use of land and buildings will be considered. This could include specific policies relating to where proposals involve development of existing residential areas, which could include associated land such as back gardens, but information on all the local planning authorities which have such a policy is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Building Regulations (Electrical Contractors)
The regulatory impact assessment for Part P of the building regulations estimated that there were about 61,000 electrical contracting firms in the United Kingdom. To date about 30,000 firms have registered with a Part P competent person self-certification scheme. Part P and Part P competent person schemes cover only notifiable electrical installation work in dwellings; some of the 61,000 firms would carry out electrical installation work only in buildings other than dwellings so would not benefit from joining a Part P scheme. Electrical safety in buildings other than dwellings is controlled by the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 for which the Health and Safety Executive is the enforcing authority.
Casinos
Under the Gambling Act 2005, local authorities acting in their capacity as licensing authorities will be responsible for issuing the one regional, eight large and eight small new casino licences permitted by the Act. Licensing authorities will be required to run the competitions for these licences in a fair and open way. These competitions are not expected to begin until mid-2007, and the identities of the bidding companies will not be known until then.
There were no ministerial meetings with casino operators. There was one meeting with officials: Mr Brian Lemon of the Casino Operators Association of the UK attended a Stakeholder Workshop in London on 13 October 2005 which discussed a draft paper on Need and Impact Assessment, which will be a guidance note to accompany Planning Policy Statement 6: Planning for Town Centres.
There have been two meetings of planning Ministers and casino operators:
6 May 2004—My right hon. Friend the Member for Streatham (Keith Hill), former Minister for Housing and Planning, met Lloyd Nathan, European Managing Director of MGM, with officials to discuss planning policy for casinos generally.
28 November 2004—My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister visited the Star City Casino, Sydney for which I refer the hon. Member to the Deputy Prime Minister's answer of 19 July 2006, Official Report, column 301.
In relation to meetings with associates of casino operators, there have been a number of meetings with representatives of Anschutz in connection with the Dome. Those involving the Deputy Prime Minister were set out in the letter appended to the Memorandum to the Committee of Standards. My right hon. Friend the Member for Streatham was also present at a meeting between the Deputy Prime Minister and officials and representatives of Anshutz in June 2003. In addition, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty) and officials met representatives of Anshutz in January 2003. But none of these Ministers were planning Ministers for the Dome and related developments.
The statement was a Government policy statement, agreed under the terms of collective responsibility in the normal way.
Commission for Equality and Human Rights
The first round of appointments of Commissioners to the Commission for Equality and Human Rights will be made shortly. Ministers expect the Commission to take an inclusive approach and reach out to all faith communities in the UK. The recruitment process for Commissioners has always been built on the premise that Commissioners will work in a collegiate manner, and that the body as a whole should have understanding of the functions of the Commission and especially of human rights and discrimination matters, including discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief. It has never been the intention for individual Commissioners to represent particular groups.
Correspondence
The letter to which the hon. Member refers to was replied to on 2 November. I agree that we have taken longer than I would have wished to respond and apologise to both the hon. Member and Mr. Lawrence for this.
Council Rents
I have been asked to reply.
Subsidy expenditure in relation to council homes includes major repairs and capital charges (e.g. interest and repayments on borrowing for previous housing investment and building), as well as ongoing management and maintenance.
The overall assumed in-year totals used for subsidy purposes are as follows:
£ million Assumed rental income 5,722 Less: Management and maintenance 3,082 Major repairs 1,389 Capital charges 1,205 ALMO allowance 86 Other allowances 82 Deficit funded by Exchequer 122
Average rent per household reported by councils for 2004-05 was £2,868.13. This is an unaudited figure. Average expenditure per house on repairs and maintenance reported by councils was £805.28. This does not include management, major repairs or decent homes refurbishments. Nor does it include the capital charges against debt or borrowing that may have been used to fund the building of the homes in the first place.
Council Tax
The operation of any council rebate scheme for householders taking energy efficiency measures is entirely a matter for the local authority concerned. The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold information about the basis on which individual schemes operate.
Crown/Duchy of Lancaster Property
Empty Dwelling Management Orders cannot be made against dwellings owned by the Crown. A dwelling owned by the Duchy of Lancaster, or any other property owner, could only be subject to an Empty Dwelling Management Order if the local authority proposing the order sought and received authorisation from a Residential Property Tribunal.
Departmental Expenditure
The following table sets out the expenditure on hospitality for the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and ODPM Private Offices in 2005-06.
Amount (£) (a) Total ODPM hospitality spend 54,932 of which: (b) ODPM Private Offices 20,646
The totals include £8,563 spent on hospitality by the Deputy Prime Minister's Private Office.
Hospitality expenditure in the former ODPM was incurred when officials had provided meals/refreshments for ODPM stakeholders.
The Department's finance system did not identify expenditure on alcohol separately. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
All expenditure on official entertainment was made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Government Accounting.
The net cost to the Department was £331,252. The total cost of holding the Sustainable Communities Summit 2005 was just over £2.8 million, while revenues from delegate fees and sponsorship were approximately £2.5 million.
The summit, hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister, was the biggest event of its kind ever held in this country. Some 2,000 delegates from over 150 organisations in the public, private and voluntary and community sectors took part, showing how they are working together to create sustainable communities and sharing in the expertise and experience of a range of international speakers.
The Summit House helped elicit over 200 expressions of interest in English Partnerships’ Design for Manufacture Competition, which showed how we can develop high quality housing for a construction cost of £60,000 or less per home, while also placing sustainable communities on the international agenda during the UK European presidency.
The Department did not directly fund any delegates to attend the event, the International eDemocracy symposium in Budapest on 26-28 July. However, sponsored delegates were invited and paid for by the International Centre for Local eDemocracy (ICELE), which will largely be funded by DCLG until March 2008. ICELE is the successor to the former Local eDemocracy National Project which was established and funded by the Department's Local eGovernment Programme.
Most of the symposium costs were covered by delegate fees and sponsorship by a number of organisations including the Council of Europe, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Serco, Tata Consultancy Services and the Department.
Delegates invited to attend the event at ICELE’s expense were either conference speakers/workshop leaders (for example, a delegation from the UK Youth Parliament) or opinion formers within local government (for example, councillors who are active bloggers). These delegates were chosen by the conference organisers.
Departmental IT
The Planning Portal and the Public Enquiry Service (PES) use modules from a Customer Relationship Management package; the application and associated data are hosted in the USA under “Safe Harbor” status. The PES data will be migrated to a UK-based repository in the first quarter of 2007.
Departmental Staff
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) was not created until 5 May 2006. Available information, for the most recent year, is as follows:
92 or 61 per cent. of permanent senior civil servants (SCS) received an award in respect of overall performance, totalling £630,000. Performance awards are an intrinsic part of the SCS pay system. The largest award was £12,500.
503 or 28 per cent. of non-SCS staff received an award in respect of overall performance, totalling £170,000. Awards were subject to a maximum payment of between £150 to £600, depending on grade.
301 or 17 per cent. of staff received an award in respect of exceptional performance on a specific task or at a specific time, totalling £105,000. These awards are subject to a general maximum payment of £600.
DCLG is committed to rewarding good performance and aims to increase performance awards available to non-SCS staff.
Empty Dwellings
Work that arises on policy in relation to empty dwelling management orders is dealt with as part of the work of one full-time equivalent post within the Department.
Empty Homes Agency
In 2005-06, the Empty Homes Agency received £100,000 from the Department to support local authorities in bringing empty homes back into use and to promote good practice. The Agency received £13,156 from the Housing Corporation to run a conference addressing lessons learnt from research on how Registered Social Landlords can work with local authorities in tackling empty homes.
Energy Performance Certificates
The price of an energy performance certificate will be set by the market and not by Government. We expect these costs to vary according to the size, type and location of the property. Trials are planned to take place shortly to assess the indicative time and costs of producing energy performance certificates. This will also look at properties in the private, registered social landlord and local authority rented sectors.
Facilities for Disabled People
The total allocation of grant to local authorities in the south-east for the disabled facilities grant programme (DFG) in 2006-07 was £19.962 million. This compares with a total bid for resources from those authorities of £21.093 million. The table gives the details for each authority.
There is provision in the DFG financial management system for local authorities to carry over any underspend from one year to another if this is due to programme slippage and they can satisfy their auditors that this slippage can be made good in future years. There is also provision for a local authority that cannot meet this condition to refund the grant to the Department. As the DFG programme is ring-fenced any such refund will be reallocated to other authorities who can demonstrate a need for additional resource for their DFG programme. Any such reallocation will be made in close consultation with the Government offices.
LA name 2006-07 DFG bid (£000) DFG 2006-07 allocations (£000) Adur 180 180 Arun 450 450 Ashford 216 216 Aylesbury Vale 276 276 Basingstoke and Deane 390 390 Bracknell Forest 156 156 Brighton and Hove 495 495 Canterbury 339 339 Cherwell 375 375 Chichester 435 435 Chiltern 240 240 Crawley 252 252 Dartford 180 180 Dover 222 222 East Hampshire 300 300 Eastbourne 300 300 Eastleigh 315 315 Elmbridge 339 284 Epsom and Ewell 357 207 Fareham 159 159 Gosport 126 126 Gravesham 465 312 Guildford 192 192 Hart 180 162 Hastings 420 420 Havant 600 488 Horsham 375 296 Isle of Wight 480 480 Lewes 242 242 Maidstone 210 210 Medway 540 540 Mid Sussex 228 228 Milton Keynes 375 375 Mole Valley 142 142 New Forest 254 254 Oxford 360 360 Portsmouth 528 528 Reading 390 390 Reigate and Banstead 390 340 Rother 240 240 Runnymede 300 224 Rushmoor 240 211 Sevenoaks 342 342 Shepway 246 246 Slough 370 354 South Bucks 120 120 South Oxfordshire 480 480 Southampton 540 540 Spelthorne 250 250 Surrey Heath 239 162 Swale 720 512 Tandridge 120 120 Test Valley 375 313 Thanet 450 450 Tonbridge and Malling 276 276 Tunbridge Wells 180 180 Vale of White Horse 423 423 Waverley 210 210 Wealden 273 273 West Berkshire 324 324 West Oxfordshire 192 192 Winchester 270 270 Windsor and Maidenhead 270 270 Woking 180 180 Wokingham 330 284 Worthing 360 360 Wycombe 300 300 Total (£ million) 21,093 19,962
Fire Stations
Fire stations are subject to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in the same way as other non-domestic premises. Any decision about whether any particular type of fire precaution, including fire detection and warning, is required should be taken in the light of a fire risk assessment of the premises and their use.
Gasworks Redevelopment
The Department for Communities and Local Government has provided public funding for the development in the form of social housing grant via the Housing Corporation to provide over 500 new homes of mixed tenure, being developed by two Registered Social Landlords (RSLs)—Newlon Housing Trust and East Thames Housing Group. The total social housing grant agreed by the Housing Corporation is £24,824,911, with the remainder of the funding for this housing programme coming from the RSLs' own reserves. A total of £16,625,925 of this has been paid to date: £7,549,212 in 2003-04, less £24,105 reclaimed in 2004-05 and £9,100,818 in 2005-06.
In addition to the above, £12,350 of New Deal for Communities money has been spent on undertaking feasibility work relating to the potential development of a multi-purpose community facility, incorporating key Primary Care Trust activities, along with facilities for training, employment and enterprise activities. This breaks down to £12,075 in 2005-06 and a further £275 in this financial year.
Government Social Research Service
The projects completed by the GSR Service in DCLG for each of the past five financial years are:
Completed projects 2001-02 74 2002-03 96 2003-04 99 2004-05 73 2005-06 52 Total 394
The costs of the Government Social Research Service are only available for the past four financial years:
GSR service cost (£) 2002-03 3,300,189 2003-04 3,560,008 2004-05 3,165,383 2005-06 3,148,123
DCLG currently employs 64 Government Research Service staff, some of whom work on a part-time basis.
Home Condition Reports/Information Packs
The key services required to enable the successful lodgement and retrieval of Home Condition Reports and Energy Performance Certificates will be available for the commencement of the area trials on 6 November, Plans are in place to develop this core service to provide full functionality by the first quarter of 2007 to allow for contingency before the start of live running on 1 June 2007. These development plans will take into account experiences gained and enhancements identified during the area trials.
The price of the pack will be determined by the market, not Government. The Regulatory Impact Assessment published in June assumed that costs would be similar to costs currently charged for similar products, although we expect competition and innovation will lead to a reduction in these prices.
We are currently revising our estimate for the cost of home information packs, including producing the Energy Performance Certificate in the light of the statements made on 18 July and 21 September. A revised estimate of the costs will be included in the updated Regulatory Impact Assessment to be published alongside new regulations in early 2007.
The total communications budget for the HIP Programme in 2006-07 is £2.6 million excluding VAT. This is to ensure that the public and those working in the home buying and selling industry understand the changes that are being made and the benefits they will bring to consumers and the environment. It includes expenditure to support the area trials and includes information for estate agents, information about energy performance certificates and facts for home buyers and sellers.
The estimated number of qualified home inspectors required after June 2007 to satisfy demand on a full-time equivalent basis would be approximately 2,200. Based on the range of current industry working practices, this means between 2,500 to 4,500 individual Home Inspectors would be required.
The price of the pack will be determined by the market, not Government. For the purposes of preparing the RIA published in June we have assumed that costs will be similar to costs currently charged for similar products, although we expect competition and innovation will lead to a reduction in these prices.
The full Home Condition Report (HCR) will be similar in content to the existing mid-range survey on the market, The Homebuyers Survey and Valuation, which costs about £400 plus VAT on average across the country as a whole. The actual cost of the HCR will be determined by the market and this will depend, as now, on the size, condition and location of the property. We expect competition in the market to ensure that costs are held down.
Trials will take place in Bath, Cambridge, Southampton, Northampton, Newcastle and Huddersfield. We are working with the Association of Home Information Pack Providers to ensure providers are in place to conduct the trials.
No further locations are currently planned.
The trials will include testing of the Energy Performance Certificate and the Home Condition Report.
Home Improvement Agencies
The contract is currently held with Foundations who act as the national co-ordinating body for Home Improvement Agencies. A decision will be taken shortly as to how best to continue to support a national co-ordinating body when the existing contract period expires. This is still the subject of procurement discussions and, further to these, we hope to be able to make a decision in November.
Home Inspectors
The Government's policy is that mandatory Home Condition Reports (HCRs) remain on the table if the industry fails to make a success of the roll-out of HCRs. We will promote the voluntary take-up of HCRs, and have allocated £4 million to support their take-up and testing of home information packs. Therefore home inspectors will still be needed and job opportunities for home inspectors remain for those who have undertaken training. Moreover, the introduction of Energy Performance Certificates for private and social rented properties will further enhance these opportunities.
According to the figures supplied by assessment centres, as at 5 October, there were 4,180 home inspectors in training. This excludes those who had completed training.
The most recent figures, as at 5 October, supplied by assessment centres show that
(a) there are 500 home inspectors who have completed their training, of whom 190 have now been issued with their certificate
(b) there were 4,180 candidates still in training.
At least 470 home inspector candidates have completed their training.
This figure is based on returns provided by six of the 11 assessment centres at 25 August, together with earlier returns from the other centres.
Honours
Records in the Department for Communities and Local Government showing the number of CBE awards made to local authority councillors for services to local government in England and Wales are available from 2001. In the period from the new year 2001 to the Queen’s birthday 2006 lists, 15 such awards were made. National honours to local authority councillors are awarded for the contribution the individual has made to the local community. The individual’s party political affiliation is not taken into account in assessing potential candidates for honours.
Housing
(2) what assessment has been made of the change in the amount of garden space in urban and suburban areas since May 1997.
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested on gardens is not available centrally. The extent of garden space compared to curtilage of previous building is not recorded in land use change statistics on development of previously developed land.
Outdoor recreation is classified as an undeveloped use, not as brownfield. In 2004 2 per cent. of new dwellings were provided on land that was previously outdoor recreation, down from 4 per cent. in 1994 and 3 per cent. in 1997. Planning policy on open space and recreation is set out in planning Policy Guidance 17 (PPG17) (July 2002) which states that existing open space, sports and recreational building and land should not be built on unless an assessment has been undertaken which has clearly shown the open space or the buildings and land to be surplus to requirement. In addition new investment has brought other kinds of brownfield land back into use for outdoor recreation.
As part of the Government’s response to the Barker Review of Housing Supply, the Government undertook detailed analysis and modelling of affordability, as detailed in the research publication “Affordability Targets: Implications for Housing Supply” (ODPM, 2005). The modelling took into account rising incomes over the period and this analysis contributed to the decision to set an ambition to increase housing supply to a level of 200,000 annual net additions by 2016. It looked at long term prices, rather than short term pressures in individual locations. The new National Housing and Planning Advice Unit will provide more detailed assessments for regions and local areas.
At an aggregate level house prices are affected by a wide range of variables, including interest rates, level of household income and flexibility of the credit market.
An analysis of the components of growth in household numbers as projected by the 2003-based household projections produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government is tabulated. Household growth has been split into the four principal factors generating additional households. The changes are best viewed over several years as tabulated.
The factors are:
(a) the projected growth of the total adult private household population;
(b) the change in the age structure of the population;
(c) changes in the marital status of the population, including proportions cohabiting, as well as legal marital status; and
(d) changes in household formation rates specific for age, sex, legal marital status and cohabitation.
The table includes a “remainder” column, which shows the change due to interaction between the components, for instance, the combined effect of increasing population and changes in the age distribution.
Thousand Adult population Age structure Marital status Household formation rates Remainder Total 2003-06 410 19 -15 160 6 580 2006-11 690 144 -18 249 16 1,081 2011-16 607 294 -2 223 16 1,139 2016-21 582 292 -7 195 15 1,076 2021-26 507 255 -7 168 9 932 Source: 2003-based household projections (DCLG and APU)
The following table shows the amount of expenditure through the Housing Corporation on affordable housing since 1992-93. This does not include expenditure through English Partnerships for example on the first time buyers initiative or the London Wide initiative. Nor does it include investment in affordable housing through section 106 agreements.
Affordable Housing Programme Local Authority Social Housing Grant Safer Communities Supported Housing Fund Starter Home Initiative Other Total 1992-93 2,284 399 0 0 21 2,704 1993-94 1,761 443 0 0 33 2,238 1994-95 1,441 372 0 0 46 1,859 1995-96 1,112 370 0 0 41 1,523 1996-97 1,007 349 0 0 23 1,380 1997-8 667 363 0 0 60 1,090 1998-9 603 335 0 0 129 1,067 1999-2000 635 328 0 0 180 1,143 2000-01 727 400 0 0 103 1,230 2001-02 799 410 9 2 13 1,233 2002-03 925 499 27 67 11 1,529 2003-04 1,590 249 27 172 16 2,054 2004-05 1,600 35 11 7 18 1,671 2005-06 1 1,599 23 2 0 9 1,632 2006-07 2 1,958 0 0 0 20 1,841 2007-08 2 1,945 0 0 0 20 2,015 1 Provisional 2 Forecast
This table represents the investment the Government have made via the Housing Corporation to registered social landlords for the provision and repair of affordable housing for both rent and low cost home ownership.
(2) which (a) housing associations and (b) local authorities participate in the Social Homebuy scheme;
(3) how many housing associations are participating in the Social Homebuy scheme;
(4) how many social tenants are eligible for the Social HomeBuy scheme.
The Social Homebuy scheme is anew programme for secure and assured tenants of participating local authorities and housing associations. To qualify individuals must have been public sector tenants for at least two years (five years for tenancies granted on or after 18 January 2005).
