Written Answers to Questions
Monday 5 February 2007
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Ecotec
The Department came into being in June 2001. From information held centrally the core-Department has spent the following sums with Ecotec:
Financial year Expenditure 2002-03 2,996.25 2003-04 — 2004-05 24,918.00 2005-06 8,234.73 2006-071 751.37 1 First six months
The money has been spent on a study concerned with price elasticity of demand for nutrients; an evaluation of objective 1; and environmental stewardship workshops and training.
Endangered Species
I am unsure to which list the hon. Member’s question refers. Various lists of endangered species exist, including the World Conservation Union (or IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) Species Status Assessment project and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended).
These lists are extremely fluid so the information requested is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Farmers: Stewardship Schemes
The number of farmers with agreements under entry level stewardship and higher level stewardship is as follows:
(a) Entry level stewardship—26,482;
(b) Higher level stewardship—1,168.
The number of payments made by the due date and the number awaiting payment are as follows:
ELS
(i) Paid by the due date—30,427;
(ii) Awaiting payment—683.
HLS
(i) Paid by the due date—557;
(ii) Awaiting payment—7.
Where a payment is still outstanding, this will usually be because there is a flag on the IT system which is preventing it from being processed. There are a number of reasons why this might be the case. For example, there may be outstanding issues arising from a compliance monitoring inspection or from cross-checks against land parcel data held on the rural land register, both of which we are required to carry out in order to demonstrate our ability to comply with EC Regulations. Delays may also be caused by one of a number of IT-related problems such as the agreement being under amendment, data integrity issues or invalid agreement holder details. However, in all these circumstances, officials make every effort to resolve the issues delaying payments as quickly as possible.
Foie Gras
Banning the sale and importation of foie gras will be illegal under the treaty of Rome, which requires member states of the European Union to allow free circulation of goods. However, we do believe that the production of foie gras using force-feeding gives rise to serious welfare concerns.
The most effective action is for individuals not to buy foie gras if they dislike the way it is produced. We hope that public pressure will contribute to an end to this practice.
Poultry: Animal Welfare
Yes, the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2002 ban the use of conventional cages from 1 January 2012.
Radioactive Waste Management
The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) delivered its recommendations on 31 July 2006. The Government and devolved Administrations responded on 25 October.
In formulating the response, DEFRA consulted other Government Departments, the devolved Administrations and the independent environment and nuclear safety regulators. There was no correspondence or other communications between the Government and CoRWM on recommendation 2 (1) during this time.
As our response states, the security of all stores is of paramount importance. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s contractors are regulated and advised by the Office for Civil Nuclear Security and already take account of such matters. These include the design and engineering of new stores and the refurbishment of existing ones in the light of the risks to the security of their contents, now and in the future. This includes, but is not limited to, the vulnerability of the waste form and the degree of protection provided against attack.
We are keen to continue to build on the momentum that the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) has helped to establish and expect to advertise for applicants for the reconstituted CoRWM shortly. I will write to the hon. Member alerting him to the advert when it is published.
Seas and Oceans: Climate Change
On 29 November, I launched the first annual report card (ARC) of the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP), the first ever holistic assessment of the impacts of climate change on UK seas. It shows us, at a glance, the latest knowledge of climate impacts on marine sectors. This is an important wake-up call to us all on the dangers faced by our greatest natural resource.
The ARC has been delivered to all Government Departments and agencies, and copies have been placed in the Library of the House. It is important that this work is considered in developing policy across Government.
Though the ARC has only recently been released, over 10,000 copies have been downloaded from the website, 5,000 hard copies have been distributed, and more copies are being printed to meet demand. A report on the impact of the ARC on policy developments will be produced at the time of its annual review.
Single Farm Payments
For both 2005 and 2006 Single Payment Schemes (SPS), individual parcel data were pre-populated on application forms, where possible, but in slightly different formats reflecting the manner in which the data were extracted from the Rural Land Register. For the 2007 SPS, the pre-population of forms is expected to be more extensive and will follow a format that stakeholders have agreed will be the most user-friendly for applicants.
Solicitor-General
Electoral Malpractice
Electoral malpractice is not a category for which data are available. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) records files received under the classification ‘election offences’. The relevant figures are as follows:
Number 2001 57 2002 51 2003 70 2004 55 2005 65 2006 38 Total 336
Other electoral malpractice allegations have been prosecuted as conspiracy to defraud, forgery and perjury and are not captured in these data. Identifying all cases amounting to electoral malpractice could be done only at disproportionate cost (Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, part 2, clause 9).
Serious Fraud Office
[holding answer 1 February 2007]: Detecting fraud is not within the remit of the Serious Fraud Office. Cases are generally referred to the SFO by investigating authorities. The SFO does not have to accept all cases that are referred to it.
The SFO today has greater capacity than at any time in its history. It has more staff, world leading IT systems, excellent forensic services and thorough case management processes.
The SFO has strong working relationships with the City of London police, other police forces and criminal justice system partners in the UK and abroad.
The following number represents cases begun in the financial year indicated and they are split into four categories:
A = Case prosecuted resulting in one or more convictions.
B = Case prosecuted resulting in no convictions (including dismissed cases).
C = Investigation initiated but case not prosecuted.
D = Case still live (either being investigated or proceedings under way).
Financial year A B C D 1996-97 16 3 14 0 1997-98 9 3 7 0 1998-99 11 1 4 1 1999-2000 14 5 9 0 2000-01 11 2 6 3 2001-02 5 1 7 9 2002-03 6 2 2 3 2003-04 1 0 4 7 2004-05 0 0 11 12 2005-06 3 0 3 15
International Development
Iraq: International Assistance
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of people in Iraq who have received food aid as a result of the UK's contribution to the World Food Programme in each year since 2003.
In 2003-04, we contributed £28 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) to help guarantee the distribution of monthly food entitlements to the Iraqi population. During 2003, WFP support of Iraqi led public distribution system procured and distributed 2.1 million metric tons of food, 750,000 of which was through donor contributions; 41,000 from the UK. This reached nearly 27 million people in all 18 governorates of Iraq.
In addition, we have contributed £70 million to the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq, of which £30 million was used by the UN Trust Fund to provide funding to UN agencies, including the WFP's core programmes.
Iraq: Overseas Aid
In 2003-2004 we contributed £3.2 million to support UNICEF's emergency immunisation programmes in Iraq. By June 2003, immunisation services were available in all districts, and post war, more than 750,000 children under five years were vaccinated in catch-up campaigns. Funds enabled health teams to trace 34,000 immunisation drop-out children in Basra, Dhi Qar and Muthanna governorates. This helped UNICEF to prevent an outbreak of measles across Southern Iraq towards the end of 2003.
In addition, we have contributed £70 million to the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq, of which £30 million was used by the UN Trust Fund to provide funding to UN agencies, including UNICEF's core programmes. Since 2003, UNICEF programmes (undertaken by the Iraq Ministry of Health with the assistance of US AID and WHO) have supported eight immunisation rounds, with each covering on average 4.7 million children under five years of age. Measles control activities have also been effectively implemented, with a 91 per cent. reduction in reported cases in 2005 and the first seven months of 2006 compared with 2004. Iraq is polio free for the sixth consecutive year.
Immunisation coverage in Iraq rose from 60 per cent. in 2003 to 83 per cent. in 2005, largely owing to UNICEF (and World Health Organisation) programmes. Figures are not available for the numbers of children vaccinated on an annual basis.
We have channelled the following contributions to the Red Cross, World Food Programme, United Nations Children's Fund and the World Health Organisation for Iraq:
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 International Red Cross 500,000 17,500,000 10,000,000 4,000,000 4,000,000 World Food Programme 2,000,000 31,000,000 — — — UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) 2,000,000 13,835,187 — — — World Health Organisation (WHO) 1,000,000 5,000,000 — — —
In 2004, we also contributed £30 million to the United Nations International Trust Fund for Iraq.
Iraq: Refugees
We are very concerned at the increasing numbers of people displaced owing to sectarian violence in Iraq.
UNHCR estimates the total number of Iraqi refugees living in neighbouring countries to have risen to 1.8 million, including 25,000 to 40,000 in Lebanon, 700,000 in Jordan, up to 1,000,000 in Syria, 100,000 in Egypt, 16,000 in Turkey and 54,000 in Iran. UNHCR reporting does not give estimates for Kuwait or Saudi Arabia.
We recently announced a £4 million contribution to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide emergency assistance—including water, medical supplies and rehabilitation of health infrastructure for vulnerable people, including internally displaced people (IDPs) inside Iraq. We are also considering UNHCR's appeal, which includes help to refugees in neighbouring countries. This brings our total humanitarian contribution for Iraq to over £120 million since 2003. Additionally, DFID provided £70 million to the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI), which provides support to internally displaced persons through UN agencies.
Above all the first priority of the Iraqi Government must be to end the violence that is causing this situation, with the support of the international community and the region.
Prime Minister
Lord Levy
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) on 14 July 2006, Official Report, column 2093W.
Mohammed Dahlan
During my visit to the middle east in December 2006 Mohammed Dahlan took part in a meeting I held with President Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials. Officials from my Office also met Mr. Dahlan in London in April 2004, and in Ramallah in January 2005.
I also refer my hon. Friend to the press conference I held with President Abbas on 18 December 2006 (http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Pagel0648.asp). A transcript of this is available on the No. 10 website and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Leader of the House
Future Business
My right hon. Friend the Leader of the House, who chairs the Modernisation Committee, has no plans to ask the Committee to look at this matter. The period of notice for the announcement of future business was extended from one week to two weeks in 1995. It would be difficult to give longer notice than this.
Parliamentary Questions
This is an idea of which my right hon. Friend is aware and on which he is happy to consider representations, as on other matters. I know that the Procedure Committee has also given some attention to this issue and the hon. Member might wish to write to the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight) who chairs that Committee. There are no current plans to bring forward proposals.
Lords Reform
I have been working with colleagues in all parts of both Houses over recent months as part of an intensive effort to reach a consensus on how a future House of Lords may look. I intend to bring forward a White Paper very soon, setting out the Government's proposals on composition and transition, which will take account of the recent Joint Committee on Conventions report and Parliament's response, and the on-going cross-party discussions. A free vote in both Houses on the composition of the House will then follow.
Boundary Commission
I expect them to be laid on 26 February 2007.
House of Commons Commission
Bicycle Parking
Discussions have taken place during the last 12 months between Metropolitan police representatives, outside security advisers and Westminster city council regarding the possibility of providing bicycle parking on the House of Commons part of the estate for visitors. It has been decided that the provision of parking on the estate for non-passholders is not currently compatible with maintaining a secure perimeter. Further discussions have taken place regarding the provision of additional bicycle parking outside in the vicinity of the estate encouraged by the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group. It is hoped that additional bicycle racks will be provided during the current financial year.
There are sufficient facilities to meet present demand from passholders to park their bicycles on the estate and the availability of bicycle parking spaces is kept under constant review. Last summer an exercise was undertaken to rid the cycle racks of abandoned and unused cycles.
Education and Skills
Biometric Technologies
[holding answer 22 January 2007]: The Department is working with the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency which is revising its current guidance on data protection to include specific guidance on biometric technology. Becta aims to make the guidance available on its website by the end of March 2007 after consultation with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Child Protection
[holding answer 30 January 2007]: No research has been commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills specifically on the use of child protection registers, although some parts of the Safeguarding Children research initiative are likely to touch on the use of child protection registers and Child Protection Plans.
Departmental Staff
The Department for Education and Skills does not hold centrally set annual budgets for employing workers on a consultancy basis. Consultancy costs are met from the wider budgets for the services or programmes to which they contribute. However, the Department spent the following sums from administration costs on consultancy in the last five years:
Amount (£ million) 2001-02 5.0 2002-03 4.0 2003-04 4.7 2004-05 3.9 2005-06 3.5
The costs of consultancy charged to programmes budgets before November 2004 were not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The total cost of consultancy charged to programmes from November 2004 to March 2005 was £4.4 million and for the whole of 2005-06 was £18 million. A further £9.5 million in November 2004 to March 2005 and £8 million in 2005-06 was spent on other external expert advisers on education and children's matters to assist with policy implementation and delivery.
Education Funding: Chorley
The Chorley constituency falls within the local authority area of Lancashire and the information supplied is the level of funding which applies to all of Lancashire. In 2006-07 Lancashire local authority received a Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocation of £606.9 million and revenue grants of £114.9 million—a total of £721.8 million to fund the education of nursery, primary and secondary school aged pupils.
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) took responsibility for funding of school sixth forms in April 2002. In 2006-07, the total funding allocation for school sixth forms in Lancashire local authority was £25.2 million.
The LSC is responsible for funding post-16 education and training more widely, so in addition to the funding for school sixth forms the LSC also funds colleges and other providers to deliver further education and training to young people and adults in the Lancashire local authority area. This can include funding the local authority itself when it is offering FE provision in line with Government priorities. My Department does not hold information on individual providers’ funding allocations, however funding allocations for 2005/06 can be found at the following link:
http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/2005/funding/streams/fe-2005-06-allocations-at-26-july.xls
A copy of this document has been placed in the House Library.
Education Funding: Romford
The Romford constituency falls within the local authority of Havering and the information supplied is the level of funding which applies to all of Havering. In 2006-07 for Havering local authority, the Department allocated a Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) of £133.8 million and revenue grants of £22.8 million, totalling £156.6 million to fund education in the area. As the DSG is a mechanism for distributing funding, it is not possible to split the DSG allocation between primary and secondary schools.
The 2006-07 DSG figure is not on the same basis as the £160.2 million that Havering received in 2005-06 under Education Formula Spending plus revenue grants.
It is for Havering—in consultation with its school forum—to distribute its DSG and Standards Fund grants to the schools it maintains. However, it is expected that local authorities will take account of the priorities that Ministers identified within the DSG envelope (personalised learning at Key Stage 3, personalised learning in primary schools, more practical learning options for pupils aged 14 to 16, implementing planning, preparation and assessment in primary schools and increased entitlement to free early years provision). The distribution of School Standards Grant and School Standards Grant (Personalisation) is determined centrally and set out in the conditions of grant.
Guidelines for the distribution of the DSG are contained in the Department’s Technical Note and the “Setting School Budgets 2006-07 and 2007-08: guidance note for LAs and School Forums”.
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) took responsibility for funding of school sixth forms in April 2002. In 2006/07, the total funding allocation for schools sixth forms in Havering local authority was £6.4 million.
The LSC is responsible for funding post-16 education and training more widely, so in addition to the funding for school sixth forms the LSC funds colleges and other providers to deliver further education and training to young people and adults in the Havering local authority area. The Department does not hold information on individual providers’ funding allocations, but funding allocations for 2005/06 can be found at the following link:
http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/2005/funding/streams/fe-2005-06-allocations-at-26-july.xls
A copy of this document has been placed in the House Library.
In October 2005 we set out our post-16 funding strategy for 2006-07 and 2007-08 in “Priorities for Success” which was published by the LSC. The strategy clearly set out our funding priorities, which included supporting higher participation among young people and helping disadvantaged adults to gain basic and Level 2 employability skills. The strategy was updated in the LSC’s Annual Statement of Priorities, published in October 2006.
Educational Psychologist Referrals
The Department’s Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2001) provides practical guidance to local authorities, maintained schools, early education settings and others on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for children with special educational needs (SEN).
Regulations set out the time limits within which the various parts of the process of making statutory assessments and drawing up statements of SEN must be conducted. The Code of Practice makes clear that it is in the interests of all concerned that statutory assessments should be carried out in a timely manner. It is therefore important that each part of that process is conducted with all reasonable speed. This would include input from educational psychologists (EPs).
We would expect this general principle to apply to other areas of EPs’ work but the detailed management and deployment of EPs are matters for local authorities as employers.
Free School Meals
The available information is given in the following table.
All pupils Pupils on the gifted and talented programme Local authority area Total pupils2 Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals3 Total pupils2 Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals4 Leicestershire 46,792 2,629 5.6 5,402 108 2.0 Leicester 17,898 3,939 22.0 1,646 201 12.2 1 Includes pupils attending maintained secondary schools, city technology colleges and academies including middle schools as deemed. 2 Includes dually registered pupils and boarding pupils. 3 Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals expressed as a percentage of number (headcount) of all pupils. 4 Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals expressed as a percentage of number (headcount) of pupils on the gifted and talented programme. Source: Schools Census
GCSEs
(2) what percentage of pupils in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) the Tees Valley and (d) the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency achieved more than five GCSE passes in each year since 1997.
The information requested is in the following tables:
Constituency Tees Valley local authorities Region National Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Hartlepool Middlesbrough Redcar and Cleveland Stockton on Tees Darlington North East England 1996/97 36.6 29.1 28.5 38.4 39.1 37.5 36.8 45.1 1997/98 36.6 34.6 27.5 38.8 40.0 37.1 37.1 46.3 1998/99 41.4 38.8 31.0 44.6 41.3 42.9 39.4 47.9 1999/2000 43.1 35.7 34.6 45.6 43.7 45.0 41.7 49.2 2000/01 42.2 40.4 35.0 43.4 44.8 47.2 42.5 50.0 2001/02 43.3 42.0 35.8 48.6 46.1 48.7 44.3 51.6 2002/03 42.1 46.0 38.8 47.0 47.1 51.0 46.8 52.9 2003/04 43.6 48.6 40.8 49.0 45.8 49.0 48.7 53.7 2004/05 48.5 51.8 45.2 48.2 54.8 56.7 53.5 56.3 2005/06 47.5 57.5 48.9 50.3 55.3 57.9 57.4 59.2
Constituency Tees Valley local authorities Region National Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Hartlepool Middlesbrough Redcar and Cleveland Stockton on Tees Darlington North East England 1996/97 84.7 80.9 77.1 84.7 85.0 85.4 83.8 86.4 1997/98 86.5 86.1 77.4 86.0 84.3 83.8 85.6 87.5 1998/99 88.7 86.5 80.8 87.9 88.3 87.8 87.1 88.5 1999/2000 90.7 86.1 83.4 89.9 90.3 89.8 88.0 88.9 2000/01 89.4 87.5 85.5 89.6 91.6 90.2 88.2 88.9 2001/02 85.3 88.6 82.5 89.3 90.0 89.6 88.0 88.9 2002/03 85.5 89.4 82.8 89.4 88.2 89.5 87.8 88.8 2003/04 88.2 87.5 83.1 89.8 88.5 89.4 87.9 88.8 2004/05 86.7 89.7 83.0 88.9 88.2 87.1 88.0 89.0 2005/06 88.7 90.7 82.4 90.9 90.2 88.5 89.1 90.5 1 From 2003/04, percentages include GCSEs and equivalents approved for use pre-16. 2 Percentages in 2005/06 are based on pupils at the end of Key Stage 4. 3 Figures for 2005/06 are revised; all other figures are final.
The following table shows the number and percentage of 15-year-old pupils1 in maintained schools2 who did not attempt a GCSE in the subjects listed.
Number Percentage English Maths Science English Maths Science 1997 43,850 43,768 44,702 8.2 8.1 8.3 1998 45,517 39,373 42,492 8.6 7.5 8.1 1999 40,948 34,970 39,539 7.7 6.6 7.4 2000 38,609 32,545 38,480 7.2 6.1 7.2 2001 42,840 35,018 43,255 7.7 6.3 7.7 2002 36,871 28,914 38,013 6.6 5.2 6.8 2003 36,101 30,080 42,947 6.2 5.2 7.4 2004 35,145 28,635 52,683 5.9 4.8 8.8 2005 28,610 21,938 43,939 4.9 3.7 7.4 2006 26,686 20,398 45,252 4.4 3.4 7.5 1 Pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year (i.e. 31 August). 2 Includes community schools, voluntary aided schools, voluntary controlled schools, foundation schools, city technology colleges, academies, community special schools, foundation special schools, hospital schools and pupil referral units.
General Certificate of Secondary Education: Standards
Revised figures show that 276 maintained mainstream schools published in the 2006 Secondary School Achievement and Attainment tables had less than 20 per cent. of their pupils aged 15 achieving five plus A*-C including English and maths in 2006. The schools from this group that are in Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland local authorities are in the following table. There were no schools within this group in Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Gateshead local authorities.
Local authority School name Percentage of pupils aged 15 achieving 5+A*-C including English and maths 2006 Durham Sunnydale Community College for Maths and Computing 12 Newcastle upon Tyne West Gate Community College 12 All Saints College 14 Sunderland Pennywell School 9 Hylton Red House School 15
History Teachers
(2) what the average age is of secondary school history teachers in England;
(3) how many teachers teaching secondary school classes in history in England hold a degree in history.
Information for the number of maintained secondary school history teachers in England is not available by gender.
Table 1 provides the number of full-time teachers by age and subject of highest post A level qualification.
Table 2 provides the number of full-time teachers employed in maintained secondary schools by the highest post A level qualification held in the subjects that they teach to year groups 7-13 in November 2002. This is the latest information available.
History All subjects Age as at November Percentage Confidence intervals Percentage Confidence intervals Under 30 19 ± 3 20 ± 1 30-39 23 ± 3 24 ± 1 40-49 27 ± 4 29 ± 1 50 or over 30 ± 4 27 ± 1 Source: Secondary School Curriculum And Staffing Survey, November 2002.
