Written Answers to Questions
Friday 2 February 2007
Health
Accident and Emergency Departments
It is a matter for the local national health service to ensure the provision of appropriate services, including accident and emergency facilities, to meet people’s needs.
There is increasing consensus among professional bodies that a critical size of hospital is required to ensure that specialist facilities are available to treat all patients with emergency needs safely. While the actual populations hospitals will serve in the future will differ slightly across the country, in general it may be that they will need to serve larger populations than is currently the case. Different clinical specialties may also have different demands in terms of the number of cases required to maintain clinical expertise.
Air Fresheners
In 1997, the Department together with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) commissioned a joint research programme on the effects on health of exposure to air pollutants and damp in the home. This programme focused on indoor air pollution and its effects on health. In particular, the health effects on sensitive individuals within the population and the interactions between indoor air pollutants and health effects of damp in the domestic environment. There were 13 projects in total, seven of which were funded directly by the Department. Further details of these projects can be found at table three of ‘Air Pollution Research Funded’ which is available on the Department's website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/07/06/08/04070608.pdf.
Copies have been placed in the Library.
Air freshening products contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and in 1997, the Department's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) was asked to consider the health effects of exposure to VOCs in the home. As part of this, COMEAP considered data collected by the Buildings Research Establishment (BRE) on behalf of the DETR and had published a statement in their 1997-98 annual report which is available at:
www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/comeap/pdfs/comeap9798.pdf.
Copies have been placed in the Library.
Barlborough Independent Sector Treatment Centre
(2) what monitoring is undertaken of excessive limb shortening post-operative problems of patients from the Barlborough Independent Sector Treatment Centre.
This information is not held by the Department. Providers have a responsibility to report and investigate any incidents internally. The Department’s contract management unit monitors and, where appropriate, investigates the clinical performance of the providers. This is achieved through the scrutiny of clinical performance information, incident reports, patient satisfaction and patient complaint measures.
David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the National Health Service, visited the Barlborough independent sector treatment centre on 15 September 2006. As part of the continued contract management, representatives from the Departments regularly visit the treatment centre, most recently on 16 January 2007.
Clostridium Difficile
We do not have any plans to introduce markers of clinical severity at present.
There are no plans to review the current guidance.
Compulsory Community Treatment Orders
The Department has commissioned a literature review, which looks at international experiences of implementing community treatment order. We have not yet received the final report of the review from the independent researcher. We do however intend to publish the literature review as soon as we can after it is completed.
Departmental Statistics
There is no definition of the term statistics relating to the work of the Department and no centrally held information on either the volume or costs of statistics published each year on this basis.
Estimates for the annual costs of national statistics are contained in the relevant ‘National Statistics Annual Report and Accounts’, which are available in the Library and on the National Statistics website at:
www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=1051
The last year these were produced was 2004-05.
Departmental Travel
The Department's expenditure on foreign travel, including accommodation from 1996-97 to 2003-04 is shown in the following table.
£ 1996-97 521,861 1997-98 575,458 1998-99 590,089 1999-2000 553,386 2000-01 549,105 2001-02 608,814 2002-03 591,748 2003-04 702,055
Information in the requested form is not available as the Department is not required to report in such detail for the statutory accounts. Therefore, the information has not been collected centrally since April 2004. Although this information cannot currently be obtained without incurring disproportional costs, the Department is exploring with our contractors the provision of similar data on a regular basis in the future.
Elderly Irish Men
The Department has made no specific assessment of the health needs of elderly Irish males living in the United Kingdom. The most extensive survey on the health of minority ethnic groups ever carried out in England was published in April 2006. The 2004 “Health Survey for England” interviewed over 6,000 adults from black and minority ethnic communities including Irish communities. The report is available in the Library.
Insulin
All licensed insulins have been fully assessed and found to satisfy the regulatory requirements for quality, safety and efficacy. The safety of human insulins in clinical practice is continually monitored by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the European Medicines Agency.
Clinical guidelines produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on the management of both type one and type two diabetes conclude that the majority of studies indicate that both human and animal insulins are equally effective and report no significant differences in hypoglycaemic episodes and glycaemic control between the insulin of human and animal chemical structures.
NICE produces guidance for the national health service and Wales on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of treatment and healthcare based on the latest available evidence.
London SHA
The table shows primary care trust (PCT) topslice to NHS London at quarter two, 2006-07. From 2006-07 we have abolished planned support and given strategic health authorities (SHAs) the ability to generate reserves from top slicing their PCT allocations. This topslicing did not occur in 2005-06.
Organisation name PCT topslice (£000) Havering Primary Care Trust 9,352 Kingston Primary Care Trust 5,924 Bromley Primary Care Trust 10,952 Greenwich Teaching Primary Care Trust 11,235 Barnet Primary Care Trust 12,816 Hillingdon Primary Care Trust 9,048 Enfield Primary Care Trust 10,294 Barking and Dagenham Primary Care Trust 6,345 City and Hackney Teaching Primary Care Trust 14,840 Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust 12,268 Newham Primary Care Trust 11,376 Haringey Primary Care Trust 10,176 Hammersmith and Fulham Primary Care Trust 8,018 Ealing Primary Care Trust 13,068 Hounslow Primary Care Trust 8,763 Brent Teaching Primary Care Trust 11,981 Harrow Primary Care Trust 7,506 Camden Primary Care Trust 11,438 Islington Primary Care Trust 9,932 Croydon Primary Care Trust 12,462 Kensington and Chelsea Primary Care Trust 8,084 Westminster Primary Care Trust 10,783 Lambeth Primary Care Trust 13,755 Southwark Primary Care Trust 11,819 Lewisham Primary Care Trust 11,719 Wandsworth Primary Care Trust 11,376 Richmond and Twickenham Primary Care Trust 6,629 Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust 13,553 Redbridge Primary Care Trust 9,114 Waltham Forest Primary Care Trust 9,398 Bexley Care Primary Care Trust 7,552 Source: Financial monitoring returns quarter two, 2006-07.
NHS Trust Managers
Redundancy data for national health service trusts was not collected centrally in 2005.
Official Cars
The Department runs one car which was manufactured in the United Kingdom and one car manufactured abroad. All other cars are operated by the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA)
Information on cars operated by the GCDA is available on page 14 of its annual report and accounts 2005-06, copies of which are available in the Library.
Public Health
(2) what percentage of the PCT programme budget was accounted for by category 21 expenditure on public health in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05 and (c) 2005-06.
Estimates of primary care trust expenditure on public health are available from the healthy individuals category in the programme budgeting returns. Expenditure in this category covers immunisation, screening and general/routine health examinations. However, not all spend on public health will necessarily be picked up in this category.
The net spend on healthy individuals as a proportion of total net operating expenditure, for each primary care trust in England for the financial years 2003-04, the first year these data were collected, 2004-05 and 2005-06 has been placed in the Library.
Royal Mail
The Department spent the following amounts using Royal Mail in each of the last five years:
£ 2001-02 491,108 2002-03 479,751 2003-04 344,915 2004-05 356,959 2005-06 252,278
Social Enterprise Pathfinders
The assessment criteria used by the strategic health authorities and regional partners are as follows:
is there a clear sense of vision and purpose in the proposal?
do the services proposed meet a gap in current provision?
do the services proposed improve on current provision?
is there a sense of innovation in the proposal?
do the services proposed fit strategically with the local health and social care economy?
have clients been involved, or will be involved, in contributing to the design of services?
have staff been involved, or will be involved, in contributing to the design of services?
are there plans to involve stakeholders?
does the proposal demonstrate a vision for the service's social objectives and how these will be realised?
are robust governance arrangements planned or in place?
is there a sense that there is sufficient management capability in the organisation?
is there explicit commissioner support for the application, or a clear demonstration that the scheme will be financially viable?
Prime Minister
Interview Clearance
I refer the hon. Member to the press briefing given by my official spokesman on 18 January 2007. A transcript of this is available on the No. 10 website and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Parliamentary Questions
I replied to the hon. Member on 19 January 2007. I understand that because of a printing error my answer did not appear in the Official Report for that day, although it has now done so.
Defence
EU and NATO Missions
The cost of UK contributions to EU and NATO operations are not borne by the Defence budget. Costs are charged either against the HM Treasury Reserve or the conflict prevention pools.
The MOD records centrally costs of regional operations as a whole and does not apportion operational cost to the specific command authority at the time. Consequently, it is not possible to distinguish between the EU and NATO costs in all cases
Afghanistan 2003-2004 46 NATO led operation 2004-2005 67 NATO led operation 2005-2006 199 NATO led operation The Balkans 2003-2004 103 NATO led operations 2004-2005 87 EU1/NATO 2005-2006 63 EU/NATO DR Congo 2003-2004 1 EU led2 2006-2007 Negligible3 EU Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) 2003-2004 1 EU4 1 FOR ALTHEA (Bosnia and Herzegovina) commenced 12 December 2004. 2 Operation ARTEMIS: June to September 2003. 3 Operation EUFOR RD Congo: April to November 2006.The UK contribution to this operation consisted of one staff officer in Potsdam and one officer in Kinshasa—hence the operational cost to the UK was negligible 4 Operation CONCORDIA: March to December 2003
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The UK is committed to progress in multilateral disarmament and plays a strong role in all the relevant international fora. We continue to press for multilateral negotiations towards mutual, balanced and verifiable reductions in nuclear weapons. The forum responsible for nuclear disarmament is the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, whose achievements include the Comprehensive Test Ban treaty, ratified by the UK in 1998. Our current priority is the early start of negotiations, without preconditions, on a Fissile Material Cut-Off treaty (FMCT). The US tabled a draft treaty text in 2006. The start of such negotiations is subject to the agreement by consensus of all states represented at the conference. While there has been no agreement on a programme of work for the Conference on Disarmament, significant progress was made last year by the conference’s presidency, and the UK is committed to building on this momentum.
Preserved Pensions
No specific estimate has been made of the cost of backdating armed forces preserved pensions before 1975. However, in view of the fact that this issue is common to other public service schemes, not just the armed forces, the cost, whether to the armed forces or more widely, would be considerable and could run into billions of pounds.
Recruitment
In 2005, intake from civilian life to the UK regular forces was 17,5601.
Between 1 January and 30 November 2006, intake from Civilian Life to the UK regular forces was 19,2502.
The number of recruits joining the armed forces can be found in Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 1—“Strength, Intake and Outflow of UK Regular Forces”. TSP 1 is published monthly. The most recent publication shows figures for the 12 months to 1 December 2006 and can be found at http://www.dasa.mod.uk/natstats/tspl/gender.html. Copies of TSP 1 are also available in the Library of the House.
1 Revised. Army officer inflow figures were revised in the 1 June 2006 TSP 1 publication.
2 Provisional. Due to the introduction of a new personnel administration system for RAF and Naval Service, data are provisional and subject to review.
Royal Navy: Expenditure
Defence spending is not broken down by service. Instead, the MOD operates a system of delegated authority to top level budget (TLB) holders. Some are single service but several, for example, Defence Estates and the Chief of Joint Operations support all three services and their budgets are not broken down by service.
Information about spending by TLBs can be found in the Government’s expenditure plans (GEP) 2006-07 to 2007-08, Ministry of Defence (Cmd 6822), as well as in the Ministry of Defence’s 2005-06 annual report and accounts. This includes the fleet top level budget, which covers the main operating and personnel costs of the Royal Navy.
Spending plans for future years are being reviewed in the current departmental planning round, and will also be shaped by the outcome of the comprehensive spending review, which will set the defence budget from 2008-09 to 2010-11.
The Royal Navy will continue to be funded across a broad spectrum of capabilities that will enable the fleet to meet its operational and standing commitments.
Service Personnel Injuries
[holding answer 22 January 2007]: Information on casualties sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan is recorded in terms of clinical severity, so as to aid medical staff in providing the appropriate levels of care at each stage of treatment and in planning for future operations. Casualties are recorded as Very Seriously Injured (VSI), Seriously Injured (SI) or Un-Listed (UL).
Information on the number of military personnel who have lost limbs due to combat, have received serious burns, or had sensory deprivation is not recorded. To find this number would require the examination of the individual medical records of each patient who has been classified as VSI or SI in Iraq and Afghanistan. These records can only be viewed for non-clinical reasons with the express consent of the individual concerned, to protect patient confidentiality.
The Ministry of Defence publishes data on battle and non-battle casualties that have resulted from our operations in Iraq from March 2003 and Afghanistan since January 2006. The best centrally available casualty statistics can be found on the Ministry of Defence website at:
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/Operations Factsheets
Between March 2003 and 31 December 2005, 40 UK military and civilian personnel were categorised by the Notification of Casualty (NOTICAS) system as VSI from all causes and 70 personnel have been categorised as SI from all causes in Iraq. These figures will include those who lost limbs due to combat, but also include other VSIs and Sis sustained as a result of combat and non-combat injuries.