Four housing associations (Notting Hill Housing Trust, Guinness Trust, Sovereign Housing Group and Places for People) and one local authority, the London borough of Southwark, have begun to pilot the new Social Homebuy scheme. The pilots were launched in late 2005 by inviting expressions of interest. The next stage was for landlords to supply key information to the potential purchasers who have expressed an interest on property values and likely costs, so that they could decide whether they wished to make a formal application. The first applications and sales are now starting to come through. Transactions typically take longer than house sales because landlords also carry out affordability checks to ensure purchasers can sustain home ownership. Over 150 applications are in the pipeline, with five sales completed and more expected shortly.
Of the five sales completed so far, three have been in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, one was in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the remaining one was in Chorley in Lancashire.
A further 38 housing associations intend to offer the Social Homebuy scheme from April 2007. The names of these housing associations are set out as follows. In addition the Housing Corporation announced details on 13 October of a further bidding round for housing associations to be funded to offer the scheme which will start on 30 October. A number of local authorities in London and elsewhere are also working up plans for pilots.
RSLs offering Social HomeBuy in 2006-08
London region
Broomleigh Housing Association
Catalyst Housing Group
Circle Anglia
Dominion Housing Group
Downland Housing Association
Family Housing group
Gallions Housing Association
Genesis Housing Group
London and Quadrant
Metropolitan Housing Partnership
Moat Housing Group
Mosaic Housing Association Ltd.
Notting Hill Housing Group
Peabody Trust
Places for People Group
Presentation Housing Association
Southern Housing Group
Region—South East
Sentinel
Testway Housing
Southern Housing Group
Places for People
Moat
Sovereign Housing Association
Aldwyck
Dominion Housing Group
Oxford Citizens Housing Association
Region—East of England
Aldwyck
Genesis
Nene Housing Society
Region—South West
Western Challenge
Evesham and Pershore Housing Ass.
Gloucestershire Housing Association
Somer Community Housing Trust
Devon and Cornwall Housing Association
Knightstone Housing Association Ltd.
Sovereign Housing Group
Region—East Midlands
Places for People
Nene Housing Society
Region—West Midlands
Bromford
Evesham and Pershore
Mercian
West Mercia
Region—North East
Places for People
Three Rivers Housing Association
Region—North West
CDS Housing Association Ltd.
Cosmopolitan
Greater Hornby
Places for People
William Sutton Housing Association
Riverside
Knowsley Housing Trust
Region—Yorkshire and Humber
Places for People Group
William Sutton
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Early pilots—most regions
Notting Hill Housing Group
Places for People
Sovereign Housing Association
Guinness
Information on the allocation of local authority dwellings is collected quarterly on the Department for Communities and Local Government’s P1(E) form. Between April and June 2006 (the most recent quarter for which data are available), 60 out of the 67 authorities in the south eastern region reported data. Data on lettings by Registered Social Landlords are not collected by these categories of foreign nationals.
(a) Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing.
(b) Between April and June 2006, local authorities in the south-east region reported 14 out of an estimated 2,855 total new local authority lettings to foreign nationals who had refugee status or indefinite leave to remain.
(c) There is no specific class of eligibility for social housing for persons granted further leave to remain. However, persons granted exceptional leave to remain, discretionary leave or humanitarian protection will be eligible to be housed. Between April and June 2006, local authorities in the south-east region reported three out of an estimated 2,855 total new local authority lettings went to foreign nationals who remained here on grounds of either exceptional leave to remain, discretionary leave or humanitarian protection.
The most recent data available on “total” new LA lettings come from the Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix, and are for 2004-05. There is estimated to have been a total of 2,855 new LA lettings in a quarter.
The Department has estimated that between 2,500 and 4,500 inspectors will be needed to produce Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) together with voluntary home condition reports for marketed residential sales when EPCs become mandatory in June 2007. There are reported to be 4,470 home inspector candidates who are either in or have completed their training.
A report commissioned by the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and carried out by National Energy Services concluded that there is also a potential pool of suitably skilled individuals prepared to undergo training and become qualified as domestic energy assessors, who could produce EPCs. Training courses offering such a qualification are expected to be available in early 2007, with candidates able to qualify in time for June 2007. Therefore there are plenty of available candidates to prevent a shortage or any impact on the market.
On 18 October I announced that 29 schemes had been awarded places on the 2006 Housing Transfer Programme and that places for a further 20 schemes were being held open for further discussions with applicants. The results of bids for places on round 6 of the arm’s length management organisation programme will be announced later in the year.
The following table shows homes provided through shared equity in Coventry in each of the last three years via the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme and Local Authority Social Housing Grant. The information requested is not available at constituency level.
Shared Ownership Open Market Purchase 2003-04 4 7 2004-05 10 0 2005-06 0 7 Source: Housing Corporation
Shared Ownership includes both new build and those acquired and refurbished.
Allocations provided through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme 2006-08 are expected to deliver 123 new build Homebuy (formerly shared ownership) units in Coventry.
This does not include any shared ownership homes funded entirely under section 106.
Since 1 April 1997, 25 per cent. of all dwellings built in Coventry have been for affordable housing (social rent and low cost home ownership). Information specific to the Coventry, South constituency is not held centrally.
Reliable estimates of overcrowding based on the statutory standard are not available because the underlying data are not collected systematically. A one-off estimate was made in 2003 that approximately 20,000 households across the whole of England were in conditions of overcrowding that breached the statutory standard. This estimate was based on data from the “Survey of English Housing” for the period 2000-01 to 2002-03 and from the 2001 “English House Condition Survey”. However, no further estimate was made of how many children were living in these 20,000 households.
Estimates of the number of households in Luton, Bedfordshire and the whole of the United Kingdom that are statutorily overcrowded are also not available.
A total of £182 million has been made available for gap funding over the period of the SR2004, up to 2007-08. We have entered into 13 gap funding agreements with RSLs up to the value of £203 million for periods of up to 10 years. Since March 2005 to 31 October 2006, payments totalling £21.4 million have been made from the Department's Capital DEL budget under these arrangements.
We received applications for places on the 2006 Housing Transfer Programme for 23 schemes from 15 authorities where the negative valuation totals around minus £700 million and gap funding arrangements may be required.
(2) when she expects to make a statement on the new standard she plans to introduce to measure statutory overcrowding.
We have received over 100 responses to our discussion paper ‘Tackling Overcrowding in England’. My officials are currently reviewing these responses. We expect to publish the Government’s response shortly, and will at the same time place copies of all responses to the discussion paper in the Library of the House, except in cases where confidentially has been requested.
Allocations from the National Affordable Housing Programme in London for 2006-07 to 2007-08 will deliver 34.5 per cent. of social rented homes with three or more bedrooms. This reflects the priority in the London Housing Strategy 2005-16 to increase the supply of larger family homes in the social sector. As schemes allocated funding for 2006-07 to 2007-08 will deliver completed homes over a number of years, it is too early to say what progress is being made.
In order to bring in the investment needed to make all social housing decent, we provide additional ways to support local authorities who need additional funding to make their homes decent on top of the resources provided through the Housing Revenue Account.
By 31 March 2008, £182 million will have been made available for gap-funded transfers, £3.7 billion for arm’s length management organisations and £2.7 billion for PFI schemes. Future levels of funding for gap-funded transfers and ALMOs are being negotiated as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review process.
The following table shows homes provided via the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme and Local Authority Social Housing Grant through shared equity in both Chorley and Lancashire in each of the last three years.
Chorley Lancashire1 2003-04 Shared Ownership 4 79 Open Market Purchase — — 2004-05 Shared Ownership 13 58 Open Market Purchase — — 2005-06 Shared Ownership 19 62 Open Market Purchase — 1 1 Lancashire, for the purposes of this response, includes the following local authorities: Burnley, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Wyre.
Shared Ownership includes both new build and those acquired and refurbished.
Allocations provided through the Housing Corporation’s Affordable Housing Programme 2006-08 are expected to deliver six new build shared ownership units in Chorley and 221 new build shared ownership properties in Lancashire.
The Government are committed to increasing housing growth in Milton Keynes as detailed in the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy. Detailed decisions are a matter for Milton Keynes Partnership and Milton Keynes council. However, we are not aware they have any plans to demolish houses.
Since 1 April 1997, 22 per cent. of all dwellings built in Oxfordshire have been affordable social housing. Information specific to the Wantage constituency is not held centrally. However, 24 per cent. of all dwellings built since 1 April 1997 in the local authority Vale of White Horse have been affordable social housing.
Crawley borough council’s projected figure for new housing building in the year 2006-07 is 269 units, and for the year 2007-08 it is 384 units. Horsham district council’s projected figure for new housing building in the year 2006-07 is 406 units, and for the year 2007-08 it is 410 units. These figures are taken from the annual monitoring report projected figures provided by the councils.
The current national statutory overcrowding standards (the Room Standard and the Space Standard) are set out in Part X of the Housing Act 1985 which restates standards that have remained unchanged since 1935. Under the Housing Act a dwelling is overcrowded if either of the standards is contravened:
The Room Standard is breached if two people of opposite sexes who are not living together as husband and wife must sleep in the same room. Living rooms and kitchens as well as bedrooms can be treated as available sleeping accommodation. Children under 10 do not count.
The Space Standard specifies the number of people who may sleep in a dwelling according to the number of rooms and their floor area. Two calculations are required and the lower number applies. Babies under one year do not count, and children under 10 count as half.
The Government have recently consulted on updating the statutory standards. Recent estimates of overcrowding based on the statutory standard are not available because the underlying data are not collected systematically. A one-off estimate was made in 2003 that approximately 20,000 households across the whole of England were in conditions of overcrowding that breached the statutory standard. This estimate was based on data from the Survey of English Housing for the period 2000-01 to 2002-03 and from the 2001 English House Condition Survey.
The Bedroom Standard has been used as the statistical benchmark (for example, in the Survey of English Housing) for measuring overcrowding since the 1960s. It differs considerably from the statutory standards. About 525,000 households are currently overcrowded by the Bedroom Standard. This is about 2.5 per cent. of households.
DCLG uses the statutory standards, the bedrooms standards, as well as other indicators of housing stress, such as rates of temporary accommodation, to inform decisions about resources for additional housing supply.
A total of 128 local authority lettings have been made to households from the EU accession states since May 2004. These figures include households who have been in the UK since before May 2004. This comprises around 0.04 per cent. of total lettings to all new tenants over the 26 month period.
A total of 524 households from the EU accession states have been accepted as eligible, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and consequently owed a main homelessness duty, since May 2004. This comprises around 0.2 per cent. of the total number of households accepted over the 26 month period.
I have been asked to reply.
The following table shows, in total, how much local authorities have invested and plan to invest in their existing stock each year since 1997 through the Housing Revenue Account, the majority of which comes from central Government funding.
£ million 1997-98 1,563 1998-99 1,660 1999-2000 1,569 2000-01 1,816 2001-02 2,142 2002-03 2,345 2003-04 2,641 2004-05 3,176 2005-06 3,564 2006-07 3,334 2007-08 3,190 Source: Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA).
In addition, Government capital provision in affordable housing, both new and existing, since 1997 is as follows:
£ million 1997-98 1,894 1998-99 2,098 1999-2000 2,173 2000-01 2,866 2001-02 2,696 2002-03 2,943 2003-04 3,964 2004-05 4,135 2005-06 5,223 2006-07 5,347 2007-08 5,665
The capital investment figures included expenditure through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme. Information on how this funding was spent on social rented housing and on existing social housing is as follows:
Expenditure on social rent provision Expenditure on existing social rented housing 1997-98 458.21 65.30 1998-99 446.86 40.43 1999-2000 522.95 34.43 2000-01 576.47 59.62 2001-02 647.16 67.42 2002-03 761.69 44.80 2003-04 1,174.81 53.70 2004-05 1,050.03 46.85 2005-061 960 33.8 2006-082 2,820 59.4 1 Provisional. 2 Estimate. Notes:1. Expenditure on social rent provision includes both new build and additions to the stock which are acquired and refurbished. 2. The figures for existing social housing include expenditure on major repairs and works to Registered Social Landlord stock. Source: Housing Corporation.
IT Projects
The Department for Communities and Local Government was created in May 2006. No (a) web or (b) non-web information technology projects have been completed since that date.
The Department for Communities and Local Government was created in May 2006. No information technology projects have been completed since that date.
The Department for Communities and Local Government was created in May 2006. One information technology project has been initiated since that date; it is not web-related.
The Department of Communities and Local Government came into being in May 2006. The spend on IT consultancies for the year to date is £4,955,360.
To provide the numbers of consultants working on web-facing projects would be at disproportionate cost.
The Department for Communities and Local Government was created in May 2006. No (a) information technology projects and (b) web-facing information technology projects have been completed since that date.
The Department for Communities and Local Government was formed in May 2006. There are four non-web related contracts with a value of over £1 million.
Local Government
The Local Government White Paper published on 26 October sets out our plans for stronger and more stable executive leadership and giving local authority overview and scrutiny committees new powers to review the actions of key public bodies. We have no plans to return to the old committee system.
My Department has engaged extensively with local government representatives and individual authorities across England in developing “Strong and Prosperous Communities—The Local Government White Paper”.
Contact with Coventry city council as part of this broad agenda has included the following:
officials met with the leader and chief executive of Coventry city council in May 2005, as part of the engagement programme for the discussion document on “Vibrant Local Leadership”; and
as a member of the Birmingham, Coventry and Black Country city-region, Coventry city council were involved in the development of the city-region business case which was presented to the Secretary of State on 23 May 2006. Further engagement on this agenda took place in relation to the city-region’s joint growth point bid, with the funding allocations being announced on 24 October 2006.
As we made clear in paragraph 5.16 of the invitation to councils to make proposals for future unitary structures that was published alongside the Local Government White Paper, the Government think they will be unlikely to be able to implement more than eight proposals. However, the final decision on the number of proposals that will be implemented will depend crucially on the content of local authority submissions and the potential impact on public expenditure totals if these proposals were approved. This expected maximum number would not preclude the Government from deciding to implement more if they offered good value for money and were affordable.
London Borough of Bexley
The Government office for London is currently negotiating a Local Area Agreement with the London borough of Bexley. The agreement will bring together funding streams from various Whitehall Departments. It offers Bexley the opportunity to work more flexibly to achieve its own locally agreed priorities and will include reward grant for enhanced performance in some of those priority areas.
The Housing Corporation has allocated over £15 million in its 2006-08 housing programme to support schemes in the London borough of Bexley.
Under our Thames Gateway programme Bexley is receiving £35 million over the period 2004-05 to 2007-08 to support a range of projects from town centre regeneration to managing marshland, and to fund the Bexley Regeneration Partnership. Further funding for a project to refurbish and renovate the Crossness pumping station is currently under consideration. English Partnerships is providing funding of £200,000 to support masterplanning on the Erith Western Gateway Project in the borough.
The East Thamesmead Centre for Innovation is also receiving £2.5 million capital funding from the European Regional Development Fund between 2004-05 and 2006-07. The aims of the project include providing incubation space for new and expanding businesses, and accommodating an innovation and business development support service.
Ministerial Gifts
The following table provides a brief description of each item gifted by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) in the financial year 2005-06, and the entity that received each gift.
Type of gift Name of entity gift donated ODPM undertook work on behalf of the Fire and Rescue Services (the Firelink Programme), which resulted in the creation of radio communications systems, including hardware (radios) and installation costs for 14 Fire and Rescue Services To the following Fire and Rescue Services: Dorset, East Sussex, Greater Manchester, Hereford and Worcester, Hertfordshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Mid and West Wales, North Wales, Northamptonshire, Suffolk, Warwickshire, West Sussex and Wiltshire 1 set of prizes awarded to delegates attending a UK presidency meeting House of Commons diaries and four whisky glasses presented to the Finnish Minister of Regional and Municipal Affairs and senior officials in the Finnish Ministry of the Interior during a study visit to Finland by senior ODPM officials 86 Green Goddesses For Humanitarian Purposes—76 donated to Operation Florian (a UK Fire Service humanitarian charity) and 10 donated to Rapid UK (exists to provide experienced disaster response anywhere in the world, when required) 12 Green Goddesses For Museums and Heritage—four donated to Civil Defence and Emergency Service Preservation Trust, and one each to Auxiliary Fire Service Vehicle Restoration Group (Midlands), Manston Fire Museum, Fire Police Museum, National Historic Vehicle Society, Whitewebbs Museum of Transport, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service Preservation Society, Welsh Area Fire Engine Restoration Society (Museum of Fire) and Military Vehicle Trust 102 Green Goddesses Not yet allocated to final destinations but are earmarked for humanitarian purposes.
Ministerial Travel
All central government ministerial and official air travel is being offset from 1 April 2006. Departmental aviation emissions are calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset through payments to a central fund. The fund purchases certified emissions reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with sustainable development benefits, located in developing countries.
Muslim Council of Britain
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 30 October 2006, Official Report, column 46W, to a question which sought details of financial support and support in kind given to the Muslim Council of Britain.
Information from previous Departments is not held centrally and cannot be researched further without disproportionate cost.
Ocean Estate (Transfer Ballot)
The costs of the statutory consultation required under section 106 of and Schedule 3 A of the Housing Act 1985 are as follows:
Costs incurred by: London Borough of Tower Hamlets Ocean NDC—covered by DCLG Grant 2005-06 120,411 85,6821 2006-07 23,003 27,6041 1 Estimated costs
Sanctuary Housing Association incurred costs of 297,838 on promotional activity during the formal consultation period.
Ocean New Deal for Communities Programme
(2) if she will take steps to ensure that investment is forthcoming from Ocean New Deal for Communities and other bodies to carry out necessary repairs and improvements at the Ocean Estate in London E1/E14.
The Ocean NDC has not been put into special measures. The Department has commissioned an independent review of the NDC's programme, following the recent housing stock transfer ballot on the Ocean estate. Following this review and after discussion with London borough of Tower Hamlets (the accountable body for this NDC) we will be considering the position of the Ocean estate.
NDCs are set up with autonomous governance arrangements and boards. This will include codes of conduct which all board members are expected to adhere to. Any decision to suspend a board member will be taken by an NDC Board.
Planning
Following the publication of the sustainable communities plan in 2003, English Partnerships established a register of surplus public sector land held by central Government bodies and available for reuse. A web-based version of the register was established in 2005 as part of the electronic Property Information Mapping Service (e-PIMS), operated by the Office of Government Commerce. e-PIMS records information about properties owned and occupied by central Government. Work is under way to provide more comprehensive information on surplus public land.
No planning application in relation to the millennium dome has been called in.
The Deputy Prime Minister did not consider any such cases.
Our records of planning applications and planning appeals considered by the Deputy Prime Minister and other planning Ministers, show no applications from “Estate Partnerships”, either as applicant or agent.
We do not know which people and organisations are clients of “Estate Partnerships” and are therefore unable to provide any further answer with regard to them.
Consultation ended on 24 October on my Department's proposals to speed up the procedures enabling local planning authorities to redraw permitted development rights in respect of the subdivision of rural land.
The requirements of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and associated energy performance calculation methodologies were implemented through an amendment to the Building Regulations introduced in April 2006. Compliance with Building Regulations is enforced by Local Authority Building Control and approved inspectors.
National planning policy set out in Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1) already expects the development plans prepared by regional planning bodies and local planning authorities to contribute to global sustainability through policies which reduce energy use, reduce emissions (for example, by encouraging patterns of development which reduce the need to travel by private car, or reduce the impact of moving freight) and promote the development of renewable energy resources. In doing so, planning policies are expected to avoid replicating, cutting across, or detrimentally affecting matters within the scope of other legislative requirements, such as those set out in Building Regulations for energy efficiency.
We have said we will publish for consultation by the end of the year a new PPS on climate change. This will set out how the Government expects participants in the planning process to work towards the reduction of carbon emissions in the location, siting and design of new development. The PPS will sit alongside the Code for Sustainable Homes, and together with national Building Regulations support the Government’s ambition of moving first to low carbon and then to carbon neutral development.