Percentage Degree3 BEd PGCE CertEd Other Qual. No Qual. Total teachers (Thousand) Mathematics 42 ± 3 15 ± 2 9 ± 2 7 ± 1 2 ± 1 24 ± 2 28.2 English 51 ± 3 15 ± 2 7 ± 1 6 ± 1 1 ± 1 20 ± 2 29.4 Combined/general science 62 ± 3 12 ± 2 10 ± 2 4 ± 1 1 ± 1 11 ± 2 28.3 Biology4 71 ± 5 7± 3 11 ± 4 3 ± 2 - ± 1 7 ± 3 5.6 Chemistry4 72 ± 5 6 ± 3 12 ± 4 1 ± 1 1 ± 1 7 ± 3 5.2 Physics4 63 ± 6 11 ± 4 15 ± 4 3 ± 2 - ± - 8 ± 3 4.7 Other sciences4 10 ± 6 4 ± 4 5 ± 4 - ± - - ± - 80 ± 8 1.6 French 54 ± 3 7 ± 2 10 ± 2 3 ± 1 2 ± 1 23 ± 3 16.0 German 47 ± 5 6 ± 3 13 ± 4 1 ± 1 2 ± 1 30 ± 5 6.9 Spanish 37 ± 7 8 ± 4 19 ± 6 - ± - 3 ± 2 33 ± 7 3.6 Other modern languages 18 ± 8 - ± - 9 ± 7 - ± - 3 ± 4 71 ± 10 1.4 Design and technology5 26 ± 3 20 ± 3 7 ± 2 21 ± 3 2 ± 1 24 ± 3 20.9 ICT5, 6 13 ± 2 6 ± 1 8 ± 2 2 ± 1 3 ± 1 69 ± 3 18.9 Other/combined technology5 30 ± 10 13 ± 8 16 ± 7 18 ± 9 2 ± 3 20 ± 9 1.6 Business studies 30 ± 5 11 ± 4 9 ± 3 4 ± 2 3 ± 2 43 ± 5 6.5 Classics 33 ± 7 - ± - 2 ± 4 2 ± - - ± - 63 ± 7 1.0 History 57± 4 9 ± 2 6 ± 2 6 ± 2 - ± - 23 ± 3 13.7 Religious education 22 ± 3 8 ± 2 8 ± 2 4 ± 1 2 ± 1 57 ± 4 14.2 Geography 53 ± 4 9 ± 2 6 ± 2 5 ± 2 1 ± 1 25 ± 3 13.7 Other social studies 35 ± 5 6 ± 3 2 ± 2 2 ± 1 - ± 1 54 ± 6 4.9 Combined arts/humanities/social studies 5 ± 3 4 ± 2 7 ± 3 1 ± 1 1 ± 1 83 ± 5 5.3 Music 59 ± 5 15 ± 4 5 ± 2 6 ± 3 2 ± 2 13 ± 4 6.3 Drama 25± 4 10 ± 3 12 ± 3 6 ± 2 2 ± 1 45 ± 5 8.1 Art and design 54 ± 4 10 ± 3 7 ± 2 9 ± 3 1 ± 1 20 ± 4 9.3 Physical education 25 ± 3 31 ± 3 6 ± 2 13 ± 2 2 ± 1 22 ± 2 21.4 Careers education 2 ± 2 1± 2 3 ± 3 4 ± 4 3 ± 4 87 ± 7 1.5 PSHE6 1 ± - 1 ± - 2 ± 1 1 ± - - ± - 95 ± 1 61.4 General studies 1 ± 1 2 ± 1 1 ± 1 - ± 1 - ± - 95 ± 2 7.1 Citizenship 2 ± 1 1 ± 1 2 ± 1 - ± 1 - ± - 94 ± 2 9.0 Other — — — — — — 32.8 Total2, 7 33 ± - 10 ± - 7 ± - 5 ± - 1 ± - 44 ± - 388.4 ‘-’ = Zero or less than 0.5. 1 Where a teacher has more than one post A level qualification in the same subject, the qualification level is determined by the highest level reading from left (Degree) to right (Other qualification). For example, teachers shown under PGCE have a PGCE but not a degree or BEd in the subject, while those with a PGCE and a degree are shown only under Degree. 2 Teachers are counted once against each subject which they are teaching. 3 Includes higher degrees but excludes BEds. 4 Teachers qualified in combined/general science are treated as qualified to teach biology, chemistry, or physics. Teachers qualified in biology, chemistry or physics are treated as qualified to teach combined/general science. 5 Teachers qualified in other/combined technology are treated as qualified to teach design and technology or information and communication technology. Teachers qualified in design and technology or information and communication technology are treated as qualified to teach other/combined technology. 6 Information and communication technology is abbreviated as ICT and personal social and health education is abbreviated as PSHE. 7 “Other” not included in total percentages. Source: Secondary Schools Curriculum and Staffing Survey 2002.
Looked-after Children
[holding answer 29 January 2007]: The estimated number of looked-after children who were reported missing in 2005-06 is shown in the following table.
2005-06 Placement Number Percentage All children missing from placement 1,000 100 In refuge (section 51 of Children Act) 10 0 Whereabouts known (not in refuge) 210 20 Whereabouts unknown 820 79 1 Source—SSDA903 2 To maintain the confidentiality of each individual child, data at national level are rounded to the nearest 100 if they exceed 1,000 to the nearest 10 otherwise. Note: Due to rounding percentages do not add up to 100.
Music
In 2006-07 support has been given to two projects which help secondary teachers to focus on engaging pupils in their musical learning and so raise standards. These projects are the Secondary Strategy’s Key Stage 3 music professional development programme, which received £255,000 of funding support, and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Musical Futures project, which received £145,000 of support.
At the request of Government, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is carrying out a review of the secondary curriculum to reduce prescription, improve coherence and create further opportunities for schools to meet the needs of all their pupils. This will build on the increased engagement created by the above projects. A formal consultation on the new secondary curriculum will begin on 5 February 2007. Revised programmes of study will be available to schools for planning purposes in September 2007, with implementation beginning in September 2008.
In total we have invested over £500 million in music education between 1999 and 2008 and £95 million will be invested in 2007-08 alone, which includes £10 million primarily to boost school singing. The focus of this funding has been on improving access to instrumental and vocal tuition for primary school pupils, which evidence shows to be the time to make the greatest impact on musical take-up. In the future secondary school pupils will have benefited from the £10 million investment in primary schools announced earlier this month.
Office for Fair Access
The annual budget for OFFA is £500,000. A director and three full-time members of staff are employed there.
Private Education
The number and percentage of pupils attending independent schools are given in the table.
A primary/secondary indicator is not collected from independent schools, so a breakdown by age group has been provided.
Number (headcount) of pupils Pupils aged3 All schools Independent schools Percentage of pupils in independent schools4 Under 5 905,940 64,040 7.1 5 to 10 3,618,470 200,440 5.5 11 to 15 3,238,020 233,820 7.2 16 and over 453,230 82,210 18.1 Total 8,215,660 580,510 7.1 1 Excludes direct grant nursery schools, city technology colleges and academies 2 Excludes dually registered pupils. 3 Age as at 31 August 2005. 4 The number of pupils in independent schools expressed as a percentage of pupils across all schools. Note: Pupil numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: Schools Census
School Playgrounds: Essex
In the last five years the Secretary of State has approved four applications that involve the disposal of either a playground or part of a playground at schools in Essex. The details are as follows:
(i) An application was approved in October 2003 to dispose of the playground at the former Park School, Rayleigh which had closed.
(ii) In April 2004, an application was approved to dispose of the playground at Harwich Primary School, Harwich. The school had moved to a new site where a new playground of at least equal size replaced that on the old site.
(iii) In April 2004, an application was approved to dispose of the playground at Little Parndon Infant School, Harlow. The separate infant and junior schools had closed and amalgamated to form one new primary, making the former infant school site redundant.
(iv) An application to dispose of the playground at the former Thomas Tallis Infant School in Waltham Abbey that had closed was approved in June 2004.
Special Educational Needs
The available information has been placed in the House Library.
Information broken down by school action, early years action, school action plus and early years action plus is not available for all school types for all years requested. Where this breakdown is not available, the total number of pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) without a statement has been provided.
Special Schools
[holding answer 22 January 2007]: A table showing the number and percentage of children with statements of Special Educational Needs who were educated at a special school outside the child’s local authority area by each local authority for the years 2002 to 2006 has been placed in the Library.
Student Finance
As in previous years 75 per cent. of the maintenance loan is non-means-tested. The maximum loan rates were set to match the median basic expenditure by students based on the 2002/03 Student Income and Expenditure Survey.
All eligible full-time students are able to apply for a non-means-tested tuition fee loan to cover their tuition fees up to £3,000.
Underachieving Pupils
Targeted finances which support underachieving groups are:
(a) The Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG), an element of the Standards Fund, provides additional support to raise the educational achievement of minority ethnic pupils and to meet the particular needs of pupils whose first language is other than English. In 2006-07 the Department allocated £173.6 million EMAG funding to local authorities.
(b) The Department does not explicitly fund white working class boys and looked-after children through the Dedicated School Grant (DSG). However, the Department has estimated that 10.5 per cent. of the £27 billion DSG paid to local authorities in (2006-07) was targeted on deprivation; within that it was estimated that 1.8 per cent. was specifically targeted at black and minority groups with the remaining 8.6 per cent. on general deprivation.
The Department has also allocated significant funding to support personalised learning within schools’ core budgets. In 2007-08 this amounts to £565 million through the Dedicated Schools Grant and £365 million through the School Standards Grant (Personalisation). Schools are encouraged to use this funding to support intervention and catch-up provision for children who have fallen behind in English and Maths; to support the education of gifted and talented learners; and to help learners from deprived backgrounds to access after-school and year-round activities.
(c) DfES made available a total of £152 million of targeted funding for children’s services in 2006-07 through the Children’s Services Grant, which includes funding for services for looked after children. The recent green paper Care Matters set out the Government’s wide ranging proposals for transforming educational and other outcomes for looked after children.
Electoral Commission Committee
Political Parties: Expenditure
The Electoral Commission informs me that it has conducted no specific research on this issue. However, as part of its regulatory oversight of party finances, the Commission periodically requests details from all political party accounting units of their income and expenditure to enable it to check that every unit required by law to submit its accounts to the Commission is doing so. The Commission also, for the same purpose, regularly cross-checks information about donations accepted by accounting units against records of accounts submitted.
Work and Pensions
Pension Credit
Our first priority on taking office was dealing with the situation we inherited of pensioners already living in poverty. Since 1997 1 million pensioners have been lifted out of relative poverty thanks to measures like pension credit.
The White Paper "Security in Retirement: Towards a New Pensions System" announced our commitment to securing these gains into the future by uprating both the basic state pension and the standard minimum guarantee in pension credit in line with earnings over the long-term.
The latest available estimate is for 2004-05 when around 1 to 1.5 million pensioners were thought to be eligible for but not receiving pension credit.
Pension Credit: Newcastle Upon Tyne
The answer is set out in the following table.
Ward name Number of household recipients, 2005 Annual pension credit expenditure 2004-05 (£ million, nominal terms) Number of household recipients, 2006 Annual pension credit expenditure 2005-06 (£ million, nominal terms) Benwall 645 1.4 625 1.5 Blakelaw 840 1.7 855 1.9 Byker 990 2.2 960 2.2 Castle 380 0.8 380 0.8 Dene 565 1.1 570 1.2 Denton 800 1.5 805 1.6 Elswick 600 1.6 595 1.6 Fawdon 730 1.6 750 1.8 Fenham 795 1.6 795 1.8 Grange 640 1.4 635 1.4 Heaton 380 0.8 380 0.9 Jesmond 285 0.7 285 0.7 Kenton 645 1.4 630 1.5 Lemington 595 1.2 595 1.3 Monkchester 795 1.9 765 2.0 Moorside 640 1.5 620 1.6 Newburn 730 1.4 745 1.6 Sandyford 690 1.5 685 1.6 Scotswood 430 1.0 435 1.1 South Gosforth 260 0.5 260 0.5 Walker 920 2.0 900 2.1 Walkergate 710 1.5 705 1.7 West City 695 1.8 675 1.8 Westerhope 625 1.2 640 1.3 Wingrove 395 1.0 410 1.1 Woolsington 710 1.5 705 1.5 Newcastle upon Tyne local authority total 16,410 35.9 16,390 38.2 Notes: 1. Expenditure figures are consistent with the pre-Budget report 2006 and are rounded to the nearest £100,000. 2. The number of households in receipt are rounded to a multiple of five. 3. As a result of 1. and 2., ward totals may not sum to area totals. 4. Case loads and average weekly amounts for May 2005 and May 2006 have been used to calculate the annual expenditure figures for each ward in Newcastle local authority. 5. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. 6. Wards are based on 2003 ward boundaries. Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data.
Pensions
As a result of reform around 1 million more people will build up entitlement to state second pension from 2010, 90 per cent. of whom will be women.
Under our reforms to the state second pension, individuals will accrue a new flat rate amount of £1.40 a week for each year spent working or caring. This will replace the great complexity of the existing flat-rate calculation. The residual earnings- related element will gradually be withdrawn over 20 years. These significant simplification measures and our proposals to increase coverage of state second pension will ensure that people who work or who have caring responsibilities will more easily recognise the value of the contribution they make.
The following table contains the projected additional cost of state second pension reform. Column (a) shows the additional costs of flat-rating and simplifying the state second pension on the basis of existing coverage measures. Column (b) shows the additional costs of improving coverage of the state second pension, after flat-rating and simplification.
£ billion (a) Additional cost of flat-rating and simplification (without coverage measures) (b) Additional cost of coverage measures (after flat-rating and simplification) Gross Net Gross Net 2010 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2011 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2012 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2013 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2014 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2015 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2016 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2017 -0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 2018 -0.1 -0.1 0.0 0.0 2019 -0.1 -0.1 0.1 0.0 2020 -0.1 -0.1 0.1 0.1 2030 0.2 0.2 0.6 0.4 2040 0.9 0.7 1.7 1.4 2050 1.0 0.8 3.5 2.8 Notes: 1. Estimates of additional expenditure are consistent with the policy detail set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment accompanying the Pensions Bill. Net costs include savings seen from reduced expenditure on other income related benefits (pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit). They do not include any change in income tax revenue or national insurance. 2. Net costs assume the pension credit standard minimum guarantee is uprated by earnings from 2008. Net costs do not include the effect of direct reforms to the savings credit. 3. Costs assume contracting-out of DC schemes is abolished in 2012. Column (b) assumes the state second pension has already been flat-rated and simplified. Applying the changes in a different order would alter the gross and net cost of each individual policy, but not the total additional cost of reform. 4. Abolition of contracting-out for DC schemes from 2012 decreases the cost of the contracted-out rebate. This is not included in the figures above. 5. Costs or savings presented in the table are based on long-term projections of United Kingdom benefit spend, consistent with the pre-Budget report 2006. 6. Figures exclude savings resulting from raising state pension age. 7. Figures exclude the effect of personal accounts.
The information requested is as follows:
Title of project Consultant Investment options in personal accounts CRA International (UK) Competitive implications of alternative market structures: the microeconomics of NPSS CRA International (UK) Research study to develop a counterfactual for private pensions CRA International (UK) Impact assessment of the NPSS on annuities market CRA International (UK) The value of choice and brands in personal accounts CRA International (UK) Review of research relevant to assessing the impact of the proposed NPSS on household saving Price Waterhouse Coopers Research into the costs of capital for personal accounts Price Waterhouse Coopers Research into early policy development for personal accounts Deloittes Analysis of delivery model options for personal accounts McKinsey Establishing a delivery authority for personal accounts Partnership UK (ongoing)
The proposals contained in the White Paper, “Personal accounts: a new way to save” present a significant opportunity to the financial services industry, including pension providers. As a result of automatic enrolment, pension schemes and providers in the existing employer-sponsored arena will see an increase in membership and contributions. The personal accounts scheme will be delivered by the private sector creating competition for new contracts for administration and fund management services. It is estimated that the reforms will result in an annual increase in household saving of £4 to 5 billion a year, and in the long term the personal accounts scheme will have between £100 billion and £200 billion in funds under management.
Annual upratings of the state pension are paid under:
(a) the EC’s Social Security Regulations, which apply to pensioners who have a UK state pension living in the European Economic Area and Switzerland; and
(b) reciprocal social security agreements with other countries, which allow for annual uprating to be paid there.
The EC Social Security Regulations apply to both Gibraltar and the whole of the island of Cyprus, including the sovereign base areas. A reciprocal social security agreement exists with Bermuda. We are therefore required to pay the annual uprating in these countries.
The remaining British Overseas Territories are not covered by either the EC Regulations or a reciprocal social security agreement.
We have no plans to negotiate any new reciprocal agreements.
Benefit Helplines
The number of people answering calls on any helpline may vary during each day in order to provide a consistent level of service to the varying volume of calls being received.
In arriving at staffing levels for normal or seasonal days, helplines take account of historical data on the volume of calls expected, anticipated impacts such as mailings campaigns and provide appropriate staffing levels. All DWP contact centres are closed on a normal Sunday and Bank Holidays apart from two helplines operated by Private Sector Partners—the Pensions Information Line and Pensions Guide Order Line.
The information that is available is recorded in the following table and provides the maximum number of staff available to answer calls:
Saturday 23 December 2006 Sunday 24 December 2006 Wednesday27 December 2006 Thursday 28 December 2006 Friday 29 December 2006 Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL) 0 0 0 28 26 Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 0 0 0 219 203 Child Support Agency (CSA)1 40 0 38 193 191 Debt Mngmt2 0 0 22 195 193 Jobcentre Plus Direct (First Contact) 0 0 993 1,429 937 Jobcentre Plus Direct (Jobseeker Direct) 31 0 573 454 473 Jobcentre Plus Direct (Employer Direct) 4 0 273 137 115 Jobcentre Plus Direct (National Benefit Fraud) 0 0 04 55 52 Jobcentre Plus Direct (National Insurance Number Allocation) 0 0 0 185 169 Pension Centres 0 0 1523 897 847 Pensions Direct 0 0 0 117 98 Pension Credit Application Line 0 0 0 40 40 Pension Guide Order Line 2 1 0 11 16 Pension Info Order Line 3 3 44 4 4 Future Pension Centre 0 0 0 120 116 RP Tele Claims 0 0 0 50 50 Winter Fuel Helpline 0 0 454 78 72
Saturday 30 December 2006 Sunday 31 December 2006 Monday 1 January 2007 Tuesday 2 January 2007 Wednesday 3 January 2007 Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL) 0 0 0 44 50 Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 0 0 0 357 372 Child Support Agency (CSA)1 42 0 0 349 413 Debt Mngmt2 0 0 0 250 360 Jobcentre Plus Direct (First Contact) 0 0 0 1,4353 1,121 Jobcentre Plus Direct (Jobseeker Direct) 35 0 0 5863 581 Jobcentre Plus Direct (Employer Direct) 7 0 0 2083 248 Jobcentre Plus Direct (National Benefit Fraud) 0 0 0 793 85 Jobcentre Plus Direct (National Insurance Number Allocation) 0 0 0 2333 283 Pension Centres 0 0 0 952 1,146 Pensions Direct 0 0 0 109 117 Pension Credit Application Line 0 0 0 100 100 Pension Guide Order Line 11 0 8 22 24 Pension Info Order Line 2 2 0 7 6 Future Pension Centre 0 0 0 149 185 RP Tele Claims 0 0 0 67 62 Winter Fuel Helpline 0 0 0 77 81 1 CSA do not run a benefits helpline, it answers calls on live cases or general inquiries on child support. If a caller has a case with an open task the call is routed to a caseworker, if not, or it is a general inquiry then the call goes to our dedicated contact centre network. The figures shown are for the dedicated contact centres only and throughout this period in addition to these staff there were more than 2,000 caseworkers also available to take calls on any of the days in question. 2 Debt Management do not operate benefit helplines. They provide service for customers to contact to discuss the repayment of overpayments of benefit or certain Social Fund loans. 3 Three Scottish Jobcentre Plus contact centres were operational on the 27 December and to deal with Scottish calls only. On 2 January the same three contact centres were closed with their English business diverted to contact centres open in England. Pension figure is for centres in Scotland only. 4 Figures are for staff working for Private Sector Partners who field calls on behalf of the Pension Service and National Benefit Fraud Hotline. Note: All DWP helplines were closed on Christmas day and Boxing day.
Committees: Ministerial Attendance
Since 2004, there have been no requests for a DWP Secretary of State or DWP Minister to appear before a committee of the European Parliament, but there have been two occasions when they have attended an EPC.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett), the then Secretary of State, and the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Mr. Plaskitt) appeared before the European Parliament Employment and Social Affairs Committee on 11 July 2005, to give a presentation on the UK Presidency programme.
My hon. Friend, the Under-Secretary of State appeared before the European Parliament Employment and Social Affairs Committee on 22 November 2005, to discuss the EPSCO December Council and the UK Presidential achievements.
Since 2004, there have been no requests for a DWP Minister to appear before any committee of the devolved institutions.
Departmental Expenditure
As the Department’s accounting systems do not provide detailed information about commercial software products, I am unable to provide the information requested.
A table listing all public information advertising campaigns run by the Department for Work and Pensions in 2006-07 is shown as follows. Figures are included for the spend to date on press and television advertising where applicable.
£000 Campaign/subject Press TV Age Positive 37 — State Pension Deferral 42 — State Second Pension — — Fraud and Error Campaign 3 1,717 National Pensions Debate — — Pension Credit 282 — Disability Discrimination Act Phase 3 — — Winter fuel payments 326 — Images of disability — — Age Partnership Group 8 — Jobseeker Direct campaign — — Scotland Jobcentre Plus campaign — — Jobcentre Plus BME campaign — — Jobcentre Plus Lone Parent Awareness Campaign — — Total 698 1,717 Notes: 1. The tables do not include the following as the information is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost: spend by non-departmental bodies for which the Department is responsible details of highly localised publicity activity by the Department’s customer-facing businesses recruitment or procurement advertising 2. The figures in these tables refer to media spend only, excluding production, direct mail, public relations and other costs. 3. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand. 4. All figures are quoted net of VAT. 5. Press includes national press, regional press, specialist press, advertorials and featurelink, to provide costs for newspaper only advertising would incur disproportionate cost.
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 Department for 2004-05 (latest available data) is contained within table 7.19 of the 2006 edition of PESA.
The 2006 edition of PESA is available at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/economic_data_and_tools/finance_spendingstatistics/pespublications/pespubpesa06.cfm
Disability Equality Duty
The Disability Equality Duty, which came into force on 4 December, requires by law that public-sector bodies, including all Government Departments, executive agencies and Ministers, promote equality for disabled people. All Government Departments and agencies were required to produce a Disability Equality Scheme setting out how they will achieve this by December 2006.
The DWP published its DES on 1 December while its four businesses—the Child Support Agency, Jobcentre Plus, the Disability and Carers Service and the Pension Service—have published their own schemes. We worked closely with disabled customers, representative groups and leading disabled charities in developing these schemes and will continue to consult them as we review and improve the schemes over time.
We ensure that all our customers can access our information by:
providing a variety of alternative formats, including Braille, large print, audiocassette, British Sign Language (BSL) tape and Easy Read guide where appropriate, ensuring that alternative formats are available at the same time as English and Welsh versions;
ensuring that customers can still access our information when their chosen alternative format is not available. For example, as part of the consultation on the Welfare Reform Green Paper, we worked closely with charities to organise briefings for groups of disabled people on the key proposals. We adopted the same approach when seeking the views of disabled people on the Child Support White Paper.
We have also recently published a new Accessible Written Information Standard which sets the minimum level which all the Department’s written communications must meet in order to be accessible.
Engagements
It is custom for Ministers when preparing to make a visit within the United Kingdom to inform Members representing the constituencies to be included within their itinerary.
Information on ministerial visits within the UK is not collected centrally. It is likely that the information requested, about visits undertaken since 1997, will be available only at disproportionate cost.
Executive Agencies
The Department’s executive agencies do not record their total expenditure by Government office regions. Therefore the information is not available in the format requested. The information requested could be supplied only at disproportionate cost to the Department.