Between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2006, 11 UK personnel were categorised as VSI and 19 as SI from all causes excluding disease. As aforementioned, these figures will include those who lost limbs due to combat, but also include other VSI and SIs from combat and non-combat causes.
Between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2006, 17 UK personnel were categorised as VSI and 13 as SI from all causes excluding disease. As aforementioned, these figures will include those who lost limbs due to combat, but also include other VSI and SIs from combat and non-combat causes.
Those classified as VSI have sustained illness or injury of such severity that life or reason is imminently endangered. SI covers those who’s condition is of such severity that there is cause for immediate concern, but there is no imminent danger to life or reason.
It is likely that those who received deep second or third degree burns to 70 per cent. of the body would be included in either the VSI or SI figures, but this would depend on the severity of their injury. It is not possible to say whether all those blinded in both eyes or made deaf would be included.
Snow and Ice
Climate models are not yet sufficiently finely resolved to make predictions of the number of days of snowfall for individual towns or cities.
During the 21st century, a trend towards reduced snowfall is expected over the UK due to climate change. The predicted changes vary with location, and some parts of the UK could experience periods of increased snowfall, due to the influence of natural climate variability. However, by 2050 a reduction in snowfall can be predicted with some confidence.
With future investment in supercomputing capacity the Met Office expects to increase the resolution of its climate models and provide more local scale predictions with reduced uncertainty.
UK Armed Forces Veterans Lapel Badge
Since the inception of the veterans lapel badge scheme in May 2004, approximately 365,900 applications have been received. As result of these applications approximately 355,500 applicants have been issued with badges.
The remaining 10,400 were found not to be eligible.
The current waiting time, from receipt of the application form to despatch of the veterans lapel badge, is an average of five working days.
Communities and Local Government
Comprehensive Area Assessments
The new comprehensive area assessment will include a scored judgment on the use of resources drawn from the annual audit of local authorities, which will include a judgment on value for money. A scored judgment on the direction of travel, which assesses the effectiveness of each local authority in driving continuous improvement will continue to be published. Both of these scored judgments will enable comparability between areas, as will the annual publication of performance against the single set of national indicators.
Disability Facilities Grant
The Government’s proposal to improve the Disabled Facilities Grant programme went out for consultation on 18 January, for comments to be returned by 13 April. We plan to issue a response in July.
The Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) consultation paper published on 18 January 2007 contains two proposals to make the DFG funding more flexible, by widening the ring fence or by removing the ring fence around the funding.
In 2007-08 we will run a small trial widening the ring fence for some authorities. Following an evaluation of the responses to the consultation and the new procedures operating in the pilot areas, a decision about which option to use for national roll-out will be made.
The Disabled Facilities Grant consultation contains two proposals to develop a stronger role for Home Improvement Agencies (HIAs) in the delivery of housing adaptations:
1. HIAs to provide a rapid response for the prevention of accidents and promote early release from hospital;
2. HIAs to provide a full agency service for housing adaptations in county areas.
The Government will consider the best way to proceed following the consultation and subject to funding negotiations.
Domestic Violence
The Government are committed to ensuring that victims of domestic violence are adequately protected and supported. We will want to ensure that where local area agreements can contribute to the delivery of the government's and local areas' response to domestic violence they do so. Many local areas have already chosen to include stretch targets relating to domestic violence in their local area agreements. The duties on local authorities and their local partners proposed in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill will facilitate joint working, including by making local area agreements the single mechanism for central and local government to agree targets to reflect the key priorities for improvement in each local area.
Firefighting
The regional control centres are designed to meet or exceed the current Chief Fire Officer's Association (CFOA) performance targets for call handling. These are:
85 per cent. of calls answered within 7 seconds;
95 per cent. of calls answered within 10 seconds;
98 per cent. of calls answered within 20 seconds.
The capacity of each RCC depends on the number of staff and the shift pattern at any given time. Based on the current indicative staffing numbers and shift patterns, the call handling capacity of each RCC is shown in the following table:
08:00-16:00 16:00-20:00 20:00-23:00 23:00-08:00 24 hours Annual London Hourly 240 300 210 150 — — Period total 1,920 1,200 630 1,350 5,100 1938150 South East Hourly 150 195 150 105 — — Period total 1,200 780 450 945 3,375 1,286,625 South West Hourly 135 165 135 105 — — Period total 1,080 660 405 945 6,090 1,127,850 East of England Hourly 135 165 135 105 — — Period total 1,080 660 405 945 3,090 1,127,850 East Midlands Hourly 135 165 135 105 — — Period total 1,080 660 405 945 3,090 1,127,850 West Midlands Hourly 150 195 165 120 — — Period total 1,200 780 495 1,080 3,555 1,297,575 Yorks and Humber Hourly 150 195 165 120 — — Period total 1,200 780 495 1,080 3,555 1,97,575 North East Hourly 120 150 135 105 — — Period total 960 600 405 945 2,910 1,062,150 North West Hourly 225 285 195 135 — — Period total 1,800 1,140 585 1,215 4,740 1,730,100 Network Hourly 1,440 1,815 1,425 1,050 — — Period total 11,520 7,260 4,275 9,450 32,505 11,864,325 Notes: 1. These figures do not represent the projected requirement. 2. Assumes that a person working a 12 hour shift has the capacity to answer calls for nine of 12 hours. 3. Assumes an average call handling time of three minutes per call (taking account of all call types—emergency, administrative and additional assistance calls).
Local Government
[holding answer 22 January 2007]: No. The 2007 elections will go ahead.
Milton Keynes Tariff
(2) when she expects the planning gain supplement to replace the Milton Keynes tariff.
I have been asked to reply.
The Government announced at the 2006 pre-Budget report that a workable and effective PGS would not be introduced earlier than 2009. Further announcements on PGS will be made after the current consultation is completed. The Government are considering the interaction of PGS with existing tariff schemes.
Treasury
Advertising
There has been no expenditure recorded on advertising with The Guardian newspaper in 2005-06 by HM Treasury.
Aggregates Levy
There have been no prosecutions in Scotland for breaches of the law since the aggregates levy was introduced.
Air Passenger Duty
[holding answer 25 January 2007]: Econometric analysis of the effects of an Air Passenger Duty increase on passenger numbers and flights was conducted to calculate that increases would deliver carbon savings of O.3 MtC a year by 2010-11. When the effect of non-carbon dioxide emissions are taken into account this has a climate change impact equivalent to saving around 0.75 MtC per year by 2010-11.
The Chancellor’s 2006 pre-Budget report announced that increases in Air Passenger Duty would deliver carbon savings of 0.3 million tonnes of carbon (MtC) a year by 2010-11. This is a central estimate, based on a projected range of 0.2 to O.5 MtC a year by 2010-11.
This assessment was based on econometric analysis of the effects of an Air Passenger Duty increase on passenger numbers and flights, which is underpinned by and takes account of market experience.
Christmas Cards
Preparing Christmas cards accounts for only a very small proportion of the time of any Treasury official. For information on Treasury Christmas cards in 2004 and 2005, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands) on 31 January 2006, Official Report, column 398W, and the answer the former Financial Secretary my right hon. Friend the Member for East Ham (Mr. Timms) gave to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) on 20 December 2004, Official Report, column 1403W.
Christmas Trees
One Christmas tree is bought by the Treasury from a sustainable source. It is then recycled.
Departmental Expenditure
The Treasury has no staff employed as media trainers.
None of the Treasury’s programme expenditure for 2004-05 or 2005-06 was spent via the Government offices for the regions.
Departmental Fixed Assets
During 2004-05, the Treasury sold the land and buildings at 100 Parliament street, including antique fixtures and fittings, to HM Revenue and Customs. Proceeds of £22,412,000 were received on 16 March 2005.
Between 12 January 2005 and 16 February 2005, all of the Treasury's residual post-privatisation shares were sold, via a broker, for £1,706,000.
There were no disposals of any fixed assets for more than £10,000 during 2005-06.
Executive Agencies
(2) which of the executive agencies of his Department have regional offices outside London;
(3) what estimate he has made of expenditure by his Department in each of the Government Office regions in the most recent year for which figures are available;
(4) which executive agencies are the responsibility of his Department; what the function is of each agency; and what the budget was of each agency in the most recent year for which figures are available.
The Treasury’s Executive agency is the Debt Management Office. The functions of the DMO and its budget are described in the Treasury’s 2006 departmental report, available from http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/departmental_reports/dept_ report2006.cfm and in the DMO’s own annual report, available from http://www.dmo.gov.uk/documentview.aspx ?docname=publications/annualreports/dmorep2006 .pdf&page=Annual_Report The DMO has no offices outside London. Chapter 7 of the annual Treasury publication “Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses” details expenditure on services in the regions and countries of the United Kingdom. Identifiable spending in each region of England by Government departmental group for 2004-05 (the latest available data) is contained within table 7.19 of the 2006 edition of PESA. The DMO’s expenditure was not identifiable to a specific region or regions.
Expenditure: Brunswick
[holding answer 5 December 2006]: There are no records of any payments having been made by the Treasury to either Brunswick Arts International or Brunswick Group or by any of its agencies in the last five years.
Gender Equality
The Treasury's progress in preparation for the implementation of the gender equality duty includes, as an employer, having in place effective monitoring systems to ensure employment processes and practices meet the gender equality duty. In issuing guidance to Departments, on the CSR process and PSAs the Treasury has underlined the statutory responsibilities under the equality duties, and refers Departments to the detailed information on implementing the gender equality duty published by the Equal Opportunities Commission.
Work is under way in the Treasury to ensure the requirements of the forthcoming duty on gender equality are met. The Treasury has in place, and is implementing, a plan to enhance diversity in the Department. As part of this, an internal equalities seminar has been organised and will take place in February 2007. The seminar will raise awareness about all the equality duties and be addressed by speakers from the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Disability Rights Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality.
Treasury officials are also in contact with the non-departmental public bodies and Executive agencies for which the Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible to ensure they are taking the necessary steps to meet the requirements of the forthcoming duty on public bodies and raise awareness. All have confirmed that this work is under way.
Gross Value Added
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 2 February 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question about gross value added (GVA) per capita in each region and county in each year since 1990; and what the trend growth was of GVA per capita in each region and county between 1990 and 2002. I am replying in her absence. (116688)
The Office for National Statistics publishes regional GVA using official statistical geographies known as Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS)1. The NUTS classification does not fully correspond to counties of the United Kingdom. Table 1 shows annual percentage changes in GVA per capita for each NUTS1 (regions and countries) of the UK; Table 2 shows annual percentage changes in GVA per capita for each NUTS2 (groups of counties and unitary authorities) area. Consistent estimates below the NUTS1 level are only available from 1995 onwards. These estimates are expressed at current basic prices, and do not allow for changes in prices over time (inflation) or differences in regional price levels (purchasing power). They do not, therefore, show growth in real or volume terms. ONS does not currently publish such estimates, but they are being developed for NUTS 1 regions as part of the Allsopp programme.
Table 3 shows average growth, at current prices, for each NUTS1 region for the period 1990-2002. Table 4 shows average growth, at current prices, for each NUTS2 area for the period 1995-2002.
1 The Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS) provides a single uniform breakdown for the production of regional statistics for the European Union. There are three levels of NUTS in the UK. These are:
NUTS1: Government Office Regions and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
NUTS2: 37 areas—individual and groups of counties and unitary authorities.
NUTS3: 133 areas—generally groups of unitary authorities or districts, also known as local areas.
The full range of published regional GVA estimates are available on the ONS website:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Productasp?vlnk=14650
Percentage GVA per head annual change 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 United Kingdom 8.4 4.1 4.1 4.9 5.4 5.0 6.2 5.4 North East 8.0 5.0 4.6 4.1 4.7 4.5 4.3 4.3 North West 8.3 3.7 4.2 4.6 5.3 4.7 5.0 5.1 Yorkshire and the Humber 8.0 4.3 3.5 3.9 5.1 5.6 6.0 5.6 East Midlands 7.5 4.0 3.7 4.0 5.6 5.2 5.7 5.5 West Midlands 8.3 3.5 4.2 5.0 6.2 5.4 5.4 6.0 East of England 8.4 3.7 4.3 4.9 5.6 5.0 5.5 5.2 London 8.4 3.9 4.2 5.2 4.4 3.5 6.5 7.2 South East 8.6 5.0 4.6 5.5 5.7 5.1 6.3 6.7 South West 8.4 4.3 3.5 5.0 5.1 5.1 7.0 5.8 Wales 7.6 3.1 4.2 4.4 5.4 5.4 4.3 4.0 Scotland 9.1 5.9 4.7 4.5 5.3 4.8 4.8 4.7 Northern Ireland 9.4 6.3 5.5 6.7 5.7 6.6 6.5 5.2
GVA per head annual change 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 United Kingdom 5.7 4.5 4.7 4.6 5.0 5.5 5.5 3.4 North East 4.4 3.3 3.5 5.0 4.7 5.5 5.9 3.9 North West 5.4 4.3 3.5 4.9 4.5 5.1 5.4 3.4 Yorkshire and the Humber 5.2 3.3 3.5 4.8 5.1 5.6 5.1 3.2 East Midlands 4.7 3.1 3.3 5.2 5.0 6.4 6.0 3.7 West Midlands 5.4 3.7 3.7 4.4 4.0 4.9 5.2 3.2 East of England 5.9 3.9 3.7 5.1 5.3 6.1 6.0 3.0 London 8.1 5.1 3.5 3.8 6.3 6.1 5.8 3.1 South East 8.1 5.5 4.7 5.5 5.2 5.3 5.1 2.6 South West 5.9 4.3 3.9 5.4 5.5 6.0 5.7 3.4 Wales 3.8 3.0 3.5 5.1 4.3 5.5 5.4 3.7 Scotland 4.0 3.2 3.4 4.3 5.7 5.9 5.5 3.7 Northern Ireland 5.8 5.3 4.1 4.6 3.9 5.7 5.6 3.0 1 GVA at current basic prices.