[holding answer 11 September 2006]: I have today placed a copy of the current “Guidance on Propriety Issues in Handling Planning Casework in Communities and Local Government” in the House Library. It is also available on the DCLG website at http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=l144571
Radon Gas
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has assessed the levels of Radon gas across the UK. This assessment has shown elevated levels in some parts of the Milton Keynes South Midlands area. The provision of protection for new buildings against the ingress of radon is a normal part of the planning process through PPS23 and Buildings Regulations. Several authorities in the MKSM area are participating in the Government's radon programme—“Reducing Radon in the Home”.
Recycling
The Department for Communities and Local Government is adopting new procurement guidance that will specifically address sustainable themes and encourage staff to take sustainable factors into consideration from the beginning of any capital procurement.
Regeneration (Thames Gateway)
The Government recognise that high quality housing design is a prerequisite for creating sustainable and cohesive communities. We have been working with members of the Thames Gateway Strategic Forum to promote high quality housing design and we will be announcing a package of measure to support this in the forthcoming Thames Gateway Interim Strategic Framework that will be published on 22 November 2006.
In addition to this the Housing Corporation has established a Commission on Affordable Housing and Design Quality in the Thames Gateway. The aim of the Commission is to deliver a document that will specify design standards that will be applied to all new Corporation funded properties developed in the Thames Gateway.
Registered Social Landlords
The following table lists the largest 10 registered social landlords (RSLs) in each of the years from 2002 to 2006 together with the level of stock owned and managed, Net Book Value of their stock and their Surplus before Tax for each of the years.
Owned and managed Net book value Surplus before tax 2002 North British 44,852 687,258 5,903 Anchor Trust 34,948 166,961 7,266 Sanctuary Housing Association 32,825 481,300 6,584 Home Group Limited 30,065 411,796 4,082 Hyde 27,948 308,269 3,213 Home Housing 1998 24,722 0 0 Riverside 24,390 230,498 1,016 Orbit 24,060 233,990 460 London and Quadrant Housing Trust 23,229 360,802 12,828 Paddington Churches Housing Association 22,636 272,466 5,722 2003 North British Housing Ltd 44,962 689,399 1,799 Sanctuary Housing Association 35,763 498,300 6,100 Anchor Trust 35,057 170,369 -7,394 Home Group Limited 31,239 436,005 -3,486 Hyde Housing Association Limited 28,731 338,220 7,329 London and Quadrant Housing Trust 26,173 387,709 16,709 Home Housing Association Limited 25,197 0 0 Orbit Housing Association 24,093 243,567 -8,303 Riverside Housing 23,162 250,195 2,028 Paddington Churches Housing Association Ltd 23,029 288,785 7,507 2004 North British Housing Limited 46,683 695,705 2,818 Sanctuary Housing Association 35,565 515,200 68,82.3 Anchor Trust 34,918 191,634 43,288 Hyde Housing Association Limited 32,743 390,473 7,689 Home Group Limited 31,550 461,935 -7,245 London and Quadrant Housing Trust 26,770 472,625 16,825 Home Housing Association Limited 25,056 0 0 Riverside Housing 23,147 259,502 2,195 Orbit Housing Association 21,804 248,497 1,549 The Guinness Trust 21,213 353,519 1,611 2005 Home Group Limited 45,635 612,593 99,998 North British 42,336 712,166 1,483 Sanctuary 34,623 534,600 8,100 Wakefield And District 31,904 0 n/a Hyde 30,958 427,912 8,404 Anchor Trust 30,253 197,550 30,787 London and Quadrant Housing Trust 26,393 511,349 19,917 Riverside 21,742 274,024 4,397 Guinness Trust 21,374 382,400 3,383 Metropolitan Housing Trust 18,107 496,659 12,739 2006 Home Group Limited 46,111 675,764 8,180 North British 43,140 748,431 7,802 Sanctuary 38,505 547,200 10,300 Wakefield and District 31,596 103,804 27,772 Anchor Trust (LH4095) 30,374 226,997 32,986 London and Quadrant Housing Trust 26,709 583,015 25,983 Hyde 23,827 502,431 5,131 Riverside 23,176 297,099 2,166 Guinness Trust 21,781 408,414 5,525 West Hampstead 20,620 148 5,932 Source: Housing Corporation
For 2002 to 2004 Home Group appears twice owing to the unusual group structure in which the stock was owned by Home Group but managed by Home Housing Association.
In 2004 Wakefield and District Housing Limited was one of the largest 10 RSLs but had only recently transferred prior to the end of the financial year at31 March 2005.
Religious Organisations (Grants)
[holding answer 30 October 2006]: There are a number of DCLG programmes where funding in the form of grants and non-repayable grants may ultimately reach the Church of England, Islamic organisations and other religions, but not exclusively so. Consequently the information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Repossessions
Data on repossessions of dwellings are collected by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and published at UK level as Table AP4: Possessions of mortgage properties, on the CML's website at:
http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/statistics
According to these figures, 10,310 properties in the UK were repossessed in 2005, including those voluntarily surrendered by borrowers. This is less than 0.1 per cent. of the number of mortgaged properties at the end of the period. Figures below UK level are not published.
Safer and Stronger Communities Fund
A total of £233.52 million has been made available through the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund for 2006-07.
The West Midlands region has a combined funding of £21.87 million for 2006-07.
The funding allocation for Stoke on Trent for 2006-07 is £2.07 million.
The Safer and Stronger Communities Fund was introduced for all local authorities in England on 1 April 2005. The Fund was a new way of administering a number of Department for Communities and Local Government and Home Office funding streams that have a common theme; tackling crime, antisocial behaviour and, the harm caused by illegal drugs, improving the poor condition of public spaces, and improving the quality of life for people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods where the issues are more prevalent.
The Safer and Stronger Communities Fund is designed to allow local partners more flexibility in deciding how programmes are delivered to local communities, and to reduce the bureaucracy associated with multiple funding streams. The Fund has been incorporated into the safer and stronger communities block of local area agreements.
School Playing Fields
In December 1998, the Government published Environment Circular 09/98, which announced the introduction of a Direction under the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995. This Direction requires local planning authorities to notify the Secretary of State in cases where they propose to grant planning permission for development on a playing field where Sport England has made an objection, and allows the Secretary of State to decide whether the application should be called in or left to the local authority to determine.
In July 2002, the Government published Planning Policy Guidance 17 (PPG17) “Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation”. In addition to general policies designed to protect existing open spaces, sports and recreational buildings and land, PPG17 includes specific policies to prevent the development of playing fields unless strict criteria are met.
Special Protection Areas
In August 2005, the Government published Planning Policy Statement 9 (PPS9) “Biodiversity and Geological Conservation” together with a joint ODPM/Defra Circular “Biodiversity and Geological Conservation—Statutory obligations and their impact within the planning system” (ODPM 06/2005). A guide to good practice to accompany PPS9 was published in March 2006. Circular 06/2005 contains extensive administrative guidance on the application of the law relating to planning and nature conservation. It includes specific guidance on the procedures to be followed when considering plans and projects in and around internationally designated sites such as Special Protection Areas.
In addition in August 2006 my Department published a consultation paper “Planning for the Protection of European Sites: Appropriate Assessment—Guidance for Regional Spatial Strategies and Local Development Documents”. The final version of this guidance will accompany Schedule 1 of the amending Habitats Regulations due to come into force in February 2007. The amending regulations insert the requirement to carry out Appropriate Assessment (AA) of land use plans to ensure the protection of the integrity of European sites such as Special Protection Areas as part of the planning process at a regional and local level.
The Government currently have no plans to issue further guidance or circulars on these matters.
Travellers
The following table shows the number and outcome of planning appeals determined by and on behalf of the Secretary of State since the publication of ODPM Planning Circular 01/06 and in the equivalent period prior to the publication of the Circular. The statistics shown as follows include enforcement appeals as well as planning appeals. All appeals have been counted separately even where appeals were linked and handled together. The Planning Inspectorate does not hold information on whether the permissions granted are permanent or temporary. The Department does not collect information on the numbers of permissions granted for gypsy and traveller sites by local planning authorities.
Permissions granted between 1 May 2005 and 1 February 2006 (pre publication of Circular 01/06) Permissions granted between 2 February 2006 and 25 October 2006 (post publication of Circular 01/06) Number of appeals during period 270 44 Number allowed (permission granted) 40 26 Number dismissed (permission refused) 230 18
Valuation Office Agency
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) holds limited information about heating in domestic properties. For arriving at a banding for council tax purposes the presence or absence of heating would only be relevant in those comparatively rare cases where this would significantly affect the property's value. The Automated Valuation Model, developed for the (now postponed) 2007 revaluation, does not therefore treat the presence or absence of heating as a significant factor. The VOA's records provide for the recording of this information if it becomes available. At present fewer than 0.1 per cent. of properties are recorded as not having heating.
Waste Management
Planning policy on the management of waste is set out in Planning Policy Statement 10: “Planning for Sustainable Waste Management (PPS10)”, published in July 2005. Practical guidance on the delivery of that policy is contained in its associated “Companion Guide”, published in June 2006. PPS10 requires all planning authorities to prepare and deliver planning strategies that help deliver sustainable development though driving waste management up the waste hierarchy, with a preference for reduction, re-use, recycling and composting, using waste as source of energy and, where these are not practicable, only looking to disposal as the last option to be considered. PPS10 requires that where disposal of waste has to take place planning authorities should enable this in one of the nearest appropriate installations. It also advises that when selecting sites suitable for waste management facilities, authorities should assess them against the capacity of existing and potential transport infrastructure to support the sustainable movement of waste, and products arising from resource recovery, seeking where practicable and beneficial to use modes other than road transport.
International Development
Air Pollution
(2) what steps the Government have taken to combat the environmental causes of acute lower respiratory infection in children in the developing world.
The International Energy Agency estimates that about 2.4 billion people worldwide depend on traditional biomass such as charcoal, wood and straw to meet their daily household cooking and heating needs. This is often burnt inefficiently and is a source of indoor smoke pollution. It causes ill health, especially for women and children who tend to receive most exposure. The World Health Organisation estimates that 1.5 million deaths a year in developing countries are attributable to indoor smoke, with millions more suffering from chronic respiratory illness. Solutions include more efficient cooking stoves, cleaner fuels and proper ventilation. Changes in behaviour through better awareness of the dangers can also make a significant difference.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution and possibly second-hand tobacco smoke are to blame for an estimated 42 per cent. of lower respiratory infections in developing countries. The UK has pledged to increase its share for the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), providing approximately £140 million over the next four years. The GEF supports sustainable energy and transportation initiatives that reduce pollution.
However, lower respiratory infections in developing countries are mainly associated with indoor air pollution related largely to household solid fuel use. The International Energy Agency estimates that about 2.4 billion people worldwide depend on traditional biomass such as charcoal, wood and straw to meet their daily household cooking and heating needs. The smoke produced causes ill health, especially for women and children who tend to receive most exposure. Around 1.5 million deaths a year are in developing countries attributable to indoor smoke, with millions more suffering from chronic respiratory illness. The solutions include improved more efficient cooking stoves, cleaner fuels and proper ventilation. Changes in use behaviour through better awareness of the dangers can also make a significant difference.
DFID is the second largest contributor to the World Bank's Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP). We have made core contributions to ESMAP of £0.5 million in each of the last four years. In 2002, we agreed with the Bank that household fuel and health be taken up as a major theme. As a result, the programme has worked in five developing countries, looking at health impacts, improved cooking stoves and cleaner fuels. An example is DFID funding in 2002 of approximately £0.5 million for an ESMAP programme in four provinces in China on new stove and ventilation technologies.
The UK also supports the work of Practical Action (previously the Intermediate Technology Development Group), the Partnership on Clean Indoor Air (PCIA) and the Global Village Energy Partnership (GVEP). This includes programmes that aim to improve energy access and reduce the huge environmental costs of solid fuels.
Afghanistan
There is no single model for the structure and activities of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in Afghanistan. This is largely due to the number of different nationalities involved in managing PRTs: there are currently 24 PRTs (25 as of 9 November when Turkey establishes itself in Wardak) involving 25 nations. Since the concept began in 2002, there has been limited strategic guidance from the Government of Afghanistan or the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) as to the role or mandate of PRTs and individual nations have interpreted approaches independently. However, the recent expansion of ISAF has brought a considerable improvement in coherence and consistency, and regular PRT workshops have proven useful ways to share best practice and learn lessons.
In July 2005 DFID commissioned the King’s Fund to conduct a review of the UK’s involvement in Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan. This review involved field visits to the PRTs in Bamyan, Jalalabad, Kandahar, and Mazar-e-Sharif, as well as extensive interviews in Kabul and Bagram Airbase. The review concluded that the sheer number of PRTs operating in Afghanistan made it hard to form a single conclusion on their effectiveness or impact. The review highlighted the variation in national interpretation, of the PRT mandate, with significant differentials in PRTs’ approaches to development, funding allocations, and combinations of civilian and military personnel. The Kings Fund highlighted that PRTs naturally adopt a different emphasis from each other, shaped by the political environment and the PRT internal institutional context.
ISAF has recently prepared a PRT Handbook which is undergoing final revision and has worked hard to enhance consistency across PRTs in future. We have contacted ISAF to find whether a broader assessment has been made on the social and economic impact of PRTs nationally. No such data is currently available.
The following table identifies projects funded by DFID in Afghanistan since 2002 that are now complete. Beside each project, there is list of project implementing partners, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Whether programmes or projects are directed through NGOs, the Government or multilateral, DFID funding contributions have come to an end when the programme/project reached completion stage as specified in the project contract.
Project title Purpose Implementing partners—including NGOs International Financial Institutions arrears clearance To clear arrears with the International Financial Institutions incurred by the Afghan Government, in order to allow them to access further loans from these institutions World Bank Ministry of Finance/Central Bank Enhanced economic and financial management in Afghanistan To help build the capacity and systems of the Ministry of Finance and Central bank for enhanced economic and financial management in Afghanistan Ministry of Finance Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Fund Support to the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency for the Afghanistan Investment Guarantee Facility (AIGF) World Bank Procurement Support for the AACA Procurement support for the Afghanistan Authority for the co-ordination of Assistance (ACCA) Afghanistan Authority for the Co-ordination of Assistance (Govt) Bridging support for Tax Administration in Afghanistan To provide bridging support for tax administration to the Afghan Transitional Government Ministry of Finance Budget Support to the Ministry of Health Enhance the delivery of health services in Afghanistan by providing direct funding to the Ministry to enable it to begin managing its own resources and understanding the difficulties of resource allocation and budgeting Ministry of Health Support to Customs in Afghanistan To provide four experienced customs officers to support the present Afghan customs advisers to implement manual customs cargo processing systems at Kabul airport and Kabul customs house Ministry of Finance Support to Statistical Office The purpose of this mission is to assist the Central Statistical Office (CSO) in preparing a Strategy Plan for the whole statistical system in Afghanistan Central Statistic Office Counter Narcotics Trust Fund Budget To set out a clear framework and to establish a Counter Narcotics Public Investment Programme (CN PIP) within the Government of Afghanistan’s Core Development Budget process for expenditure on Counter-Narcotics including through the Counter-Narcotics Trust Fund (CNTF) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) IMF/WB Technical Assistance To participate in an IMF/World Bank mission which scope the technical assistance requirements of the Afghan Central Bank World Bank Accelerating Budget Execution To kick-start the mechanisms for the acceleration of the execution of the non-salary operating budget in Afghan provinces Ministry of Finance Public Expenditure Review Support the World Bank Public expenditure review through provision of an expert who will conduct a Security Sector Public Expenditure Review World Bank Budget Process Adviser The primary objective is to assist the Ministry of Finance in doing a gap analysis of the budget process with particular emphasis on budget preparation and execution Ministry of Finance Voter Registration To support the UNDP voter registration process in Afghanistan UNDP Support to 2004 Afghan Elections To support the planning and implementation of elections in Afghanistan UNDP Support to Afghanistan’s Parliamentary Elections Support to UNDP and Afghan Civil Society Forum in their efforts to provide civic education for September 2005 elections UNDP Civic Education for Voter Registration Project To support Swiss Peace in their efforts to provide civic education in preparation for the elections Swiss Peace Constitutional Review process To develop a new constitution for Afghanistan United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Constitutional Study To identify the key issues underpinning Afghanistan’s constitutional and political development and to identify key policy options for the Afghan Transitional Administration and other members of the international community UNAMA DFID Support to Provincial Reconstruction Teams To improve security in Afghanistan and to provide development assistance in the regions UK Provincial Reconstruction Teams Election monitoring To improve the electoral process by monitoring it closely and making an independent assessment of the first presidential election of Afghanistan Free and Fair Elections Foundation for Afghanistan (FEFA) Ministerial Salaries To design a system to ensure ATA ministers are paid salaries and expenses in a timely manner Crown Agents/Ministry of Finance Ministerial Expenses Support To support the accommodation, security, travel and hospitality of Cabinet Ministers Crown Agents/Ministry of Finance Support to OAA and IARCSC To provide interim capacity building support to the Office of Administrative Affairs and the Independent Administrative Reform Civil Service Commission in Afghanistan Adam Smith Institute Support to Afghanistan’s Parliamentary Elections Support to UNDP and Afghan Civil Society Forum in their efforts to provide civic education for September2005 elections UNDP and Afghan Civil Society Forum Support to election register To provide support to the UNDP plan to carry out election registration in Afghanistan UNDP Badakhshan, Integrated Rural Rehabilitation to Improve Livelihoods and Curb Poppy Cultivation To provide support for sustainable economic and social incentives to make food production and off farm employment an attractive alternative to opium cultivation. The program is part of AKF’s larger integrated food security and social development strategy for Badakhshan Aga Khan Food security and health in poor rural settlements in Badakhshan, Konar and Ghor To improve inter-district road access, strengthen local development management capacity, improve capacity, improve crop production and livestock health, improve mother and child health and raise awareness of gender and child rights AfghanAid Improving access to primary education in western Afghanistan To reconstruct and rehabilitate primary schools. To provide accommodation for 16,200 children (over 50 per cent. girls) and employment opportunities for 300 teachers and 10 headmasters and the provision of stationery and textbooks Ockenden International Rehabilitation of Agriculture systems in Badakshan To re-establish and strengthen food production capacity for reducing the poverty and vulnerability of farming communities affected by complex disasters over the last 20 years of the Afghan conflict Aga Khan ACTED—Rehabilitation of livelihoods in conflict affected areas, Kabul and Baghlan provinces The rehabilitation of essential water supply and transport services, supporting the re-establishment of returnees by providing starter kits for housing construction and work opportunities for local people ACTED Afghanistan drought relief interventions and ongoing rehabilitation To provide improved food security and living conditions for 12,600 vulnerable families of Takhar and Badakhshan provinces, and emergency winter shelter and assistance for 4,000 in East Kunduz and West Takhar provinces TEARFUND Relief to vulnerable families, Herat and Badghis To meet the short-term humanitarian needs and address the medium-term livelihood needs of conflict and drought affected families in four districts of Badghis and Herat provinces Christian Aid Okenden International—Emergency Relief Assistance to IDPs in Badghis To provide immediate relief to displaced families in Kushk-e-Kuna and ala Murghan through the supply of appropriate and targeted relief materials and foodstuffs Okenden International Vulnerable Family Food Assistance and Livelihood Restoration Programme To provide 22,780 drought affected and vulnerable families with 50 kg of wheat per family per month over five months Christian Aid Solidarities-Seeds and Fertilizers’ Distribution to returnees of Bamyan Province To increase agricultural production, to stabilise the returnees and initiate sustainable development through (1) helping 6,800 families of returnees from Bamyan and Saighan districts settle again by starting agricultural activities and (2) improving the yields obtained by farmers usually cultivating spring wheat through introduction of improved wheat seeds Solidarities (NGO)
As part of the original UK Joint Plan for Helmand, DFID deployed one development adviser to work alongside other UK Government Departments in Helmand. In January 2007, DFID will fund and take responsibility for the quick impact project manager.