The executive agencies that were the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions at 31 March 2006 were
Jobcentre Plus
Child Support Agency
The Pension Service
Disability and Carers Service
Appeals Service (transferred to Department of Constitutional Affairs April 2006)
The Rent Service
A description of the purpose and objectives of each agency, together with the latest expenditure figures can be found in each executive agency’s published annual report and accounts for 2005-06. These documents are available to view on the internet and are also published by The Stationery Office (TSO). The documents can be accessed via the following links:
Jobcentre Plus annual report and accounts 2005-06
Child Support Agency annual report and accounts 2005-06
Disability and Carers Service annual report and accounts 2005-06
The Pension Service—About Us—The Pension Service Annual Report
Appeals Service annual report and accounts 2005-2006
http://www.therentservice.gov.uk/documents/corporate_publications/TRSAnnualReport200506.pdf
Fatal Accidents: Workers
The latest number of work related fatalities were released in the Health and Safety Commission’s (HSC) “Statistics of Fatal Injuries” published in August 2006. Each reporting year covers the period 1 April to 31 March. The figure of 212 reported fatal injuries to workers in 2005-06 was the lowest on record and showed a 5 per cent. reduction over the 2004-05 figure of 223. The rate of fatal injury also fell by 5 per cent. to 0.71 fatalities per 100,000 workers, again the lowest on record. Figures for 2006-07 will not be available until July 2007.
There has been a significant improvement in the number of fatalities in the construction industry and in the overall number of deaths resulting from falls in the workplace; in both areas these are the lowest figures on record.
Although we are making progress, I remain concerned that so many people continue to lose their lives at work. Whilst I and the HSC wish to see further reduction in work related fatalities, it requires a major effort by all concerned to maintain even the present relatively low levels.
No. Employers are required to record, and report to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), only accidents that are covered by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR).
Work-related incidents which are not reportable under RIDDOR 1995 include those related to transport activities where safety regulation is not primarily the responsibility of health and safety enforcing authorities, including most road transport incidents, as well as civil aviation and merchant shipping.
Financial Assistance Scheme
As at 26 January 2007, the Financial Assistance Scheme has paid out more then £3 million to 871 qualifying members.
A further 91 members will be paid as soon as they have confirmed their personal details, and an additional 196 members have been assessed and will be eligible for FAS when they reach age 65.
We reviewed the scheme last spring and extended it in May's Pensions White Paper. This review increases the funding from £400 million in cash terms to £2.3 billion in cash terms or £783 million net present value.
We also reviewed the administration of the scheme and published our findings in July 2006. Since then we have made good progress to implement the findings.
Before the financial assistance scheme is able to start processing applications for individual scheme members, the pension scheme has to complete the notification and qualification processes. These involve the trustees and administrators providing basic scheme information to the FAS Operational Unit. They then have six months to provide data on individual members before a notice requiring provision of this information can be issued.
'Notification' of a scheme occurs when trustees or members formally notify the FAS of their scheme's basic details, after which a scheme can then be considered for FAS qualification. As at 29 December 2006, the average time taken (since FAS operations started in September 2005) from ‘notification’ of a scheme to the date of the first payment to a member of the scheme was 190 working days.
Within this period, the average time taken (over the last 12 months) by the FAS Operational Unit from first receipt from the trustees or administrators of member data to the date of the first payment to a member of the scheme was 24 working days.
Furniture
The Department for Work and Pensions has a PFI contract with Land Securities Trillium (LST). The contract includes the provision of fully fitted and serviced accommodation for which the Department pays an all-inclusive unitary charge. This includes replacement furniture. Additional furniture for large projects is procured via LST and billed separately.
It is not possible to determine how much of the unitary charge relates to furniture, but the amounts spent on additional furniture are detailed as follows. While it is not known how much of this was made by British firms, LST's service partner responsible for furniture provision procures approximately 90 per cent. from British suppliers.
The financial year 2002-03 is the first for which figures are readily available.
Financial year Amount (£ million) 2002-03 6 2003-04 19 2004-05 10 2005-06 10 2006-07 (to November 2006) 7
Government Auctions
Any assets we auction are sold at auctions arranged by an external third party and we are unaware of any specific arranged auctions.
Health and Safety Executive
The Health and Safety Executive employed 1,459 inspectors (enforcement officers) at 1 January 2007. The figure is for full-time equivalents, rounded to the nearest whole number.
The Health and Safety Executive does not keep records of civil cases brought against it/the Commission in a way that enables a full answer to be given to this question.
The Executive’s finance section keeps records (going back to 2002) of payments made by the Executive/Commission which follow (a) settlement of very small claims ‘without admission of liability’ (b) settlement out of court, on legal advice, to compromise actions and (c) awards of damages/costs following unsuccessful defences of actions.
These figures are set out in the table as follows. They will not include cases brought against the Executive/Commission which were unsuccessful.
Staff—Number of payments Total paid (£) Public—Number of payments Total paid (£) 2002-03 Under £200 20 724.27 0 0.00 Over £200 0 0.00 0 0.00 2003-04 Under £200 30 1,252.99 0 0.00 Over £200 4 24,048.37 2 1,684.63 2004-05 Under £200 16 807.82 0 0.00 Over £200 1 845.95 2 246,125.11 2005-06 Under £200 7 189.84 0 0.00 Over £200 5 13,179.33 1 600.00 2006-07 to date Under £200 11 283.11 2 155.00 Over £200 3 16,215.00 2 857.98
Incapacity Benefit
Information is not available in the format requested. A breakdown of incapacity benefits claimants in London boroughs by diagnoses groups has been placed in the Library.
The available information is in the following table.
All Up to 1 year 1 year and up to 2 years 2 years and up to 5 years 5 years and over Lancashire 61,700 8,700 5,520 13,390 34,090 Ribble Valley borough council 1,860 240 150 360 1,120 Ribble Valley parliamentary constituency 3,260 390 270 640 1,970 Notes: 1 .Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. ‘Claimant’ figures include all incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance and incapacity benefit credits-only cases. Source: DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. Data.
Projected estimates of the numbers flowing onto and off incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance, consistent with published projections of the number of claimants under current policies, are shown in the table.
Based on existing evidence, these forecasts take into account the positive impact from Pathways to Work in the third of the country currently covered, as well as the effect of the equalisation of state pension age.
Forecasts that take into account further proposed policy changes in the recent papers, "A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work" and "Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system", are not available at this time.
Claimants Flows - on Flows - off 2005-06 2,710 610 650 2006-07 2,650 590 670 2007-08 2,570 570 650 2008-09 2,490 560 620 2009-10 2,430 560 620 2010-11 2,400 580 590 2011-12 2,390 580 600 2012-13 2,370 590 600 2013-14 2,360 590 600 2014-15 2,350 600 600 2015-16 2,360 600 600 2016-17 2,380 600 580 2017-18 2,410 610 590 2018-19 2,440 610 580 2019-20 2,470 620 590 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000. 2. Figures are based on the published pre-Budget report 2006 claimant estimates. 3. Figures are forecasts and are therefore subject to future revisions. 4. Figures include the estimated impact of roll-out of Pathways to Work to one-third of Great Britain. 5. Figures include estimates of the impact of equalisation of state pension age on the incapacity benefit caseload. 6. The balance between flows-on and flows-off will not reconcile to year-on-year changes in claimant forecast, owing to the rounding of all figures to the nearest 10,000 cases and the within-year averaging applied to the claimant forecast.
IT Contracts
There has been only one IT contract abandoned by the Department since 2004 (central records were not kept prior to this date). This was the Contact Management services order with IBM, which was valued at £6,189,131. The total that the Department will pay is £4,966,939.
IT Systems
The Department and its businesses currently have in excess of 90 individual projects which encompass information technology (IT) changes to a greater or lesser extent. The Department's major projects are those contained in its modernisation programme. For the most part, these projects embrace both IT and business change.
The information in the table lists the Department's current major programmes and projects that include significant IT change, where they are either on-going or have completed implementation since March 2006. The table shows for these projects/programmes information on their purpose, due end date, planned expenditure, outturn and actual end date. It should be noted that project details may alter as they pass through the project lifecycle and as the Department considers its wider plans as part of the normal spending review process.
Project Purpose Due end date Planned expenditure (£ million) Outturn (£ million)1 Actual end date Pensions Transformation Project The programme will transform the Pension Service, bringing together business and IT change in ways that improve customer service and deliver efficiencies. 2010 829 Project on-going Project on-going Customer Information System This project will deliver a database of key citizen information to be shared across DWP. The database will complement information currently available in the Department's key customer information systems, i.e. Personal Details Computer System and Departmental Central Index, and become their replacement. July 2007 83 Project on-going Project on-going Resource Management This programme will provide modernised HR, financial and procurement functions for DWP staff. It will introduce significant business process change, enabling departmental resources to be managed more effectively. June 2007 208 Project on-going Project on-going Debt Management The Department Programme introduced a new organisational structure based on 10 Debt Centres and a Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) package to provide new Management Information Systems, combined with increased focus on the management and ultimately reduction of debt stock. February 2006 103 103 31 May 2006 Central Payments System(formerly part of Payment Modernisation) New payment processing IT functionality is required to support the DWP to process payments for new entitlement management and financial scheduling systems. March 2010 141 Project on-going Project on-going 1 Outturn figures show the final investment cost for the completed projects. Note: The planned expenditure is: for projects currently in progress, the latest forecast investment expenditure; or for completed projects, the final approved investment expenditure.
Low Incomes: Disabled
My Department offers a range of provision for children with disabilities in low-income families, from direct financial support such as disability living allowance to employment-related programmes for their parents.
New Deal
A wide range of indicators are used to assess the performance of new deal programmes. National Statistics are used to monitor the number of job entries, including sustained jobs, achieved by new deal participants. Contracts with external providers are monitored to ensure high quality services are delivered in a cost-effective way, and we also evaluate the new deals using a range of social research methods. Published reports are placed in the Library.
Non-departmental Public Bodies
The following non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) were sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions at 31 March 2006:
Tribunal NDPBs
Appeals Service (transferred to Department of Constitutional Affairs April 2006)
Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman
Executive NDPBs
Disability Rights Commission
Health and Safety Commission
Health and Safety Executive
Independent Living Funds
Pension Protection Fund (designated a Public Corporation April 2006)
The Pensions Regulator
Public Corporation
REMPLOY Ltd (private company limited by guarantee)
Advisory NDPBs
Disability Employment Advisory Committee
Disability Living Allowance Advisory Board
Industrial Injuries Advisory Council
National Employment Panel
Pensions Ombudsman
Social Security Advisory Committee
Details of the remit, Government funding and gross expenditure of the public bodies sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions can be found in the Cabinet Office Publication ‘Public Bodies 2006’, copies of which are in the Library and which is also available on-line at:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/other/agencies/publications/pdf/public-bodies/publicbodies2006. pdf
Open Source Software
The Department for Work and Pensions does not currently use open source software in its computer systems. The Department purchases industry standard services from its framework suppliers. This allows the Department to benefit from industry standards and trends and allows its suppliers to consider the use of open source software, balanced against the need for departmental efficiency, stakeholder value, business need and whole life costs, as part of any standard services offered to the Department.
Pathways to Work
Pathways to Work pilots is now being delivered in about 40 per cent. of the country resulting in over 26,000 job entries so far. We will roll out Pathways to the rest of Britain next year.
Personal Accounts
Information on the proportion of individuals who can expect particular payback rates is not available.
However the Department has published, in “Financial incentives to save for retirement”, detailed analysis of the payback which can be expected from saving in a private pension for a range of example individuals under various assumptions around investment returns and other factors. It shows that while the payback depends on factors such as investment performance, the vast majority of people can expect to benefit in retirement from saving in personal accounts.
We provided an estimate of the overall costs of setting up a personal accounts scheme in "Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system: Regulatory impact assessments and technical appendices". As part of our commercial and procurement process we are engaging with the financial services sector and other organisations to help estimate costs. However, current estimates are necessarily subject to change at this stage. We will be refining our estimate working with the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority, and firm estimates will not be available until later in the procurement process. In order to reduce costs and delivery risk we expect suppliers to re-use existing systems, where practicable, in delivering the Personal Accounts service; therefore their engagement in the cost estimating process is essential.
We are currently undertaking work to consider finance structures of personal accounts, taking into account value for money and affordability, and will bring forward proposals in due course.
Figures from the Family Resources Survey show that there are relatively few individuals, an estimated 330,000, who have multiple jobs, earn more than £5,000 per year and are not currently contributing to a private pension. Analyses of such small groups using the FRS sample are not robust enough for publication, but can be used to provide broad indications of the characteristics of individuals within the group. Further analysis using the main longitudinal surveys is not possible as sample sizes are smaller than for the Family Resources Survey, increasing the risk that individuals within the sample will be unrepresentative of the overall group.
The following table shows an analysis of the individuals from the 2004-05 Family Resources Survey with multiple jobs who earn more than £5,000 per year and are not currently contributing to a private pension, by age band and employment status. Although these figures do not provide firm evidence of the employment patterns of a group of individuals over the course of their working lives, they show considerable variation across different age groups, providing some indicative evidence that the characteristics of the group vary at different points of the working life, and suggesting that the majority of individuals currently in multiple jobs are unlikely to remain in multiple jobs throughout their working life.
Age band Men Women Men Women 16 to 21 22,000 17,000 7,000 10,000 22 to 29 29,000 25,000 8,000 15,000 30 to 39 23,000 20,000 3,000 20,000 40 to 49 17,000 12,000 4,000 30,000 50 and over 9,000 19,000 15,000 27,000 Source: Family Resources Survey 2004-05.
Individuals would need to consider a variety of personal and financial factors before deciding whether to save in their personal account or an alternative savings vehicle. However, as well as a matching employer contribution of 3 per cent., those saving in Personal Accounts will benefit from low charges and generous tax relief.
The Government are consulting on an annual contribution limit of £5,000 into personal accounts. The final decision will balance the twin aims of focusing personal accounts on moderate to low earners and allowing sufficient flexibility for individuals within the scheme who wish to save more.
Figures 6a and 6b show the potential payback from saving for retirement with and without the proposed reforms. They assume the individual neither works nor has caring responsibilities until the age of 25, then makes national insurance contributions and contributes to a personal account at the default rate until retiring at state pension age.
Details of this and other assumptions underlying these figures are contained in Appendix A of ‘Financial incentives to save for retirement’.
The estimate that approximately 60 per cent. of money saved in personal accounts will be new saving is based on the results of a literature survey carried out for DWP.
The 60 per cent. is the middle point of a range of 50 to 70 per cent. that was put forward in the report as a plausible assumption for the average level of new savings in the national pensions saving scheme or similar personal account schemes.
It is this range that is used in the White Paper and the accompanying regulatory impact assessment, which note that personal accounts would generate pension savings of £7 to 8 billion per year, of which approximately £4-5 billion are expected to be additional.
Public Appointments
The Department has made no public appointments to former Government Ministers who have served in the Government since May 1997.
Baroness Hollis, who was Pensions Minister in the Lords, is currently on the Board of The Pensions Advisory Service but she was appointed by the TPAS Board, not the Department.
This response covers all departmental public bodies listed in the Cabinet Office publication “Public Bodies 2006”.
Terminally Ill People
(2) how many DS1500 claims were (a) granted and (b) refused in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and in what proportion of claims a decision-maker called for additional information before making a decision in each year.
Decision-makers do not overrule the opinion of a qualified medical practitioner about benefit entitlement on form DS1500 because the form is not a claim for benefit and does not contain such an opinion. The form contains purely factual information about a patient’s diagnosis, the clinical features of their condition and their treatment. It is completed, at the request of a patient or their representative, by a registered medical practitioner who considers that the patient may have a potentially terminal illness, and is submitted with a claim form for benefit under the “special rules” for terminally ill people.
These rules enable people who have a progressive disease, from which their death can reasonably be expected within six months, to qualify immediately for either higher-rate attendance allowance or the highest-rate of the disability living allowance care component without meeting the usual entitlement conditions. The rules also enable these people to receive the highest rate of incapacity benefit after 28 weeks rather than the usual 52 weeks.
Decision-makers are entirely responsible for deciding whether a person is entitled to benefit under the “special rules” and, for this purpose, take advice from DWP Medical Services doctors on all “special rules” claims about whether the person by, or for whom, the claim is made has a progressive disease, from which their death can reasonably be expected within six months.
Figures are not kept for the number of “special rules” claims on which decision-makers seek information in addition to that provided on form DS1500, and figures are not kept separately for the number of special rules claims that are disallowed.. The information that is available about “special rules” claims decided in each of the last five years is in the table.
1Attendance allowance and disability living allowance 2Incapacity benefit 2001-02 70,100 500 2002-03 65,800 400 2003-04 63,000 600 2004-05 62,500 400 2005-06 58,100 400 Sources: 1 DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 2 DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples. Figures are for the 12 months ending on 31 May in 2002 and in each subsequent year, and are rounded to the nearest 100.
Winter Fuel Payments
I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 9 January 2007, Official Report, columns 573-4W.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan
Through the NATO led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) all 26 NATO nations, including France, remain committed to supporting the Afghan Government as it extends its writ across the country. ISAF is in Afghanistan to help establish a security environment in which accountable and effective Afghan institutions can develop and where Afghan-led reconstruction and development can happen. For its part, France currently has approximately 1,000 troops under ISAF making it the seventh largest troop-contributing nation to the force.
My right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary and I regularly hold meetings with our NATO counterparts to ensure that commanders on the ground have access to the resources they need to carry out ISAF’s mission and to ensure NATO Allies regularly review their civilian contributions to Afghanistan. At the recent NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Brussels, 26 January, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary reaffirmed the need for all NATO Allies to play their part in ensuring ISAF’s success. Military advice on force and capability requirements is provided by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe using the NATO force generation process.
Autumn Performance Report
Officials have held a series of meetings to examine what financial measures we might use against proliferators. These discussions are ongoing. Separately, UN Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1737 contain country specific proliferation finance elements. These elements aim to disrupt the transfer of material and technology, which could contribute to the weapons of mass destruction and missile programmes of North Korea and Iran respectively. The use of financial measures could be a powerful tool in rolling back programmes of concern.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
On 23 January 2007, Mr. Schwarz-Shilling announced that he would not be seeking an extension to his mandate as high representative and EU special representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina beyond 30 June 2007. The mandate of the Office of the High Representative beyond June 2007, and the selection of a successor to the high representative, will be decided by the Peace Implementation Council Board, which next meets on 26-27 February.
Council of Europe Conventions
The UK has signed but not yet ratified 19 Council of Europe Conventions as follows:
Number Title Opening of the treaty Entry into force 046 Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, securing certain rights and freedoms other than those already included in the Convention and in the first Protocol thereto 16 September 1963 2 May 1968 Signature: 16 September1963 072 Convention relating to Stops on Bearer Securities in International Circulation 28 May 1970 11 February 1979 Signature: 28 May 1970 077 Convention on the Establishment of a Scheme of Registration of Wills 16 May 1972 20 March 1976 Signature 16 May 1972 101 European Convention on the Control of the Acquisition and Possession of Firearms by Individuals 28 June 1978 1 July 1982 Signature: 28 June 1978 102 European Convention for the Protection of Animals for Slaughter 10 May 1979 11 June 1982 Signature: 10 May 1979 142 Protocol amending the European Social Charter Signature: 21 October 1991 21 October 1991 — 144 Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level 5 February 1992 1 May 1997 Signature: 5 February 1992 153 European Convention relating to questions on Copyright Law and Neighbouring Rights in the Framework of Trans frontier Broadcasting by Satellite 11 May1994 — Signature: 2 October 1996 156 Agreement on illicit traffic by sea, implementing Article 17 of the United Nations Convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances 31 January 1995 1 May 2000 Signature: 31 January 1995 163 European Social Charter (revised) 3 May 1996 1 July 1999 Signature: 7 November 1997 174 Civil Law Convention on Corruption 4 November 1999 1 November 2003 Signature: 8 June 2000 175 European Convention on the Promotion of a Transnational Long-Term Voluntary Service for Young People 11 May 2000 — Signature: 19 September 2000 179 Additional Protocol to the European Agreement on the Transmission of Applications for Legal Aid 4 October 2001 1 September 2002 Signature: 4 October 2001 181 Additional Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, regarding supervisory authorities and transborder data flows 8 November 2001 1 July 2004 Signature: 8 November 2001 182 Second Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters 8 November 2001 1 February 2004 Signature: 8 November 2001 185 Convention on Cybercrime 23 November 2001 1 July 2004 Signature: 23 November 2001 190 Protocol amending the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism 15 May 2003 — Signature: 15 May 2003 193 European Convention for the Protection of Animals during International Transport (Revised) 6 November 2003 14 March 2006 Signature: 6 November 2003 196 Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism 16 May 2005 — Signature: 16 May 2005
An up-to-date summary can be found on the Council of Europe website at:
http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeTraites.asp?PO=UK&MA=999&SI=3&DF=&CM=3&CL=ENG.
Ratification raises a number of issues, including the need to review domestic law and policy in relation to each Convention. In light of this, expected ratification dates cannot be provided.
Deportation: British Nationality
Where consular staff are aware that a British national is to be deported to the UK, either through providing consular assistance or notification from local authorities, they will record the information on the individual’s case file on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office consular assistance database—Compass.
Gulf States: EC External Trade
The last round of talks between officials of the EU and the Gulf Co-operation Council showed that both sides were moving closer to an agreement. However, at this stage the negotiations remain confidential. It remains a shared objective to conclude these talks as soon as possible.
Iran
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no immediate plans for contact with her Iranian counterpart. But we continue to urge the Iranians to return the boats. We have previously raised the return of boats and equipment with the Iranian authorities on numerous occasions, at both Ministerial and senior official level, in Tehran and London.
This decision is deeply disappointing and will only increase international concern. If Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful, as the Iranians claim, then it is in Iran’s interests to co-operate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to resolve outstanding issues. Barring so many inspectors from the country will hardly help.
The IAEA has asked Iran to reconsider the decision. But the IAEA has also said that even if Iran does not, ‘there are a sufficient number of inspectors designated for Iran and the IAEA is able to perform its inspection activities’. Iran has a legally binding obligation under United Nations Security Council resolution 1737 to provide ‘such access and co-operation as the IAEA requests’ to verify suspension and clarify outstanding issues.
EU Foreign Ministers discussed Iran only briefly at the 22 January General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC). With the UK’s full support, they agreed that in order to ensure effective implementation of measures in United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 1737, the EU should
“prevent the export to and import from Iran of the goods on the Nuclear Suppliers Group and Missile Technology Control Regime lists; ban transactions with and freeze the assets of individuals and entities covered by the criteria in UNSCR 1737; ban travel to the EU of the individuals covered by these criteria; and take measures to prevent Iranian nationals from studying proliferation sensitive subjects within the EU”.