Percentage GVA per head annual change 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Tees Valley and Durham 3.5 3.3 3.0 2.4 2.0 3.0 2.9 4.8 5.9 Northumberland and Tyne and Wear 5.0 5.2 5.5 4.0 4.6 6.4 6.0 6.1 5.9 Cumbria 3.6 2.0 1.6 0.5 0.2 3.0 4.5 6.1 5.5 Cheshire 5.2 5.8 5.1 4.3 3.1 4.5 4.0 3.7 4.5 Greater Manchester 5.4 6.0 6.4 4.9 3.7 4.9 4.4 5.4 5.8 Lancashire 3.9 3.2 4.1 4.2 3.9 5.2 4.1 4.6 5.2 Merseyside 5.7 5.9 6.5 4.7 4.2 5.6 5.8 5.8 5.5 East Riding and North Lincolnshire 5.5 3.4 1.7 0.1 2.5 4.8 5.4 5.5 5.0 North Yorkshire 6.0 4.7 4.6 3.2 4.1 5.4 5.8 6.0 5.2 South Yorkshire 6.3 6.2 6.2 3.4 3.9 5.2 5.8 6.1 5.6 West Yorkshire 6.1 6.4 6.3 4.5 3.5 4.3 4.4 5.2 4.9 Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 5.6 5.6 4.4 3.6 3.9 5.6 4.8 6.1 6.0 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 6.4 6.5 6.3 3.3 2.8 4.3 4.9 6.7 6.4 Lincolnshire 4.3 2.0 1.0 0.7 2.6 6.7 6.2 6.4 4.8 Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 5.1 5.2 6.2 5.4 4.4 4.2 3.0 4.4 4.9 Shropshire and Staffordshire 5.9 5.4 4.6 2.2 2.6 3.6 5.2 5.7 5.8 West Midlands 5.3 6.6 5.4 3.7 4.0 4.9 3.9 4.7 5.1 East Anglia 4.2 3.1 4.0 2.9 3.3 5.8 5.9 6.2 5.8 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 6.7 7.4 8.6 5.2 4.6 4.6 4.0 5.1 5.8 Essex 5.9 5.5 5.4 3.5 2.9 5.0 6.2 7.4 6.6 Inner London 7.0 7.4 8.0 5.0 3.2 4.4 8.1 6.7 5.8 Outer London 5.7 6.8 8.0 4.6 3.2 2.2 2.8 4.9 5.3 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 6.6 8.2 11.4 7.4 5.2 5.1 5.0 5.8 5.8 Surrey, East and West Sussex 6.8 6.1 6.7 5.2 5.4 6.5 5.3 4.6 4.4 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 6.1 6.6 6.9 3.8 3.9 5.3 5.5 5.4 5.3 Kent 5.1 4.9 5.7 4.1 3.3 4.7 5.2 5.4 5.0 Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and North Somerset 8.1 7.2 7.2 4.0. 3.9 5.6 6.7 6.6 6.1 Dorset and Somerset 6.1 5.4 6.4 5.9 4.0 4.0 3.6 4.7 5.3 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 6.5 4.1 4.5 4.8 5.8 7.4 6.5 6.8 5.9 Devon 5.1 3.0 2.1 3.2 3.2 5.6 4.1 5.5 4.7 West Wales and the Valleys 4.1 2.8 2.2 1.5 2.9 4.5 4.4 5.3 5.4 East Wales 4.5 5.4 5.7 4.8 4.1 5.9 4.2 5.6 5.4 North Eastern Scotland 4.4 4.9 4.6 2.6 4.3 3.9 3.4 3.6 4.6 Eastern Scotland 4.8 4.2 3.4 2.4 2.4 4.0 6.7 6.4 5.4 South Western Scotland 5.2 5.4 4.5 4.0 3.9 4.8 5.6 6.1 5.8 Highlands and Islands 2.6 2.8 3.8 4.4 4.5 4.9 6.1 7.1 5.6 Northern Ireland 5.8 5.8 6.1 4.3 3.8 4.8 5.2 5.7 5.5 1 GVA at current basic prices.
Average GVA growth per capita 1990-2002 Percentage United Kingdom 5.0 North East 4.4 North West 4.6 Yorkshire and the Humber 4.7 East Midlands 4.6 West Midlands 4.7 East of England 4.8 London 5.1 South East 5.7 South West 5.1 Wales 4.2 Scotland 4.6 Northern Ireland 5.5 1 GVA at current basic prices.
Average GVA growth per capita 1995-2002 Percentage Tees Valley and Durham 2.9 Northumberland and Tyne and Wear 5.3 Cumbria 2.2 Cheshire 4.6 Greater Manchester 5.1 Lancashire 4.1 Merseyside 5.5 East Riding and North Lincolnshire 3.3 North Yorkshire 4.8 South Yorkshire 5.3 West Yorkshire 5.1 Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 4.8 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 4.9 Lincolnshire 3.3 Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 4.8 Shropshire and Staffordshire 4.2 West Midlands 4.8 East Anglia 4.2 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 5.9 Essex 4.9 Inner London 6.1 Outer London 4.7 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 7.0 Surrey, East and West Sussex 6.0 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 5.4 Kent 4.7 Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and North Somerset 6.1 Dorset and Somerset 5.0 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 5.7 Devon 3.8 West Wales and the Valleys 3.2 East Wales 4.9 North Eastern Scotland 4.0 Eastern Scotland 4.0 South Western Scotland 4.8 Highlands and Islands 4.2 Northern Ireland 5.1 1 GVA at current basic prices.
Hobsbawn Media and Marketing Communications
[holding answer 5 December 2006]: There are no records of any payments having been made by the Treasury to Hobsbawn Media and Marketing Communications Ltd. or by any of its agencies.
Hospital Births
[pursuant to the reply, 15 January 2007, Official Report, c. 844W]: There was an error in the table given in the letter from the National Statistician and Registrar General which accompanied my written answer. A corrected version of the table is contained in the accompanying letter. The National Statistician and I very much regret this inadvertent error.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 2 February 2007:
It has been brought to my attention that the figures in the table that appeared with the answer to your question (114638) on births in 2005 at West Cumberland hospital, Whitehaven and the Cumberland infirmary, Carlisle, were accidentally transposed.
In the table, the number of live births in West Cumberland hospital, Whitehaven in 2005 should have been 1,261 and stillbirths 8. The number of live births in The Cumberland infirmary, Carlisle, in 2005 should have been 1,624 and stillbirths 11. The correct version of the table is attached below. I apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Year 2005 Live births Stillbirths West Cumberland hospital, Whitehaven 1,261 8 The Cumberland infirmary, Carlisle 1,624 11
Inflation Figures
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 2 February 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking for an estimate of the rate of (a) household inflation, (b) single pensioner household inflation and (c) pensioner household inflation. (116944)
Retail Prices Index (RPI) is defined as an average measure of change in the prices of goods and services bought for the purpose of consumption by the vast majority of households in the UK. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recently published the RPI for December 2006 as 202.7, giving a percentage change over 12 months of 4.4%.
The weights for the RPI explicitly exclude data on households where the head of the household is retired (at least 65 years of age for men and 60 years or more for women) and economically inactive, and where at least three quarters of the household’s income is from state benefits. Although no general “pensioner household” index exists, separate indices are produced for one-pensioner and for two-pensioner households whose expenditure is excluded from the RPI weights, i.e. those who rely on state pensions and benefit for at least 75% of their income. This roughly relates to around 20% of all pensioners (there are very few private households consisting solely of three or more pensioners): These indices use the same price data as the RPI and are only published for quarters, rather than months. They make no allowance for the fact that pensioners may shop in different outlets and therefore experience different prices.
The one-person pensioner households index for the fourth quarter of 2006 stands at 176.6, a change of 5.7% over 12 months.
The two-person pensioner households index for the fourth quarter of 2006 stands at 179.2, a change of 4.4% over 12 months.
The corresponding value for the RPI for the fourth quarter of 2006, stands at 201.4, a change of 4.0% over 12 months.
The main differences from the RPI in the construction of the pensioner indices are as follows:
section weights are derived from information on expenditure by one-pensioner and two-pensioner households respectively;
canteen meals (including state school meals) and all housing sections are excluded;
Other items are also excluded, including NHS prescription, dental and eyesight test charges which are not paid by pensioners. For rail and bus fares, special pensioners' rail and bus fare indices are substituted for the normal index household indices to allow for fare concessions available in some areas.
The exclusion of housing sections was made on the grounds that the price indicators used in the all items RPI would not be appropriate and would overstate the price increases experienced by these pensioners as they would mostly be cushioned against some rises by rebates. Also, it would be technically difficult to compile separate house price indicator items for these households.
Jon Symonds
Jonathan Symonds, the chief financial officer of AstraZeneca plc, holds no position in HM Treasury nor in HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Alongside other business representatives, he is a member of HMRC's Business Tax Forum, which acts as a mechanism for business to raise operational tax issues with HMRC.
Mental Health
The Treasury’s arrangements, to promote actively the employment, within (a) the Treasury and (b) public sector bodies for whom it has responsibility of people with mental illnesses in line with the advice and codes of practice produced by the Disability Rights Commission, are set out in the Treasury’s published Disability Equality Scheme available on the Treasury’s external website.
Ministerial Policy Instructions
Treasury Ministers are in continuous dialogue with officials as part of the policy process and instruct civil servants as part of this dialogue.
Ministerial Visits
[holding answer 18 January 2007]: Treasury Ministers' official duties entail visits throughout the United Kingdom.
Pensions
[holding answer 25 January 2007]: The Treasury makes employer's contributions in respect of Treasury staff participating in the partnerships pension scheme of the principal civil service pension scheme. The scheme began in 2002-03. The Treasury's employer's contributions payable for the last four completed financial years were as follows:
£000 2002-03 11 2003-04 125 2004-05 140 2005-06 115
Private Finance Initiative
[holding answer 4 December 2006]: The Office of Government Commerce does not have a projects approval role.
Progressive Beer Duty
(2) what response he has made to the representation made to him by a number of breweries enclosed in the letter to him from the right hon. Member for Witney dated 20 February on the impact of the progressive beer duty on their business.
I have replied to the right hon. Member's letter. Figures from the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) show that around 130 new breweries have opened since the introduction of small breweries relief, bringing with them over 1,000 new jobs, many in economically deprived rural communities.
A public consultation on the performance of the scheme was launched in July 2003, and led to the extension of relief to breweries producing between 30,000 and 60,000 per annum. The small breweries relief scheme, like all reliefs, is kept under constant review.
Public Sector Pensions
Details of the cash equivalent transfer values of pensions for senior staff in HM Treasury and its agencies can be found in the relevant Resource Accounts:
HM Treasury and Office of Government Commerce HC 1344
Debt Management Office HC 1504
Royal Mint HC 1432
Office for National Statistics HC 1240
National Savings and Investments HC 1233
Government Actuary's Department HC 1209
HM Revenue and Customs HC 1159
Sir Nicholas Stern
The Chancellor has met Sir Nicholas Stern on numerous occasions and Sir Nicholas accompanied the Chancellor on his recent trip to India.
Third Sector Advisory Panel
(2) who the members are of his Department's Third Sector Advisory Panel; what the date of appointment was of each; and what (a) remuneration and (b) expenses each has claimed.
Members of the independent Third Sector Advisory panel are from the sector representing young volunteers, third sector umbrella bodies and different faith communities. Annex C of the interim report on the Review of the Future Role of the Third Sector in Social and Economic Regeneration published in December 2006 lists the panel members. The panel chaired by Maeve Sherlock (who does not hold any position in the Treasury) has been constituted for 12 months as an ad hoc Government advisory panel. All current members were invited to join the group on a voluntary basis in September 2006. Members are not paid remuneration for attending meetings but all reasonable travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses are paid in line with Government guidance. To date, a total of £305 for travel has been claimed.