DFID has committed £4 million this financial year to the UK Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) funding allocation of £6.5 million for the delivery of quick impact projects (QIPS) in Helmand.
DFID has also funded the £30 million Helmand Agricultural Rural Development Programme (HARDP) which will run for three years.
Some of DFID’s other livelihoods programmes operate in Helmand. Through the £3 million DFID-funded Research into Alternative Livelihoods Fund (RALF), the Restorative Agriculture and Rural Economy Research Project, implemented by Mercy Corps, is working on export feasibility of grapes, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplants and okra, and has made strong contacts with raisin importers (organic and fair-trade). The programme is evaluating at least 10 different small-scale agri-processing industries, and producing case studies of enterprises that prove to have value added, for example tomato paste.
We have not committed any funds specifically to Kandahar. A development adviser has been recruited to be based in Kandahar for 2007.
The UK Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) (referred to in answer, Official Report, column 1887W to which DFID has committed £4 million) is managed by the Helmand Executive Group, consisting of members of four UK Government Departments, with financial accountability resting with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The UK has deployed a Quick Impact Project Manager to Helmand to manage the GCPP financial systems on behalf of all Government Departments. DFID has deployed one Development Adviser to work alongside other Government Departments in Helmand province.
The £30 million committed to the Helmand Agricultural Rural Development Programme (HARDP) is implemented by the Government of Afghanistan. This is an important way of strengthening Government systems and building effective state institutions that will be able to continue to meet Afghanistan's development needs. This is managed by the three-person Livelihoods Team in Kabul, who work closely with the Ministry of Reconstruction and Rural Development (MRRD) and the Ministry of Finance in Kabul to ensure proper implementation. In the delivery of HARDP all procurement for services is undertaken by the Ministry of Reconstruction and Rural Development (MRRD) using recently adopted Government of Afghanistan procedures, which are based on World Bank procurement best practice. MRRD is responsible for identification, selection and appointment of Facilitating Partners. This is carried out through a competitive bidding process.
DFID funds are channelled through Crown Agents Financial Services Limited (CAFSL). The Ministry of Finance and MRRD will be required to provide annual audited statements by the Government of Afghanistan Auditor General, with copies to DFID. This will provide assurance that the funds are transferred for the purposes specified in the agreement with the Government of Afghanistan. The existing National Priority Programmes were set up following international accounting and auditing procedures, and there are oversight mechanisms already in place which will provide adequate reassurance that fiduciary risks are being managed.
Referring to the £3 million funding to the Research into Alternative Livelihoods Fund (RALF), this is similarly managed by DFID Afghanistan. Lead agencies implementing projects under RALF (i.e. Mercy Corps implementing the Restorative Agriculture and Rural Economy (RARE) Research Project in Helmand) account to the International Centre for Agriculture and Rural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) on utilisation of project funds. ICARDA account for utilisation of programme funds (including funds allocated to individual projects) to DFID, reporting on a six monthly basis.
Referring to the answer of 25 October 2006, Official Report, column 1887W, on Afghanistan, 12 projects have been completed, 40 are currently on-going and 7 are committed but yet to be undertaken.
The number of projects has increased to 59 since the answer of the 25 October.
Departmental Staff
The following two tables give the number of non-pensionable bonuses awarded to DFID staff in the last four years (figures for 2001-02 are not available) with total cost in each year and the largest single payment in each year.
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Number of awards 27 57 68 65 Number of awards as a proportion of the number of DFID SCS staff (percentage) 43.5 73.1 79.1 77.3 Total cost (£) 85,051 189,500 266,750 377,100 Largest individual payment (£) 5,793.00 5,407 5,500 8,000
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Number of awards 323 654 508 1,106 Number of awards as a proportion of the number of DFID HCS staff (percentage) 20.0 34.9 27.6 62.7 Total cost (£) 292,528 285,601 230,600 515,865 Largest individual payment (£) 1,715 1,100 1,150 1,150
Developing Countries (Health)
Globally, around 800 million people do not get enough to eat. Malnutrition is a factor in over half the under-5 deaths in developing countries, 150 million children under 5 are underweight. More than 20 million low birth weight (LBW) babies are born each year. LBW babies are more likely to die in infancy, suffer from stunted growth, and ultimately suffer reduced working ability and earnings as adults.
DFID is working with developing countries and the international community to reduce hunger and improve livelihoods. One way to do this is through supporting programmes that help increase the amount and availability of food that people produce in poor countries. This increases the food supply and in turn lowers prices. This helps those very poor people who rely on the market to get access to cheaper food. Between 2004-05, the UK provided nearly £124 million in direct support to agriculture in poor countries. DFID is also working to improve child health by improving access to basic services such as health, education and water and sanitation, by promoting critical investment in infrastructure, such as clinics, clean water and market access roads.
340 million new cases of largely treatable sexually transmitted infections occur annually, 100 million of them among young people. 58 million people are infected with HIV. 20 million have died, and in sub-Saharan Africa it is the leading cause of death. Women and young people are particularly vulnerable. Fewer than one in five people at risk have access to prevention information. Improving sexual and reproductive health through improved information, services and commodity supplies is among the most cost-effective of all development investments and is central to DFID's strategy. It saves and improves lives, slows the spread of HIV and AIDS, reduces poverty and encourages gender equality. Changes in sexual behaviour through better awareness of the dangers can make a significant difference. DFID's "Taking Action" the UK strategy for tackling HIV and AIDS in the developing world commits the UK to an increase in our spending to at least £1.5 billion and offers financial and practical support to governments in improving treatment, care and prevention.
The DFID-supported Joint Monitoring Programme of September 2006, estimated that spending to achieve the water MDG target needs to increase by one third and needs to double to achieve the sanitation target. These figures mask huge regional variations, with Ethiopia needing to increase its efforts in water by a factor of 13.5; DRC by 4.8 and Mozambique by 3.3 if the target is to be reached.
This is why in the recent White paper, “Making governance work for the poor”, DFID committed to doubling our direct spending on water and sanitation in Africa to £95 million per year by 2007-08 and more than doubling again to £200 million per year by 2010-11. We are directly involved in seven African countries (Ethiopia, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia), and through our funding of other agencies' programmes, including the World Bank, the EU and the African and Asian Development Banks, we reach many other countries.
We support the EU Water Initiative, which aims to make the aid provided by the EU member states more effective. EU member states provide the largest funding in the water sector to Africa. We also support the EU Water Facility, which through funding of €230 million aims to make drinking water available to an additional 10 million people and basic sanitation to 5 million by 2010.
The International Energy Agency estimates that about 2.4 billion people worldwide depend on traditional biomass such as charcoal, wood and straw to meet their daily household cooking and heating needs. This is often burnt inefficiently and is a source of indoor smoke pollution. It causes ill-health, especially for women and children who tend to receive most exposure. The World Health Organisation estimates that 1.5 million deaths a year in developing countries are attributable to indoor smoke, with millions more suffering from chronic respiratory illness. Solutions include improved more efficient cooking stoves, cleaner fuels and proper ventilation. Changes in behaviour through better awareness of the dangers can also make a significant difference.
DFID is the second largest contributor to the World Bank's Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP). We have made core contributions to ESMAP of £0.5 million in each of the last four years. In 2002, we agreed with the World Bank that household fuel and health be taken up as a major theme. As a result, the programme has worked in five developing countries, looking at health impacts, improved cooking stoves and cleaner fuels. An example is DFID funding in 2002 of approximately £0.5m for an ESMAP programme in four provinces in China on new stove and ventilation technologies.
The UK also supports the work of Practical Action (previously the Intermediate Technology Development Group), the Partnership on Clean Indoor Air (PCIA) and the Global Village Energy Partnership (GVEP). These include programmes that aim to improve energy access and reduce the huge environmental costs of solid fuels.
Economic Partnership Agreements
Economic partnership agreements, (EPAs) are routinely discussed in meetings that DFID Ministers and senior officials have with representatives of African, Caribbean and Pacific Governments, with EU member states and with private sector representatives.
Infant Mortality
Many countries have succeeded in improving the health and well-being of children. However the number of children dying before their fifth birthday remains high. In 1980 an estimated 13 million children died each year; over two decades later in 2004 this figure had reduced to 10.5 million deaths in childhood. Unfortunately where least progress has been made is in saving the lives of newborns—40 per cent. of all childhood deaths take place in the first 28 days of life, and most of these in the first day or week of life. If current trends continue, Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 will not be achieved until 2045—over 30 years late.
Most child deaths are preventable and could be avoided by delivering basic services and supplies to families, young people and communities. For example: improving water supplies and sanitation; increasing the use of mosquito repellent bed nets to protect children from malaria; improving maternal health care, increasing emphasis on breastfeeding and improved nutrition and immunisation programmes. Improving access to basic health services requires that hospitals and health centres have well-trained doctors, nurses and midwives as well as the medicines and equipment to do their job.
The health of babies and children can also be improved by preventing HIV infection in girls and women and by making sure that HIV infected women have access to treatment and care in pregnancy, child birth and beyond. The UK Government’s view is that improving the health of children (MDG 4) goes hand in hand with improving the health of their mothers (MDG 5).
The UK wants to make faster progress towards both these MDGs. We are working with many countries, including India, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Nigeria to achieve this. In Kenya, DFID committed £19.6 million to a programme providing 11 million bed nets treated with insecticide. They will be available to over 75 per cent. of the vulnerable population by 2007-08, allowing them to sleep safely and free from malaria. It is estimated that the lives of 167,000 children will be saved as a result. In Bangladesh, maternal health is the first objective of a new US$ 4.3 billion health sector-wide programme which DFID is contributing £100 million over five years.
DFID also contributes to global projects such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) which could save the lives of five million children by 2015, and a further five million after that as they are immunised. The UK has promised $2.6 billion (£1.3 billion).
IT Projects
DFID has undertaken four major IT projects since 2001.
The Human Resource system had a projected supplier cost at tender of £1.18 million and was due to be implemented in 30 months. The first four modules were implemented in 36 months at a total supplier cost of £1.22 million.
The HR system project was superseded by an HR Transformation project which aims to radically change the way HR services are delivered and improve people management. 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 March 2008. The project is currently on track to deliver to time and budget.
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 Aries Finance, Procurement and Reporting System, had a projected base supplier cost at tender of £11 million and is due to be implemented in 36 months. A number of additional cost options are available under the contract. The Aries project is currently on track to deliver to time and budget.
DFID has also undertaken a number of small IT related projects. However, our central records do not distinguish IT contracts, so provision of details for all of these projects would incur disproportionate costs.
Mineral Dependent Countries
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of large-scale mining operations on women in developing countries; and what he considers to be the policy implications for his Department of this assessment;
(3) what steps he is taking to help ensure that the rights of indigenous people are protected in countries with large-scale mining operations.
DFID’s involvement in the assessment and management of the impacts of large-scale mining projects on all vulnerable groups—including women, children, indigenous peoples and the poor—is indirect. We aim to influence the development of the systems and procedures used by the international financial institutions, in which we are ‘shareholders’. They do invest directly in such projects.
DFID has not itself undertaken specific assessments on the impact of large-scale mining on women, indigenous peoples or equity in developing countries, but is working to ensure effective systems are in place internationally to do this.
We recognise that women, indigenous peoples and the poor can be disproportionately affected by negative social and environmental impacts of all scales of mining, large and small, and can be excluded from the economic benefits. As with any development, it is critical that the impacts on vulnerable groups are taken into account. We are working for this to be a routine requirement of mining project assessment and operating procedures.
DFID has contributed to the development of environmental and social safeguard policies and procedures being implemented by the World Bank and its private sector arm—the International Finance Corporation. This includes policies on environmental and social assessment and the involvement of indigenous peoples and others in decision making.
DFID has provided financial support and leadership for the work of the World Bank hosted Communities and Small scale Mining (CASM) initiative. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that women comprise up to 30 per cent. of the 13-20 million people directly engaged in small-scale, informal sector mining. They work predominantly in the hazardous mineral processing areas such as manual ore grinding, and use of mercury for gold extraction. CASM has provided grants for women’s projects, for example helping set up the African Women in Mining Network, and helping develop gender components of mainly World Bank projects in Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. It has also supported workshops and conferences on women in mining, for example in Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Peru. It is now preparing guidance notes on managing gender issues in mining.
Tackling inequality is an integral part of our work in all countries. DFID is working with several mineral resource rich developing country partners (for example the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Angola, and Sierra Leone) addressing issues including economic diversification, fairer terms and conditions for mine workers, minerals sector governance, public-private sector alliances and generally enhancing the contribution of mineral resource exploitation to growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development.
Ministerial Travel
During the last 12 months I have visited Scotland on two occasions, 12 and 22/23 June and Wales on two occasions, 27 March and 4 October. I have not visited Northern Ireland. All ministerial visits are conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers.
All central Government ministerial and official air travel is being offset from 1 April 2006. Departmental aviation emissions are calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset through payments to a central fund. The fund purchases Certified Emissions Reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with sustainable development benefits, located in developing countries.
Emissions generated through road travel are not offset but have been reduced significantly as both myself and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State use a Toyota Prius, the lowest carbon-emitting petrol hybrid vehicle currently available.
Mosquitos
DFID provides considerable support for the purchase and distribution of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) through a number of programme and health sector approaches, including budgetary support to developing countries. Information in the form requested is not held centrally by DFID, because our support for ITNs is usually provided as part of a larger package of measures to improve health and combat malaria.
DFID supports the World Health Organisation, the Roll Bank Malaria partnership, UNICEF and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), which all help finance the purchase and distribution of ITNs in developing countries. The UK has, for example, doubled its funding to the GFATM for 2006 and 2007 to £100 million annually, subject to performance. The GFATM has become a major source of funding for ITNs globally and expects to have financed the purchase of 109 million bed nets in its five funding rounds to date.
DFID’s bilateral programmes support countries to develop strong and sustainable health services that are able to scale-up the coverage of services including access to ITNs. In some countries, funding is provided as part of our overall support for poverty reduction and implementation of health sector plans. In such settings, it is not possible to attribute the number of nets to a particular donor. What we are interested in seeing is overall national increases in the distribution and use of bed nets, and many countries are making good progress in promoting ITN use.
DFID does provide direct support specifically for provision of ITNs in several countries. For example, In Kenya, DFID has committed £47.4 million for social marketing of ITNs, with the goal of reaching 60 per cent. coverage of children under five and 40 per cent. coverage of pregnant women by the end of 2007, by selling 11.1 million nets at highly subsidised and affordable prices.
In Ghana, our support has helped procure 1.8 million long-lasting insecticide treated nets through UNICEF for free distribution to children under two years of age as part of the November 2006 measles campaign. In Democratic Republic of Congo, one million nets have been distributed over a period of four years from 2003 to 2006.
In Malawi, delivery of ITNs is combined with other services. A nationwide programme has been in operation through antenatal services since 2002. More than 100,000 ITNs have been delivered every month since the programme began, and solid results achieved. ITN coverage of under-fives has risen from around 8 per cent. in 2000 to more than 60 per cent. in some districts in 2006.
In Tanzania ITNs are being rolled-out through a subsidised voucher scheme for pregnant women involving over 3,000 service delivery outlets. This is enabling more women to access ITNs, and is helping create more demand for local production.
All of these efforts are contributing to widespread use of ITNs as a vital element of the effort to combat malaria. DFID will continue to play a full part in supporting the wider availability and use of ITNs.
Tuberculosis
DFID funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is to support the scale-up of services, rather than research. DFID has doubled its pledge for 2006 and 2007 to £100 million annually, subject to performance. DFID currently supports the research and development of TB drugs and diagnostics through its funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) and the public/private Product Development Partnership, the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development. TDR will receive £4.5 million over three yeas, from 2005 to 2008. The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development will receive £6.5 million from 2005 to 2008 for the development of new TB drugs.
UN Peacebuilding Commission
Since the creation of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) in December last year, the UK has repeatedly argued for meaningful participation of civil society in meetings of the PBC. Given civil society's important role in peacebuilding, we believe that regular links between the PBC, national governments and national civil society will be essential to the PBC's effectiveness.
While national civil society representatives were invited to speak at the first meetings of the PBC on Sierra Leone and Burundi on 12-13 October, the PBC has yet to agree formally on when, where and how they will participate. DFID and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will continue to use every opportunity to influence other PBC members to agree to full civil society participation, both at the PBC meetings in New York and, importantly, in the PBC coordination meetings in Sierra Leone and Burundi. In parallel, we will also continue to lobby national governments in both countries to recognise the valuable contribution national civil society can make to building peace.
Work and Pensions
Benefits
The information is not available.
National Benefit Fraud Hotline (NBFH) operators are trained to take as much detail as possible from callers to establish the identity of the person against whom an allegation is made.
Operators would not refuse to take details of an allegation if the full address is not known as the caller may have alternative information, such as details of an employer, to enable investigators to trace suspected individuals. If only a partial address is known, NBFH operators can undertake a search to trace a full address.
In all cases, allegations are referred to the Fraud Investigation Service for consideration of investigation.
Statistical information on the different aspects of decision making is gathered and collated on a daily basis. The Department is determined to ensure that when reported the information is accurate and credible. When last reported, in the Secretary of State's report on the standards of decision making in the Agencies in 2002 and 2003, the Comptroller and Auditor General raised concerns about the aspects of decision making referred to in the question. These concerns related in the main to the validation of the published figures. The Department is considering how best it can make the necessary improvements.
A new computer system has recently been introduced in the Department's Debt Management organisation to improve the management, recording and accounting of overpayments and their recovery.
The available information is in the following tables.
Total IIDB only REA only RA only IIDB and REA IIDB and RA Unknown 2001 341,220 196,590 49,260 27,370 42,680 25,310 20 2002 342,390 198,980 47,950 28,420 40,390 26,640 20 2003 341,910 201,130 45,830 29,420 37,790 27,720 20 2004 341,010 203,260 43,280 30,270 35,480 28,710 10 2005 338,970 204,230 41,100 30,930 33,150 29,540 20 Notes:1. IIDB = Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit. 2. REA = Reduced Earnings Allowance. 3. RA = Retirement Allowance. 4. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source:Information Directorate, Industrial Injuries Computer System, 100 per cent. data.
£ million (cash terms) 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit 495 486 496 515 521 Reduced Earnings Allowance 201 214 204 199 191 Retirement Allowance 31 33 37 40 42 Total 727 733 737 754 754 Notes:1. Figures are estimated by apportioning the out-turn total spending on all industrial disablement benefits using sample data on the number of assessments paid as IIDB, REA and RA. 2. The figures for total out-turn spending on all industrial disablement benefits are consistent with Table 3 published on the internet at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/Table3.xls
The Department accounts for its administrative expenditure by strategic objective as set out in its public service agreements (PSA) and by individual requests for resources (RfRs) as set out in the departmental estimates and accounts, and not by benefit. Information on administrative expenditure by strategic objective is available in the annually published departmental report, copies of which are available in the Library.
The information requested is in the following table:
Constituency 1Carer’s allowance 2Higher rate attendance allowance 1Pension credit Blackburn 1,410 1,800 5,730 Blackpool North and Fleetwood 970 2,100 6,580 Blackpool South 1,050 1,700 6,840 Burnley 820 1,500 5,120 Chorley 630 1,300 4,060 Fylde 620 2,000 4,220 Hyndburn 880 2,000 5,000 Lancaster and Wyre 580 1,700 4,130 Morecambe and Lunesdale 770 1,400 5,180 Pendle 900 1,300 4,660 Preston 1,030 1,400 5,210 Ribble Valley 440 1,600 3,000 Rossendale and Darwen 760 1,500 4,420 South Ribble 640 1,500 3,670 West Lancashire 890 1,200 4,840 Sources: 1 DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2 DWP 5 per cent. sample data. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
(2) what the key performance targets are for the Benefit Simplification Unit; and if he will make a statement;
(3) when the Benefit Simplification Unit was established; what publications it has produced; and what assessment he has made of its performance against its objectives;
(4) what the key performance indicators are for the Benefit Simplification Unit;
(5) what the total (a) set-up and (b) running costs have been of the Benefit Simplification Unit.