Officials are presently drafting a Common Position that will take this forward; it is likely to be discussed at the 12 February GAERC. We would like the EU to implement the measures, including the financial elements, robustly and effectively.
Iraq
Until December 2006, we advised British citizens against all but essential travel to the three Kurdish Regional Government (KRG)-administered provinces in Iraq. This advice included visits by trade delegations. Our consulate-general in Kirkuk and a representative from our embassy in Baghdad, nevertheless, met those delegations who decided to visit the region. These have recently included British Expertise (2 to 5 September 2006) and Middle East Association (10 to 15 November 2006). Our travel advice for the KRG region changed in December 2006. The change will allow UK Trade and Investment to provide commercial advice and assistance in respect of the region in future, in liaison with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
We continue to advise against all travel to other parts of Iraq and have not been asked to give assistance or advice to UK trade delegations wishing to go elsewhere in the country. Details of our travel advice for Iraq can be found on the FCO website at:
www.fco.gov.uk/travel/iraq.
I have been asked to reply.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department Office has received reports of the difficulties that Iraqi business and other Iraqi travellers state they face in obtaining Iraqi travel documents. The Home Office is charged with maintaining the security of the UK border and the integrity of UK border control. The responsibility for issuing travel documents to Iraqi nationals rests with the Iraqi authorities.
The Iraqi authorities issue a number of travel documents, some of which are universally accepted abroad, others of which are not.
The Iraqi S-series passport, originally introduced by the Interim Iraqi Government in 2004, may be used for travel to many countries in the immediate region and beyond and is available from regional offices in Iraq. However, the document is of poor quality with a lack of security features, making it highly vulnerable to counterfeiting or alteration. For that reason, acceptance of the S-series passport for travel to the United Kingdom was phased out between 1 September and 1 November 2006. There are no plans to reverse or review this decision which would open the UK to immigration abuse. The S-series is also not accepted by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Switzerland and the USA.
The new G-series passport, issued from April 2006, includes modern security features and is acceptable for travel to the UK. In Iraq, the G-series is issued in Baghdad only but it can also be applied for at Iraqi missions abroad, including in London. There are also the N-series and H-series Iraqi passports. These are no longer issued but are acceptable for travel to the UK within their stated validity if issued prior to 19 March 2003 or if issued or revalidated after that date by the Coalition Provisional Authority or (in the case of the H-series only) by the Iraqi Interim Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The UK Government continue to monitor the situation.
We have shared our experience from Northern Ireland with the Iraqi government in a variety of ways, sometimes formally, sometimes less so. Among recent examples are the following:
during his visit to the UK in September 2006, Iraqi Minister of National Dialogue and Reconciliation Akram al-Hakim called on the Northern Ireland Office to discuss reconciliation and lessons learned in Northern Ireland;
in November 2006, we arranged the visit of a broad delegation of Iraqi politicians, led by National Security Advisor Muwaffaq Al Rubai’e, to Northern Ireland. The visit included presentations and discussions from a range of politicians, clerics, security experts and academics/practitioners in the area of conflict resolution, as well as senior representatives of the Police Service of Northern Ireland; and
Sir Ronnie Flanagan has visited Iraq three times since 2005 to work with police and others on governance and reconciliation.
We have worked consistently in recent years to promote reconciliation between Iraq’s communities and a non-sectarian approach both in government and more widely (notably in the Iraqi security forces).
We have strongly supported the National Reconciliation Initiative launched by Prime Minister Maliki last year. We have recently provided an expert, funded by the Department for International Development, to advise the Iraqi government on reconciliation.
We have also shared with the Iraqi government and political leaders our experience of the reconciliation process in Northern Ireland, for example by arranging for:
Minister of National Dialogue and Reconciliation Akram al-Hakim to meet senior officials from the Northern Ireland Office during his visit to the UK in September 2006;
a delegation of Iraqi politicians to visit Northern Ireland in November 2006, where they met with a range of politicians, clerics, security experts and academics/practitioners in the area of conflict resolution, as well as senior representatives of the Northern Ireland Police Service: and
Sir Ronnie Flanagan to visit Iraq three times since 2005 to work with police and others on governance and reconciliation.
Israel: Frontiers
We are concerned at reports that the Israeli government are considering changing the route of the barrier to incorporate two west bank settlements. We fully recognise Israel's right to self-defence, but the barrier's route should be on or behind the green line and not on occupied territory. Construction of the barrier on Palestinian land is illegal. The route is particularly damaging around east Jerusalem, as it risks cutting the city off from the west bank and dividing the west bank in two. Our ambassador in Tel Aviv raised this with Israeli Foreign Minister Livni's office and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs legal advisers on 31 January 2007.
Jeremy Crook
No ministerial or official representations have been made to the United States on the case of Mr. Jeremy Crook. Consular assistance has been offered to him.
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him today (UIN 117770).
Kosovo
The UK has worked in close partnership with Contact Group partners (US, France, Germany, Italy, Russia) to assist in efforts to achieve a lasting status settlement for Kosovo and the region.
Contact Group Ministers last met in New York in September 2006, where we asked the UN Special Envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, to prepare a comprehensive proposal for a status settlement. Contact Group officials met on 26 January in Vienna, where they discussed the draft settlement with President Ahtisaari.
We will continue to work closely with Contact Group partners to achieve the durable solution for Kosovo which will enhance regional stability and the region’s Euro-Atlantic prospects.
UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari took his Kosovo final status proposals to Belgrade and Pristina on 2 February. A period of intensive consultation will now follow.
President Ahtisaari continues to enjoy the full support of the Government. We have every faith that his final status recommendations will provide the basis for a lasting settlement for Kosovo and the wider Balkans region.
Ministers will keep the House appraised of developments.
Middle East
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials are in frequent contact with their Israeli counterparts about Iran. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed Iran with her Israeli counterpart on 2 January. The UK has been working closely with international partners including Israel to encourage Iran to address the concerns and requests of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors and the UN Security Council concerning its nuclear programme.
Mohammed Dahlan
The consul-general and other officials at our consulate-general in Jerusalem have regularly met Mohammed Dahlan in the course of their normal diplomatic business, to discuss security matters, Palestinian co-ordination with the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in September 2005 and political affairs. Since 2004, Ministers have met Mohammed Dahlan to discuss Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The exact dates and locations of each meeting is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Montenegro
On 8 November 2006, I visited Podgorica where I met the President, Prime Minister, parliamentary speaker, and the outgoing and incoming Foreign Ministers.
As the first British Minister to visit an independent Montenegro I welcomed their independence.
Nuclear Weapons
The Government are strongly committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which is the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The White Paper on the Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent makes clear that renewing our minimum nuclear deterrent capability is fully consistent with all our international obligations, including under the NPT. It is also consistent with our continuing commitment to work towards a safer world in which there is no requirement for nuclear weapons.
The UK is committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the cornerstone of the international non-proliferation regime. The unanimous adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737 on Iran was an important indication of the international community's determination to enforce the NPT whenever and wherever it is challenged. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary was involved in a number of important discussions in the negotiation of this resolution. The current NPT review cycle runs from 2007 to 2010. The UK will be fully involved in discussions to achieve an outcome at the review conference in 2010 which effectively enhances the NPT.
Overseas Convictions and Arrests
Prior to the establishment of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office notified the National Criminal Intelligence Service where we were aware of a British national being arrested or convicted of a serious crime overseas.
Palestine
We remain deeply concerned that neither the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, nor Hamas as a movement, have committed to the Quartet’s (EU, US, UN and Russia) three principles: to renounce violence, recognise Israel and accept all previous agreements and obligations.
As we have indicated before, we are ready to work with any Palestinian Government based on the Quartet conditions. So far, Hamas has continued to reject these. In the meantime, we will continue to support President Abbas’ efforts to improve the safety, security and prosperity of the Palestinian people.
Saudi Arabia
We are currently discussing with Saudi Arabia the dates for the next Two Kingdoms Dialogue. We hope that this event will be held around October 2007.
Sri Lanka
Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials in London and at our high commission in Colombo have regular contact with individuals and groups in the UK and Sri Lanka representing the views of Sri Lanka’s Tamil population. In December 2006 and in January this year I met with representatives of the Tamil community for discussions on the peace process and the situation in Sri Lanka. In addition, I receive and reply to many written representations made by hon. Members on behalf of their Tamil constituents.
We urge the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to return to the negotiating table and to work to prevent further deterioration of the security situation and the needless loss of more lives. It is essential that both sides commit to the cease-fire agreement and demonstrate this by acting to stop the violence, human rights abuses and bloodshed. The only viable route to a peaceful resolution of the Sri Lanka conflict is at the negotiating table. We fully support the role of the Norwegian Government in facilitating negotiations in furtherance of the peace process.
On 10 January, my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs, Ian McCartney, who has responsibility for human rights in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, reiterated the Government’s concerns about human rights in Sri Lanka to Rohitha Bogollagama, the then Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion when they met during his visit to London. Minister Bogollagama has recently been appointed as the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister.
My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, Gareth Thomas, raised humanitarian, political and human rights with Minister Bogollagama when they also met on 10 January.
Northern Ireland
Advertising Campaigns
The Northern Ireland Office has run the following advertising campaigns since July 2004:
Campaign Date Cost (£) Are you a victim of the Troubles Campaign March 2005 43,762.00 Theft from Vehicles Campaign 15 November to 31 December 2004 88,918.96 Unknown Callers TV advertisement 6 to 28 June 2005 56,597.00 Theft from Vehicles Campaign 13 to 26 June 2005 15,146.41 Community Safety Week 20 to 24 June 2005 26,196.00 Unknown Callers TV advertisement 13 October to 16 November 2005 58,338.29 Theft from Vehicles Campaign 21 November 2005 to 1 January 2006 71,219.16 Recruitment for Chairman and membership of the Parades Commission July 2005 37,873.88 Recruitment for membership of the Parades Commission November 2006 16,902.51 Domestic Violence media campaign1 August 2006, January 2007 50,000.00 Knife Carrying Campaign1 May 2006, December 2006 58,000.00 Total 522,954.21 1 The Northern Ireland Office jointly funded these two campaigns with DHSSPS and PSNI. The amounts shown are the NIO's contributions to the campaigns.
British Food
This information is not recorded and therefore it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Bus Services: Comber
Translink has advised that this information is not available for a specific service, or indeed for the Comber sub-depot which operates service 11. Translink has, however, provided information on the level of absenteeism in the parent depot at Great Victoria Street, Belfast.
In the period 1 December 2005 to 30 November 2006 the overall percentage of absenteeism was 9.18 per cent.
Translink has advised that information is not available for the number 11 service alone. However, from 1 January 2006 until 31 December 2006, a total of 40 complaints were received regarding the two services which operate between Belfast and Comber (services 11 and 511).
Electoral Administration Act
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today to the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington) (Table Office reference 110918).
As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced on 29 January, the Government will shortly be commencing section 17 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 in Northern Ireland. This will bring the position in Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the United Kingdom by allowing 18-year-olds to stand for election. This will be in force in Northern Ireland in time for 18-year-olds who are eligible to stand as candidates to do so at the forthcoming Northern Ireland Assembly election.
Electoral Register
The following table shows an overall increase from December 2006 to the current register, which will be in use for the forthcoming March election, of 3.8 per cent. This is an addition of 40,849 names to the electoral register.
Constituency Register 1 December 2006 Revised register February 2007 Percentage change December 2006-February 2007 Belfast, East 48,570 50,053 +3.1 Belfast, North 47,369 49,629 +4.8 Belfast, South 47,190 49,177 +4.2 Belfast, West 45,923 51,057 +11.2 East Antrim 55,658 57,025 +2.5 East Londonderry 55,056 56,491 +2.6 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 64,039 66,410 +3.7 Foyle 62,521 65,430 +4.7 Lagan Valley 68,430 70,654 +3.3 Mid Ulster 59,358 61,783 +4.1 Newry and Armagh 68,812 71,387 +3.7 North Antrim 70,868 73,332 +3.5 North Down 56,420 57,947 +2.7 South Antrim 63,983 66,046 +3.2 South Down 69,951 72,340 +3.4 Strangford 65,504 67,158 +2.5 Upper Bann 69,588 71,244 +2.4 West Tyrone 55,876 58,802 +5.2 Total 1,075116 1,115965 +3.8
Government Auctions
The Northern Ireland Office does not arrange or contribute to auctions in (a) Blackpool (b) Lancashire or (c) the north west.
Mental Health
Mental Health in-patient services for adolescents are provided in only one trust in Northern Ireland, that being South and East Belfast HSS Trust. Information on the number of patients waiting for adolescent mental health in-patient treatment in South and East Belfast HSS Trust by Purchaser Health and Social Services Board is shown in the following table.
Purchaser Health and Social Services Board Provider trust Number of patients waiting for adolescent mental health in-patient treatment Eastern South and East Belfast HSS Trust 4 Northern South and East Belfast HSS Trust 2 Southern South and East Belfast HSS Trust 0 Western South and East Belfast HSS Trust 0 Source: South and East Belfast HSS Trust
Remploy
Remploy has not been awarded any contracts to deliver services in Northern Ireland. Ulster Supported Employment Ltd. (USEL) is an Executive non-departmental public body that provides similar services to Remploy. Since January 2006 USEL has been awarded 12 public contracts as a result of competitive tendering processes. There are no plans to take steps to increase the number of contracts awarded to USEL. USEL will be able to continue to bid to deliver contracted services as a result of competitive tendering processes.
Royal Prerogative of Mercy
Since 2002 the royal prerogative of mercy has been granted to three individuals convicted of terrorist offences relating to Northern Ireland. All three were granted in 2002. In all of these cases, the RPM was used to remit a portion of a prison sentence and not to provide a pardon for the offences committed. There have been no such cases subsequently.
Transport
Central Trains
All operators are required to have a complaints handling procedure which sets out the response rates to complaints which they are required to meet. Central Trains figures for the latest period available indicates that 91 per cent. of complaints were responded to within the target period of three weeks.
M6: Lancashire
I understand that the potential for resolving the transport problems of Lancaster through an integrated transport solution was considered by Lancashire county council in the early part of the development of proposals for a link between Heysham and the M6. The Lancaster Transportation study concluded that a number of coordinated measures, including a new road link to the M6 and a number of other measures such as quality bus routes, cycle routes and park and ride, would be necessary to deal with the transport problems of Lancaster.
Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties
The following table contains the number of vehicles for each road tax classification as at 30 September 2006 registered in Bexley.
Taxation class Category Number Private TC11 Private 58,502 TC36 Euro 4 light goods vehicles—private 249 TC39 Light goods vehicles—Co2 private 5,554 TC48 Petrol cars—Co2 private 34,810 TC49 Diesel cars—Co2 private 8,557 TC59 Alternative fuel cars—Co2 private 89 TC10 Private HGV 73 TC23 HGVCT (combined transport) 5 TC53 HGVCT (combined transport reduced pollution) 1 Motorcycles TC17 Bicycle 4,594 Goods vehicles TC01 HGV 1,352 TC45 HGV—reduced pollution 123 TC02 Trailer HGV 12 TC46 Trailer HGV—reduced pollution 2 Public transport vehicles TC34 Bus 106 Other licensed vehicles TC14 Special vehicles 132 TC47 Recovery 57 TC50 Tricycle 34 TC55 General haulage 1 TC56 General haulage—reduced pollution 1 TC57 Special type 6 Exempt categories—no licence TC60 Crown vehicles 4 TC61 Not licensed 444 TC65 Ambulance 7 TC66 Fire engine 1 Exempt categories—nil licence TC77 Limited use 1 TC78 Disabled 2,884 TC85 Disabled passenger carrying vehicle 87 TC87 NHS vehicles 1 TC88 Over 25 years 800 Exempt categories: former special concessionary group TC37 Steam vehicles 1 TC40 Agricultural machine 19 TC44 Mowing machine 8 TC79 Electric 10 TC81 Gritting vehicle 13 Total 118,540
Following a 2006 roadside survey of vehicle excise duty evasion, statisticians estimate that there are 2.19 million untaxed/unlicensed vehicles in Great Britain. Licensing and taxation are in practice the same.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has a clear strategy to tackle evaders. Those who fail to re-tax are identified from the DVLA record and issued with a penalty notice. Those who continue to fail to re-tax or pay the penalty are targeted through a national wheel clamping operation, the use of automatic number plate reader (ANPR) technology and special operations with the police, local authorities and other enforcement bodies.
In addition, DVLA has a telephone hotline facility whereby the public can inform DVLA of untaxed vehicles in their area.
Since the 2006 roadside survey was conducted, DVLA has:
Doubled the capacity of its wheel clamping operation from 50,000 to 100,000 per annum;
Recruited an additional 50 enforcement field officers to trace untaxed vehicles;
Increased to 86 the number of local authorities and police forces operating local wheel clamping schemes in respect of untaxed vehicles; and
Initiated a debt collection trial to target those who have not paid the penalty for failing to tax their vehicle on time.
DVLA is currently conducting further research to establish the cause of this recent rise in evasion and will be reviewing its enforcement strategy accordingly in order to target evaders more effectively.
MSC Napoli
In accordance with the Anglo-French Joint Maritime Contingency Plan (Mancheplan), HM Coastguard had been monitoring the situation involving the MSC Napoli together with the French search and rescue (SAR) authorities from the outset of the incident. Co-ordination of the incident was passed to the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Falmouth from the French co-ordination at CROSS Corsen at approximately 16:10 on 19 January 2007 when the MSC Napoli passed over the UK/French median line. At this point the ship was approximately 60 nautical miles from Portland and Cherbourg. Taking all the environmental and safety factors into account, the French authorities were unable to identify a suitable place of refuge on the French coast within about 200 nautical miles.
A salvage contract was agreed at 14:45 on 19 January 2007, when the ship was still in French waters and approximately 110 nautical miles from Portland and Cherbourg.
I refer the hon. Member to the oral statement I made to the House on 1 February 2007, Official Report, columns 376-78.
Official Cars
This information can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Road Safety: Novice Drivers
The Department is concerned to reduce deaths and injury among the whole population. We do not plan now to add new targets to the 2010 targets that were set out in the March 2000 strategy: “Tomorrow's Roads: Safe for Everyone”. However, young and novice drivers are a key theme of the second three-year review of the strategy which we aim to publish shortly.
Roads: Summer Heat
The Highways Agency is progressively re-surfacing the English trunk road network with deformation resisting material. Over 30 per cent. has been completed to date. To combat temperature rise in future years, a more deformation resistant base material has also recently been introduced into Highway Agency standards, to be used in combination with the surfacing when appropriate.
Maintenance of local roads in England is the responsibility of the local highway authority. The Department endorses Well Maintained Highways, the code of practice for local authority highway management (TSO, July 2005) published by the UK Roads Board. This advises local highway authorities to take account of the possibility of higher temperatures affecting the UK's local highway network in the future.
The code contains guidance for local authorities on dealing with the effect of high temperatures on road surfaces. Authorities are advised to be aware, from inventory, inspection and other information, of the relative risks to parts of their network from excessive heat, and to establish priorities for treatment based on this assessment.
Taxis: Children
The number of reported personal injury road accidents involving taxis with child (aged 0-15) passenger casualties in (a) Scotland and (b) Great Britain in the last 10 years is given as follows:
(a) Scotland (b) Great Britain 1996 15 99 1997 7 82 1998 17 85 1999 11 102 2000 10 117 2001 11 82 2002 10 68 2003 17 76 2004 9 67 20051 8 93 1 Includes private hire cars from 2005
Following public consultation on the proposals to update the seat belt wearing legislation, we accepted that that it would be unreasonable to expect taxis or private hire vehicles always to have the correct number and size of child restraints and that those travelling with children cannot always provide their own. The terms of Directive 2003/20/EC, which updates the seat belt wearing requirements established by Directive 1991/671/EEC, allow an exemption for taxis where the correct child seat is not available.
The number of reported personal injury road accidents involving taxis with child (aged 0-15) passenger casualties in (a) Scotland and (b) Great Britain in each of the last 10 years broken down by taxi body type is given as follows:
Estate Saloon Taxi1 Unknown body type (a) Scotland 1996 1 6 4 4 1997 0 7 0 0 1998 1 3 9 4 1999 0 5 4 2 2000 1 6 1 2 2001 2 1 3 5 2002 1 4 3 2 2003 1 5 6 5 2004 1 3 4 1 2005 0 5 3 0 (b) Great Britain 1996 2 40 32 25 1997 3 35 31 13 1998 6 31 35 13 1999 8 47 30 17 2000 11 56 31 19 2001 12 31 26 13 2002 9 22 30 7 2003 10 26 23 17 2004 9 30 15 13 2005 16 37 20 20 1 Purpose built taxi
Transport Innovation Fund
No bid has been received from Shropshire county council for the Transport Innovation Fund. However, in October 2005 Shropshire bid for funding to support initial scheme development for TIF, and again for further development funding in July 2006. In both cases the bids were successful.
Transport: Finance
In his response of 6 July 2006 to the advice from the regions on regional funding allocations, the Secretary of State said that he expected to seek further formal advice on regional transport priorities within the next two years. That remains the case. In the interim the Department expects to request ad hoc advice from the regions from time to time on individual scheme decisions as necessary. The exercise included public transport schemes as well as road schemes.
Defence
Aldermaston
The Government will continue to make the necessary investment at AWE Aldermaston to ensure that it has the facilities and skills to meet our current and possible future requirements. We will continue to make the necessary investment in the establishment for as long as these requirements endure. The Government announced on 19 July 2005, Official Report, column 59WS, that investment at AWE would increase by an average of some £350 million per year for the years up to and including 2007-08. Details of investment at AWE for the period beyond 2007-08 will be determined over the next year, following this year's comprehensive spending review.
As the White Paper, ‘The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent’ published in December 2006, made clear, further investment at AWE will be necessary and early in the next decade the costs of AWE are likely—at their peak—to be the equivalent of about 3 per cent. of the current defence budget.
Boarding School Allowance
The number of children benefiting from continuity of education allowance are only available for the last three years. This is due to the ongoing work to transfer data from legacy administrative systems to Joint Personnel Administration.
Spring term Service children benefiting from CEA Percentage change from previous year 2004 Royal Navy 1,377 n/a Army 4,280 n/a Royal Air Force 2,372 n/a Total 8,029 n/a 2005 Royal Navy 1,377 0 Army 4,289 +0.22 Royal Air Force 2,220 -6.85 Total 7,886 -1.8 2006 Royal Navy 1,410 +2.41 Army 4,092 -4.82 Royal Air Force 2,113 -5.11 Total 7,615 -3.56 n/a = Not available
Cadets: School Leaving
[holding answer 1 February 2007]: Each year about 60 officers complete a Gap Year Commission, of whom some 20 to 25 convert to Short Service Commissions.