Translation Services
The following is a breakdown of the documents translated by the Treasury and it’s agencies over the last five years with costs shown where these are available without incurring disproportionate cost:
Literature Translated and Languages Costs where available (£) HMT Welsh versions of: Euro preparations leaflet Spending Review, Budget and PBR leaflets Budget and PBR regional leaflet—Wales — Costs unavailable GAD Nil — — DMO Nil — — VOA Provides translation services for all services provided on request — Costs unavailable NS&I All literature (brochures and after sales communications) including NS&I website into Welsh 2005-06 9,787 2004-05 19,255 2003-04 11696 2002-03 6,738 2001-02 12,583 Royal Mint Translation of commercial documents and correspondence are provided on request for the Welsh language — Costs unavailable OGC PRINCE2 documentation into Dutch, Danish, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Chinese; IT Infrastructure Library Best Practice documentation into French, Japanese, Spanish, Brazilian-Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, German, Italian, Norwegian, Korean, Simplified Chinese — Products are self-financing and are produced at no cost to OGC ONS The Office for National Statistics and General Register Office produce translations of a number of different types of documents and forms relating to their statistical and registration business — Costs unavailable Documents are translated into Welsh including: the Census of Population questionnaire, other Census documentation, Registration information leaflets, business survey questionnaires and responses to Welsh correspondence — The social survey generic information leaflet and generic advance letter are translated into: Welsh, Gujariti, Hindi, Greek, Bengali, Punjabi, Portuguese, Polish, Chinese, Turkish, Urdu, Somali, and Serbian (advance letter only) — The International Passenger Survey short self completion questionnaire is translated into: Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Japanese, Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, German, French and Polish — The 2001 Census of Population information leaflets and Census questions documents were translated: Albanian/Kosovan, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Croatian, Farsi/Persian, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Serbian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese — HMRC The HMRC Translation Service has arranged translation of forms, leaflets and notices for internal customers to make available to people in the UK who do not speak English — Costs unavailable The internal customers determine which language versions are required in accordance with their individual external customer requirements. Languages handled by the HM Revenue and Customs Translation Service have included: Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, Estonian, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Gujerati, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Ibo, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Kurdish, Lao, Latvian, Lingala, Lithuanian, Lugandan, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Moldovan, Mongolian, Norwegian, Papiamento, Philipino, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Pushtu, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhalese, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese and Yoruba — HMRC The following literature is translated into Welsh: Self Assessment, PAYE, End of Year, Employers, Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Sick Pay, Student Loans, Corporation Tax, Tax Credits, Child Benefit, Child Trust Fund, Construction Industry Scheme, National Insurance Contributions, on-line services for PAYE and Self Assessment HMRC 2005-06 11,585.50 IR 2004-05 7,850.73 HMC&E 2004-05 34,891.81 IR 2003-04 19,801.16 HMC&E 2003-04 10,460.91 IR 2002-03 24,263.79 HMC&E 2002-03 11,357.50 — Costs cover externally commissioned work and do not include internally translated materials
The Treasury and its related agencies provide translation services on request for the services it provides. Welsh language versions of literature are provided under the Welsh Language Act 1993. Specific services providing translation are:
Valuation Office Agency
The VOA provides translation services for all the services it provides.
HM Revenue and Customs
The HMRC Translation Service arranges and provides translation services internally for the whole Department and the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO). The principal customers are:
Criminal Investigation material;
Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office material relating to HMRC and SOCA investigations;
Tax Office company reports, pay statements, accounts, contracts;
HMRC Solicitor’s Office documentation relating to European Court of Justice cases;
Centre for Exchange Intelligence;
Mutual Assurance in Recovery of Debt;
VAT Information Exchange.
Trend Growth Assumption
Analysis underpinning the revision made to the trend growth assumption in the 2006 pre-Budget report is set out in the paper ‘Trend growth: new evidence and prospects’, published alongside the pre-Budget report. This paper is available on HM Treasury’s website:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/53D/CE/pbr06_trend growth_345.pdf
Scotland
British Food
The Scotland Office has no in-house catering facilities and the provision of food is generally limited to catering associated with official hospitality and supplied by external contractors. Information on the source of the food supplied is not held.
Freedom of Information
Between March and December 2006 there were eight FoI releases published on the Scotland Office website. We publish all responses to requests where information is actually released but we do not publish our response to requests where we either do not hold the information, where it is available elsewhere in the public domain, or where the information is withheld because exemptions apply. The location of any relevant information held in the public domain will depend on the nature of the request.
Open Source Software
The Scotland Office operates an information technology system through the Scottish Executive, which is responsible for the procurement, administration, support and maintenance of the system. Accordingly, the Executive is responsible for sourcing and introducing such software.
Culture, Media and Sport
Celebrity Big Brother
DCMS Ministers last met the chairman of Channel 4 on 7 June 2006 and the chief executive on 29 November 2006. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have had discussions with both on a wide range of topics relating to the broadcasting industry as a whole.
Cultural Olympiad
The start of the Cultural Olympiad, and indeed the whole of the London 2012 Olympiad, occurs at the moment of “handover” during the closing ceremony of the Beijing Games in 2008. It is likely that many groups and communities around London and the rest of the UK will want to mark this moment with celebrations. The formal launch event for the Cultural Olympiad is likely to take place shortly afterwards. Discussions are ongoing between my Department, London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and the Greater London Authority on the details for the launch. This will be an important benchmark on our journey towards 2012, and we know that many organisations are keen to show their support for this event. In particular, we are in discussions with the organisers of the Liverpool 08 celebrations to explore the potential for collaboration with the plans for the Cultural Olympiad.
Television: Licensing
TV Licensing, who administer free television licences for people aged 75 or over as agents for the BBC, are not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of free licences issued. However, the number of households with at least one person aged 75 or over claiming the winter fuel payment in the Warrington North constituency in 2005-06 was 4,970, according to Department for Work and Pensions records.
Duchy of Lancaster
Social Enterprise
The Government published the Social Enterprise Action Plan on 16 November 2006. Chapter 1 (Why Social Enterprise Matters) contains references to the key government research on social enterprise. A copy of the plan is available in the Library for the reference of Members.
I am arranging for the following key research and evaluation documents to be placed in the Library for the reference of Members.
IFF Research (2005): A survey of social enterprise across the UK
GHK (2005): Review of the Social Enterprise Strategy
Annual Small Business Survey 2005 (published 2006)
SBS Household Survey of Entrepreneurship 2005 (published 2006)
Hull University has been commissioned to undertake a feasibility study developing a method for understanding the social and economic impact of social enterprise. In addition, the Office of the Third Sector, in partnership with the Department for Communities and Local Government, will soon be commissioning some short research papers to contribute to development of policy on social enterprise. I will write to the hon. Member when these have been completed.
Transport
A555
This scheme raises funding and affordability issues which have taken longer to resolve than anticipated. An announcement will be made once consideration of these issues has been completed.
Airports
Pressure on airport capacity is greatest in the South East. Heathrow and Gatwick’s runways are already full for most of the day, and Stansted is close to capacity in peak hours. Outside the South East, there is greater scope for demand growth to be accommodated by existing capacity.
The Air Transport White Paper set out a measured and balanced approach to the development of UK air travel. Analysis for the White Paper showed that without additional runways, air passenger demand is likely to become constrained by capacity in the South East before 2010.
Bus Services: West Midlands
[holding answer 31 January 2007]: The majority of support for local bus services is provided by local authorities using the Government’s Revenue Support Grant (RSG), which is an unhypothecated block grant, and authorities’ own resources. It is for each authority to decide how much of their RSG allocation to devote to bus support.
The Department for Transport has also separately provided specific grant funding to local authorities for bus services through the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG), the Rural and Urban Bus Challenge and the Kickstart schemes.
The following tables show the amounts provided under these grants to authorities in the West Midlands Government Office Region from 2003-04 to 2005-06; the amounts within that total provided to West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority are also shown:
Total (£) 2003-04 7,557,407 2004-05 8,187,109 2005-06 7,523,749 Total 23,268,265
Total (£) 2003-04 761,236 2004-05 900,824 2005-06 676,577 Total 2,338,637
In addition, the Department pays Bus Service Operators Grant to operators of local bus services throughout the country but information on this expenditure is not collated on a geographical basis.
Local transport authorities also receive Local Transport Plan funding from the Department for capital expenditure on bus infrastructure.
Driving: Mobile Phones
I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 30 January 2007, Official Report, column 249W, to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael).
London Underground: Ministerial Travel
[holding answer 1 February 2007]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State travelled on buses between Westminster and Victoria in January 2007. He travelled from Marble Arch to Westminster via London Underground on official business in November 2006.
Ministers use public transport wherever possible and practical to complete their journeys taking account of security considerations. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in “Travel by Ministers”.
Roadworks
This local authority budgetary information is not held by the Department for Transport.
Speed Limits: Driving Offences
To ensure consistency, the Association of Chief Police Officers has put in place arrangements for a national speed awareness course. 11 police forces in England are currently running the national model, offering it to drivers where it is judged to be an appropriate alternative to prosecution. The 11 police force areas are as follows:
Devon and Cornwall
Essex
Hertfordshire
Kent
Lancashire
Leicestershire
Norfolk
Staffordshire
Thames Valley
Warwickshire
Wiltshire
Additionally seven police force areas offer courses that do not conform to the national model.
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency study into the possible outsourcing of elements of its work, which includes input from Deloitte and Touche, is expected to be passed to Ministers in spring/summer 2007. The ministerial conclusion will be published after they have considered the recommendations.
International Development
Aid: Overseas Education
[holding answer 20 January 2007]: The following table details UK bilateral expenditure on programmes from 2002-03.
£000 2002-03 165,133 2003-04 221,887 2004-05 269,761 2005-06 249,799
These figures exclude expenditure through multilateral organisations.
Commonwealth Education Fund
The Commonwealth Education Fund (CEF) commenced in 2002 as part of an initiative launched by the Chancellor. The UK Government as well as other donors, including non-governmental organisations, have contributed to the CEF since its launch.
The following table shows the total funds allocated to educational facilities and activities in the four countries (figures provided by the CEF):
Kenya Tanzania Ghana The Gambia 2002 166,408 1,989 14,511 6,002 2003 497,720 34,689 197,258 9,490 2004 675,553 120,783 340,075 86,937 2005 581,190 258,499 388,432 91,807 20061 686,651 484,036 356,654 147,703 2007-081 100,000 150,000 150,000 65,000 Total 2,704,522 1,049,996 1,446,930 433,939 1 Estimated expenditure
Departmental Expenditure
DFID does not maintain central records of purchase, operating and support costs by software product, so to obtain the information would incur a disproportionate cost.
Constitutional Affairs
Act of Union
The anniversary has been marked by a £2 commemorative coin, launched by the Leader of the House and the Secretary of State for Scotland in an event in Whitehall on 16 January. The Government are supporting further commemorative events later in the year: a Treaty of Union debating competition organised by the English Speaking Union; an arts outreach project on the theme “Tales of the United Kingdom” organised by The Prince of Wales Arts and Kids Foundation; and the naming of a mainline train, “Treaty of Union”.
Electoral Register
Funding is already allocated by the Government to local authorities to perform registration activities and additional funding has been provided to implement new measures introduced under the Electoral Administration Act, of which maintaining and compiling the electoral register is one.
£19.9 million has been transferred to English local authorities in 2006-07 and £1.2 million will be transferred to the National Assembly for Wales in 2006-07. The same sums will be transferred in 2007-08. In addition, up to £12.2 million for the new absent vote personal identifier arrangements will be provided over 2006-07 and 2007-08.
While this information is not collected centrally, Section 67 of the EA Act 2006 has allowed the Electoral Commission to set and monitor performance standards for electoral services and to obtain information on expenditure, including the cost of registration functions by EROs. The Commission intends to devise a model for costing electoral registration services by 1 December 2007, which will help to establish the costs of registration activities in each local authority.
Legal Aid
The name of the barrister representing the plaintiff and the outcome of the case are both available in the “Weekly Law Report” [1996] 1 W.L.R. 1397. As to how much was spent on legal aid fees, I refer the hon. Member to my answer to his previous question 8 January 2007, Official Report, column 17W.
MMR Vaccine: Legal Aid
The case involved allegations that, as a consequence of a national vaccination campaign, children were very seriously injured because the vaccine in question was defective. With the introduction of the Access to Justice Act 1999 ‘public interest’, as defined in the Funding Code, became an element of the grounds for funding. However, the MMR action began in the 1990s and therefore no formal assessment of ‘public interest’ was made.