We announced the setting up of a dedicated benefit simplification unit on 7 December 2005, at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing into the National Audit Office report "Dealing with the complexity of the benefit system", published on 18 November 2005.
The unit's role is to act as a catalyst in driving forward simplification across the benefits system, by challenging existing complexity and ensuring that the need to bear down on complexity is at the heart of future benefit design and delivery. As a first step, the unit published "Simplification: Guide to Best Practice" on 4 May 2006. Copies have been placed in the Library. The unit is now working to help embed best practice and over the summer has run a series of roadshows to raise awareness of the simplification agenda across the Department.
Progress on simplification will be reported on annually in the departmental report, and the effectiveness of the unit will be reflected in the extent to which key performance indicators are met across the Department, where these indicators are partly dependent on the complexity of the system. The unit is also looking at whether it is possible to produce a reliable set of indicators to measure future progress.
The unit was fully staffed by the end of July 2006 (including a secondee from Citizens Advice). There were no specific setup costs, as permanent staff were drawn from within the Department. Total running costs over the period January 2006 to September 2006 were £207,000.
The Government published the Welfare Reform Green Paper “A New Deal for Welfare; Empowering People to Work” (Cm 6730) which invited comments on the housing benefit scheme in general on 24 January. Although there was no specific reference to non-dependent deduction in the Green Paper, over 600 individuals and organisations gave their views in the consultation period. Of these, 11 specifically made a reference to non-dependent deductions. The Government response, “A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work. Consultation Report” (Cm 6859) was published on 19 June 2006.
The information requested is in the following table:
Constituency 2Carer’s allowance 2Pension credit 3Higher rate attendance allowance 4Child benefit Aberdeen, North 560 4,800 1,400 8,860 Aberdeen, South 330 3,250 900 8,650 Airdrie and Shotts 910 5,380 1,200 10,940 Angus 650 4,920 1,400 9,770 Argyll and Bute 590 4,820 1,400 9,780 Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock 1,130 5,750 1,500 11,040 Banff and Buchan 770 4,660 1,200 10,250 Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk 590 5,280 1,300 10,200 Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross 670 3,510 1,000 6,950 Central Ayrshire 820 5,140 1,500 10,690 Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill 910 6,060 1,700 12,110 Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch, East 670 4,330 1,700 11,600 Dumfries and Galloway 990 5,750 1,400 10,790 Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale 670 4,560 1,400 9,690 Dundee, East 730 4,590 1,700 10,310 Dundee, West 770 6,020 1,700 9,510 Dunfermline and West Fife 660 3,290 900 11,860 East Dunbartonshire 370 2,470 1,300 10,040 East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow 730 5,130 1,600 12,660 East Lothian 680 4,640 1,800 11,490 East Renfrewshire 520 3,070 1,400 11,470 Edinburgh, East 650 4,490 800 8,230 Edinburgh, North and Leith 490 3,570 1,000 8,070 Edinburgh, South 450 2,730 800 8,590 Edinburgh, South West 580 3,320 1,200 9,580 Edinburgh, West 570 3,350 1,100 10,200 Falkirk 930 5,610 1,300 12,840 Glasgow, Central 870 6,530 1,200 7,060 Glasgow, East 1,450 7,900 2,200 12,040 Glasgow, North 510 4,170 1,000 6,110 Glasgow, North East 1,320 8,770 1,500 10,550 Glasgow North West 1,080 6,490 1,800 9,470 Glasgow, South 850 5,580 1,100 10,290 Glasgow, South West 1,100 7,140 1,700 10,830 Glenrothes 1,040 4,990 1,100 11,320 Gordon 390 2,820 1,000 11,280 Inverclyde 830 5,960 1,600 10,480 Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey 600 4,060 1,300 10,740 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 1,010 6,090 1,500 11,810 Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath 880 5,120 1,400 11,220 Lanark and Hamilton, East 930 5,830 1,600 11,410 Linlithgow and East Falkirk 880 5,470 1,500 13,110 Livingston 920 4,550 1,200 14,560 Midlothian 660 3,570 1,300 10,040 Moray 670 4,170 1,100 10,410 Motherwell and Wishaw 980 6,150 1,900 11,520 Na h-Eileanan an lar 210 2,510 400 2,870 North Ayrshire and Arran 940 5,670 1,600 11,590 North East Fife 440 3,220 1,000 8,180 Ochil and South Perthshire 750 4,350 1,200 11,540 Orkney and Shetland 230 1,960 600 4,860 Paisley and Renfrewshire, North 650 4,420 1,400 11,260 Paisley and Renfrewshire, South 680 5,670 1,200 10,420 Perth and North Perthshire 650 4,580 2,000 10,280 Ross, Skye and Lochaber 490 3,440 1,200 7,370 Rutherglen and Hamilton, West 1,090 6,810 1,900 12,740 Stirling 610 3,600 1,500 10,050 West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 350 2,510 1,000 10,880 West Dunbartonshire 1,070 6,760 1,900 11,810 1 Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2 Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. 3 Source: DWP 5 per cent. sample data, rounded to the nearest 100. 4 AA figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 5 Figures are for August 2005. Source: HMRC published statistics
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:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the discontinuation of the Benefit Processing Replacement Programme (BPRP), with reference to (a) aborted investment costs and (b) replacement provision of information. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Press estimates of the expenditure on the BPRP have considerably overstated the loss to public funds, because a significant proportion of its output to date is capable of being recycled. We are currently establishing the scope for re-use of components and the value of other assets acquired.
Having formally closed the BPR Programme, we are currently undertaking a major planning exercise to support the delivery of the proposed Employment and Support Allowance. This will focus on the deployment of components of BPRP, existing legacy IT systems and proven technology from across the Department.
I hope this is helpful.
The information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as detailed records of administrative changes are not collated centrally.
Information relating to unclaimed benefits is only available for the following income-related benefits: income support (IS), minimum income guarantee (MIG), pension credit (PC), housing benefit (HB), council tax benefit (CTB), income-based jobseeker's allowance (JSA-IB) and family credit (FC). Estimates for individual benefits are published in the “Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-up” series; copies are available in the Library. Information on other benefits is not available.
Carers
It is not possible to provide data for all the years requested. In 2004-05, 53 per cent. of carers looking after an adult were in employment. Of those in employment, 35 per cent. were working less than 30 hours per week.
The requested information is in the following table.
Number of people receiving carer’s allowance1 2004 412,120 2005 436,940 2006 452,540 1 Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 Source: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS)
(2) how many people in receipt of carer’s allowance and working part-time are receiving the minimum wage;
(3) how many people he estimates will no longer be entitled to carer’s allowance following the most recent increase in the minimum wage.
The requested information is not available.
Child Support Agency
(2) what plans he has to write off uncollected Child Support Agency maintenance arrears; and if he will make a statement.
[holding answer 26 October 2006]: The hon. Member for Yeovil is referred to paragraph 58 of the Government’s response to Sir David Henshaw: “A fresh start: child support redesign”. This can be found on the internet at www.dwp.gov.uk.
Correspondence
The chief executive of Jobcentre Plus replied to the hon. Member on 2 November 2006.
Crisis Loans
(2) how many applications for crisis loans were made in each local office for which he is responsible in (a) the Isle of Wight and (b) Hampshire in 2005-06; how many payments were agreed; and how many awards were made in each decile of payments by value.
[holding answer 2 November 2006]: 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:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many calls were received by Crisis Loans Direct helpline on average per day over the last 12 months of operation; what hours the lines are staffed; how many (a) lines and (b) answering staff there are; and what information is collected on (i) aborted calls to that number, (ii) the number of calls made by each applicant and (iii) the time waited by each applicant before receiving a reply. You also asked how many applications for crisis loans were made in each local office for which you are responsible in (a) the Isle of Wight and (b) Hampshire in 2005-06; how many payments were agreed; and how many awards were made in each decile of payments by value.
Jobcentre Plus does not have a national Crisis Loan helpline and therefore the information you have requested about the helpline is not available.
There were 76,283 applications for Crisis Loans within the Jobcentre Plus district of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight from 1 January 2005 to 24 October 2006. We cannot break these figures down between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Information about the numbers of payments agreed and the monetary value of the payments is only available on individual customer records and could only be gathered at disproportionate cost.
I can tell you that the centre that deals with Crisis Loan applications for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight operates telephone lines between 08:30 to 15:30 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 10:00 to 15:30 on Wednesdays, there are 53 telephone lines staffed by 56 people.
Departmental Expenditure
The information is not available; costs in relation to plans for a national identity card cannot be disaggregated from other ongoing Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) initiatives.
The Home Office have the lead on the identity card scheme. We anticipate that more information on the detail of the scheme will become available as the Home Office move into the procurement phase. This will provide the information we need to fully assess the impacts on DWP business processes and supporting information technology systems.
Departmental IT
All the Department’s major IT systems are operated by external organisations. The majority are operated by Electronic Data Services (EDS), with a few being operated by Fujitsu and British Telecom (BT).
In this context “operated” means that the IT service is provided, technically maintained and located at the external organisation’s premises.
The data are wholly owned by the Department.
The Department has no databases located outside of the UK.
Disability Discrimination Acts
[holding answer 23 October 2006]: No estimates have been made as the Disability Discrimination Act does not set objective standards of compliance against which implementation may be measured. Instead, the Act requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled people to access their services. What is reasonable for a particular service provider will depend on all the circumstances of the individual case. Factors such as the cost of the adjustment, its practicability, and the extent of the service provider’s financial and other resources may all be taken into account in determining what is reasonable.
However, the Department has undertaken a series of research projects to monitor how employers and service providers are responding to their duties under the Act. Research from 20031 looked at organisations’ preparations for the 2004 duties requiring service providers to make reasonable adjustments; this found that over 70 per cent. of organisations had made adjustments to assist disabled customers. At the turn of the year we will be publishing new research on organisations’ responses to the DDA which will include an updated look at adjustments made for disabled customers by service providers.
1 Disability in the workplace: Employers’ and service providers’ responses to the Disability Discrimination Act in 2003 and preparation for 2004 changes.
Disability Living Allowance
Information is not available in the format requested. The information that is available is in the table.
Numbers of DLA recipients February 2001 50,500 2002 54,400 2003 55,410 2004 58,190 2005 61,400 1 “Malignant disease” includes all forms of cancer including carcinoma and leukaemia. Notes: 1.Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and exclude cases where payment of the benefit has been suspended because, for example, the disabled person is in hospital. 2. Where the recipient has more than one disability, only the main disabling condition which gives rise to entitlement to the benefit is recorded. Where the recipient is receiving both the DLA care and mobility components, it is the main disabling condition which gave rise to entitlement to the mobility component which is recorded. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data.
The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to my hon. Friend with the information required.
Letter from Terry Moran:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) men and (b) women receive the care component higher rate of disability living allowance in each constituency in Scotland.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
The information available is in the attached annex.
I hope this is helpful
Parliamentary constituency of claimant (Westminster boundaries—2005 onwards) Case load (thousands) male Case load (thousands) female Aberdeen North 0.51 0.53 Aberdeen South 0.31 0.29 Airdrie and Shotts 0.80 0.97 Angus 0.48 0.51 Argyll and Bute 0.50 0.54 Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock 0.79 0.81 Banff and Buchan 0.60 0.56 Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk 0.49 0.47 Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross 0.41 0.39 Central Ayrshire 0.60 0.67 Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill 0.81 0.96 Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East 0.60 0.71 Dumfries and Galloway 0.68 0.74 Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale 0.48 0.48 Dundee East 0.55 0.63 Dundee West 0.66 0.75 Dunfermline and West Fife 0.52 0.56 East Dunbartonshire 0.37 0.41 East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow 0.61 0.62 East Lothian 0.57 0.59 East Renfrewshire 0.43 0.50 Edinburgh East 0.65 0.68 Edinburgh North and Leith 0.43 0.47 Edinburgh South 0.39 0.36 Edinburgh South West 0.52 0.45 Edinburgh West 0.43 0.47 Falkirk 0.68 0.76 Glasgow Central 0.74 0.75 Glasgow East 1.02 1.19 Glasgow North 0.48 0.48 Glasgow North East 0.97 1.10 Glasgow North West 0.87 0.94 Glasgow South 0.70 0.68 Glasgow South West 0.81 0.97 Glenrothes 0.68 0.71 Gordon 0.35 0.31 Inverclyde 0.66 0.65 Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey 0.52 0.54 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 0.68 0.72 Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath 0.56 0.59 Lanark and Hamilton East 0.79 0.89 Linlithgow and East Falkirk 0.68 0.75 Livingston 0.74 0.80 Midlothian 0.53 0.57 Moray 0.45 0.45 Motherwell and Wishaw 0.76 0.85 Na h-Eileanen an Iar 0.14 0.13 North Ayrshire and Arran 0.65 0.70 North East Fife 0.34 0.33 Ochil and South Perthshire 0.56 0.62 Orkney and Shetland 0.22 0.18 Paisley and Renfrewshire North 0.61 0.71 Paisley and Renfrewshire South 0.61 0.67 Perth and North Perthshire 0.51 0.57 Ross, Skye and Lochaber 0.33 0.37 Rutherglen and Hamilton West 0.83 1.02 Stirling 0.55 0.55 West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 0.28 0.28 West Dunbartonshire 0.77 0.84 Notes: 1. Case load (thousands): Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 2. Parliamentary constituency of claimant (Westminster): These constituencies are used for the Westminster Parliament. For the May 2005 general election, the constituencies in Scotland changed. These constituencies are included in the table from May 2005 onward. Definitions and conventions: Case load figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
The administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information required.
Letter from Terry Moran,:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) men and (b) women receive the care component higher rate of disability living allowance in each constituency in the East Midlands.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
The information available is in the attached annex.
I hope this is helpful.
Annex: disability living allowance cases in payment caseload: gender of claimant by parliamentary constituency of claimant (Westminster) with highest rate care awardParliamentary constituency of claimant (Westminster boundaries 2005 onwards)FemaleMaleAmber Valley570500Ashfield600630Bassetlaw580590Blaby350350Bolsover700690Boston and Skegness590550Bosworth380370Broxtowe460370Charnwood350290Chesterfield630650Corby500470 Daventry350330Derby North470510Derby South690660Erewash510470Gainsborough440440Gedling380420Grantham and Stamford400410Harborough360300High Peak450420Kettering370380Leicester East570490Leicester South560540Leicester West520560Lincoln460530Loughborough310300Louth and Horncastle720740Mansfield650610Newark420410North East Derbyshire530510North West Leicestershire420380Northampton North410450Northampton South430470Nottingham East580620Nottingham North760780Nottingham South530510Rushcliffe380340Rutland and Melton250270Sherwood570590Sleaford and North Hykeham470470South Derbyshire540620South Holland and The Deepings450400Wellingborough430420West Derbyshire360330Definitions and conventions:1. Caseload are rounded to the nearest 10; some additional disclosure control has also been applied.2. The boundaries of parliamentary constituencies do not correspond exactly to Government office regions (GORs).Source:DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study
The requested information is not available.
EU Enlargement
EEC Regulation 1408/71 co-ordinates the social security systems of member states for people who move within the European economic area. It prohibits discrimination on grounds of nationality; provides that contributions for benefits for sickness, invalidity, unemployment and retirement made in one member state may be taken into account to help satisfy the entitlement conditions in another; and determines which state is responsible for the payment of benefits. Income-related benefits, such as income support, are not paid to people who move permanently to other member states.
There is no indication of any major impact as a result of this Regulation on DWP administered benefits since EU enlargement in 2004. We would expect the same to be the case after Bulgaria and Romania join the EU.
Health and Safety (Education Establishments)
The Department has not commissioned any such research. Over-three-day injuries to young people injured while undertaking practical vocational training within educational establishments are not reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995.
Within such establishments, incidents that result in certain specified major injuries are, however, reportable under RIDDOR. We are aware that under-reporting is generally a problem. The Health and Safety Executive is therefore simplifying publicity material and guidance to make it clearer that reporting is easy to do simply by calling the national incident contact centre.
Jobseeker's Allowance
There are robust processes in place for preventing jobseeker's allowance overpayments to prisoners. However, where jobseeker's allowance overpayments do occur, the data that we receive from the Prison Service identify those who have failed to notify us that they have been committed to prison. We then take action to stop benefit and recover the overpayment.
Local Housing Allowance
Any shortfall between the local housing allowance and contractual rent at the time of national roll-out of the local housing allowance will depend on the trends in local rent levels and the accommodation choices made by tenants. The trends in local rent levels up to the point of national roll-out are currently hard to predict and local housing allowance rates will vary across local private rent sector markets and different sizes of property.
However, given the information currently available, we estimate the bedroom-only size criteria could result in losses of around two a week for small households, while three quarters of larger households are estimated to gain from the new size criteria.
Maternity Pay
Statutory maternity pay was introduced in 1987. Since its inception, the first six weeks have been payable at 90 per cent. of the women's average weekly earnings, with no upper limit. Between 1987 and 5 April 2003 this was followed by a flat rate for the remainder of her maternity pay period. From 6 April 2003, the remainder of the maternity pay period is paid at the lesser of the flat rate or 90 per cent. of her average weekly earnings. The standard rates, together with the equivalent at 2005-06 prices, are in the table.
£ Standard SMP rate Rate at 2005-06 prices 1987 32.85 61.30 1988 34.25 59.75 1989 36.25 59.02 1990 39.25 59.25 1991 44.50 63.30 1992 46.30 63.81 1993 47.95 64.40 1994 (part)1 48.80 64.57 1994 (part)1 52.50 69.47 1995 52.50 67.42 1996 54.55 67.77 1997 55.70 67.24 1998 57.70 67.93 1999 59.55 68.72 2000 60.20 68.50 2001 62.20 69.14 2002 75.00 80.86 2003 100.00 104.71 2004 102.80 104.75 2005 106.00 106.00 2006 108.85 108.85 1 SMP rate increased for women with an expected week of confinement of 16 October 1994 or later.
Ministerial Visits
The previous Secretary of State visited Scotland on 18 October 2005. The current Secretary of State has visited Scotland twice, on 17 November 2005 and 9 March 2006. The Secretary of State is due to visit Wales later this year.
All ministerial visits are conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers.
Pensioners
If the 25p was uprated by the retail prices index since 1971, its value would be £2.50 in 2006 prices.
Note:
1. The value has been estimated using the retail prices index produced by the Office for National Statistics.
In 2004-05, there were 1.2 million people aged 80 or over in the UK in receipt of an occupational pension (includes pensions from a previous employer and pensions from the employer of a deceased spouse or relative).
The information in the following table shows the total number of state pension recipients aged 80 and over in Great Britain.
Number February 2006 2,535,900 February 2005 2,490,400 February 2004 2,447,800 February 2003 2,411,000 March 2002 2,422,100 March 2001 2,359,500 Notes:1. Data for March 2001 and 2002 are taken from the 5 per cent. extract of the pension service computer system and the figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall case load from the Work and Pension Longitudinal Study with extra built in protection to protect identity. 2. The figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 3. The figures are lower in 2003 due to the changeover in our data from 5 per cent. sample data to 100 per cent. data. Source:DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data and 5 per cent. sample data.
The average weekly amounts paid to state pension recipients aged 80 and over who are also in receipt of the 25 pence age addition are in the following table:
Years £ per week September 2005 87.87 September 1996 61.19 Notes: 1. Data are taken from 5 per cent. extract of the Pension Service Computer System and the figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall caseload from the Work and Pension Longitudinal Study with extra built in protection to protect identity. 2. Average amounts are rounded to the nearest penny. 3. Figures for 2006 are not yet available. Source: DWP information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data and 5 per cent. sample data.
The exact information requested cannot be calculated from the available administrative data relating to the structure of the help available. Information that is available is as follows.