As the scheme is relatively expensive to run, and the Army has other means of graduate recruitment it was considered a lower priority and hence will not be funded once the current intake of young officers complete their attachments in mid 2007.
The Army continues to recruit the best young graduates through other schemes such as the University Officers Training Corps.
Departmental IT
External access from the internet to the Ministry of Defence's internal computer systems is channelled through a number of gateways. These gateways register constant external activity, including port scanning and the use of automated probes. Most of this activity is not identifiably targeting our networks; nor is it necessarily malicious. We focus on those attacks which have penetrated our gateways and have triggered incident response actions designed to limit any damage and reduce the risk of a recurrence.
There have been nine confirmed incidents of penetration of the Department's internal computer systems over the last five years. Details by year are given on the following table:
Number of incidents reported 2002 1 2003 2 2004 1 2005 0 2006 5 2007 10 1 As at 31 January 2007.
I assume that the hon. Member's question relates to the detection of deliberate attempts to corrupt data held on MOD computer systems, and not to routine virus 'infections' or other inadvertent and internally-generated instances of data corruption, that are liable to occur on any complex computer network.
To date, there are no reported incidents of deliberate data corruption held on the MOD's central IT incident database, which has been in operation since 2003.
I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 8 January 2007, Official Report, column 84W. No such incidents were reported on MOD computer systems therefore no additional costs were incurred.
Housing
The information requested is currently being collated and checked. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as this is complete and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Meat Supplies
Since the beginning of the current contract in October 2006, 2 per cent. of poultry by value supplied to the British armed forces has been bought from British farms. All gammon and bacon products are imported.
Medical Regiments
The average period of rest between operational tours for members of the Army's five medical regiments over the last three years was 30 months. The breakdown, by regiment, is as follows:
Serial Unit Tour interval (months) 1 1 Close Support Medical Regiment 24 2 3 Close Support Medical Regiment 30 3 4 General Support Medical Regiment 48 4 5 General Support Medical Regiment 12 5 16 Close Support Medical Regiment 36
5 General Support Medical Regiment has deployed in sub-units, rather than as a regiment. This has meant that for some sub-unit personnel tour intervals have been as low as 12 months, but this is not the case for all personnel in the regiment.
Met Office
The annual revenue of the Met Office since 1977 is contained in the following tables. Prior to 1996, the cost of the Met Office was borne on the Defence Vote to which all receipts from non-MOD customers were also credited. Following the Met Office commencing operation as a Trading Fund in 1996, funding received from the MOD is included within turnover.
It is important that MOD regularly reviews its spending plans, balances relative priorities and drives efficiency in public spending. Ministerial decisions on the forward Defence programme will be taken in the first quarter of 2007, and appropriate announcements on the outcome of the planning round will be made in that time frame.
Financial year Turnover (£) 2005-06 170,361,000 2004-05 165,580,000 2003-04 160,775,000 2002-03 157,398,000 2001-02 154,759,000 2000-01 154,413,000 1999-2000 151,013,000 1998-99 152,875,000 1997-98 154,784,000 1996-97 151,987,000
Financial year Receipts1 (£) Net expenditure2 (£) 1995-96 59,700 104,300,000 1994-95 57,000 91,400,000 1993-94 54,900 97,500,000 1992-93 50,200 91,800,000 1991-92 44,200 77,800,000 1990-91 39,300 70,900,000 1989-90 32,700 72,800,000 1988-89 28,700 62,518,000 1987-88 25,802 58,335,000 1986-87 23,608 57,221,000 1985-86 21,755 51,903,000 1984-85 20,918 47,497,000 1983-84 18,929 44,092,000 1982-83 17,420 38,264,000 1981-82 16,680 35,629,000 1980-81 15,762 34,715,000 1979-80 12,897 27,086,000 1978-79 11,287 25,330,000 1977-78 8,747 20,017,000 1976-77 8,400 19,900,000 1 Receipts from non-MOD customers. 2 Net expenditure represents the cost of the Met Office borne by the Defence Vote (after deducting receipts from non-MOD customers).
Military Vehicles
Protection is provided by the vehicles' armour and the Enforcer Remote Weapon Station, which provides defensive fire for the user. I am withholding the cost of the weapon station as its release would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests.
Naval Deployment: Gulf
There has been no change to UK’s naval posture in the Gulf region following the deployment of the US Carrier Group.
NHS Treatment: War Pensioners
[holding answer 2 February 2007]: Officials take up cases with the relevant health authority in respect of war pensioners where it is alleged that there is an issue around the provision of priority treatment. Formal records identifying the individual health authorities in each case are not kept. The methods used by the Department to take up these cases are mainly a combination of telephone and correspondence.
Overseas Accommodation
Much has been invested in both single-living and family accommodation for service personnel, but much still needs to be done to ensure that all our accommodation is of a standard fit for the 21st century. We ask much of our armed forces, it is only right that we look after both them and their families both at home and abroad.
The condition of the overseas accommodation estate is varied. However, plans are in place to provide higher grade accommodation where appropriate.
In Germany, improvement schemes such as the hired accommodation revitalisation programme, the programme of upgrade of married accommodation (PUMA) and the short term accommodation review (STAR) have been put in place. Accommodation to be improved is being targeted on a worse first basis, dependant on the availability of units for redevelopment. 937 of the worst hired service families accommodation (SFA) units will have been replaced, or upgraded, by March 2007. A total of 1,557 SFA properties and 1,655 single living accommodation (SLA) bed spaces will have been upgraded and modernised under project PUMA by March 2007.
In Cyprus, a programme of Ministry of Defence funded construction of 269 new build SFA is due to commence in the summer. In parallel, a refurbishment programme of the remaining houses will begin later in the year. In Gibraltar, 74 new build SFA are due for completion next year and the refurbishment of the remaining facilities is programmed to follow. In the Falkland Islands, construction has just started on an additional 12 houses, with another two per annum to be provided by the Falkland Islands government.
For SLA, there are major improvement programmes under way in both Cyprus and Gibraltar. In the south Atlantic, an operational theatre consideration is being given to the re-provision of existing SLA.
UK Armed Forces Veterans Lapel Badge
Prior to August 2006 the information requested was not held in the format requested and therefore the Veterans Agency cannot identify how many men and women in each year have received the Veterans Lapel Badge broken down by service.
However, I can confirm that from May 2004, when the scheme was introduced, to 17 April 2005 a total of 82,000 badges were issued. From 18 April 2005 to March 2006, 139,786 badges were issued and from April 2006 to 18 December 2006, 133,708 were issued; a combined total of approximately 355,500.
From 18 August 2006 the Veterans Agency introduced a new database which enables limited analysis of the applications. It is now possible to give details of how many Veterans’ badges have been awarded to personnel who served in each of the armed forces. The figures from 18 August 2006 to 18 December 2006 are shown in the table:
Number Army 34,376 Home Guard 48 Marines 675 Royal Navy 5,964 Royal Air Force 14,439
The Veterans Agency data do not make the distinction between male and female recipients.
Used Oil Disposals
(2) how much oil from military bases in the UK was used for the production of biodiesel used by his Department in the last period for which figures are available.
[holding answer 30 January 2007]: The MOD is currently investigating recycling used cooking oils as bio-diesel. No such fuel has yet been produced.
At present cooking oils are disposed of from MOD sites locally, usually through multi-activity contracts. Costs associated with such disposal activity are not routinely recorded but are estimated to be in the region of £100,000 per year.
The MOD disposes of used fuel oils via a specialist contractor for onward sale for use as marine diesel, for use in the domestic heating market or disposed of as incinerator fuel. Over 4,500 tonnes of fuel oil has been disposed of in the past six months in this way. Under the terms of the contract the MOD receives a percentage of the revenue generated and there is therefore no net cost to the Department from this disposal activity.
War Graves: Derby
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for the maintenance of the war graves of British and Commonwealth personnel and is not aware of any concerns over maintenance in the Derby area.
The graves of personnel who have died in military service outside the first and second world war, or their immediate aftermath, are classified as non-war graves. The location and choice of funeral and burial arrangements for serving military personnel is a matter of personal choice for the individual’s immediate family or executor.
If the family elect to have a headstone supplied and paid for at public expense, such graves will be maintained in perpetuity by the Ministry of Defence.
Works of Art
There is only a requirement to report a theft to the Art Loss Registry if it is a publicly owned work of art. All of the thefts within the last 10 years are of works that have been donated to regiments or were privately owned. A decision to report any loss has therefore been on a case-by-case basis.
Duchy of Lancaster
Civil Service Bill
(2) when she expects to publish the results of the consultation on the draft Civil Service Bill.
The background to the publication of the Government's Consultation Document on a draft Civil Service Bill set out in Command Paper 6373, a copy of which is available in the Library for the reference of Members. The Government will make a statement in due course.
Committee on Standards in Public Life
As an NDPB of the Cabinet Office, the Committee’s costs for 2006-07 will be available in the Cabinet Office’s 2006-07 resource accounts. These should be published shortly before the 2007 summer recess.
Cross-departmental Databases
I have been asked to reply.
The Information-sharing Vision Statement, published in September 2006, made clear that the Government are committed to greater data sharing to fight crime; deliver better public services; provide opportunities for the disadvantaged; and in other instances, where it is in the public interest. We will ensure that robust safeguards are in place to protect personal information before, during and after it is shared.
There are no current over-arching plans for facilitating cross-departmental databases, or transfer, of personal data. This, as with cross-departmental transfer of personal data, remains a matter for agreement between Departments and agencies on a case-by-case basis, via appropriate specific legislation.
Departmental Contracts
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Economic Dynamism
The strand of the policy review on economic dynamism is steered by the full Cabinet, with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Productivity and Competitiveness (EAPC) following up with more detailed work. EAPC is chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Home Department
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
[holding answer 30 January 2007]: ASBO breach data are available up to 31 December 2005 (latest available). For ASBOs issued between 1 June 2000 and 31 December 2005, 2,037 adults (defined as aged 18 or over at the time the breach was proved in court) and 1,353 children (defined as aged 10 to 17 at the time the breach was proved in court) breached their ASBO at least once during 2005.
Asylum Decisions
Mary Coussey, Chairman of the Advisory Board on Naturalisation and Immigration, recommended that there should be an independent element in initial asylum decisions in paragraph 3.30 of the 4th Annual Report completed in her other role as Independent Race Monitor. The report and the Home Secretary’s response can be found on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) website at:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/independent_race_mon.
The Home Secretary rejected this proposal in his response to the Race Monitor’s annual report 2005-06 in November 2006, which is published on the same webpage. However, he indicated that we were considering a new approach to the substantive asylum interview to allow the claimant’s legal adviser to play a more significant role. To this end we are currently piloting and evaluating an approach in Solihull which encourages legal representatives to work with the case owner to ensure all relevant evidence is correctly identified and taken into account before the asylum decision is made.
The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained by examination of individual records only at disproportionate cost.
Asylum Seekers
(2) whether the medical needs of failed asylum seekers are examined by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate before a dawn raid is authorised;
(3) if he will publish the instructions given to Immigration and Nationality Directorate officers on the use of dawn raids as a method of detaining asylum seekers.
The factors to be taken into account when deciding the timing of a family detention visit are whether it is the best time of day to pick up the whole family as an entire unit, the sensitivity of the immigration visit, whether there may be community or other local difficulties, and whether the purpose of the visit would be frustrated if carried out at a different time. Chapters 46 and 47 of the Operational Enforcement Manual (OEM), available on the IND website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk set out the levels of authority of enforcement visits, including when Ministers are advised of forthcoming operations.
Immigration officers are instructed, in chapter 58 of the OEM, to take into account any medical or special needs before a detention visit takes place, and in particular to ensure that the condition is not one which will prevent detention or removal.
Instructions to immigration officers on the timing of detention visits is contained in the Operational Enforcement Manual (OEM) which is published on the IND website
The dispersal of failed asylum seekers supported under section four of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 out of London is a result of the transfer from national s4 contracts to new regional target contracts. The regional target contracts provide improved value for money and require providers to meet defined accommodation standards.
The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) does not conduct ‘raids’ against asylum seekers. Officers undertake operational visits to detain and remove persons who no longer have the right to remain in the UK and do so in line with operational policy and guidance.
IND staff conducting immigration enforcement work are provided with full training in their powers prior to commencing enforcement work. Forced entry is currently only undertaken by specifically trained immigration officers and police officers working alongside immigration teams.
IND enforcement officers have the power to use force to control and/or restrain under section 146 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Any use of force is governed by this legislation and must be reasonable, necessary and proportionate. Current policy is that only staff who have undergone arrest training and been personally authorised by the Director of Enforcement can exercise these powers.
Known medical conditions are highlighted and considered as part of the planning for the enforcement visit. If a medical condition is identified which requires specialist assistance, this is incorporated into the plan for the visit.
Many IND staff are able to converse in foreign languages. Interpreters are used when appropriate.
IND enforcement staff do not undergo any specific training in grief counselling, however as part of their general training they are taught to deal with all people encountered in a polite and sensitive manner.
Officers do not receive specific training in their own anger management however both the initial training and the annual refresher training that arrest trained officers are required to undergo and successfully complete require them to demonstrate their ability to remain professional and objective when dealing with difficult, emotional scenarios.
Asylum: Morecambe
Information on numbers of asylum applications relating to particular areas of the UK are unavailable. Statistics on the location of asylum seekers in the UK are linked to the available information on the support that the asylum seeker receives.
The numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support from IND, broken down by Government Office region and local authority, are published on a quarterly and annual basis, as are asylum decisions in the UK as a whole. The latest publication covering the third quarter of 2006 is available on the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html. Further breakdowns, of those in receipt of support from IND, by parliamentary constituency are also available from the Library of the House.
Consultants
The external consultants used by (a) the Department and (b) its Executive agencies in relation to private finance initiatives in 2005-06; and the nature and cost of the work in each case is shown in the table:
Consultancy Nature of work Cost (£) (a) Department Deloittes Financial advice on Altcourse/Lowdham houseblocks 70,500 Jacobs Gibbs Independent declaration advice on Altcourse/Lowdham houseblocks 86,460 Mouchel MGT Independent declaration advice on landscaping and market testing and outsourcing PFI 26,081 AON Insurance advice on all PFI prisons 9,360 Turner & Townsend Monitoring Surveyors and Contract Management advisers for the 2 Marsham Street PFI Contract 450,000 (b) Agencies Brewer Consulting To advise on a programme of work and quantum issues in relation to a claim submitted by the contractor 18,500
Correspondence
On 23 January 2007 there were 287 items of unanswered MP's correspondence received during the 2005-06 session. Of these 264 were with IND, 19 with the central Home Office and four with HM Prison Service.
A breakdown by the number of months overdue is given in the following table.
The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members'/Peers' correspondence. The Report for 2005 was published on 30 March 2006, Official Report, columns 75-78WS. Information relating to 2006 is currently being collated and will be published as soon as it is ready.
Central HO HMPS INDMC2 Total Over 1 month old 10 1 113 124 Over 2 months old 3 2 75 80 Over 3 months old 3 0 49 52 Over 4 months old 2 0 21 23 Over 5 months old 0 0 1 1 Over 6 months 1 1 5 7 Total 19 4 264 287
Departmental Expenditure
The choice of software to meet the business needs of the Home Office now largely rests with its strategic IST suppliers who are contracted, largely under the Private Finance Initiative (and PPP arrangements), to meet business requirements and provide value for money solutions. In the main, the Home Office no longer chooses specific software. This factor, combined with the large number of computer systems operated by the Department prevent us from providing total expenditure figures for commercial software products.
Within our business requirements the Home Office ensures that any technical choices should meet relevant government software standards and provide for interoperability with our public and business partners.
Expenditure of the department and its executive agencies’ benefits all areas of Great Britain. The department does not hold data on this expenditure at the level of Government Office regions. To provide such a level of detail could be done only at disproportionate cost.
A regional breakdown of Home Office expenditure is available in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2006 (CM 6811), chapter seven—Analysis of public expenditure by country and region. The breakdown is based on Treasury and Office of National Statistics country and regional areas.
Driving Offences: Insurance
I have been asked to reply.
The steps being taken are the same in both Lancashire and nationally, and I refer to the answer I gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Warley (Mr. Spellar) on 22 November 2006, Official Report, columns 93-94W.
Drug-related Robbery
Data on offences of robbery recorded by the police are available from the recorded crime statistics. However, it is not possible to determine those that are drug-related as no information is collected on the circumstances surrounding the offences.
Executive Agencies
Expenditure of the Department and its executive agencies’ benefits all areas of Great Britain. The Department does not hold data on this expenditure at the level of Government Office regions. To provide such a level of detail could be done only at disproportionate cost.
A regional breakdown of Home Office expenditure is available in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2006 (CM 6811), chapter seven—Analysis of public expenditure by country and region. The breakdown is based on Treasury and Office for National Statistics country and regional areas.
Gosport War Memorial Hospital: Death
This is an operational matter for the Hampshire constabulary.
Government Auctions
All disposals of plant and machinery are normally sold by public auction or tender in accordance with Government Accounting Instructions. Details of the Department’s auctions are published in local newspapers and trade press as recommended on a case-by-case basis by the selling agents. There are currently no auctions planned for disposal of plant and machinery.
Surplus land and buildings should be disposed within three years of being identified as surplus, and surplus residential properties should usually be sold within six months of becoming empty. If by then, no sale is in progress, such properties should be auctioned.
The HMPS Custodial Estates have participated in five auctions during the current financial year of which two were in Manchester. They have one further auction planned this financial year in London in March 2007. These are all ordinary public auctions for residential property sales.
Our estates department have informed us that there will be an auction of a property in Rawtenstall, Lancashire which is planned for the 22 May 2007. It is expected that the local press or trade press will be used to publish information about the auction.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
IND’s complaints handling system is being completely overhauled through the Complaints Change Programme. This will ensure that complaints processes are in line with Cabinet Office guidance and the recommendations of the Complaints Audit Committee (CAC). The necessary changes will happen over the next 12-15 months
The recommendations made by CAC with regard to investigations are a high priority for IND. Revised investigation standards are being drafted. The associated training which is vital to ensure these standards are understood and adhered to will also be developed within the Complaints Change Programme.
New complaints procedures have already been introduced within the detention estate supported by guidance and training for contracted and Immigration Service (UKIS) staff. A separate unit managed by UKIS oversees the complaint process and investigates all complaints referred confidentially by detainees. In addition the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will provide an independent tier to the complaints process, and cases will continue to be audited by the CAC and their recommendations considered.
The CAC recommend that as soon as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has assumed jurisdiction over IS Enforcement and Removals, all allegations of death, serious injury and breaches of Articles two and three of the ECHR should be referred to the police as set down. We have accepted this. Regulations and procedures are being developed with the CAC and IPCC as part of the Developing Enforcement Capability programme (DEC).
Immigration Enforcement Visits
The purpose of an operational visit is to detain immigration offenders. The statutory powers to detain are found under paragraph 16(2) of Schedule two to the Immigration Act 1971 if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that directions may be given to remove them from the UK pending the decision to give such directions and/or pending his removal. Such a person or family member may be arrested without warrant under paragraph 17 of schedule two to that Act. A warrant may be granted, authorising any immigration officer or constable to enter, if need be by reasonable force, the premises named in the warrant for the purpose of searching for and arresting the person.
Leave to Remain
Records do not contain the time of a case decision, so where more than one decision was made in a day it is not possible to identify the last.
Mrs. Justina Obi Agu
I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 24 January 2007 giving a full summary of Mrs. Obi Agu’s case.
National Police Plan
Strategic priorities for the police service in England and Wales are set by the Home Secretary and published annually in the National Community Safety Plan www.crimereduction/gov/uk/ncsp. The current priorities do include the tackling of both serious crime and antisocial behaviour of which children are among the victims. Explicit reference is made in the National Community Safety Plan to the need to safeguard and promote children’s welfare.
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Non-departmental public bodies sponsored by the Home Office, their function and the budget for each body are published as at 31 March of each year and published on the Cabinet Office website www.Cabinetoffice.gov.uk; under public appointments titled public bodies (relevant year).
This publication is available to the public.
Passports
There are no changes currently planned in the information to be provided by applicants that will, subsequently, be held on records of the Identity and Passport Service. Later this year, the IPS will gather limited additional information on first time applicants to form the basis of interviews to confirm identity and to protect applicants against identity theft. This additional information will not be held on IPS records after the passport is issued.
The standard application form in May 1997 sought the following information:
Type of passport applied for;
Applicant's name, address, place and date of birth, sex, and telephone numbers;
Details of previous passports (where appropriate);
Applicant's parents' names, places and dates of birth, nationality and details of any British passports held (where appropriate);
Naturalisation details (where appropriate);
Parents' consent (where appropriate);
Countersignatory’s details (where appropriate).
The changes to the information required since 1997 are as follows:
March 2002
Requirement to provide countersignatory’s passport number introduced.
December 2003
Requirement introduced for applications to replace lost or stolen passports to include an additional form with details of the loss and the report of the loss to the police.
January 2005
The shortened form of birth certificates without parents details no longer accepted for people born after 31 December 1982.
November 2005
All first applicants required to provide parents' details (previously applied only to those born after 31 December 1982).
November 2005
New standards for passport photographs introduced in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation standards.
January 2006
Enhanced identity checks against public and private sector databases introduced, but this did not change the information required from applicants.
The Identity and Passport Service may ask applicants to provide additional information in some cases where identity or nationality cannot be confirmed from the information given on the form.
Police
[holding answer 30 January 2007]: The number of police officers employed specifically in child protection work is not collected centrally and is an operational matter for involved police forces and their child protection partners.
Over the last 10 years the overall police strength within England and Wales has increased by approximately 10.4 per cent. The available data are given in the table.