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has no plans to recover legal aid fees paid to barristers involved in the MMR/MR vaccine litigation. It is for the court to assess the costs to be paid in such cases and is not a decision for the LSC.
The Legal Services Commission has no plans to refer the barristers involved in the MMR/MR litigation to the Bar Council.
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has no plans to recover legal aid fees paid to researchers involved in the MMR/MR vaccine litigation. It is for the court to assess the costs to be paid in such cases and is not a decision for the LSC.
Trade and Industry
Government Auctions
Official Receivers use the services of local agents to secure, collect and realise assets. Each local agent would make its own arrangements for publishing these events. Details of the agents used by Official Receivers in the North West can be provided by the Regional Director, Robert Evison, at Boulton House, 17-21 Chorlton Street, Manchester Ml 3HY.
Regional Funding Expenditure
The following table provides a breakdown of the South East England Development Agency’s expenditure in the area of Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes during the 2005-06 financial year.
There is a variance of £2,138 between the figure provided in the response to the parliamentary question of 22 January 2007 and the total figure below due to programmes crossing administrative borders.
Programme name Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes expenditure (£) Enterprise Gateways 113,493.00 Enterprise Hubs 124,998.00 Incubation Physical Infrastructure 119,266.00 Research and Development Grants 128,191.00 Basic Skills—NHS 30,000.00 RURAL—Skills Programme 7,950.00 Area Programme—Milton Keynes 520,000.00 MKOBB Partnership Support 264,166.00 SRB—MKOBB 219,852.00 RURAL—Market Towns 22,500.00 Wired Region (formerly Broadband Capital) 13,000.00 RURAL—Transport and Services 46,386.00 RURAL—Land based Support 93,976.00 RURAL—Local Produce 15,664.11 SE Economic Partnerships 150,000.00 Total 1,869,442.11
UK Trade and Investment
Staff resources are being increased in the emerging markets in keeping with the commitment in UKTI’s strategy “Prosperity in a Changing World” published in July 2006, and reduced in 2006-07 in Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Senegal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Uganda, USA, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.
As part of the process of resource redeployments, UKTI is introducing new and different ways of working, including hub and spoke arrangements, to provide a more efficient and effective service to customers in the developed markets.
There are no plans to reduce the size of UK Trade and Investment’s overseas network as a whole. The commitment to increase resource in the emerging markets as set out in UKTI’s Strategy ‘Prosperity in a Changing World’, published in July 2006, has to be accomplished within UKTI’s existing resource envelope. Some UKTI posts are therefore being lost in the developed markets as resource is redeployed to the following emerging markets: Brazil, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Dubai, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Vietnam and Russia.
Northern Ireland
Bus Services: Comber
When measured against Translink's customer charter standards for bus punctuality, service number 11 to Comber averaged 61 per cent. in 2006 and 81 per cent. in 2005 during peak traffic periods (figures specific to service number 11 are not available for 2004). Outside peak traffic periods, punctuality was 96 per cent. in 2006 and 97 per cent. in 2005.
Early Release
Persons convicted since the signing on 10 April 1998 of the Belfast agreement for scheduled offences committed prior to that date who are given a sentence of imprisonment of five years or more are eligible to apply for early release under the provisions of the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998. Persons convicted of such offences committed subsequent to that date are not eligible to apply for early release under that legislation.
Fisheries
The consultation period on the Foyle and Carlingford Fisheries (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 lasted eight weeks, commencing on 17 November 2006 and ending at noon on 15 January 2007. Notice of the consultation was advertised in the Belfast Telegraph, the Irish News and the Newsletter. The consultation documentation was also made available on the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's website. 63 responses were received in response to the consultation.
Neonatal Care
The information requested is as follows:
Trust (a) 1 January 2002 (b) 1 January 1997 (c) 1 January 1992 Altnagelvin Group 18 18 18 Craigavon Area Hospital Group 14 14 14 Newry and Mourne 6 6 6 Sperrin Lakeland1 6 6 0 Royal Group of Hospitals 31 21 21 Ulster Community and Hospitals 12 12 12 United Hospitals 16 16 10 1 Neonatal unit opened in Sperrin Lakeland Trust in 1993. Note: It has not been possible to confirm figures for Jubilee Maternity Hospital for 1997 or 1992. Source: Health and Social Service Trusts
Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland
The staff of the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as other public servants.
The next police ombudsman for Northern Ireland will be appointed following competition conducted under the public appointments process. The appointment will be made on merit, judged against a list of competences appropriate to the post.
The next police ombudsman for Northern Ireland will be appointed in accordance with the Commissioner For Public Appointments code of practice and in compliance with existing legislation. The appointment process will begin shortly.
Home Department
ASBOs
There is no specific criminal offence of antisocial behaviour so the information requested is therefore not available.
Asylum Decisions
Ministers respond to such applications in the light of advice provided by officials.
Policy on translations is governed by the Asylum Policy Instruction Translations, which is available on the website of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate at:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/asylumpolicy instructions/
It is the claimant's responsibility to provide material in English or with an English translation. Exceptions may be made where there is a reasonable explanation for the failure to provide a translation, or where not awaiting a translation would adversely affect the decision making process.
Asylum Seekers
I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 22 January with the information requested.
There are no plans to introduce an additional grant for local authorities for this purpose in addition to the money already provided by central Government towards the cost of revenue expenditure on social services and education.
Dedicated social work intake teams were introduced at Dover in 2003 and at the Asylum Screening Unit at Croydon in 2005. The main purpose of the teams is to provide specialist initial assessment and intake services, to improve the resolution of age dispute claims and to improve the identification of vulnerable children from abroad.
Although no formal evaluation of these projects has been carried out, both Croydon and Kent local authorities and the Immigration and Nationality Directorate have reported that the teams have been successful in resolving age dispute issues and improving the Immigration and Nationality Directorate’s child protection procedures.
Costs relating to the provision of accommodation and subsistence payments for asylum seekers are not recorded according to their asylum status and are not available in the form requested.
The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only by examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.
There are currently 47 Chinese nationals being held in immigration detention centres. The information held does not differentiate between failed asylum seekers and others detained under immigration powers.
Biometric Trials
These procurements have yet to start and biometric trialling has, therefore, not yet taken place.
Convicted Foreign Nationals: Deportation
The Director-General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 12 December 2006 to provide an update on progress in the deportation of foreign national prisoners. In this letter the Director-General outlined that due consideration of deportation takes place in all new cases of foreign national prisoners before release, and that since April 2006, over 1,600 foreign national prisoners had been deported or removed. A copy of this letter is available from the Library of the House and a further update will be provided to the Home Affairs Committee shortly.
My right hon. Friend The Home Secretary has stated that changes will be made to the law to strengthen the link between deportation and criminality. The legislative proposals will be brought forward shortly in the forthcoming UK Borders Bill.
Correspondence
I wrote to the hon. Member on 29 January 2007.
Crime Statistics: Somerset
Information is provided in the table for Avon and Somerset Constabulary at Basic Command Unit (BCU) and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) levels.
CDRPs were set up under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and are broadly local authority areas. Data for all crime at BCU and CDRP levels are only available from 2000-01.
BCU name 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 Bath and North East Somerset 1,873 1,927 1,854 2,229 Central Bristol 4,800 6,010 5,986 7,096 North Bristol 3,194 2,770 2,774 3,305 North Somerset 2,054 2,113 2,647 3,231 Somerset East 2,323 2,760 3,098 4,090 Somerset West 2,542 2,920 3,645 4,387 South Bristol 2,375 2,981 3,311 3,959 South Gloucester 2,484 2,189 2,498 2,657 Note: From 2002-03, data not comparable with earlier years following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standards(NCRS) in April 2002
BCU name 2004-05 2005-06 Bath and North East Somerset 2,961 3,146 Bristol 1 15,624 15,524 North Somerset 4,005 3,592 Somerset East 5,074 4,090 Somerset West 4,580 3,781 South Gloucester 3,370 3,932 1 After April 2004 Note: Boundary changes in April 2004
CDRP name 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Bath and North East Somerset 1,873 1,927 1,854 2,229 2,961 3,146 City of Bristol UA 10,369 11,761 12,071 14,360 15,624 15,524 North Somerset 2,054 2,113 2,647 3,231 4,005 3,592 Sedgemoor 971 1,122 1,365 1,826 1,909 1,636 Somerset East—Mendip 1,020 996 1,289 1,684 2,016 1,585 Somerset East—South Somerset 1,303 1,764 1,809 2,406 3,058 2,505 South Gloucester 2,484 2,189 2,498 2,657 3,370 3,932 Taunton Deane 1,185 1,339 1,752 2,036 2,173 1,760 West Somerset 386 459 528 525 498 385 Note: From 2002-03, data not comparable with earlier years following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standards(NCRS) in April 2002
Information is provided in the table for Avon and Somerset Constabulary at Basic Command Unit (BCU) and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) levels.
CDRPs were set up under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and are broadly local authority areas. Data for all crime at BCU and CDRP levels are only available from 2000-01.
Burglary in a dwelling Burglary in other building Robbery Theft from vehicle Theft or Unauthorised taking of motor vehicle 2000-01 Bath and North East Somerset 934 1,076 109 1,900 1,016 Central Bristol 1,813 2,004 1,428 3,929 2,000 North Bristol 2,489 1,735 334 3,062 1,784 North Somerset 1,219 1,240 91 2,305 671 Somerset East 1,232 1,833 217 2,347 917 Somerset West 1,606 1,808 96 2,337 713 South Bristol 1,829 1,508 316 3,284 1,949 South Gloucester 1,274 2,205 174 2,754 1,380 2001-02 Bath and North East Somerset 1,63 1,562 205 2,374 1,392 Central Bristol 2,580 2,825 2,806 6,894 2,618 North Bristol 3,298 2,211 759 3,992 2,122 North Somerset 1,475 1,504 131 2,552 752 Somerset East 1,427 2,416 107 3,294 938 Somerset West 1,644 1,729 111 2,776 619 South Bristol 2,560 1,891 509 4,006 2,325 South Gloucester 1,448 2,732 261 2,722 1,415 2002-03 Bath and North East Somerset 1,194 1,430 195 2,132 1,458 Central Bristol 2,435 2,230 1,633 5,079 2,168 North Bristol 2,674 1,743 439 2,935 1,938 North Somerset 1,224 1,449 155 2,189 772 Somerset East 1,737 2,449 186 3,151 1,106 Somerset West 1,579 1,824 107 2,327 794 South Bristol 2,245 2,558 481 3,802 2,125 South Gloucester 1,473 1,938 308 2,651 1,622 2003-04 Bath and North East Somerset 921 1,083 135 1945 948 Central Bristol 1,965 2,063 1,263 4,383 1,546 North Bristol 1,785 1,372 477 2,638 1,499 North Somerset 1,046 1,209 156 1,738 633 Somerset East 1,051 1,905 112 1,993 863 Somerset West 1,047 1,705 103 1,810 706 South Bristol 1,950 2,185 467 3,574 1,459 South Gloucester 1,201 2,076 195 2,222 1,051 2004-05 Bath and North East Somerset 686 1,128 93 1,304 588 Bristol (after April 2004) 5,252 4,980 1,726 9,041 3,756 North Somerset 842 1,029 95 1,377 572 Somerset East 847 1,678 75 1,659 639 Somerset West 783 1,467 88 1,819 613 South Gloucester 1,176 1,628 160 1,736 902 2005-06 Bath and North East Somerset 500 924 114 1,107 613 Bristol 1 4,324 4,579 1,531 9,083 3,395 North Somerset 744 1,021 90 1,392 471 Somerset East 645 1,423 59 1,233 561 Somerset West 727 1,416 74 1,361 464 South Gloucester 903 1,606 168 1,453 776 1 After April 2004 Notes: 1. From 2002-03, data not comparable with earlier years following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standards(NCRS) in April 2002. 2. Boundary changes April 2004.