The Social Fund Cold Weather Payments scheme was introduced in October 1988. It replaced a similar but not identical scheme which had begun in December 1986. No data are held for help given to pensioners in 1986 under this system.
In 1996 help for pensioners was given through the Social Fund Cold Weather Payments scheme. Cold Weather Payments are made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or forecast to be, 00C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to the eligible customer's postcode. A Cold Weather Payment of £8.50 is made for each week the temperature is triggered. These payments are not limited to pensioners. In total £61.6m was paid out to all recipients in 1995-96.
In 2005-06 the amount paid in Winter Fuel Payments to people aged 60 or over was £2 billion and a further £5.6 million in Cold Weather Payments was paid to eligible pensioner households. The amount of Winter Fuel Payment a person receives depends on their age and whether there are other eligible people in the household. People aged 60-79 receive up to £200 and people aged 80 or over receive up to £300.
Source for Cold Weather Payments: 1995-96 data—Annual report by the Secretary of State for Social Security on the Social Fund 1995-96, 2005-06 data—DWP Programme Accounting Computer System.
Source for Winter Fuel Payments: DWP Information Directorate.
Security Passes
The information for the Department and its agencies, with the exception of The Rent Service, is not available in the format requested. No central records are kept of passes that have been lost or stolen. However, security passes that have inbuilt access control for specific sites are always deactivated when reported lost or stolen.
The Rent Service report that 37 security passes were reported as lost and eight security passes were reported as stolen since February 2004.
Telephone Interviews
[holding answer 2 November 2006]: The information requested is not available.
Unemployment Payments
The available information is in the following table.
£ million UB JSA(C) SB/IS1 JSA(IB) 1976-77 Outturn 2,734 — 3n/a — 1977-78 Outturn 2,708 — 3n/a — 1978-79 Outturn 2,452 — 1,998 — 1979-80 Outturn 2,168 — 1,737 — 1980-81 Outturn 3,597 — 2,232 — 1981-82 Outturn 4,367 — 3,880 — 1982-83 Outturn 3,595 — 6,152 — 1983-84 Outturn 3,430 — 7,461 — 1984-85 Outturn 3,436 — 8,121 — 1985-86 Outturn 3,282 — 8,704 — 1986-87 Outturn 3,471 — 8,679 — 1987-88 Outturn 2,783 — 7,556 — 1988-89 Outturn 1,961 — 5,396 — 1989-90 Outturn 1,213 — 4,353 — 1990-91 Outturn 1,335 — 4,512 — 1991-92 Outturn 2,321 — 6,077 — 1992-93 Outturn 2,469 — 7,544 — 1993-94 Outturn 2,259 — 7,846 — 1994-95 Outturn 1,750 — 6,980 — 1995-96 Outturn 1,443 — 6,319 — 1996-97 Outturn 21,164 2— 2,985 2,320 1997-98 Outturn — 584 — 4,201 1998-99 Outturn — 568 — 3,694 1999-2000 Outturn — 539 — 3,285 2000-01 Outturn — 518 — 2,824 2001-02 Outturn — 532 — 2,417 2002-03 Outturn — 569 — 2,309 2003-04 Outturn — 542 — 2,193 2004-05 Outturn — 465 — 1,851 2005-06 Estimate outturn — 500 — 1,844 2006-07 Plans — 530 — 1,931 1 Supplementary benefit and income support figures are for expenditure on unemployed claimants only. 2 1996-97 figure for UB includes JSA(C). 3 Information for SB is not available prior to 1978-79 Notes: 1. UB = unemployment benefit; SB = supplementary benefit; IS = income support; JSA(C) = contributory jobseeker’s allowance; JSA(IB) = income-based jobseeker’s allowance 2. Figures are consistent with the Budget Report 2006. 3. Historic figures have been collated from departmental reports and accounts of DWP and its predecessor Departments. 4. Expenditure for 2005-06 reflects the latest benefit-by-benefit estimate of outturn, and not the amounts voted by Parliament. Source: DWP Expenditure tables.
Winter Fuel Payments
(2) if he will extend the eligibility for winter fuel payments to those groups who are eligible for cold weather payments; and if he will make a statement;
(3) if he will extend the eligibility for winter fuel payments to those groups who are already eligible for cold weather payments; and if he will make a statement.
There have been no recent meetings with National Energy Action or Energywatch. The Department for Work and Pensions holds a wide range of meeting with stakeholders; and these have covered fuel poverty.
Winter fuel payments are made to most people aged 60 or over who are ordinarily resident in Great Britain. Older people are particularly vulnerable to the effects of cold weather during the winter months. We have no plans to extend the winter fuel payment to other groups who are eligible for cold weather payments.
Northern Ireland
Air Pollution
Statistics on deaths from air pollution are not recorded.
Calculations are carried out by the National Environment and Technology Centre (Netcen), who act as air quality consultants to Defra and the devolved administrations. Netcen carry out a range of assessments and provide statistics on deaths brought forward due to air pollution in the UK using Committee of Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) methodology.
This information is not readily available and figures would only extend back to 1996 for a range of technical reasons. I will write to the hon. Lady when figures are available and place a copy of the figures in the Library.
Asbestos-related Illnesses
The following table gives the number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland in each year between 1986 and 2005 where the underlying cause of death was recorded as mesothelioma1 or ‘asbestosis’2.
1 International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision code C45 for years 2001-2004 and Ninth Revision codes 158.9 or 163.9 for year 1985-2000.
2 International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes J61 and J92.0 for years 2001-2004 and Ninth Revision code 501 for year 1985-2000.
Registration year Mesothelioma ‘Asbestosis’ Total 1986 22 — 22 1987 44 9 53 1988 26 9 35 1989 40 11 51 1990 38 3 41 1991 40 5 45 1992 47 4 51 1993 43 4 47 1994 29 4 33 1995 34 5 39 1996 32 4 36 1997 42 — 42 1998 40 6 46 1999 46 4 50 2000 37 6 43 2001 54 9 63 2002 42 12 54 2003 46 9 55 2004 51 14 65 20051 34 10 44 1 Provisional data
The following table gives the number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland in each year between 2000 and 2005 where the underlying cause of death was recorded as mesothelioma1.
1 International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision code C45 for years 2001-2005 and Ninth Revision codes 158.9 or 163.9 for year 2000.
Registration year Number of deaths resulting from mesothelioma 2000 37 2001 54 2002 42 2003 46 2004 51 20051 34 1 Provisional Data
Badger Baiting
It is an offence under the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 to cause unnecessary suffering to any animal by causing, procuring or assisting at the fighting or baiting of that animal. A review of the legislation is currently out to public consultation, with a closing date of 5 December 2006. The review examines the need for increased enforcement powers under the Act.
It is also an offence under the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 to take, kill, injure or be in possession or control of a badger or to disturb a badger while it is occupying a place or structure for shelter or protection, or to damage, destroy or obstruct access to that place or structure. None of the offences are subject to arrest and there are currently no proposals to change the legislation in this respect. However, subject to the outcome of a public consultation exercise on the review of the 1985 Order planned for December 2006, further changes may be proposed.
Bankruptcy
The following table shows the number of bankruptcy orders made on behalf of the Rate Collection Agency for each of the years in question.
Number 2003-04 126 2004-05 116 2005-06 98 2006 to date 51
Biodiversity
The majority of government funding on biodiversity education is contributed through the Department of the Environment’s Environment and Heritage Service (EHS). EHS provides funding in the form of grant aid to district councils, schools, community groups and environmental non-government organisations. EHS also provides direct environmental education to schools and the wider public.
The spend by EHS is summarised as follows.
Direct spend Grant aid Total 2005-06 383 700 1,466 2004-05 310 220 840 2003-04 457 245 1,159 2002-03 175 80 430 2001-02 175 46 396 Five year total 1,500 1,291 4,291 Average per year 300 258 858
Following the publication of the Northern Ireland Biodiversity Strategy in 2002 the spend has increased substantially and the total annual spend on biodiversity education in the last three years has averaged over £l million per annum.
During the past five years EHS has supported either a conservation officer or a local biodiversity action plan officer within Craigavon borough council to a total of £91,000 over five years. The officer is based at Oxford Island and part of their role has included support for the interpretation of biodiversity within the Oxford Island National Nature Reserve.
Conservation officer Local biodiversity officer Total 2005-06 — 23,257 23,257 2004-05 13,779 23,232 37,011 2003-04 8,671 — 8,671 2002-03 11,546 — 11,546 2001-02 11,025 — 11,025
Concessionary Travel
Responsibility for advertising all aspects of the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme rests with the Department for Regional Development. In January 2007, the Department will launch an advertising campaign in newspaper and other media outlets, highlighting the need for customers to renew their SmartPass before the expiry date printed on the front of their cards. In addition, all customers will be contacted by post three months before the expiry of their SmartPass, detailing the steps they need to take to obtain a replacement.
Departmental IT
The requested details of the databases are shown in the following table.
Database Wholly Partly Owned by In UK Outside UK Leadership Development Programme Direction Plus Direction Plus Switzerland HRMS BT NICS Departments BT—Castle Buildings Northgate Northgate—Dargan Cres Belfast Fujitsu Fujitsu—Trident House Airport Road Belfast Payroll (NICS) Fujitsu Fujitsu Fujitsu—Trident House Airport Road Belfast PSMB PSMB Trident House Airport Road Belfast Belfast City Council Belfast City Council—Belfast Payroll (HCS) Logica CMG Logica CMG CMG UK Limited, 20 Kingston Rd Staines Middlesex
Domestic Rates
Representations to the Government on the domestic rating reforms in the past 12 months have included responses to a consultation on the draft Rates (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, as well as to other more targeted consultations on individual aspects of the reforms. In addition, the Government have met with political parties, other Government agencies, local government organisations, representatives of the community and voluntary sector, and other stakeholders to discuss the reforms.
In Northern Ireland window glazing was not value significant in any of the models used by the Valuation and Lands Agency and hence no co-efficient value was given to it.
The information requested is set out in the table.
Window type Number of properties Percentage of total (a) SG-Wood 442 0.0615 (b) SG-PVC 166 0.0231 (c) SG-Metal 42 0.0058 (d) DG-Wood 612 0.0852 (e) DG-PVC 10,614 1.4768 (f) DG-Metal 4 0.0006 Not recorded 706,839 98.3471
Early Release Scheme
There are 10 Sentence Review Commissioners; two joint chairmen and eight other members. Their details are given in the Commissioners Annual Report for 2006, a copy of which is available in the Library, and are also available on their website www.sentencereview.org.uk.
Entertainment and Hospitality
The information requested is not held centrally and therefore it has not been possible to provide a full response in this parliamentary session. However, the hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson) asked a similar question relating to the cost of hospitality in each Northern Ireland Department in each of the last five years. I refer the hon. Lady to the reply I gave on 13 September 2006, Official Report, column 2397W.
We cannot provide the information in the format requested by the hon. Member as to do so would be at disproportionate cost. The information requested is captured under “hospitality”, which includes food, alcohol and other related costs.
Expenditure incurred on hospitality by the Northern Ireland Office includes accommodation and hospitality for members of the royal family, visiting dignitaries and heads of state, and also hospitality for the representatives of business, voluntary and community sectors in Northern Ireland attending the annual garden party at Hillsborough Castle, as well as limited hospitality for staff working out of office hours in accordance with established procedures.
The amount spent on hospitality by the Northern Ireland Office, excluding its agencies and NDPBs, in each year since 2001-02 was:
Amount (£) 2001-02 235,989 2002-03 363,755 2003-04 319,741 2004-05 258,436 2005-06 299,634
All expenditure of official hospitality is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Government accounting. The level of hospitality must be defined, and a broad outline of cost and numbers attending must be provided on all occasions before authorisation. Expenditure should be kept as low as possible, compatible with the occasion and the standing of guests.
A necessary pre-condition for any entertainment or hospitality to be financed from Northern Ireland Office funds is that it will be in the direct interests of the Northern Ireland Office. While one cannot always guarantee that the benefit will be achieved, that must be both the intention and the reasonable expectation.
Equality Commission
(2) in how many cases financial assistance and support were given by the Equality Commission to plaintiffs pursuing (a) sex discrimination cases and (b) religious discrimination cases where the case was subsequently abandoned by the Equality Commission in each year since its formation; and how much was spent on each category of case in each year;
(3) in which cases relating to (a) sex discrimination and (b) religious discrimination the Equality Commission spent more than £50,000 in each year since its formation.
The Equality Commission, as reported in its annual reports, spent the following amounts on legal fees in respect of its duty to provide assistance to complainants and potential complainants. The amounts exclude staff costs.
Sex discrimination Religious and political opinion discrimination 1999-00 293,046 253,300 2000-01 348,867 166,780 2001-02 631,861 170,261 2002-03 829,558 916,357 2003-04 524,967 239,464 2004-05 72,611 74,390
An average spend is not always available as many cases continue over a number of financial years.
The Equality Commission operates an enforcement policy for the provision of advice and assistance to complainants. Such assistance is subject to review. On review the Equality Commission may withdraw assistance because information gathered suggests that the case is unlikely to be successful, because the complainant no longer wishes to pursue proceedings or the case does not fall within the strategic objectives of the Commission’s policy on assistance.
The Equality Commission database shows the following numbers of cases were discontinued in each year of operation. Figures are not available for 1999-2000.
Sex discrimination Religious and political opinion discrimination 2000-01 1 — 2001-02 8 3 2002-03 139 202 2003-04 58 93 2004-05 27 17 2005-06 2 10
It should be noted that an individual may complain under more than one ground of discrimination. Where there are a number of grounds including sex discrimination, these are included with the figure for sex discrimination. Where there are a number of grounds including religious and political opinion discrimination, these are included with the figure for religious and political opinion discrimination. Where both sex and religion and political opinion discrimination are mentioned these cases are included in both; those covering both encompass :
15 cases in 2002-03
4 cases in 2003-04
3 cases in 2004-05
Gathering the information in relation to the costs associated with the discontinued cases will require further analysis and the Chief Executive of the Equality Commission will respond directly to the hon. Member and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
The Equality Commission spent more than £50,000 in two cases relating to sex discrimination and one case relating to Religion/Politics. Each of these cases continued for more than one financial year.
Religion/Politics
One case which was heard in the Court of Appeal NI—total spend: £71,769.28.
Sex Discrimination
One case which was heard in the Court of Appeal NI—total spend: £117,251.04
One case which was heard in the House of Lords—total spend: £168,267.05
Flood Defences
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, as the drainage and flood defence authority in Northern Ireland, spent the following amounts on improving flood defences, including sea defences:
Amount (£) 2001-02 4,730,000.00 2002-03 7,622,000.00 2003-04 2,101,000.00 2004-05 740,000.00 2005-06 3,288,000.00
Fly-tipping
Since the end of 2003, the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) has been responsible for dealing with the illegal disposal of waste on a commercial basis. Prior to that date, district councils were responsible but few, if any, of them kept records in the form requested.
During 2004 and 2005 EHS received between 1,000 and 1,200 reports of illegal dumping of waste each year. This year to date, 1,206 reports have been received. A minimum of 250,000 tonnes of household waste from the Republic of Ireland has been illegal disposed of in Northern Ireland to date. The costs associated with the removal of this waste are likely to be in the region of £30 million.
EHS will continue to rigorously investigate and prosecute all incidents of fly-tipping that are reported to it. EHS is also in the process of introducing a computer system known as ‘Fly Capture’ that will record and track all reported incidents. The system has proved very useful in GB with the publicity surrounding levels of fly-tipping and the costs of dealing with it arising from this source. If district councils take up the offer of the use of this system, appropriate data should be available for Northern Ireland within a year.
Gender Recognition
The Social Security Agency in Northern Ireland is responsible for administering the social security system in accordance with the law—including the Gender Recognition Act 2004. The cases of persons who have been issued with gender recognition certificates are dealt with by the Agency in accordance with national guidelines.
High Hedges
The Department intends to bring forward this legislation when the legislative programme permits.
Household Incomes
The proportion of households with a weekly income of £300 or less, according to the Northern Ireland Family Resources Survey, by parliamentary constituency is given in Table 2, and by district council is given in Table 1. In order to ensure a sample size that would deliver reliable results, it was necessary to combine three years of the survey. Even with this level of combination, the sample sizes achieved for district electoral areas are too small for reliable results to be given.
The information requested in Part (c) district electoral area is not readily available and can be provided only at disproportionate costs.
Because of the need to combine years, the significance of the £300 income limit for households is not constant due to price inflation and increases in general income over time.
Local Government District Percentage Antrim 31.3 Ards 34.8 Armagh 34.5 Ballymena 35.6 Ballymoney and Moyle2 32.8 Banbridge 24.7 Belfast 45.6 Carrickfergus 26.6 Castlereagh 29.4 Coleraine 38.0 Cookstown 47.7 Craigavon 34.9 Downpatrick 32.3 Dungannon 40.2 Fermanagh 45.5 Larne 35.3 Limavady and Magherafelt2 36.6 Lisburn 32.8 Derry 39.3 Newry 38.3 Newtownabbey 32.0 North Down 26.7 Omagh and Strabane2 46.1 1 In order to ensure a sample size that would deliver reliable results, it was necessary to combine three years of the survey, namely 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05. 2 These councils had to be combined in order to obtain a sample of at least 100 households. Source: Family Resources Survey.
Parliamentary Constituency Percentage Belfast East 38.1 Belfast North 54.3 Belfast South 36.3 Belfast West 44.4 East Antrim 31.7 East Londonderry 34.9 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 42.8 Foyle 39.6 Lagan Valley 30.4 Mid Ulster 45.3 Newry and Armagh 37.9 North Antrim 34.5 North Down 26.5 South Antrim 28.0 South Down 31.9 Strangford 34.6 Upper Bann 32.7 West Tyrone 46.1 1 In order to ensure a sample size that would deliver reliable results, it was necessary to combine three years of the survey, namely 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05. Notes:1. The tables are derived from the Northern Ireland Family Resources Survey, which has been carried out in Northern Ireland since 2002-03. A comparable survey has been carried out in Great Britain since 1992-93, and this GB survey has now been expanded into a UK survey, including the Northern Ireland data. 2. The Northern Ireland sample size has been enhanced to allow more detailed analysis. 3. A variety of definitions of household income are available from the survey. Gross income is used here. 4. Three years of the survey are combined to ensure an acceptable sample size. 5. Because three years of the survey have been combined, the significance of the £300 limit for households is not constant, due to price inflation and increases in general income over time. Source: Family Resources Survey.
Household Waste
Each person in Northern Ireland generates approximately 0.5 tonnes of household waste per year (annual figures are provided in the following table).
The overall household recycling rate in Northern Ireland has grown from 6.6 per cent. in 1999-2000 to 18.9 per cent. in 2004-05, an encouraging increase of over 12 per cent., and indicative figures for 2005-06 show a recycling rate of over 24 per cent.
There are no figures on re-use of household waste as this waste does not enter the waste stream and is therefore is not reported.
Household waste arisings per household is a more useful indicator than per person as the household is the key unit for generation of waste and produces a certain amount of waste regardless of the number of occupants.
Total household waste (million tonnes) Average household waste collected (tonnes/year) Household waste recycling rate (percentage) Per person Per household 1999-2000 0.83 0.49 1.38 6.6 2001 0.88 0.52 1.42 8.9 2002 0.90 0.53 1.40 10.0 2003 0.90 0.53 1.37 12.5 2004-05 0.92 0.54 1.36 18.9 2005-061 0.94 0.54 1.36 >24 1 Indicative.
Hyper- and Hypothermia
The following table gives the number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland in each year between 1986 and 2005, where effects of heat and light1 or hypothermia2 were mentioned on the death certificate.
1 “Heat” will not be recorded as an underlying cause of death. However heat-related illnesses (e.g., heatstroke, heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heat syncope) may be mentioned on the death certificate. Deaths with a mention of the effects of heat and light are defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 992 for the years 1986-2000 and, for the years 2001 to 2005, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code T67.