As at 31 March each year: Police force 19973 1998 1999 2000 20014 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Avon and Somerset 2,989 2,976 2,999 2,934 2,994 3,096 3,149 3,401 3,384 3,389 Bedfordshire 1,094 1,079 1,041 1,028 1,036 1,069 1,106 1,181 1,215 1,198 Cambridgeshire 1,302 1,291 1,274 1,237 1,296 1,362 1,384 1,400 1,402 1,430 Cheshire 2,046 2,042 2,071 2,011 2,002 2,059 2,119 2,177 2,186 2,174 Cleveland 1,459 1,483 1,416 1,404 1,407 1,461 1,582 1,687 1,676 1,677 Cumbria 1,144 1,164 1,126 1,084 1,048 1,100 1,140 1,222 1,232 1,230 Derbyshire 1,791 1,772 1,759 1,777 1,823 1,848 2,003 2,070 2,070 2,046 Devon and Cornwall 2,865 2,962 2,887 2,841 2,934 3,053 3,202 3,283 3,369 3,493 Dorset 1,284 1,310 1,279 1,306 1,354 1,381 1,416 1,433 1,450 1,485 Durham 1,461 1,515 1,568 1,558 1,595 1,614 1,651 1,685 1,718 1,699 Essex 2,961 2,928 2,891 2,806 2,897 2,946 2,989 3,098 3,190 3,279 Gloucestershire 1,133 1,104 1,104 1,114 1,173 1,183 1,227 1,284 1,291 1,289 Greater Manchester 6,922 6,949 6,810 6,795 6,909 7,217 7,343 8,042 8,041 7,959 Hampshire 3,452 3,490 3,473 3,419 3,438 3,480 3,668 3,706 3,725 3,707 Hertfordshire 1,759 1,740 1,724 1,767 1,922 1,825 1,957 2,086 2,104 2,126 Humberside 2,045 2,021 1,974 1,932 1,917 2,058 2,105 2,213 2,230 2,224 Kent 3,260 3,251 3,201 3,204 3,319 3,355 3,487 3,576 3,586 3,599 Lancashire 3,248 3,257 3,245 3,179 3,255 3,304 3,339 3,550 3,551 3,583 Leicestershire 1,949 1,983 1,993 1,993 2,032 2,100 2,114 2,277 2,283 2,250 Lincolnshire 1,196 1,191 1,140 1,115 1,202 1,198 1,221 1,228 1,221 1,213 London, City of 859 825 778 732 703 764 808 853 876 869 Merseyside 4,230 4,216 4,211 4,085 4,081 4,125 4,099 4,122 4,317 4,269 Metropolitan Police 26,677 26,094 26.073 25,485 24,878 26,223 27,984 29,735 30,710 30,536 Norfolk 1,432 1,430 1,381 1,381 1,420 1,468 1,499 1,510 1,544 1,557 Northamptonshire 1,177 1,169 1,137 1,117 1,157 1,214 1,210 1,239 1,267 1,317 Northumbria 3,677 3,769 3,840 3,788 3,857 3,929 3,943 4,040 4,048 3,983 North Yorkshire 1,338 1,367 1,337 1,283 1,305 1,417 1,444 1,529 1,543 1,636 Nottinghamshire 2,323 2,323 2,225 2,204 2,275 2,330 2,411 2,484 2,502 2,477 South Yorkshire 3,159 3,182 3,168 3,163 3,197 3,199 3,183 3,279 3,265 3,255 Staffordshire 2,211 2,292 2,238 2,170 2,129 2,133 2,202 2,266 2,280 2,272 Suffolk 1,174 1,186 1,190 1,145 1,133 1,203 1,253 1,304 1,313 1,300 Surrey 1,620 1,608 1,662 1,785 2,066 1,992 1,906 1,913 1,915 1,922 Sussex 3,085 2,996 2,847 2,822 2,855 2,893 2,989 3,039 3,044 3,092 Thames Valley 3,695 3,776 3,748 3,740 3,703 3,762 3,833 4,034 4,114 4,229 Warwickshire 926 924 908 900 926 969 997 1,008 1,011 1,032 West Mercia 2,040 2,010 2,025 1,887 1,951 2,018 2,256 2,355 2,367 2,351 West Midlands 7,113 7,156 7,321 7,194 7,423 7,681 7,751 7,887 8,056 8,097 West Yorkshire 5,209 5,155 4,982 4,822 4,815 4,889 5,029 5,275 5,631 5,644 Wiltshire 1,154 1,156 1,151 1,118 1,120 1,157 1,158 1,217 1,222 1,219 Dyfed-Powys 1,005 1,002 1,026 1,040 1,055 1,132 1,149 1,160 1,174 1,182 Gwent 1,243 1,233 1,247 1,264 1,274 1,333 1,341 1,372 1,438 1,467 North Wales 1,369 1,396 1,391 1,403 1,444 1,506 1,539 1,603 1,652 1,617 South Wales 2,976 2,986 2,981 2,926 3,154 3,222 3,239 3,279 3,281 3,263 Total England and Wales 125,051 124,756 123,841 121,956 123,476 127,267 131,426 137,105 139,495 139,633 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. 3 Boundary changes on 1 April 1996 transferred resources for the policing of the Rhmney Valley from South Wales police to Gwent police. 4 Boundary changes on 1 April 2000 transferred some resources from the Metropolitan police to Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey police forces.
Recruitment Agencies
Under Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, where an agency employs migrants and provides their services to a user, then it is the responsibility of the agency to check and record specified documents belonging to those employees. Where an employment agency is simply recruiting people to be employed by a client, then it is the client's responsibility to carry out those checks.
IND investigates allegations of illegal working nationwide by adopting an intelligence-led approach and adapting resources, where appropriate, to carry out specific operations that will yield the greatest results. Compliance with our immigration laws will continue to be enforced in order to remove the most potentially harmful people first.
Work permits are only issued to employers that have a clear responsibility for determining the duties and functions of the post. Consequently, work permits are not issued to agencies where they are employing a person solely to provide that person's services to another employer. This restriction also applies when the employment would be supplementary to a job for which a work permit has been issued.
The Work Permits (UK) Compliance Team undertake checks on employers, who may have used agencies to find their staff, to ensure that they are complying with the work permit arrangements. This includes checking that the information about the employer and job is accurate and that the offer of employment is genuine.
Checks can be carried out at any time during the application process or during the validity of the work permit. If minor discrepancies are found, employers are required to make appropriate adjustments in order to comply with work permit rules. However, where there is non-compliance and information cannot be verified, the compliance team will revoke the work permit permission and consequently curtail the leave that the migrant has to remain in the UK.
Residential Rehabilitation: Drug Addicts
A Home Office-commissioned research study, which will examine the effectiveness of residential rehabilitation as part of a wider study on the outcomes of drug treatment, is already under way. The study is being conducted by Manchester University and the National Centre for Social Research.
The Drug Treatment Outcomes Research Study (DTORS) is a large-scale national study of drug users presenting for drug treatment, including residential rehabilitation, which aims to explore how treatment impacts on drug and alcohol use, offending behaviour, mental and physical health, and wider social outcomes such as education and employment. The study will also gather data about respondents’ previous experience of drug treatment, including residential rehabilitation, in addition to tracking current treatment provision and how this relates to their outcomes.
Culture, Media and Sport
Casinos
The Gambling Commission considers applications for certificates of consent for new casinos, or for significant alterations to, or relocations of, existing casinos. Once a certificate of consent is issued, operators can then apply to the licensing magistrates for a casino licence. There is no guarantee that the grant of a certificate of consent will result in a casino licence being granted.
The following table sets out the number of applications for certificates of consent that the Gambling Commission (and its predecessor body the Gaming Board for Great Britain) has received during the period requested.
Financial year Certificate of consent applications for new casinos Certificate of consent applications for alterations or relocation 2004-05 23 6 2005-06 56 9 2006-07 (to date) 40 19
We have commissioned a group led by Lancaster university to advise on the methodology for the assessment of the social and economic impact of the new casinos. The baseline study will commence later this year, once Parliament has approved the areas where the new casinos will be located, and in good time before the opening of the first new casino. The assessment will not be completed until at least three years after the award of the first licence. The body that will undertake the assessment has yet to be appointed.
None. Section 175(4) of the Gambling Act 2005 requires the Secretary of State to specify by order which licensing authorities should be permitted to issue the one regional, eight large and eight small casino premises licences permitted by the Act. It will be for those licensing authorities to run fair and open competitions for the premises licences.
No such estimate has been made.
Cultural Heritage: Grants
Details of DCMS grant in aid and direct lottery funding are shown in the following table:
English Heritage grant in aid1 Arts Council England lottery income2 Arts Council England grant in aid1 Museums, Libraries and Archives Council2 1997-98 105,183 298,000 187,600 9,521 1998-99 102,404 235,000 190,950 9,620 1999-2000 112,609 201,000 229,226 16,614 2000-01 119,000 202,000 238,179 16,208 2001-02 110,401 208,000 252,455 20,675 2002-03 116,387 178,000 290,405 21,868 2003-04 119,442 161,000 325,955 25,816 2004-05 127,901 169,000 369,859 34,458 2005-06 129,136 172,000 409,178 44,174 1 All figures obtained from Annual Appropriation Accounts and Resource Accounts. 2 Figures rounded to the nearest £ million.
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council was established on 30 November 1999 to replace the Museums and Galleries Commission and the Libraries and Information Commission. Shortly after its establishment it was renamed Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries before reverting to its original title in January 2004. The table gives figures for these organisations under the name Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.
Culture: Regeneration
I refer my hon. Friend to the answers I gave him on 4 July 2006, Official Report, column 919W and 7 November 2006, Official Report, column 1104W.
Digital Dividend
The Department has not consulted with industry representatives on proposals for the Digital Dividend Review.
Ofcom published the consultation document for this project on 19 December 2006. The consultation ends on 20 March 2007.
Digital Television
The information requested is as follows.
Constituency Households (defined as eligible benefit units) Barking 9,000 Battersea 6,000 Beckenham 10,000 Bethnal Green and Bow 10,000 Bexleyheath and Crayford 9,000 Brent East 7,000 Brent North 8,000 Brent South 7,000 Brentford and Isleworth 10,000 Bromley and Chislehurst 10,000 Camberwell and Peckham 8,000 Carshalton and Wellington 9,000 Chingford and Woodford Green 9,000 Chipping Barnet 10,000 Cities of London and Westminster 8,000 Croydon Central 11,000 Croydon North 10,000 Croydon South 11,000 Dagenham 11,000 Dulwich and West Norwood 9,000 Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush 10,000 Ealing North 9,000 Ealing Southall 11,000 East Ham 10,000 Edmonton 9,000 Eltham 9,000 Enfield North 9,000 Enfield Southgate 10,000 Erith and Thamesmead 9,000 Feltham and Heston 10,000 Finchley and Golders Green 11,000 Greenwich and Woolwich 10,000 Hackney North and Stoke Newington 8,000 Hackney South and Shoreditch 9,000 Hammersmith and Fulham 10,000 Hampstead and Highgate 10,000 Harrow East 12,000 Harrow West 9,000 Hayes and Harlington 8,000 Hendon 10,000 Holborn and St Pancras 9,000 Hornchurch 9,000 Hornsey and Wood Green 10,000 Ilford North 10,000 Ilford South 10,000 Islington North 9,000 Islington South and Finsbury 9,000 Kensington and Chelsea 8,000 Kingston and Surbiton 9,000 Lewisham and Deptford 6,000 Lewisham East 8,000 Lewisham West 8,000 Leyton and Wanstead 7,000 Mitcham and Morden 8,000 North Southwark and Bermondsey 10,000 Old Bexley and Sidcup 10,000 Orpington 11,000 Poplar and Canning Town 11,000 Putney 8,000 Regent's Park and Kensington North 13,000 Richmond Park 10,000 Romford 9,000 Ruislip-Northwood 8,000 Streatham 8,000 Sutton and Cheam 10,000 Tooting 8,000 Tottenham 10,000 Twickenham 8,000 Upminster 10,000 Uxbridge 8,000 Vauxhall 9,000 Walthamstow 9,000 West Ham 8,000 Wimbledon 8,000 Greater London 680,000 Notes: 1. Rounded to the nearest thousand. 2. Eligibility for help from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme will be by benefit unit rather than the whole household definition used by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Office to forecast future household growth. 3. The definition of a benefit unit is a couple and any dependent children. It excludes adults deemed to be non-dependents who, if eligible, will be able to claim assistance from the Help Scheme in their own right.
English Heritage
We are about to launch a further open competition to identify a new chair of English Heritage. I expect the process to be completed by the summer.
Executive Agencies
The Royal Parks Agency (RPA) is the only Executive Agency within this Department. In the financial year 2005-06 a gross total of £39 million was spent in the London region. Visitor surveys however show that all regions of the UK received the benefit of the spend. Further information on visitor numbers and RPA spend can be found using the following internet link:
http://www.royalparks.org.uk/about/publications/index.cfm
Film: West Midlands
The UK Film Council, the Government’s strategic organisation for film, promotes the UK as a filming destination by providing information to international filmmakers who have projects for the UK about the range and diversity of locations in the UK.
The UK Film Council has created nine Regional Screen Agencies for England, each of which promotes their individual region as a film location both nationally and internationally. Screen West Midlands (SWM) is the regional screen agency for the West Midlands.
In 2005-06, Screen West Midlands invested £2,209,573 in the film and media industry in the region. Working in close co-operation with FILM Birmingham—run by Birmingham city council—Screen West Midlands offers a complete service for filming needs in the region.
Gaming Clubs: Torbay
The Casino Advisory Panel recommended that Torbay council be allowed to issue one of the eight small casino licences permitted by the Gambling Act 2005. The council's proposal to the panel estimated that a new casino would result directly in between 200 and 400 full-time equivalent jobs. No seasonal figures were submitted with the proposal, though it was anticipated that a new casino would support the objective of increasing year round employment in Torbay.
Licensing Fees
[holding answer 2 February 2007]: The final report of the Independent Licensing Fees Review Panel was placed in the Library of the House on 25 January. We are currently assessing the implications of all the Panel’s detailed conclusions and recommendations and will provide a response shortly. Before reaching a final decision about implementing any changes to the fees regime and related issues, we will undertake a full public consultation so that licence payers, local authorities and the public can help to inform future policy.
London Olympics
No decision has yet been made about any additional contribution to the costs of the 2012 Olympic Games. Exactly how we meet further funding liabilities are currently subject to discussions within Government.
My Department has received a range of correspondence from the voluntary sector on this issue and we are giving their comments careful consideration.
It has been the case from the start that lottery proceeds would contribute a significant proportion of the public funding package for the 2012 London Olympics. Some £750 million will be raised via new lottery products, whose sales have been up to expectations since the first were launched almost 18 months ago. The Government have always been clear that non-Olympic lottery proceeds would also have to contribute, but that we would strive to minimise, in relation to all parts of the UK, the impact on non-Olympic good causes.
The basis on which VAT was dealt with in the Candidature File prepared in 2004, and the action I took to initiate a review of costs and funding following the success of the bid in autumn 2005, was set out in my response to the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid-Kent (Hugh Robertson) on 6 November 2006, Official Report, column 565W and in my evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on 21 November 2006. This is summarised in paragraphs 48 to 50 of the Committee’s report published on 24 January.
The Government are considering tax costs as part of their wider consideration of the overall Olympic budget and I will let the House have further information in due course.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 29 January 2007, Official Report, column 103W.
(2) what discussions her Department has had with prospective key tenants for the London Olympic Institute.
The British Olympic Association (BOA) is taking the lead in developing proposals for a viable London Olympic Institute (LOI). To date the BOA has held discussions with a wide range of sporting and Government organisations including my Department, the Olympic sports' governing bodies, the British Paralympic Association, the Greater London Authority and the NHS.
[holding answer 26 January 2007]: As the hon. Member will be aware I gave an undertaking to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on 21 November 2006 that I would report to them on a time scale that matches the work on reviewing costs that we have under way. He will also be aware that the Select Committee’s report published on 24 January 2007 (HC 69-1) is also seeking this information. For these reasons I will address this question in my formal response to the Select Committee in due course.
I am arranging for copies of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report entitled “Olympics and Lower Lea Valley Costing Validation Review, July 2004”, to be placed in the Libraries of the House. Some detailed figures in the report have been redacted as their disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of the Department and/or other third parties.
PricewaterhouseCoopers suggested a figure of £160 million (equivalent to £190 million at outturn prices), excluding the costs of security within the venues. However, they advised that there was considerable uncertainty about the security costs. Their advice was received before the terrorist attacks in London on 7 July 2005.
Yes. The Department set up and chaired the “Budget and Revenues Sub-Group”. Its membership included London 2012, the British Olympic Association, HM Treasury, the Government office for London, the Greater London Authority and the London Development Agency.
[holding answer 31 January 2007]: The budget for the Olympic Delivery Authority for the next financial year will be finalised in March. The overall budget, which will include site security, is under discussion in Government and with other stakeholders, and will be published in due course.
The Home Office intends to provide the Metropolitan Police Service and other forces for areas where the games are to be held with some additional funding of up to £4.6 million in 2007-08 for Olympic security planning.
Television Licences
No. Last year’s decision to award the contract for over-the-counter TV licence sales to PayPoint was a commercial matter for the BBC as television licensing authority. The BBC has indicated that it expects to save in excess of £100 million over the term of the contract.
Constitutional Affairs
Census
Until recently, no empirical research had been carried out to establish the precise extent of any missing sections from census records held at The National Archives.
A project is currently under way to analyse the 1861 census returns in detail and to establish the exact percentage of the returns that are missing.
Compensation
The members of the Ministerial Steering Group on Compensation Culture are myself (Chair); the Minister of State for Health, the Lord Hunt of Kings Heath; the Economic Secretary to the Treasury; the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster, North (Edward Miliband); the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith); the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr. Lammy); the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills, the Lord Adonis; the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Canning Town (Jim Fitzpatrick); and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Lord McKenzie of Luton.
The Government have been considering ways to improve the claims process for personal injury claims and intend to publish a consultation paper in the near future.
The Department is introducing the regulation of claims management services under the Compensation Act. This will tackle certain practices carried out by some previously unregulated claims farmers, such as encouraging and bringing bad claims. We are also working with stakeholders to encourage organisations to resist bad claims.
The Department does not routinely collect information on other countries’ personal injury compensation systems. However, information is sought as appropriate to assist in policy development.
For example, information was sought from other European countries prior to consultation in 2002 on proposals to allow the courts to order that personal injury damages be paid in the form of periodical payments (which subsequently formed part of the Courts Act 2003). In addition, research was commissioned on the funding of personal injury litigation which included a survey of approaches in several European jurisdictions. This was published in February 2006.
Court of Appeal
The number of family law cases filed annually since 2000 is set out in the following table. Information before 2000 is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
To break this information down into the requested format would also incur disproportionate cost.
Appeals filed 2000 95 2001 91 2002 105 2003 86 2004 91 2005 106 2006 101
Courts: Nottingham
Following public consultation, Community Justice court sittings dealing with cases from the Aspley and St. Ann's areas of Nottingham will commence in the city's magistrates court in May. Court sittings for one of these areas will then be held within a community building as soon as suitable accommodation can be found.
Work is ongoing in the community to find the right building where the court use is compatible with any other current community uses, so that the community will welcome the court.
As the Government said in the paper, “Delivering Simple, Summary, Speedy Justice”, published in July 2006, they also want to pilot alternative court provision within the community and the Nottingham Community Justice Initiative will engage with the local community and work in partnership with the range of criminal justice agencies, support services and community groups to solve the problems caused by offending in the local area. It is therefore right that we proceed with what is principally an approach, rather than a building, until both can be combined.
Representatives of the Nottinghamshire Local Criminal Justice Board have visited a number of buildings put forward by the Nottingham city council to assess their suitability for use as a criminal court. That assessment was intended to enable the board to decide whether the building could, with or without modification, meet minimum requirements. These include minimum health and safety standards to ensure the safety and security of court users, judiciary and other visitors to the building; compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act; and separate rooms to enable solicitors to take instructions from their clients.
In addition to this, each of these buildings is used by many other organisations including crèches and youth groups and they are used as meeting places for older people. The board therefore recognises that even after identifying a building which has some potential for use as a court, the community users must be engaged in discussion before any final decision is made. If this involves alteration of the building, such alterations must be carried out in a way which does not adversely affect the other uses of these amenities.
Accordingly, the board is making careful assessments of all the premises identified for consideration and being sensitive to the needs of existing users. It is committed to finding a suitable community building for these sittings as soon as possible and will work with the city council to achieve this. In the meantime, these cases will commence being heard at the magistrates court in May.
Electoral Register
Section 9 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 placed a new duty on Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to take all necessary steps to maintain the electoral register, which includes:
(a) sending more than once to any address the form to be used for the canvass;
(b) making on one or more occasions house to house inquiries;
(c) making contact by other such means as the registration officers think appropriate with persons who do not have an entry in the register;
(d) inspecting any records held by any person which the registration officer is permitted to inspect; and
(e) the registration officer providing training to persons under his direction or control in connection with carrying out of the duty.
It is for the EROs to decide on the best steps to use in conjunction with their local knowledge, when making contact with persons in houses of multiple occupation.
Freedom of Information: Fees and charges
The National Archives’ research fees are prescribed by the Lord Chancellor in concurrence with the Treasury and contained in a statutory instrument. This is in accordance with section 2(5) of the Public Record Act 1958 and with section 9(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which permits organisations to use alternative statutory fees-setting regimes.
The National Archives’ standard research fee of £15 per quarter hour was last approved by Parliament in March 2005 and the search fee for Freedom of Information applications for information from a 1911 census return is in line with this. Census material from 1841 to 1901 can be accessed online.
Legal Aid: MMR
The Legal Services Commission has not sent the research in the MMR/MR vaccines litigation to the Medical Research Council.
Public Information
I have been asked to reply.
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Minister for Trade, my right hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney), on 8 January 2007, Official Report, column 315W.
Public Records Act
Instrument No. 38, Retention of Public Records dated 23 July 1996, retained RG15 and RG16 to 31 December 2006. Instrument No. 81, Retention of Public Records, dated 12 January 2006, now retains RG15 and RG16 for a further 10 years.
Health
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
The alcohol needs assessment research project (ANARP) report provided the following information. This is the best available estimate of alcohol-dependent people by region.
Region Percentage of adult population North East 5.2 North West 3.4 Yorkshire and Humber 5.2 East Midlands 1.6 West Midlands 3.8 East of England 2.8 London 4.5 South East 3.6 South West 3.1 All 3.6
Region Estimated numbers North East 83,356 North West 145,054 Yorkshire and Humber 163,889 East Midlands 42,656 West Midlands 126,658 East of England 95,808 London 217,429 South East 183,611 South West 95,257 Total for England 1,132,074
Data Sets
National health service patient address and other demographic information has historically been compiled in individual local records held by general practitioners and hospitals. Information, including changes of address, is sometimes shared in the course of referrals, but data held by one NHS body may not always reflect changes notified to another.
Over time, a single authoritative source of patient demographic data, known as the personal demographics service (PDS), will be used by all general practitioners and hospital computer systems in England. Access to the PDS will reduce clinical risks arising from a failure to match patients with their clinical record, and help minimise cases of correspondence and documents being misdirected. Early evidence from one trust has shown a sixfold reduction in misdirected mail addressed using PDS-held data.
The PDS, which first went live in June 2004, already contains information for all the patients within England, and is currently accessible across the NHS, with over 310,000 users, and receives over 26 million inquiries per month. The volumes are growing over time, with increasing patient benefits and efficiency improvements.