Burglary in a dwelling Burglary in other building Robbery Theft from vehicle Theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicle 2000-01 Bath and North East Somerset 934 1,076 109 1,900 1,016 City of Bristol UA 6,131 5,247 2,078 10,275 5,733 North Somerset 1,219 1,240 91 2,305 671 Sedgemoor 825 925 34 1,033 342 Somerset East—Mendip 527 572 181 843 387 Somerset East—South Somerset 705 1,261 36 1,504 530 South Gloucester 1,274 2,205 174 2,754 1,380 Taunton Deane 589 676 49 1,105 304 West Somerset 192 207 13 199 67 2001-02 Bath and North East Somerset 1,563 1,562 205 2,374 1,392 City of Bristol UA 8,438 6,927 4,074 14,892 7,065 North Somerset 1,475 1,504 131 2,552 752 Sedgemoor 731 773 46 1,165 327 Somerset East—Mendip 580 852 25 1,079 304 Somerset East—South Somerset 847 1,564 82 2,215 634 South Gloucester 1,448 2,732 261 2,722 1,415 Taunton Deane 694 772 54 1,398 210 West Somerset 219 184 11 213 82 2002-03 Bath and North East Somerset 1,194 1,430 195 2,132 1,458 City of Bristol UA 7,354 6,531 2,553 11,816 6,231 North Somerset 1,224 1,449 155 2,189 772 Sedgemoor 734 924 47 1,068 393 Somerset East—Mendip 548 962 117 1,459 484 Somerset East—South Somerset 1,189 1,487 69 1,692 622 South Gloucester 1,473 1,938 308 2,651 1,622 Taunton Deane 636 725 55 1,083 318 West Somerset 209 175 5 176 83 2003-04 Bath and North East Somerset 921 1,083 135 1,945 948 City of Bristol UA 5,700 5,620 2,207 10,595 4,504 North Somerset 1,046 1,209 156 1,738 633 Sedgemoor 440 704 38 758 355 Somerset East—Mendip 440 749 57 765 400 Somerset East—South Somerset 611 1,156 55 1,228 463 South Gloucester 1,201 2,076 195 2,222 1,051 Taunton Deane 475 704 54 849 286 West Somerset 132 297 11 203 65 2004-05 Bath and North East Somerset 686 1,128 93 1,304 588 City of Bristol UA 5,252 4,980 1,726 9,041 3,756 North Somerset 842 1,029 95 1,377 572 Sedgemoor 377 680 36 796 319 Somerset East—Mendip 316 727 25 691 272 Somerset East—South Somerset 531 951 50 968 367 South Gloucester 1,176 1,628 160 1,736 902 Taunton Deane 313 552 45 890 248 West Somerset 93 235 7 133 46 2005-06 Bath and North East Somerset 500 924 114 1,107 613 City of Bristol UA 4,324 4,579 1,531 9,083 3,395 North Somerset 744 1,021 90 1,392 471 Sedgemoor 346 608 40 586 242 Somerset East—Mendip 234 576 22 499 230 Somerset East—South Somerset 411 847 37 734 331 South Gloucester 903 1,606 168 1,453 776 Taunton Deane 292 588 31 630 181 West Somerset 89 220 3 145 41 Note: From 2002-03, data not comparable with earlier years following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standards(NCRS) in April 2002
Crime: Somerset
[holding answer 1 February 2007]: Information is provided in the table for Avon and Somerset constabulary at crime and disorder reduction partnership (CDRP) level.
CDRPs were set up under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and are broadly local authority areas. Data for all crime at this level are only available from 2000-01.
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Bath and North East Somerset 13,534 17,591 16,771 15,148 14,850 14,430 City of Bristol UA 64,518 83,567 76,765 74,236 71,169 70,793 North Somerset 14,163 15,845 16,503 16,086 16,596 15,978 Sedgemoor 8,094 8,578 8,884 8,513 8,628 7,528 Somerset East—Mendip 8,186 6,993 9,454 8,518 8,148 6,873 Somerset East—South Somerset 9,791 12,939 12,843 11,674 11,991 10,029 South Gloucester 18,093 20,171 20,421 19,007 18,472 19,270 Taunton Deane 8,311 9,066 9,663 9,166 9,097 7,816 West Somerset 2,297 2,446 2,562 2,595 2,259 2,159 Note: From 2002-03, data not comparable with earlier years following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standards(NCRS) in April 2002
Data Sales
The Department and its agencies have not sold data from its databases to private organisations in the past three years.
Dispersal Orders
Data on dispersal authorisations since April 2006 are not yet available.
Data on the number of individuals dispersed and how many under 16's have been removed to their home address since April 2006 are not yet available.
Driving Offences
For driving without insurance the maximum penalty is a fine at level five on the standard scale, with discretionary disqualification and endorsement of six to eight penalty points on the driver’s licence. For driving without a valid driving licence the maximum penalty is a fine of level three on the standard scale, with discretionary disqualification and obligatory endorsement of three to six penalty points if the driving would not have been in accordance with any licence that could have been issued to the driver.
Driving Offences: Speed Limits
I have been asked to reply.
Speed awareness courses are offered at the discretion of police forces as an alternative to prosecution. This information is not therefore held centrally.
Foreign National Criminals
The latest available information was set out in my statements to the House of Commons dated 10 January and 16 January, and in the Home Office statement issued on 13 January.
Highly-skilled Migrants Programme
People who were granted leave under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) before the changes will be able to complete that period of leave. We anticipate that most of those people who then wish to extend their leave after the changes and who are economically active in the United Kingdom will be able to extend their leave under the revised Immigration Rules for the HSMP, to succeed under the transitional arrangements for self-employed people, or to switch into work permit employment. We will be evaluating the impact of the changes.
Hit and Run
Information on the number of hit and run incidents that have led to court proceedings is not collected centrally.
Available information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform and given in the table shows the number of prosecutions for the offence of ‘failing to stop after an accident’ under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 170 (4) from 2000 to 2004 (latest available). The data do not distinguish between those offences which resulted in injury from those which resulted in damage or both.
2005 data will be available later this year.
Number of offences 2000 26,692 2001 27,769 2002 28,067 2003 28,871 2004 27,078 1 Aiding, abetting, causing or permitting accident offences under the RTA88 s. 170(4). Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system currently being implemented by the Department for Constitutional Affairs reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) in answer to question number 68721 on 25 May 2006, Official Report, column 2019W.
Internal management information indicates that the number of full-time equivalent staff employed in the assessment of asylum claims in each of the last 12 weeks was as shown in the table.
The numbers quoted include those contributing to the initial decision making process plus those dealing with follow-up work.
Week Number of FTE staff1 30 October 2006 247 6 November 2006 245 13 November 2006 243 20 November 2006 243 27 November 2006 237 4 December 2006 236 11 December 2006 238 18 December 2006 279 25 December 2006 278 1 January 2007 274 8 January 2007 271 15 January 2007 268 1 Rounded up to the nearest whole number.
Accurate figures cannot be provided because data are not held centrally but on various databases across IND. To extract the information from all of the different databases across IND and collate would incur a disproportionate cost.
This will be one of the issues addressed within the complaints change programme which will overhaul IND's complaints processes in line with Cabinet Office guidance and the recommendations of the Complaints Audit Committee. The complaints change programme has already been launched and the necessary changes will happen over the next 15 months.
As part of this programme, a new single database will be set up to capture and monitor all complaints across IND and to provide accurate and readily accessible information.
Inappropriate Websites
At the Justice and Home Affairs Council, held on 4-5 December 2006 in Brussels, the Home Secretary emphasised the need to protect children, and others, from violent material and set out the UK’s specific concerns about extreme pornographic material. With regard to child abuse images, the Home Secretary raised what more could be done at the EU level to tackle child abuse images.
Domestically, the UK is proposing to make the possession of a limited range of violent and extreme pornography material illegal, and would like other member states to consider how they control the publication and distribution of such material.
Joseph Deele Omanga
I wrote to the hon. Member on 31 January 2007.
Kenya
It is an operational matter for the police to investigate evidence of any criminal offence.
Mental Illness: Employment
Under the disability equality duty introduced by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, my Department and the public sector bodies for which I am responsible are required to publish and implement disability equality schemes. These are plans setting out how we will carry out the disability equality duty, monitor, and report on progress. In particular this includes our arrangements for gathering information on the effect of our policies and practices on the recruitment, development and retention of our disabled employees, including those with mental health conditions, and making use of that information.
Further details of these arrangements are set out in the Department’s disability equality scheme published on 4 December 2006 and are available on http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/ho-disability-equality-scheme/.
Mentally Disordered Offenders
Mentally disordered offender is not a term with any statutory meaning, but the Home Office uses it to denote anyone convicted of an offence (or disposed of by the court following a finding under the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964) and then dealt with under powers in Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Clause 29 of The UK Borders Bill, introduced on 26 January, creates a number of exceptions to the automatic deportation procedure for foreign criminals. One of these, Exception 5, is where certain provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983 or corresponding legislation in Scotland or Northern Ireland apply (the foreign criminal is a “mentally disordered offender”). This is because we think it is right that full consideration is given on a case by case basis to the complex issues surrounding the deportation of people falling within this category rather than deportation being automatic.
Mr Boukhalfi
[holding answer 30 January 2007]: I wrote to the hon. Member regarding this matter on the 29 January 2007.
MSC Napoli
[holding answer 26 January 2007]: Policing beaches within a force area is the operational responsibility of the police and is therefore an appropriate charge to the budget of the local force. Police authorities are expected to hold contingency reserves to meet exceptional events.
If additional costs incurred by the force are of a magnitude that puts at risk their operational capability, after use of any contingency reserves, then they may apply to the Home Office for special grant support.
Police
The available data are given in the tables.
Norfolk police force Full-time equivalent 31 March 1997 1,432 31 March 1998 1,430 31 March 1999 1,381 31 March 2000 1,381 31 March 2001 1,420 31 March 2002 1,468 31 March 2003 1,499 31 March 2004 1,510 31 March 2005 1,544 31 March 2006 1,557 1 This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. 2 Full-time equivalent excludes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.
Norfolk police force Full-time equivalent 31 March 2003 12 31 March 2004 33 31 March 20054 68 31 March 20064 65 1 This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. 2 Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. 3 Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data are not available prior to 2002-03. 4 Strength figures as at 31 March 2005 onwards include those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. Therefore these figures are not comparable with those provided for other years in the table.
Police Community Support Officers
The available data for Lancashire police force are given in the following table:
Recruits 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 PCSOs 94 7 66 56 Police Officers 2243 3324 1604 2094 1 Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March. 2 Full-time Equivalent. This figure includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. 3 Not comparable with later years; data include transfers from other England and Wales forces and officers returning after a period of secondment 4 Data include transfers from other England and Wales forces but do not include officers returning after a period of secondment.
Police Riot Protection
Over a three year period (2004 to 2007) approximately £200,000 has been allocated for the development and publishing of HOSDB standards for public order protection.
Police: West Midlands
(2) how much has been spent on publicising the 101 programme since its introduction;
(3) how many calls were handled by the five local authorities participating in the 101 programme in 2006.
[holding answer 1 February 2007]: Evaluation and assessment of the introduction of the single non-emergency number, 101, in the five Wave 1 Police and Local Authority Partnership areas are currently ongoing. Plans for further programme development beyond Wave 1 Partnership areas have been deferred pending the outcome of this evaluation and assessment to be completed in autumn 2007.
The 101 service was introduced between May and September 2006 in the five Wave 1 Partnership areas involving 30 local authorities and five police forces covering approximately 10 per cent. of the population of England and Wales. £1.3 million was spent on publicising the new service locally across these areas and informing the public how it should be used.
Since this introduction until the end of December 2006, 101 call advisers have handled more than a quarter of a million (277,272) calls from the public in their local areas with high levels of customer satisfaction and positive feedback on the service received.
Probation Service
Information is not available for the full period requested. Data collected prior to 1 April 2003 are not directly comparable with the more accurate figures collected since that time. The figures presented show full-time equivalent (FTE) figures at the close of each quarter from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2006.
In addition, the information required to break down the number of Probation Officers in post by area in quarter 1 2003-04 is no longer held. As a result, only the total figure has been provided for this period.