2 “Cold” will not be recorded as an underlying cause of death. However subnormal body temperature, hypothermia, may be mentioned on the death certificate. Deaths with a mention of hypothermia are defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 991.6 for the years 1986-2000 and, for the years 2001 to 2005, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code T68.
Registration year Effect of heat and light Hypothermia 1986 — 32 1987 — 16 1988 — 17 1989 — 13 1990 — 14 1991 — 22 1992 — 14 1993 — 14 1994 — 21 1995 — 13 1996 — 16 1997 — 22 1998 — 22 1999 — 12 2000 — 12 2001 — 16 2002 — 14 2003 — 8 2004 1 11 20051 — 18 1 Provisional data
Light Bulbs
The Department has a variety of light fittings which accept a wide range of bulbs. No records are kept of the numbers or frequency of lamp replacement and the cost of obtaining these figures would be disproportionate. Compact fluorescents are, where practicable, the preferred type of light bulb.
MOT
The average waiting time and the longest waiting time for a vehicle test at each test centre for the week ending 28 October 2006 is as follows.
Centre Average waiting time Longest waiting time Armagh 27 54 Ballymena 16 33 Balmoral 24 56 Coleraine 13 51 Cookstown 27 52 Craigavon 23 49 Downpatrick 17 47 Enniskillen 31 53 Larne 13 38 Lisburn 24 53 Mallusk 17 45 New Buildings 19 37 Newry 36 59 Newtownards 14 54 Omagh 29 52 Northern Ireland 21 59
The number of vehicles awaiting test as at 28 October was 59,117. This information is not maintained at centre level.
The number of vehicle tests conducted at each centre in each of the last five years is set out as follows.
Centre 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Armagh 19,691 17,007 22,560 16,158 21,524 Ballymena 42,742 28,340 43,583 46,479 42,788 Balmoral 59,954 44,794 58,919 47,194 63,188 Coleraine 28,384 34,049 39,260 41,261 45,121 Cookstown 30,470 35,003 37,047 36,827 41,238 Craigavon 31,833 31,016 36,410 25,182 30,291 Downpatrick 21,538 20,614 29,625 33,412 27,387 Enniskillen 22,993 16,548 25,910 25,648 28,988 Larne 11,852 20,570 25,560 23,002 26,031 Lisburn 22,033 34,578 35,550 26,790 34,724 Mallusk 50,943 61,200 36,644 41,109 49,934 New Buildings 31,431 27,802 35,018 26,585 38,159 Newry 33,326 41,446 30,954 28,410 44,541 Newtownards 50,833 43,390 56,855 56,517 64,286 Omagh 19,240 53,761 19,227 23,444 26,458 Northern Ireland 457,572 498,692 533,122 498,018 584,658
Figures include all vehicle test categories (MOT, PSV and HGV) but exclude re-tests.
Motorcyclists (Safety)
The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has written to the hon. Gentleman.
Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 3 November 2006:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about what assessment he has made of the safety implications for motorcyclists of wire rope crash barriers in Northern Ireland. As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
I can advise that all vehicle restraint systems installed on the public road network in Northern Ireland comply with European Standard EN 1317. There is relatively little wire rope safety fencing erected on the Northern Ireland road network and statistical analysis of collision data has not identified any problems in those areas.
Whilst Roads Service has not undertaken any specific research to evaluate the safety implications for motorcyclists, I can advise that the Government (DfT) Advisory Group on Motorcycling reported in 2004 that the Transport Research Laboratory had undertaken some evaluation of safety fences. I understand the conclusion from this work was that all types of barrier pose some form of risk for motorcyclists, but wire rope is no more of a risk than other types of post and beam barriers.
New Health and Education Structures
All board members will be appointed under the guidelines laid down by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Board members must be chosen solely on the basis of the skills and expertise necessary to do the job. All appointments are to be made on merit and no one should be appointed to any position solely because they hold a particular position in another organisation.
Pedestrian Crossings
The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has written to the hon. Lady.
Letter from Malcolm McKibbin, dated 6 November 2006:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding the estimated costs of establishing (a) a zebra crossing and (b) a pelican crossing.
I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
By way of background, I should explain that the cost of installing pedestrian crossing facilities is dependant on a number of issues including; type of equipment being installed, width of road, distance to a source of electricity and need for alterations to existing infrastructure.
Taking these factors into account, the estimated cost of establishing zebra and pelican crossings are as follows:
Zebra crossing—£10k/£12k;
Pelican crossing—£23/£30k;
Pelican crossing in Belfast area—£28/£35k.
The cost of installing a pelican crossing in Belfast is potentially higher due to the need to integrate the crossing into the Belfast Urban Traffic Control System.
Public Administration Review
I have been given overall ministerial responsibility for the implementation of the Review of Public Administration (RPA) decisions. The Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Nigel Hamilton, is personally leading the oversight of the change process, and has established an RPA steering group to oversee the reforms.
Project teams have been established within departments to drive forward implementation. A central unit has been established within the office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister that will oversee the implementation process and support the steering group
The Local Government (Boundaries) (NI) Order 2006 is in operation, establishing the number of councils at seven and setting out procedures for the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner, who was appointed on 1 June 2006 for a 12-month period. His interim report is due on 7 November.
A DOE Local Government Taskforce has been established to examine and report on key issues and work continues to complete the legislation proposals for the Local Government (Structures) Order and the Local Government (Transfer of Functions) Order by February 2007.
The Chief Executive (Designate) of the proposed new Health and Social Services Authority has been appointed and the Authority will be formally established from 1 April 2008. Legislation to establish the five new trusts has already been made and the trusts are now operating in shadow form. The Chairs were appointed on 1 August and the Chief Executives were appointed on 1 September 2006. The existing trusts will be abolished on 1 April 2007. Work continues to complete the drafting of legislation proposals for Health and Social Services Reform by February 2007.
The Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety is currently consulting on the following:
(i) the Draft Transfer of Staff, Assets and Liabilities Orders for the new HSS Trusts;
(ii) draft proposals for a statutory Joint Committee for Commissioning health and social services; and
(iii) the Human Resources Framework for Health and Personal Social Services.
In the Education Sector, the appointment of the Chief Executive (Designate) of the Education and Skills Authority is expected in November 2006 and work continues to complete the legislation proposals for Education Restructuring by April 2007.
In other areas, work is under way on the rationalisation of Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPB). Through the merging of some bodies and transferring functions to central or local Government, the number of NDPBs will be reduced from more than 80 to around 50.
The Public Service Commission was established in March 2006 to safeguard the interests of staff affected by decisions of the review.
Rate Relief
The Northern Ireland Executive considered the wider issue of rural rate relief, including that for rural post offices, in 2002. Northern Ireland has had the enabling power since 1998 to introduce a scheme similar to the rural rate relief scheme which operates in Great Britain. Both the Executive and direct rule Ministers decided not to introduce it because analysis showed it did not suit Northern Ireland's more dispersed settlement pattern. It would also potentially have an unfavourable impact from both an equality and New TSN perspective.
The Government, however, are re-examining the case for small business rate relief in April 2007 and support for post offices can be considered as part of this review.
Restorative Justice Projects
The Protocol for Community-based Restorative Justice Schemes is currently the subject of a public consultation and equality impact assessment which concludes on 13 December 2006. Following consideration of the consultation responses, the Government will decide on a way forward.
River Pollution
The number of substantiated pollution incidents attributed to private businesses, including agricultural farms, for each of the past five years was:
Number 2001 896 2002 874 2003 756 2004 635 2005 531
This represents 52 per cent. of the overall total number of substantiated incidents investigated by the Environment and Heritage Service during this period.
Roads
The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has written to the hon. Gentleman.
Letter from Malcolm McKibbin, dated 6 November 2006:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding what the approximate cost and length of time would be for DRD Roads Service to construct the dualling of the A26 road between Glarryford and the A44 Drones Junction. As this issues fall within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service I have been asked to reply.
You will be aware that the improvement to dual carriageway standard of the A26 Glarryford to A44 Drones Road project is one of the Strategic Road Improvements identified in the Regional Strategic Transport Network Transport Plan.
The A26 scheme is in the Roads Service’s Forward Planning Schedule. Schemes within this schedule are expected to be implemented within the next 5-10 years.
Civil Engineering Consultants, Arup were commissioned in April 2006 to assist with the development of the project through to the selection of a preferred route and completion of the statutory procedures (Environmental Statement, Direction Order and Vesting Order). On successful completion of the statutory procedures and an economic appraisal, the scheme will be taken forward to procurement and construction. Subject to the availability of funding at the time, the commencement of that stage is currently anticipated to be early 2010, with completion likely to be late 2012/early 2013. Comprehensive consultation with the public, other interested bodies and public representatives will take place throughout the development of the scheme.
The expanded Strategic Road Improvement Programme 2015 Consultation Document, published earlier this year, estimated the cost of the project to be £33M (at 2005 prices). As work progresses on the project more detail and constraints will be identified and timescales and estimates may be adjusted to suit.
Sentencing
Following a review of the sentencing framework in Northern Ireland, I am considering a range of options, including indeterminate and extended public protection sentences for dangerous violent and sexual offenders. I plan to announce proposals for a new sentencing framework before the end of the year.
Water
Under article 217(1) of the draft Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, any company appointed as a water or sewerage undertaker cannot dispose of any of its protected land, except with the consent of, or in accordance with a general authorisation given by, the Department for Regional Development. The Department is currently developing a draft licence under which the company will operate. The terms of the licence will include provisions regarding the disposal of land. The draft licence will be issued for public consultation later this year.
The Affordability Tariff is being introduced to ensure that no household should need to spend more than 3 per cent. of household income on water and sewerage charges. The cost of the tariff will be met from Northern Ireland public expenditure and not from other customers.
The Affordability Tariff will be reviewed in 2009 by which time it is the Government’s hope and expectation that a devolved Administration will be well established. The Government therefore believe it would be wrong to pre-empt, or prejudge the outcome of the review.
(2) if he will ensure that any underestimate of the bad debt provision in the financial planning model for the planned Government-owned company Water NI Ltd. is not paid for by the consumer through higher bills.
The Department is currently developing a draft licence under which the company will operate. The terms of the licence will determine how variations from the estimated cost of bad debt will be dealt with. The draft licence will be issued for public consultation later this year.
To properly reflect the fact that capital in Northern Ireland Water Ltd. has a cost, the company will be required to pay a dividend to the Department for Regional Development. In the event that any shortfall in performance by the company reduces its ability to pay the dividend (either in whole or in part), the amount not paid must be covered from DRD’s resource departmental expenditure limit.
Education and Skills
A-levels
Entries for A-level mathematics fell with the introduction of Curriculum 2000 largely due to the uneven weighting and level of difficulty in AS maths compared to other subjects. Revisions to address this issue were made to A-level mathematics from September 2004. Entries for A-level mathematics and further mathematics have increased in each of the last two years.
Information on the numbers studying A-levels is not available centrally. The information available relates to those entered for examinations. The number of A-level entries by 16 to 18-year-olds in schools located in the Wantage constituency for each requested subject is given in the following table.
Chemistry Physics Modern languages 1997 65 47 39 1998 63 62 47 1999 67 54 46 2000 54 61 50 2001 49 60 46 2002 53 46 31 2003 54 50 27 2004 37 36 36 2005 40 52 32 20061 41 47 39 1 Figures for 2006 are provisional and may be subject to change. Note:There are five schools with post-16 results located in the Wantage constituency.
Attendance
The Department has been collecting absence data at pupil level for the first time through the Pupil Level Annual School Census since January 2006 and is currently analysing the data, including the impact of school absence on attainment. Although the analysis is not yet ready, recent research commissioned by the Department has shown that there does appear to be an association between absence rates and pupil attainment. In schools in Excellence in Cities (EiC) areas higher than average levels of absence were associated with reduced attainment at GCSE and key stage 3.
The Department does not collect data on absence that is due to underage drinking, drug and substance abuse.
Biometric Technology
The Department does not keep a list of the uses of biometric technologies in schools. However I am aware that some schools use biometric technologies for recording the attendance and registration of pupils, and for access to school services such as libraries and school meals.
Building Schools for the Future
Building Schools for the Future aims to provide 21st century facilities for all secondary pupils over the long term. In line with this Government’s priorities, we have started with those schools with poorest educational standards and highest social need, where we think the investment can have greatest impact. We chose projects in waves 1 to 3 of Building Schools for the Future using the following published criteria. We selected wave 1 projects by:
ranking local authority proposals according to the data on standards and deprivation across the schools in the proposed geographical area;
assessing whether the strategic proposals were appropriate to address the educational issues of the schools in the area and whether the capital investment would reinforce action/plans/strategies in place for school improvement;
assessing whether the local authority had the capacity to deliver such a large procurement;
assessing the total value of all the proposals with reference to the available budget; and
checking the overall package of proposals to ensure regional market capacity, deliverability and value for money.
We selected wave 2 and 3 projects from local authorities’ expressions of interest according to:
relative educational and social need, as measured by pupils’ GCSE attainment and eligibility for free school meals; and
the phasing and financial requirements of school buildings across the whole programme.
Wolverhampton’s secondary schools are due to be included in a project in waves 4 to 6. We will announce which wave by the end of the year.
39 local authorities and 353 schools have participated in Building Schools for the Future since its introduction. The first contract was signed in June in Bristol and construction has already started in that authority.
Community Cohesion
Subject to the passage of the Education and Inspections Bill which is currently before Parliament, a duty will be placed on the governing bodies of maintained schools to promote community cohesion. This will be accompanied by a duty on the Chief Inspector of Schools to report, as part of routine school inspections, on the contribution made by schools in this respect. Inspectors will judge this by assessing the extent to which learners contribute to community cohesion and the effectiveness of the links made by the school with other providers, services, employers and other organisations to promote well-being and community cohesion. Where inspectors identify underperformance, they will make recommendations, to which the school will be expected to respond. School Improvement Partners will challenge and support the school in making any necessary improvements and parents will be informed about progress through the School Profile. Where the underperformance extends to other aspects of the school's work, there may be circumstances in which inspectors return to monitor the school's progress in securing improvement.
Creationism
The Department regularly receives correspondence about the teaching of creationism in schools. Most express concern about the possibility that creationism could be taught in the science curriculum.
The Government’s view is that creationism is not a recognised scientific theory and should not be taught in the science curriculum. There are, however, opportunities to discuss it in religious education, where pupils learn about different beliefs and faiths.
Enterprise Education
There is no such target. In September 2005 we began a three-year strategy to enable all secondary schools to develop a new focus on enterprise education. A QCA survey in March 2006 found that over 90 per cent. of schools have enterprise in their school development plans, or will have next year, and nearly 90 per cent. have, or will have next year, a written school policy on enterprise. So we have made good progress, and we have established the national Schools’ Enterprise Education Network to help all schools to make further progress.
Extremism
The Secretary of State for Education and Skills and his ministerial team have undertaken a large number of visits to higher education institutions in the period since 7 July 2005. There have been a number of discussions with university staff around issues of extremism on campus, often as part of a broader agenda. For that reason, we cannot separately identify the higher education institutions involved.
Faith Schools
Guidance on school admissions for all maintained schools, including schools with a religious character, is contained in the School Admissions Code of Practice published in 2003.
The new School Admissions Code, subject to parliamentary approval, will come into force in February 2007 and supersede the existing Code of Practice. The draft code, on which we are currently consulting, contains detailed guidelines to faith schools on determining fair and equitable admission arrangements including faith-based oversubscription criteria and determining religious observance.
FE Budget
The Government have increased total investment in further education for participation and other FE expenditure by 48 per cent. in real terms between 1997 and 2005.
The participation expenditure for further education and the participation unit of funding per full-time equivalent student in each year from 1997-98 to 2007-08 are provided in the following tables. The figures for 2005-06 reflect plans as outturn is not yet known on unit funding.
Total FE participation1 (£ million) Actual 1997-98 3,131.4 1998-99 3,101.6 1999-2000 3,216.4 2000-01 3,311.0 2001-02 3,643.8 2002-03 3,823.2 2003-04 4,274.3 2004-05 4,323.9 Planned 2005-06 4,871.8 2006-07 4,949.2 2007-08 5,101.9 1 FE participation funding excludes funding for colleges for other types of participation, raising standards, capacity building and capital. These are included in total FE funding, eg when calculating the 48 per cent. increase in overall FE funding. Note: Participation figures shown include some targeted funds (Teachers’ Pension Scheme, Teachers’ Pay Initiative and some Standards Fund resources) which were consolidated in 2003-04; and LSC funding for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. They do not include UfI/Learndirect or Personal Community Development/Adult Community Learning.
Prior to 2001-02, the figures quoted represent expenditure by the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC), and we cannot disaggregate at a lower level than this, therefore these figures may include some administration and non-participation costs.
Funding for participation (cash) (£) Real terms index Actual 1997-98 13,070 100 1998-99 3,090 98 1999-2000 23,290 102 2000-01 3,470 107 2001-02 33,810 114 2002-03 3,940 115 2003-044 4,360 124 2003-044 4,310 100 Provisional 2004-05 4,320 98 Planned 2005-06 4,890 109 2006-07 4,970 108 2007-08 5,160 109 1 1997-98 only, includes assumed additional employer contributions. 2 From 1999/2000 onwards, excludes 18,500 FTE Higher National Certificate/Diploma students and associated funding which was transferred to HEFCE. 3 From 2001-02 onwards, includes funding for Teacher Pay Initiative, Teachers’ Pension Scheme, and some Standards Funds resources. 4 A technical change to the measurement of FTEs in 2003-04 means that there is a break in the series. This does not affect total funding, but does result in a larger estimate of FTEs, and so a small reduction in the unit funding estimate. Both figures are available for 2003-04 as shown to indicate the difference. It also means that the real terms index must be re-based in 2003-04 and a separate series shown from this point onwards.
Unit funding per full time equivalent (FTE) in further education between 1997-98 and 2005-06 in real terms is provided in the table above, with the real terms index, based with 1997-98 as 100. This information is based on the departmental annual report 2006 (DAR 2006) and all other footnotes from the version of this table in DAR 2006 also apply.
The change in figures for 2003-04 does not represent a reduction in unit costs. Instead it represents a change in the method of measuring FTE, meaning that learners are counted from October rather than November.
Healthcare Education
On (a) the Department has access to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) on depreciation, including depreciation on capitalised equipment (but not buildings), by subject area. For nursing and paramedical studies in publicly-funded higher education institutions in England the figures are set out in table 1.
Academic year Depreciation (£000) 1997-98 1,809 1998-99 2,184 1999-2000 2,519 2000-01 2,560 2001-02 2,946 2002-03 3,069 2003-04 3,174 2004-05 4,819 Source: HESA Finance Statistics Return, Table 6, Cost centre 5
HESA figures for overall capital expenditure on non-residential and non-catering operations in publicly-funded higher education institutions in England do not distinguish subject areas but they do show expenditure on buildings and equipment. The figures are set out in table 2.
£000 Academic year Buildings Equipment 1997-98 515,467 209,096 1998-99 658,096 230,516 1999-2000 625,329 236,013 2000-01 794,821 283,845 2001-02 911,406 311,848 2002-03 1,336,481 364,670 2003-04 1,284,902 335,640 2004-05 1,388,071 393,612 Source: HESA Finance Statistics Return, Table 7, Head 2
On (b) the Department has access to data on staff costs by subject area but the figures do not distinguish staff training costs. The costs for nursing and paramedical studies in publicly-funded higher education institutions in England are set out in table 3.
£000 Academic year Academic staff costs Other staff costs 1997-98 148,568 42,110 1998-99 166,019 50,156 1999-2000 177,679 51,393 2000-01 190,583 58,177 2001-02 200,690 59,573 2002-03 222,153 63,941 2003-04 245,733 73,325 2004-05 265,668 80,843 Source: HESA Finance Statistics Return, Table 6, Cost centre 5
Higher Education Institutions
There are five different bodies involved. The budgets allocated to each body cover all of their activities, including both programme funds, which consumes the overwhelming proportion and their administrative running costs.