There will be no physical or electronic links between the PDS’s other non-NHS databases, and other Government departments and public agencies will not be able to access the data it contains.
Dental Services: Leeds
(2) what plans she has to improve access to NHS dentistry in Leeds;
(3) how many people are registered with an NHS dentist in (a) the city of Leeds and (b) West Yorkshire.
[holding answer 1 February 2007]: The 2007-08 primary care dental care allocations for primary care trusts (PCTs), including Leeds PCT, will be confirmed shortly. Allocations for subsequent years will be decided later in the light of the results of the 2007 comprehensive spending review.
Registration data no longer form part of the new dental contract information. However, the new measure is patients seen within the last 24 months. The information relating to the NHS Yorkshire and the Humber strategic health authority together with the former PCTs in the Leeds area can be found in the following table:
Number Yorkshire and The Humber SHA 2,968,212 Of which: East Leeds PCT 92,204 Leeds North East PCT 68,159 Leeds North West PCT 90,169 Leeds West PCT 70,967 South Leeds PCT 90,481 Note: Information includes orthodontic activity. Sources: 1. The Information Centre for health and social care. 2. NHS Business Services Authority.
Over the past year the PCT has commissioned additional dental services to fully replace services provided by the small proportion of dentists who chose not to take up new dental contracts on 1 April 2006. In addition, the PCT is also looking at plans to continue to improve access in areas of greatest oral health need and areas where general access is a problem such as North West Leeds. To help facilitate this the PCT has identified almost £1 million of capital funding.
Drug Analysis
(2) when the publication of up-to-date drug analysis prints on the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency website will be resumed;
(3) when the major upgrade of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s drug safety monitoring will be completed.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Medicines (MHRA) introduced the new drug safety monitoring module of the Sentinel database in May 2006. The technical and data issues relating to the production of drug analysis prints are being resolved within a planned programme during 2007. The MHRA is committed to resolving these issues as soon as possible.
The MHRA continues to provide anonymised aggregated adverse drug reaction data on request in response to specific inquiries from health professionals, the public and pharmaceutical companies.
Foreign National Doctors
This information is not collected centrally.
Gershon Review
The main national health service bodies to which Department staff have been transferred as part of the Department change programme are:
Commission for Social Care Inspection;
NHS Information Centre;
Health Protection Agency;
Modernisation Agency (now NHS Institute);
NHS Employers;
Skills for Health; and
Strategic health authorities
The total number of actual transfers recorded up to December 2005—the date for which figures in the annual report are stated—was 617. These transfers have been excluded from our calculation of headcount savings. The net change at December 2005 was 633 as stated in the report in paragraph 7.76.
GP Records
The term data controller is defined in the Data Protection Act 1998, and can relate to either individuals or organisations. Each general practitioner (GP) practice, or single-handed GP, is a data controller for health records containing personal data where the practice or GP determines the purposes for which, and the manner in which, the personal data are, or will be, processed. This is the case whether the records are held electronically or on paper, and whether the records are held within the GP surgery or hosted elsewhere. The legal responsibilities of a data controller relate to the act of processing personal data, not the physical location of that data.
Where personal data for which the practice or GP is a data controller are processed by individuals working for or on behalf of a different data controller, for example another national health service body, both the practice and the other data controller may be jointly responsible as data controllers in common for those records.
Gulf War Syndrome
Information on the number of people treated for Gulf War syndrome is not collected.
Health and Safety
The Department had 43 incidents reported to its health and safety incident centre in 2005-06.
Health Visitors
(2) which primary care trusts have made arrangements for community service nursing in their area to be provided by a (a) private company and (b) social enterprise.
No assessment has been carried out centrally of the value for money or effectiveness of health visitors or community nurses. It is the business of national health service trusts to make these assessments, to inform themselves that they are using their resources effectively to meet local needs and priorities.
We are aware that Central Surrey Health, a social enterprise, has been contracted by Surrey Primary Care Trust to provide community nursing services.
Healthcare-related Infections
The requested information is not available but information for six and 12-month periods for the last five years for methcillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is available on the Health Protection Agency (HPA) website at:
www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/hai/mandatory_report_2006.htm
Since April 2001, all acute national health service trusts in England are obliged to report all cases of MRSA bloodstream infections. Data for each trust for each six-month and for each 12 month period from April 2001 to March 2006 have been published.
Mandatory surveillance for Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) associated infection was introduced in January 2004. All acute NHS trusts in England are obliged to report all cases of C. difficile associated infection in patients 65 years and over. Data for each trust for each of the two calendar years 2004 and 2005 are available on the HPA website at:
www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/hai/mandatory_report_2006.htm
Voluntary reporting of C. difficile positive stool samples was introduced in 1990, and data are available at:
www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/clostridium_difficile/c_diff_voluntary_surveillance_data.htm
Quarterly reporting for the mandatory surveillance of both of these infections will be introduced this year.
Hospital Beds: Edenbridge War Memorial Hospital
This is a matter for West Kent Primary Care Trust (PCT). NHS South East Coast has advised that the West Kent PCT is currently undertaking a review of all its community hospitals to ensure that they offer high clinical care as well as value for money. Until the review is completed, which is likely to be in the spring, all beds that are temporarily closed will remain closed. If there are any proposed changes to services in this area there will be a formal consultation with the public.
Hospital Beds: Tonbridge Hospital
This is a matter for West Kent primary care trust (PCT). NHS South East Coast has advised that the West Kent PCT is currently undertaking a review of all its community hospitals to ensure that they offer high clinical care as well as value for money. Until the review is completed, which is likely to be in the spring, all beds that are temporarily closed will remain closed. If there are any proposed changes to services in this area there will be a formal consultation with the public.
Hospitals: Pembury
(2) by what date she expects the main construction contract for the planned new private financial initiative-funded hospital at Pembury to be let; and by what date she expects the hospital to be fully functioning.
The Department has reviewed the proposed private finance initiative scheme for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells National Health Service Trust on value for money and affordability grounds. An announcement is expected shortly.
Medicine Supplies
(2) what criteria are applied to decide whether a drug will be prescribed by a homecare company; and if she will make a statement.
Information on medicines supplied by homecare companies is not collected centrally.
Individual health professionals employed by homecare companies are able to prescribe medicines according to the relevant regulatory frameworks.
Mental Health
Under the disability equality duty introduced by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, the Department and the public sector bodies for which the Department is 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.
In consultation with users of mental health services, the Department's disability group, occupational health services, the trade union side and other interested parties, the Department has drawn up mental health guidance for staff, managers and human resource teams. The guidance, in its final draft stages, is due to be promulgated throughout the Department this spring.
In terms of recruitment, the Department operates the guaranteed interview scheme, which guarantees disabled staff an interview if they meet the minimum criteria for a post.
The public sector bodies sponsored by the Department that are subject to these requirements are responsible for publishing and implementing their own disability equality schemes.
NHS Recruitment
This information is not collected centrally. Information on vacancies that had lasted for more than three months and that trusts had been actively trying to fill is available since 1999 and can be found on The Information Centre’s website at:
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/vacsurveyresmar2006
Pensions
The pay and pension details of the 10 highest paid staff in the Department and its executive agencies are disclosed in the remuneration report that forms part of the Department’s resource accounts. This can be found on the Department of Health’s website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicy AndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4140951&chk=mEgrNU
There are two staff members who do not appear on the remuneration report because at the time of publication, on 31 March 2006, they were not members of the senior management team. They therefore had not given permission for their pension information to be disclosed. Copies have been placed in the Library.
Prescriptions
The information requested is not available in the format required.
Data for the number of prescription items dispensed by exemption category in the Derby City primary care trust (PCT) area are shown in the table.
Total number of exempt prescription items 20051 2,800,000 20062 (January to October) 2,400,000 1 The 2005 data are the combined totals from Central Derby PCT and Greater Derby PCT. 2 The data available for 2006 are for January to October only. The totals for January to September for Central Derby PCT and Greater Derby PCT have been combined with the October total for Derby City PCT (5N7) to give the 2006 value. Notes: Derby City PCT was formed in October 2006 from Central Derby PCT and Greater Derby PCT. Due to rounding, the sum of the components may not equal the totals. Children are defined as 0 to 15-year-olds, and as 16 to 18-year-olds in full-time education. PCA Data Prescription information is taken from the Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system, supplied by the Prescription Pricing Division (PPD) of the Business Services Authority (BSA), and is based on a full analysis of all prescriptions dispensed in the community i.e. by community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors, and prescriptions submitted by prescribing doctors for items personally administered in England. Also included are prescriptions written in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man but dispensed in England. The data do not cover drugs dispensed in hospitals, including mental health trusts, or private prescriptions. PrescriptionItems Prescriptions are written on a prescription form. Each single item written on the form is counted as a prescription item. Exemption Category Estimates The exemption data are identified from the box ticked on the back of the prescription form and rely on the form being completed correctly which may not always be the case. Information for categories that are not required to pay a charge (e.g. children) is based on a one in 20 sample of all exempt prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists, appliance contractors and dispensing doctors. The information we have is therefore an estimate and subject to sampling errors. To reflect this we have rounded the exemption figures appropriately—figures less than 1,000 are shown as " * "; figures between 1,000 and 100,000 have been rounded to the nearest 1,000; figures between 100,000 and one million have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 and figures between one million and 10 million have been rounded to the nearest 100,000. Data for total of all ages have not been rounded since they are not exemption data.
Primary Care Trusts
Strategic health authorities (SHAs) performance manage primary care trusts (PCTs) in the exercise of their functions on behalf of the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State has the power to give directions to SHAs about their exercise of any functions under section 17 of the National Health Service Act 1977. SHAs are obliged to comply with any such Directions. If one or more SHAs were not carrying out their performance management functions adequately, then it would be open to the Secretary of State to direct those SHAs to act to ensure those functions were carried out adequately.
In exceptional circumstances, the Secretary of State also has a power under section 84A of the National Health Service Act 1977 to make an intervention order in respect of an NHS body (including SHAs) if she is of the opinion that it is not performing one or more of its functions adequately or at all, or that there are significant failings in the way the body is being run and she is satisfied that it is appropriate for her to intervene.
Equally, the Secretary of State has powers under section 85 of the National Health Service Act 1977 to make an order declaring an NHS body, such as an SHA, to be in default if, in her opinion, it has failed to carry out any functions conferred on it under the Act or under any regulations or directions.
Reported Accidents
The circumstances that led to the reported accident near misses listed in figure 8.8 of the Department’s annual report 2006 are from minor injuries sustained from slips, trips and falls.
Social Enterprise Pathfinders
We have not quantified how many social enterprise pathfinders are in former mining communities.
Upon inquiry, the Department sent potential social enterprise pathfinders an application form and covering letter, copies of which have been placed in the Library. After the completed application was received by the Department, no further questions were asked by the Department.
We have not quantified how many social enterprise pathfinders are exclusively in areas of multiple deprivation. One of the features of social enterprises is the potential to deliver wider social benefits in the local community.
We will be undertaking an economic assessment as part of the pathfinder evaluation programme and will publish the results of this when it is available.
As one of the criteria, pathfinders were assessed against whether staff had been involved, or would be involved, in contributing to the design of services.
Teenage Pregnancy: North East Region
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 February 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the teenage pregnancy rate in (a) Gateshead East and Washington West and (b) Tyne and Wear constituencies was in each year since 1997. (118532)
Information on teenage conceptions is routinely published for local authorities and strategic health authorities. Figures cannot be provided by Parliamentary Constituency because of the risk of disclosing individual's information, due to small differences in boundaries between the Parliamentary Constituency and the local authority.
Figures are provided for Gateshead Metropolitan County District (MCD) and Sunderland MCD because they are both part of Gateshead East and Washington West constituency and similarly, figures are provided for Tyne and Wear Metropolitan County for Tyne and Wear constituency.
Tyne and Wear metropolitan county Gateshead MCD Sunderland MCD Number Rate Number Rate Number Rate 1997 1,287 62.3 202 56.4 369 65.1 1998 1,203 59.0 199 57.1 357 63.1 1999 1,165 57.3 182 50.7 357 63.6 2000 1,121 55.1 202 56.8 290 51.0 2001 1,072 52-0 152 42.3 295 51.5 2002 1,128 53.7 158 44.3 320 54.9 2003 1,176 55.6 175 48.6 364 62.8 2004 1,088 51.8 159 44.5 294 51.7 1 Number of conceptions are estimated from registration of live or stillbirths and notifications of legal abortions to girls aged under 18. They do not include miscarriages or illegal abortions. 2 Rate per 1,000 women aged 15-17.
Tomography
As at November 2006, the average (median) waiting time for a magnetic resonance imaging scan in County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals National Health Service Trust was 3.3 weeks.
The Department has not made any specific assessment of the performance of Lodestone Ltd. in providing magnetic resonance imaging scanning services at Darlington memorial hospital and Bishop Auckland general hospital.
The County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals National Health Service Trust is responsible for performance managing the service contract with this company and for flagging up any problems with the NHS North East strategic health authority (SHA). The SHA has not made the Department aware of any known problems.
The planning and provision of local health care services is a matter for the national health service locally. Therefore, the Department has not made any specific assessment of the adequacy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning capacity in the County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospital Trust. The Department expects that the local NHS will ensure that there is adequate MRI scanning capacity available in the future to meet the needs of the local community.
Trade and Industry
Bankruptcy
The number of individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) and company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) for England and Wales in 2006 can be found in the following table. This information is not available at a sub-national level.
IVAs CVAs 2002 6,295 651 2003 7,583 726 2004 10,752 597 2005 20,293 604 2006 44,332 534
Biofuels
I have been asked to reply.
The third round of the Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme, funded by DEFRA, was launched on 29 December 2006 with a 10-week application window. The aim of the Scheme is to support the installation of biomass-fuelled heat and combined heat and power projects in the industrial, commercial and community sectors. The maximum grant available is 40 per cent. of the additional cost of the installation compared to a fossil-fuelled alternative. This is subject to a minimum grant payment of £25,000 and a maximum of £1 million.
The Scheme is competitive and each application will be assessed in terms of:
(i) its contribution to the aims of the Scheme
(ii) the technical credibility of the proposal
(iii) the credibility of the applicants to deliver the project
(iv) the ability to evaluate and measure the performance of the project
(v) financial viability and overall value for money.
Departmental Agencies
The Employment Tribunal Service was merged into the Tribunal Service on 1 April 2006 and responsibility transferred to DCA.
The Radiocommunications Agency was abolished in December 2003 and the Office of Communications (Ofcom) fully established as the communications regulator on 29 December 2003.
The Competition Commission was established on 1 April 1999, having previously been known as the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
Departmental Handbooks
[holding answer 1 February 2007]: The Department is currently reviewing and simplifying its HR policies and procedures, and over the next 18 months will be substantially revising its staff handbook, The Guide. This is accessed electronically by DTI staff through the Department’s intranet. The Guide is supplemented by extensive procedural guidance and other information, again accessed electronically. A printed copy of the current version of The Guide has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Departmental Offices
The DTI and its agencies occupied the following office space in Central London:
92,835 square metres in 2004
68,582 square metres in 2006
Departmental Websites
The Department’s websites are maintained by an external ICT supplier as part of an outsourcing arrangement. The cost of website maintenance is included within the overall charges of the outsourcing contract and is not delineated within the terms of the contract.
The total number of visits the Department’s websites received during 2005-06 was 10,236,235. The total visits are recorded on entry via the DTI homepage and not at individual site level and therefore detailed information is not available.
Departmental Working Hours
The average working hours per week for staff in the Department of Trade and Industry and its executive agencies as at 31 December 2006 are :
Hours/week DTI 34.9 Patents Office 35.3 ETS 34.8 INSS 35
The data in respect of staff in the Department and executive agencies for the years 2001 to 2005 can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Flexible Working
(2) what steps his Department is taking to encourage individuals to exercise their right to request flexible working;
(3) what plans he has to extend the right of parents to request flexible working.
The Government encourage all types of flexible working across the workforce by providing detailed guidance, promoting the benefits and sharing best practice. We are also currently embarked on an awareness-raising campaign in relation to new family-friendly measures being introduced under the Work and Families Act 2006, including a new right to request flexible working for carers of adults.
The Third Work-Life Balance Employees' Survey was conducted on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry in early 2006. It found that 65 per cent. of working parents with children under six years of age in Great Britain were aware of the right to request flexible working.
From 6 April this year, we are extending the right to request—which is currently available for parents of young and disabled children—to carers of adults. We are continuing to consider the case for extending the right to parents of older children, in the light of experience of the extension of the law to carers of adults.
Glazteknology Ltd
[holding answer 2 February 2007]: Glazteknology Ltd. is in administration, which is a legal form of insolvency. In such situations payments of certain debts, including redundancy payments, can be claimed from the National Insurance Fund. The Insolvency Service's Edinburgh Redundancy Payments Office is liaising with the Administrator to establish what payments are due. Once the information is obtained on what payments are due they will be made without delay.
Gloucester Mail Centre
This is an operational matter for which Royal Mail has direct responsibility. I have therefore asked the chief executive of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, to provide a direct reply to the hon. Member.
Insolvency
Apart from a very small number of individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) that are preceded by the court making an interim order, the process of obtaining the agreement of creditors to either an IVA or a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) does not involve any court hearing.
The chairman of the creditors’ meeting in both individual voluntary arrangements and company voluntary arrangements files a report of the outcome of the meeting at court, and in some circumstances certain persons can apply to court to challenge a decision taken at that meeting although this rarely occurs in practice.
The following table shows the number of IVAs and CVAs for England and Wales in 2006. This information is not available at a sub-national level.
Number 2006 IVAs 44,332 CVAs 534
Manufacturing Industry
Employment studies over this period show a decline in manufacturing as a result of structural changes in the Northamptonshire and the wider UK economy. Manufacturing in Northamptonshire still represents a higher proportion of the work force than the UK average (15.9 per cent. compared to 11.2 per cent.).
The structural changes in the Northamptonshire economy resulted in an additional 41,487 jobs since 1998, the main growth sectors being business services and jobs in education. This growth has led to unemployment levels falling from 3.7 per cent. in 1996 to 1.9 per cent. in 2006.
The GVA (Gross Value Added) also increased by 72 per cent. between 1995 to 2004 in Northamptonshire and is above the national average at £18,298 per head (UK average £17,700).
Manufacturing will continue to play an important part in the county's economy with the presence of award winning companies such as Timsons, Veux, Arcotronics, Krohne, Weetabix and Cummins.
Northamptonshire is also becoming a market leader in high performance engineering around the motor sport industry, and Government, through the East Midlands Development Agency, has recently supported this growth through the development of the 30,000sq.ft Silverstone innovation centre.
Minimum Wage
The Government considered the position of 18 to 21-year-olds and undertook a range of analysis on the state of the labour market prior to the implementation of the equal treatment directive, which retained the current age bands. Data show that young workers experience substantially worse unemployment and employment rates than adults.
The Low Pay Commission also conducts regular research on all aspects of the minimum wage. It supported the retention of the age bands, and in its 2006 report stated that
“it was satisfied the Government intends to introduce the legislation in such a way that the rates for young people retain their viability”
Post Office Closures
The Government expect to publish final decisions in March, following the end of its national consultation. It will then be for Post Office Ltd. to develop local area proposals in accordance with the framework set by Government.
Post Offices: Scotland
[holding answer 2 February 2007]: DTI is in discussion with POL about how the deprived urban criteria can be applied in a consistent manner across the UK. It is envisaged that it will be based upon the most recently published indices of multiple deprivation for each country.
Regional Venture Capital Funds
The budget, expressed as DTI commitment, and expenditure, expressed as the amounts drawn down to date, for the Regional Venture Capital Fund Programme is set out in the following table.
Amounts drawn down Region Total DTI commitment 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-071 East of England 6,000,000 — — — 600,000 1,275,000 2,500,000 1,625,000 East Midlands 9,000,000 — 900,000 — 3,750,000 3,650,000 700,000 — London 15,000,000 — 450,000 1,500,000 2,400,000 5,175,000 5,925,000 — North East 4,500,000 — 750,000 1,800,000 2,250,000 — — — North West 8,875,000 — — 137,500 3,300,000 4,050,000 637,500 — South East 7,500,000 — — 3,250,000 4,250,000 — — — South West 7,500,000 — — 750,000 500,000 900,000 1,900,000 2,250,000 West Midlands 6,000,000 — — 600,000 2,250,000 2,500,000 650,000 — Yorkshire and Humber 10,000,000 — — 1,000,000 300,000 2,525,000 2,750,000 850,000 Total 74,375,000 0 2,100,000 9,037,500 19,600,000 20,075,000 15,062,500 4,725,000 1 To date.
Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme
Up to one third of the businesses that had new borrowing guaranteed by the Small Firms Loan Guarantee (SFLG) in 2004-05 were over five years old.
The SFLG eligibility criteria applicable in 2004-05 did not include an upper limit on age and the way in which age-related information was collected means that it is not possible to establish the exact age of every borrowing business.
A detailed review of a sample of 2004-05 loans established that 68 per cent. had definitely been incorporated for less than five years, 18 per cent. had been operating for more than five years and for the remaining 14 per cent. it was not possible to ascertain from the information held how that loan would have been treated under the new eligibility criteria introduced on 1 December 2005.
Trade Unions: Finance
Between £5 to £10 million has been set aside for the Union Modernisation Fund.
The information is as follows:
Purpose Amount given (£) Partnership Fund1 26,559.50 Partnership Fund 24,102.38 Strategic Partnership Fund2 298,974.18 Partnership Fund 249,405.00 Partnership Fund 3,880.40 Partnership Fund 27,580.00 Strategic Partnership Fund 219,871.00 Strategic Partnership Fund 46,814.87 Partnership Fund 47,985.32 Strategic Partnership Fund 68,000.00 Partnership Fund 6,573.00 Strategic Partnership Fund 141,500.00 Union Modernisation Fund3 23,340.53 Union Modernisation Fund3 12,252.64 Union Modernisation Fund 7,377.84 Union Modernisation Fund 43,329.35 Union Modernisation Fund 7,083.30 Union Modernisation Fund 24,330.00 Union Modernisation Fund 8,125.65 Union Modernisation Fund 6,047.75 Union Modernisation Fund 28,647.63 Union Modernisation Fund 104,011.73 Union Modernisation Fund 32,489.00 Union Modernisation Fund 11,475.34 Union Modernisation Fund 13,232.25 Union Modernisation Fund 23,284.48 Union Modernisation Fund 6,070.70 1 The Partnership at Work Fund was a Government grant scheme established by the DTI created in 1999 to encourage the development of industrial relations by encouraging employers and employees to work together effectively. The Partnership at Work Fund supported partnership projects within individual organisations. The fund is now closed. 2 The Partnership at Work Fund supported partnership projects within individual organisations. Strategic Partnership projects reach out beyond single company projects to assess sectoral and regional issues. 3 The Union Modernisation Fund provides financial assistance to independent trade unions and their federations in support of innovative projects, which contribute to, or explore the potential for, transformational change in the organisational effectiveness of efficiency of a union or unions, in the light of the changing needs, aspirations and behaviour of workers and employers in the changing UK labour market.