2003-04 Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Avon and Somerset — 96.40 112.90 110.40 Bedfordshire — 57.30 61.10 62.60 Cambridgeshire — 75.50 85.35 75.97 Cheshire — 116.10 112.30 114.30 Cumbria — 59.90 59.90 56.30 Derbyshire — 117.60 106.70 102.70 Devon and Cornwall — 136.80 149.35 146.30 Dorset — 63.00 68.00 63.10 Durham — 72.00 86.50 87.50 Dyfed Powys — 46.70 46.30 43.70 Essex — 106.00 111.20 117.50 Gloucestershire — 52.30 56.40 55.40 Gwent — 69.10 68.10 69.20 Hampshire — 155.90 173.59 178.60 Hertfordshire — 63.70 65.90 71.99 Humberside — 121.78 139.78 138.78 Kent — 138.35 148.55 154.95 Lancashire — 243.20 243.60 246.10 Leicestershire — 126.00 125.00 130.70 Lincolnshire — 64.20 61.60 60.60 London — 795.70 840.50 862.50 Greater Manchester — 414.70 399.80 387.58 Merseyside — 243.90 241.50 238.44 Norfolk — 72.68 76.88 84.18 North Yorkshire — 66.20 75.80 75.60 North Wales — 58.70 67.10 67.50 Northamptonshire — 69.00 65.00 63.00 Northumbria — 223.30 252.26 253.10 Nottinghamshire — 166.00 171.50 160.90 South Wales — 155.60 157.60 172.30 South Yorkshire — 183.50 203.00 202.40 Staffordshire — 148.70 147.10 146.20 Suffolk — 82.25 81.75 85.15 Surrey — 56.70 63.90 66.55 Sussex — 121.20 123.30 126.60 Teesside — 64.60 76.60 74.85 Thames Valley — 163.00 176.70 182.00 Warwickshire — 55.00 55.00 53.21 West Mercia — 123.31 125.46 125.90 West Midlands — 374.50 429.20 406.82 West Yorkshire — 275.57 310.48 313.86 Wiltshire — 41.90 48.90 50.10 Total 5,831.10 5,937.84 6,271.45 6,285.43
Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter3 Quarter 4 Avon and Somerset 151.90 148.10 153.70 153.30 Bedfordshire 56.40 58.00 61.00 66.00 Cambridgeshire 74.90 75.60 78.27 76.27 Cheshire 109.60 113.80 113.90 114.65 Cumbria 53.60 52.90 57.50 58.00 Derbyshire 112.90 125.60 109.20 107.50 Devon and Cornwall 141.76 141.60 149.10 150.30 Dorset 60.86 62.56 66.79 70.29 Durham 87.50 89.50 96.70 95.83 Dyfed Powys 43.20 42.70 49.10 46.70 Essex 116.80 112.90 120.11 120.20 Gloucestershire 55.40 54.99 59.69 59.19 Gwent 65.60 65.10 67.30 65.30 Hampshire 175.90 168.50 190.40 188.90 Hertfordshire 71.99 72.70 71.70 75.10 Humberside 135.39 131.89 147.91 147.68 Kent 152.15 144.40 146.20 145.53 Lancashire 243.50 237.10 253.20 250.40 Leicestershire 134.20 140.80 138.20 134.70 Lincolnshire 57.60 64.00 63.60 64.40 London 864.80 874.60 835.41 834.54 Greater Manchester 370.20 373.20 404.40 406.26 Merseyside 242.03 237.43 268.43 267.24 Norfolk 80.88 77.68 79.85 82.60 North Yorkshire 78.30 75.20 88.60 93.60 North Wales 71.80 72.80 84.20 83.20 Northamptonshire 59.00 65.00 66.63 72.54 Northumbria 251.80 274.06 267.95 263.76 Nottinghamshire 156.18 168.02 166.11 165.91 South Wales 169.60 169.70 195.90 191.48 South Yorkshire 196.80 195.50 212.70 208.10 Staffordshire 148.40 156.40 152.30 152.70 Suffolk 82.25 82.80 83.00 83.40 Surrey 62.50 62.10 68.30 66.67 Sussex 128.41 127.79 128.74 128.84 Teesside 74.35 84.85 87.65 87.24 Thames Valley 175.00 169.30 176.40 175.80 Warwickshire 52.80 55.15 51.33 52.93 West Mercia 121.84 142.58 141.30 138.10 West Midlands 403.97 447.50 444.50 446.30 West Yorkshire 321.16 320.58 343.37 331.88 Wiltshire 44.10 41.50 44.30 43.30 Total 6,257.32 6,376.48 6,584.94 6,566.63
Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter3 Quarter 4 Avon and Somerset 154.40 158.80 166.20 174.20 Bedfordshire 65.00 63.00 65.30 65.40 Cambridgeshire 73.70 77.07 79.30 76.77 Cheshire 121.00 134.00 124.30 118.21 Cumbria 59.20 56.80 63.30 62.00 Derbyshire 108.50 117.00 119.50 118.10 Devon and Cornwall 151.10 148.50 165.40 151.60 Dorset 67.64 67.43 75.60 70.96 Durham 91.50 86.70 99.50 96.90 Dyfed Powys 48.10 55.10 55.70 45.30 Essex 115.00 111.30 120.80 124.40 Gloucestershire 55.76 54.76 59.80 50.99 Gwent 52.10 63.10 65.30 88.10 Hampshire 179.90 180.70 197.40 185.30 Hertfordshire 71.10 70.20 73.20 65.40 Humberside 146.91 145.01 161.80 161.29 Kent 142.13 132.34 154.10 147.80 Lancashire 241.10 238.70 253.70 254.22 Leicestershire 136.10 152.50 153.20 141.10 Lincolnshire 63.10 70.50 67.10 63.50 London 820.07 829.74 821.40 797.30 Greater Manchester 402.21 385.81 385.80 486.09 Merseyside 264.24 262.20 281.20 285.15 Norfolk 80.16 79.89 86.40 83.97 North Yorkshire 88.60 79.50 89.60 86.09 North Wales 83.70 89.10 87.30 86.40 Northamptonshire 70.99 69.91 68.30 81.60 Northumbria 259.16 257.20 283.30 257.75 Nottinghamshire 161.01 155.60 168.20 167.60 South Wales 188.50 213.20 215.10 196.10 South Yorkshire 203.90 203.80 226.80 212.60 Staffordshire 151.60 165.10 160.60 151.80 Suffolk 83.58 80.96 86.10 84.49 Surrey 69.85 68.75 70.00 72.50 Sussex 129.70 126.51 147.10 136.63 Teesside 95.90 95.00 104.10 99.40 Thames Valley 164.00 171.40 180.20 170.30 Warwickshire 54.06 60.77 59.30 50.66 West Mercia 137.10 150.10 144.50 150.00 West Midlands 443.50 441.50 493.50 470.10 West Yorkshire 335.37 320.56 361.00 349.26 Wiltshire 39.30 39.30 54.20 56.20 Total 6,469.84 6,529.41 6,894.50 6,793.53
Race Equality Impact Assessment
Race equality impact assessments form a part of normal policy development and it is not possible without incurring disproportionate cost to identify the costs attributable to the impact assessment alone.
Temporary Admission
The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as a full search of individual files and records over the last five years would have to be conducted.
Victims Commissioner
A variety of guidance documents have been issued to police authorities and forces in relation to support for victims.
The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, which came into effect on 3 April 2006, places a number of statutory requirements on forces to support victims during an investigation. Under the Code, police forces are required to:
take all reasonable steps to identify vulnerable or intimidated victims;
provide victims with, information about the criminal justice system;
update victims within set timescales about key developments in the investigation;
inform victims if no further action is to be taken in relation to an investigation;
refer victims to Victim Support, unless they are victims of certain offences or ask the police not to pass on their details.
Victim Support and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have also put in place a joint protocol setting out the steps each will take to ensure that referrals take place and that they are compliant with the Data Protection Act 1988.
In April 2006 the Home Office also issued a Citizen Focus Policing Good Practice Guide, which set out good practice examples on all aspects of customer service including supporting victims.
ACPO have also introduced the Professionalising the Investigative Process (PIP). The PIP Core Investigative Doctrine provides definitive national advice for all investigators on the key principles of criminal investigation, irrespective of the nature or complexity of the investigation. The Victim and Witness Strategy section of the PIP Doctrine outlines the process for dealing with victims and witnesses during the investigative process and it also makes reference to the existing detailed guidance and best practice documents along with further sources of relevant information.
Section 4 of the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime sets out the criteria for establishing if a victim is vulnerable or intimidated and, therefore, eligible for enhanced services under the code. It states:
4.1 Some services under this Code are to be provided only to vulnerable or intimidated victims based on the definitions given by sections 16 and 17 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. For the purposes of this Code, vulnerable and intimidated victims are defined as such at the time of the offence, rather than at the time of hearing as specified in the 1999 Act.
Vulnerable victims
4.2 For the purposes of the Code a victim of crime is eligible for an enhanced service under the Code:
(a) If under the age of 17 at the time of the offence; or
(b) If the service provider considers that the quality of evidence given by the victim is likely to be diminished by reason of any circumstances falling within 4.3.
4.3 The circumstances falling within this subsection are:
(a) That the victim
(i) suffers from mental disorder within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1983,
(ii) otherwise has a significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning;
(b) that the victim has a physical disability or is suffering from a physical disorder.
4.4 In determining whether a victim falls within the definition in paragraph 4.3 the service provider must consider any views expressed by the victim.
4.5 In this Section references to the quality of a victim's evidence are to its quality in terms of completeness, coherence and accuracy; and for this purpose “coherence” refers to a victim's ability in giving evidence to give answers which address the questions put to the victim and can be understood both individually and collectively.
Intimidated victims
4.6 For the purposes of the Code a victim of criminal conduct is eligible for an enhanced service under the Code if the service provider is satisfied that the quality of evidence given by the victim is likely to be diminished by reason of fear or distress on the part of the victim in connection with testifying in the proceedings.
4.7 In determining whether a victim falls within the definition in paragraph 4.6 the service provider must take into account, in particular:
(a) the nature and alleged circumstances of the offence to which the proceedings relate;
(b) the age of the victim;
(c) such of the following matters as appear to the service provider to be relevant, namely:
(i) the social and cultural background and ethnic origins of the victim,
(ii) the domestic and employment circumstances of the victim, and
(iii) any religious beliefs or political opinions of the victim;
(d) any behaviour towards the victim on the part of:
(i) the accused,
(ii) members of the family or associates of the accused, or
(iii) any other person who is likely to be an accused or a witness in the proceedings.
4.8 In determining whether a victim falls within the definition in paragraph 4.6, the service provider must in addition consider any views expressed by the victim.
4.9 The complainant in respect of a sexual offence or domestic abuse and the relatives of those who have died as a result of criminal conduct are eligible for an enhanced service under the Code unless the victim has informed the service provider of the victim's wish not to be so.
4.10 A victim's vulnerability may change during the course of an investigation due to health, intimidation or other reason. Service providers must give the victim the opportunity to be provided with an enhanced service if such a change in circumstance is brought to their attention.
4.11 All organisations with responsibilities under the Code should identify victims as vulnerable or intimidated as defined by this Code. Once the service provider has identified a victim as vulnerable or intimidated, that service provider must ensure that this information is passed on as necessary to other organisations with responsibilities in this Code.
Yarl's Wood
A creche is available for under 5s and is open seven days per week. Schooling is provided for children aged 5 to 16 years Monday to Friday. Activity classes are laid on in the sports hall each day and there is also an outside playground and sports courts. There is a youth worker and a youth club which opens seven days per week. A counsellor and a social worker are on site Monday to Friday as well as a full time Children’s Service Manager.
Youth Community Forums
Section 96 of the Police Act places a duty on police authorities to obtain the views of the community on policing in their area. It is a matter for each police authority at a local level to decide how this duty is carried out. There are currently no plans to make a requirement on police authorities to hold regular youth community forums.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacture Association
No minutes were taken at either of the meetings referred to. Both were of an informal nature and were mainly concerned with an exchange of information on developments on disposable nappies relating to the continued weight reduction and new emerging waste management technologies.
Biomass
The DEFRA-sponsored National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC) has carried out some research into existing, and proposed future, biofuel production capacity in the UK.
No bioethanol fuel is produced in the UK at the moment, although various plants are currently being constructed or are at the planning stage, which it is estimated could have a total production capacity of over 835 million litres.
Biodiesel is produced in the UK from a mix of feedstocks, including UK-sourced recycled waste vegetable oil and animal fats, oilseed rape, and other imported vegetable oils. Existing UK biodiesel production capacity is now estimated at around 611 million litres, although recently commissioned plants are not yet producing at full capacity.
On bioplastics production, the NNFCC are expanding their knowledge of the UK bioplastic industry, particularly through their recently established Thematic Working Group on Renewable Polymers, which aims to promote and facilitate development of this emerging sector.
At present, there is one UK-based producer of bioplastics derived from renewable feedstocks. This company manufactures flexible films from cellulose derived from wood pulp. There are also a small number of UK companies that use imported bio-based polymers such as poly lactic acid which is moulded and blended for use in many household and industrial applications. In addition, a few small companies produce simple starch-based polymers for use in applications such as packaging, as a replacement for expanded polystyrene.
Bovine Tuberculosis
The information requested is set out in the following table.
County Specific pre-movement animal tests carried out between 23 September 2005 and 23 January 2007 Reactors found Inconclusive reactors found Suffolk 5 0 0 Cambridgeshire 0 0 0 Norfolk 0 0 0 Cumbria 13,540 2 8 Bedfordshire 0 0 0 Essex 0 0 0 Hertfordshire 0 0 0 Greater London (East) 0 0 0 Devon 37,007 109 166 Avon 6,554 9 16 Gloucestershire 6,876 40 24 Wiltshire 8,431 10 39 North Yorkshire 72 0 0 South Yorkshire 0 0 0 West Yorkshire 0 0 0 Leicestershire 2,338 6 2 Northamptonshire 1,632 0 4 Warwickshire 1,110 1 3 West Midlands 156 0 0 Humberside 52 0 0 Lincolnshire 7 0 0 Nottinghamshire 97 0 0 Durham 1 0 0 Northumberland 2,494 1 3 Tyne and Wear 0 0 0 Cleveland 0 0 0 Greater Manchester 330 0 5 Lancashire 1,910 0 2 Merseyside 137 0 0 Berkshire 261 0 2 Buckinghamshire 518 0 1 Hampshire 100 0 0 Oxfordshire 508 0 0 Isle of Wight 0 0 0 East Sussex 913 2 2 Kent 160 0 0 West Sussex 5 0 0 Surrey 0 0 0 Greater London (South) 0 0 0 Cheshire 10,431 4 8 Derbyshire 10,015 10 6 Staffordshire 26,576 11 21 Dorset 8,179 4 25 Somerset 13,798 16 38 Cornwall 20,383 35 48 Isles of Scilly 0 0 0 Hereford and Worcester 7,808 20 44 Shropshire 13,109 15 10 Total 195,513 295 477
Herd owners can utilise their routine tuberculosis surveillance tests paid for by the Government as pre-movement tests if animals are moved within 60 days after that test.