The principal funding body for higher education institutions is the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). HEFCE funding for HE institutions includes resources for the management and administration by the institutions themselves. The budget HEFCE was allocated for 2006-07 was £6,564 million and the current staffing complement is 245 full-time equivalent.
The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) provides funding to higher education institutions for a number of activities to support the agency’s objectives, in particular for initial teacher training. The budget allocated for the agency for 2006-07 was £717.1 million and the current staffing complement is 322 full-time equivalent.
Only a very small proportion of the budget or staff of the remaining three bodies, Ofsted, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI), either funds HE institutions or funds activity to regulate them.
The total budget allocated for Ofsted for 2006-07 was £204 million and it has 2,100 staff. The budget allocated to the LSC for 2006-07 was £10,458 million for 4,085 staff. The LSC is currently undertaking a radical restructuring exercise designed to streamline the existing organisation at both national and local level, which is expected to lead to significant savings in running costs.
ALI’s inspection remit, including that which affects the regulation and administration of HE institutions, will be taken over by new Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills from April 2007, but the total budget they were allocated for 2006-07 was £24 million, with 221 staff.
We closely monitor all of these bodies to ensure their running costs are kept to the minimum consistent with cost effective operation—and require them to minimise the regulatory burden they impose on HE institutions.
In addition, the Higher Education Regulation Review Group (HERRG) has recently been reappointed for a further two year period; HERRG is the independent gatekeeper group for higher education. It comprises senior managers and administrators from HE institutions, with an independent chair, and works with Government Departments and their agencies to review all the bureaucratic demands they make on HE institutions, to help ensure these are the minimum consistent with effective accountability.
International GCSE
The QCA working paper on the comparability study between the GCSE and the International GCSE will be published on the QCA and DfES websites in November. At the same time, a consultation questionnaire will be published on the DfES website on the issues for the iGCSE in the maintained sector.
IT Leasing
The Department for Education and Skills does not hold information or collect data on leasing schemes for computers for home use.
Learner-related Accidents
The Learning and Skills Council has in place reporting and monitoring arrangements for learner-related accidents. However, we are aware that under-reporting is generally a problem. The LSC is already taking steps to reduce the level of under-reporting of such accidents.
Literacy
The information requested is set out as follows:
(a) 5-year-olds
The available information for the “Communication, Language and Literacy” area of learning is shown in the following table. Local authority figures for 2005 were published as an annex (Table B) to the final Statistical First Release “Foundation Stage Profile: 2005 National Results” (SFR 03/2006) in February 2006.
Percentage Language for communication and thinking Barking and Dagenham 46 Slough 59 Middlesbrough 63 Leicester 63 Hartlepool 65 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 67 Greenwich 67 Rotherham 68 Tower Hamlets 68 Torbay 69 Linking sounds and letters Barking and Dagenham 28 Middlesbrough 43 Leicester 43 Greenwich 43 Nottingham 43 Waltham Forest 44 Lewisham 46 Luton 46 Newham 50 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 51 Reading Barking and Dagenham 44 Middlesbrough 48 Leicester 48 Greenwich 52 Hartlepool 56 Waltham Forest 57 Newham 57 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 57 Lewisham 58 Slough 58 Writing Barking and Dagenham 28 Middlesbrough 39 Leicester 41 North Somerset 41 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 43 Greenwich 44 Southampton 45 Luton 45 Reading 47 Medway 47 1 Care should be taken when comparing the relative attainment levels between local authorities because of the unequal impact of moderation and assessment on the figures. 2 A scale score of six or more indicates that a child is working securely within the Early Learning Goals.
The provisional national figures for 2006 recently published on 26 October 2006 in Statistical First Release “Foundation Stage Profile 2006: National Results 2006 (Provisional)” (SFR42/2006) suggest that improvements in assessments and moderation may still be impacting widely on the results across the country. Final local authority data are expected to be published in January.
(b) 11-year-olds
National Curriculum assessments at key stage 2 were published on 24 August 2006 (SFR31/2006). The following table shows the percentage of pupils achieving the target level 4 in English in the 10 lowest ranking local authorities.
LA name Percentage of pupils achieving Level 4+ English City of London 64 Hackney 70 Nottingham City 70 Leicester City 71 Manchester 72 Barnsley 72 Sheffield 72 Stoke-on-Trent 72 City of Bristol 73 City of Kingston upon Hull 73 England all schools 79
(c ) 16-year-olds
The following table shows provisional figures for the percentage of 16 year old pupils achieving a grade A*- C in GCSE English in 2006.
LA name Percentage of 16 year olds achieving grades A* to C in GCSE English Knowsley 36.6 City of Kingston upon Hull 38.9 Nottingham City 39.9 Middlesbrough 40.9 Manchester 42.2 Sandwell 43.4 City of Bristol 43.6 Portsmouth 43.7 Tower Hamlets 44.6 Walsall 45.1 England all schools key stage 4 59
[holding answer 2 November 2006]: The Government do not collect this information centrally. Under part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act, schools, colleges and universities have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled pupils and students are not put at a substantial disadvantage in comparison to those who are not disabled. With the exception of schools this could include the provision of written materials in alternative formats. For schools the reasonable adjustments duty does not include the provision of auxiliary aids or services as they have a duty to plan strategically to increase access, over time, to schools. This duty includes planning to provide written material in alternative formats to ensure accessibility.
Physical Education Teachers
The table provides the number of teachers from black and other ethnic minorities who have participated in teacher training courses with physical education as one of their subject specialisations in each academic year from 2000/01 to 2004/05, the latest year for which figures are available. The figures are for teachers who have trained to teach in secondary schools only. Primary school trainee teachers are trained in all subjects of national curriculum including physical education.
Information on the number of black and ethnic minority teachers teaching by subject area is not collected centrally.
Academic year of qualification Total Of which: black and ethnic minorities Percentage 2000/01 1,160 20 2.0 2001/02 1,330 40 2.7 2002/03 1,320 30 2.4 2003/04 1,700 50 3.2 2004/05 1,870 70 3.8 Notes: 1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. The figures exclude teachers on employment-based routes to qualified teacher status. Source: Training and Development Agency’s Performance Profiles
Black and ethnic minorities include the following categories:
Black or black British—Caribbean
Black or black British—African
Other black background
Asian or Asian British—Indian
Asian or Asian British—Pakistani
Asian or Asian British—Bangladeshi
Chinese or other ethnic background—Chinese
Other Asian background
Mixed—white and black Caribbean
Mixed—white and black African
Mixed—white and Asian
Other mixed background
Other ethnic background
Qualification and Curriculum Authority
The size of the QCA's remit has increased substantially since 2001, and this is reflected in the increase on the authority's budget. Additional work over this period includes modernising the examinations system and the development of key stage 3 ICT and key and basic skills tests.
School Buildings
The Department allocates capital funding to local authorities and direct to schools, and relies upon them to prioritise the resources received between different capital projects. Accordingly, the Department does not maintain a record of grants in respect of individual schools. A central record is maintained of capital allocations to local authorities on a financial year basis, and those allocated to Herefordshire since 1 April 1997 are set out in the following table:
£ million 1997-98 6.6 1998-99 4.1 1999-2000 5.4 2000-01 8.5 2001-02 5.9 2002-03 8.4 2003-04 27.6 2004-05 8.4 2005-06 8.7 2006-07 7.0
The large allocation of £27.6 million in 2003-04 includes £19.5 million for a private finance initiative scheme.
School Sport
Since September 2006, all maintained schools in England have been within a school sport partnership. When data were collected for the 2005/06 school sport survey (in the summer term of 2006) 17,122 schools were within a partnership. By the survey deadline a total of 16,882 useable responses had been received. This represents a 99 per cent. response rate. The survey is the largest of its kind in Europe.
The 2005/06 school sport survey found that, overall, 37 per cent. of pupils in schools within a school sport partnership took part in inter-school sports competitions during the last academic year—a 6 per cent. rise on 2004/05. The following table sets out the percentage of pupils in each local authority area taking part in inter-school sports competitions during the academic year 2005/06. Direct comparisons between local authority areas are not appropriate as the number of schools in school sport partnerships, and the length of time they have been within partnerships, differs. The results only report on pupils who attend schools within school sport partnerships.
Percentage Barking and Dagenham 30 Barnet 37 Barnsley 36 Bath and North East Somerset 40 Bedfordshire 38 Bexley 37 Birmingham 31 Blackburn with Darwen 33 Blackpool 41 Bolton 38 Bournemouth 32 Bracknell Forest 35 Bradford 32 Brent 31 Brighton and Hove 41 Bristol City of 33 Bromley 36 Buckinghamshire 43 Bury 44 Calderdale 42 Cambridgeshire 43 Camden 36 City of London 42 Cornwall 43 Coventry 35 Croydon 36 Cumbria 44 Darlington 32 Derby 34 Derbyshire 35 Devon 43 Doncaster 35 Dorset 43 Dudley 34 Durham 45 Ealing 40 East Riding of Yorkshire 38 East Sussex 42 Enfield 31 Essex 37 Gateshead 42 Gloucestershire 42 Greenwich 30 Hackney 33 Halton 44 Hammersmith and Fulham 31 Hampshire 36 Haringey 31 Harrow 35 Hartlepool 41 Havering 33 Herefordshire 47 Hertfordshire 45 Hillingdon 32 Hounslow 37 Isle of Wight 41 Isles of Scilly 25 Islington 33 Kensington and Chelsea 46 Kent 36 Kingston upon Hull, City of 34 Kingston upon Thames 34 Kirklees 37 Knowsley 40 Lambeth 39 Lancashire 39 Leeds 38 Leicester 25 Leicestershire 37 Lewisham 28 Lincolnshire 36 Liverpool 34 Luton 33 Manchester 33 Medway Towns 30 Merton 40 Middlesbrough 40 Milton Keynes 37 Newcastle upon Tyne 41 Newham 33 Norfolk 35 North East Lincolnshire 33 North Lincolnshire 50 North Somerset 39 North Tyneside 40 North Yorkshire 41 Northamptonshire 36 Northumberland 44 Nottingham 35 Nottinghamshire 36 Oldham 42 Oxfordshire 38 Peterborough 40 Cheshire 43 Plymouth 38 Poole 32 Portsmouth 30 Reading 31 Redbridge 36 Redcar and Cleveland 38 Richmond upon Thames 41 Rochdale 39 Rotherham 38 Rutland 49 Salford 33 Sandwell 34 Sefton 39 Sheffield 37 Shropshire 44 Slough 35 Solihull 47 Somerset 40 South Gloucestershire 33 South Tyneside 38 Southampton 23 Southend-on-Sea 44 Southwark 29 St. Helens 36 Staffordshire 41 Stockport 35 Stockton-on-Tees 45 Stoke-on-Trent 36 Suffolk 38 Sunderland 36 Surrey 35 Sutton 39 Tameside 38 Telford and Wrekin 38 Thurrock 30 Torbay 42 Tower Hamlets 38 Trafford 33 Wakefield 40 Walsall 32 Waltham Forest 36 Wandsworth 37 Warrington 36 Warwickshire 39 West Berkshire 39 West Sussex 34 Westminster 32 Wigan 44 Wiltshire 44 Windsor and Maidenhead 42 Wirral 35 Wokingham 32 Wolverhampton 37 Worcestershire 41 York 38
(2) what representations his Department has received on the statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of 25 October 2004 that school sport holds the key to a fitter nation.
[holding answers 30 October 2006]: My officials and I have regular discussions with the Treasury to discuss PE and sport. Our overall aim, a joint DfES/DCMS public service agreement target, is to increase the percentage of five to16-year-olds who take part in at least two hours high quality PE and school sport each week to 75 per cent. by 2006 and 85 per cent. by 2008. By 2010, we want to offer all children four hours of sport a week. We are investing over £1.5 billion in the five years to 2008 to transform PE and school sport.
We have already exceeded the 2006 target. The 2005/06 school sport survey found that 80 per cent. of pupils in the 16,880 schools which took part in the survey were doing at least two hours. This is an increase of 29 per cent. on 2003/04. The survey found that almost all schools (97 per cent.) hold a competitive sports day and the percentage of years 2-11 pupils participating in sports clubs linked to their schools has increased from 22 per cent. in 2003/04 to 27 per cent. this year. Copies of the results of the survey have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
We currently have in place the strongest ever protection of school playing fields and, for the second year running, the number of new playing fields created has been greater than the number sold off.
Schools (Liverpool)
The numbers of maintained schools closed in Liverpool, by parliamentary constituency, in the last five years are as follows:
Year closed Annual total Liverpool Garston 2001 6 2002 3 2003 1 2004 1 Grand total 11 Liverpool Riverside 2003 4 2004 5 2005 2 2006 1 Grand total 12 Liverpool Walton 2001 2 2002 4 2003 3 2004 3 2006 3 Grand Total 15 Liverpool Wavertree 2002 1 2003 1 2004 1 Grand total 3 Liverpool West Derby 2001 4 2002 7 2003 3 2004 3 Grand total 17 Notes: 1. The figures include schools that closed as a result of the amalgamation or merger of two or more schools; schools that have closed but re-opened as voluntary schools with a religious character; and schools that have closed in local education authorities that have moved from a three-tier to a two-tier system. 2. The figures are for maintained schools inclusive of special schools, but exclusive of local authority nursery schools. However, for information, there was only one such closure in 2003 in Liverpool Wavertree. Source: DfES
The table shows the latest available information on excess capacity in (a) secondary, and (b) primary schools in each of the following constituencies. Data were not collected in 2002.
Constituency 2001 2003 2004 2005 Secondary surplus Liverpool Garston 594 532 550 614 Liverpool Riverside 693 320 381 523 Liverpool Walton 823 627 803 898 Liverpool Wavertree 250 137 227 205 Liverpool W. Derby 625 593 878 921 Primary surplus Liverpool Garston 770 1,318 1,131 847 Liverpool Riverside 1,511 1,256 962 925 Liverpool Walton 904 1,154 734 891 Liverpool Wavertree 892 719 745 855 Liverpool W. Derby 919 1481 1,139 1,202
Science Teachers
[holding answer 2 November 2006]: The indicative target for recruitment to initial teacher training for science for 2007/08 is 3,225 places. The targets for 2008/09 onwards are yet to be determined.
Secular Schools
No. It is for local authorities to plan and secure the provision of schools in their area which are sufficient in number, character and equipment to provide for all pupils the opportunity of appropriate education. The Education and Inspections Bill adds further focus to these duties, requiring local authorities to secure diversity and increase parental choice when planning the provision of school places.
Around two-thirds of maintained schools in England do not have a religious character. All schools, regardless of whether they have a religious character, are required to contribute to the moral and spiritual development of their pupils, to teach religious education and to hold a daily act of religious worship.
SEN
The Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice provides advice to local authorities (LAs) schools and others on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for pupils with SEN, including children with verbal dyspraxia. Some children with dyspraxia may have statements of special educational needs. The statement will set out the child’s needs and specify the individualised provision to meet those needs. The LA which maintains the statement has a duty to arrange the specified provision.
Children who have dyspraxia, who do not have statements may have their needs supported in school at School Action or at School Action Plus:
a child supported at School Action will be provided with interventions that are additional to or different from those provided as part of the school’s usual differentiated curriculum offer; and
a child supported at School Action Plus will be provided with help from external services. Help may be in the form of advice to teachers on target setting and accompanying support strategies; or more specialist assessments to inform planning and measurement of progress; or support for particular activities.
In addition to the support provided to children under the SEN statutory framework, each school will decide how best to implement the policy of personalisation, using the additional funding—£990 million for 2006-08—allocated for this purpose, and taking account of local priorities. The focus on personalised learning should help improve outcomes for all pupils, especially in core curriculum subjects.
(2) what steps he has taken in response to evidence from Ofsted that funding delegated to schools for meeting the special educational needs of children has been used for other priorities in schools;
(3) if he will take steps to ring-fence funding delegated to schools to meet the special educational needs of children;
(4) if he will take steps to provide for a major increase in the funding of special educational needs in each of the next five years.
All pupils, including those with SEN, are benefiting from the significant increases in investment in education funding under this Government. Total revenue funding per pupil has increased nationally by £1,440 in real terms between 1997-98 and 2006-07. By 2007-08 the increase over 1997-98 will have reached over £1,630 per pupil in real terms. More resources are going into schools to support children with SEN. LA indicative figures show spending rising from £3.5 billion in 2003-04 to over £4.5 billion in 2006-07.
The school funding settlement for 2006-08 provides a national average increase in the dedicated schools grant of 6.8 per cent. per pupil this year (compared with authorities’ spending in 2005-06) and a further increase of 6.7 per cent. per pupil for 2007-08. The settlement gives schools everywhere the secure and predictable base they need to deliver a wider and more personalised offer to all their pupils. Decisions on funding for subsequent years will be dependent upon the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR07).
DSG is a ring-fenced grant. It is paid to local authorities, who must use it for the purposes of their schools budget. It is for each local authority to distribute funding to its schools using its locally agreed formula, and it is for schools’ governing bodies to decide how to spend their available resources. We believe that schools are best placed to make decisions about support arrangements for pupils experiencing barriers to their learning. They can intervene early and make effective arrangements promptly and flexibly, within the whole school context.
The Education Act 1996 states that schools must use their best endeavours to make suitable provision for all pupils with SEN. For children with statements, LAs, in partnership with schools, must ensure that the provision specified in the statement can be delivered. The annual review ensures that the continued effectiveness of the statement is monitored and evaluated at least annually.
The SEN code of practice provides detailed guidance to schools and LAs on their respective responsibilities. In addition, the Special Educational Needs (Provision of Information by LEAs) (England) Regulations 2001 require LAs to set out what they expect schools to provide from their budgets for children with SEN but without statements and what LAs expect to provide themselves.
The Department’s 2004 guidance “The Management of SEN Expenditure” recommended the accountability arrangements that should be in place in order to secure positive outcomes for children with special educational needs. The guidance proposed a framework covering: school information and performance data; school self-evaluation; evaluation meetings and accountability to parents.
All schools are required to complete a self-evaluation form (SEF), drawing on improved data and supported by inspection, to identify areas where there is a need to improve performance. School improvement partners (SIPs) will challenge and support schools. The focus on a continuing cycle of school improvement should ensure that the progress of all children is kept under review and that they receive appropriate support.
Collaboration is proving to be a very effective way of addressing school improvement, teaching and learning, and other organisational issues. SEN is certainly one area that can benefit from a partnership approach of both schools and possibly other organisations. However, we believe that schools must have the freedom to make spending decisions and to decide whether they take part in partnership activity, based on their specific local needs. For this reason, from April 2006 the majority of funding to support collaborative work now goes directly to schools as part of their school development grant. The way schools decide to use this funding is therefore a matter for local decision.
Sex Education
The Department has not commissioned any research on sex and relationship education (SRE) but we have reflected the available evidence base in guidance given to schools.
Ofsted is responsible for assessing the quality of schools’ provision in the area of personal, social and health education including SRE through its inspection framework and subject reports.
All schools are expected to meet the statutory requirements for sex education and have an up-to-date policy on SRE. This policy should set out the process by which a school will assess how well its provision is meeting the needs of pupils.
Supply Teachers
Guidance on checks on supply teachers was placed on Teachernet in September 2004, headed Checks on Supply Teachers Updated Guidance (09/04) (at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/supplyteachers/schoolsdetail.cfm?&id=16). It points out that the same checks and qualifications are required for all teachers, whether supply or not. It will be replaced as part of revised guidance which was issued for consultation in the summer. The consultation closed on 12 October, and the revised guidance is planned for issue shortly. In addition Guidance on Induction is provided to schools which includes guidance on how teachers doing supply work can complete induction. (This is on teachernet at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=4866). This has not changed in the last 12 months.