£745,673 is expected to become payable to trade unions in the remainder of the 2006-07 financial year and £1,696,642 for 2007-08.
Treasury
Departmental Expenditure
Media training is not recorded as a separate category either of expenditure or supplier, so the information on such spending, if any, is not held.
Departmental Projects
In 2005-06 the Treasury received one bequest of £715,000 and one to date in 2006-07 of £105,000. I am not aware of any other bequests or any donations over £100,000 being received since 2001-02. The names of the individuals is personal information under the Data Protection Act. Bequests are passed on to the Consolidated Fund and are not used to finance the Treasury’s departmental spending.
Departmental Publications
The production cost of the monthly Treasury staff magazine was £18,183 in 2004-05, £12,651 in 2005-06 and £7,531 to date in 2006-07.
The Treasury staff magazine is mainly written by Treasury staff for the benefit of other staff and it contains the personal data of Treasury staff and their families, and visitors to the Treasury. To obtain the consent of everyone who appears in these editions would incur disproportionate cost.
Emigration
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 February 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question regarding how many people from the UK are estimated to have emigrated in each of the last five years. (119064)
The figures shown below are for all citizenships 2001-2005, which are the most recent years for which data are available:
Number 2001 308,000 2002 359,000 2003 362,000 2004 359,000 2005 380,000
These figures are also shown in Table 1 of the November 2006 International Migration press release:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/intmigrat1106.pdf
Engagements
Treasury Ministers’ official duties entail visits throughout the United Kingdom.
Excise Duties: Fuels
The Government do not accept such direct comparisons as valid as they assume no change in demand or the working practices of the aviation industry, nor does the Government have an objective of equalising the tax treatment across transport modes or other sectors, so does not regard such figures as relevant to judgments on the taxation of aviation.
HM Revenue and Customs
The information is not available in the format requested and could be collated and provided only at disproportionate cost.
HM Revenue and Customs had staff officially based within dock or airport areas in the following number of locations
As at April: Ports Airports 2004 41 16 2005 40 18 2006 39 18
We do not centrally record the number of ports, airports, landing stages and airfields visited by HMRC officers.
Households
(2) where the head of the household was a citizen of a recently acceding EU country in the most recent period for which figures are available;
(3) where the head of the household was aged (i) 30 to 40, (ii) 40 to 50, (iii) 50 to 60, (iv) 60 to 70 and (v) 70 and over in (A) 1985, (B) 1990, (C) 1995, (D) 2000 and (E) 2005.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 February 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your requests for the (a) mean and (b) median household size by specified age groups of the head of the household in the years 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005, and where the head of the household was a citizen of a recently acceding EU country in the most recent period for which figures are available. (117851, 117853, 117854).
Household Reference Person replaced the concept of Head of Household in 2001. For consistency all figures in this reply relate to the Household Reference Person.
The information requested by age is readily available for the years 2000, 2005 and the most recent period (2006). These figures are provided in the table below. Figures for earlier years could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
2000 2005 2006 Age group of HRP Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median 18 to 24 2.2 2 2.2 2 2.3 2 25 to 29 2.4 2 2.3 2 2.4 2 18 to 29 2.3 2 2.3 2 2.4 2 30 to 39 3.0 3 2.9 3 2.9 3 40 to 49 3.1 3 3.1 3 3.0 3 50 to 59 2.4 2 2.3 2 2.3 2 60 to 69 1.9 2 1.8 2 1.8 2 70 and over 1.5 1 1.5 1 1.5 1 All ages 18 and over 2.4 2 2.4 2 2.4 2 Source: LFS 2000 and 2005 summer quarter, 2006 first quarter. All figures are population weighted.
Information is available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) on self reported nationality, but not on citizenship.
Where the household reference persons reported that they were a national of one of the ten countries that acceded to the EU in 2004 or of Bulgaria or Romania (the January 2007 accession countries), the mean household size was 3.0 and the median was 3.
Income Tax: Stroud
The available estimates of the distribution of income tax liabilities at regional level can be found in table 3.11, “Income and tax, by gender, region and country” on the HM Revenue and Customs’ website at
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/menu-by-year.htm#315.
More detailed breakdowns are not available due to small sample sizes at constituency level.
India
The economic relationship between the UK and India is stronger than ever, building on the close cultural and family ties between our two nations:
Trade between our two nations is now worth £8 billion—growing at over 20 per cent. a year—and has doubled over the last five years;
500 Indian companies operate in Britain, and almost 50 Indian companies are listed or trading actively on the London stock exchange;
The UK is the fifth largest investor in India, and India is the third largest investor in Britain. 60 per cent. of Indian FDI into Europe comes to Britain.
With the Indian economy growing at more than 8 per cent., the links with the UK are proving to be an increasing source of prosperity for both our countries.
Inflation
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5th February 2007.
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question: what weighting for electrical goods is used by the Office of National Statistics when it calculates (a) the Consumer Price Index and (b) the Retail Price Index?(118918)
The table below shows the weighting in 2006 of electrical goods (as a percentage) within three categories of expenditure, in the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and Consumer Prices Index (CPI), alongside their respective price indicators.
Category Weight in RPI Weight in CPI Indicators Electrical appliances 0.80 1.09 Cooker—electric, Washing machine, Fridge/freezer, Microwave oven, Dishwasher, Vacuum cleaner, Cordless telephone handsets, Mobile phone handsets, Electric shower, Selected small appliances—eg iron, kettle, fan heater, Personal appliances—eg hair dryer, electric razor Audio-visual equipment 0.90 1.10 Colour televisions—including widescreen, portable and flat panel sets, Video recorder, Portable CD/radio cassette player, Personal MP3 player, Audio systems, DVD player, Car CD/radio, PCs—desktop and laptop, PC peripherals Other 0.69 1.10 Power points, Power tools—eg hammer drill, Table lamp, Light bulbs, Car batteries, Computer game consoles, Digital camera, Digital camcorders, Other cameras—including disposable, Lawnmowers Total 2.39 3.28
Inheritance Tax: Stroud
Figures for estates assessed for inheritance tax are not available at local levels.
Minimum Wage
Estimates of the number of people in low-paid jobs, and specifically those paid less than the national minimum wage, are published by the Office for National Statistics annually in October.
From 2004, the estimates have been based on the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). This survey replaced the New Earnings Survey (NES) and has been designed to provide better information about the low end of the pay distribution. The ASHE includes imputation of missing earnings and hours information in individual questionnaires, and weighting by categories defined by age band, gender, occupation and region. It also introduces additional samples likely to include a higher proportion of low paid employees. These samples are drawn from employees who moved jobs or entered the labour market between February and April, who would not have been identified for the New Earnings Survey because of the timing of the survey procedures.
The ONS publishes tables on the National Statistics website showing the number of UK jobs from 1998 onwards paid below the minimum wage for those aged 18 to 21 and those aged 22 and over, by age, gender, full-time or part-time work, industry sector, Government office region and occupation. From 2005, estimates of the number of 16 to 17-year-olds paid below the national minimum wage have also been published.
The statistical data on enforcement of the minimum wage are collected centrally through information received during inquiries into employers at risk of not paying the national minimum wage. The statistical data are held by reference to the team that is conducting the inquiry or by DTI region.
Tax Credits
The National Statistics release “Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. Finalised Awards 2005-06. Supplement on Payments in 2005-06”, which includes information on overpayment of tax credits in 2005-06, will be available in May 2007, as stated in the HMRC Updating Plan, which is available on the HMRC website at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/updates/index.htm.
The information requested is not available.
HMRC’s policy on recovery of tax credits overpayments is set out in their Code of Practice 26, “What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?”
(2) how many people claimed working tax credits in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) on 7 December 2006, Official Report, column 1748W.
Taxation: Pensioners
The answer is provided in the following table. Tax thresholds are the point at which income exceeds personal allowances. Individual spouses and civil partners are taxed separately and not as a household. The additional tax relief that is available for older pensioner married or civil partner couples reduces the tax liability of the spouse or civil partner who claims it. The amount depends on the age of the older partner and income of the claimant.
1997-98 2006-07 Personal allowance under 65 4,045 5,035 Personal allowance aged 65 to 74 (a) 5,220 7,280 Personal allowance aged 75 and over1 5,440 7,420 Married couple where older aged 65 to 742 3,185 — Married couple where one aged over 752 3,225 — Married or civil partnership couple where one of the couple born before 6 April 1935 but under 753 — 6,065 Married or civil partnership couple where one of the couple born before 6 April 1935 and aged 75 and over3 — 6,135 Minimum level of Married Couple's Allowance4 21,830 32,350 Income limit4 15,600 20,100 1 Every individual receives a personal allowance to set against their own taxable income. In a married couple or civil partner household both individuals receive a personal allowance but any unused amount cannot be transferred between the couple. 2 Allowance given at a flat rate of 15 per cent. from the claimant's liability. 3 Allowance given at a flat rate of 10 per cent. from the claimant's liability. 4 The allowances for those 65 and over are reduced where the claimant's income exceeds the income limit. The personal allowance is not reduced below the level of the basic personal allowance and the married couple's allowance is not reduced below the minimum amount.
VAT: Food
(2) what legislation applies to the (a) charging of VAT on food and (b) provision of information on VAT charging on menus and in-house advertisements by food retail outlets.
Supplies of food are VAT zero-rated unless otherwise specified in Group 1, Schedule 8 of the VAT Act 1994.
Supplies in the course of catering are excluded from the zero rate. These take place when food is supplied for consumption on the premises on which it is sold, and when food is sold to be eaten hot. Therefore VAT is chargeable on all food sold for consumption in motorway service station restaurants, as well as on all hot take-away food sold in motorway service stations.
The Price Marking (Food and Drink Services) Order 2003 requires restaurants, pubs and similar establishments to provide certain information to customers on menus and price lists. The Order also requires that an indication of the price of food (or of a charge payable in addition to the price of any food) which is subject to VAT shall be inclusive of the tax.
Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments
(2) how many tax credit overpayments have been caused by (a) an individual’s income being incorrectly recorded by HM Revenue and Customs as zero and (b) IT failure; and if he will make a statement.
The information requested is not available.
Communities and Local Government
Affordable Housing
The numbers of affordable housing units built in Essex in each of the past five years are tabulated. Affordable housing includes both social rent and low-cost home ownership. Some affordable housing units are provided through the acquisition and refurbishment of dwellings purchased on the open market and these figures are also shown.
This includes Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Southend-on-Sea (Unitary), Tendring, Thurrock (Unitary) and Uttlesford.
New build Acquisition Total 2001-02 698 133 831 2002-03 532 316 848 2003-04 365 463 828 2004-05 545 302 847 2005-06 1,078 361 1,439
British Food
The percentage of food of British origin in the Communities and Local Government restaurants in the headquarters buildings and agencies are:
Item 2005 2006 2005 2006 2005 2006 Eggs 100 100 100 100 100 100 Milk products 95 95 100 100 100 100 Cheeses 50 60 50 50 40 40 Root vegetables 65 75 90 95 100 100 Salad vegetables 5 10 35 40 75 75 Fruit 5 10 20 25 40 40 Fish 70 65 15 15 80 80 Bakery products 80 80 85 85 100 100 Chicken 50 50 50 50 100 100 Beef 85 95 95 95 100 100 Lamb 95 95 0 0 100 100 Bacon 45 45 0 0 80 80 Pork 100 100 100 100 100 100
This answer does not include the Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments, or the Planning Inspectorate who do not retain this information.
Communities England
Supporting People Funding is provided directly to local authorities. There are no plans for the Supporting People Programme to be affected by the creation of Communities England. Communities England is expected to assume the responsibility of the Housing Corporation for providing capital investment for supported housing projects.
Departmental Photographs
Records of spend on photography were not held centrally by the Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Travel
As there have been significant changes in departmental responsibilities since 1996-97 the information requested is not complete.
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) on 16 June 2006, Official Report, column 1459W.
Disabled Facilities Grant
[holding answer 26 January 2007]: The following table details Bassetlaw district council’s last five years, grant claims for central Government funding (60 per cent.) and their matched funding (40 per cent.). The most recent available data are from 2005-06.
Match funding Central Government funding 2001-02 81,737 122,606 2002-03 53,948 80,923 2003-04 109,436 164,154 2004-05 100,740 151,110 2005-06 172,667 259,000
Discrimination
The proposals emerging from the Discrimination Law Review will be published in a Green Paper for public consultation, shortly.
Domestic Violence
Information about English local authorities’ actions under homelessness legislation is collected by the Department in respect of households (rather than people), at local authority level and on a quarterly basis. The Department does not hold statistics for the devolved administrations.
Households who are accepted by English local authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need are owed a main homelessness duty by the local authority.
Data on these acceptances are published in a quarterly statistical release on Statutory Homelessness. Table 4 of the release shows a breakdown of acceptances by priority need category, which includes domestic violence. Table 5 shows a breakdown of acceptances by reason for loss of last settled home, which includes violent relationship breakdown with partner.
The release is published on our website each quarter. The latest, July to September 2006, can be found at the following address:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id-1002882&PressNoticeID-2309
It includes data for the last five years. A copy of this release can also be found in the Library.
The Government are committed to tackling and preventing the underlying causes of homelessness, including domestic violence, and have recently published guidance encouraging local authorities to set up sanctuary schemes to enable victims of domestic violence to remain in their own accommodation, where it is safe for them to do so, where it is their choice and where the perpetrator no longer lives in the accommodation.
Equality
The Communities and Local Government Committee will have the opportunity to comment on our proposals to provide protection from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods, facilities and services; in respect of premises; and in the work of public authorities later this month, when we publish the response to the "Getting Equal" consultation. Subject to parliamentary approval, we intend to bring the regulations into effect this April, alongside commencement of the provisions on Religion or Belief contained within Part 2 of the Equality Act 2006.
The Committee will also have the opportunity to comment on the proposals emerging from the Discrimination Law Review which will be published in a Green Paper for public consultation, shortly.
Family Breakdown
The Government do not collect statistics on numbers of family breakdowns outside of divorce, given that relationship breakdowns outside of divorce are difficult to define and record. Community cohesion measurements primarily focus on how well people from different backgrounds get on together in the local area. The Commission on Integration and Cohesion, which will make recommendations in June, has been tasked with looking at practical ways to improve community cohesion.
Fire Service
The draft Business Case acknowledges that in recent years, the scale and nature of incidents to which the Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) have responded has grown as a result of both terrorist activity and climate change. The FiReControl project aims to enhance the capacity of the FRS’ to respond to any incident from house fires to national emergencies.
Housing
Information specific to the West Lancashire constituency is not held centrally. The stock of social rent housing in the West Lancashire district in each of the last 10 years can be found on the Communities and Local Government website:
Registered Social Landlords
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/21/Tablel15_ idl156021.xls
Local authorities
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/22/Tablel16_idl156022.xls
A copy of the tables has been placed in the Library of the House.
Housing provided for social rent makes up part of the affordable housing supply with other dwellings being provided through low cost home ownership schemes. In the last 10 years 42 affordable dwellings have been provided in the West Lancashire local authority area through low cost home ownership schemes.
Information about local authorities’ actions under homelessness legislation is collected quarterly at local authority level. The constituency of West Lancashire is contained wholly within West Lancashire district council, which also contains part of the South Ribble constituency.
Information reported each quarter by local authorities about their activities under homelessness legislation includes the number of households in temporary accommodation on the last day of the quarter, and the types of temporary accommodation. The figures include both those households who have been accepted as owed the main homelessness duty, and those for which inquiries are pending.
Data are published in our quarterly statistical release on Statutory Homelessness, which includes a Supplementary Table showing the breakdown of key data, including temporary accommodation and type, by each local authority. These are published on our website each quarter (the latest—July to September 2006—can be found at the following address:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/60/Supplementarytables_id1505060.xls)
the tables have also been placed in the Library over the last 10 years.
Data provided include the total number in temporary accommodation for each year, broken down between bed and breakfast, hostel, local authority/Registered Social Landlord stock, private sector leased and other types of housing.
A summary table showing the total number of households in temporary accommodation, from 1997-98 to 2005-06, for each local authority (including West Lancashire) is available in the Library of the House.
In January 2005 the Government set a target of halving the number of households in all forms of temporary accommodation used by local authorities to discharge their main duty under the homelessness legislation.
Information on the stock of social rent housing by local authority area in each of the last 10 years can be found on the Communities and Local Government website:
Registered social landlords
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/21/Tablel15_idl156021.xls
Local authorities
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/22/Tablel16_idl156022.xls
A copy of the tables have been placed in the Library of the House.
Housing provided for social rent makes up part of the affordable housing supply with other dwellings being provided through low cost home ownership schemes. In the last 10 years 216 new affordable dwellings have been provided in Chorley through low cost home ownership schemes.
Key Workers Living Scheme
A table has been placed in the Library of the House displaying information on the number of key workers helped through the Key Worker Living (KWL) programme in each month since its implementation, broken down by London borough. These data are taken from the Housing Corporation's payment system. From April 2004 to December 2006, 5,637 key workers in London have received assistance through the KWL programme.
Local Area Agreements
The Government are committed to reducing the harm caused by alcohol misuse. Some areas have found producing an alcohol harm reduction strategy helpful as part of their wider drugs and misuse plans but the Government have no plans to introduce a formal requirement for these. We will want to ensure that where Local Area Agreements can contribute to the delivery of the Government's and local areas' response to alcohol misuse, including alcohol harm reduction strategies, they do so. Many local areas have already chosen to include targets including stretch targets relating to alcohol misuse in their Local Area Agreements. Local Area Agreements have also facilitated enhanced partnership working between local bodies of the type that is necessary to ensure that there is a comprehensive response to alcohol misuse. The duties on local authorities and their local partners proposed in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill will further facilitate such 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.
Local Enterprise Growth Initiative
(2) what the reasons were for the rejection of each unsuccessful local authority bid for funding under the second round of the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative.
The resources available for the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) were only sufficient to support a small proportion of the bids received. A national panel made up of senior civil servants and two people from the private sector interviewed the promoters of the bids that they judged strongest on paper, and then recommended which bids Ministers should agree to support. Ministers accepted the panel’s recommendations. Bids were unsuccessful for a variety of reasons and the panel has offered to provide feedback to unsuccessful bidders whom they met. Other unsuccessful bidders are receiving feedback from Government offices. The feedback is aimed at giving authorities a clear idea about any gaps in their analysis, strategy or delivery plans with the aim of helping them to prepare for any future bidding round.
Local Government
The formula grant damping is an integral part of the system and hence will not be removed. I will decide the level of the floor for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 in due course. I am pleased to note that Hartlepool will receive a grant increase of 4.4 per cent. in 2007-08.
Local Government: Pay
We have recently consulted on a proposed change to the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations 2003 which would allow local authorities greater flexibility in managing their financial liabilities relating to equal pay. This amendment would allow authorities to defer making financial provision for anticipated liabilities arising from equal pay back pay until the date on which the local authority must make the back payments rather than as soon as they can be reliably estimated, which accounting practices currently require. I am pleased to announce our intention to make this amendment in the current financial year. It is proposed that this new regulation would apply until the end of March 2011.
Lyons Review
Sir Michael Lyons's report will be published around the time of Budget 2007. His work will inform the comprehensive Spending Review 2007. Decisions on the Government's response will be taken in light of the report.
Market Renewal Pathfinders Fund
The following table shows the amount of Housing Market Renewal funding paid to each region and pathfinder in 2005-06.
Pathfinders by region Housing Market Renewal funding 2005-06 (£ million) Yorkshire and Humber 45.4 Hull and East Riding 8.7 South Yorkshire 36.7 North East 31.9 Newcastle Gateshead 31.9 North West 176.6 Manchester Salford 51.2 Oldham Rochdale 30.5 East Lancashire 43.2 Merseyside 51.7 West Midlands 49.3 Birmingham Sandwell 30.0 North Staffordshire 19.3
Royal Mail
Communities and Local Government was created on 5 May 2006. The information in the following table covers the period from May 2002 to December 2006, and thus includes data for CLG's predecessor department, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
£ CLG/ODPM Agencies May 2002 to March 2003 297,847 667,605 April 2003 to March 2004 300,713 649,074 April 2004 to March 2005 978,706 323,792 April 2005 to March 2006 86,371 364,739 April 2006 to December 2006 78,747 212,193
As information for the period from March 2001 to April 2002 would relate to the former Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and is not held centrally it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
This answer does not include the Government Offices who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
Social Housing
Communities and Local Government is currently engaged in examining the means by which we monitor the impact of policies on cohesion, including those relating to social housing. This builds on the existing evidence base. For example, recently published evaluations of choice-based lettings schemes have shown that choice tends to result in more dispersed—not more concentrated—patterns of lettings involving minority ethnic households.
The role of local authorities and housing associations in contributing to community cohesion is one of several matters being considered by the independent Commission on Integration and Cohesion, which is due to report in June 2007.
The following table shows the percentage of social rented homes of three bed units and larger approved through the Housing Corporation's affordable housing programme in each region for the last three years and estimates for 2006-08.
Region Name 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-08 East Midlands 29 24 33 31 Eastern 39 26 31 28 London 32 29 28 34 North East 18 33 39 34 North West 37 30 35 40 South East 30 20 21 21 South West 37 33 37 26 West Midlands 42 35 50 35 Yorkshire and Humberside 36 35 53 45
Information prior to 2003-04 was not collected in this format.
Independent reviews, such as Professor Martin Cave’s review of social housing regulation, are not covered by the Cabinet Office’s code of practice on consultation.
As Professor Cave is working to a very tight timetable, it is not possible to extend the deadline of 16 February for submissions. However, it is proposed that any changes to the regulatory system following the publication of Professor Cave’s report should also be subject to consultation.
Sustainable Communities
The Government's 2003 sustainable communities plan sets out an action plan to create successful, thriving and inclusive communities, urban and rural, across England. In addition, the Government's ‘Rural Strategy’, published in 2004, sets a clear vision for bringing about sustainable rural communities. It aims to achieve social justice, economic and social regeneration and an enhanced rural environment in the English countryside. It describes how we will place communities and their needs at the heart of rural regeneration, with services delivered in a way that is responsive to local people and focused on need. Copies are available in the Library of the House.
We have received correspondence expressing support for the Sustainable Communities Bill from a range of organisations, including members of the Local Works Campaign and local authorities who have backed the campaign.