Bovine TB controls, including TB testing, are statutory under European and domestic legislation. Cattle owners have a legal obligation to present their animals for testing in compliance with these provisions.
In England, over 85 per cent. of eligible reported cattle movements are currently compliant with pre-movement testing rules.
As at the end of November 2006, which is the most up to date figure available, 3,091 herds were overdue a bovine tuberculosis test, and had been placed under restriction. A small proportion of these would be cases where a farmer was refusing to allow a test to be carried out.
BSE
A full response to the hon. Member’s question could by provided only at disproportionate cost due to the large number of complex factors involved.
However, an economic impact survey is available in the report of the inquiry into the emergence and identification of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). This covers the period from when the disease was first discovered up to 20 March 1996. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House.
Dog Breeders
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 January 2007, Official Report, column 1126-27W.
Energy Crops
Both the Teesside and Lockerbie biomass energy plants are still under construction. Both are in receipt of grant funding from the Big Lottery under the Bioenergy Capital Grants Scheme. The grants do not require that a specific amount of feedstock should be sourced from existing woodland, but there is a requirement that the fuel supply includes a minimum proportion of energy crops.
In his statement on 12 December 2006, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State (David Miliband) confirmed the Government’s intention to continue to support energy crop planting under the next Rural Development Programme for England (2007-13). This is also the case for Scotland.
Forestry Commission England intend to publish a woodfuel strategy which will address the issue of increasing woodfuel available from existing woodlands. In Scotland the Scottish Executive is about to publish its biomass action plan and this will lay out its proposals for developing the bioenergy sector in Scotland. Long-term availability of biomass will also be considered in the UK biomass strategy which the Government intend to publish before May 2007.
Officials from Defra and the Forestry Commission hold regular discussions with those involved with feedstock procurement for these projects.
EU Waste Incineration Directive
Since the European Commission’s initial soundings on its first working paper in February 1994, officials from the former Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) consulted fully, and at all stages, officials from the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, other interested Government departments and agencies on the negotiation of the Waste Incineration Directive (WID).
The Environment Agency was established by the 1995 Environment Act and became fully operational on 1 April 1996.
The implementation of the WID was discussed by officials at an EU level and copies of the proposed Directive and cost-benefit analyses commissioned by the DETR were distributed for comment to a range of other bodies, including trade representative organisations and associations. Trade representative organisations were also invited to meetings with DETR officials in April 1994, September 1997 and October 1998 to discuss the proposed directive.
GM Crops
The main genetically modified (GM) crop producing countries are the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India, China, Paraguay and South Africa. The UK imports food from all of these countries.
Greenhouse Gases
Total direct greenhouse gas emissions arising from the UK livestock sector (sheep, pigs, bovines and poultry) were 4.5 per cent. of the UK total emissions or 8.07 million tonnes of carbon equivalent (MtCe) in 2005. This was made up of: 5.03 MtCe of methane (of which 86 per cent. was from enteric fermentation in the animals digestive systems and about 14 per cent. from manure management); 0.96 MtCe of nitrous oxide emission from manure management; and 2.08 MtCe of nitrous oxide emissions from grazing and crop production for livestock feed.
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control
My noble friend the Lord Rooker recently met representatives of the intensive livestock rearing industry to discuss permit charges and, in particular, how annual charges might be reduced through streamlined approaches to inspection. The Environment Agency (EA) and the National Farmers’ Union are currently considering options including what greater use might be made of assurance scheme visits.
The Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 require permit applications to be accompanied by the prescribed fee. The EA must seek to recover its full costs in accordance with HM Treasury guidance. The EA will review the costs when the majority of the applications has been assessed and the full extent of the work is known.
Mastitis
It is known that areas of the United Kingdom have mineral deficient soil and that deficiencies of selenium occur in farmed animals. Mineral supplements for cattle can therefore be desirable to help alleviate this where it occurs.
We remain open minded about the possibility of a nutritional link between selenium deficiency and mastitis. The use of selenium supplements in any particular herd should be based on veterinary advice or expert advice from a nutritionist, as selenium can be toxic in excess and has a narrow safety margin. Organic standards allow the inclusion of trace element salts into the diet and in some cases allow trace element treatments within an animal health plan.
Nappies
(2) what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of reusable nappies;
(3) what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) the Waste and Resources Action Programme and (b) other organisations on promoting the use of real nappies.
The Defra-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme’s (WRAP) Real Nappy Campaign was established to promote the use of reusable nappies. The three year campaign has succeeded in diverting approximately 23,000 tonnes of biodegradable nappy waste from landfill in England.
Reusable nappies may reduce demands on landfill but they still impact on the environment in other ways, such as the water and energy used in washing and drying them. In May 2005, the Environment Agency (EA) published a report entitled “A Life Cycle Assessment of disposable and reusable nappies in the UK”. The report concluded that there was no significant difference between any of the environmental impacts of the disposable, home use reusable and commercial laundry systems that were assessed. None of the systems studied were more or less environmentally preferable.
The EA has commissioned a modest amount of further work to test the validity of some of the assumptions on which these conclusions were based.
WRAP intends to hand over the work on real nappies to other interested parties during the course of this financial year.
The target of the Waste and Resources Action Programme’s (WRAP) Real Nappy Programme, set out in their Business Plan 2003-06, was to divert a total of 35,000 tonnes of disposable nappy waste from landfill.
WRAP’s Achievements Report, published on 4 October 2006, states that the programme diverted approximately 23,000 tonnes of biodegradable nappy waste from landfill in England.
The Real Nappy Programme budget for the April 2003 to March 2006 period was £2.3 million, with some funding continuing in 2006-07 to allow WRAP to meet existing commitments. No further funding is planned over 2007-08.
Public Bodies: Animal Welfare
The information requested is set out in the following table.
Non-departmental public body Animal welfare specialist? Farm Animal Welfare Council Yes Animal Health and Welfare Strategy England Implementation Group (EIG) Yes Independent Scientific Group on TB in Cattle No animal welfare specialist but members have related experience in differing fields including wildlife diseases/badger ecology Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) No animal welfare specialist but deputy chair is a practicing vet Veterinary Products Committee No animal welfare specialist but members are experienced in various fields including veterinary surgeons and toxicologists Veterinary Residues Committee The Committee’s terms of reference do not cover animal welfare
RADAR
The Rapid Analysis and Detection of Animal-related Risks (RADAR) system allows for key surveillance information about animal diseases and conditions to be collected in a structured and consistent manner. It is the technical agent for assisting in delivering the UK Veterinary Surveillance Strategy.
RADAR also contains current, accurate information about the number and location of animals. This allows for a better understanding of animal disease in the UK and the risks posed by them, helping to control animal related disease.
RADAR is being developed and released in phases between now and 2013. The first release happened in March 2005 and made information available on the Great Britain cattle population and cases of salmonella. Information on the Great Britain poultry population has been added subsequently.
RADAR is now operational and further enhancements are being developed. The next update will enable information on sheep, pig, deer and goat movements to be incorporated into the system.
Surveillance reports have already been produced using RADAR and a number of these are available on the Defra website.
Recycling
Defra assisted the British embassy in Berne in coordinating a delegation for an outward three-day visit to Switzerland, under the UK Trade and Investment Programme, for 10 key English local authorities. The visit, which was attended by two Defra officials, incorporated a range of formal presentations and meetings with Swiss politicians and waste industry representatives as well as site visits to two recycling plants.
The aim of the visit was to learn about Swiss best practice in waste prevention, collection and recycling processing, in addition to bringing together key authorities to assist in their own waste infrastructure development.
Delegates included local authority officers and councillors from Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Greater London, Hertfordshire, Tyneside, Northamptonshire and Suffolk. The total cost to the Department for officials was, £1245.
Officials have also visited a recycling plant at a Danish deposit/return system. However, this was part of a wider ministerial visit to learn about waste management in Denmark generally, rather than an official trip.
(2) what steps his Department is taking to encourage greater use of biodegradable and recyclable materials in the use of carrier bags for supermarkets.
The Environment Agency is currently carrying out a study considering the environmental impacts of a range of carrier bags, including disposable plastic carrier bags and biodegradable alternatives. The study will look at their entire life-cycle (from raw material extraction through to product manufacture, use and final disposal) and is due to report by the end of March this year. The evidence so far suggests there would be no benefit in reducing the number of plastic bags in use if this encourages the use of alternative packaging or materials which are even more environmentally damaging.
The National Non-Food Crops Centre has also started work on life cycle analysis comparison of plastic, oxodegradable and biodegradable bags. Again, this will be available by March 2007. They have established a thematic working group on biopolymers which aims to promote and facilitate the expansion of this sector. Biopolymers are derived from renewable sources and can be used in a range of products, including bags, which helps to develop a sustainable supply chain.
On 12 October last year, the Scottish Minister, Ross Finnie, and I jointly chaired a meeting with major UK retailers, to discuss a proposed voluntary code of practice on reducing the use of paper and plastic carrier bags. Defra is working closely with the devolved administrations, the Waste Resources Action Programme, the British Retail Consortium, retailers and the plastics industry to develop a voluntary approach for reducing the environmental impact of carrier bags. This is looking at ways of encouraging consumers to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ carrier bags. We intend to announce a programme of joint activity shortly.
In addition, the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2005 require that 60 per cent. of packaging is recovered by 2008 and that a minimum of 55 per cent. is recycled. The regulations have succeeded so far in raising the recycling rate in the UK for packaging waste from around 27 per cent. in 1997 to 54.4 per cent. in 2005.
Rising energy costs are encouraging industry to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and consider greater use of recycled materials, especially in the glass and plastic sectors. This, and a range of other factors such as Government interventions, have caused a period of unprecedented growth in recycling.
We can expect recycling to increase further, and it will be important to continue to progress market development (the development of sustainable markets for recycled materials) in the UK. Defra’s Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has been established with this role. WRAP’s work is focusing on materials where barriers need to be tackled to improve the sustainability of the markets concerned. These include paper, plastics, glass, wood and compost.
Broadly, challenges in these and other markets include:
(i) developing alternative markets for recycled material and improving standards, specifications and procurement arrangements (particularly in the case of paper, plastics, wood and compost);
(ii) improving reprocessing capacity (particularly for plastics, wood and compost);
(iii) addressing quality sourcing problems (particularly in the case of paper, glass, wood and compost); and
(iv) improving collection infrastructure (especially for plastics, wood and compost).
The current WRAP business plan outlines how these market development challenges are being addressed.
WRAP has also started to produce public market situation reports for key recyclable materials. The first of these, on glass, was published in January 2007. This identified that a particular challenge for glass market development will be increasing the quantity of high quality colour-separated cullet. WRAP plans that a report on paper will follow in spring 2007 and another on plastic in summer 2007.
Seas and Oceans: Bournemouth
It is difficult to give a precise estimate of past sea level rise at specific locations because of the relative short length of most tide gauge records and the significant inter-annual variation, including a 19 year lunar cycle. However, it is generally accepted that sea levels along the south coast have been rising by between 1 and 2 mm per year over recent decades.
Defra published revised guidance for operating authorities on future rates of sea level rise to be taken into account in flood and coastal erosion risk management decisions in November 2006. This recommended that, including the effects of vertical land movement in the south west, an allowance of 3.5 mm rise per year should be made from the baseline of nominal 1990 levels to 2025 (that is, that levels in 2025 could be 122.5 mm higher than in 1990).
From 2025 to 2050, it is recommended that an 8.0 mm rise per year is assumed, to give a total rise of 178.5 mm by 2032, relative to 1990 levels. These are not predictions but are intended to be reasonably precautionary working allowances. The assumptions and qualifications on which these recommendations are based are included in the guidance which is published on the Defra website.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 22 November 2006, Official Report, column 135W.
Warm Front Scheme
A series of meetings have been held between officials and representatives from a variety of organisations and authorities in Cornwall regarding the Warm Front Scheme. Discussions have included consideration of how to encourage local installers to work on the scheme and a further meeting is scheduled for late February to take these discussions forward and to investigate possible solutions.